Information on Education Issues

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Education Issues

The human capacity to receive information, store it, process it, retrieve it, alter it,and then apply it to new situations is a profoundly complex process. It should inspire awe whether we are beholding an infant's recog-lition of a face, a school-age child's first comprehension of a multiplicationable, or a college student's completion of a senior thesis. Developing this capac-ity to its fullest is a lifelong project, but it is particularly important during child--mod and adolescence. The benefits of doing so for individuals and for society atarge have long been recognized, leading to mandates for compulsory educationa most developed countries.

The educational process does not suddenly begin when a child reachesthe age of five and enters kindergarten.
Vast amounts of information about the world and how it works are assimilatedduring the first several months of life through an infant's interactions.

The infant examines objects with eyes, hands, and mouth, bangs them to-tether, and drops them on the floor while observing what happens. The toddlertagerly explores anyplace his wobbly legs will take him. Preschoolers are persis-:ently curious about how (and why) things work as they do and are eager for in-,ut from adults and older siblings.

Parents can encourage all of these learning processes and, in so doing, pre-,are their children for formal education in very simple ways:

Interact constantly with your child during the early years in ways that are appropri-ate to his age. Talk to your baby a lot, even before he is using words himself, so that he can hear and learn words and phrases. Ask him about what he sees antihears when he is old enough to communicate with you. Let him snatch you car,out simple tasks in your home, and talk about what you are doing. (Let him hapyou, if possible.) Don't delegate this responsibility to the television or oth.-forms of passive entertainment. Your child needs input from people, not elec-tronic devices.

Read to your child and instill in him a love of books, starting at a very early age.
Your child who is just forming his first words can benefit from sitting on a lap, loot-ing at the pretty pictures in a book, and hearing the soothing words that accom-pany them. Toddlers and preschoolers become enthralled with stories and wan-to hear favorites dozens or even hundreds of times. Even a child who is an excel-lent reader benefits from hearing stories read aloud at home, especially whenthey inspire interesting conversations. (Actually, this delightful activity can con-tinue long after the kids are completely grown.)

Take your youngster places. Young children love to explore, and virtually antouting you devise can be turned into an adventure. Help him fall in love withthe local library. Let him become acquainted with zoos, museums, and othertypes of exhibits. Take him to an airport, a train station, a harbor, a dairyfarm, or a factory where they make something interesting. Let hint hear livemusic or watch a parade from the curbside rather than through the narrowwindow of a TV screen. You might learn a few things yourself during theseoutings.

Once the process of formal education begins, parents must remainactive participants and not mere bystanders.
It is a major miscalculation to assume that you can drop your child at the school-house door at the age of five and expect others to take over the total responsibil-ity of educating him for the next thirteen years. You must play an active, ongoingrole in selecting the school, tracking his progress, encouraging, coaching, andtroubleshooting when problems arise. No school "owns" your child while he is ontheir grounds, and any school your child attends is accountable to you—not theother way around. You may even choose to provide some or most of your child'seducation at home. Whatever approaches you and your child follow, rememberthat you should be in charge and that you are ultimately responsible for the out-come.

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