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NURSERY SCHOOLS OFFER MORE THAN 3 R'S
(Condensed from article in PM by Irma S. Black)

Discussing pros and cons of sending a child to nursery school, many adults share mistaken theory that Junior is sent to nursery school in order to learn something specific...preferably bookish or skills such as drawing and printing. More and more educators have realized that teaching the three r's is only a small part of any school's job. It contributes to the growth of well rounded personalities and civilized social attitudes. Yet many parents even today assume that everything educational must be concerned with books. The real value of a nursery school is that it places the emphasis squarely upon social and personality development.

Children learn some of the most important lessons of their lives not from books but people, from things, and from experiences.

Today, small families usually offer a very limited social experience. One of the outstanding advantages of nursery school is that a child learns to know well a whole group of people children and adults.

In a nursery school, Junior learns to play with other children amicably, that he must wait his turn at swing or slide.

Each child learns what he needs most to learn. The very aggressive child who has been accustomed to bludgeoning his way in play learns from day to day experience that he will go farther faster if he talks rather than hits.

The extremely shy child, who has avoided social play, learns that he may have more fun in a group than alone.

The show-offy child learns that other youngsters pay little attention to his antics, and that he has to come across with more concrete goods if he wants to interest them. All of the children learn to feel secure and happy with other grown ups besides their parents.

The small child at nursery school learns to accept a regular routine with a minimum of fuss and excitement and a maximum of sturdy self help.

No one in school is anxious or angry when Junior refuses to do what the other children are doing. No one forces him to conform to a ready made pattern. No one forces him to start dressing himself when it is time to go outdoors.

If Junior sees his friends struggling with their coats and he can see the teacher is busy, in nine times out of ten, Junior will try to get his coat on, too. This kind of learning is not imposed. It grows naturally out of the situation itself.

In a nursery school the pre-school child acquires wholesome attitudes toward sexual differences. Washing and toileting cannot be private matters in these early years. At first, may of the children will show an interest in sexual differences, but after a few months their curiosity is usually satisfied and such differences are no longer the subject of comment.

The child who has ample opportunity to see what other children are like in a healthy, unself-conscious way is not going to be oppressed by morbid curiosity.

This article is not intended to give the impression the nursery educators are opposed to learning. They are opposed only to learning that is not suited to a child's maturity or understanding.

Since children are notably egocentric in their early years, they will learn best about things that concern themselves. Abstract learning is meaningless to a young child and will lead to confusion rather than knowledge.

These "lessions" cannot be measured by examinations and marks. Nor can they be learned at any other time as easily as in the pre-school years. They become part of a child's personality, and part of his ease in new situations of his ability to play fair and to think straight.

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