"Dr Jo Van Herwegen has conducted extensive research into how play can be used as a learning technique for pre-schoolers and said that while an early start to education could be helpful, it was pointless if not handled appropriately. "If the Government is talking about school in terms of a formalised setting with trained people, then, yes, providing this at a young age is good but if it means sitting down and doing formal, proper learning at the age of four or five, then that's wrong," Dr Van Herwegen explained. "Pre-schoolers need the basic building blocks, as their working memory and language isn't complete until they reach five or six, so developmentally they're simply not ready for formal learning before that."...
"At the moment, Dr Van Herwegen explained, parents had to find – and usually fund – provision up to the age of four through childminders, grandparents and nurseries which meant children hit school with varying levels of readiness depending on which environment they had been in. "If school nurseries became proper pre-schools with times and routines more akin to those the children will experience in reception, children would be better prepared for school and parents would save money as well as being able to consider going back to work," she said."
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-11-trumps-age-future-school-success.html
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