Thursday 14 June 2012

Child Prodigy

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Little Einstein...lol!!







Hiya, how are you guys?
Well, me I'm fine, except the weather is a bit annoying.

Anyways, I'm so glad to be back here writing.

 I remember when I was creating my own 11 questions when I took part in the Elevens tag and one of my questions was "At what age did you start school?" I was curious to know because I started school kinda early (just about two weeks before I turned two) and I'm always thinking what was the fuss sef..ahn ahn. It's not as if I've finished up till now sef!!.

I Was gisting with my family and just for laughs my dad mentioned that he spoke to one of my cousins who has two children, one of which just turned 3 and started school a while back. My dad asked after the little 3-year old and said casually "he should be back from school now", since it was a weekday and the time was about 3:00pm. But his mother answered "No, he's at lesson. They close by 4:00pm". OMG!! My dad said he burst into laughter and joked about the 3-year preparing for GCE and being a child prodigy.

When he shared it with us, I was so cracked up though it wasn't the first time I was hearing something like that. I know the 3-year old is very playful and stubborn, but seriously I'd rather he sat down in front of the TV watching Tweenies, BEN 10 or Phineas and Ferb, than learn A, B, C... from 8:00am to 2:00pm and then have another round from like 2:30pm to 4:00pm. I mean he's just a baby!!!

I now started remembering the little things I could about when I started school. I remember painting leaf patterns, singing nursery rhymes and also missing home. I don't really think I loved school like that like that (not as much as I do now anyways). As far as I was concerned then, when I was in school, I felt my parents just wanted to find a way to keep me away from them so they could have themselves to whatever they wanted to do. My dad can even attest to that, because he always likes to re-tell stories of him coming to pick me up from my Grandma's place and how I would kick and fuss and refuse to go home with them.

And then I got thinking. What's the reason for putting these children through all this stress sef. They probably wake up as early as 6:00am. Their parents force them to eat while they try to sneak back into their bed, then they get sent off to school amidst traffic and all the organic fumes in the atmosphere. They finally get to school, have to endure 8-2 and 2-4, for what? Is it a way of getting rid of them. Now, I don't like to judge and apparently, by God's grace I'll be a parent someday and will probably be a culprit, but I've ascertained that the reasons for this are either of the following possibilities;

-parents really have got to be at work and keeping the child away for as long as possible is very sensible

-the schools just want to make extra money and coerce parents to send their wards for 'lesson' no matter how young

-parents are really conscious of the fact that they want to raise a child prodigy, hence the earlier the child starts school the better.

It's somehow sha..Childhood should be a time of fun. I know it's hard especially with modern life. But children I think should ideally start school at 4 or 5 and at that age they don't need extra lessons yet too. I remember one of my other cousins who started school at 2 years old. I can tell you she was a very unhappy child. She cried a lot and was always at the bottom of the class..as in, in a class of 49 she always took the 49th position (I wonder what kind of exams they were doing sef). Anyways her father, my uncle finally, fully migrated to the UK and took her along when she was 3 and a half years old. When she got there they (her parents), thought they'll enroll her in a proper school immediately, so she'll continue with her 'studies'. But to her parents' surprise she wasn't allowed to enroll in school because they said she wasn't old enough!! She finally started school at 5 years old sha. And let me add that she started to do really better at school and I'm quite proud of her. Wow!..now that makes me wonder if the whole starting school early thingy is just a Nigerian thing and is maybe just another one of the problems we have, because if I remember clearly my parents told me stories (and I've read stories) about how they didn't start school until age 6. If your right hand didn't reach your left ear, you were not eligible for school. And quite honestly we know that back then education was education in Nigeria not what it is now even with children starting school as babies.

So what's the fuss?..

There are child prodigies sha, which I quite envy, so maybe it's not such a bad thing. Some children are just geniuses. I was awed to find out that Mozart started composing at age 5. Tiger woods even started playing golf at 2 years old. And also there's Akrit Jaswal, the seven-year old surgeon. And a host of others and others too

So what do you think? Are children starting school too early nowadays and at what age do you think is the ideal age for children to start school?

Thank you so much for visiting

God Bless You :)



btw, who's Sparkle2k3..the person is a new follower. Just wanted to say thank you for following my blog
image credit: http://valeriatittarelli.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/einstein.jpg

12 comments:

  1. I also started school at 2 and for me, i wasn't unhappy. In fact, i was kinda excited and it used to annoy me when my classmates would cry and wail cos i figured, nothing you do will make the teachers send you home, not even when you peed your pants so just get with the program.

    My dad was never a fan of lessons. It had to be a major exam for him to approve lessons and you even had to convince him. I really didn't like it particularly when it seemed most people were familiar with some topics before hand. In all, we turned out alright so i guess it worked.

    For me, from the little plays and stuff, if i notice there are some things my child likes/enjoys, i would enroll them (if they seem truly happy doing it) be it sports (swimming & all), playing an instrument, reading, singing or even dancing.

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  2. Hmmm..seems like most people start school at 2. You liked school, that's good.

    Yes, if a child appears to be gifted and also shows interest in those activities like you mentioned, it is good to encourage them.

    Thanks for your comment.

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  3. @ toin...i trust toin was an efiwe now.(all those kids that loved school and would be raising their hands everytime in class..."aunty!!..i know the answer to that question and that one and that...in fact everything...hehe...LOL(runs away)
    i guess your post says it all dearie..in fact you're right and i'm glad for your cousin that improved...imagine that!!...she's doing better with their educational system in the uk..
    and a s for the lesson..smh!!!...imagine that..2 -4?!!! at 3 years old...for crying out loud, do you want to suck the child's brains out?,...its not fair o as far as i'm concerned and i've been with children long enough to know that they get bored easily and are easily attracted to animations, pictures and all sorta stuff
    was there any wonder why Disney Land was like the dream world of every child those days because they love to run around and have fun and things they capture with their eyes tend to stick in more than the words you say
    kids are different and you can begin observing that from childhood hereby encouraging and doing all sorts of stuff to make the child an expert in that area
    you see a talent in a child and you do all you can(lots of amazing stuff in britain's got talent)
    Nice post ay!

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    1. Better run far away! lmao. You have no idea. I wasn't one of those efiwe kids o. Ko jo rara. I was more of the naughty chatterbox who always got in trouble for talking in class. (see my yansh outside). I didn't say i 'liked school' though. I said i was excited about going because i am the last kid so i was always curious about that place all my siblings went everyday. Plus, i was never a cry-baby so the crying really used to annoy me *coversface*

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    2. LOOOOOOL.....eya...i know that feeling of wanting to experience what others are experiencing and its all good, that means you would have been one of those kids poking me in class if we went to d same school bcos my mum told me i cried a lot when i was quite young and they had to take me to school most especially when she had no maid at that time
      talkie talkie...loool...hawayu!!!!

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  4. Don't mind Toin joor..lol
    As in, I don't understand why a 3 year old would attend lesson o.
    Yes, children are different sha. Some might start showing signs of sheer genius from the beginning and should be encouraged. But I strongly feel childhood is for fun too. Children love playing with each other, toys, basically just being children.....I'm just remembering mj now for some reason..btw

    Thanks sugarspring for stopping by. Take care

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  5. I started school pretty early too, and I still don't understand why. Other than the advantage of graduating from secondary school early too, I've had to deal with the fact that most of my ex-classmates are generally 2 or 3 years older than me. Maybe parents are thinking ahead to the strikes (5 years + X), but I doubt that is the reason. I am more inclined to follow your line of reasoning and agree with the reasons you listed, except for the child prodigy one. From the example you gave about your cousin, I think the Nigerian educational system can make some intelligent children come across as olodos, and it has to do with the teaching style/method versus the learning ability of the child(ren).

    Having said all that, going to lesson at age 3 is too much abeg! I would be fussing and crying too if it was me :D I think age 4 or 5 is fine. Regardless of when the child starts school, the parents should encourage learning at home and not leave everything to the school.

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  6. I started quite early too. And I think it has its advantage and negative sides too. What I still find embarrassing is when my mum make jokes of how my pampers were always folded and packed in my bags - that's just so much for pushing off a baby to school. I once read somewhere that nursery and primary education could as well be handled by parents because those stages are the formative times of children. This trend of sending off children as a very baby stages to school is disheartening, it severs the parental chord early, which negatively affect such child in the future.

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  7. @relentless...i think the Nigerian educational system is a major problem o..
    I‘m in support of parents teaching their children at home for the first few years

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  8. @Strong Self...yes o it has its positive and negative sides...
    pampers packed and folded in your bag ke..lol!!...that‘s just too much
    I also think home-schooling is a good idea

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  9. I started School at age 2 but frankly my memory from then is wiped!! None at all...
    I really can't say why people enroll their kids in school early sha, but I think its should be left at d discretion of the parent, , for example you notice your kid is pretty smart at age 2, you wld def be excited to send him to school, so he can start doing you proud, and also on the other hand you notice your child wanto start to be a "dolapo" at age 2, you sharply send him to school to go and mix and learn whatever they teach at kindergarten class... It all depends.

    We just hope and pray when we eventually become parents we do it right!

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  10. Yes, it should be left to a parent's discretion..
    Amen o!
    Thanks for stopping by :)

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