Fifty years ago, when I attended, children were taught the alphabet in Kindergarten. It was there we learned the name and shape of each letter, to associate sounds with letters, to recognize and write our names. Assuming a positive experience with books and barring any learning disability, most of us moved smoothly into reading in first grade at about age six. Over time, the age when most children are introduced to these pre-reading and early writing activities has decreased. Most two year olds can sing the alphabet and name letters at age three. A good deal of time is spent in preschool helping children associate letters with sound and recognize those sounds at the beginning of words. By four there is often emphasis on children learning to write their names and learning to produce each letter of the alphabet. This is now considered prerequisite for entry into kindergarten. And with all this extra preparation, assuming a positive experience with books and barring any learning disability, most children begin reading right about age six, as they did 50 years ago.
Most of these pre-reading activities are fun for children and there are advantages to entering formal schooling with confidence in these skills. But too often these, in addition to pre-academic skills in math and science, are viewed by parents and educators as the main event at preschool. This comes at a cost. This kind of language based, rote learning is not what preschoolers do best. What preschoolers do best is learn through direct experience with the world. As the brain develops it goes through a series of ‘sensitive periods’ in which a particular area of the brain is primed for development. And while young children are primed to learn language and need to be in language rich environments, they are not yet ready to use language as a primary means of learning about the world. That will come later.
When too much of a preschool child’s day is spent on the alphabet other, more critical, areas of learning go unattended. Here are five critical areas of learning that children need to master in order to succeed in elementary school and beyond. And they are lessons the preschool brain is equipped to learn.
- How to pay attention. (The current lingo is this is “executive functioning.”)
- Concrete understanding of how the world works.
- How to get along with others.
- Self worth and confidence.
- To accept direction and guidance from adults outside the family.
A child who enters kindergarten without knowing the alphabet or other pre-reading skills can usually learn what they’ve “missed” within a few weeks and move on to reading right on schedule. But a child who enters kindergarten without any one of these other skills: the ability to pay attention, follow adult direction, make friends and feel good about themselves, or without an intuitive understanding of how the world works will be in for years of difficulty. Too often schools assume children will learn these skills on their own. And in many ways they do. But they need practice, time, and opportunity to develop them. They need learning environments that give priority to the development of these skills. When the sensitive period for learning order, attention, and social skills closes down, these lessons will be much harder to learn. And other lessons, like learning to read, and later complex math and science will be nearly impossible without these skills.
Over the next few months, I’ll write about each skill, why it is important, how it develops, and what preschools and parents can do to promote it. In the meantime, remember that young children are learning a tremendous amount at a tremendous rate. Much of this learning is preverbal and may go unnoticed by adults. But it is essential. And if your child is not that interested in learning the alphabet right now, don’t worry. It can wait.