Word: preschoolers
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...rational argument; fear of failure is harder to hose down. What could be more natural than worrying that your child might be trampled by the great, scary, globally competitive world into which she will one day be launched? It is this fear that inspires parents to demand homework in preschool, produce the snazzy bilingual campaign video for the third-grader's race for class rep, continue to provide the morning wake-up call long after he's headed off to college...
...faltering. Sitcoms like Gilligan's Island began to push out locally produced kids' shows, while animation studios like Hanna-Barbera offered their own distractions. In 1990 the Children's Television Act required that all stations air at least three hours of educational programming a week, prompting a brainteasing revolution. Preschool kids now learn problem-solving from Blue's Clues, teamwork from Wonder Pets! and Mandarin from Ni Hao, Kai-lan. Good thing they already know how to get to Sesame Street...
...better preschool education is the solution: "Brain scans and neuroscience have now shown conclusively that the best time to influence a child's trajectory in life is during the child's earliest years when the architecture of the brain is literally under construction. ... 'School readiness skills' are more than just learning the ABC's or knowing how to count. Young children also need to learn to share, wait their turn, follow directions, and build relationships. This is when children begin to develop a conscience - differentiating right from wrong - and when they start learning to stick with a task until...
...feng knows she was one of the lucky ones. "My husband thought we were washed away," says Wu, a pregnant preschool teacher, sitting in a shelter for typhoon victims in the small town of Cishan in southern Taiwan. When Typhoon Morakot struck the island on Aug. 8, bringing nearly 9 ft. (around 2.5 m) of rain and the island's worst floods in over 50 years, Wu grabbed her 1-year-old son and climbed three hours to higher ground. There, she and hundreds of people from her village waited three stormy days and nights before military helicopters rescued...
...complex formula apportions roughly 40% of the state budget to K-14 education. In the past three decades, other special interests have authored - and voters have passed - numerous ballot measures dictating that millions in state funds go to various pet causes. Many of these measures, including a preschool initiative sponsored by Schwarzenegger in 2002, mandate a program but fail to provide a source of funding. Each proposal alone might have merit, but collectively these ballot measures have locked most of California's budget in place. "Gradually, the voters' piecemeal decisions have bound the legislature in a straightjacket," says Thad Kousser...