It also made me recall the year I spent conducting research in preschool classrooms. I visited many wonderful preschools, but I remember being particularly struck by the atmosphere in the Montessori classroom I visited. There was a sense of calm there that I have never seen anywhere else. At first it seemed eerie; surely these kids were being coerced into behaving so quietly and going about their business in such an orderly graceful way. I remember in particular the child who was bringing around a tray of nuts that he had shelled and offering them graciously to the other children. But the longer I stayed, the more I realized that this deep sense of peacefulness originated from the kids' satisfaction in being allowed to choose their own tasks at their own pace.
William Crain reminds us of some of the charateristics of children's development that have fallen by the wayside as the push for academic achievement (as measured by standardized tests) has become stronger and stronger. The child's desire to be connected with nature, to use her imagination, and to produce art and poetry is valued so much less in our schools than the three R's. As a result they are in danger of disappearing from the curriculum completely, especially in schools with limited resources. Yet these activities are precisely what researchers in the last two centuries have observed to be at the very heart of childhood. The assumption that our children's future is more important than childhood itself has become so commonplace that it is difficult to shake it even for parents who are committed to a parenting style that is child-centered. This book challenges the assumption that academic achievement is a goal unto itself, rather than a by-product of kids who are happy, well-loved, and allowed to grow at their own pace. It will remain a powerful reminder for parents committed to a child-centered parenting style of what childhood is for in the first place.
Children today are not as well educated or informed as children were in our parent's generation. Few, if any, fads du jour have lasted more than a few years. Parents, instead of demanding serious work from their children, belittle homework, tests, and hard work that interferes with their children's extracurricular activities, and TV and computer time. Teachers give in to the parents because, to do otherwise, is to risk losing their jobs because they're "too tough". Spare me! Most educated parents can remember that they learned the most from their toughest, most demanding, teachers, not the ones who gave everyone A's for effort. Parents who enforce appreciation for learning through perspiration tend to have the best educated and most successful children.