Shifting the Focus of Educational Practice in Early Childhood Education

The American educational system, as it now stands, has become obsolete. Children as young as four and five years of age are becoming frustrated and stressed from extreme academic pressure placed on them at such a young age. Children starting formal academic education at age four or five were compared to children who started a structured academic setting at age seven or eight. Within two years of formal education for the latter group, and four for the form, both groups were fairly equal in academic performance. However, those who started school earlier show a marked increase in dissatisfaction and dislike for school, as opposed to those who were allowed to learn and explore on their own for two more years. In addition, reading comprehension rates were slightly higher in students who started school later. It is my proposal that children who are allowed to learn through play and real life experiences in the early years are not at a disadvantage to children who have an early academically structured learning environment. On the contrary, those who are free to explore and develop naturally, through play and experience, may be more successful in school than those whose learning is, at an early age, artificially designed for them