I mentioned about balancing our lives. But currently, here's one issue which I find particularly challenging to strike a healthy balance: Children's education as it SHOULD be (theoretically) and as it IS now.
Theoretically speaking, experts (e.g. Montessori, Piaget, Froebel) have unanimously concluded that children's learning is effective when it is :
1) DAP - Developmentally Appropriate to their age and stage of development
2) Through PLAY - They learn best when they explore, solve problems, create, manipulate and assimilate new information into existing ones in their mind.
3) Holistic - The programme takes into account a child's physical, emotional, social, cognitive, creative development...
4) Not forced - children do not learn effectively out of FEAR or COMPULSION
How ideal if all kids can play and learn like in the pic.
Here's the problem, in Kuching, I can't find a preschool like that! In fact, the two MOST popular preschools are highly academic and they even conduct spelling tests for English and Bahasa Malaysia as well as Mandarin dictation. That is besides the homework given every alternate days and MORE during weekends and holidays. (The teacher there informed me I'm the ONLY parent who complained about TOO MUCH homework!)
Here's a list of Chinese characters my girl has to be able to recognize by next week. I nearly fainted. I don't even recognize some of them!!(Apologies, my Mandarin Teacher!)
And why? No. 1 reason: "If not, how can they cope in Primary One esp. in Chinese School!!!!?"
Hence the dilemma:
If my child goes through a preschool programme that experts advocate, she'll take longer to catch up in Chinese education system. So she might get labeled, fall behind, punished..bla, bla, bla
Now that my child is in a preschool programme just so she can catch up in Chinese school, I think she is less outspoken, doesn't like school, we have less time for fun stuff e.g. swimming, and every weekend is just a race to complete writing work, writing and more writing!!! AAAAaaaargh!
The trend in Kuching now (and I think in most parts of Malaysia) is sending children to Chinese school. Even though the parents themselves are bananas (illiterate in Mandarin) or grew up in an overseas country.
Why Chinese schools? Common reasons:"China is the next global economic superpower/ Extra language is always an advantage/ Discipline/ Hey, I went to Chinese school and I turned out fine!"
One mother is adamant her preschool children be given as much academic work as possible. She said, "Don't worry, children will cope!"
But I want her to do more than just COPE.. I want her to FLOURISH and ENJOY the learning experience. It is common knowledge Chinese schools' environment hardly encourages that.
So maybe you'll say, "So.. don't send to Chinese school then. What's the biggie?"
The biggie is, somehow it ain't right when you watch Astro's Mandarin channel and you see Caucasians, Africans, Indians, Middle Easterners..etc DEBATING in perfect Beijing Mandarin and you're going, "Ah, er, wo-bu-hui-jiang-hua-yi.. Cakap Melayu, boleh?" (Chinese to Chinese............just so wrong!)
So maybe you'll say, "So.. don't send to Chinese school then. What's the biggie?"
The biggie is, somehow it ain't right when you watch Astro's Mandarin channel and you see Caucasians, Africans, Indians, Middle Easterners..etc DEBATING in perfect Beijing Mandarin and you're going, "Ah, er, wo-bu-hui-jiang-hua-yi.. Cakap Melayu, boleh?" (Chinese to Chinese............just so wrong!)
Question:Am I too idealistic?
Can mothers out there advise? Especially those who are 'bananas' like me?
Do your children flourish well in Chinese schools?
Do they become introverts after that?
Do they become introverts after that?
Do they drag their feet to school?
What's the schooling trend in West M'sia?
What's the schooling trend in West M'sia?
For newer mothers, it never hurts to think and plan ahead! Meanwhile, 'xcuuuuuuse me, gotta go do some homework now.........
Carpe Diem, ladies!
Becky
19 comments:
Hi Becky, the only reason I sent mine to a chinese school is that I want her to grow up with a "chinese" culture or mentality. My parents "shifted" me overseas when I was 12, however, the 6 years I spent in the chinese primary school before we moved has remained in me and constantly reminded me that I'm a "Chinese".
Back to your question whether she flourishes in a Chinese school, well, she is doing fine and remains as one of the top 10 students in her class (as I was told by the teacher, even though sometimes she comes back home with test papers marked "30%"!!). We don't force Eliza to study, neither do we send her to tuitions (James is totally against it). I only have three (3) simple rules for her:-
(a) Try to understand what the teachers are teaching in classes, if dont, come back and ask;
(b) Be a responsible "person" by completing what needs to be completed;
(c) (the most important), acknowledge that God is the source of wisdom and understanding, without His help, we'll not be doing very well....so don't be proud.
However, sad to say, children here go to school just to "pass" the papers; whether or not they truly learn...that's hard to say.
Hopes the above help.
God Bless
Regards,
Winnie Wong
Thank you for your input, Winnie! I hope to do the same for my kids. Please visit us more often so we can also learn from you! :)
Have to admit that nowadays the preschool homework and tests are no joke. It's good to have 'higher standard' in order to prepare the kids to primary 1, however, I found out that most of the school teachers didn't really teach the kids in their classes. They just distribute the vocab list and want the parents to teach the kids at home.(cases in Kuching, not sure about others.)
As a Mandarin teacher for all these years, I feel pity to the parents (who are from English background) and the kids (who feel lost and started to dislike this 'difficult' subject). This has put too much stress to them. I wonder how come there are no parents complaint about this matter to the school or the school didn't bother about such complaint?
Anyway, for me, I always feel that Mandarin is very important. I love Mandarin and I feel that all Chinese should learn how to appreciate and enjoy learning it.(Many non-Chinese and foreigners are picking up Mandarin though.)
No language is easy to learn in this world but if you have determination and be possitive, you and your children will be fine. Becky, you are one of my top student who I feel proud of. So please don't give up!
In Malaysia, it's impossible to get such school you mentioned. As not many parents understand about those concept too. Some of them love their children to play and learn but at the same time, they are too demanding on their children's result. It is not easy to have BOTH at the same time as not many teachers has the skill and patient to teach every children in their limited time (all children have different characters and learning methods).
I'm thinking to have home schooling (pre-school) for my daughter if I'm still 'jobless' at that time. I don't see any good schools around as I don't want her to waste her precious time there and bring back all the germs/bacteria which cause her sick. (not sure whether this is workable).
Children are very smart and they are fast learner too. However, they need proper environment and positive supports from parents especially. If they know that parents are not that keen in Mandarin, they will also feel and react the same, saying that "Mandarin is not important, too difficult to learn, daddy mummy don't know anything about Mandarin and why should I?" etc. So parents, please talk 'properly' in front of your children. They might be playing at one corner but their ears are sensitive to all the 'noises' around them. :)
Thank you Nanamips! i think what's also important is parent-teacher communication to convey our expectations to the teacher and vice versa so we can reinforce children's learning. It's not realistic nor fair to 'test' children on what they have not learnt in school--I will tell my kid's teachers that!
Hey! where did zionkch go?? :)
Welcome Ss! Thanks for being part of our group!
Becky, my boy has the same test as your girl. If you look into their chinese book that they have in their homework bag, the chinese word recognition (20 words), they've actually learnt in the class.
My boy is a year end child. Compare to his sister, his sister already can read 70% of those words when she bring back the test paper back when she was in J2 whereas my boy can only recognise about 3 words. However, he is eager to learn. He take out the paper and ask me to teach him everyday. I started with 5 words. Yesterday another 5 words. He already can read 10 words. If he can recognise all those 10 words today, I'll continue with another 5 words. If not, then will still stop at the first 10 words.
I'm same as you, not from Mandarin school. My kids know that I didn't learn Mandarin in school. But I learn together with them. So I told my girl, if I can do it, she can do it too. It's new for them, and new to me too (although I do know quite a lot of chinese words ... ha ha). I told them, I can't read chinese newspaper like their daddy. I wish I can ... so, hope that they will be able to learn and at the same time, I will learn together with them.
For those spelling test, I started quite early too before the teacher test him. I actually photocopied the words and put in my handbag. Sometimes in the car, I'll take it out and let him read. Sometimes, test him spelling verbally. We do it quite informally. Start from 2 or 3 words ... depend how fast he can remember. Spelling can be learnt any where, not necessary on the study table. My boy love to learn new words and he is very happy when he can read and spell all the words. He is learning .. in a fun way. He always make sure he finish his homework. It's important that they learn to be responsible at this young age.
A lot of times, actually kids can cope ... parents is the one who underestimate the kids. We should let go and let them explore and learn to cope with their environment. We never know what will they face in future, what kind of teacher or people will they face. They should learn to cope, to overcome their fear or weakness. They can do it, we parents should always encourage them. We can't protect them forever. We have the responsibility to help them to be strong. And we should always remember that God is in control. Give more trust to our kids. I'm still learning too ... all parents always worry about our own kids but I think it is really important for them to learn to cope with the environment rather than changing the environment to suit them.
Are you Ss? Anyway I guess what you mentioned has its truth. I guess due to my background (training), I have high ideals on how education should be. But like you said, I can't control the environment surrounding my child. So guess we'll just have to adapt, innovate and move on. Thanks a lot for your suggestion.
Ya, is me, SS. I sign up for yahoo (not google ..), failed to post the comment. Only success when i click on anonymous.
Thanks Ss, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulty. I need to consult an expert! (which, obviously, I'm not..) Do try again after this and see if u can comment as your own identity ya? :) Any probs let me know I'll try to get it fixed.
Our (hubby's and mine) choice for chinese school is because he's alma mater at Chung Hua No. 3...nothing like a typical china man with loads of tradition to place our kids into chinese school...hahaha.
My reasoning is simply, opportunity. I am the playful type (born year of the Monkey) so where my kids can grow up well rounded with as much experience in life as possible, I'm all for it.
I want them to be proud to be Malaysian and speak as many languages in Malaysia as possible and know and appreciate as many cultures as possible.
I also don't believe in placing my kids into tuition for all subjects but where they lack, chinese upgrading and BM revision, we place them in these two subjects. The rest like Maths, Science, etc, they learn the English and Chinese versions and can do ok.
To Wheat GRass: so how do your kids fare in Chinese school? Are you yourself competent enough in Mandarin to teach them ?or are u like me, a banana?
Dear Becky, Hannah is scoring 70% to 80% and above, Noah is able to pass (Bs and Cs with ocassional Ds)
I'm a full fledged banana but had fun for two years of their kindy life as well as two years of their primary life to learn chinese with them. After that, it was like Eyptian to me.
For the kids, chinese is norm for them. For Hannah all languages are her forte but for Noah he's more into Science. Still they don't get opportunities to use their BM
That's pretty good!
Becky, my girl when she was still in J3, when she knows she's going to chinese school, she kept asking me why she has to go to chinese school. why she can't go to english school. My answer to her, in Malaysia, is either you go to chinese school or you go to Malay school. If you want to go english school, then mummy have to put you to Singapore boarding school which she doesn't want. So, I ask her whether she prefer chinese or BM and her answer is chinese.
After getting into Pri 1, about 1 month, she told me, "Mummy I start to love chinese. I love learning the chinese words." Since she already start to learn chinese in kindy, it's not something new to her. And they have chinese period everyday. Exposing to so much chinese, they get used to chinese and like it very soon. So, it won't be that difficult for them to get used to chinese school. Foundation is important. Let them know since they are in kindy that all the languages that they are learning now is important. Don't let them lost interest with chinese (especially parents who already decided to put the kids in chinese school). Should encourage them.
I myself did not go to chinese school but learnt a little chinese from church. My bro & sis go to chinese school. My mum also regret that she didn't put me to chinese school. I can't read chinese newspaper like others. I wish I could. So, I put my children to chinese school. There's no harm to learn more languages. They can drop chinese when they go to secondary school if they want.
Ss
Hi Ss, i guess the gist of what you're saying is that children will get by and do alright as long as the right foundation is in place, right?
I'm with you on that.. However, if there is a wish list, my wish would be that ALL SCHOOLS have a balanced curriculum. I think in our country, too much emphasis is placed on academic excellence (passing exams and getting multiple straight A's), which in itself is not wrong, but I believe not all children are academically inclined so it would be an ideal world where some kids who are musically, athletically or theatrically talented also have a place in schools and society. Or those who are good with handy skills..etc.
One of these days I'll see if I can post a video of a lecture by Ken Robinson who said that all education system around the world focus too much on the neck up and to one side of the head. The body is just for transportation!
I only wish that besides learning Mandarin in Chinese schools, my kids can also pick up other things of value: confidence, kindness to others, respect, courage to make and learn from mistakes...etc
My girl learnt values from her kindy. The teachers stress quite often on values. In J3, they will have a character camp for 2 days and every year they have a different theme i.e. patience, diligence, compassion, honesty, etc. I think it's really good. Again, I would say, kindy is where they can build their foundation. When they go to P1, continue to remind them on those precious values.
My girl mix around in P1 well. She used to ask me to go see her during recess time. Now, she would ask me not to come coz' she will have not enough time to be with her friends, walk around the school with her friends. So, academic is one thing, but at the same time, they learn to mix with friends, they do group work, cleaning the class, etc. They also got PE class and my girl love it so much. Sometimes, if the class too noisy, teacher will tell them no PE for tomorrow b'cos they are too noisy. Or if some group too noisy, there will be no games during PE for the group. So, this kind of things encourage them to have teamwork. So, see ... not only academic, they got fun too.
I agree that schools in M'sia is getting more and more academic. But I always comfort myself and my kids that if compare to Singapore education, we are still behind. I always stress on positive side like "You Can Do It", "Try Your Best", "Nothing is difficult", "Don't say - I don't know,You Can Always Ask And Learn", etc.
Beside academic, I let her involve in other activities, piano, dancing and drawing and actually all these are requested by herself. Piano = musical, Dancing = exercise (I think a good exercise for girls), Drawing = art. Well, sounds like a lot of things, but she still have time for cartoons, sometimes Facebook games, PSP, and movie time but of course with the deal, finish homework before she play. We are joining a club soon, and hopefully can have more outdoor activity after that.
One thing good about the system this few year started is, exam will be before school holiday. Straight after exam will be holiday. So, I will tell her, when school days ... do her study well and she can enjoy as much as she want during the holiday. We have Wii at home but will only be plug on during school holidays and sometimes public holiday. And I'll usually plan for travelling too during school holiday. She's always looking forward for us to bring her for travelling.
Well, I'm not totally agree with the education system here. However, since I can't do anything to change it, I'll try to do something to 'balance' my kids.
Nowadays, we are trying to train her to do her own time planning. Slowly will let go and let her handle her own things. She pack her own bag according to timetable since beginning of the year (but I'll sometimes check for her when she go to bed). She'll finish her homework everyday. But, I still guide her on her test and exam. This is the part I think I'll slowly let go and let her to handle too. She should come and tell me what test she has and ask for help by herself. Nowadays, still me who tell her and remind her when is her test/exam and what should she study first. We are working on this and hopefully she can handle and do her own planning. Will let you all know how it goes later.
Your girl is only 7 right? Well, she sounds like she's fitting in very well. Ya, let me know how she's doing with time and personal management. I want to teach my daughter to do the same soon.
I told her last night that she'll decide what to do first and later today. She start with doing her homework. After that she say she want to take bath before she start with her revision (got English test tomorrow). Since it's English test only, that's why I let her decide on her own schedule today. So, after taking bath, she read through her textbook & workbook. After reading both books, she start to play her facebook. She ask me she can play for how long, I suggest half an hour but she end up playing for 1 hour. I want to see whether she will check on the time or not and stop at half an hour. But no ... so, no choice, have to remind her.
My girl when in kindy, I start with a simple morning timetable for her to follow. She follow everyday. 7 things to do when she wake up before going to school. And it's a way to learn discipline too. I give her that timetable so that she do her stuff while i get ready other things. I don't have to follow her to do the following things.
1) Drink Milk
2) 小便
3) 大便
4) Brush teeth / wash face
5) Change pyjamas to uniform
6) Tie hair (I tie for her)
7) Check her school basket
(7) started in J3. Teacher tell them it's their own responsibility to make sure everything in basket when coming to school.
Simple timetable but I think a way to guide them what to do. She always ask me what to do next, that's why I make the timetable for her when she's in J1. She go and refer herself.
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