Who was asking about how preschoools became more academic?

["ElsaHaas" <ElsaHaas@si.rr.com>]

Someone was asking recently for leads to information on when and how
preschools became more geared toward academics, and I meant to reply but
deleted the message. 

I just wanted to say that Raymond Moore, author of Better Late Than Early
and other books, might be one source. He's a homeschooling advocate and
recommends that "formal education" (whether at home or in school) not begin
until at least age 8. I think I remember that about twenty years ago he was
amongst those sometimes called upon to testify, in state legislatures and
places like that, on the disadvantages of early academics and early testing.


I don't know much more than this and I haven't looked at any of his books in
years (he travels in the more Christian circles of homeschooling, and I'm in
the secular, unschooling crowd), but I just googled him and found the
website for the Moore Foundation. On it I found this specific reference to
research, at http://www.moorefoundation.com/article.php?id=3 :

---------- 
HOW TO BEGIN. First, don't subject your children to formal, scheduled study
before age 8 to 10 or 12, whether they can read or not. To any who differ,
as their evidence let them read Better Late Than Early (BLTE) or School Can
Wait (SCW). In addition to our basic research at Stanford and the University
of Colorado Medical School, we analyzed over 8000 studies of children's
senses, brain, cognition, socialization, etc., and are certain that no
replicable evidence exists for rushing children into formal study at home or
school before 8 or 10. 
---------------

Moore has been around for ages (his wife and collaborator died some time
ago, though), so he may have more data from one of the earlier waves of
"let's pressure the kids as young as possible" - since these things do come
in waves.

I read somewhere that Moore had had a falling out with some other Christian
homeschoolers, but I didn't really follow that story because I was out of
the country when it happened.

Anyway, the politics of homeschooling can be complicated (and in looking at
the Moore Foundation website just now I found a lot of things I don't agree
with), but homeschoolers have sometimes gathered together in one place the
sort of data mainstream educators are looking for. So having a look at
Moore's books or contacting him might be worth a try.   

Elsa Haas