Sharing - Too many activities?

carang said:
just to clarify, i NEVER said that school 5X/week is too much. i said that overwhelming him with extra activities when he's already going to school 5X/week MIGHT be too much. he DOES need time to chill out and play with mummy and daddy, too!
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I know that you didn't say that school 5 days a week was too much (I don't think anyone said that you did?) - but both erina320 and penguinsix did say that. It was towards those comments that my previous post was directed.
 
carang said:
oxjess, i must say that i disagree with you a little on your first paragraph.

it all comes down to WHY a child is crying. if a child is afraid and you give too much comfort, they feel like they have a reason to be afraid. they are getting attention for it. it's often best to say, "no need to be afraid" and help them to "brush it off", if you know what i mean. besides, if there are 20 kids in a class, it is impossible for a teacher to be comforting/carrying every child. therefore, it is better to give a little comfort but NOT to make a big deal of it.

as for the second paragraph, all i can say is if you've never been in a classroom with 24 2 year olds, then yes, it can be ok for a teacher to use a raised voice. sometimes it is necessary, just to be heard!

parents/teachers of very young children need 2 voices. voice # 1 is a praising, higher pitch voice that denotes praise and accomplishment. voice #2 is a firm, sometimes louder (depending on the situation) voice that commands authority.
it is absolutely VITAL that BOTH of these voices are used and developed, so that the children can understand when they have done something wrong.

if you've never been in this type of situation, then i'm afraid, it IS difficult for you to understand what a teacher needs to do in order to accomplish some order in the classroom.

and yes, it IS possible to have a group of 2 year olds all sitting nicely and listening. but in order to do this, you first must get them all sitting down.

i find in hk, parent often "reward" the wrong behaviour. rewards should come from the correct/more appropriate behaviour.
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I would like to say that I had the privilege of observing carang "in action" this summer and she really is pretty much "the master" of classroom behavior management for tots. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to do what she does with the level of excellency she does it--for as long as she's done it and garner the shining reputation she has as a children's teacher in HK.

HK parents could (and need to!) learn a lot from her strategies. The "behavorist" techniques she alluded to above work. Children need appropriate boundaries and rewards and consequences for behavior at at every stage. It's not really about "strict vs. lenient", IMO but about teaching children appropriate behavior in different situations through modeling, positive reinforcement and if needed, negative consequences--it's never too young to start learning good habits. :)
 
thanks, thanka.
ps> i know you weren't referring to me regarding the 5x/week. but wanted to clarify in case it sounded like i was saying it is too much...
 
This thread topic is very interesting. Recently relatives and family friends have been mentioned sending kids to 'school' starting 6 months, and that there are waiting lists! This info startled me as I have always thought children started school at 4/5 for kindergarten. My baby is not yet 3 months, and we are leaning towards living in HK in the coming years. Does everyone send their kids to school/activities so early? Is it necessary?
 
catan said:
This thread topic is very interesting. Recently relatives and family friends have been mentioned sending kids to 'school' starting 6 months, and that there are waiting lists! This info startled me as I have always thought children started school at 4/5 for kindergarten. My baby is not yet 3 months, and we are leaning towards living in HK in the coming years. Does everyone send their kids to school/activities so early? Is it necessary?
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If I were you, I would ask my friend more information by what is meant "school." There are no actual "schools" for children as young as 6 months in Hong Kong. The earliest I've ever seen children be able to start pre-nursery is 2-years-old, although I've heard that some go at 18 months. Is it possible that your friend is taking her child to a playgroup?

Some playgroups may really market the "school" aspects of what they do. i.e. "Your child will learn early math, reading and writing skills." The Pearl Report did a lengthy report on this phenomenon about 2 years ago, I think. At any rate, the only type of "schools" that probably exist for children as young as 6 months are actually playgroups where the child must be accompanied by a caregiver (parent, grandparent, helper etc.), the time spent in the playgroup is usually not over 2 hours/time and the content (of a good playgroup) covers a lot of areas--including fine motor skills (usually through an assisted art project), gross motor skills (through music and simple instruments as well as simple exercise) and cooperative play ("circle time"). It is even rarer to find a situation similar to daycare schools in Hong Kong as most people who need that type of service employ a helper.

So, my guess is that your friend is just sending her child to a playgroup but maybe she believes it's a "school"???

Children in Hong Kong can (but are not required to) attend pre-nursery school at 2-years-old and kindergarten around 3-years-old (kindergarten is not required in Hong Kong by law). The government subsidizes anyone who sends their child to kindergarten as long as the kindergarten falls within certain parameters (cost, not-for-profit) so in that way, the government encourages pre-primary education but does not require it. Children usually begin primary school when they are between 5-7-years-old with P1 as their first level. Before primary school many children do three years of kindergarten.

I started taking my eldest child to playgroups when he was about 18-months-old and I may start earlier with doing that with my daughter now that I've found a couple of playgroups I really like that have programs for children 8/10-months-old and up. The play is structured but very carefree and the interaction time between caregiver-child is really fun and useful, I think. I learned a lot about how to actually play with my child (new games, songs, methods, activities) through attending--it was like an education for me as well! I probably would take my youngest twice a week for a couple of hours as a mommy-daughter thing. Not necessary but fun and useful all the same :)
 
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