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New Book Calls for Rethinking Preschool in the U.S.

As parents of young children worry about how best to prepare their kids for academic success, early childhood expert Erika Christakis warns that vocabulary worksheets and study time with bar graphs should not replace play time.

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Pre-K teacher Josefina Pineda teaches her students the concept of "push" by having them join hands and push back and forth in her classroom at the Dallas Independent School District elementary school Cesar Chavez Learning Center in 2013.
Credit: Robert W. Hart

As parents of young children worry about how best to prepare their kids for academic success, early childhood expert Erika Christakis warns that vocabulary worksheets and study time with bar graphs should not replace play time. Studies show that intense academic pressure on the very young lead to an increased likelihood for school burnout, and that conversation using new vocabulary might actually be more valuable to language development than early reading. (Slate)

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