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Show Don't thwart Child's Creativity says Educator family's attitude toward school can make or break the school situation for a child." Both the child and the parent should, be attending nursery school, .according to Lundgren. "It's important for parents to understand and to work cooperatively with the teacher in the classroom," she explains. It is Lundgren's opinion that parenthood is taken for granted by some adults. "I sometimes think children are absolutely the last thing we pay attention to," she states. "Today's busy parent who wants fulfillment in his own life over-pampers, his children to compensate for lack of availabiltiy." She concludes, "The result is a lonely child." "I feel strongly that a child will be turned off and will not be an avid reader if reading is forced on him," she states. "If early reading is imposed, the child will often turn away by the fourth or fifth grade." But she notes, "Reading is an absolutely vital skill. When and how are the real questions. We need to determine at what point a child is ready to read, to find that teachable moment. "We need to teach our children to survive with good feeling about themselves in the family and community," Lundgren notes. "If he feels good about himself, he'll relate well to others. This should take place before the curriculum is introduced," in-troduced," says Lundgren. "He won't have the tools to use of development hasn't happened first." Lundgren identifies parents as the most important educators of young children. According to research, "a child has gone 50 percent of the way in the development of thinking patterns by the age of four," she says, "and another 20 percent by the time he is eight. To a degree the way a child learns is already established by the time he begins srhnnl "It's no disgrace to act five if you are five," says Dr. Ruth H. Lundgren, assistant professor of education at the University of Utah. "The myth and the reality in terms of kids," says Lundgren, "is that we have much information in-formation on what children are like and what their needs are, and yet we're not realistic in what we do .' with our youngsters." As an educator, Lundgren is concerned that parents and teachers expect too much too soon from young children. In contrast to recent trends toward early reading and skill development, she advocates a well-planned but informal approach ap-proach with a variety of choices to encourage innate creativity. "We really do know more about the young child today than ever before," she says, "but at the same time, we often Violate what we know is best for' him. For example, we all wish? to talk better, but at the same time, we shush our children and tell them to be quiet. "We thwart creativity in children through too much structure too soon," says Lundgren. Lun-dgren. "Formal reading taught at the kindergarten level is inappropriate for most five-year-olds. That's somebody else's game.. .not his. "That means a high priority rests with the family's responsibility," respon-sibility," she continues. "The |