The Need to Make Children Love Learning in School

My dear friend Ann told me this afternoon how her daughter has become pressured at school to do spelling.  Oh her daughter is a kinder 2 pupil ( she skipped Kinder 1) and she is 5 years old.  Ann told me that her daughter does not like to go to school anymore everytime her teacher made them engage in spelling.  

My curiosity made me ask Ann further.  "What about her classmates?"  The answer was "they cry". And I thought "wow"  aaammmmmazing (did I say the right word?).  Or, shall I say "madness".   And I exclaimed out of anger and disgust "they are actually trying to kill the love of learning that could come out from a young innocent child.  

What could the school be trying to prove?  The school may be thinking that engaging the child in a hardcore academic experience may train and harness their brains and may show to the world its so-called "prowess"  with its high academic standards thinking that they could extract the geniuses in those kids...

I am a mother of a 6-year-old girl named Maria Mikaela who started kinder in a public elementary school at 4 years old.  She was admitted since she was then going to be 5 years old a month (July 2017) after the start of school.  I was truly worried about her so early start (given her developmental delay - speech) since she should be 5 in September (she was born premature).   However, I wanted so much to challenge my little girl by engaging her with the new experience.  

  

Don't get me wrong.  I am not thinking of making my daughter compete with other children.  I am focusing on her progress against her previous performances.  That is all.   I was just so glad she had a very nice and understanding teacher named Caroline who was all the way trying to patiently provide her with experiences.  However, my daughter resisted many of those in the classroom which made us decide to do it our way in the house ( I could share some more on this) with an effort to be consistent with the Department of Education curriculum for Kinder.


My point... After hearing it from Ann and watching videos about the new trend and interpretation of the new education curriculum, I am worried as a mother for my daughter and all others kids who may possibly be seeing school as a frightening place to go to for learning.

Dear teacher:  Let us think of making children love to go to school and learn.  Let us make them engage in activities that may bring them closer to realities in life (more on this later on). 

PS:  My daughter graduated from Kinder at 5 years old last April 2018.  She should have started grade 1,  last June 2018 at the age of 5.  However, I and my husband insisted that we wait until she reaches 6 years old.  Instead, we are currently engaging her in a semi homeschooling arrangement and socialize ones or twice a week in a preparatory school (Think Prep Uptown - Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines).