There is a another quote from Fred Rogers that I consider of immense importance when thinking about what a language curriculum should look like: Rogers said, “I don’t think that anybody can grow unless they are accepted exactly as they are.”
By putting the focus on the child, Rogers puts the focus on what is right and good and fair. How can a child want to learn more if they aren’t involved in what is going on in class, if they feel that they will be accepted only to the degree that they do well on tests? A good curriculum must protect the child from being made to feel that they have to be what they can’t be yet, because they don’t know how, and it’s not their fault.
If a child is pressured to perform because of an old-style curriculum based on how many correct answers they can get, then most will retreat. We all know that all children can learn a language, so why turn the class over to only the fast processors and let the slower processors retreat into the corners of the room? It’s a good question.