Art

Think on Empty Pots and Butterflies! Happy Parenting!

27 Dec, 2020

A question often asked by parents is - what is the best age for their two year old to begin to learn to read, write and do simple arithmetic. The answer is easy. Research and examples from across the globe point to somewhere between the ages of 6 and 7 years as the optimum time to begin formal education, and 7 is an excellent age to start learning the three R's. Until then all learning should be of an activities based experiential nature.

In Norway, Finland, and most Scandinavian countries who top the PISA charts, formal education begins at 7 years of age. In Europe only the British start formal education at 5 years old, however they recognize six years old as being the optimum age to start to learn reading and writing and math, and in their system the first year children begin to learn good learning habits through play before starting more formal education at 6.

Throughout the world preschools are an extension of home learning and are gentle introductions to learning before the child moves to formal schooling. We call them 'Kindergartens' which is German for 'Children's Garden' and as the word implies the emphasis is on giving the child a place where it can play safely and constructively, and develop socially, emotionally, physically creatively and cognitively.

As in any garden the children learn through exploring and physical activities, through play, and inquiry, and observation. They learn by experiencing the world and from each other and supportive adults, and most importantly, while having fun.

So don't get anxious about planning your child's life for the next 16 years and structuring their learning so that they will score the maximum marks in some far off exam. Children are not empty pots to fill it up as soon as possible with exam related material. Like all sentient beings children are subject to chemically triggered changes.

Think on the caterpillar analogy. - Before a caterpillar can fly it needs to change into a butterfly. You can throw a caterpillar in the air but it needs to complete development triggered stages before it can. The best way to get a caterpillar to fly is put it in an environment conducive to its development.

Once it has chemically and physically matured, it will effortlessly fly up into the sky. Children too go through triggered development phases, and until they reach a certain level of physical and cognitive development they cannot begin to read and write. And that level is comfortably reached at 6 or 7 years of age.

Think on Empty Pots and Butterflies! Happy Parenting!