“Quintilian [educational writer in Rome around A.D. 100] thought that the earliest years of the child's life were crucial. Education should start earlier than age seven, within the family. It should not be so hard as to give the child an aversion to learning. Rather, these early lessons would take the form of play--that embryonic notion of kindergarten.” GivingShouldYearsChildrenHardPlayAgeFormChildhoodLessonsSevenNotionEducationalCrucialRomeAversionKindergartenEarly ChildhoodEarly Childhood Education Author:C. Sommerville
“We like the idea of childhood but are not always crazy about the kids we know. We like it, that is, when we are imagining our ownchildhoods. So part of our apparent appreciation of youth is simply envy.” KnowsIdeasKidsCrazyChildhoodYouthAppreciationEnvy Author:C. Sommerville
“Children became an obsessive theme in Victorian culture at the same time that they were being exploited as never before. As the horrors of life multiplied for some children, the image of childhood was increasingly exalted. Children became the last symbols of purity in a world which was seen as increasingly ugly.” WorldChildrenLastsCultureChildhoodHorrorUglySymbolsPurityThemeObsessiveExaltedVictorian Author:C. Sommerville