That may well be the most important thing one can learn: how to learn. I know plenty of people who lapped up whatever they were given at school and absorbed it like a sponge. Then they went forth into adulthood and stagnated because they were no longer lead. I also know plenty of people who have excelled later in life through self-improvement and continual exploration and curiosity. There are plenty of people on these forums who can hold a very good debate and have a well rounded knowledge of things outside their sphere of supposed expertise simply because they have a curiosity to learn and explore. This is what should be nurtured in childhood most definitely not the ability to meet measurements that merely serve the politician's purpose to demonstrate their quality over the previous administrations.
Nurseries not preparing children for school!
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That may well be the most important thing one can learn: how to learn. I know plenty of people who lapped up whatever they were given at school and absorbed it like a sponge. Then they went forth into adulthood and stagnated because they were no longer lead. I also know plenty of people who have excelled later in life through self-improvement and continual exploration and curiosity. There are plenty of people on these forums who can hold a very good debate and have a well rounded knowledge of things outside their sphere of supposed expertise simply because they have a curiosity to learn and explore. This is what should be nurtured in childhood most definitely not the ability to meet measurements that merely serve the politician's purpose to demonstrate their quality over the previous administrations.
Three-year-olds should be allowed to enjoy life. In general, their curiosity leads them to the learning when they are ready, although there's nothing wrong with a little push and direction. Note the word little in that last sentence.
The worst kids I know, personality-wise, have been pushed hard from birth, with tutors and the like.
The worst kids I know, personality-wise, have been pushed hard from birth, with tutors and the like.
Soldato
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Often by their middle-class parents as eluded to above. Kids at that age learn through play and at wildly different rates. Learning by rote isn't going to achieve anything. Let young kids be young kids and encourage parents to encourage them to learn via play.
Your child may find it harder at school now.. In terms of pronouncing letters and words.
It's all about the sounds not the actual letter in the beginning.
But he prob will be ok.
When it comes to teaching in nursery's.... yes i agree but it won't happen. Having someone qualified to teach is expensive vs a nursery nurse, it's like £22.5k vs basic min wage.
They simply wouldn't employ teachers.
And having unqualified people teaching is not a great idea
That is only speculation!
I've got no complaints with the preschool that my son went to. I see their job as getting children ready for the structure of school life, growing independence, experiencing their first time away from parents, having fun, and learning through that play. At that young age their main learning should come from the parent.
Pre-schools tend to be quite well structured as you'd expect. Nursery on the other hand are less so - I'm still unsure on this, the comments made in both directions are compelling.
Yes!
You don't know the progress my son is making or how he applies what he's learnt.
Yes, Phonics is proven to be better for making sure ALL children are able to have some level of reading no matter the starting point.
It does, however, ill serve the smarter children in the class, who are held back by the method and would be better served by a more traditional reading teaching method
Citation;
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25917646
We went to the first parent / teacher meeting a few weeks ago as she's been doing 4 afternoons a week in the schools nursery class.
When we asked how we should be teaching her to read and write in order to match the way schools do it and avoid confusion (no matter whether we agree with the method or not), I actually had to have a quick lesson in making the sounds!
It's really quite difficult to pronounce letters as though they are part of a word versus what I'm guessing most people would think of as phonetics.
When we asked how we should be teaching her to read and write in order to match the way schools do it and avoid confusion (no matter whether we agree with the method or not), I actually had to have a quick lesson in making the sounds!
It's really quite difficult to pronounce letters as though they are part of a word versus what I'm guessing most people would think of as phonetics.
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Personally, I think nurseries (i.e. everything before reception year at school) should be about making sure the children are safe, well fed and happy. What's wrong with them just having fun and playing? Why do they have to be "taught"? They can learn through play. As soon as you introduce "structured" learning you remove the fun aspect as then nurseries start worrying about meeting targets - and we all know what happens when there are targets to be met.
Having said that, my wife's a teacher and she sees children coming into school unable to hold a pen, use a knife and fork and surprisingly often even unable to use the toilet. It isn't a schools/teachers job to teach the children these "basic" skills - it's not even a nurseries job - it's a parents job and I don't want to see these responsibilities foisted onto nurseries/child minders and relieving the parents of their responsibilities. If children are coming into schools without these basic life skills then social services need to step in imo - not add more onerous burdens onto schools/nurseries.
Having said that, my wife's a teacher and she sees children coming into school unable to hold a pen, use a knife and fork and surprisingly often even unable to use the toilet. It isn't a schools/teachers job to teach the children these "basic" skills - it's not even a nurseries job - it's a parents job and I don't want to see these responsibilities foisted onto nurseries/child minders and relieving the parents of their responsibilities. If children are coming into schools without these basic life skills then social services need to step in imo - not add more onerous burdens onto schools/nurseries.
Isn't a nursery just that though, a place that merely "look after" children, rather than having any prerequisite for teaching them?
Is there really any need to prepare toddlers, academically, for school? Frankly, that's exactly what the Foundation Stage is for, and teachers are well-trained in ensuring this early progression is met.
We should close this thread and all use our collective energies for something far more useful, like pooing through Michael Gove's letterbox.
We should close this thread and all use our collective energies for something far more useful, like pooing through Michael Gove's letterbox.
I for one wouldn't want to send my child to school having missed out on the foundation provided by a good preschool.
I think there is.
My daughter wants to learn things, so we teach her as best we can and instill values in her as best we can.
It's not like we have lesson times at home and set her homework, but when she starts looking at the clock and saying "Daddy, look it's 7 o'clock." you can't ignore that.
Just as when she wants to write her name herself in Grandma's birthday card, we encourage and teach.
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Good for you - and this is what most responsible parents do - it should be the parents responsibility at that age anyway. Why foist that responsibility onto a nursery?
If people want nurseries to "teach" then be prepared for a doubling of child care costs.
To give the other side of the coin, I did just that. My four-year-old never went to pre-school, was never pushed academically, and is now one of the pupils with the highest abilities in her year. This is all despite her being an August birth, so some children are eleven months older that her.
Education is not a one-size-fits-all scenario, but I do think all children should just have fun in the early years.
Some parents don't do this. Those parents may very well be morons, but is it fair for their children to be so disadvantaged because of it? Surely it is to the benefit of all to try to bring them up to speed through better nursery provision - even if that means allocating further government funds.
Soldato
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Nursery literarily means a room for children.
It is entirely feasible for even the most average of parents to prepare their child for school. My family (including my own offspring) never went to pre-school and we all did good to exceptional academically.