Children can acquire cognitive skills before they are supposed to, they may be great athletes, however if they are unable to socialize properly, what good is all of this?
In my opinion it is so important that children learn to socialize both properly and promptly. As a preschool teacher I constantly hear, "How's my child doing?, Is he/she writing their name properly?, When will you start giving the kids homework? As I have always told the parents of my students, All of this will come eventually, all children will acquire these skills, but let children be children and focus on socialization skills. According to the Big Think, "The basics of social behavior come from the brains emotional system, which an important contributor to empathy and morality from infancy through adulthood", (Aamodt, S.) (2012). By the time a child is 6 or 7 he/she should be very developed in the area of socialization, should be able to imaginary play and even be able to speak well with other.
China has the world's largest educational system with this in mind reform is extremely difficult, however China has a grand plan. The
new national curriculum changed the objectives of school curriculum from
focusing only on knowledge delivery to a wider perspective of student
development in three dimensions: knowledge and skills, process and methods,
and, emotion, attitude and value. Integrated courses such as science, history
and social science, practical learning were introduced. The traditional
structure of senior secondary curriculum was reorganized into a three-order
structure: at the top were 8 learning fields: language and literature, mathematics,
science, technology, social science, health and physical education, aesthetic
education, and practical learning. Each learning field cover a number of
subjects, for example, two subjects, Chinese and foreign language, were under
the umbrella learning field “language and literature”; three subjects, physics,
chemistry and biology were under the learning field “science”. Each subject
included a number of modules which formed the fundamental cell of the senior
secondary curriculum. Some of the modules were obligatory; others were
optional, while in primary and junior secondary level all courses were still
obligatory.
Reference: http://bigthink.com/the-secrets-of-self-control/how-to-improve-childrens-social-skills
http://xypj.cersp.com/GLB/LUNWEN/200701/3223.html
Tinka, you're absolutely right that social behavior is very important. I can remember taking my daughter out of a daycare setting because at the age of three she was given a packet of homework each week that she was expected to complete by the end of each week. The director didn't know I was a teacher and eagerly told me that you're daughter will be reading by the end of the school year.. I think I shocked her when I asked her how my daughter was getting along with her peers and if she worked well in a group. At that age I didn't really care as much about the "academic" piece of the puzzle because I knew in time it would come. Thanks for sharing that.
ReplyDeleteI think that sometimes we get so wrapped up in the competition and desire to be the best academically, we forget that social skills are equally as important! We want our kids to succeed and we are focused on the academics, and just assume that the social skills will come. What good are adults who are very intelligent and have a lot of "book smarts", if they are not able to carry a conversation and maneuver the social aspects of a job? What a great reminder Tinka! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHeather
Tinka,
ReplyDeleteI think I'm one of those parents who worry more about the cognitive skills taught at school rather than psychosocial development. You are right, children go to school to learn, but most of all they go to school to make friends and learn to socialize. It is probably a skill that most of us take it for granted.
Great post, it opened my eyes ;)
Elisa