Updated 9/29/2022
I encourage you to read Amy Milstein’s tragi-parody about Early Walking: “The Early Walking Curriculum.” It is a glimpse into our future 25 years from now, where experts are talking about the importance of all children walking early. Fictional studies are touted to support the benefit of making sure all kids walk by 12 months, with special intervention for those who don’t.
Of course, the notion is a bit laughable, because we’d never do anything so crazy as expect all babies to walk by 12 months. . . or would we? The ever-increasing “standards” the government is coming up with can steal a childhood and damage perfectly normal children by labeling them with problems that they don’t have.
We need to stop the nonsense of increasing academic demands on our preschoolers. The first step is to not accept it for your own child. Give your young child the chance to develop at their pace. While you know you don’t need Amy’s fictional walking curriculum, say no to early academics too, along with pre-kindergarten “readiness” programs, because it’s not science fiction – it’s our sad reality today, and we need to stop it before we indeed do have an Early Walking Curriculum.
Karen Taylor’s always homeschooled son attended a local community college after graduating from homeschooling. He transferred to UC Berkeley as a junior, and received a PhD in neuroscience from UCSF. She shares homeschooling comments and links on Facebook, Pinterest, and this blog.
