Study makes a case against paddling, finds link between corporal punishment, failure to graduat

[JDPriestly]

16. The problem is the immaturity of children when they start school.

We start everyone at the same age. Some children are not ready, not mature enough. It is not a matter of intelligence. It is a matter of being able to sit still and listen, of being able to remain sitting for what is to a child an interminably long, boring time. Smaller classes would help.

But the most important thing is to have a play-oriented three-year pre-school available for every child at no cost to the family. That's what many European countries like Austria, Germany and France provided when I lived there. A child needs to learn to be in a classroom situation without the rigors of strict lessons.

Obama has proposed something like this. We need to fund and implement it. It would be such a godsend for kids like you were. My children had that kind of pre-school. They were never pushed, and they had to take a drawing test to get into the first grade. That drawing test revealed their readiness for school, their ability to follow simple directions, etc.