Early Education Racket Summary

The article, “The Early Education Racket”, describes an early stage in the parental struggle to provide a proper education for children and one that I hadn’t anticipated to be as daunting of a task. Perhaps it is the difference in culture, but treating preschool as though it was the first step in college admission seems wholly ridiculous to me. Not only that, the waiting lists and the registration almost a year in advance can be labeled as somewhat pretentious. But Moyer offers an interesting perspective on the issue that serves as an easy transition for someone who didn’t believe there was a problem in the first place. I liked that the article was quick to acknowledge that although school is a necessary facet of life, it does not simply
fall into the laps of those who need it the most. Unfortunately, the path to education is an expensive one, even when starting off with something as slight as preschool. It makes me feel sympathetic towards families who have no choice but to struggle with this.
It’s not as though they are purposefully being neglectful of their children. The hand that they were dealt in this world was an unflattering one and, of course, this is usually no fault of theirs, however it leads to even more problems that have an obvious, often unattainable solution. The article explains that the reason why so many children are in need of preschool is simply because they lack an interaction in the home that would allow them to grow into potentially successful adults. When presented with the research and source material, Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of Young American Children by Betty Hart and Todd Risley, it makes sense. Richer families with a stable enough income that does not require both parents to work to support the family would obviously have more of an opportunity to interact with their children
on a daily basis. On the opposite side of the spectrum, working families most likely spend most of their days working a nine-to-five job that takes up most of their time. They work themselves to the point of exhaustion just to provide the indicated basic needs for survival that they have no choice but to neglect certain aspects of that are crucial to proper psychological development, such as simple conversation. It is a sad, never ending cycle that demands a change we are not yet ready to give. However, I believe that, like most things in psychology, it also depends on other factors. It is quite possible for a working family to produce the same results as a wealthier one even if they may go unrecognized. The article also goes on to admit that the positive impact of preschool only affects those with a poor home life which makes sense because school can also be a home away from home for a child. To a toddler lacking in such a colorful environment, preschool may seem like a paradise. I agree, however, that genetics also play a role in the temperament of a child and their aptitude to learn. There are some children so spoiled that they become terrible to teach because they seem to believe that they already know everything and can also become a daily frustration for a preschool teacher.
One aspect of the article that I was confused by was the detailed description of the purpose of some well-known preschools.
This may be because I am not familiar with the area of New York, but I was somewhat lost throughout her explanation. It also seemed contradictory to go into detail about each of the preschools, especially when the point of the piece was the prove that the preschool stage of education is only necessary for those who cannot provide helpful home environments for their children. Being that each preschool seemed quite expensive and “brand name”, the section took on a more teasing note, especially since it didn’t some possible for the welfare families to afford
it.
Overall, I appreciated Moyer’s article. She took on more of an observatory stance in her explanation and didn’t seek to push her beliefs on her readers but simply to relate a struggle that most new parents seem to go through. There was also an underlying assumption that our education system is flawed and it is crucial that we fix it soon for the sake of the children.