I LOVE your post!

I came into this field through a bachelor's degree and experience working in a preschool. Now I do family child care. The more I learn about child development, the more I move away from an "education" model and towards a "care" model. I too love John Holt and Vivian Gussin Paley.

I actually think that most of the early childhood "learning activities" that you see in preschool settings actually get in the way of real learning.

As a preschool teacher, I was told to speak to children in forced, unnatural ways to improve literacy or boost comprehension or whatever. "Oh, Billy, you are eating CIRCLE shaped crackers. Sally has a RECTANGLE shaped sandwich." Ugh. And we wonder why some kids grow to have poor social skills. Whatever happened to real conversation, not contrived around a theme or secretly trying to teach shape recognition?

There is so much pressure to follow these practices, though. Parents want to see cutesy crafts sent home in their kids backpacks. They are under social pressure to have their 2-year-olds recognizing letters and numbers and colors. So we are expected to quiz them.

Get this... my 18-month old son was playing at the train table and picked up two trains, one green and one black. I watched as he looked at the black one and said "Black." And then he looked at the green one and said, "Neen." I smiled and stayed out of it, as I'm trying to do more and more these days. My husband saw, and was excited, and said, "Wow! What one is the black one???" (hoping he'd name it again). My son just stared at him, put down the trains, and walked away. I think kids dislike being put on the spot to perform just like we would as adults. What if my son was in a classroom setting and a teacher was asking him questions like this, and he was responding in the same way by not answering or walking away? I think it would be assumed that he didn't know his colors when clearly he does, but he just doesn't want to perform.

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