Michael K. Meyerhoff, Ed.D.
One of the more damaging misconceptions among modern mothers and fathers is the notion that "earlier is better." Most believe that the sooner their child displays a particular ability, the greater advantage he will have over his peers and the more likely will to succeed in school and beyond.
In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth. Precocity, while often quite impressive, is not a predictor of anything special. Furthermore, it typically turns out to be counterproductive to achieving desired long-term outcomes. Nevertheless, in our highly competitive society, it is becoming increasingly common to see preschoolers pushed to read and write, do math, operate computers, etc. as early as possible.
What parents must realize is that there is a big difference between "training" and "educating" a young child. With the right techniques, enough effort, and sufficient time, it is possible to "train" a preschooler to do just about anything. Today, there are a lot of little kids rattling off the state capitals, reciting Shakespeare, and putting on a number of other amazing performances.
But have these children developed the ability to truly understand and appreciate what they are doing? In all likelihood, no. I recall watching the singing cowboy Roy Rogers back in the early days of television. He had taught his horse, Trigger, how to count. He called out, "Trigger, how much is two plus three?" And the horse promptly pounded his hoof on the stage five times. But as dramatic as Trigger's accomplishment may have been, I don't think I would ever consider having that horse balance my checkbook.
You can usually put as much stock in the performances of precocious preschoolers. What they are doing is undeniably "amazing," but it is not really "meaningful." And it is critical to realize that encouraging young children to develop such precocious behaviors can actually be highly detrimental to the extent that it detracts them from learning what is truly important to learn during the early years.
Think about it. If a child is to succeed in school and beyond, what is the most important thing for him to learn as a preschooler? Most people, even if they do not think that "reading and writing" is an appropriate answer, still would respond with "the alphabet" or some other specific academically-oriented accomplishment. But in reality, before a child can learn anything specific, he must first learn "how to learn" in general. He must figure out how to absorb information from his environment, how to process it, how to organize and store it, how to retrieve it, and how to adapt it to a wide variety of situations and circumstances.
Learning how to learn takes time. And it requires that the child be permitted to engage in a lot of fun, fascinating, free-form play. By exploring, investigating, experimenting, and problem-solving in a relaxed, enjoyable, self-directed fashion, the child develops the sort of broad concepts and fundamental skills that will allow him to learn anything quickly and easily later on. His accomplishments may not be immediately obvious, and on the surface they are not as mind-blowing as those of the kids who have been pushed into reciting their ABCs and counting to 100 while still in diapers. But his preparation for success in the future is far superior.
Let me give you the example of the water fountain routine. Three-year-old preschoolers come in from outdoor play one day. The teacher says, "Okay, we are going to start a new routine. I want you to form two lines. Boys over here, girls over there. We're going to walk to the water fountain single file. When we get there, the two lines will alternate until everyone has had a chance to drink."
Of course, chaos ensues. However, over the next few months, thanks to a lot of pushing, prodding, prompting and such by the teacher, the kids manage to learn the water fountain routine.
Now project ahead three years. The children are in first grade. They come in from recess the first day, and the teacher says, "Okay everyone. I want two lines. Single file to the water fountain. Alternate until everyone gets to drink." The kids who learned the routine in preschool have no problem. They go exactly where they are supposed to go and do exactly what they are supposed to do.
Meanwhile, there is one kid in the class who never attended preschool. He spent his early years at home just playing around. He's like the deer caught in the headlights. Single file? Alternate? He has no idea what the teacher is talking about and has no clue where to go or what to do. What happens to this unfortunate child?
That's right. The teacher pulls him aside, whispers a couple of instructions to him, and boom. It takes five seconds for him to learn what it took the other kids months to learn. Because while they were being pushed, prodded, and prompted, he was picking up those broad concepts and general skills that enable him to learn anything quickly and easily at this point. In other words, while they were being trained, he was receiving a real education.
Let's take a look at something a little more significant. Many parents today are pushing for their preschoolers to learn how to use the computer. If you ask them why, they will point out that we live in the computer age. If you are going to do well in school, get a good job, etc., you need to have good computer knowledge and skills. In other words, they are trying to ensure that their child will have what he needs to succeed in the world of today.
What they don't realize is that their child will be spending most of his life in the world of tomorrow, not the world of today. And much of the knowledge and skills they are stuffing into his head will be as obsolete and useless in the world of tomorrow as knowing how to operate a slide rule is in the world of today.
What is a slide rule? Back in the olden days, when scientists, engineers, and mathematicians had to calculate large numbers, such as 5462 times 8791, they used a slide rule. It was three rulers stuck together, and the middle one slid back and forth. There was a piece with a line on it that had to be adjusted. It was all based on logarithms or something.
All I can tell you is that I was allowed to graduate from college until I had mastered the slide rule. I studied for weeks, passed the test, and they let me graduate. I swear it was less than two weeks later that the first calculators came out. Now the only time you see a slide rule is when you visit a museum. And I can't remember the names of my grandchildren because I have all this slide rule crap cluttering up my brain doing me no good whatsoever.
So parents who push their young child to gain all that specific knowledge and skill as early as possible not only fail to help their child, they hurt him as well. To the extent that he is prevented from "just playing around," he will not have the opportunity to develop those broad concepts and fundamental skills that will permit him to quickly and easily master whatever technologies he is exposed to in the future.
This can be hard for some parents to grasp. Again, we live in a highly competitive society. You look out the window and see the neighbor's kid playing Mozart on a tiny violin. Then you look over and see that your kid has dumped his chocolate pudding onto the kitchen table and is happily making swirly designs with his fingers. All you can picture is that in 30 years, the neighbor's kid will be president of the company while your kid is a janitor using his mop to make the same swirly designs on the floor of the restroom.
But have faith. All the research on early learning indicates that your child will have the greater chance of success. Contrary to popular belief, children who are eventually identified as "gifted" in school typically did not learn to read until the age of six. As any primary grade teacher will tell you, kids who do exceptionally well are not characterized by what they have learned prior to entering first grade, but rather by how well they are prepared to learn from that point on. And although it may sound like someone telling you that broccoli and carrots are no good and your child needs hot fudge sundaes and cupcakes to be healthy, it is nice to know that play is the key to optimal preparation.
Michael K. Meyerhoff, Ed.D., a former researcher with the Harvard Preschool Project, is executive director of The Epicenter Inc., "The Education for Parenthood Information Center," a family advisory and advocacy agency located in Lindenhurst, Illinois. He may be contacted via e-mail at epicntrinc@aol.com
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