What do you think?
Rate this book
Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk
Designed to help parents avoid the miseducation of young children. Dr. Elkind shows us the very real difference between the mind of a pre-school child and that of a school age child.
240 pages, Paperback
First published November 12, 1987
17 people are currently reading
307 people want to read
About the author
David Elkind
72 books44 followersDavid Elkind is an American child psychologist and author. His groundbreaking books The Hurried Child and Miseducation informed early childhood education professionals of the possible dangers of "pushing down" the elementary curriculum into the very early years of a child's life. By doing so, he argued, teachers and parents alike could lapse into developmentally inappropriate instructional and learning practices that may distort the smooth development of learning. He is associated with the belief of decline of social markers.
He also wrote Ties that Stress: The New Family Imbalance (1994), All Grown Up and No Place To Go (1988), and Reinventing Childhood (1988). His most recent article titled, "Can We Play?", is featured in Greater Good magazine (published by the Greater Good Science Center), and discusses how play is essential to positive human development but children are playing less than in previous eras.
from wikipedia.org
He also wrote Ties that Stress: The New Family Imbalance (1994), All Grown Up and No Place To Go (1988), and Reinventing Childhood (1988). His most recent article titled, "Can We Play?", is featured in Greater Good magazine (published by the Greater Good Science Center), and discusses how play is essential to positive human development but children are playing less than in previous eras.
from wikipedia.org
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
March 16, 2011
While this book was written a few decades ago, it contains very pertinent information about our society's sad need to educate earlier and harder. Just today I read an article about a mother suing her daughter's preschool for $19,000, claiming the school ruined her child's chances at an Ivy League education by "only" teaching colors and letters. In PRESCHOOL, mind you.
This book does a nice job of describing the different types of pushy parents and the different ways they try to accelerate their children's learning, often with good intentions and often resulting in harm to the child. While I don't consider myself pushy, I did recognize a teeny, tiny bit of myself in some of his stories. Constant vigilance must be my new cry (Professor Moody would be so pleased.)
The stories and information are only slightly dated (with the exception of the chapter on computers, which was funny.) Definitely worth a read if you have small children.
This book does a nice job of describing the different types of pushy parents and the different ways they try to accelerate their children's learning, often with good intentions and often resulting in harm to the child. While I don't consider myself pushy, I did recognize a teeny, tiny bit of myself in some of his stories. Constant vigilance must be my new cry (Professor Moody would be so pleased.)
The stories and information are only slightly dated (with the exception of the chapter on computers, which was funny.) Definitely worth a read if you have small children.
March 16, 2009
A concise read on early child development and the negative impact teaching with age-inappropriate methods can have on children that aren't developmentally ready for it.
While this book is a bit dated at time (the section on computers is quaint) a lot of it still very much applies. I'm in the process of deciding on a school for my 4yo and this book has alerted me to lots of areas to look at when evaluating providers.
It would be great to have a newer edition addressing contemporary issues that have come up since the '80s (internet, cell phones, helicopter parenting, "war on terror", etc.) but this is still a valuable resource.
While this book is a bit dated at time (the section on computers is quaint) a lot of it still very much applies. I'm in the process of deciding on a school for my 4yo and this book has alerted me to lots of areas to look at when evaluating providers.
It would be great to have a newer edition addressing contemporary issues that have come up since the '80s (internet, cell phones, helicopter parenting, "war on terror", etc.) but this is still a valuable resource.
October 13, 2022
This book was written at the advent of childhood daycare and stands the test of time. Toddlers are to be nurtured, not educated and no one can state the reasons why better than Dr. David Elkind. All parents should read this book. And hopefully many parents will rethink their own ability to raise their children without outside care from people who are heavily government regulated.
If you as an adult would not like to be woken up in the morning, rushed through a commute, dropped off with strangers to spend a lengthy amount of time with them, sleep with them, share experiences, toys and food, then why on earth would very young children. Parents do a disservice to their children by not taking the facts from this book into consideration.
Love your children yourself.
If you as an adult would not like to be woken up in the morning, rushed through a commute, dropped off with strangers to spend a lengthy amount of time with them, sleep with them, share experiences, toys and food, then why on earth would very young children. Parents do a disservice to their children by not taking the facts from this book into consideration.
Love your children yourself.
June 5, 2008
Having been written in the 80's, some sections of this book are severely outdated (the part about computers was downright funny!) but aside from that obvious flaw, I really enjoyed what Elkind had to say about society and our push on children. The trends he observed nearly 30 years ago have, sadly, only worsened. His point about parents using children as a means of personal competition is a good one. Definitely worth reading, especially as a means of reevaluating my own personal goals as a parent and how I am achieving them.
March 13, 2008
Ah, now if we could just get the educators in this state to read this book and realize that earlier is not necessarily better.
This book pretty much spoke to what I already knew to be true--that children, particularly young children--learn very differently from adults, but we're foisting an adult-size education on them at a very young age.
This book pretty much spoke to what I already knew to be true--that children, particularly young children--learn very differently from adults, but we're foisting an adult-size education on them at a very young age.
December 17, 2022
Love this author and his research and his knowledge. If only the politicians would be this smart when it comes to the well-being of our children. This book makes me want to spend the last years of my teaching career in a Waldorf school. Very eye opening.
May 23, 2017
From 1987, but a powerful work that talks about what's wrong with pushing preschoolers. A great book, and mildly heartbreaking if you think about what's ended up happening to our educational system.
November 3, 2014
Reading David Elkind's book, Miseducation Preschoolers at Risk, was like reading a persuasive essay. Although Elkind's message on something called "miseducation" is clear and compelling, it lacks a solution to the problem it brings up. The reader is left asking himself, "How do we fix this problem?"
In a particularly thought-provoking way, Elkind points to the fact that educating kids at too young of an age is not beneficial and potentially detrimental. Elkind first describes his standpoint, and then provides real life examples to validate his argument, allowing the reader to fully grasp what he is trying to say. As an example, Elkind brings up the problem of parents introducing formal instruction to their kids at too young of an age. Some parents, he says, strive to transform their child into a "superkid," giving them advantages from the start. First, he explains the detrimental impacts this may have on children, such as causing them psychological damage and short-term stress. He also shows with data that children don't gain any lasting advantages or show any further effects on their brightness. Then, after a brief explanation of his idea, he uses a real situation to solidify his argument. In this case, he uses an example from the book "Teach Your Baby to Read", by Glenn Doman, in which Doman describes the first step in teaching an infant to read. First, Doman says to hold up a word to a child, such as "mummy". Then, say to the child, "This says mummy". Later, after playing with the child, hold up the word again and repeat, “This says mummy". Once more, hold up the word and repeat what it says, and then the lesson is over. After showing the reader an example of what he thinks is "miseducation" and providing evidence to show no benefitting impacts, Elkind lures the reader into agreement.
Although the organization of the text, with examples immediately following his argument, is helpful, the tone in which Elkind writes is somewhat dry. There is nothing fascinating or exciting about the way he writes. Elkind tends to mention people who don't mean anything to the reader. He will write such sentences as, "Other writers, such as Yale psychologist Edward Zigler and a senior scientist for the Education Testing Service, Irving Sigel, have argued for a preschool curriculum..." (6). Meanwhile, the reader knows nothing of these people he mentions and cannot make any further connections. What Elkind writes about is interesting, but the way in which he writes it is not.
It is evident that Elkind puts much emphasis on the problem of miseducation, and little on possible solutions. His viewpoint is easily understandable, but the reader does not finish reading with insight into what can be done regarding the problem. The last chapter of the book is called, "Healthy Education", in which Elkind dedicates a few pages to explaining possible changes to make to the educational system; however, it is impossible to provide solutions for the countless problems explained in the rest of the book, in only a few pages. Elkind merely explains when parents should or should not enroll their children into a school and what healthy education might look like. In the book, for example, Elkind frequently bases his ideas off of parenting styles, but never tries to recommend the "right" parenting style. The reader, in turn, has been persuaded into agreement with the author, but is left with many unanswered questions. ~ Student: Sonja K.
In a particularly thought-provoking way, Elkind points to the fact that educating kids at too young of an age is not beneficial and potentially detrimental. Elkind first describes his standpoint, and then provides real life examples to validate his argument, allowing the reader to fully grasp what he is trying to say. As an example, Elkind brings up the problem of parents introducing formal instruction to their kids at too young of an age. Some parents, he says, strive to transform their child into a "superkid," giving them advantages from the start. First, he explains the detrimental impacts this may have on children, such as causing them psychological damage and short-term stress. He also shows with data that children don't gain any lasting advantages or show any further effects on their brightness. Then, after a brief explanation of his idea, he uses a real situation to solidify his argument. In this case, he uses an example from the book "Teach Your Baby to Read", by Glenn Doman, in which Doman describes the first step in teaching an infant to read. First, Doman says to hold up a word to a child, such as "mummy". Then, say to the child, "This says mummy". Later, after playing with the child, hold up the word again and repeat, “This says mummy". Once more, hold up the word and repeat what it says, and then the lesson is over. After showing the reader an example of what he thinks is "miseducation" and providing evidence to show no benefitting impacts, Elkind lures the reader into agreement.
Although the organization of the text, with examples immediately following his argument, is helpful, the tone in which Elkind writes is somewhat dry. There is nothing fascinating or exciting about the way he writes. Elkind tends to mention people who don't mean anything to the reader. He will write such sentences as, "Other writers, such as Yale psychologist Edward Zigler and a senior scientist for the Education Testing Service, Irving Sigel, have argued for a preschool curriculum..." (6). Meanwhile, the reader knows nothing of these people he mentions and cannot make any further connections. What Elkind writes about is interesting, but the way in which he writes it is not.
It is evident that Elkind puts much emphasis on the problem of miseducation, and little on possible solutions. His viewpoint is easily understandable, but the reader does not finish reading with insight into what can be done regarding the problem. The last chapter of the book is called, "Healthy Education", in which Elkind dedicates a few pages to explaining possible changes to make to the educational system; however, it is impossible to provide solutions for the countless problems explained in the rest of the book, in only a few pages. Elkind merely explains when parents should or should not enroll their children into a school and what healthy education might look like. In the book, for example, Elkind frequently bases his ideas off of parenting styles, but never tries to recommend the "right" parenting style. The reader, in turn, has been persuaded into agreement with the author, but is left with many unanswered questions. ~ Student: Sonja K.
March 8, 2013
I was not looking forward to this read, mostly because I had very recently read the Power of Play by the same author and found it repetitive, disjointed, and poorly researched. To my great surprise, this work was considerably better - perhaps because its strength rests in the author's considerable background in early childhood development, a field that goes back hundreds of years. Consequentially, he was able to give a brief synopsis of much of the groundbreaking work in that field as a justification for his opinions, instead of derailing into what seemed to amount to bashing on the trends of the whipersnappers in some of his other works. This is a book that actually caused me to respect the author and understand why he is considered a leader in his field.
April 25, 2013
I tend to only read parenting books that validate choices I'm already making. So, needless to say, I agreed with what this author had to say. There's too much emphasis on hurrying children through milestones and pushing academics before they're ready. Much better to let them develop naturally and explore the world around them than to push flashcards and classes on them. It was written in the 80's, so parts are outdated (computing machines, ha!), but the ideas are good. Unfortunately, I think competitive parenting has only gotten worse since the book first came out. I have one friend who is enrolling her 3 year old in ballet, gymnastics, swimming, and music classes this summer.
September 12, 2008
A little outdated (published 21 years ago), but good for me to have read. Now I realize that it can be harmful to push formal education on my children before they're able to deal with symbols and abstractions. Of course, informal education is another story...:)
It reinforced my prior decision to keep my children out of full time public schooling until they're at least 7 or 8 years of age.
It reinforced my prior decision to keep my children out of full time public schooling until they're at least 7 or 8 years of age.
September 19, 2008
A bit dated in some sections, but the main message is still very relevant as parents continue to put their children into preschool at earlier and earlier ages. Definitely a book to read before choosing which preschool to put your child in. You might just decide to keep them home a bit longer if that's an option for you!
September 18, 2011
Definitely outdated, but still has some good points. A few far reaching ideas, but generally fine. If you want some recommendations for what to look for in a preschool skip to the "Healthy Education" section in the back. Also at the very end, there is an informative section called "Questions Parents Ask" which is specific but helpful.
March 1, 2014
I believe if there was a newer edition (this edition is from the 80s) to address more current issues such as the internet, iPads, and smartphones, I would have given it 5 stars. The information is still valid and he writes in a way that's easy to understand wether your area of expertise is education or not.
January 22, 2013
Okay book. I appreciated the overall idea of not pushing kids into things before they're ready and to just let kids be kids- they'll learn plenty through playing. I was hoping for a few more constructive ideas, though, rather than just criticisms of what you shouldn't do.
July 31, 2008
Read this before choosing a preschool!
December 2, 2010
Published in the late 80's but still applicable today.
June 4, 2013
Older, dated material, but several of the issues remain relevant today in the "No Child Left Behind" culture of testing & progress.
June 21, 2013
I wish I had read this book before I started my son in preschool. It's an informative read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews