Alan and I discovered the other night that Bryan knows his order pretty well. We tested him, and he was fine with 1st to 19th. 20th and above was all messy.
I have long stopped offering him any form academic stimulation at home ever since his teacher remarked on how restless he could get after he's completed with his task in class. So I've no idea when he started using his order right. But I guess through play in the preschool, he's learnt alot more than from the textbooks.
I just heard the other day during bath time that he was describing to me what a "hard" time he had with some of his buddies that afternoon. It was a little worrying at first, but I was pretty certain that he would find ways to resolve the conflicts and be best of friends again the next day. It is for this reason that he needs to be in a school and learn how to socialise and act reasonably. Yep, learning and knowing the order of socialising is also very important.
6 comments:
You may not agree with it, but school is definitely not the only (or best) place for learning socialising or resolving conflicts.
Oh well, I know you would disagree. Just sharing my view :p
Totally agree with you that kids can learn from elsewhere besides books. In fact, kids can learn far more outside the school. That's why, unschooling is vey popular among some homeschoolers. Brandon knew ordinal order at 3.5 yo. Not from the textbooks/books. Rather, it's from the daily usage in life e.g putting clothes/things in the right drawer as requested (i.e 2nd drawer, 3rd drawer etc).
There is no doubt what one can offer at home in terms of education is vast and in your case, you can achieve many aims and your children learn well too in that way.
I'm certainly no "school"-basher, given the positive experience I enjoyed so far. In fact, I pestered my mom to let me attend preschool as early as I was two years old.
For some, school isn't the only nor the best way to socialise/resolve conflicts. And yes, you and I don't share the same view on school. It's like the question of whether one should change the environment to suit his needs or change himself to suit the environmemt. Or perhaps there are some who claim we need to do both.
I couldn't help thinking of how Sir Ken Robinson mused about pinning an educator down at a dinner party! Yes, education matters to our heart! To each of his own creed, however you like it!
Btw, I wonder how many people who actually went through public education and understood what he said in 18 minutes. Look, I have my fair share of suspicions on what schools can offer too.
Right now, Bryan is going through skin/hair/eye colours issues in school. For some it's a longer journey of learning to accept, tolerate and appreciate, while for others it's a much easier one. But I'm certainly teaching him that he's special and he's him and friendship doesn't involve colours.
Again, school isn't the best place to learn these things? I don't know really. But so far, I haven't found an alternative that offers a diversity this wide. And in future, my children will be confronted by the same problem in their work place... Or maybe I'm wrong, like Sir Ken Robinson pointed out. OUr future is uncertain. Perhaps the human contact is not even gonna exist. After all, we are communicating through the computer and the Internet right now, aren't we? So what do we know? We might not even need to socialise face-to-face in 50 years' time! So why worry if the kids socialise or not!
Ouside the school = unschooling = outside the classroom?
Because school to me involves recess time, toilet break, lunch time, after classroom hours, play, cheering for your school etc. These happen outside the classroom but well within the school context. As for learning, it basically doesn't stop as long as the survival instinct of the human being is alive!
I think nobody can dispute over the fact that one can certainly learn more beyond the textbooks, outside the classroom contexts. Otherwise we won't be having field trips in the first place!
The definition of socialisation certainly varies with different parenting styles.
For some, socialisation simply implies putting kids (of the same age group) in the same classroom and have them interact with each other.
While for others, socialisation has taken a different meaning. Quoted from a homeschooler -
"What is important for a family is regular social contact with individuals one likes. An eight year-old child doesn't seem to need daily contact with a classroom full of like-aged children to be a happy, confident and caring person any more than a 28 year-old would. In fact, regular social contact with a range of age-groups (and by this i mean not only children) seems to me a wonderful thing."
And a few homeschoolers have confessed to me that they learnt the art of socialisation only when they were in their teens.
Though I don't think a classroom will necessarily provide a better opportunity for socialisation, it doesn't mean I am a school hater. It's still my intention to let my kids go through formal schooling. After all, it's not easy to create an ideal (by one's standard) environment for socialisation. :)
Yes, dead on! It's a matter of definition.
Socialisation as a form of social interaction or what the homeschooler you quoted meant to say, perhaps, a better word like fellowship? Of course the homeschooler's right, we make friends everywhere. We don't need schools to make friends.
It's always easy to get along with people whose company one enjoys. But it takes social finesse to maintain cordial social interaction with others who might not necessarily come from the same background, culture or customs.
Anyhow, to the homeschooler who makes the distinction, there are also play dates to address the matter. :)
Maybe we're talking past each other.
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