“Starting children early academically has not worked in the past and is not working now.” ~ David Elkind, [American child psychologist and author]
“Today families are caught in a paradox. We’re parenting during a time when scientists increasingly tell us free play is vital to the health of our kids, yet schools and policies are pushing us in the opposite direction— in an agitated rush toward early academics. The gap between what we know about young children and what we do with young children is widening each year.” ~ Heather Shumaker
“It is all-important to bear in mind that the child only begins to pass from consciousness to self-consciousness between the ages of nine and ten. To teach grammar before this age, therefore, is absolutely irrational.” ~ Rudolf Steiner
“The American educational professionals Raymond and Dorothy Moore began to research the academic validity of the rapidly growing Early Childhood Education movement. This research included independent studies by other researchers and a review of over 8,000 studies bearing on Early Childhood Education and the physical and mental development of children.”
“They asserted that formal schooling before ages 8–12 not only lacked the anticipated effectiveness, but was actually harmful to children. The Moores began to publish their view that formal schooling was damaging young children academically, socially, mentally, and even physiologically.”
Homeschooling - Wikipedia