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Hothousing Kids before School

  • 19-07-2014 8:10am
    #1
    evolving_doors
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭


    Any thoughts on this in terms of 'teaching kids' advanced material before junior infants. Our first one was fairly hothoused (being the first) and she took to the learning pretty quick.
    Then.... I was talking to another teacher (Secondary) who said he wouldn;t bother doing anything with their son that they would be doing in school. Sure, they'd do the count to ten and abc, reading stories but no more. Their reasoning was that they didn;t want their child to be 'bored' in class.

    I kind of see their point and I'm sure the teachers differentiate for students who are a bit ahead, but with large class sizes and cuts in Special needs I wouldn;t expect any special treatment or individual attention.

    Would it be wrong to say that many parents are confusing 'info learned by rote' and innate intelligence?

    e.g. "My daughter could do her ABC backwards before they went to school" then when the child comes into secondary school (and aren't hitting the A's in certain subjects) that the expectation was set way too high?

    As an aside we didn;t bother teaching anything to our second but they ended up parroting it off their older sibling now! So maybe peer-to-peer learning is the way forward regardless of hothousing.


Comments

  • #2
    byhookorbycrook
    Moderators, Education Moderators, Regional South East Moderators Posts: 12,505 Mod ✭✭✭✭byhookorbycrook


    I sometimes see posts here and elsewhere that a child can count to 50, knows AbC etc, but v often the child does not know what the number means or understand the concept . Likewise "knowing " the alphabet isn't the same as knowing the correct sounds , recognising the letters and writing them correctly . Some people tend to believe that their child is ahead of the posse by reciting numbers and the alphabet , certainly.


  • #3
    dharma200
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 998 ✭✭✭dharma200


    I have realised teaching kids like this before school can have a negative effect, in that then when they are in school they become bored and detached.
    I have never heard of the term hot housing.
    Pre school should be a time for fun, learning by play etc. teaching a three year old to learn by rote sems to me to be such a shame.


  • #4
    SamforMayo
    Registered Users Posts: 2,297 ✭✭✭SamforMayo


    There is no need to start formally teaching children at home. Read to them as much as possible, put on songs and rhymes in the car, do jigsaws, give them lots of opportunities to scribble and draw, let them cut and trace, and talk to them. Show them with objects different ways of making up numbers with concrete materials. If they have that input at home they are off to a great start.


  • #5
    pooch90
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,395 ✭✭✭pooch90


    I have found that children that are 'taught' before school need a lot of 'unteaching' when they hit school. This can be from over eager playschool teachers and parents. I have had JI calling letters by Letterland names that has largely been abandoned, except for in the playschool down the road. Very difficult to get them out of that.

    Just have fun with your child, leave the teaching to the teachers.
    Focus on social skills, putting on coats/shoes, cutting, listening etc.


  • #6
    juneg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,083 ✭✭✭juneg


    If you are going to one thing then make it how to grip a crayon or pencil properly.

    Once this is allowed to develop badly it can never be undone


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  • #7
    evolving_doors
    Closed Accounts Posts: 11,812 ✭✭✭✭evolving_doors


    juneg wrote: »
    If you are going to one thing then make it how to grip a crayon or pencil properly.

    Once this is allowed to develop badly it can never be undone

    Like this??

    holding+pencil1.jpg?resize=320%2C213


  • #8
    juneg
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,083 ✭✭✭juneg


    yes, teach how to pinch first, great fun pinching Mammy !Its called the pinch grip.

    Then it's "Mammy and Daddy are in the front ( of the car ) and all the kids are in the back"

    But the child's hand has to be strong enough and developed enough to accept grip training. This is achieved by playing with lots of playdough, squeezing a ball , making a fist, squeezing balls of playdough betwen the finger and thumb. Finger painting, colouring with big fat crayons or chalk. Remember how we all played with Marla that was rock hard and we had to use all our strength to shape it? Thats why it was beneficial.

    This is what would we prefer the children did in playschool instead of introducing a pencil miles too early before the child's hand is strong enough to work with it. And to be fair it is the parents job to do that and not leave it all to the playschool.

    As for hothousing, I find that increasing a child's store of general knowledge and fostering an interest in nature and the world around them is beneficial and interesting.

    Teach nursery rhymes to develop fluency in language and aid memory and retention, teach jigsaws to help problem solving. Read together to foster a love of reading. Grow seeds, take nature walks.

    These are all playschool activities that can be expanded on.

    It's not about teaching facts, it's about learning how to learn


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