WHAT'S BEHIND HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN

- A Note about its Philosophy and Psychology as Expressed by the Editors Dr. and Mrs. Garry Cleveland Myers. Click to download the detailed doccument.

Those of us in the editorial office are very aware of the great changes in educational thinking which have occurred in recent years, and how these changes have affected children. Certainly we are not fully aware of all the changes, but some which seem to be outstanding to us to you in the selling field, are :

  1. The every-increasing importance on acquiring a good education.
  2. The realization that understanding is more important than merely acquiring facts.
  3. The acceptance that children can reason at a very early age.
  4. The emphasis on creative thinking.
  5. The importance of home influence on the child's attitude, and resulting success in initial efforts at learning to read.
  6. The influence on behavior by words and pictures - the power of positive suggestion.
  7. The advanced concepts in science by eminent scientists, in language the child can understand.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN, because of its timeliness, has been able to keep up with change and new discoveries in child development. In many areas it has pioneered, actually being many years ahead of current educational philosophy.

The best examples of areas in which HIGHLIGHTS has been ahead of the times is in the many creative thinking features. Long before the schools were concerned with creative thinking, features in HIGHLIGHTS such as "For Wee Folks", the higher level thinking pages, spots requiring that the child reason by using knowledge in his head rather than what is in books, and "Headwork", were regularly appearing.

The "Fun With Phonics" pages presented activities to the young child to help him pay attention to sounds long before many schools were accepting the fact that phonics instruction was needed. Today virtually every school in the United States recognizes phonics as a necessary part of the reading program.

HIGHLIGHTS FOR CHILDREN is primarily a source of information, activity, and reading material to be used in the home. Beginning with the preschool child, HIGHLIGHTS offers opportunities for the child to become familiar with a wide variety or reading activities or reading activities in an enjoyable way. An opportunity is provided for parents to share with their children the joy of learning. This early preparation for formal learning in school has come to be recognized as being so important that the government is spending billions of dollars each year on preschool programs. For nearly sixty years HIGHLIGHTS has tried to stress the importance of reading to the preschool child and having the child be aware of the pleasure and knowledge contained in reading material.

CAROLINE CLARK MYERS
GARRY CLEVELAND MYERS