Children who are born with their motor running: how to tell

Our children's education starts from the time they first open their eyes as babies. Not of course with a backpack and a lunch box...it begins with loving smiles, parental chatter and nursery rhymes. When they are about four months old, they are ready for games such as peek-a-boo and play that involves items such as beads and blocks. They may react with a dimpled smile or other body language. We may not see it as a part of the education process... because, isn't education what happens at school?

Some stress that children should know the alphabet and count up to 20 by age 3 - around the time they enroll for kindergarten. But is that right? If education is preparation for life then aren't we substituting academics for education? And how early is too early for academics?

Geraldine Preston, headmistress of the Jumeirah Infant Nursery School which follows the Creative Early Childhood Curriculum, says, "You could begin (making children learn) by initiating 'Babies into Books' - a fantastic UK concept - to strengthen their language and communication skills." Well, not necessarily books like the encyclopedia, just story books. Perhaps soft books that are available at bookstores, which the baby could herself handle, turn the pages, look at the pictures and generally get the feel of.

A little later, when they can form their words, you could even do mock reading with them. There can be loads of language spillover from this exercise, which is actually a prelude to learning the alphabet. In tandem, we could increase their sight vocabulary by taking them to supermarkets, the post office or the beach.

"Language is not just learning the alphabet... it is how well you use it to communicate. Can you imagine how it is to take up a foreign language book and not know what all the text on the page means? It is exactly that kind of horror that children feel when they see the alphabet first. None of it makes any sense. But if they understand how it can be used, formal learning becomes an enjoyable experience," explains Preston.

"The same is the case with learning maths skills. No doubt it would seem very impressive if a child could count right upto 20. But that is mere learning by rote. Could this child give you two pencils if you asked him to? Teach him that first. Get him to pick up two apples at the supermarket - that's Maths too.

"We got our children at the school to plant seeds in the flowerbeds recently. It was so much fun for them to see their plants shoot up and flower. But they also got in a lesson in Maths - how many seeds did they plant; a lesson in science – how do plants grow; and they also developed their motor skills.

Writing skills are included in the curriculum but not imposed. The mainstream schools tackle these, and they will each have their own curriculum to follow. I see no point in confusing a child with an overload of formal education. Because unlearning something is more difficult. Of course, they all know the days of the week and the seasons of the year by the time they leave our school. Teach them basic concepts and formal learning will follow easily at mainstream schools which they join five years upward," says Preston.

Margaret Smith, proprietor and headmistress of The Little Star Nursery, recently had a quiz for her tots aged three to four years. A quiz? For tots? That's right. With a visual round, an audio round and the works. Only here the questions were all to do with the animals they had seen at zoo and the whole class participated.

Each correct answer was awarded with a smiling face cut-out, while a wrong response still got claps for coming on to the mike to answer. "Learning has to be a fun experience. Kids are constantly exposed to quiz shows on television and they see their elder siblings participate, so we customised one especially for their level of awareness; what's important is that everyone had a lot of fun," she explains.

While she has integrated the best from various curricula, she basically follows the Playway Method of introducing new words and numbers through songs and skits, and a Reading Rocket or a Reading House method. These involve a prop on which the words learnt are pasted which stands bang in the middle of the activity area so as to reinforce casual learning.

For the rest of the time, all school activity is geared towards developing the child's sense of independence, social interaction, hygiene, and responsibility. He also physically develops his motor skills, eye-hand coordination, etc. From the age of one and half upward, all children are given crayons to doodle, but none is forced to write. It is only about three months before they leave the nursery school to join the mainstream school, when they are all three-plus, that they are encouraged to do pattern writing, i.e. formation of capital letters along dotted lines.

This is to get them ready for the mainstream curriculum where they will actually build on these skills according to the syllabus of the school. Before this, they face the first assessment of a child's life, something that gives all parents sleepless nights.

"Some mainstream schools actually reject a child if s/he is not able to write her/his name. Since we are now aware of this, when parents inform us of their choice of mainstream schools, we prepare separate worksheets for these children so they are prepared for their assessments. But this does not apply to children who will go to certain other mainstream schools.

"Sometimes, parents who are worried that their wards are not 'learning' at school also pressurise us. They want them to learn not just capital letters but also the lower case. We explain to the parents that there is an age of readiness for every activity and that children are not ready for this before they are three and a half. It is important to understand that children are learning all the time and some may learn at a faster pace than the rest. If these children come up and ask to be taught writing, we do not deny them, and neither should parents at home. But be careful to give only what they can comfortably absorb. Do not force them into learning something because you want them to have an edge over their peers."

Obviously, the days of chalk and talk are gone for good from our nursery schools and the good news is that our children are still coming out bright and bouncy to face the 'grown-up' world of mainstream schools.

'The ideal age for academics is six years'

Sylvia Pais, principal ILA Nursery & Kindergarten
School, Abu Dhabi

Personally, I believe a mind is a fire to be kindled, not a vessel to be filled. And I don't believe a child has to be burdened with academic work at an early age. Childhood is meant to be enjoyed, I think the ideal age for a child to start academics should be six years," says Pais. But, even as this educator spells out her beliefs, Pais claims her hands are tied when it comes to the school. She says, "We just don't have a choice. We have to prepare the children for the Indian education curriculum - the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) syllabus. We are compelled to prepare them, because in Indian schools the teacher will promptly launch into writing on the blackboard from standard one and expect the kids to copy the notes. If they don't