What do we gain by standing here

and discussing, evaluating, testing,

controlling

what a four year old can do in the classroom,

I would rather know they were happy and stress free until

they were eleven and not forced into the world

like automatons; their individuality and their creativity nurtured

and not stunted by the rigidity of a system

based on supposition and baseless presumption.

 

At four, I could read more than well enough

and I could make up my own mind

on which football team to support,