Figure 1.-- younger children are inastely curious. It is during the preo school years that teachers will either build on that curiosity to create a personal commitment to learning or impair that curiosity and adversely affect attitides toward education. |
The prep school age is the age is especially important for two reasons. First, it is the crucial point of a child's education. It is in the prep school years that a child learns basic academic skills. Children also begin to acquire a concept that they are either capable or incapable which will profoundly affect their future educational achievement. In addition, younger children are inastely curious. It is during the preo school years that teachers will either build on that curiosity to create a personal commitment to learning or impair that curiosity and adversely affect attitides toward education. Second, it is also the age in which a child's character is essentially set. People can change, but often a person's basic character, values, and interests. is set in this critical formative period. It is also an age in which the children are easier to work with and much more willing to listen to adults than when they are older. Dumpton explains that "A boy is at a prep school at a crucial stage in his development and the habits which he forms in these years will stay with him for the rest of his life. Our primary concern is, of course, to prepare each boy~for his public school, although the person he is, and the way in which he behaves are considerations which are just as important as his ability to pass exams."
