School Can Wait

This was an excellent read. The research is a little heavy, but the results chapter sums it all up nicely and puts it into context. I would highly recommend this book for everybody with young children who is trying to figure out their schooling options.

At first glance, this seems like a text on early childhood education for sociologists, psychologists, early child educators, and college students only. As you get into the text, however, you find that the end of numerous chapters are dedicated to parents who want to give their children the best learning opportunities possible at home. Super book for parents that aren't interested in farming their kids out to daycare as soon as possible. Primary caregivers (moms or dads) this is excellent reading to give you a boost if you're thinking your job at home isn't really important and critical to your child's future.

If you have kids, or if you pay taxes that support schools, you need to read this book. The Moores' thesis is that children aren't physically or emotionally ready for school until they are 10 to 12 years old. Emotionally, younger children (age 10 and below) need a loving, permanent relationship with a few persons. This is a perfect description of the relationship between parents and child. Sending the young child off to school gives the child the opposite of that: at school the child gets superficial relationships with many people. The result is that the child loses the sense of security he needs, forms unsatisfactory bonds with other children, and may never form the essential bond with his parents. Physically, children's brains are simply not ready for many of the demands of school before age 10 to 12, so the years spent in school are wasted academically. The gains that the children make during those early years in school could be made in a year or two starting at a later age, with fewer negative consequences. Homeschooling parents don't have to worry about the emotional affects of typical homechooling practice, but we do have to worry about trying to push academics too early. This book shows us that it is possible to push too much, too early, and that the harm we do could outweigh the good. It's not all gloom; I think that it can also show us how to push our kids as fast as they should go, and no faster. The Moores present an impressive and convincing mass of research from the fields of optometry, neurophysiology, sociology and education to support their thesis. The bibliography has over 700 entries, mostly peer-reviewed research. The Moores contribution with this book has been to tie together research threads from several disciplines, and make it accessible to parents, while still making it useful to scholars.