The Nanny State takes a giant leap forward in the U.K. The Telegraph reports:  Babies will be given marks for crying, gurgling or babbling under the Government's new curriculum for 0-5 year olds which all nurseries must follow. Playgroups and childminders will also need to show that they help babies make progress in 69 areas of education and development or risk losing funds. The new Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum lays down how children are expected to develop from birth to the end of the first year of compulsory schoolingUpdate: Closer to home, Barack Obama's successor int he Illinois Statehouse, Sen. Kwame Raoul moves to make kindergarten mandatory in that state, with truancy laws applying. Can mandatory pre-school be far behind? The Illinois Journal reports:Last year, when Governor Blagojevich's taxpayer-funded "Preschool for All" program was proposed, those who should have been adamantly opposed based on parental rights said weak things like, "It's...(Read Full Post)