Overstimulation

The 2-year-old who can read, the 6-month-old who knows his ABCs, the twelve-year-old who hates to read, the high school dropout; what do these children all have in common? Chance are they were pushed too hard in their first years of education.

Studies all over the U.S. are convincing parents that vigorous preschool and early reading are the keys to well educated and "smart" children. These young students will look great on paper but by the time they reach third or fourth grade they'll be burnt out.

Two men decides they want to run a 5k race. They both begin preparing and by the end they both will have some sort of result. That result will depend on how they prepared. The first man immediately begins sprinting pushing himself to run for 3 miles every day. In a few weeks he finds that he can run the three miles and is proud of himself. The race isn't for another few weeks though so the man continues to run every day. In another two weeks he's given up on the 5k, is tired of running, and has a sharp pain in his shins.

The second man starts slow by walking a mile and a half every day. He lifts weights and practices on a treadmill and takes a break every Wednesday and Sunday. After a week or two he starts to jog his mile and a half and in another week he starts jogging the 3 miles. By the time the 5k comes along the man is in perfect shape and is excited about the chance. He wins the 5k and keeps running for the rest of his life.

The difference is the way they prepared. This happens with students as well. Students who are pushed to run faster than they are prepared to run right off the bat are more likely to loathe high school and college. It's no wonder that American classrooms are filled with zombie students and bored teachers.