The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson, and is narrated by Tina Lehman.

How I'd Change Grade School.

Research indicates that the growing emphasis on academic rigor in grade school is ineffectual

at best and counterproductive at worst.

Several months ago, a pair of studies threw early education enthusiasts into disarray.

The first compared the subsequent achievement of kids enrolled in an academic

pre-K program to kids who were not. By first grade, the kids who'd attended pre-K were

slightly more advanced, but by grade two, the benefits vanished and even gave way to deficits.

Second graders who'd never attended pre-K were beating those who

had. They had better work habits and a more positive outlook on school in general. In the second,

researchers found that delaying kindergarten for one year reduced hyperactivity and attention

problems at age 11 by 73 percent and nearly abolished the chance that the average

child would have a higher-than-normal rating on the inattentive, hyperactive behavioral measure.

Other than their preschool background, the kids were all drawn from similar pools.

Earlier preschool studies have had similar results. Small short-term benefits to academic performance, which dissipate quickly,

give way to performance deficits by the second grade and make kids feel worse about school.

Now, some kids thrive on this kind of system, while others thrive despite it.

That's obvious, given our overall success

as a country. But there are millions of kids, particularly the rambunctious, energetic ones,

for whom the traditional public school setup doesn't work. So what's wrong with most early education?

The kids sit in boxes.

Grade school teachers try to spruce up their classrooms with books, posters, decorations,

...