Illinois

The debate here is really about how early can we educate children. The answer is: it depends on the child. Some children are ready to sit and listen for a little while at three and others aren't. By four, a child should want to at least listen to a story and play independently for a little while. By five, if he or she can't, there is usually a problem, and the problem is brought to you by parents who just don't want a child to grow up.

Today, we won't have one baby after another. The family of four is now regarded as the big family the family of twelve was years ago. We love the little guys, so instead of having another child and letting the first grow up, we just hold the first one back hoping to keep our baby just another little while.

The problem with holding a child back is the loss of learning. A child who is held back from doing the things he should at the right time, is a child who will always be infantile. Angry parents who hold children back defend themselves by saying, "Don't tell me when my child is ready." Then when the six year old is barely potty trained, can't blow his own nose, can't listen to a story, and can't answer in a complete sentence or hope to hold a pencil or a crayon, and the five year old next to him at school is reading, playing basketball, and helping with the family chores, the comparison is all of a sudden, "Not fair!"

Children have a right to be allowed to be people. People have general ranges of development. When a parent denies that development for the sake of wanting a child to be an infant too long, the child suffers.

Understanding development is a parent's duty and responsibility, and no, the child who is held back never really catches up. The delayed development continues to cause infantile problems his whole life. "I can't; don't make me; I don't have to; I don't have to keep a promise because Mommy said..."

Preschool for All

by Josh Montez

The state of Illinois wants to try mandatory preschool for all three and four-year-olds, but research shows the programs to be ineffective.

Mandatory preschool sounds like a good idea – after all, who could be against education. But Collin Hitt with the Illinois Policy Institute says the fact is; the programs haven’t worked in other states.

“Georgia has, since 1993, had a program in place. They’ve put 1.15 Billion dollars into their program and have moved 300 thousand students through it. Those students have, by the end of kindergarten, exhibited absolutely no difference on standardized test scores.”

Stay-at-home mom, Bronwyn Sax is decided against sending her son Theodore to preschool because he wasn’t ready for school structure.

“He’s learning everything he would learn right at home. In fact he’s probably learning more at home than he would in a preschool environment – with mom right there to answer all his questions.”

Finn Laursen with Christian Educators Association International says there is danger in putting a child in formal school too soon.

“If you put a child in a structured schooling program before they are developmentally ready, that first initial schooling experience, if it’s negative, it can set a trend for them to have a negative schooling experience all through the program.”

He says even the founders of Head Start, a 40-year old federal preschool program for low-income families, admit their program hasn’t performed as promised.