Preschool or Not?

'Preschool is socially unnatural. By taking young children away from their source of power – mother – and putting them together in a group of similar ages (unable to help each other), we render them helpless. In this impossible and unnatural setting, they fail to socialize on their own and depend on adult control to be able to function and stay safe. Such experience teaches the child to see herself as socially failing and dependent on authority.
...home, play, music, dance, art, books and Nature are all she needs; expose her to what you love and what she shows interest in, and don’t impose any teaching.'

Ask Naomi Aldort: Preschool or Not?
What do you recall from age four? Nothing you know today relies on what you learned in these early years in a school. Instead, it relies on how you felt about yourself. Read the full article at Natural Life magazine, July/August 2009

A Homeschool Curriculum for Preschool and Kindergarten by Lillian Jones
Much Too Early by David Elkind
A Gift of Time by Sue Smith-Heavenrich
Let's Not Institutionalize 3, 4, and 5 Year Olds by Larry and Susan Kaseman
Open Letter published in The Times Educational Supplement by the Open EYE Campaign
Early Learning Policies Should Not Be Imposed by the Open EYE Campaign
Old-Fashioned Play Builds Serious Skills by Alix Spiegel
Grow Slow by Vicky Allan
The Wild Child by Scott Noelle
Unschooling Nurture by Laureen (Life Without School)
Alliance for Childhood
Universal Preschool: the universe is our preschool
Open EYE: campaign for an Open Early Years Education

Universal Declaration:
The Preschoolers' Bill of Rights
Proclaimed by Tykes On Trikes, 2006

WE, the preschoolers of the world, have determined that parents who abdicate their responsibility to raise, educate, and care for their own children from birth to age five, jeopardize children's lives and endanger all of humankind - and we have had enough! We are tired of being handed over to transient strangers, so-called child "experts," daycare providers, teachers, preschools, corporations, government agencies, and special interest groups in the name of social reform and the global economy.

Our parents and other adults, many the victims of abandonment in daycare centers and preschools themselves, have forgotten or dismissed the worth of the developing child.

We have determined to do what adults should have been doing all along - protect all tots and demand a better quality of life for preschoolers in liberty and freedom through this decree.

WHEREAS, young children, by reason of their physical immaturity and vulnerability and precisely because they are the future generation, need special safeguards and care, parents have a moral duty and noble obligation to provide their children the best they have to give.

WHEREAS, preschoolers' brains develop at astounding rates and are capable of assimilating vast amounts of information, it is the duty of parents to protect developing minds and keep them independent from government control and indoctrination with standardized curriculum and testing.

WHEREAS, early education and learning are not at all the same thing as "schooling" or the act of attending preschool,

WHEREAS, most preschool programs are based on fads and not on well-established knowledge of how young children learn best,

WHEREAS, interest-initiated learning including open-ended creative and imaginative play, exploration of the environment, hands-on experiential learning, and interaction with caring adults (preferably a child's own parents), in the safety and security of their own homes is the best model for early childhood education,

WHEREAS, parents should respect and strengthen a young child's natural ability and desire to learn,

WHEREAS, preschoolers are being expelled in alarming rates from preschool and daycare programs due to the current trends of forcing academics that lead to undue stress and pressure resulting in physical, behavioral and learning problems,

WHEREAS, play that children can control is central to the physical, social, emotional, psychological, and intellectual growth of a young child - contributing to their language development, social skills, and problem solving capacities that lays a foundation for later academic learning,

WHEREAS, too early separation from parents has been shown to be harmful to the developing child,

WHEREAS, academic instruction, even at Kindergarten level, has been shown to be harmful to the developing child,

WHEREAS, the politicians who push for social reforms, including universal preschools, are more interested in getting elected, re-elected, grabbing power, or making money than with what is best for young children,

WHEREAS, publicly-funded programs usurp parental authority and promote an entitlement mentality,

WHEREAS, it is clear that the strongest motivation of the proponents of publicly funded preschool programs is access to taxpayer monies,

WHEREAS, savvy marketing and slick corporate styled publicity campaigns are purposely making parents feel that they are incapable of teaching their own young children, and falsely suggest that children who don't go to preschool will be unemployable or wind up in prison,

WHEREAS, parents are capable people who should accept responsibility for their children's education and can be effective without the enticements of a government preschool, government "experts," testing and other government interference,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that there should be no voluntary or compulsory government preschool programs,

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Tykes on Trikes, on behalf of a united coalition of young children throughout the world, hereby reclaims childhood with the Preschoolers' Bill of Rights to the end that each child may have a happy childhood and enjoy the rights and freedoms herein set forth, and calls upon parents, all citizens, organizations, local authorities and national governments to recognize these rights and strive for their observance in accordance with the following principles:

Principle 1

Every child shall be entitled to and enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration, without exception and without distinction or discrimination on account of race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, or income or class status.

Principle 2

The child shall be given opportunities to enable him to develop physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, morally, and socially in a healthy and normal manner and in conditions of freedom and dignity. The best interests of the child shall be the paramount consideration.

Principle 3

The child shall enjoy the benefits of a family. A child of tender years (ages 0-5) shall not, save in exceptional circumstances, be separated from his or her mother and father. The child needs love and understanding and shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his or her parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and security.

Principle 4

The child is entitled to receive an education or early learning opportunities that are in the best interests of the child. The responsibility for the child's education and guidance lies solely with his parents. The child shall have full opportunity for interest-initiated exploration, play and recreation facilitated by caring adults (preferably the child's own parents), and public authorities shall protect and promote the enjoyment of these rights.

Principle 5

The child shall be protected against all forms of neglect, cruelty and exploitation, including, but not limited to, enrollment in government funded daycare and preschool programs.

BE IT KNOWN that Tykes On Trikes, on behalf of children ages 0-5 throughout the world, now proclaims...

The Preschoolers' Bill of Rights
Everywhere in the world preschoolers, children ages 0-5, are oppressed.

This document seeks a beginning to redress that imbalance.

1. Preschoolers have the right to a happy childhood.
2. Preschoolers have the right to a loving, functional family.
3. Preschoolers have the right to be cared for and nurtured all day and everyday by the people they love and want to be near the most - their own parents.
4. Preschoolers have the right to hear, "I love you" from their parents frequently throughout the day.
5. Preschoolers have the right to receive plenty of hugs and kisses from their parents.
6. Preschoolers have the right to have parents who have not been intimidated, invalidated, and undermined by so-called experts who fill them full of diaper-doo about how they are incapable, unqualified, and unprepared to give their child what he or she needs.
7. Preschoolers have the right to live and learn in the comfort and security of their own homes.
8. Preschoolers have the right to play and should be encouraged to do so by everyone.
9. Preschoolers have the right to be read to.
10. Preschoolers have the right to be sung to.
11. Preschoolers have the right to ask questions, receive answers based on facts, clarity and honesty, and engage in endless discussions with their parents.
12. Preschoolers have the right to explore their indoor and outdoor environment under the loving supervision and guidance of their parents.
13. Preschoolers have the right to lap time, not circle time, and should be cuddled in their mothers' and fathers' laps frequently throughout the day.
14. Preschoolers, in recognition that the concept of "quality time" is a meaningless fabrication by adults to ease their guilt over forsaking "quantity time" with their own children, have the right to demand abundant amounts of undivided time and attention from their own parents.
15. Preschoolers have the right not to attend preschool.
16. Preschoolers have the right to be heard and heeded, and as the largest minority on earth, reserve the right to speak for themselves especially when their parents, duped into compliance with government and private entities, are incapable of it.
17. Preschoolers have the right to resist any school, daycare, or government or private institution that tries to dumb them down with standardized curriculum and testing.
18. Preschoolers shall have the right to be free from measurement, assessment, evaluation, comparison, labels, diagnostic testing, ranking, and grading, except as chosen by their parents in the interests of the child's health and development.
19. Preschoolers have the right to disobey parents, teachers, politicians, and special interest groups that attempt to enroll them in government subsidized preschool programs against their will.
20. Preschoolers have the right to take class action suits and rise up against misguided parents, educators, celebrities and politicians who attempt to confine them in government funded universal preschools.

This Preschoolers' Bill of Rights is international in scope.

You are welcome to copy this in its entirety as long as you include this credit line:

Copyright 2006, Tykes On Trikes, All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with Permission of http://www.TykesOnTrikes.com/

*The inspiration for Conscious Friday comes from Se'Lah at Necessary Room.