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A 3-year-old should play not study in kindie
By Zong Lei |
November 10, 2009, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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DURING our three-month stay in Shanghai this summer, I sent my three-year-old son to a private kindergarten. My purpose was to let him enjoy the company of ther kids as he did in Kazakhstan.
The differences between the Chinese and Kazakh pre-school education made me rethink the purpose of early childhood education and consider which method is more effective.
The kindergarten in Shanghai teaches a lot based on textbooks - for three-year-olds, alas!
There are classes in English, math, Chinese poetry and so on. I was surprised that kids my son's age were already taught to write numbers and English letters.
In addition, all the other kids in my son's class join interest groups such as piano, painting, and chess after school, with extra charges. Some even go to weekend classes for math and spoken English.
The results of this period of attendance seemed obvious. My son can recite more ancient Chinese poems, chant some English rhymes, and write numbers and English letters, though awkwardly as can be expected.
In Kazakhstan, in contrast, kids play a lot in kindergarten. There is no textbook at all. They sing, dance, do exercises and play games.
They make small animals out of vegetables and fruits; they pile up fallen leaves and transport them with small carts; and they make their ice sliding slopes with snow themselves.
More important, they are motivated to follow good manners, for example, to fold their own clothes, mop the table and put the chairs in place after meals.
Through attending the kindergarten in Kazakhstan, my son does not show any immediate academic achievements, other than progress in speaking Russian. However, at home, he always hums new songs, performs improvised dances, and "trains" us to do all kinds of exercises that he has learned at kindergarten.
From media reports and from what I have heard through relatives and friends, there is a rapidly growing trend in China for kindergartens to introduce kids to formal learning.
The question is whether this is conducive to the healthy development of a child at this early age.
A recent article at BBC Online about early education concludes that early introduction to formal learning does not have any benefits but may cause harm, because early formal teaching may kill kids' later interest in learning and make them see learning as a chore and duty, rather than a pleasure and tool for success in later life.
The purpose of early child education should be to focus on helping kids develop positive attitude towards learning, gain language and study skills for later progress.
And all this should be achieved, according to the article, through play-based learning, which is a balance between child-initiated and teacher-initiated learning.
Many parents in China are not unaware of the possible harm that learning too much at too early a stage may do to kids. However, they seem to have no other choice - all this is aimed at getting their kids into a good primary school, which may mean better chances to better schools - all the way through to a good university.
Many parents in China are under great pressure not to let children lose at the starting line. This boils down to our flawed education system in which exams, particularly college entrance exams, largely decide one's future or even reputation.
(The author is a freelancer based in Kazakhstan. Her e-mail: jessie_zong@yahoo.com)
The differences between the Chinese and Kazakh pre-school education made me rethink the purpose of early childhood education and consider which method is more effective.
The kindergarten in Shanghai teaches a lot based on textbooks - for three-year-olds, alas!
There are classes in English, math, Chinese poetry and so on. I was surprised that kids my son's age were already taught to write numbers and English letters.
In addition, all the other kids in my son's class join interest groups such as piano, painting, and chess after school, with extra charges. Some even go to weekend classes for math and spoken English.
The results of this period of attendance seemed obvious. My son can recite more ancient Chinese poems, chant some English rhymes, and write numbers and English letters, though awkwardly as can be expected.
In Kazakhstan, in contrast, kids play a lot in kindergarten. There is no textbook at all. They sing, dance, do exercises and play games.
They make small animals out of vegetables and fruits; they pile up fallen leaves and transport them with small carts; and they make their ice sliding slopes with snow themselves.
More important, they are motivated to follow good manners, for example, to fold their own clothes, mop the table and put the chairs in place after meals.
Through attending the kindergarten in Kazakhstan, my son does not show any immediate academic achievements, other than progress in speaking Russian. However, at home, he always hums new songs, performs improvised dances, and "trains" us to do all kinds of exercises that he has learned at kindergarten.
From media reports and from what I have heard through relatives and friends, there is a rapidly growing trend in China for kindergartens to introduce kids to formal learning.
The question is whether this is conducive to the healthy development of a child at this early age.
A recent article at BBC Online about early education concludes that early introduction to formal learning does not have any benefits but may cause harm, because early formal teaching may kill kids' later interest in learning and make them see learning as a chore and duty, rather than a pleasure and tool for success in later life.
The purpose of early child education should be to focus on helping kids develop positive attitude towards learning, gain language and study skills for later progress.
And all this should be achieved, according to the article, through play-based learning, which is a balance between child-initiated and teacher-initiated learning.
Many parents in China are not unaware of the possible harm that learning too much at too early a stage may do to kids. However, they seem to have no other choice - all this is aimed at getting their kids into a good primary school, which may mean better chances to better schools - all the way through to a good university.
Many parents in China are under great pressure not to let children lose at the starting line. This boils down to our flawed education system in which exams, particularly college entrance exams, largely decide one's future or even reputation.
(The author is a freelancer based in Kazakhstan. Her e-mail: jessie_zong@yahoo.com)
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