Too Much Too Soon

A while back there is a big article in Newsweek magazine entitled 'Too Much, Too Soon? This is about a recent craze in the U.S. to imitate the high pressure Asian and European educational system for little children, by making kindergarten and first grade a battle zone of memorization, drill and ...no play. Sigh.... Ten years ago first grade here was a time when kids learned to read and did creative projects and fun learning activities. Now reading starts (whether they are ready or not) before they are in kindergarten and those babies spend hours doing math homework and reading exercises.
I think this is a big mistake. Some school districts have refused to take this approach, but about half now have bought into the drill and memorization system of early education. In my view, American kids have always been the most creative and imaginative ones, even if they are not as well informed and don't know as many facts. It's because of the open ended educational system in the early years. The idea of making education fun early has always encouraged the kind of imagination that lends itself to the creative adult. Kindergarten, for instance, has been play based. Now it is the new first grade, very serious.
In these high pressure schools some kids thrive, but more often they become discouraged and develop a view that "learning is hard work" rather than "learning is a joy". In my opinion the American education system has declined the past 20 years or so because too many schools take the memorization approach. It's odd because most educators say they want to go back to the old American style of education. Yet, parents demand we imitate the drill and memorization approach. They don't want their kids to just get a solid education. they want them to be educational stars. So now they push them unreasonably to the point where we have some of those awful "cram" schools for babies.
This is sad. Early education is not about learning letters and reading, but more about making naturally curious kids into lifelong self learners. To do that, they must have fun. The reading and memorization is just one aspect of education, not the entirety of it. It can wait until the child is older.
Sigh...Stress is not conducive to learning. If you put too much stress on little ones they will not learn how to think for themselves. I believe those little ones would be much better off with Sesame Street, games, being read to, taken to exciting places in the community, socializing, drawing and coloring, and in general, having fun. Isn't learning best achieved when we have fun?