23/10/2022
Slow Childhood Down
Kids canāt slow their childhoods down but parents and teachers can, but because nearly all of us who are parents and teachers have been to school, we have married āschool and educationā together as one. This is a big problem for our babies and young children because in a bid to āeducateā our children we recreate school for them complete with classrooms, teachers, a curriculum, alphabets, reading, writing, maths, teacher directed activities, themes and topics*. The title of a comprehensive study about age appropriate learning from Cambridge University UK says it all, āToo Much Too Soonā.
As teachers, we need to get up to speed with āTe Wharikiā and PRACTICE whatās in there. It is a fantastic document that honours the unfolding of our childrenās spirit, intelligence and creativity; and it is not set in the paradigm of school. As parents, we need to shy away from centres that advertise they will āget your child ready for school". Thatās a sure sign that there will be ātoo much too soonā at the expense of what your child really needs as an age appropriate education.
People literacy (how to manage myself so I can get along with my species in peace and in conflict) and ecoliteracy (how to live so I can get along with plants and animals in peace and in conflict) come first. Humanity evolved those two bodies of knowledge (literacies) first, and the cultural literacies mentioned above CAME OUT OF PLAY, every last one of them. Thatās why āToo Much Too Soonā recommends leaving traditional āschool fareā until age six or seven years of age until the first two literacies are embedded. In place of a āschool for short peopleā we need to create the conditions for guaranteed security of a loved adult/adults, adult/s who will have rich and real conversations about the childās wonderings and their world with them. As well, we need to find-or-create places of beauty where children can play. These are the two basic conditions of Life that every child has wished for since children began. We have it in our power to create these conditions and slow our childrenās childhoods down.
*On teachersā discussion pages there are annual queries on how to deal with ANZAC and The Treaty of Waitangi for āunder twos'. These questions are the clearest indication that teacher training-mentoring doesnāt deal with age appropriate either in content or methodology.
