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Forget fingerpainting, it's time for your tutor
Parents eager to see children get ahead turn to private firms to teach the kindergarten set
Sarah Schmidt
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Four-year-old Alexandar Stolba of West Vancouver begins senior kindergarten today and will spend two mornings a week with a private tutor. His mother credits tutoring for helping his older sister get ahead.
There's no doubt Nicholas Kondo's schedule will be more rigorous than that of the other youngsters in his class.
When the five-year-old arrives at school this week for his afternoon kindergarten class, he'll be fresh, three days a week, from morning lessons in reading, writing and math at a private tutoring company. Nicholas started the regimen last year to give him a head start in junior kindergarten, so he's used to the packed schedule Monday through Wednesday, said his father, Jason Kondo of Brampton, Ont.
"He gets a little tired by Wednesday, but Thursday he has time to relax. I'm hoping he'll be a little more advanced. My only worry is if he gets too advanced, he'll be bored at school."
School, it seems, is no longer enough for anxious parents of kindergarten children keen to see them exhibit early flashes of brilliance.
Companies like Oxford Learning Centres, Inc. are filling the niche with half-day programs to supplement the work of the kindergarten teacher.
But some experts in child development say the best thing to do is let preschoolers learn through exploration and informal play, not packaged programs offered by an accelerated-learning industry.
"There's a term called 'children getting older younger.' The idea is that parents are so crazed and people are so crazed in our society right now, we're just pushing every thing downward -- what was expected in Grade 2 can be done in Grade 1, what was done in first grade can be done in kindergarten," child psychologist Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, co-author of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less, said in an interview.
"The question is, do children who are zero to five learn the same way as children in elementary school? The answer is no."
It's hard to miss the push for accelerated learning.
Pregnant women are told to listen to Mozart so their fetus can take in the enriching sounds. The Baby Einstein Company sells videos, audio CDs, and toys specifically for infants and toddlers to jumpstart early learning.
For preschoolers and kindergarten kids, private tutoring companies have stepped in with their own programs that complement the school schedule, like the Oxford Learning's Little Readers program, in which young Nicholas Kondo is enrolled.
Scott Davies, sociologist at McMaster University specializing in the growth of private tutoring franchises, said word of greater competition at the post-secondary level is trickling down to parents of preschoolers, who are buying into the idea that it's never too early for their child to "get ahead."
This is happening at the same time there is a heightened level of parenting standards or "intensive parenting," said Mr. Davies.
It's a simple calculation for Anita Stolba of West Vancouver. Her eldest child, Veronica, 7, is entering Grade 2 this fall, and she credits the half-day tutoring program at Oxford Learning during kindergarten for her daughter's advanced writing and reading skills.
"She actually started to read just a little after (she turned) four. Now she's working at the level of fourth grade. She's way ahead," boasts Ms. Stolba.
Now her second child, Alexandar, 4, is entering afternoon kindergarten, and he will go for private tutoring two mornings each week. His younger brother, Stefan, 3, will also be enrolled in the Little Readers program four mornings each week.
"It's a different for the boys. I want them to really enjoy going to school and look forward it. I want them to be a little bit ahead to be comfortable in the kindergarten situation," said Ms. Stolba.
But Ms. Hirsch-Pasek, co-director of Temple University's Infant Laboratory and a specialist in young children's acquisition of language, said imaginative play is a far better way for young kids to learn.
Citing research results of child development experts, she said children who are pushed into regimented academic instruction too early display less creativity. Further, young children who memorize facts or math tables before they are able to fully comprehend them or place them in context show no better long-term retention than their peers, she said.
"Certainly, if it's tutoring for four- or five-year-olds, it's not the best way to go about it."
Jason Kondo isn't convinced. "He can read. There's a lot of kids going into SK (senior kindergarten) who can't read," he said of his son, Nicholas.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2004
Parents eager to see children get ahead turn to private firms to teach the kindergarten set
Sarah Schmidt
The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Four-year-old Alexandar Stolba of West Vancouver begins senior kindergarten today and will spend two mornings a week with a private tutor. His mother credits tutoring for helping his older sister get ahead.
There's no doubt Nicholas Kondo's schedule will be more rigorous than that of the other youngsters in his class.
When the five-year-old arrives at school this week for his afternoon kindergarten class, he'll be fresh, three days a week, from morning lessons in reading, writing and math at a private tutoring company. Nicholas started the regimen last year to give him a head start in junior kindergarten, so he's used to the packed schedule Monday through Wednesday, said his father, Jason Kondo of Brampton, Ont.
"He gets a little tired by Wednesday, but Thursday he has time to relax. I'm hoping he'll be a little more advanced. My only worry is if he gets too advanced, he'll be bored at school."
School, it seems, is no longer enough for anxious parents of kindergarten children keen to see them exhibit early flashes of brilliance.
Companies like Oxford Learning Centres, Inc. are filling the niche with half-day programs to supplement the work of the kindergarten teacher.
But some experts in child development say the best thing to do is let preschoolers learn through exploration and informal play, not packaged programs offered by an accelerated-learning industry.
"There's a term called 'children getting older younger.' The idea is that parents are so crazed and people are so crazed in our society right now, we're just pushing every thing downward -- what was expected in Grade 2 can be done in Grade 1, what was done in first grade can be done in kindergarten," child psychologist Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, co-author of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards: How Our Children Really Learn and Why They Need to Play More and Memorize Less, said in an interview.
"The question is, do children who are zero to five learn the same way as children in elementary school? The answer is no."
It's hard to miss the push for accelerated learning.
Pregnant women are told to listen to Mozart so their fetus can take in the enriching sounds. The Baby Einstein Company sells videos, audio CDs, and toys specifically for infants and toddlers to jumpstart early learning.
For preschoolers and kindergarten kids, private tutoring companies have stepped in with their own programs that complement the school schedule, like the Oxford Learning's Little Readers program, in which young Nicholas Kondo is enrolled.
Scott Davies, sociologist at McMaster University specializing in the growth of private tutoring franchises, said word of greater competition at the post-secondary level is trickling down to parents of preschoolers, who are buying into the idea that it's never too early for their child to "get ahead."
This is happening at the same time there is a heightened level of parenting standards or "intensive parenting," said Mr. Davies.
It's a simple calculation for Anita Stolba of West Vancouver. Her eldest child, Veronica, 7, is entering Grade 2 this fall, and she credits the half-day tutoring program at Oxford Learning during kindergarten for her daughter's advanced writing and reading skills.
"She actually started to read just a little after (she turned) four. Now she's working at the level of fourth grade. She's way ahead," boasts Ms. Stolba.
Now her second child, Alexandar, 4, is entering afternoon kindergarten, and he will go for private tutoring two mornings each week. His younger brother, Stefan, 3, will also be enrolled in the Little Readers program four mornings each week.
"It's a different for the boys. I want them to really enjoy going to school and look forward it. I want them to be a little bit ahead to be comfortable in the kindergarten situation," said Ms. Stolba.
But Ms. Hirsch-Pasek, co-director of Temple University's Infant Laboratory and a specialist in young children's acquisition of language, said imaginative play is a far better way for young kids to learn.
Citing research results of child development experts, she said children who are pushed into regimented academic instruction too early display less creativity. Further, young children who memorize facts or math tables before they are able to fully comprehend them or place them in context show no better long-term retention than their peers, she said.
"Certainly, if it's tutoring for four- or five-year-olds, it's not the best way to go about it."
Jason Kondo isn't convinced. "He can read. There's a lot of kids going into SK (senior kindergarten) who can't read," he said of his son, Nicholas.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2004