--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Quintilian [educational writer in Rome…" description: "\"Quintilian [educational writer in Rome around A.D. 100] thought that the earliest years of the child's life were crucial. Education should start earlie..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/c-sommerville-39957_age_quintilian-educational-writer-in-rome-ar_1241305.jpg" --- # Quintilian \[educational writer in Rome around A.D. 100\]… ![“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…” quote by C. Sommerville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/c-sommerville-39957_age_quintilian-educational-writer-in-rome-ar_1241305.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/c-sommerville-39957_age_quintilian-educational-writer-in-rome-ar_1241305.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cce/c-sommerville-39957_age_quintilian-educational-writer-in-rome-ar_1241305.jpg) > “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.” [C. Sommerville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sommerville/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early learning should be playful and gentle to foster love of learning, not fear. **In simple terms:** Playful early education builds lifelong love of learning. Key Takeaway Introduce learning through play early. Themes education child development play Mood thoughtful instructive Type educational philosophical When to use this quote - parenting - preschool curriculum - home activities Key Concepts early pedagogy kindergarten concepts Questions to Reflect On - How can play be balanced with structure? - What signs show a child’s learning aversion? A Different Perspective Play alone may not address deeper cognitive needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/age/) [Aversion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aversion/) [Childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/childhood/) [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Early childhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-childhood/) [Early childhood education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/early-childhood-education/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Educational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/educational/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Kindergarten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kindergarten/) [Lessons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lessons/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/play/) [Rome](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rome/) ## Related quotes > [To summarize, the particular song a male sings, and the behavioral responses of females to song and morphological signals, are not genetically inherited in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-r-grant/to-summarize-the-particular-song-a-male-sings-and-the-behavioral/) [Peter R. 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All the small exchanges children have with their parents, teachers, and with each other carry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/emotional-intelligence-begins-to-develop-in-the-earliest-years-all/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [The happiest years of my mother's life were spent in Washington, D.C. 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Sommerville > [Without a sense of the shame or guilt of his or her action, the child will only be hardened in rebellion by physical punishment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sommerville/without-a-sense-of-the-shame-or-guilt-of-his-or-her-action-the-child/) [C. Sommerville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sommerville/) > [Ambivalence reaches the level of schizophrenia in our treatment of violence among the young. Parents do not encourage violence, but neither do they take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sommerville/ambivalence-reaches-the-level-of-schizophrenia-in-our-treatment-of/) [C. Sommerville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-sommerville/) > [In the years of the Roman Republic, before the Christian era, Roman education was meant to produce those character traits that would make the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-sommerville/in-the-years-of-the-roman-republic-before-the-christian-era-roman/) [C. 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