School's back in session. Earlier this summer, Stanford University released a report that found young students fare better when learning complex concepts using "everyday English." As a case in point, researchers noted that students learning about photosynthesis need to understand a little bit of Latin, a dash of French, and some Greek. The problem, the researchers said, is that students are getting new words and new ideas at the same time. That can be difficult for children. Ok, they may be right. They're certainly right that a child can learn about an apple before they knew how to say "apple."
But what's so wrong with teaching a kid something difficult? As long as you have multiple ways of getting the point across — reinforcing the concepts — then a good teacher should be able to get the lesson across. I think that what they're doing is pointing out the obvious: a child won't learn a complex concept without being able to relate to it at a certain level.
Perhaps I'm not understanding what's so revolutionary. I'll read it again.
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