reading too soon?
I recently learned that Waldorf Schools don't recommend teaching children how to read until age 7! At first, I thought this was ridiculous, but after learning about how the written word (as opposed to spoken language) affects cognitive development (and the development of entire societies) I am starting to think they might be on to something.
I'm planning on researching this topic further, but here's an article with some insight on their point of view...
Learning to Read & Write in Waldorf Schools
http://www.steinerbooks.org/learning.html
Is it possible that the cultural pressure to teach children to read earlier and earlier promoted in our monolithic school system is misguided by requiring of the child’s lively, intuitive consciousness an inappropriate degree of abstraction too soon? Could linguistic intelligence actually be retarded by leaving the riches of the oral tradition prematurely? Are the outcomes based goals and behaviorist procedures for achieving the ability to read at an early age well supported by developmental research? Is it wise to get on with the program as quickly as possible, with four and five year olds taking home worksheets from kindergarten? Should we then measure through testing the children’s reading progress (disregarding the wide variation of individual developmental differences) and hold teachers accountable for improving test scores? Logically in this approach more resources and skill development time (“drill and kill”) would be devoted to those children below agreed upon benchmarks, targeting exactly their weakness. The result of this paradigm is that whirlwinds of anxiety, stress, feelings of failure, and avoidance behavior rise from the current system meant to address national goals and standards without an understanding of where young children are in their development.
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January 19th, 2006 - 08:02
There is a really great (and sometimes overwhelmingly dense) book called “The Spell of the Sensuous” by David Abram. He writes beautifully about the concept of language and how it has actually greatly hindered our relationship with the earth. A really good read. (Your post made me think of it…)
ps. i was revisiting an old journal yesterday and came upon a little card with some lovely writing and this website…i met you briefly at an OM festival 2 summers ago…i was “begging for words” with a friend…and you gave me your card..i am now working at a public library and it is truly the most amazing job i have ever had (i’m a library assistant in the reference department)…interesting, you are a librarian…funny how things work out…cheers!
January 19th, 2006 - 19:07
An interesting thought. While there can be no doubt that ALL schools damage as they develop, there can be no doubt that the love of linguistics both spoken and written comes more from one’s home life than school. My own mother spent tireless hours reading aloud the stories she had loved as a little girl. I can remember so clearly her reading us a chapter or two per night of the Count of Monte Cristo, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and countless other classic novels as well as every fairy tale, every Kipling story and poems galore. I couldn’t wait until I too had access to these magical things called books that could instantly transport me around the world, across the galaxy or maybe just sitting on a raft floating down the Mississippi.
I’m sure we practiced reading in school, but for myself and my sisters the experience would have been entirely trivial, regardless of the curriculum.
Each child learns different things at different rates. Public schools were never intended to be more than a way to compensate for lousy parenting as best we (as a society always leaning towards average)can.
And absolutely NO television.
Peter