Let Kids Be Kids

FACTS OF LIFE

Parents who enroll their young children in highly organized activities at an early age — tennis and piano lessons for 3-year-olds, for example — could actually be stunting their children's development, according to researchers at London University. Parents think they are getting a jump on improving their youngsters’ competitiveness in school and job markets, said the study. Yet prep-school headmasters say too much adult-led, organized activity slows the development of a child's creativity, independence and imagination — the very qualities they look for in admissions applications.

Source: Daily Telegraph (London), Oct. 29

Illustration by Tim Rauch