Focus on academic skills causes stress among preschoolers

T.Sima Gunawan, Contributor, Jakarta

The five-year-old girl pouted and shouted: "I don't want to go to school. I am tired." As her mother stared at her, the girl took back her words and said that she was just kidding.

Eny, the mother, sighed in relief, but she understands why her daughter acted like that.

"Tomorrow, she is having an oral English test. She has to study hard, but she is tired."

Eny said that her child, a kindergarten student at Theresa, a Catholic school in Menteng, Central Jakarta, has to memorize many words, including colors and shapes, and learn simple instructions such as: Be quiet; Sit down, please and Open the door, please.

English is a compulsory subject in the class, which is taught by a teacher hired from an English language school. For this, each student must pay an extra fee of Rp 20,000 or Rp 30,000 a month. Students also learn computer, a favorite for those who enjoy the subject, but a pain for others.

"My eldest daughter went to the same kindergarten four years ago, but at that time, things were different. She had lots of fun and never complained," Eny, a mother of two, said.

She observed that the lessons at the elementary school had also changed, especially after the introduction of the competency-based curriculum by the government two years ago.

Many preschools have put more emphasis on basic academic skills such as writing, reading and mathematics to enable toddlers to pass the entrance tests at elementary schools.

"It seems that the lessons are more difficult. Like mathematics -- they are given much more complicated problems to solve. What a curriculum!" said Eny, who herself is a high school teacher.

"Hopefully, the new government will pay more attention to this problem," she said.

The requirements of elementary schools apparently affects kindergarten students, who must adjust to the new standard. Despite their young age, children have to work hard to prepare themselves for their future education.

Yanti Kusumawardani, a working mother, has two children. The eldest is in his fourth year at Al Azhar Islamic elementary school in Cibubur, East Jakarta and the young one, who is only three, is going to a nursery school.

Like other elementary schools, it requires new students to be able to write and read well. Therefore, when they are in kindergarten, the children, like it or not, should learn their ABCs.

"New students who can't read and write well will find it difficult to follow the class," she said.

Yanti said that learning academic skills in a preschool also had advantages. "However, if preschoolers are given too many academic skills, the students can get stressed.

A preschool is basically a medium for children aged between three, four or five years to behave themselves, to mingle with others and to prepare themselves to go to the "real" school.

Some experts say that at preschools, it is not necessary for the children to seriously learn calculus, let alone math, reading and writing skills. They warn that lessons may put the children under pressure, and after a few years, the students will get bored and have no interest in studying.

But some parents even push their children who are still in kindergarten to study hard because they fear they will not be able to follow the lessons at the elementary school.

"I wonder why my daughter is not able to read. What does she learn at school?" said Willy, a veterinarian, talking about his five-year-old daughter.

"Am I expecting too much?" he asked. "But I hear that children who can't read will not be accepted at elementary school. Is that true?"

Father Antonius Paryanta, the principal of Pangudi Luhur elementary school in South Jakarta, said that the lessons at school are provided in accordance with each school's interpretation of the national curriculum, and parents' expectations.

He said many parents are happy if their children, who are still in kindergarten are good at reading, writing and calculus. They are also proud if the children can speak a little English and work on the computer.

"That is the reality. And schools that fail to meet parents' expectations will be abandoned," Father Antonius said. "As an individual, I don't agree. This is quite a dilemma."

Despite his objection, adopting a realistic outlook, Antonius said that any school which wants to meet the parents' expectations should apply the proper teaching and learning methods for the students.

"It should be fun, creative and communicative," he said.