At last someone talks sense

[miffy]

BBC News - Formal school lessons should start 'above age of five'

Miffy xx

[lilac_dragon]

Yes - did I REALLY hear that the Govt said the 100 experts didn't know what they were talking about???

[Ripeberry]

Agree with this. But parents will still send their children to school at 4 yrs old as it's 'free' childcare. The education system just needs to change. And parents need to not expect so much from their children. So what if little Jimmy can write his name at 4yrs old, if by the age of 10 he hates school.

[Logan]

My little girl starts school today - 4 years & 3 weeks old. I've been resisting the peer pressure to "push" her over the summer. She can write her name & knows a few phonemes but have been made to feel as if she should know more.

I've just wanted to spend these last few precious weeks having fun as usual, not trying to force things into her head. if she picks up sounds,numbers & writing skills through the activities we do then that's great but I'm not pressuring her just because little Johnny down the road knows this, that & the other. Yet I'm still concerned about her being compared to children who may be up to a year older than her & being judged as "behind" at school. And worried about her confidence if she sees she can't do things older children can. It's so hard! She's a bright little button really & her development is age appropriate so there really shouldn't be a problem. I just want her to be happy.

[Simona]

I missed the BBC news....however they are referring to this

The Government should stop intervening in early education - Telegraph

Some of the signatories are very well known experts in education and childcare and you will see signatures from representing associations too.
My suggestion is providers be allowed to add ours to theirs...we deliver education they represent us...so united we would make a stronger stand??

[loocyloo]

Yes - did I REALLY hear that the Govt said the 100 experts didn't know what they were talking about???

Of course they don't know what they are talking about...it doesn't follow the party line. Grrrrrrrrrr.

So short sighted of the government. They just want to make names for themselves. It will be for the wrong reasons they are remembered.

[Jiorjiina]

The experts, including academics and teachers, said there should be more emphasis in the curriculum on learning through play.

A spokesman for Education Secretary Michael Gove said the authors of the letter were "misguided".

"These people represent the powerful and badly misguided lobby who are responsible for the devaluation of exams and the culture of low expectations in state schools. We need a system that aims to prepare pupils to solve hard problems in calculus or be a poet or engineer - a system freed from the grip of those who bleat bogus pop-psychology about 'self image', which is an excuse for not teaching poor children how to add up."

And there in a nutshell, is the problem we're having to deal with in the Early Years.

Exactly what kind of qualifications would Gove accept in order for someone to be a credible source? If Lord Layard (director of the Well-Being Programme at the London School of Economics), Dr David Whitebread (senior lecturer in psychology of education at Cambridge University), Catherine Prisk (director of Play England) and Sir Al Aynsley-Green (former Children's Commissioner for England) aren't good enough, exactly who is?