Moon 1

Jessa Moon
Cosmin Ritivoiu
English 102
7 May 2015
A Head Start is Not the Best Start
All throughout the world parents are attempting to give their kids a head start by teaching
them to read by four years of age, having them watch educational videos, and by enrolling them
in school as early as possible. They assume that when their children read earlier and go to school
earlier they will have a head start which will last their whole lives. This, however, may not be the
case. Research suggests that enrolling children in school at an earlier age actually inhibits the
childs development to start school at an earlier age. When children wait to begin school until
they are eight to nine years of age, they will be ready and more prepared to learn.
For many people this concept seems very foreign. American society says that when
children begin school at an earlier age they will be better prepared and ready for life. Raymond
and Dorothy Moore, authors of the book Better Late than Early, tell the story of their daughter
bringing them a beautiful red rosebud (Moore 81). The five-year-old girl was so excited to show
her parents how she was blooming it. With her fingers she pulled back the petals very carefully
until they flower was bloomed. When her parents compared the rose which she had carefully
forced open to a rose which had bloomed naturally she was quickly able to see the difference
between the two. Compared to the natural unfolding of the flower, the flower which she had
bloomed no longer looked so pretty. Instead of being able to unfold naturally when it was time, it
was forced to open early.
In their book Better Late than Early Raymond and Dorothy Moore write:

Moon 2

The wisdom of forcing a childs intellect has little basis either in research or in
common sense. Usually, stimulating anything to go faster simply because it can
go fast will merely insure an earlier breakdown. This is implicitly true whenever
we try to rush nature and it is especially true in the development of children.
Children should be permitted to unfold as naturally as a flower. (Moore 81)
This drastically contradicts the way many people today view the development of children.
Raymond and Dorothy Moore suggest that children, although they may have the capability of
developing faster, will ultimately be hindered in their growth and will grow tired of learning by
being forced to learn at a young age when they are not developmentally ready.
Psychologist Jean Piaget agrees that children should not be rushed, but instead allowed to
develop and mature at their own rate (Piaget 120). The learning process should not be hurried
simply so children may get a head start in learning. In the end this will cause them to grow weary
of learning at a young age.
When speaking of teaching a child to read at an early age, Moore writes: Reading
specialists often find that children who have been forced in this way to read at early ages become
frustrated and lose their motivation (Moore 85, 86). This research suggests that although
children may begin reading early the early start often results in the childs motivation burning out
early. Moore continues: Frequently, they level out on a motivational plateau at about grade three
or four. They lose interest. The great excitement for school is gone (Moore 86). When a child is
not yet ready for school and is pushed; not being able to mature at a natural rate, the excitement
of learning will quickly fade away.
Children vastly differ in the rate which they develop. Willard Olson, a psychologist from
the University of Michigan states: children of the same age and same grade location are

Moon 3

regularly found to differ by as much as four or five years in their maturation and readiness to
perform tasks (Olson 113). One reason children are not ready for school at ages five or six is
because many of their senses are not fully developed yet. Recent research also suggests this
(Montessori).
Many parents push children to learn to read at an early age when in actuality their
eyesight is not fully developed until around age eight. In their book, Better Late than Early,
Raymond and Dorothy Moore write:
Teachers commonly noted that children of 6 or younger are often not able to see
well enough to read properly. Frequently, this is also noted in 7-year-olds. Yet
there are those who argue that children should be encouraged to read at the age of
2 or 3.Some researchers and scholars insist that there is strong evidence that a
childs eyes are not physiologically ready for continual and consistent reading
until he is at least 8 or even older. (Moore 68)
It has been suggested that childrens eyes are not physiologically ready to read. Many people still
try to advance their children by having them read at an early age. They assume that when they
read earlier they will read better, but some children simply are not ready to read at ages five and
six.
Ophthalmologist, Henry Hilgartner, kept close clinical records for more than fifty years
of all the children between ages 8 and 12 whose eyes were examined in Austin, Texas. Over
time, he found that for children between ages eight and twelve, farsightedness was common and
normal. In 1930 for every two children with normal eyesight there was one child with abnormal
eyesight. In 1931 the age at which children went to school changed again to age six. By 1940 the
ratio of normal to abnormal eyesight in children changed again to one to one. Then after

Moon 4

television had been introduced, the numbers changed to one normal to five abnormal sighted
children. (Moore 71) This suggests that as children were using their eyes for close work such as
reading in school their eyesight went was damaged.
Hilgartner says: During the 3 or 4 hours that the beginner, age 6, is in school he is using
all the ocular muscles for accommodation and convergence, in order to see the pictures,
drawings, etc. If he were outdoors, playinghe would not be using his eyes excessively for close
work. When a child is in school and learning to read the strain on the eyes can be damaging.
Childrens eyes should mainly be used for distant vision and looking at large objects, not for
reading and writing (Dewey). All day children are continually using their eyes for close work.
Whether they are focusing on picture, looking at the teacher, drawing or reading, they are
focusing close on images. For eyes which are not yet developed, this is strenuous and can be
discouraging. When a child is trying to learn to read and is being pushed to learn, but their eyes
are simply not developed yet, it can breed discouragement and frustration. This may lead to a
dislike for learning and school.
Another sense which is developed later is hearing. This is important because reading
largely depends on auditory skills as well as visual. In order to read, children must be able to
distinguish between two similar, but different sounds such as b and d. The fact that the
auditory skills of children are not generally developed until around age eight explains why many
children mispronounce words (Moore 73).
It is important to wait for all the senses of a child to develop. Moore states:
For a child to develop maturity in any one of the senses alone is not adequate for
ease of learning. It is important that all his senses be reasonably well developed,

Moon 5

for pleasant learning requires the integration and cooperation of not only vision
and hearing, but also of touch, smell and taste. (Moore 74)
Once again, children may be able to learn, when forced, but like the blooming of the rose, when
it happens unnaturally it results in damage.
Many children today are taken to doctors and specialists because their parents fear
they may have a learning disability, auditory, or visual problems, when in actuality they simply
have not matured yet and are in need of more time. This is what Moore says concerning waiting
for maturity: We suggest the possibility that by simply waiting for the child to develop
reasonable levels of maturity, as suggested earlier, many children may avoid serious learning
problems altogether (Moore 76). It can be beneficial to simply wait for a child to mature before
attempting to teach them to learn to read and write.
In her book, Child Guidance, Ellen White speaks against sending children to school at a
young age, It is customary to send very young children to school. They are required to study
from books things that tax their young minds This course is not wise. A nervous child should
not be overtaxed in any direction (White 300). White expresses here that it can be harmful for a
small child to be under the stress of school and it is not wise to do so.
Even if parents understand that their children are not developmentally ready for
school at ages five and six, they still may be cautious of not starting them in school at the
traditional age of five-years-old. For some it can be too culturally different for them to accept.
Many are concerned that their children will fall behind in school and will be far behind all the
other children in their education. There are many examples which prove that there is no real
advantage to beginning school earlier and children are actually better off when they start school
when they are developmentally ready.

Moon 6

Raymond and Dorothy Moore write about sixty children who were six and nine years of
age. They were from a community in Prince Edward County, Virginia. This community had not
had any schooling for four years. These children were compared to other children of the same
age from a different community which had a similar socioeconomic status. They found that the
six year olds from both communities performed the same. What surprised them most was that
both of the groups of nine year olds performed the same. There was not a difference between the
children who had been in school and the ones who had not (Moore 79).
Raymond and Dorothy Moore discuss the ideas of psychologist William Rohwer:
Psychologist William Rohwer suggests that for many children efforts to increase
independent perception or cognitive ability are more likely to succeed if they are
delayeduntil near the end of the elementary school years. Rohwer also
suggests that all of the learning necessary for success in meeting high school
demands can be accomplished in only two or three years-the junior high school
years. If prescribed instruction were delayed until those years, he believes, any
children might achieve greater academic success (Moore 79).
This information suggests that children who do not begin school at an early age are not only at
the same level as those children who begin school at a traditional age, but they actually surpass
them.
Psychiatrist J.T. Fisher agrees with Rohwer in both his clinical and his personal
experience. Fisher did not begin school until he was thirteen years of age and he completed high
school at sixteen. Later in life he learned and agreed with psychologists that the reason for his
rapid learning was not the result of genius, but it was because those children starting school in

Moon 7

their teen years are able to rapidly catch up to their peers who have been in school all along.
(Moore 80).
While children are not in school for the first years of their life they should receive and
education, not one from books, but an education of character from their parents. In her book
Child Guidance, Ellen White says, During the first six or seven years of a childs life, special
attention should be given to its physical training, rather than the intellect. After this period, if the
physical constitution is good, the education of both should receive attention (White 300). This
statement agrees with many psychologists now. Many are starting to realize that in the early
years of a childs life the most beneficial thing for them is to be at home giving time for physical
training.
White continues, Infancy extends to the age of six or seven years. Up to this period
children should be left, like little lambs, to roam around the house and in the yards, in the
buoyancy of their spirits, skipping and jumping, free from care and trouble (White, Child 50).
Here White says that children at ages six and seven are still in infancy. These children are not
ready to begin in intellectual training, instead they should be educated in character and in manual
labor.
When describing the ideal atmosphere to grow in White says in her book Education,
Children should not be long confined within doors, nor should they be required to apply
themselves closely to study until a good foundation has been laid for physical development. For
the first eight or ten years of a childs life the field or garden is the best schoolroom, the mother
the best teacher, nature the best lesson book (White 208). This is the ideal for children, to be in
an environment where they are free to grow and develop naturally, an environment where they
are outside, surrounded by nature, and under the influence of their parents.

Moon 8

Another important aspect of education in the early life is parental influence. White
emphasises the importance of the mother being the first teacher. In her book, Child Guidance,
White says: The mother should be the teacher, and home the school there every child receives his
first lessons; and these lessons should include habits of industry. Mothers, let the little ones play
in the open air; let them listen to the songs of the birds and learn the love of God as expressed in
His beautiful works (White 301). For the mother to be the first teacher in a childs life is the
ideal situation. This is not always possible. A single mother may need to work in able to support
her children, but in cases where it is at all possible, the mother should be the first and primary
teacher, teaching her children the importance of following God.
Here, White warns against sending children to school too early and stresses the
importance of a mothers influence: Do not send your little ones to school too early. The mother
should be careful how she trusts the molding of the infant mind to other hands. Many mothers
feel that they have not time to instruct their children, and in order to get them out of the way, and
get rid of their noise and trouble, they send them to school (White, Child 302). It is still the
same today. Mothers are busy and few feel as though they have time to educate their children.
They are not as involved in the lives of their children as they should be and they do not see the
importance of this involvement.
There are times that this important and vital job of raising children seems impossible to
parents. Without the Spirit of God it is impossible for them to do, but with the Spirit of God it is
possible. White says, More than human wisdom is needed by parents at every step, that they
may understand how best to educate their children for a useful, happy life here, and for higher
service and greater joy hereafter (White, Child 21). Although at times it may seem difficult for
parents to instruct their children and sending a child to school seems to be the obvious and easy

Moon 9

solution it is often not what is best for the child. When the child is at a young age the best place
for them to be is at home with their parents.
White speaks of how sending children to school at a young age can also harm them
spiritually:
Not only has the physical and mental health of children been endangered by being
sent to school at too early a period, but they have been the losers in a moral point
of view. They have had opportunities to become acquainted with children who
were uncultivated in their manners. They were thrown into the society of the
coarse and rough, who lie, swear, steal and deceive and who delight to impart
their knowledge of vice to those younger than themselves. (White, Child 302)
Children are very easily influenced. If parents desire for their children to know God and grow in
Him it is best that they not give their children over to another for spiritual guidance. It is best,
although not possible in every situation, for children to not start school until later and spend
those first years at home, under the influence of their parents.
After hearing how it is not best to start children in school until an older age parents try to
find out what age is best. In most cases it is best to wait until age eight to begin school (Flesch
110). However, all children grow and develop at different rates. One child may be
developmentally ready at age seven when another child might not be ready until ten. In their
book School Can Wait, Raymond and Dorothy Moore say:
Some children develop at different rates, including sex-related differences,
researchers cannot pinpoint a specific age at which they are ready to begin formal
schooling. Yet over whelming evidence on readiness for normal childrenincluding gifted- points to later rather than earlier school entrance: seldom, if

Moon 10

ever, before eight and often ten or olderThis does not suggest that an eight or
nine-year-old should enroll in the first grade, but rather with his social peers.
Experience has proven that he usually will catch up with, and often pass, those
who have entered earlier. (86)
Parents must get to know each of their children personally and, case by case, determine when
each of their children are ready to begin school.
Some parents may believe that their children are an exception to the rule and believe that
they should be enrolled at school at an early age. Raymond and Dorothy Moore write:
Acceleration of bright children alone may sometimes be sound practice.
However, research shows that delayed schooling with acceleration at a later age is
more effective and potentially less damaging-mentally, socially and emotionallythan early school entrance. In fact, many studies show that, except for certain
severely deprived or handicapped children, children who are older at school
entrance generally do better in all aspects of learning and adjustment than younger
children. (86)
Even for accelerated children it is often best for them to, like other children, stay at home until
they are older. It is best to wait until they are not just mentally, but also socially and emotionally
ready to enter school.
From this evidence many researchers have concluded that although it goes against
tradition and the assumptions of many people, children are better off when they wait to begin
school until they are older, around age eight. When they begin at an early age, rather than getting
a head start they end up becoming worn out and tired of learning because they are not yet ready
to begin formal schooling. It is better for them to be at home with their parents as their teachers

Moon 11

and nature as their school. Then, rather than being forced to develop, they are able to develop at a
natural rate.

Moon 12

Works Cited
"Development of Senses." Development of Senses. Web. 5 May 2015.
Dewey, John. "The Primary Education Fetich." Forum 25 (1898). Print.
Flesch, Rudolf. Why Johnny Still Can't Read. Harper and Row, 1981. Print.
Hilgartner, Henry. "The Frequency of Myopia in Individuals Under 21 Years of Age."
Moore, Raymond S., and Dorothy N. Moore. School Can Wait. Provo, Utah: Brigham Young UP,
1979. Print.
Moore, Raymond S., and Dorothy N. Moore. Better Late than Early: A New Approach to Your
Child's Education. New York: Reader's Digest :, 1975. Print.
Olson, Willard. "Experieces for Growing." NEA Journal 36 (1947): 502-03. Print.
Piaget, Jean. "The Stages of the Intellectual Development of the Child." Bullein of the Meinger
Clinic 26.3 (1962): 120-45. Print.
(1962). Print.
White, Ellen Gould Harmon. Child Guidance; Counsels to Seventh-Day Adventist Parents as Set
Forth in the Writings of Ellen G. White. Nashville: Southern Pub. Association, 1954. Print
White, Ellen Gould Harmon. Education. Mountain View, Calif.: Pacific Pub. Association, 1952.
Print.