hmm.. can anyone or has anyone define what a wholesome education is?
I feel that being the parent of a preschooler is a visonary task and definitely more intricate than that of a primary school kid parent.
Why? Because at this age, you are setting the foundation for your child.. Any brick layed now will have effects in her future. As the brain is actively making connections now, it may be possible that inappropriate connections are made due to info she receives from her environment, and this may subsequently shape her character, values and perception. O my.. now you see why my shoulders are always so heavy. :(
The Taiwanese had their version of the US variety show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader". Just watched an episode with SB this morning at 1am. Here are some questions asked in the show.
- How many 'white' and 'black' keys are there on the piano?
- Is the composer of xxx a French?
- What is the element that make up diamond?
As we watched the show, we felt quite (annoyingly) puzzled why a school-going child has to know how many keys there are on a piano. Seems to us that the modern education system is still obsessed with knowledge acquisition. Not doubting the power and usefulness of knowledge, perhaps emphasis can be reduced more.
I remember among my friends, we used lament about this, "Why study so hard to learn integration and differentiation (math)? Don't even need to use it in work now. All the calculations are done by the computer.."
Hmm.. should there be an education revolution? I don't know.. but for sure, I won't demand Zhirui to know how many of keys there are on a piano. keke.. :P
Thursday, April 8, 2010
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1 comments:
Hmm... when Marpig was much younger, she told her mom tt she wanted to be a comic stripper. Guess wat, Marpigz mom told her tt being a comic stripper wont earn a living...
Being a "cookie" from the "cookie factory" (u noe wat Marpig means right?!), education in Singapore (and also other Asian countries) is often driven by the pressure to earn a living, for competion, etc
Dont worry Sansao!! Knowing how many black/white keys on a piano is just sm of those pub questions. Life is fair; each of us noe smth others dont noe. TTz why therez sharing of info and constructive interactions!!
Indeed, Marpig totally agrees tt 70% of wat were learnt in sch were often not used @ work (depends on wat job u are in too) But Marpig am sure of 2 ths:
1) Although she grumbled bout SGz education system, itz got itz benefits; other courses overseas are chicken feet!! :P
2) (This is more impt!!) Education helps a person to reason, rationalise, react, solve probs, think, etc despite all the ("useless") formulas :P
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