A Parents' Guide to Avoiding the Superbaby Syndrome
Most parents share the same basic goals for their offspring. First, "I want my baby to be happy and healthy;" and second, "I want my baby to make the best of her potential." The composition of health and happiness is not an issue for extensive argument. On the other hand, what constitutes making the most of a little person's potential is an endless source of discussion and disagreement.
A major problem is that many parents have a tendency to be too particular as they pursue this topic. By focusing so closely on the content of their child's achievements, they miss what early education is all about. Whether it is basic capacities like reciting the alphabet, counting to 100 and categorizing shapes and colors, or amazing precocities like playing the piano, reading and writing poetry and operating a personal computer, paying too much attention to specific skills often means ignoring (or at least interfering with) what is really essential.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that if you use a variety of elaborate and expensive procedures, you can teach an infant or toddler to do just about anything. There are graduates of special programs who can recite Shakespeare well before their third birthdays, or play tiny violins quite proficiently while still in diapers.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that programs designed to produce such precocities provide any lasting educational advantage. In fact, while serious, systematic scientific instruction of this sort may produce immediately remarkable results, the evidence is overwhelming that it can be rather counterproductive in the long run.
During the first years of life, children are learning all the time, and they are learning to do a lot of different things that may or may not include any or all of the aforementioned activities, but above all else, they are learning how to learn – and much of that they are learning on their own.
As infants and toddlers indulge their innate inclinations to explore, investigate and experiment, they are developing a variety of general learning skills that will enable them to adapt to the ever-changing environment for the rest of their lives. It is clear that children who are encouraged to develop these fundamental abilities fully and freely will be far better off than those whose initial educational experiences have been directed into relatively restricted channels – no matter how well-intentioned their instructors and no matter how impressive their early academic or artistic accomplishments.
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A major problem is that many parents have a tendency to be too particular as they pursue this topic. By focusing so closely on the content of their child's achievements, they miss what early education is all about. Whether it is basic capacities like reciting the alphabet, counting to 100 and categorizing shapes and colors, or amazing precocities like playing the piano, reading and writing poetry and operating a personal computer, paying too much attention to specific skills often means ignoring (or at least interfering with) what is really essential.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that if you use a variety of elaborate and expensive procedures, you can teach an infant or toddler to do just about anything. There are graduates of special programs who can recite Shakespeare well before their third birthdays, or play tiny violins quite proficiently while still in diapers.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that programs designed to produce such precocities provide any lasting educational advantage. In fact, while serious, systematic scientific instruction of this sort may produce immediately remarkable results, the evidence is overwhelming that it can be rather counterproductive in the long run.
During the first years of life, children are learning all the time, and they are learning to do a lot of different things that may or may not include any or all of the aforementioned activities, but above all else, they are learning how to learn – and much of that they are learning on their own.
As infants and toddlers indulge their innate inclinations to explore, investigate and experiment, they are developing a variety of general learning skills that will enable them to adapt to the ever-changing environment for the rest of their lives. It is clear that children who are encouraged to develop these fundamental abilities fully and freely will be far better off than those whose initial educational experiences have been directed into relatively restricted channels – no matter how well-intentioned their instructors and no matter how impressive their early academic or artistic accomplishments.
A Parents' Guide to Avoiding the Superbaby Syndrome
Most parents share the same basic goals for their offspring. First, "I want my baby to be happy and healthy;" and second, "I want my baby to make the best of her potential." The composition of health and happiness is not an issue for extensive argument. On the other hand, what constitutes making the most of a little person's potential is an endless source of discussion and disagreement.
A major problem is that many parents have a tendency to be too particular as they pursue this topic. By focusing so closely on the content of their child's achievements, they miss what early education is all about. Whether it is basic capacities like reciting the alphabet, counting to 100 and categorizing shapes and colors, or amazing precocities like playing the piano, reading and writing poetry and operating a personal computer, paying too much attention to specific skills often means ignoring (or at least interfering with) what is really essential.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that if you use a variety of elaborate and expensive procedures, you can teach an infant or toddler to do just about anything. There are graduates of special programs who can recite Shakespeare well before their third birthdays, or play tiny violins quite proficiently while still in diapers.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that programs designed to produce such precocities provide any lasting educational advantage. In fact, while serious, systematic scientific instruction of this sort may produce immediately remarkable results, the evidence is overwhelming that it can be rather counterproductive in the long run.
During the first years of life, children are learning all the time, and they are learning to do a lot of different things that may or may not include any or all of the aforementioned activities, but above all else, they are learning how to learn – and much of that they are learning on their own.
As infants and toddlers indulge their innate inclinations to explore, investigate and experiment, they are developing a variety of general learning skills that will enable them to adapt to the ever-changing environment for the rest of their lives. It is clear that children who are encouraged to develop these fundamental abilities fully and freely will be far better off than those whose initial educational experiences have been directed into relatively restricted channels – no matter how well-intentioned their instructors and no matter how impressive their early academic or artistic accomplishments.
A major problem is that many parents have a tendency to be too particular as they pursue this topic. By focusing so closely on the content of their child's achievements, they miss what early education is all about. Whether it is basic capacities like reciting the alphabet, counting to 100 and categorizing shapes and colors, or amazing precocities like playing the piano, reading and writing poetry and operating a personal computer, paying too much attention to specific skills often means ignoring (or at least interfering with) what is really essential.
There is plenty of evidence to suggest that if you use a variety of elaborate and expensive procedures, you can teach an infant or toddler to do just about anything. There are graduates of special programs who can recite Shakespeare well before their third birthdays, or play tiny violins quite proficiently while still in diapers.
However, there is no evidence to suggest that programs designed to produce such precocities provide any lasting educational advantage. In fact, while serious, systematic scientific instruction of this sort may produce immediately remarkable results, the evidence is overwhelming that it can be rather counterproductive in the long run.
During the first years of life, children are learning all the time, and they are learning to do a lot of different things that may or may not include any or all of the aforementioned activities, but above all else, they are learning how to learn – and much of that they are learning on their own.
As infants and toddlers indulge their innate inclinations to explore, investigate and experiment, they are developing a variety of general learning skills that will enable them to adapt to the ever-changing environment for the rest of their lives. It is clear that children who are encouraged to develop these fundamental abilities fully and freely will be far better off than those whose initial educational experiences have been directed into relatively restricted channels – no matter how well-intentioned their instructors and no matter how impressive their early academic or artistic accomplishments.
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A Parents' Guide to Avoiding the Superbaby Syndrome
A Parents' Guide to Avoiding the Superbaby Syndrome
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Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940011818615 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | William Gladden Foundation Press |
| Publication date: | 10/07/2010 |
| Series: | Understanding Early Childhood , #3 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 19 KB |
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