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I am very much opposed to universal or required pre-school for 3 and 4 year old children. I'm also opposed to all day kindergarten for 4 year olds. My argue is simple, children need time to be children before they become part of an assembly line education system.

I had my first three children within a three year period, then took a five year break and became pregnant again. During the first phase of my life as a mother, organized and structured day care centers were few and far between. So my first three children did not have any other formal school or learning sessions until they started the traditional half-day kindergarten at age 5. Child #4, however, arrive during my era as a feminist. So, by the time he was 16 months old I have him enrolled in a structured day care system.

The net result was that at age three or four, Child #4 was more academically inclined than his older siblings had been at the same age. He moved into the more structured educational system with less fear than his older siblings and for a few years, he perhaps performed better than his siblings had in the early elementary grades. But, he did not maintain the academic edge all the way through the system. By sixth grade he was no brighter, no more competent, and no more accomplished than his older siblings had been at that age.

So, in the long run, there was no real academic gain. But, look at what was lost - Bonding time with Mom, Dad and other family members.

I believe that it is important to allow children to be children before we start trying to shape them into future adults, wage earners, political leaders, and corporate executive officers. A child's learning ability from infancy through age six is absolutely incredible! They don't need structured learning, all exposure and affection and they will learn to walk and talk and express emotion.

I have a two and one-half year old grand daughter that has never attended a day care center or any other structured environment. But, she is incredibly smart and loves to learn new things. She's filled with questions and curiosity and spontaneous learning ability. However, like any young child, her attention span can vary from extremely focused on one particular subject (numbers, for example) to exploring her verablization skills, or exploring the outdoors, or working on personal hygiene skills.

At home, or in a non-structured personal care environment, my grand daughter is free to spend the entire day learning more letters

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