Plowden Misses the Point
SIR,--I think one could take David Rogers's argu- ment 'Plowden Misses the Point' (January 13) a stage further. The point is that child-orientated and subject-orientated education are quite different things, and that ideally the place for child-orientated educa- tion is not in school, but at home. There should be no need for children to go to school, until they are mature enough to cope with subject-orientated educa- tion. I did not mind working to a deadline when I was writing essays, but I object most strongly to doing so when I'm working with a small child.
What is wanted is not more teachers or schools, but mothers with confidence in their own ability to bring up children. If it was easier to get help at home, and if the age of school entry and the length of the school day were not fixed, at least things would be moving in the right direction, and much better use could be made of existing schools.
I am enjoying looking after my own four-year-old so much—though I wish he would be quiet till I finish this—that I find the idea of building nursery schools rather than houses quite appalling.
11118 GLOVER 57 Corniston Drive, Edinburgh 10
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