One often hears that children should arrive at school “ready to learn.” For most children, the acquisition of reading and math skills starts in the first grade. In states where kindergarten is compulsory, it begins even earlier. Many parents, teachers, and politicians maintain that preschool is the best way to prepare children to learn. There is no real consensus, however, about how this preparation should be achieved. For some, early childhood education relates to the development of the whole child. They think that preschool should encourage exploration and discovery. Group activities teach positive social behaviors such as sharing, kindness, and patience. Time spent alone encourages independence. Learning letters and counting is important only for children who show an interest in them. Advocates of this approach stress that each child is unique and should learn at his or her own pace. Other people refer to research showing that children are ready to absorb basic academic concepts by age 3 or 4. They claim that early introduction to letters and numbers lays the foundation for later academic excellence. Since the 1980s, many people have stressed the value of preschool and point to the success of programs -such as Head Start - that target low-income children. Is there proof that an academic curriculum in preschool will lead to academic success? Studies have not been conclusive. In the short term, evidence suggests that middle-class children who attend preschool are ahead of their peers in maths and language skills as well as in social skills, when they enter school. However, the same studies show that the gap narrows considerably by the time children reach age 8. Children living in poverty are a different matter. Those enrolled in programs such as Head Start seem to do better than impoverished children who do not attend a preschool. For instance, youngsters in one group enrolled in the program, tracked until the age of 21, earned higher scores on intelligence tests, were more likely to graduate from high school, and demonstrated more interest in higher education. The idea of public preschool raises many issues. Providing Head Start for all children would be a financial burden on communities that already struggle to fund current school programs. Also, where would a sufficient number of teachers trained in early childhood development be found? 小题1: Advocates of the development of the whole child believe school readiness is______ .
According to the passage, Head Start is most probably______ .
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
Which of the following may best summarize the main idea of the passage?
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