Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/developing-programs-for-learning-not-schooling/5012788/
Everywhere I travel these days, people in early childhood settings bemoan the pressure they feel to increasingly focus their curriculum on academic learning. This pressure often comes from parents, genuinely concerned about their child's school readiness, especially in light of highly publicized school reform efforts to raise children's reading abilities and test scores. The pressure also resides inside these staff members themselves, naturally wanting children to succeed, and eager to counter the babysitter image and be viewed as a respect-able "real teacher."With each passing year, our early care and education programs feel more and more like school, with the children's time all scheduled into little curriculum boxes. The cozy, relaxed quality of a home-like environment no longer assures people that learning is going on. A place with couches, pillows, plants, and pets, where children spend long blocks of time in self-chosen activities, doesn't convey the impression that they are getting a head start on school. Even with the substantial research supporting developmentally appropriate practice (DAP), we haven't managed to stem the tide that is putting very young children in school-like settings.
Teaching and Learning Versus Schooling
Across the country, there is a growing trend of public schools adding prekindergarten/preschool programs to their settings. ...