Sir, – I find it hard to believe that “academic” and “self-management” skills are mutually exclusive in children moving from pre-school to junior infants, and I would like to see the evidence that this is the case (“Junior infants ‘overprepared’ starting school, study finds”, News, August 25th).
My own grandson, aged one year and seven months, comes home from pre-school with a good understanding of the need to tidy up after a play session. I have seen a peer of his doing up a zipper on a jacket, which is something that some adults find difficult at times. My instinct tells me that the children with high academic attainment are also the ones who are most likely to have good social skills.
The study by UCD’s School of Education is probably correct in concluding that there is a high level of overlap between pre-school and junior infants, so better co-ordination between the two would be a good thing.
However, it would be a serious mistake, and irresponsible, to discourage parents from having their children taught as much as possible, within the bounds of what they can comfortably absorb, as soon as possible. – Yours, etc,
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SEAMUS McKENNA,
Dublin 14.