>Although I'm horrified, I'm not in the least surprised at your message,
>Martin. This approach responds to OECD initiatives, which is driven by
>business demands, and is inscribed in the Australian National Training
>Authority's "vision" for the future.
>
>So long to childhood for the time being. We'll raise "rational" little
>beings if it kills us, and it probably will.
>
>Phil
>
>At 10:25 25-06-99 +0100, you wrote:
>>We live in interesting times:
>>Martin
>>The Guardian, London (alas no longer Manchester)
>> 23 June 1999, The Guardian, p.5
>> Play is out, early learning is in / Home News
>> John Carvel, Education Editor
>>
>>
>>"Minister backs structured nursery schooling and warns days of children
>>colouring and cutting are over
>>
>>Children should start learning to read, write and count as young as three,
>>and should have mastered the rudiments before the end of their first year
>>in primary school, the government said yesterday as minister set out to
>>bury the idea that early childhood is a time for carefree play.
>>
>>Margaret Hodge, the education minister, said children from disadvantaged
>>backgrounds deserved the
>> well-structured nursery education that was seen as a matter of course in
>>middle class homes.
>>
>>Play in playgroups and nurseries should be "purposeful''. The days of
>>toddlers "colouring, cutting and pasting''
>>are over. "
>>
>>
>>"Targets for toddlers
>>
>> Naming and sounding all the letters of the alphabet;
>>
>> Reading a range of common words and simple sentences
>>independently;
>>
>> Showing comprehension of stories;
>>
>> Holding a pencil effectively and forming recognisable letters;
>>
>> Using phonetic knowledge to make plausible attempts at complex
>>words;
>>
>> Writing their own names and forming sentences, sometimes using
>>punctuation;
>>
>> Counting reliably up to 10 everyday objects:
>>
>> Recognising numerals 1 to 9;
>>
>> Understanding the vocabulary of adding and subtracting;
>>
>> Asking about why things happen and how things work."
>>
>>
>Phil Graham
>p.graham who-is-at qut.edu.au
>http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Palms/8314/index.html
Dr Geoff Hayward
University Lecturer in Educational Studies and Research Fellow of SKOPE
University of Oxford Department of Educational Studies
15 Norham Gardens
Oxford
OX2 6PY
Tel: 01865 274007
Fax: 01865 274027