Hellobee Boards

@Grace: it's cool...I think we agree....I was just trying to reframe my comments about history and how childhood is a relatively new concept.

I had to reread the article this morning...I think there are a few points worth noting. One is that the article specfically talks about infants in the opening line, which to me, means children from 3 months to about 12 months. Then you've got toddlers from 1- 3 years 8 months and beginning usually at age 3 years 9 months, preschool. If the author's point is simply to say that the teachers do not want to work more, or they do not support hiring more teachers to fill the gaps, then by default, I have no interest in the article.

Dr. Montessori did the vast majority of her groundbreaking work, where? At the Casa dei Bambini, in a low income district in Rome, where parents were often both working out of the home. Is it a coincidence that the skills taught there were personal cleanliness and keeping house? She didn't come up with her method because she had to make a decision between a play kitchen and a real kitchen, she had children that needed to learn to do the tasks that were normally done by their parents. Do not misunderstand me, I am a huge supporter of the method, but many don't understand the orgins and I think it's important to note in this discussion.

Fast forward to today....in the United States the majority of the schools are operating on an antiquated farming model. If we were to really open our eyes and prepare our children to compete on the global level, we wouldn't be bickering about what the kindergarten cut off is, we'd be looking at year round schools on a schedule that accomodates both working and stay at home parents.

I also don't believe that early exposure to reading/writing and math produces better results in the long term. Again, we need to look at what other countries are doing. Why is it that kids in Europe score higher than American kids, given that they don't begin learning to read until age 7 in some instances?