After I read on Aida’s blog that Avarayna was going to start preschool next year [I think she’s turning 4 next yr]. I thought that maybe we should get Arianna enrolled as well. She turns 3 this year but while one part of me thinks that it is a little early to start school keeping in mind that 1st Grade will be the start of her official school years, and that is like when she turns 6 or so. That would mean that she’d be in school a whole lot longer beforehand and I just don’t think it’s necessary.

While I have nothing against parents who enrol their kids in preschool and kindy as soon as possible, I personally don’t think I would do the same. After all, I only went to kindergarten 1 year prior to starting Standard 1. And I don’t think I turned out bad. And back then teachers actually TAUGHT you numbers, alphabets and simple words. But these days, your kid would be considered slow if he/she didn’t know their numbers before enrolling in preschool!

Perhaps it’s just my laid back, easy going attitude towards early education that makes me think that there is no need to put pressure on them when they have a lifetime of education ahead of them. While I am all for education as I definitely believe it is important, I just don’t see why it should be turned into somewhat of a rat race. Kids could really do without parents who are kiasu* about wanting to ensure their kid to be the best at all cost. I’m just not one of those parents.

One doesn’t have to look far to notice how early parents are trying to turn their kids into geniuses. Every toy you find on the shelves these days emphasises a promise of stimulating the child’s mind and indirectly making them smarter babies. Aren’t there any toys out there today made just so the child can have fun, for the sake of having fun and not having to gain any knowledge from it? I highly doubt it coz I think something like that may not bring in the sales. And that is something I think is very sad. And to be quite honest, when Arianna was slow to start talking – she was slow to start everything mind you, I was a tad bit worried. But she miraculously picked up things very fast and I’m not that worried anymore. I do have to thank Sesame Street for teaching her numbers and her alphabets.

People think that TV is evil and while I agree to a certain degree, I think it’s God-sent as well! I always believe that anything in moderation be it food or anything else, if taken moderately it, it all works out fine. So that said, when is Arianna going to preschool? I say we’ll start when she turns 5, I reckon….till then, she’s got all her books and various ‘smart’ toys to play with. O, and Nana’s flashcard too!

*A local term used commonly and liberally in Malaysian/Singapore which literally translated to mean scared to lose