How Early Is Too Early Article Summary
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Published: March 20, 2008
Child education is the most important aspect in the growth of an individual.I am a working mother of 2 and this issue has plagued every mother that I know and that includes me.
There are two sides to this issue.
The teachers feel that by sending a toddler to school (before he/she is 5 years old), we are robbing the Child of his childhood, when he should be learning about life and motor skills from his parents, grandparents etc. Sending a toddler to a formal school should ideally be after he turns 4 years of age. By that age the child is more independent, can go to the restroom by himself, eat by himself and start comprehending discipline and concepts like sharing, reading, making out words and letters etc. By sending a toddler to a school, the parents are shifting the responsibility of teaching a child the basic skills (motor skills etc) over to the teachers and bacause in school (particularly Indian Schools), the child: teacher ratio is sometimes 1:15, the teachers just cannot give one to one attention to the child as needed. The child''s immunity to diseases is also developing at this time and not strong enough to counter the cold/cough viruses. This is the reason why every toddler falls ill again and again in preschool.
This is the time when a parent is The Most Important person in a child''s life. Teaching your basic core values begins at home before the child is ready to go to school. Basic education like identifying the colours, numbers and alphabets should be imparted at home where the child is not competing with other children to gain a smile or encouraging word from the teachers and so his sense of worth grows and by the time the child is ready to go to school, he is much more confident of himself, which is very important.
As it is most schools now insist that a child will be admitted into the Lower Kindergarten (in India) only if the child is 4+ on the 1st of June and not before. This is a personal experience. And as it is all that a child learns in a preschool is reapeated in Nursrey and LKG.
It is a personal decision for every parent on whether to send their child to a preschool at the age of 2 years or not. Pressure from society (competition in later life), instances where both parent want/have to work, feeling as if your child will be educationally/socially backwards if he does not go to a preschool are some of the reasons for parents to send their child early to school.
I know parents who have taught their children at home till age 4 and who have not found reason for complaint. they feel that their child is as well versed in the basics as any child coming into LKG from a fromal school. But this happens only in cases where one parent is at home to supervise the child.
In the case of both working parents , the situation is different. They might not have reliable help (in the form of grandparents or a trusted maid) at home and this forces them to put the child in a preschool as soon as the child turns 2 years. I have also seen a tremendous amount of pressure from their peers, friends etc to put the child in school as early as possible. Parents do it because everyone else is doing so and some also feel that their child wants to be in school and learns a lot from the teachings and interactions with other children and teachers.
But it is the duty of every parent to take the right decision keeping their child at the center. It is not about competition with other parents/children, whether you want to leave your job or not, you need to decide what kinds of life you want your child to have.
At the end of the day, what is most important is how well adjusted and comfortable the child is at home and in the outside world. how comfortable the child is sharing his life with his parents.
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