There’s no doubt that language in all its richness — written,spoken,sung or read aloud — plays a crucial role in our early development. It has become increasingly common to begin teaching children literacy(读写能力)skills at an early age. The thinking often goes that starting early gives children more time to learn and get ahead.
However,many studies show little benefit from an early overly-academic environment. Children who attend academically focused preschools do not have higher academic abilities in later grades than those who did not,several studies now show. Too much academic pressure may even cause problems in the long run. A study published in January 2022 suggested those who attended preschools with a strong academic emphasis,showed lower academic achievements a few years later,compared to those who didn’t.
Anna Cunningham,a senior lecturer in psychology at Nottingham Trent University who studies early literacy,argues that if a setting is too academically focused early on,it can cause the teachers to become stressed over tests and results,which can in turn affect the kids. “Academic requirements early on don’t end up being meaningful. Children end up memorizing rather than understanding context,”adds Anna.
In many countries,formal schooling starts at 4. But not everyone favors an early start. In Finland,often known as the country with one of the best education systems in the world,children begin school at seven. Despite a later start,Finnish students score higher in reading comprehension than students from the UK at age 15. Besides,the Finnish kindergarten years are filled with more play and no formal academic instruction.
Research also found that later readers catch up — even are slightly better than the early readers in comprehension abilities. Learning later allows children to more efficiently match their knowledge of the world to the words they learn. So our craze with early literacy appears to be somewhat unfounded.
【小题1】What might supporters for an early start agree with?| A．Early start gives an advantage. |
| B．Early reading makes perfect kids. |
| C．Children are more sensitive to language. |
| D．Literacy skills are good for early development. |
| A．Memorizing textbooks. |
| B．Knowing more than the surface. |
| C．Focusing on test results. |
| D．Reading aloud in the morning. |
| A．To praise Finland’s education. |
| B．To criticize the UK’s education. |
| C．To show a way to improve reading. |
| D．To prove the benefit of a later start. |
| A．Later readers — Harder to catch up |
| B．Earlier readers — Not necessarily better |
| C．No rush — The later to begin,the better |
| D．Learning to read — The secret to getting ahead |
