Newspaper Articles:
In most European countries children do not go to school until age 6 or 7 and the formal tuition where they all have to sit down and do "work" is not introduced until even later - for very good reason. If introduced too early, it does more harm than good. This is recognised even by those who teach our children, as the first of these articles shows.
Start school at seven say teachers
Primary school tests to separate pupils by ability
What they will be looking for in your child aged five
Primary schools are 'killing off playgroups'
Lessons in three Rs will start at age three
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Daily Mail Thursday. April 1, 1999 Page 35 |
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Start school at seven |
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Children should be left to play until then say teachers |
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By TONY HALPIN Education Correspondent |
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CHILDREN should not start formal lessons until age seven, teachers said yesterday. Members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers called for classes in the three R's to be delayed for up to two years in schools, with children left largely to play instead of starting at five as at present. Delegates claimed children were being damaged by the Government's insistence on formal instruction in reading, writing, and basic sums in nurseries and reception classes. Many pupils - particularly boys, who develop more slowly than girls are incapable of coping with English and maths at five and feel 'failures' when they can't keep up , it was suggested.They are put under intolerable pressure by 'pushy' parents who 'cram' them with information and hire tutors to ensure they pass national tests, it was claimed. Early success for children had become a 'status symbol' among many middleclass parents. The union's annual conference in Harrogate overwhelmingly backed a call for Ministers to examine whether formal education should be delayed until pupils are six or seven, as in many European countries and the U.S.Education Secretary David Blunkett set out 'early learning goals' last month for children as young as three to start learning the three R's in nurseries. He and the Chief Inspector Chris Woodhead have rejected concerns that children are being taught too early. But Shirley Blackman, a teacher at Wellesley First School in Norwich told delegates: what is important? Being a whizzkid at the age of five who can read, write, and do sums, or to give our pupils the opportunity to develop emotionally and socially. 'In Japan, early formal education is started very early with an emphasis on reading, writing, and numeracy, but at what cost? Stressed, neurotic children at five years old. We must not do that to our children.' Alison Sherratt, from St Mary's Church of England First School in Bradford, said 'infantilely-challenged adults' were demanding success in National Curriculum standard attainment tasks, even in nursery classes. 'These adults find out when teacher assessments and SATs tests are due to start and cram their children with information bought from W. H. Smith and the like,' she said. 'Even when these children are in nursery, parents come to see either if I can teach them how to prepare for SATs or can I recommend some resources to stuff their little brains over the next three years.' Parents had to be told to cool it and let their children have some fun while they still can' she said. Glynne Rowlands, of Woolgrove School in Letehworth, Hertfordshire, said some infants' schools were so obsessed with measuring performance they even drew up lesson plans for playtime. 'Parents, too, are infected by this and demand home tuition to boost SATs levels so their child can get into a higher set in secondary school,' he said. |