Am I misguided/deluded/wrong...

cch

... in that I want the following for my six month old daughter?

- To have a good grasp of English before learning other languages

- To know about Irish culture, history and traditions before learning about other cultures (yes I know there is a bit of a conflict with my first point there )

- To play with real life toys that fall when you drop them etc rather than staring at moving pixels on a 2D screen and thinking that all she has to do is whack something randomly with her hand to get a reaction

I'm looking into schools and creches for her at the moment and these questions are weighing on me...

reitseal

Well I wouldn't say you're any of the above, it just depends on what your reasons are really.
For example your first point, re wanting your child to speak English before learning other languages, with the paltry levels of language education in this country at child level, it's likely your wish will be granted! But remember, all kids have good linguistic antennae, some more than others maybe, and it's a very positive and good thing for a child to be educated bi- or tri-lingually (they do it in other European countries!) and has also been proven to improve the ability of a child to learn generally.

Don't get your point about the culture. Are you saying you're not pushed about your child being in a multi-cultural class and learning about all these other cultures when nobody is teaching her her own? I get your point but I sort of feel Ireland increasingly has no culture, given peoples' attitudes to the Irish language and the absence of any kind of culture teaching in most schools (ie trad etc) so you'll have to take that on yourself.

Re the kids not becoming zombie-eyed technology morons, well that's up to you really. It's not like they're overly exposed to that stuff in school, except from peers. It is possible you know. My 10 and 8 year olds don't own a DS or a mobile phone, though they do watch tv and dvds the odd time, and use the computer the odd time too. It's all about balance.

Fittle

cch wrote: »

... in that I want the following for my six month old daughter?

- To have a good grasp of English before learning other languages

- To know about Irish culture, history and traditions before learning about other cultures (yes I know there is a bit of a conflict with my first point there )

- To play with real life toys that fall when you drop them etc rather than staring at moving pixels on a 2D screen and thinking that all she has to do is whack something randomly with her hand to get a reaction

I'm looking into schools and creches for her at the moment and these questions are weighing on me...

I'm a bit confused by your post.

Are you saying you don't want your child to go to a multi-cultural school? That will be hard to avoid in this day and age, when most of our schools have a variety of cultures attending and I don't understand why this might be an issue for you, or your child?

Firstly, there are few (if any) of the 'general' schools who teach a language other than English as their first language. In fact, even in schools with a large amount of cultures, they don't 'teach' other languages as a 'language' persay, but speak English and teach children in the English language.

Learning about Irish culture in general, is part of the History lesson in primary schools and this includes learning about other cultures, not before or after the Irish culture, but as part of the curriculum.

'Toy's aren't necessarily played with in schools - books and reading are encouraged, so I imagine you are referring to creches? I doubt anyone is taught about mobile phones or the internet at that stage?

Perhaps you could be clearer about what your issue is?

Interesting that you are so intent on teaching your child English as their first language, and yet are so interested in 'Irish' culture!!

Moonbeam

Do you want them to go to a creche with only irish staff? I do not quite understand your post.

My 2 year old accepts irish and english as everyday languages,her english is very good but she rarely speaks irish to us but has a good understanding of it.
I want both my girls to learn all the traditions and customs of other countries that they can from an early age because I think it promotes tolerance and understanding.
TV at an early age in very small doses is fine,showing them tv in creche is not.
Go look around the creches that suit and you will get a feeling for them and base your decision on that.
Our creche is brilliant but due to its city centre location the outside play area was not as nice as it could be in a more suburban setting.
In the creche that I am involved in the running of we have a gorgeous outdoor area,with grass and tunnels and a wooden fort that we tried to make as natural as possible.

Only you know what you want for your children:)

ash23

I also don't understand your concerns.

If both you and your family speak English to the child that will probably be her first language. Perhaps she may pick up the odd word of phrase in Irish from her creche teaching (I know my daughter learned colours in Irish and body parts in Irish before she went to school but when she was about 3 or 4, not as a baby).

As for culture, well, it depends on the children in her class/room at creche. In my daughters class there are a variety of mixed races, religions and ethnicities. As a result, she did pick up on a few different celebrations and traditions but equally celebrated Christmas, Easter, Paddys day, learned stories of The Fianna and Irish folklore.


The thing is you've really only one or two choices. Let her go to a creche where all ethnicites are embraced and welcomed, where a child is taught that everyone is different and each family is different and where they are educated that different from them doesn't mean odd or strange.
Or send them to a non denominational school where christmas, easter, mothers day etc are not celebrated at all and educate her at home about her own culture.

Sleepy

If you really want to minimise your daughter's contact with other cultures (not something I'd recommend tbh) a Naonra and subsequent Gaelscoil would be the "best" option, although it'd involve her learning Irish more than English and many immigrants are cottoning on to the increased teacher-student time these schools can provide as a result of not having as many kids in need of English language assistance so their "advantages" over regular schools may not last much longer.

RE: toys, I'd agree to an extent. Our two are mad about Lego and, while the elder lad has a Leapfrog handheld thing like a DS, it's only used on long car journeys.

StillWaters

At 6 months, you are your daughter's primary educator.

Unless you are thinking of sending her to a naoinrai I don't understand your point about the English language.

Have a look through the pre-school curriculum to see what is taught regarding culture, identity and belonging. If you do not approve of the curriculum, choose a childcare provider which does not teach it.

If you know of a creche or school using TV instead of toys or books, you should steer well clear and report them to the relevant authority. However ICT does have a valuable role to play in learning for both toddlers and children.

pickarooney

I think the wording in the OP is more than a little disingenuous. If you ask straight out what you want to ask you might get more pertinent answers. As it stands there are are a couple of things one might deduce from your post, not all of which are very palatable.

tfitzgerald

pickarooney wrote: »

I think the wording in the OP is more than a little disingenuous. If you ask straight out what you want to ask you might get more pertinent answers. As it stands there are are a couple of things one might deduce from your post, not all of which are very palatable.

I don't see what's unpalatable about an Irish parent wanting an Irish child to learn Irish values . I have nothing against other cultures but I would prefer my children to learn there own before anyone else's

smelltheglove

In this day and age is it not wise to be also teaching children to learn to respect other cultures?

I have a 4 yr old and an 8 yr old, at the moment the 4yr old knows little about other cultures, just what I tell her and the fact that some kids in playschool have different colour faces, as she says, and speak different languages. The older she gets the more interested she is in it but I don't think it is something you need to worry about for a while. My 8 yr old loves to learn about other cultures, the school hold an intercultural week every year where family of kids come in and speak about their countries etc, it is great for her to learn how different people live but she is well aware that she does not have to the same as people from other cultures and religions, just respect their believes.

Miguel_Sanchez

Teach your child to speak, read and write English before they go to school if you're that worried about them learning another language. I can't understand why a child learning anything good would be a concern for a parent but there you go.

Before I went to school I could read and write English because my mother taught me to do it.

So teach your child.

reitseal

tfitzgerald wrote: »

I don't see what's unpalatable about an Irish parent wanting an Irish child to learn Irish values . I have nothing against other cultures but I would prefer my children to learn there own before anyone else's

Values are race-independent I would've thought. What's your definition of 'values' in the above statement?

Moonbeam

I have being thinking about this.
All my kids will have fluent English and Irish starting school,I will teach them my values, irish music and read them stories,songs and poems in both languages from around the world.
My 2 year old went to a really good creche, the staff and kids were from all over the world,as a result my tiny little girl used to say "chow" to the Spanish and Italian kids and thought me her 2 or 3 words in Italian.
She is only 2 but understands that everyone is different and totally accepts it because she knows no different.
As she grows up and she travels more and meets more people I hope she is as accepting and interested in different people and things.

tfitzgerald

reitseal wrote: »

Values are race-independent I would've thought. What's your definition of 'values' in the above statement?

When I said Irish values I meant the Irish way of life ,Irish customs , history ect also I would like to point out that I did not disparage other cultures I am not saying ours is better but it is ours and I would like to raise my children as Irish and some people think that is wrong well i would find that unpalatable .

reitseal

tfitzgerald wrote: »

When I said Irish values I meant the Irish way of life ,Irish customs , history ect

The first two should be taught at home (though in the case of customs, what differentiates us these days from other English-speaking countries?), Irish history is on the school curriculum. So it leads back to the question: what is the op's real issue?