22 June 2005

Kicked out of kindy

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Uncategorized.

Take a look at this news report from the Baltimore Sun about the first nationwide research conducted by Yale University’s Child Study Center on preschool expulsion:

After surveying 52 state-financed prekindergarten programs in 40 states, the study found that about 10 percent of teachers had expelled at least one child in the previous year and a handful of those teachers had expelled as many as four children. The estimated total of students kicked out of preschool was 5,117 out of a total estimated enrollment of 766,907. In Maryland, about 38 of approximately 6,390 state-subsidized preschoolers were kicked out, for an expulsion rate that was below the national average.

The study also found that the likelihood of being expelled increased with age, as 4-year-olds were 50 percent more likely to be kicked out than 2- and 3-year-olds, and 5-year-olds were twice as likely to be expelled as 4-year-olds. Black children were twice as likely to be expelled as white or Latino children and five times more likely than Asian-Americans. Boys were expelled at more than four times the rate of girls. The researchers reported that children were expelled most frequently because of antisocial behavior, particularly aggression toward other children, such as kicking or biting.

Preschool/Pre-Kindergarten expulsion is not as uncommon as you think - even in Malaysia - and I know of parents who have had similar experiences and who finally decided to homeschool. One case involved a preschooler who was ADHD who obviously demanded more out of his Kindy than the teachers were prepared to provide. He was expelled from 3 other schools. Another was a mother (who’s now an unschooler) who couldn’t get her daughter’s Kindy to ease up on the academic in favour of a simpler curriculum.

In any case, I have my reservations about kindy anyway. My views are that children at the ages of 3 - 5 years are best nurtured at home. Why the hurry for pre-K and Kindy anyway? Expulsions are all about keeping pre-K and Kindys in the good books of parents and prospective students, which as a business proposition seems the way to do things. But for the child who is expelled, there is nothing but trauma, and possibly a long-term disdain for formal education or learning in general.

Whether early childhood education or kindergarten is necessary or not has been debated for years. Sheri Oden has published a book called, Into Adulthood: A Study on the Effects of Head Start which cites encouraging findings on a 17-year follow-up study on 622 adults who did or did not attend Head Start (using the HighScope Curriculum). Since I haven’t read the book, I can’t say much except that the study suggests effective outcomes involving children at risk and those from low-income homes.

I am not saying there is no place for pre-K or Kindys, because extenuating circumstances and a host of other factors do require specific attention. But I’d like to think they must be the exception and never the norm. Parents need to know that just because “everyone’s sending their kids to Kindy” does not make a done thing the better deal.

Meanwhile, the controversy rages.

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8 June 2005

Homeschoolers’ day out

Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Uncategorized.

So, the homeschoolers’ Junior Public Speaking (JPS) outing at FRIM (Forest Research Institute Malaysia) went well although a good number were absent. Over a dozen homeschoolers (8 to 16 years) and their family members spent the day in the cool, green grounds of the tropical forest reserve on the outskirts of KL, possibly one of the last pockets of nature near the city.

The JPS is a year-long programme geared at improving public speaking skills of our homeschoolers and they usually meet once a month. Modeled after Toastmasters, the kids have had a lot of fun since facilitator Amy Ratos got the programme going for the first time last year.The kids got spunk, and the best thing about JPS is the way they’re showing greater confidence speaking without notes in front of peers and adults.

Sure, it’s only a 2-minute speech, but everyone’s got to make sure they’re on topic, start with an interesting opening, have a worthy middle, and close on time. We had an Invocator who kicked things off with a motivational piece about humanity’s ability to laugh at jokes (!) and someone’s the ‘Ah Counter’ tracking umms and ahs that normally show up in unprepared speeches or nervous speakers. Elliot our 13-year old was grammar and language evaluator, spotting howlers like “I like to watch people cook and I love to cook myself” (which came from 13-year old Joel who claimed to love cooking).

I love the idea of homeschooling, and times like this when a bunch of parents and kids come together remind me that there’s nothing we can’t do when we put our minds to it. Many of us have become friends through the years, developed out of a common desire to give our children what conventional schools take away. That morning, I also learned that 16-year old Sara wants to be a dancer, and Ii-Shan wants to be a psychiatrist so he can “understand the mind of a teenager.” On being asked what animal he would like to be, Ron didn’t hesitate to say he wouldn’t mind being a rat. Another boy – was it Kevin? – talked about helping the poor because everyone’s only interested in taking instead of giving, and I thought the ability to tell them apart was commendable.

You know, I keep coming across people who tell me about things homeschoolers miss. I suppose that’s inevitable; but do I really mind missing out on bullies, a grade-anxious culture, dumbed-down learning passing for education, and a regiment that sucks the life out of our kids? On the other hand homeschooling is about all the things we get to do simply because we’ve broken free of our shackles. We’re free to be family.

It was a lovely day. We had grannies, babies in strollers, and dads with video cameras. There was lots of food - someone brought homemade peanut butter, another brought walnut cake - and there were laughs aplenty. The kids were well-behaved, busy catching up with one another. Homeschoolers all, from different faith communities coming together as families do. And isn’t that the most natural thing to do?

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