Via H&R, I see that a couple of Reason Foundation folks have a terrific op-ed in the WSJ arguing against Barack Obama’s proposal to spend billions (!!) of taxpayer dollars on universal pre-kindergarten. Money quote:
Our understanding of the effects of preschool is still very much in its infancy. But one inescapable conclusion from the existing research is that it is not for everyone. Kids with loving and attentive parents — the vast majority — might well be better off spending more time at home than away in their formative years. The last thing that public policy should do is spend vast new sums of taxpayer dollars to incentivize a premature separation between toddlers and parents.
You should read the whole thing, which is very excellent, and indeed sent my wife Angela bouncing around the apartment in peals of excited I knew it!’s.
But of course she and I would react in that way, since this issue is one that has actually impacted our own lives quite a bit. You see, Angela and I plan to homeschool, but whether not we end up doing that there is absolutely no chance that we will send our children out into the wild before they reach the age of five. (Call it mere prejudice; we just don’t think kids that young are ready.) But one result of the huge numbers of children who already do go to preschool – numbers that are quite evident to us as the playgrounds are increasingly devoid of 2-, 3-, and 4-year-olds once September hits – is that that choice is increasingly not in our hands: if we keep Jack at home when he’s four, then if we were to decide to send him to kindergarten he’d start off a year behind the other kids in terms of both book-learning and bad social habits, which of course would make the adjustment to school even more incredibly difficult than it always already is. And so keeping him at home during the preschool year(s) effectively entails keeping him there for at least a few years after that, until he’s reached an age where he can handle the awkwardness and growing pains with a bit more maturity. It’s preschool or homeschool; the middle way just isn’t there.
To the extent that this is a product of shifting economic and cultural tides, it’s one thing – I don’t much like it, but nor do I like junk food, and I’m happy to say that but it’s not much of my business. But for government to make what will be an effectively irreversible decision on the matter, deciding that all or nearly all four-year-olds will go to preschool, is quite another matter: once it’s universal or nearly so, it’s only nominally “voluntary” (if that). Federally-funded universal pre-K is a proposal that is wrong in lots of ways – it’s expensive, it’s not clear that it’s really very good for kids or their families, and so on – but the effects that it will have on families would prefer to opt out of it may be the ones that bother me the most.
(Image via Flickrer Ragesh Vasudevan.)
Filed under: education, family, government/law
I would perhaps suggest checking out Matthew Dallman’s blog as he often write about the benefits of parents taking a more active role in their childrens’ education and the effectiveness of homeschooling.
Thanks, Scott. What’s that link, though?
Huh, seems I didn’t link that properly. Alas, it’s: http://www.polysemy.org/dailygoose
I worked as a preschool teacher for two years and I have to tell you in my experience most of those kids had parents that didn’t know their ankles from their elbows. Unfortunately in today’s go go go, two incomes a house culture preschool is a viable option. I just want the “universal” part of it to be optional so that those parents who are being responsible can opt out.
Thanks for the insight. I agree that it’s very important that these things remain optional. Unfortunately, as I said, once something becomes universal in a certain way its supposed
“voluntariness” usually becomes merely empty talk, if that.
Don’t retard your children by keeping them away from society. Children that interatct with other children from a young age have better immune systems due to the bombardment of pathogens making the imune system strong, can self-regulate ie concentrate and are required to interact (ask for things) to get their needs met – all things necessary for humans (and little kids are human too). Without adequate socialization in the developmental stages, children have a propencity to become alergic, ADHD, recluses. Read the book They F*** You Up by the Brit psycoanalyst. It’s not a judgement, it’s research about parenting. Read it before you unintentionally fuck up you kids.
Ahhh … the anti-homeschooling crowd. Nothing like having perfect strangers accuse you of plotting to eff up your kids.
I would assume that anyone who was considering taking on the not inconsiderable task of homeschooling their children would be intelligent enough to understand that finding ways for their child to interact with other children absent the pre-schooling experience and beyond is a vital component of that task. Now, that might not always be the case, but such attention to detail and detail of thought is what one ought to be looking into when one is determining whether or not it is a good idea that a parent choose to homeschool their child, rather than relying on blanket generalizations bout whether such a decision is a “good” or “bad” one.
Some parents will do an exceptional job at homeschooling, I am friends with two people whose parents are shining examples of this – insofar as both of those friends are exceptionally tale4nted and bright individuals whose homeschooling contributed, rather than detracted, from their exceptionalism. Of course, the opposite may be just as likely: that some parents who choose to homeschool their children will be quite awful at it and likely should not have chosen to take on the task. The question about how to decipher each and what to do in each case is the real stciky issue here, as opposed to a simple “Good/bad” dichotomy.
All I see John arguing for is the option for parents to make that decision about the education of their child, which, I think, one would have a difficult time arguing against.
The fundamental prerogative and responsibility of parenting is the raising of the child in a way that the parents see as appropriate. That parents will have different inclinations about what constitutes appropriate is part of the strength of a society – different people will be brought up in different ways providing a diversity of individuals that go into forming the structure of our society. That some parents should wish to take on a larger role in terms of their child’s education strikes me as primarily buttressing this phenomenon. We would be better of if more parents viewed their child’s education as something they needed to have heavy involvement in, rather than schooling as a form of state-sponsored daycare.
Those children who are subject to parents who are lacking in the skill to effectively homeschool may indeed be worse off for it. But “fucked up” is a bit of a hyperbolization, I would guess, though I haven’t read any literature on the matter. Are these children likely to “fall through the cracks” of society? I would guess not. Will their opportunities be tamped down by a substandard education? Perhaps. But, perhaps not, there are lots of opportunities for experience and skill setting that make up the future realized by an individual and casting out those children with a poor homeschooling experience a priori seems foolish.
All in all, given the percentage of parents we’re talking about, I would speculate that the benefits of allowing for the decision to reside with parents outweighs the possible detriments.
Oh Scott, you are TOTALLY underestimating the nannyist mindset …
I guess the question is whether the arguments are particularly convincing or not. An adept (and often times most inept) contrarian or dogmatist can argue against anything.
Interesting article, cites a study showing early preschool doesn’t have lasting effects if the schooling recieved after preschool is inferior. Also cites a study highlighting the negative effects of preschool on children including poor social skills (kinda puts a hole in sunlightmyfire’s concerns we are messing up our kids by keeping them at home. Also talks about Finland whose kids consistently score higher then other countries and they don’t start school until 7. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121936615766562189.html?mod=opinion_main_com
Just as a side note, I know several adults who were home schooled, none of which are social mis-fits and one of which is now a family practice Dr.
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