The Kids Have Changed.....

Or have they? When I walked past the Gesell Institute display at the ASCD conference I found myself smiling as I remembered being introduced to the ideas of Arnold Gesell at the University of Connecticut in the 1970s. First published in the 1920s, a recent study of children in the 21^st century showed the same sequence of development, at the same ages, as children in the 1920s. Of course we know that evolution doesn’t happen in one generation yet some push for moving forward with curriculum and tests that are cognitively advanced for children’s chronological ages.

While children may appear smarter, it is just in a culturally savvy way, not in a deep understanding of it. 2 year olds can no better interpret the symbolism of sesame street characters, as 3 year olds can understand oblique angles, or 4 year olds understand conservation of matter. Sure they can be trained to draw acute angles and write four digit numbers, but understanding comes later.

So, if Gesell’s data is valid (and research shows it continues to be) why are we pushing advanced curriculum down to lower and lower grades. Time spent teaching all kindergarteners to write full sentences and teaching algebra to all 8^th graders may not be productive because of developmental constancies and differences. Babies all start walking at different times and new skiers don’t start on the double diamond slopes their first time out.

There’s nothing wrong with moving forward with those who are developmentally ready. But most children also need the training wheels of musical rhythms to stimulate the patterning part of the brain and opportunities for art that build imagination as well as small motor skills, and yes, even dress up to build language and social skills.