Rodolph Steiner put a lot of thought into this question and his teachings have endured the test of time. I fully agree with his idea that emotional development must come before intellectual. After all if a person has lots of IQ but no EQ then we simply create a world that is very cleaver yet totally self destructive....

I was have worked with a behavioural optometrist (addressing the cause of myopia rather than the symptom through exercises and taking optical measures to address near point stress to slow or stop negative adaption of the eye). Steiner did not want children reading or writing before the age of 7 or when their eye teeth emerged. They then learn very fast and catch up within a year. In the mean time they have developed visual memory, creative expression, advanced language skills, confidence to act, sing, dance and generally build a fantastic base to academic learning and attitude to life. This could easily encompass culture and religion.

Vision wise, reading is strongly linked to adaptions of eyesight, poor sitting posture can cause astigmatism and of course its a very left brain activity which is unnatural in children. Close audiovisual should be avoided in the developing child for the same reasons as close reading. Earphones encourage massive bacteria growth in ears. Even sitting in circles rather than straight unidirectional lines would stimulate posture, movement, social skills and empower sharing. For that matter why use chairs in early education, why not soft rugs, bean bags or small Swiss balls? Its time to get out of Edwardian conditioning and get creative. Natural whole spectrum lighting and less EMF radiation, some lessons outside to boost Vit D (in chronically deficit these days and contributing to illness).

When I worked with a group of special needs 7 years old they already had low self esteems from struggling with reading. Some I am sure had visual and possibly hearing problems, others lived in houses with masses of animals so probably needed worming themselves (something we have forgotten to do these days yet we live in greater concentrations than ever before, I feel lots of ADD and ADHD comes from this), most had poor diets, others may have been vaccine or fluoride damaged (Chinese studies show a 10 point drop in IQ) and others were simply just not ready. I did team building exercises, sneaked in vision therapy exercises such as auditory pattern recognition, lots of brain gym, phonetics and rhymes, gardening, cooking, jokes and story telling. When they felt better about themselves and happier they started to read and write.

I am on contrary of a curriculum program at early education. Children are easily manipulated and they fancy what their parents do for living. This is a consequence that they see that everything is a kind of game, not to mention the fact that they mix reality with fantasy: In their world exist princesses, Santa Claus and so on.

I would rather they wait to reach a maturity age to climb their career ladder, on the contrary of what you propose that someone else do it for them at early age on base of their skills. At maturity age they then will be able to make value judgments.

Let me put some examples. Some parents would like to decide on it rather than teachers do it, how can teachers do to prevent it?. There are some children that have good skills at everything: sports, maths, literature, etc.. I just remember a friend mine who hated studying law but she did it because their parents payed the University, and they let her know that any other option was not worthwhile.

There are other children who really do not stand out in anything.

To be honest your plan lead to segregate groups of children taking special care for the groups of standing out students and those who have two left feet.

Curriculum is not an external limit or imposition; that question depends on ideology or educational theory; i. e. a fundamentalist and authoritarian theory or a liberationist one. Curriculum is a visión of development and a set of purposes for the experience of education. The difference is not curriculum or not, but what kind of it.

Bonifacio Barba, Universidad Autónoma de Aguascalientes, México

To often education is about shaping good compliant workers for industry run by giant cartels who have the ear of governments. Any history lesson can prove that and somehow we chose to think it has changed. Failures are created on purpose in order to provide cheap labour or sick and poor people to feed the medical and welfare machines. Middle class workers are taught to be sheep while the smart ones are taught to specialize so they cant see the big picture.... the agenda of the 1%

Just look at where the funding comes from, how those debts feed banking corruption, how much politics plays a part and the undermining of communities and families. As a mature student at uni I could not believe how much subtle conditioning is going on so that urban myths somehow become academic fact, not so much in the teaching but scattered all around it. And no one questioned it! A health teacher who smokes and drinks masses of coffee or sugar free energy drinks, does not exercise and uses steroid medication to combat these effects... madness. The education environment is the first thing to address before the curriculum.

I see eye to eye with Heather.

you says : ''Failures are created on purpose ...''

Now you are talking.

First years must be with general concepts very clear, rewarding the right things. I think is necessary to know the environment, (place, people, manners), to respect it but no more, no influence with this so much. Values taught by example (teachers, parents. Adult are observed). Simple, good, and clear. Let them have their own criteria is good, with good example, to teach but not to manipulate. (They realize and not accept).

Give importance to all kind of learning, draw, math, music, language, sport, dance, eating, reading, like an important help for all kind of profession is true and funny.

Early audiovisual media, with rigorous hour hand from little, I think is positive. They are specially skilled with them, and they must take advantage of it. From little they can make it obedient, happy and blameless. With more age they must know hazards and what not to do. Must send the adult in this. Turn off when the adult want. (We are responsible of their acts. They must know it). It is a learning more. Little by little by age.