Exam Practice 5 Reading
A Read only the title of the article below. Tick what you think is the correct summary of the article below. 1. Small children do not benefit from trying to learn too much too soon. 2. It is important that children learn to read and write as early as possible. 3. People who do not work hard as children suffer later in life.
B Answer the questions below in groups of three.
1. Did you go to nursery school, a pre-school or kindergarten before you started at primary school? 2. Do you know if you spent your time playing or if you started learning to read, write or add numbers? 3. Do you think very small children benefit from directed learning?
C Read the topic sentences from four of the seven paragraphs in the passage. In pairs, make predictions about what the rest of each paragraph will tell you.
Paragraph B: Dyson feels that the very young are not encouraged to use their imagination enough. Paragraph C: While Dyson does see some value in teaching the ABC to pre-school children, she thinks that trying to accelerate learning actually works against a child’s development.
Paragraph E: So what can caring mothers and fathers do to stimulate their children? Paragraph F: Dyson also feels that parents worry too much about what television or online shows their children watch.
D The text includes the word edutainment, which is a new word made from two existing words. In pairs, answer the questions below about the word.
1. Which two words do you think edutainment is made from? 2. What do you think it means? 3. Why is it used in the article?
E Before you read the passage, spend some time looking at the questions. In pairs, discuss what more you can predict about the content of the article.
All Work and No Play Spells Trouble in Early Education
A Parents and educators who favour traditional classroom-style learning over free, unstructured playtime in pre-school and kindergarten may actually be stunting a child’s development instead of enhancing it, according to a University of Illinois professor who studies childhood learning and literacy development.
Anne Haas Dyson, a professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the university, says playtime for children is a ‘fundamental avenue’ for learning, and attempts by parents and educators to create gifted children by overloading them with information, though well-intentioned, is ultimately counter- productive. ‘That approach doesn’t appreciate the role of play and imagination in a child’s intellectual development,’ Dyson claims. ‘Play is where children discover ideas, experiences and concepts and start to think about their consequences. This is where literacy and learning really begins.’
B Dyson feels that the very young are not encouraged to use their imagination enough. This may be influenced by what some critics have called ‘Baby Genius Edutainment’ a whole range of mind-
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