Mary Jane Drummond makes so many assumptions and provides so little insight. One assumption is that it is a good thing for all five-year-olds to be faced with choices but get no direct guidance.
A delightful picture is conveyed of children smiling as they play unfettered by adult intervention.
In this idyllic world adults provide a fantastic array of opportunities (toys expensive environments) and sit back to observe as children learn by some form of osmosis from the objects placed in front of them.
One thing that makes me angry is the assumption that all children will learn through an open-ended and laissez faire approach. This is a middle-class fantasy.
Children given lots of support at home by educated parents in homes crammed with books are going to learn in most environments. Not all are that lucky.
Less-privileged children don’t get to Cambridge university by just simply “being”.
Ruth M. Hayes
52 Milcote Road
Smethwick, West Midlands
