There are many clear benefits of educating kids before they officially enroll in school. Preschool gives kids a firm foundation of knowledge that they need before entering kindergarten, such as basic language and math skills. Most people don’t realize that preschool education goes far beyond what kids learn in the program. Thomas Friedman, author of The World is Flat, writes about globalization, or in other words, the flattening world. This concept basically outlines the fact that America used to be on top of the world in regards to success, but other countries are catching up. Friedman proposes many ideas that could help our county get back on its feet, focusing on our education system. He argues, “in the future, how we educate our children
…show more content…
Many of our hard workers are retiring, and we don’t have enough ambitious young people to fill in the gap. We used to be a great nation with a lot of hard workers, but we’re falling behind. While telling Friedman about college classes that he taught, Mike Arguello, computer science teacher in San Antonio, said that “it was disheartening to see the poor work ethic of many of my students. Of the students I taught over six semesters, I’d only consider hiring two of them. The rest lacked the creativity, problem-solving abilities, and passion for learning”(qtd. by Friedman 355). In other words, Arguello is saying that his students were lazy and unoriginal, and he knows that lazy students make lazy workers. How do we fix this epidemic of laziness? Friedman believes that “the trouble starts in high school, if not sooner”(356). He is suggesting that there is a problem with our education system. We aren’t teaching people to be ambitious. I think that the second part of Friedman’s statement, “if not sooner,” is the key. The prime time to nurture ambition is when the recipient is young, and they naturally possess traits that help ambition grow. After all, who is more ambitious than a curious …show more content…
Daniel Pink explains that the right hemisphere of the brain “takes care of context, emotional expression, and synthesis,” while the left side “handles sequence, literalness, and analysis.” (121) In other words, the right side of the brain handles abstraction. It does the behind-the-scenes work that helps us tie ideas together, while the left side does the hands-on work and simple problem solving. Why is it so important that we use our right brains more? The right side of the brain is what drives creativity. Creativity, in turn, drives ambition. Most Americans don’t use their right brains very well right now, but that can change. Friedman believes that “one way you nurture your right brain is by doing something you love to do…because you will bring something intangible to it, something out of your right brain…” (123). Friedman gives a simple formula for enhancing the use of your right brain: your right brain thrives when you simply practice something you enjoy doing. According to this principle, if you love art, you will use your right brain more by simply drawing or painting. Preschool programs encourage heavy use of the right brain through the various activities that they offer, such as art, music, and different kinds of games, all of which stimulate right brain activity. The kids can discover hobbies and talents that they love while they are in preschool, and their teachers can encourage them to keep practicing these hobbies as they
Many of our hard workers are retiring, and we don’t have enough ambitious young people to fill in the gap. We used to be a great nation with a lot of hard workers, but we’re falling behind. While telling Friedman about college classes that he taught, Mike Arguello, computer science teacher in San Antonio, said that “it was disheartening to see the poor work ethic of many of my students. Of the students I taught over six semesters, I’d only consider hiring two of them. The rest lacked the creativity, problem-solving abilities, and passion for learning”(qtd. by Friedman 355). In other words, Arguello is saying that his students were lazy and unoriginal, and he knows that lazy students make lazy workers. How do we fix this epidemic of laziness? Friedman believes that “the trouble starts in high school, if not sooner”(356). He is suggesting that there is a problem with our education system. We aren’t teaching people to be ambitious. I think that the second part of Friedman’s statement, “if not sooner,” is the key. The prime time to nurture ambition is when the recipient is young, and they naturally possess traits that help ambition grow. After all, who is more ambitious than a curious …show more content…
Daniel Pink explains that the right hemisphere of the brain “takes care of context, emotional expression, and synthesis,” while the left side “handles sequence, literalness, and analysis.” (121) In other words, the right side of the brain handles abstraction. It does the behind-the-scenes work that helps us tie ideas together, while the left side does the hands-on work and simple problem solving. Why is it so important that we use our right brains more? The right side of the brain is what drives creativity. Creativity, in turn, drives ambition. Most Americans don’t use their right brains very well right now, but that can change. Friedman believes that “one way you nurture your right brain is by doing something you love to do…because you will bring something intangible to it, something out of your right brain…” (123). Friedman gives a simple formula for enhancing the use of your right brain: your right brain thrives when you simply practice something you enjoy doing. According to this principle, if you love art, you will use your right brain more by simply drawing or painting. Preschool programs encourage heavy use of the right brain through the various activities that they offer, such as art, music, and different kinds of games, all of which stimulate right brain activity. The kids can discover hobbies and talents that they love while they are in preschool, and their teachers can encourage them to keep practicing these hobbies as they