Elementary Education Allegan MI

Elementary education, also known as primary education, is the first six years of established and structured education that occurs from the ages of approximate five or six years old to approximately 12 years old. Most countries require that children receive elementary education and in many, it is acceptable for the parents to provide that education, based on an approved curriculum.

Normally, elementary education is given in schools that are placed within the neighborhoods of communities around the world. Elementary students usually begin in Kindergarten at the age of approximately five to six years old. This is the first stage of elementary education and is primarily the place where students learn to interact with their peers, begin to read and write, learn their ABC’s, and other cognitive learning skills. Many teachers, parents, and professionals agree that Kindergarten sets the stage for the remaining school years, while others see Kindergarten as nothing more than “play time” for the students.

Elementary education continues through to Grades 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. The courses offered in elementary education are escalating with each grade level, where the students expound upon previous learning from the grade before in their next grade level.

Elementary education grades are usually taught to the students by one teacher who teaches all the courses. There may be specialized teachers for more specific courses such as music, physical education, art, or computers. The students generally stay in one classroom, with the exception of physical education and other specific courses. This feature is one of the foundations of elementary education, teaching the student to gain close bonds with their teachers, earning a level of trust and respect, and creating close friendships with their classmates, which teaches them about social structure.

In the early 1600’s, education was born and was based on the “four R’s,” namely reading, writing, arithmetic, and religious studies. Students aged six to eight years old attended “dame schools.” The first formal school was formed in 1635 by Puritans for boys of a certain social status to achieve higher learning. In the dame schools, a teacher focused on reading—math and writing were not a high priority in elementary education at that time. After a child finished “dame school,” their parents had three simple options for their sons, Latin school for college preparation, training at home by their father, or learning with a craftsman.

In the late 1600’s and early 1700’s, elementary education began being influenced by religion. In 1642, Massachusetts passed a law stating that all children should learn how to read—the inability to read was seen as Satan’s attempt to keep people from reading the bible and scriptures and coming to God.

In 1839, the secretary of the first Board of Education convinced legislature in Massachusetts to create a six-month minimum school year, hoping that poverty and crime would decrease with the formalized education of students.

Compulsory attendance was established in approximately 1852. The government stepped in to control children’s participation in educational systems. Students had to attend a minimum of three months of school a year and six weeks had to be consecutive. Parents were penalized $20 if their children did not attend school. There were acceptable reasons for not sending children to school, namely disabilities and poverty. The law was ineffectual as there was no way for local school authorities to enforce the law. The law was revised in the late 1800’s, reducing the age limit to 12 years old and increasing the school term to a mandatory 20 weeks a year.

In the early 1900s, business and industry had a substantial impact on elementary education. Immigrant children who knew very little English and were unfamiliar with the customs of their new homeland flooded the educational system. It was thought that public elementary education would be efficient in “Americanizing” the new students in the way of America. The compulsory attendance laws were fully in effect to help protect these children from exploitation, particularly by their poverty-stricken families and industrial companies who were looking for a cheaper labor force.

The 1900’s brought a lot of change to the educational system, primarily through new legislation and controversial court cases, bringing the education system to what it is today.

Education has taken a full turn, from the original school system focusing on reading, and rural schools in the early 1900s focusing on writing to math and science taking the forefront when the first satellite was put into outer space and orbit, and back again to the current focus of schools—reading.

Of course, reading and writing often go hand in hand in today’s elementary schools; however, there is still a more prolific focus on these two subjects than on math, science, or history.

Students across the United States are taught a variety of subjects in elementary schools, but they all focus on the one basic knowledge, the ability to read and write. Literacy has once again come to the forefront of elementary education for being the primary basis of all learning in elementary school as well as further education, such as middle school, high school, and secondary schooling. Elementary education does indeed provide the basis for all further education, similar to a pyramid, with elementary education being the bottom, or foundation, of the pyramid.