View Full Version : Toddler Curriculum Plans 'Absolute Madness'
Angeltigger
09-11-2005, 12:21
Little learners: Under the plans, three-year-olds will learn basic maths and literacy
Plans to introduce a new national curriculum for babies and toddlers are "absolute madness'', parents' groups have warned.
The Childcare Bill proposes laws requiring every childminder and nursery to teach the new curriculum to children "from birth'' until they start school aged five.
Under the plan, all three-year-olds in childcare will learn rudimentary maths, language and literacy, the Government said.
Toddler Curriculum
Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, condemned the "bizarre'' proposal.
"We are now in danger of taking away children's childhood when they leave the maternity ward,'' she said.
"From the minute you are born and your parents go back to work, as the Government has encouraged them to do, you are going to be ruled by the Department for Education.
"It is absolute madness.''
The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) said the new curriculum, which aims to integrate childcare and education, must not be too rigid.
Tricia Pritchard, from PANN, said: "We hope that this will be age-appropriate and flexible as young children develop at different rates.
"Children of the same age have different abilities.''
The Government drew up the new curriculum for toddlers, arguing that research showed earlier education helped children develop faster socially and intellectually.
Publishing the Bill in Westminster, Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "We want to establish a coherent framework that defines progression for young children from nought to five.
"We are not talking about sitting very young children in chairs and making them learn numbers and letters where that is inappropriate.''
The minister said the curriculum, to be known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), would be "completely age specific''.
It would build on an existing system which teaches three-year-olds "mathematical development and communication, language and literacy'', the Department for Education said.
The EYFS would have the same compulsory legal force as the national curriculum for schools, Ms Hughes said
I think it is ok... charley could count, spell her name, write her name and recognise some words before she went to school and she stil had fun...
I think it is ok... charley could count, spell her name, write her name and recognise some words before she went to school and she stil had fun...
i aggree so could niall
Chloe O'brien
09-11-2005, 12:34
There is a lot of learning aids available to children these days that most pre-school children are able to read, write and count before they go to school with the help of tv programmes, videos and the internet. Children start school at 3 in spain and children are more clever than some adults give them credit for. As long as the child is happy to participate in the tasks through learning I think it is a good idea.
My daughter was able to write her own name and the names of her cousins, read and count to 20 before she went to school
There is a lot of learning aids available to children these days that most pre-school children are able to read, write and count before they go to school with the help of tv programmes, videos and the internet. Children start school at 3 in spain and children are more clever than some adults give them credit for. As long as the child is happy to participate in the tasks through learning I think it is a good idea.
My daughter was able to write her own name and the names of her cousins, read and count to 20 before she went to school
Kid want to learn more earlier nowadays.... they are like sponges.. I try to teach Charley as much as possible but keep it fun.. she wants to learn all this so I don't think it is a bad idea for pre-schools to teach them
Little learners: Under the plans, three-year-olds will learn basic maths and literacy
Plans to introduce a new national curriculum for babies and toddlers are "absolute madness'', parents' groups have warned.
The Childcare Bill proposes laws requiring every childminder and nursery to teach the new curriculum to children "from birth'' until they start school aged five.
Under the plan, all three-year-olds in childcare will learn rudimentary maths, language and literacy, the Government said.
Toddler Curriculum
Margaret Morrissey, spokeswoman for the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations, condemned the "bizarre'' proposal.
"We are now in danger of taking away children's childhood when they leave the maternity ward,'' she said.
"From the minute you are born and your parents go back to work, as the Government has encouraged them to do, you are going to be ruled by the Department for Education.
"It is absolute madness.''
The Professional Association of Nursery Nurses (PANN) said the new curriculum, which aims to integrate childcare and education, must not be too rigid.
Tricia Pritchard, from PANN, said: "We hope that this will be age-appropriate and flexible as young children develop at different rates.
"Children of the same age have different abilities.''
The Government drew up the new curriculum for toddlers, arguing that research showed earlier education helped children develop faster socially and intellectually.
Publishing the Bill in Westminster, Children's Minister Beverley Hughes said: "We want to establish a coherent framework that defines progression for young children from nought to five.
"We are not talking about sitting very young children in chairs and making them learn numbers and letters where that is inappropriate.''
The minister said the curriculum, to be known as the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), would be "completely age specific''.
It would build on an existing system which teaches three-year-olds "mathematical development and communication, language and literacy'', the Department for Education said.
The EYFS would have the same compulsory legal force as the national curriculum for schools, Ms Hughes said
they do it anyway! basic maths, lang and lit all things that nurseries have to teach anyway.
i dont like th idea of making kids learn maths etc buy certain ages. and would have to work like this!
As a nursery nurse i worked in nurseries that had very strict learnign policies we had to do maths withthe children everyay, after my trianing i worked in a highscope nursery and trained as a highscope practitoner everything we did was child based and they learnt so much qquicker and better than any of the kids who were forced into learning how to count too early and write letters etc!
connor is now in a preschool that works along these lines and has learnt so mucj really quick all through play and wanting to do things.I f he cant write hi name write the alphabet,m write letters by teh time he gets to school im not worried hell do it eventually.
kids go to pre school , nursery etc to play with their friends and leant how to socialise with people not just to learn they have over ten years to do all that
they do it anyway! basic maths, lang and lit all things that nurseries have to teach anyway.
i dont like th idea of making kids learn maths etc buy certain ages. and would have to work like this!
As a nursery nurse i worked in nurseries that had very strict learnign policies we had to do maths withthe children everyay, after my trianing i worked in a highscope nursery and trained as a highscope practitoner everything we did was child based and they learnt so much qquicker and better than any of the kids who were forced into learning how to count too early and write letters etc!
connor is now in a preschool that works along these lines and has learnt so mucj really quick all through play and wanting to do things.I f he cant write hi name write the alphabet,m write letters by teh time he gets to school im not worried hell do it eventually.
kids go to pre school , nursery etc to play with their friends and leant how to socialise with people not just to learn they have over ten years to do all that
I would have something to say to a playschool if they started at 2 years old but pre-school is to help kids transistion to big school... There is a lot of kids who can't write their name, count etc and yes they will learn all that but I don't see anything wrong with teach a child to do this early
i sent niall to nursery when he was 3 1/2 and he could write his name, count up to 20 i think and know his A,B,C. and i will teach niamh the same thing
Ci learns all of this sort of stuff at pre-school already, but they learn it in a fun way, not regimented. He could count to 20, do his ABC, spell his name, know all of his colours etc prior to starting, but they carry on learning adding etc, but in a fun manner - so the child doesn't realise they are learning things.
The only thing I majorly objected to, was the primary schools in our area changing the age of intake from 5 to 3. They would have a ratio of approx 15 children to each adult and they would be intermingled with the older children - sorry but I am not having my 3 year old running around in the same playground as a 12 yr old and feel there are too many issues including security surrounding this...
Angeltigger
09-11-2005, 16:06
Yeah 3 years old should not be around a 12 year old.. as in my old school they had a playground for each year
lollymay
09-11-2005, 16:11
i could write my name and count to twenty etc before i went to primary school because i got taught at nursary school and so did my little brother
one of my aunties always tells me the story of when i was 3 and she came round and i was reading the newspaper!!
I would have something to say to a playschool if they started at 2 years old but pre-school is to help kids transistion to big school... There is a lot of kids who can't write their name, count etc and yes they will learn all that but I don't see anything wrong with teach a child to do this early
no nothing wrong with it but they shouldnt have to be forced into doing it!
no nothing wrong with it but they shouldnt have to be forced into doing it!
no it shouldn't be forced, it should be fun.. the playschool Charley goes too does a thing called "science Rocks" and they explain science in a fun way.. take them out to see the way weather works and do little experiments with them in the class...
squillyfer
09-11-2005, 19:40
Lots of kids learn things at home before they start preschool anyway. I knew my numbers up to a hundred and could do simple adding before i started playschool and I could read on my own by the age of three so it also depends on the childs family. It is important not to be too strict with young children or they will completly forget the part about socialising and just concentrate on learning which isnt always a good thing
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