|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Tuesday, 20 July 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
The importance of the Preschool years to later education by Maureen Wickremasinghe There was a time when Preschools were considered a "Bridge"
between home and school. This was a time when a child was gradually weaned
away from the family and introduced into the big Competence seems to be what we in Sri Lanka strive for. But it is usually competence in writing! Child Development shows that children of this age have to develop their finger muscles further to enable them to hold a pencil or pen. Competence This does not deter our teachers, as children as young as two years have to struggle to draw circles in exercise books as an introduction to writing their letters! (Given time they will draw their circles enthusiastically.) This is the only way that the preschools can justify to the parents, that the children are learning. There seems to be a complete lack of the knowledge of Child Development in the present teaching courses advertised daily in the newspapers. I must mention though that "Teacher Trainers" may not always be at fault, as many of the students that passed through my hands over the years, reverted back to the type of early education that they had received, forgetting that this was probably when they were around four years old and much more competent with their hand and finger skills. This is about the children being accepted in the family and among their friends and their work mates. Social acceptance Humans are social beings and this is an essential part of our lives. There would be no problem if the training is left to loving parents, who wish for their children to be polite, well-mannered, kind and considerate, so they may be accepted into any society. However, with the early replacement of parents by child menders in the guise of teachers whose main aim is to "educate," many children grow up without these niceties. There has to be time for the child to understand and feel. How can they when they have constant demands placed upon them. Writing - counting - chanting out the alphabet, and practising for concerts? A relation of mine lives next door to a prestigious Preschool, where the constant shouting, not by the children, but by the teachers, is a great disturbance to the neighbours. Is this necessary? Yes. The teachers have to show results, which are dictated to them by the people who run the school. One morning, he heard a little child shout back, "Teacher, if you stop shouting, may be we can do our work!" These children will probably behave in a similar manner to their teachers in later life because these are their role models! Social acceptance is a very important part of our lives. It should be given time and consideration in our preschools and educational institutions. Punishing children for "wrong doing" is not the answer. We have to take time to explain the rules of our society to them. Is this where bulling, which moves into the Universities as Ragging, and then on to the streets as Murdering in adult life, has a start? Most often, when a Preschool is planned, the first things that are bought are individual desks and chairs for the children. They are then taught to sit in solitary splendour, so that they cannot talk or "copy" from their neighbours. Helping others is not encouraged. This is the attitude that they get, which is probably carried on until the end of their lives. One of my students gave me a report of her observation of a lesson she had prepared for the class. When the written work was given out, these children of seven or eight years immediately got out their books and made a barricade around the work that they were doing! No copying! No sharing! And it was not a test! Moral self-worth and self esteem Children like to help. Given the chance, they like to help their parents in simple ways, i.e carrying a shopping bag, sorting out the washing for the line, or putting the plates and spoons on the table. They try to be obedient and they also try to be truthful! These are all parts of the future character of the self. It gives them a feeling of worth and that leads to self esteem. Self esteem is seldom considered in our educational institutions. "Do what I say and not what you want to do!" This is a major order, repeated so often, that our children dare not think for themselves. Many Western cultures encourage children to think. Why follow these trends? Don't we take many of our present ideas from the West? It is important for children to learn and experiment and think for themselves of they wish to succeed in later life. We are in danger of turning our children into "zombies". People who walk around and perform actions without thinking! Children must have time to develop their self esteem. Our Preschools seldom consider this. Children are made to sit and perform actions over and over again. This includes the time allocated to their cultural and sports activities - New Year, Sports meets and end of term concerts, which may take a whole term of practice for a perfect performances. I tried to lend a teacher some books for her Nursery, as I believe that language development is one of the most important aspects of learning at any age, She took one set and when she returned it, I asked her whether I could give her some more. Her reply was that there would be no time for books and stories, as they were involved with the concert for the whole term! It has 26 items and took around four hours. I left after the first two hours and only six items had been put on, with a lot of pushing and shoving of the children, each time! At present I have a little girl who comes to my saturday club, who attended this Preschool. She dare not open her mouth, or put a mark on her paper, although she is a neat writer and seems to be learning fast. No self esteem? I have to keep reminding her, that it is her work that matters and she must do it for herself. The point of this article is to stress that there is an urgent need for a serious look at the Preschools in our country. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
wide world! This is still
partly true, but with the increasing need for mothers to go to work and
the increasing years that a child has to spend in them, the quality of
preschools and their curriculum have to be reconsidered.
