The first thousand days of every child’s life determines almost entirely the child’s future. This is why the implementation of ‘School Based Mentors’ is so crucial in assisting families in providing the maximum support and rich environment for their child.  The following Early Childhood phase to age five likewise is crucial in the development of every child as he/she grows in confidence and knowledge in preparation for the more formal, yet hopefully joyful and exciting, introduction to school as we currently know it.

 

When children begin to attend school they will vary by up to a year's difference in chronological age to their peers and up to three years, possibly more, in variation to others in any learning readiness aspect we might like to try to measure.  Here is the beginning of the great myth of grade based learning, flawed at the very start, implemented into schools in 1848.  Maybe time to consider a change one might think.
 
Such interventions as Queensland’s Prep, purported to be a Play Based readiness program, has ended as a high pressure introduction to learning which for many youngsters has had quite negative outcomes.  
 
Children should turn six years of age during their first thousand days of their non-graded classroom learning phase at Primary School and should be turning nine years of age during their second thousand day learning phase, which marks the end of their primary school days.  The word "Primary" is significant as following their initial burst of foundational learning the two "thousand day blocks" of primary schooling are crucial in ensuring the basic building blocks of "Learning to Learn" are cemented firmly in place.  Currently with the grade based system driven by a fast paced and unforgiving National Curriculum approximately 40% of our young learners are coming away with just rubble and loose stones.  Who stole the cement?  The answer to that awful question was answered in my book, and will be so again on this website.  It is not a comfortable answer for schools to address.