I learnt my ABCs and 123s when i was 6 years old , many parents those days skipped sending their children to pre school. So they went to school only when they turn 7. there were so many who didnt know their alphabets or numbers in standard ONE . So those of us who went to kindergarten were considered lucky ! We were a tiny bit further then the rest.
Children nowadays, would laugh at you if you are SEVEN years old and dont know your ABCs because parents are sending them to learn how to read as young as 4 , even 3 ! By the time they are SEVEN and go to school, they are already reading fluently both in English and Bahasa Malaysia. They can count up to 100 and do simple maths.
But then, i cant help wandering, if this whole new way of educating is entirely doing good for the growth of a child. Because , i remember running around the garden, chasing butterflies, catching tadpoles to be kept in a bucket of water thinking it is fish !! I also remember looking at the stars and the moon with amazement , collecting dry leaves and seeds to play "cooking" . I remember collecting the "Kerang" shells at home and arranging it on the ground to make designs. I remember a whole lot of time spent creating my own little games using broken branches or old pots and pans. And all this happened when i was below 6 years old ! I guess i got to do all that because i was not forced to memorize alphabets and numbers or recognize pictures of animals to impress the lady next door :)
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I was free to discover the world for myself and however i wished to interpret it, i remember being amazed at the shooting clouds ( hahhaa...yes thats what i thought it was ! ) when only much later i realised it was actually a plane flying through the clouds which creates a straight white line in the sky . Seriously , tell me if children below 6 nowadays have the privilege to even notice if the skies are blue ?? let alone spotting any " Shooting clouds " :)
Most parents and teachers know that the first 6 years is crucial to the development of a child. Isnt it best for a child to slowly learn their environment by touching , feeling , smelling observing and seeing for themselves. ?
What i cant watch is when , ladies or mothers are at a function or a party with their kids and they start telling each other :
" Ohh...my kid could count up to 10 and his only 3 now !! " and the other one says..." hah ! mine too, children nowadays are just so smart, not like us those days anymore. It has to be the better living conditions and good food they get now "
And i am like...Huh? Good food !? really? Good food was from my grandpas vegetable patch and the free range chicken my grandma use to cook for the whole family. What good food do we get now that could possibly make children more intelligent ? If yes, then how come the whole world is complaining about pollution and hazardous commercially farmed animals ?? Is that really making children more intelligent?
I dont think children are more intelligent now...children have been children all the time, its just that those days, parents did not shove letters , numbers and images into their heads even before they could say MAMA or DADA ! I am just wandering if we are blocking the natural path to grow by doing this. How could they be interested in the flowers when they are head is full of ABCs , numbers and images of blue elephants and purple dinosaurs !
Is this why children are becoming more and more demanding at a very young age ? Coz they seem to have skipped that part of being just Children ! We are not even giving them the opportunity to grow into this beautiful world gracefully with the fragrance of flowers, softness of the grass, speaking with the wind, and basking under the sun ...no we are throwing them right into the mouths of life in a shocking state and i am not surprised if they are terrified of it ! They want everything NOW, they want everything their WAY ! They are running after life like its a race ! seriously what is the rush...we are going to live with alphabets , numbers and gadgets all our life...so why not let the first 6 or at least 5 years free and easy ? what could possibly go wrong if we do that...all the most important science discoveries and developments of the world has happened in times when children didnt go to school till they were SEVEN. So why all the mad rush now ?? Why all the competition ??
Of course i am not trained in any children psychology or montessori system or whatsoever, so this is only my own observation and thoughts :) But i do hope parents would take it easy and let kids be kids, so they would feel connected to this life and feel their souls attached before they learn the ABCs.
Alphabets doesnt guarantee happiness but a happy soul does ! Let the child recognize itself before it sees the rest. I am sure they will grow beautifully !
