The Critical Importance of Physical Foundations

Who was the first president of the United States?  George Washington.  Now let me ask you another question: how do you tie your shoelaces?  Don’t show me, just tell me.  You can’t tell me, can you?  Your response to my question is likely to be, “I don’t know, I just do it!”

Think about it.  A lot of “lessons” you learned during the early years of your life have a physical rather than intellectual base.  And while it is obvious that infants and toddlers are not mental creatures and are learning largely through sensory and motor experiences, the fact that preschoolers also need to have their education physically based is not so readily recognized. Continue reading

“Achievement” Does Not Necessarily Involve “Advancement”

A common mistake that mothers and fathers tend to make is viewing their child’s educational development in strictly vertical terms.  They conceptualize progress as climbing up to the next highest rung on a ladder; and the more quickly their child is moving up, the more progress she is making.

However, educational development is better conceptualized as building a pyramid.  In order for the structure to have integrity and stability, the bottom layers need to be wide and firm.  As a result, it is wise to recognize that educational development is proceeding horizontally as well as vertically and that children are making enormous and extremely important progress as they complete each level fully before moving on to the next. Continue reading