Preschool loosens parent-child bonds

If you've been thinking about entering your youngster in preschool in order to give him or her a leg up in this world, or if you've been pressured by family members to begin preschool because it's "good for" the child but you're not so sure, you really need to read this article in The Washington Times. Our society is trying to convince mothers that the best thing to do for their young children is give them to someone else to raise, to instill values and provide their educational foundation. There are some, according to the article, who want to see compulsory schooling begin as early as three years old:

"The theory advanced by mandatory-preschool advocates is that children need to be exposed to formal education early or they will fall behind and become societal burdens. Is this true? Does forcing 3-year-olds into formal education improve their educational attainment?
Contrary to what we hear when states push to get children in school earlier, research suggests that preschool children suffer from various aliments when they are exposed to early formal education. This is not the fault of teachers but the simple reality that preschoolers' minds are not ready to master the skills they need for structured education. It's just too soon.
For example, psychologist and professor of child development David Elkind discovered in his 2001 study 'Much Too Early' that the capacity to manipulate symbols mentally is developed around age 5 or 6. This makes it possible for children to attain a level of achievement in math or reading, for instance, that is not possible for preschool children. Furthermore, a report by the Southwest Policy Institute says, 'Contrary to common belief, early institutional schooling can harm children emotionally, intellectually and socially.'
Children are dependent on their parents for their care. If a child is deprived of the parental bond early in life, his or her natural development is disrupted.
It is impossible to predict the exact long-term outcomes of severing the bond between parent and child, but the experience of Czechoslovakia under Soviet oppression gives some insight.
Clinical psychologist David A. Scott reported in a talk called 'Day Care and Democracy in Eastern Europe' that '[i]nstitutionalized children ... suffered developmental retardation and deprivation. In comparison with children raised in families, the institutionalized children suffered heightened emotional disorders, fear, tension, behavioral disorders."

Very simply, a child's place is with her loving, dedicated and attentive mother and father. That's where the bulk of her development takes place, that's where she feels the most secure, and that's where she learns the most. It seems to me that the focus in this country should be encouraging mothers and fathers to be loving, dedicated and attentive, not removing the child from their care and giving them the message that their child's development is someone else's job.