Emphasizing academic skills at an early age can harm your child’s long term academic and intellectual development

Peter Gray writes in Psychology Today (1, 2)

Early academic training somewhat increases children’s immediate scores on the specific tests that the training is aimed at (no surprise), but these initial gains wash out within 1 to 3 years and, at least in some studies, are eventually reversed.  Perhaps more tragic than the lack of long-term academic advantage of early academic instruction is evidence that such instruction can produce long-term harm, especially in the realms of social and emotional development.

One interesting point in the second article, perhaps inadvertently, states that our brains are “designed”.

Our brains are designed to hold onto what we understand and to discard nonsense.

I don’t know the author. Perhaps he’s a creationist who believes in intelligent design in which case designing a brain makes perfect sense. However, if we look at the brain as an organ that developed, and continues to develop, as part of an evolutionary process then “design” is not correct. Design presupposes an intentional manipulation of something to achieve a purpose. Evolution’s purpose sole purpose is survival and intentional design within the evolutionary time frame makes no sense. I urge readers not to be sucked into the idea that everything is or can be designed. Much of our world is the product of chance.