How early is too early?

I read an article in McLeans today about whether starting children in preschool/Montessori at an early age was good for them or not. It was a very interesting article and made me think alot about the plans I have for my children.

When I was about 20 years old I took a course in Day Care management. I was working in a Day Care centre at the time, although I gave that up as being a career that is drastically underpaid. Part of the course covered different teaching methods, including the Montessori method. I have thought ever since then that this is the way I want to go with my children, to give them the best start in life. I know that when I was a child, I had much more fun, and learned alot more in day care centres, than the times that I was cared for in someone's home. Maybe this is because I was raised in a single parent home (see further along in the post for my reasoning)

Ideally, I think that if my husband and I had the financial means, that home schooling would be the perfect option, at least while my children are young. I met a woman through Mensa that home-schooled her children, and they are so bright, outgoing, and precocious. I would love to see my children thrive, as hers seem to have done. I have no dounts that I have the creativity and intelligence to teach them what they need to know, in a fun way. Although when it comes to teaching biology, etc... I would probably want to step aside. I'm not that confident.

The article mentioned that there are studies being done now, that say that children in day care centres for more than 30 hours a week, have a slowing of cognitive growth.

"So if kids spend more [than 30 hours a week] in preschool centres, they're simply not keeping pace in their acquisition of social skills,"

The study warns against children attending preschool or daycare for more than five or six hours a day, or up to 30 hours a week. "Institutions, no matter how small and warm and fuzzy, start to regulate kids' behaviours," says Fuller. "Once you rigidify and routinize that, then kids start to shut down, and their cognitive growth starts to slow down."

Over the past decade, researchers have learned that the brain grows in response to love and affection during the first two years of life, he says; without this, babies' brains don't develop fully. "Children raised without sufficient loving care do not fully become the human beings they were meant to be."

I think this is a pretty common sense statement. The article also states later on, that Day Care is most beneficial to children living at the poorest levels, as they have fewer resources at home and less support. Children in middle-class homes actually have little or no benefit from a group day care environment. What I'm getting from this is that if the parents engage their children on a regular basis and raise them in a loving environment, that it helps their children more in the learning arena than learning their ABC's at a younger age.

Anyway, it was definitely food for thought. I guess it's good that I have some time to think about these things before I make any decisions. What with having 7 more weeks until my due date, and another 13 months Maternity Leave afterwards. :)