"Educationally Appropriate Learning Environment"--- By age 1: PLEASE HELP

[TiredX2]

Hi all!

My kids are 9 & 11, so this has not been a concern for years. 

My BIL has recently informed my MIL that current research says that children "should be in a developmentally appropirate learning environment" by the time they turn 1 year old.  So, he is currently looking into starting his son (who will turn 1 in late January) into a Goddard School by that time.  Meanwhile, a friend of my husband has twins who just turned 1 and is wondering "whats next" after they turn one (they currently have a nanny in their home).

So... what is the current thinking on this?  Does that AAP have a statement about when kids *should* start school by?  Does anyone know of research that indicates that children should be in school by one?  With my kids, they each did one year of co-op preschool (two days a week) before they were school aged, so obviously not what we went with, lol.

I'd really appreciate any input on current suggested practice for child-care/ preschool at 1 year.

[tzs]

oh my gosh....that's nuts!!!!!

i work in a preschool...a really good one at that...and my take is that for a one year-old the most developmentally appropriate learning environment is at home if you have the choice. i think that before 3 or so....the best thing a daycare can do is #1) make sure the kids aren't killing each other and #2) show them as much love as they can while spreading it around to the other 5, 6, or 7 kids in the room. and that's it. 

i "teach" kids that are now 20-24 months old and my goal is to engage them without being overstimulated and make the environment as much like home as possible. i do not try to "teach" them by any means. honestly, in some cases i just feel like its our job to make sure they come out with as little emotional damage as possible. 2 year olds are just not equiped emotionally or developmentally to spend the day interacting with other 2 year olds and even more so with younger babes.

so if i had the choice and i was doing it only for their own good and not any family needs, i might start my kid out at 3 or 4 maybe for half-days.

[waiting2bemommy]

I used to work at a Goddard School. When I toured the facility I was initially really impressed, and they have a terrific pre-k program, I give them that. But the one year old program? Bleh. I definitely would not have put my one year old in the class room had I not been working there. He liked it ok, and I guess if you wanted some socialization with a learning-friendly environment (because I don't think you should be shoving any kind of acadeimcs down a one year old's throat) it would be a good place. But I would not do it more than 2 days a week for maybe 3 hrs.

I think it's ridiculous thatpeople think a child's parents cannot provde everything a child needs to learn at 12 - 18 months old. Ridiculous.

[2xy]

This is reminding me of Rick Moranis' character in that movie Parenthood with Steve Martin.

Babies learn by watching adults. They don't need any more than decent, intelligent adults in their lives in order to learn what they need to know.

[NevadaMama]

I think that is totally ridiculous. I agree with 2xy that children learn by watching adults. At least with us, our biggest goal with DD up to this point is to not overstimulate her and to try to provide a calm, nurturing environment where she feels safe enough to explore and learn on her own. I really don't think she would get this anywhere else except at home with us. It has been a financial struggle with me no longer working, but we feel strongly that the benefits to DD outweigh the occasional night out or shopping trip.

I would highly recommend reading You Are Your Child's First Teacher. I bought it when DD was 6 months old and it has really helped us to establish the type of learning environment that we want for DD. It is Waldorf-based, but even if Waldorf isn't your thing, there are some excellent ideas and insights into how children learn best.

[hakeber]

Many cultures contend that the home is the most developentally appropriate place of learning for children until about 7.

I think before the age of seven teachers are mostly practicing mob control, and while those social skills are good to learn, they can be learned in many places besides a school.

I would love to see their syllabus

[McGucks]

What a load of horse crap.  As a teacher for 17 years and a parent of two children, I can tell you that schools have their place...for school-aged children whose parents choose to send them there.  Gracious.  The necessary curriculum for a one year old includes love and safety:  if parents can be the ones to deliver it, all the better.

[TiredX2]

My gut (and past research) agrees with all of you.  We're just *such* different parents, though, and I wondered if there was some new info I didn't know about.  Looking back, I only wish I had kept DS out of school *longer* (and he was 4 because he even did co-op preschool)!

Thanks.  If anyone has any current profession organization (like AAP, or Teachers Association) recommendations OR research that is like less than 5 years old, I would *love* to see it!

[BathrobeGoddess]

Yes a child should be in a DAP learning everyman at birth but that can be most certainly be the home..it can be a quality daycare (which is reality for 40% of parents in the USA, daycare).  Home is perfectly acceptable!  I think they are misunderstanding the research around this.  A child's brain does the most developing in that 0-3 age range and so many parents think that means they must be in school.  However, a DAP environment for a 1 year old would be to play all day with naps...a 1 year old's brain is setting up for all future learning so getting a child outside, giving the child a lot of interesting cause and effect toys and just talking to the child is really all they need...in a daycare environment the key is quality. An overly academic environment for any young child is developmentally inappropriate and overly academic is going to include ANY academics at this age.  IF they are concerned with socialization (which seems to be the big issue this year-no idea why but these things come and go) join a playgroup.

And that is my professional recommendation!  Unless they need daycare, it isn't necessary, they can provide a stimulating and DAP environment at home without doing anything special. There is not endorsement by any professional organization for putting a 1 year old in school for any reason than needed for parental employment. There is a lot of work going on in this nation to improve quality in a infant to three classroom.  We in the USA do a really terrible job on the whole at providing quality care that isn't just basic physical car giving.  I teach both graduate and undergrad (including community college) teacher training courses and I see how clueless even well meaning teachers can be when it comes to understanding or even knowing child development.