Pre-school/playgroup and a 2 year old?
- Thread starter jane01
- Start date
Hi Jane 01,
I like your soap box. What a great way of putting it. You're absolutely right children need to learn through actual experiences, there is plenty of time to let them grow and be children, before us teachers get hold of them and teach them how to read and spell DOG.
Jools
I like your soap box. What a great way of putting it. You're absolutely right children need to learn through actual experiences, there is plenty of time to let them grow and be children, before us teachers get hold of them and teach them how to read and spell DOG.
Jools
My 2 cents:
While I agree there is no hurry to teach children to read and spell from the age of 2 it also depends on the school you've chosen for your child. My son started nursery at 2and1/2 and he absolutely loves it. It gives me a bit of free time and he gets social interaction with other kids which he really needs. I used to take him for playgroups but he wanted nothing to do with other kids or the teacher and Mommy had to play with him all the time. Taking him to the park..same thing mommy play with me ! He is a shy kid and I felt he would benefit from mommy's absence and i was so right. His 3 hours at school go like this..first 50 mins of free play then snack time. They learn to wash their hands before eating and clear away their plates etc after snack time. Then it's arts and crafts time. He keeps bringing home such cute stuff and the pride on his face when he shows them to me
THey do colouring and painting. Then they have music and dance time. They end the session with story time. The teacher reads out a story to them and then they sing the goodbye song and are ready to go home. They don't teach alphabets, no pencil control. He's learning everything through actual experiences..no sitting at a table and chair like when I went to kindergarten !The school sends home a story book every week that we read together. They don't bring home any homework. They celebrate festivals and birthdays. I made the decision to put him in school because I felt he needed it and more importantly was ready for it. The 3 hours of seperation from Mommy was what he needed. I doubt though if he was just 6 months younger I would have put him in school. 6 months make a lot of difference in such a young child right ? But having said that the school also has the local curriculum for kids (My son is in the international class) those kids have to deal with homework and loads of writing etc. Can't really blame them they have to prepare the kids for the local primary schools.
While I agree there is no hurry to teach children to read and spell from the age of 2 it also depends on the school you've chosen for your child. My son started nursery at 2and1/2 and he absolutely loves it. It gives me a bit of free time and he gets social interaction with other kids which he really needs. I used to take him for playgroups but he wanted nothing to do with other kids or the teacher and Mommy had to play with him all the time. Taking him to the park..same thing mommy play with me ! He is a shy kid and I felt he would benefit from mommy's absence and i was so right. His 3 hours at school go like this..first 50 mins of free play then snack time. They learn to wash their hands before eating and clear away their plates etc after snack time. Then it's arts and crafts time. He keeps bringing home such cute stuff and the pride on his face when he shows them to me
THey do colouring and painting. Then they have music and dance time. They end the session with story time. The teacher reads out a story to them and then they sing the goodbye song and are ready to go home. They don't teach alphabets, no pencil control. He's learning everything through actual experiences..no sitting at a table and chair like when I went to kindergarten !The school sends home a story book every week that we read together. They don't bring home any homework. They celebrate festivals and birthdays. I made the decision to put him in school because I felt he needed it and more importantly was ready for it. The 3 hours of seperation from Mommy was what he needed. I doubt though if he was just 6 months younger I would have put him in school. 6 months make a lot of difference in such a young child right ? But having said that the school also has the local curriculum for kids (My son is in the international class) those kids have to deal with homework and loads of writing etc. Can't really blame them they have to prepare the kids for the local primary schools.svasbt
thanks for the information. i called the centre and it's a pity they don't have other branches. If I cant' find a suitable play group for my daughter, maybe will send her to the nursary. I'll check with the shool if the kids under 3 need to do homework and writing. I think it's crazy to train small kids to write.
thanks for the information. i called the centre and it's a pity they don't have other branches. If I cant' find a suitable play group for my daughter, maybe will send her to the nursary. I'll check with the shool if the kids under 3 need to do homework and writing. I think it's crazy to train small kids to write.
scr - OMG there are 2 year olds who have homework ???????? I think that is absolutely dreadful. When do they get to be children? I would be really concerned that the poor little things will burn out before they get anywhere in life. I really feel sorry for these poor children.
Your son's school (the international section) sounds great. I absolutely understand where you are coming from - 6 months makes such a difference in a child's life. Perhaps my daughter will be ready to leave me at 2.5, who knows? (more like I won't be ready to leave her!). I agree that if the child is ready, leave them. I just don't see the rush when they are not ready and I suspect lots of 2 year olds aren't.
Homework at 2 years old?????? I am still recovering from that one.
Your son's school (the international section) sounds great. I absolutely understand where you are coming from - 6 months makes such a difference in a child's life. Perhaps my daughter will be ready to leave me at 2.5, who knows? (more like I won't be ready to leave her!). I agree that if the child is ready, leave them. I just don't see the rush when they are not ready and I suspect lots of 2 year olds aren't.
Homework at 2 years old?????? I am still recovering from that one.
Hi Jane,
I must confess that I really don't know the local curriculum well..I don't know when exactly the homework starts but I know it starts in kindy itself. My son will not have homework for the next 3 years while he is in this kindergarten. But the kids doing the local curriculum do have homework..not sure if it starts from the begining. I guess they begin to teach them the chinese characters or something ?
I must confess that I really don't know the local curriculum well..I don't know when exactly the homework starts but I know it starts in kindy itself. My son will not have homework for the next 3 years while he is in this kindergarten. But the kids doing the local curriculum do have homework..not sure if it starts from the begining. I guess they begin to teach them the chinese characters or something ?
barbwong_130
Registered User
My daughter is in a Caritas kindergarten and is very happy. All the children start in the September of the year they are three. (My son born in April started at 3 years 5 months and my daughter born in November started at 2 years and 10 months.) A list of their schools and nurseries is at http://www.caritas.org.hk/f5/f5.html
When my daughter was in K1 she only got homework at the weekends. (This was actually a source of upset for her ? she wanted homework like her older siblings.) The homework was mainly colouring, sticking and pre-writing skills. For example the page would have a number of cars at one side with roads to a house. The children fill in a line going from the car to the house.
Now she is in K2 she has started with very simple Chinese characters, the alphabet and numbers. The school teaches in Cantonese but also has English and Mandarin lessons. Each week she has two books to take home, one in English and one in Chinese ? the parents are expected to read these to the child ? not the child read them.
There are two types of local school: traditional ones and activity based ones. The Caritas kindergartens are activity based ones.
Best wishes,
Barb
When my daughter was in K1 she only got homework at the weekends. (This was actually a source of upset for her ? she wanted homework like her older siblings.) The homework was mainly colouring, sticking and pre-writing skills. For example the page would have a number of cars at one side with roads to a house. The children fill in a line going from the car to the house.
Now she is in K2 she has started with very simple Chinese characters, the alphabet and numbers. The school teaches in Cantonese but also has English and Mandarin lessons. Each week she has two books to take home, one in English and one in Chinese ? the parents are expected to read these to the child ? not the child read them.
There are two types of local school: traditional ones and activity based ones. The Caritas kindergartens are activity based ones.
Best wishes,
Barb
Hi mom's,
I am also living in DB and have a cute 2 years old son and he is not talking yet! and I know it is a bit early to put him into a play group alone with other kids, BUT I was told by the expertise (doctors) that to put my son into the groups, so he can learn interactive with others kids while they are play together. Also, I noticed that my son is very happy there and they have schedules for a little one. Such as paintings, singing and story time...
I am also living in DB and have a cute 2 years old son and he is not talking yet! and I know it is a bit early to put him into a play group alone with other kids, BUT I was told by the expertise (doctors) that to put my son into the groups, so he can learn interactive with others kids while they are play together. Also, I noticed that my son is very happy there and they have schedules for a little one. Such as paintings, singing and story time...