Let the Children Play

FINALLY… The Prime Minister listened to me!

Actually, he doesn’t even know me, but never mind. You can be sure that if a topic gets mentioned in the National Day Rally speech, it is causing real concern amongst the nation’s leading thinkers. I’m actually a bit surprised that they have turned their attention to the pre-school environment. We’ve slipped a bit in some of our PISA rankings (Programme for International Student Assessment), dropping from our previous top position in maths and losing out to Korea and Shanghai.

But what the heck. Pre-schoolers are so young. They are still learning to socialise. They need to learn to play together, make compromises with each other and explore their creativity. Who cares what number they can count up to, it doesn’t matter. Pushing phonics and early learn to read classes are also, in my opinion, not only unnecessary, but potentially too stressful for them.

I was told by one pre-school tuition centre that my child was behind others of her age in reading and if she didn’t take extra classes she would fall behind and be ill prepared for P1. It was total nonsense. When she did start school she was excellent in reading and writing and still is.

So my message is: Watch out for, and learn to dismiss the marketing hype from the companies pushing these early learning programs, don’t necessarily believe what they tell you when they are trying to get you to enroll.

I think you are far better off to ask some friend’s children around to your house and organise play sessions complete with finger painting, balloon sculpting, cup-cake baking and musical chairs. It will cost you next to nothing, you will have a happier child and one who is better off than the ones who were forced to learn the ABCs before they were ready.

I am pleased to see some nannies’ who have posted profiles on this site, emphasising the play activities they are good at. That is the type of nanny I would be looking for.