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How good is catching them young? Hindustan Times | Page 4 | 4 May 2012
When Shefali Gupta (name changed), a resident of Punjabi Bagh, had a daughter a few years ago, she was expecting a lot of congratulatory calls. What she didn't expect, however, was the call she got the next day from a playschool chain. "I got call from the playschool, which has a
franchisee in our neighbourhood, asking me to book a seat for my one-day-old daughter. I have no idea where they sourced my number from," said Gupta.
"When I told them that I would not admit my daughter to a playschool for at least the next two-and-a-half years, the lady on the other side said that the charges would go up by then and if I booked a seat now, I would get up to 50% discount on the prevalent rates," she said. http://www.hindustantimes.com/Images/Popup/2012/5/04_05_12-metro6.jpg
"The playschool, in fact, insisted that I can send my daughter as soon as she is one year old," she said.
And this is one of the many instances that showcase how, over the years, the age at which a child has his or her first brush with education has been decreasing.
"Many playschools now enroll even one-year-olds under their toddler programme, which is sometimes also called the orientation programme or the mother-toddler programme," said Sumit Vohra, founder of admissionsnursery.com, which helps parents seeking nursery admission for their children.
"Experts say that a year of pre-schooling is enough before a child starts formal schooling but it seems that these days, there is no minimum age for a child to start going to a playschool," he said.
"It has also become a status symbol for some parents. Many also feel their child will start speaking early if they go to a toddler programme," he said.
In most countries, sending a child to pre-school is optional and the age for mandatory schooling varies from four to six years. In USA, about 60% children attend pre-school and the figure is just 30% for France.
Attendance for nursery and kindergarten for these two countries, however, is 100%.
Well-known educationist Shyama Chona feels there is no standard that can be applied to the right age at which a child can be send to a play school.
"Every child has distinct needs and it also depends on the family conditions - for instance if both parents are working and can't depend on their domestic help to leave the child behind," she said.
"It is just a play way and if the baby is small, they get a nice social group where they can spend a day," she said.
"However, it is a different matter if the child is not ready and wishes to stay back at home. It should depend on the child's will," she added.
Chona also feels there shouldn't be any regulation on deciding the child's minimum age to attend a play way.
"The decision should be democratic and left to the parents," she said.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by 0w282uktn9jfe on
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i also feel 2.5 yrs is the right age 4 play school/
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Totally Agree with Ms Chona
I too got calls from Mother's Pride Pre booking when my son was 2 days old..
The lady said "isnt it too late for you too decide which play school he would be going to?" & I told her I was still getting used to Feeding my 2 day old, Playschool was not my priority
She said that I was making abig mistake
I guess playschools have made a great business and are exploiting the parents in a big way
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Agree with Mr Vohra completely also with Sumitra and Poonam that maximum 1 yr of play school is sufficient.
As sakshiji and Mr vohra had written earlier also on forum thateven 6 months min duration is also sufficiant . it depends on case to case..
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My opinion is there should be pre-pre play school where child should be admitted even before they are born.
Small kids who are not even able to express their views and emotions to parents are admitted in school where the strength of class is 45 – 50 numbers with 2 teachers and 1 aya.
Teachers expect them to follow proper behavior chart, so that teachers can complete their syllabus on time.
A child who is not even able to hold pencil properly at age of 3 or 4 is asked to write alphabets.
Each and every person is running to make more and more money. I have gone through the complete admission process and not even find a single school who were bothered to know what child want.
Every child has their own speed of growth, how can you compare one child with another even if they are of same age. Pre-schools should be completely banned by Govt. and there should only day care for kids to help working parents.
Leave it on parents and let them decide when they want to send their child to school. Or else let schools come up with policy where 5 children can get teacher so that we can send children to school with no fear that he will reach home back safely with not even single scratch on his body.
Parents are on weaker side they are just going as per policy, no parents would like to send their small little child to school at very small age.
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Shyney i agree with most of your points but not all
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which are points you think are irrelevant. These points are those which i have faced as a mother
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Shyney as u feel play schools should be banned ,i feel there are some advantages
1 separation anxiety
2 start comprehending things
3 toilet trained( here it might not be compulsory for every child)
4 peer group
5 Ready to sit in main school for 4-5 hrs else parents might face problem in main school
but yes 6 months are ok or depending on child maturity depends
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Hi,
I agreed with Pooja..
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Permalink Reply by shwetakhanna on
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India has great education system.we realize this when we move out of our country.There are many schools which are promising and coming up with great ideas for child development.I am based in Dubai and here they still follow the same conventional format and we are left with no choice.
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Permalink Reply by Sakshi (Moderator) on
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@Shweta Yes but if system is corruption free ,we can do wonders.
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I want to ask a small question to all, how many of us have ever went to a play school or even to school at 3-4 age. Today are we not smart to tackle our issues or we haven’t grown in life or achieved success.
Expecting child to behave like an adult and do miracles… is it right?
It is the period when child should be relaxed… Aren’t we putting unnecessary burden on our child so that we can keep our status high.
We are worried that child to our next door will do better than our child and our child will be left behind… This is the only concern which we have today
6 months child ready for a play school ????
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Shyney i found your following lines very apt
"We are worried that child to our next door will do better than our child and our child will be left behind… This is the only concern which we have today
6 months child ready for a play school ????"
but pooja also has some valid points wat say ?
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