Re: Why not let kids be kids?

[<gbracey1@verizon.net>]

>Peter,

The short answer is, adults decide.  The decisions can be stupid ones, but 
adults need to decide.  Recall that in Linda's chapter comparing the 
curriculum at the wealthy school, Crofton, adults have made very different 
decisions.

At the preschool age, instruction needn't be formal.  When I was at Indiana 
University, we ran a preschool developed around ideas of informal education.  
For instance, everyday the kids cooked something.  They thought they were 
having fun making something good to eat.  WE thought they were learning the 
rudiments of physics, chemistry, and mathematics.  Not to mention fine motor 
skills (they had to handle the spoons and cups), measurement (tsp vs. Tbsp), 
reading (the recipe was on paper in large print on a board), and the 
importance of following a sequence (one of the more important life skills).

We had no "outcome" measure, but we thought the experience was decent, maybe 
even vital.



From: Peter Campbell <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>
>Date: 2008/03/17 Mon PM 11:43:36 CDT
>To: Deborah Meier <deborah.meier@gmail.com>, Jay Featherstone 
<josfe@msu.edu>
>Cc: ARN State <ARN-state@yahoogroups.com>, 
	ARN Main List <arn-l@interversity.org>, 
	ndsg Study Group <ndsgroup@yahoogroups.com>
>Subject: Re: [arn-l] Why not let kids be kids?

>
>Deb and Jay - I think public provision of decent preschool education  
>would be great. But who is to decide what "decent" means?
>
>I'm reminded of Linda Perlstein's extraordinary book, Tested.  
>Perlstein painfully documents the dumbed-down, test-centric path the  
>school follows to make AYP. In reading this book, I was saddened,  
>enraged, and disgusted. After being exposed to a constant regimen of  
>"BCR's" (brief constructed responses), decoding drills, and endless  
>test prep, it's amazing that any of these kids would ever want to  
>read anything ever again.
>
>My concern is that this will be the fate of so-called "high-quality,  
>universal pre-K," esp. for low-income minority children.
>
>Peter
>
>
>On Mar 17, 2008, at 5:11 PM, Deborah Meier wrote:
>> Incidentally, re being able to read by third grade, note that in the
>> nations with the highest literacy--like Finland--they don't start to
>> learn to read until 2nd grade.
>>
>> We're born "ready" to learn. I hate that "angst" as Jay Featherstone
>> refers to it. If that's what it takes to get PreK maybe we should do
>> without it for a while longer. Children need safey, nurturing places
>> with lots of "stuff" to play with, folks to read to them, sing to
>> them, dance with them, etc. The rest is dangerous to their health and
>> welfare.
>>
>> Best, Deb
>>
>> On 3/17/08, Jay Featherstone <josfe@msu.edu> wrote:
>> > Dear Peter, I agree with your arguments, so well-stated. Yet I
>> > think public provision of decent preschool education would be
>> > terrific, and is partly floating as a possibility on all this angst.
>> >
>> > J
>> >
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