"First published in the United States of America by Viking, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2016"
Includes bibliographical references (pages 339-364) and index
Little learners : the classroom called childhood -- Goldilocks goes to daycare : finding the right zone for learning -- Natural born artists : the creative powers of childhood -- Search for intelligent life : un-standard learning -- Just kidding : the fragmented generation -- Played out : habitat loss and the extinction of play -- Stuffed : navigating the material world -- The secret lives of children : fear, fantasy, and the emotional appetite -- Use your words : hearing the language of childhood -- Well connected : the roles grownups play -- Hiding in plain sight : early learning and the American Dream.
"To a four-year-old watching bulldozers at a construction site or chasing butterflies in flight, the world is awash with promise. Little children come into the world hardwired to learn in virtually any setting and about any matter. Yet in todays preschool and kindergarten classrooms, learning has been reduced to scripted lessons and suspect metrics that too often undervalue a child's intelligence while overtaxing the child's growing brain. These mismatched expectations wreak havoc on the family: parents fear that if they choose the wrong" program, their child won't get into the "right" college. But Yale early childhood expert Erika Christakis says our fears are wildly misplaced. Our anxiety about preparing and safeguarding our children's future seems to have reached a fever pitch at a time when, ironically, science gives us more certainty than ever before that young children are exceptionally strong thinkers. In her pathbreaking book, Christakis explains what it's like to be a young child in America today, in a world designed by and for adults, where we have confused schooling with learning. She offers real-life solutions to real-life issues, with nuance and direction that takes us far beyond the usual prescriptions for fewer tests, more play. She looks at children's use of language, their artistic expressions, the way their imaginations grow, and how they build deep emotional bonds to stretch the boundaries of their small worlds. Rather than clutter their worlds with more and more stuff, sometimes the wisest course for us is to learn how to get out of their way."-- description from publisher's website
