By teaching our babies and toddlers reading, math, EK, how do you feel it will impact their school experience down the road? I do not feel that there is such a thing as being “too smart” but a friend recently told me a story that got me thinking about this.
She was a teachers assistant at an expensive private school. In the kindergarten class across the hall, there was a little boy who’s mother taught him before he entered kindergarten and he basically knew all the material already. They would sit him off to the side and have him do his own work while the class worked together on the group lesson. She said he always looked so sad and that he never fit in as a result of not directly working with the class. The Mom tried to smooth things over and decided to have him sit through the basic kindergarten material as a review and then during free play or recess he worked on his own lessons. She did it in an attempt to help him fit in, but then he never got to “be a kindergartner” and was always having one on one lessons with the teacher’s aide, so he didn’t get to socialize with his peers anyway. She said it was almost like a special education situation but on the opposite end of the spectrum. I’m not sure why they didn’t just advance him a grade, maybe he was deficient in other areas (like socially or maturity wise) I don’t know.
My daughter is very bright and I hope my son follows suit. If (and that’s a big IF) she continues on this path (which of course could come to a screeching halt, you never know with toddlers) then I don’t know what will happen if I was to enroll her in kindergarten? Would she be bored silly and learn to hate school and learning? Am I setting her up to have to homeschool her? (not that I would mind, we are open to it, but I would like the option at least)? Or enroll her in private school?
Like I said, who knows what the future will hold. Maybe she is just blossoming early and it will all level out. I will just keep feeding her brain and take life as it comes, but I was curious to hear from other parents.
What are you plans with your child, how do you think early learning will impact their future education? Do you have older siblings who have already been through this and how did it turn out? Did you purposefully choose or not choose public or private school as a result of your early educated child?
You will need to adapt the learning environement instead of having your daughter adapt to it. So you might chose another school, have her homeschooled or find a private tutor who teaches a few kids at her home etc.
But I also remember from school that the level increased drastically quite quickly… I was terribly bored at the begining as my strongest point was reading. But after a year or two, once things got serious in maths, geography, physical activities etc. i really did enjoy school and felt challenged as the years passed.
My son started reading on his own at age 3 and learned to count at age 2 (without the help of any software or formal teaching - just from singing songs and being read to) so when we started him in preschool, we sent him to Montessori. In Montessori, he often works with children older than himself when he wants to know how to use a material or asks his teacher about the material. Sometimes, he gets into trouble (or gets bullied) because he “volunteers” the answer to a child nearby when they are supposed to discover the answers by themselves (as “academic” materials in a Montessori environment are self correcting). He has only been to Montessori for a few months and we have yet to decide if he will continue to go there or if we will have to homeschool him (as there are no schools offering “advanced” lessons/curriculum where we live) or move somewhere with more choices (as to schools).
I was also somewhat like him during my preschool days and my mother sent me back to her hometown and asked a relative of ours who was teaching first grade to let me “participate” in her class.Thus, I skipped kindergarten and my relative included me in her official list of students since I learned very fast (aced the quizzes/tests) and was ready for the next grade level (was at the top of the class). The downside to this was that I almost always got bullied in the primary schools I attended (I went to three different schools) that I dreaded going to school (even though I loved learning).
I want my son to have a better learning (and/or school) experience than I did and would really like for his present school to work out. My husband wants to give the school a year but I don’t know if I can wait that long to find out.
I believe that EQ is as important as IQ and the more I am reading about homeschooling, the more I am leaning towards it (that it might be the solution to our situation).
Sorry if I veered off a little from the topic and questions - just sharing my thoughts (and a somewhat similar experience).