Early education — is it working?

I recently has received a question from a dad.. “…so, does the preschool show any improvement on your child ability?”

It took me a while before answered that question. I never thought to analyze the effectiveness of early education on my child. I spend my time worrying about endless separation anxiety. I thought that it’s an improvement that he could actually being able to be separated by his family or nanny. To be able to communicate with other with his limited language ability and to be independent.

But as I told the man, that I saw that as an improvement. He replies ” well, my daughter seem has no problem with separation. She tries holiday program, and never cry from the beginning of school and seems to enjoy the activity..”

Ooops.. I forgot.. that every child is different. What I thought will happen to every child, is actually not. A child is a unique human being. They has their own strength, weakness, interest and emotion control.

So.. how should we analyze whether preschool will do any good to our child? is it true that if we send them to school as early as possible, will make them a better learner?

Hubungan “Susahnya menjadi orang tua” dan “masa depan bangsa”

Buat yang sudah menjadi ibu/ayah, pasti pernah bertanya, “gimana seh buat anak saya menurut”. Kita selalu memberikan yang terbaik untuk anak ini, tapi dia malah berteriak, menolak, sungguh sulit diatur!!  Sudah dibela-belain buat makanan tersehat dan terlezat, eh dia malah mengunci mulutnya, atau yang lebih parah lagi, kalau piringnya ditepak, atau malah dimuntahkan kembali.

Saya sendiri sempat hampir stress dengan hal ini. Mulai dari bayi, disaat kita sulit sekali menebak arti dari tangisannya yang tak kunjung selesai, padahal kita baru saja mau beristirahat. Lalu ketika dia mulai mengerti bahwa dirinya terpisah dari orang lain, dan mulai memiliki kehendak sendiri, dia menolak semua yang kita minta. Diminta makan, dia malah lari. Diminta jangan lari-lari, dia malah lari, loncat, sampai akhirnya jatuh. Diminta untuk tidur, dia menolak, menangis.

Sejuta masalah antara orang tua dan anaknya sebenernya bukan hal yang baru. Kalau kita bertanya ke orang tua kita, mereka pasti memiliki pengalaman yang sama sewaktu membesarkan kita. Jadi, apa yang salah?

Raport pertama Fabian (parent conference di HighScope kuningan)

Jumat, 29 May 09, saya bersama dengan suami untuk pertama kalinya menjalankan tugas sebagai orang tua murid utk mengambil raport:) rasanya aneh juga.. mengingat umur Fabian baru 2 tahun. Apalagi banyak yang bertanya “bagaimana raport Fab?” ternyata banyak juga yang peduli dengan Fab (padahal ini cuma karena saya gembar-gembor berita pengambilan rapor ini di kantor yah hehehe…) Dan jawabannya “nanti baca di blog gue yah! Panjang ceritanya”  sepanjang posting ini …( “) sekalian promosi blog..

Nah ini dia detail Raport pertama Fabian:

Dual language academic, is it good?

Yesterday, I attend a parent seminar about bilingual education, conducted by TB Simatupang Highscope School. The speaker is one lovely couple Mr & Mrs Freeman.

I was one hour late because I can’t find way to go there..It was my first time. The school is quite big and have lots of green spaces. Children from  1 1/2 years up to high school age were mingle there.. it’s like memorizing my school time long time ago..

The seminar itself talk about the benefit of teaching bilingual education to a child. They claimed that bilingual education has 6 benefits (although I just get the last four ), including improve cognitive capability, more job opportunity, preserve culture, make the child more flexible in term of way of thinking.

The basic concept is that bilingual doesn’t means that the person will think in each language separately. There is only one basic concept inside the brain that relate the word “dog” with the an animal that has 4 legs, fur and able to bark, or how to calculate numbers. So if they learn other language, they don’t have to understand the difference of dog and cat, but they just have to know the vocabulary for word “dog”  and the vocabulary for each number in that language.

How to raise a happy child…

Very interesting post from Parent Center web..

http://www.babycenter.com/0_how-to-raise-a-happy-child-ages-2-to-4_1492443.bc?showAll=true

I guess all parents want their child to be a happy child.. but how? This article has a very good point and clues..

Like any parent who wants the best for her children, Trish Bragg has done everything she can to make sure Isabel, Charlie, and Madeline are healthy, have plenty of stimulating activities to fill their day, and are loved unconditionally. Yet, like many, she struggles with parenting’s million-dollar question: Are my kids happy? “Among all my friends, that’s what we want to know,” Bragg says.
What makes children happy may surprise you. Child development experts who study the subject say that happiness isn’t something you can give a child like a prettily wrapped present. In fact, says Edward Hallowell, psychiatrist and author of The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness, over-indulged children — whether showered with toys or shielded from emotional discomfort — are more likely to grow into teenagers who are bored, cynical, and joyless. “The best predictors of happiness are internal, not external,” says Hallowell, who stresses the importance of helping kids develop a set of inner tools they can rely on throughout life.
The good news is you don’t have to be an expert in child psychology to impart the inner strength and wisdom it takes to weather life’s ups and downs. With patience and flexibility, any parent can lay the groundwork for a lifetime of happiness.

The leader in Me — by Stephen Covey

I can’t imagine how a child as little as elementary school can be taught Leadership principles. At least I didn’t get that kind of education when I was a child. Perhaps when I was entering my third job that I became aware of the importance of leadership and start to learn by experience.

Mr Covey explained that he himself was surprised by the result of A.B Comb did to their students. The principal of that school has choose Leadership as its magnet theme. They use 7 habits and Baldrige tools as the foundation. The result was amazing, the score test getting better, the number of students breaking rules reduced and the most important one is that the children there were prepared with the most important skill for their future.

I wish I can find that kind of school in Jakarta, but perhaps, it will start in another couple of years..I guess I have to start it in my own house.

To be honest, I have no idea how to do it. I’ll do some more research on it. Prepare the tools, learn how the leadership school did. I hope they explain it on their web

But the most important start is to learn and do the 7 habits myself. I guess I still have lots to learn and practice. I’m going to read that book again..

Fabian mulai enjoy sekolah :)

Setelah perjuangan 3 minggu lebih, akhirnya saya dan suami saya mulai melihat buah hasil perjuangan kami. Minggu pertama penuh perjuangan.. lalu minggu kedua hanya efektif 3 hari karena ada libur pemilu dan paskah.. Setiap hari Fabian mengamuk, teriak dan sering marah tanpa sebab.. Awal minggu ke tiga (hari setelah libur panjang) seperti hari pertama masuk sekolah.. Fabian teriak meronta-ronta ketika diantar ke sekolah.. di kelas dia menangis sekitar 1 jam..

Hari berlalu, saya tetap konsisten.. Setiap hari saya bujuk dia untuk sekolah. Layaknya saya berbicara dengan orang dewasa, saya menanyakan kepadanya mengapa dia harus takut ke sekolah. Karena pada saat hari pertama, ketika saya ada didalam kelas, dia begitu enjoy..saya tanyakan padanya “apa Fabian takut?”

Fabian akan masuk sekolah!!

Saya dan suami akhirnya memutuskan untuk memberikan Fabian kesempatan untuk belajar di sekolah 5 hari seminggu, 3.5 jam sehari di High scope kuningan. Bayangkan, anak seumur 23 bulan, harus setiap hari ke sekolah dan tinggal disana dari jam stg 9 sampai jam 12!! apakah dia akan bertahan ya?

Kalau dilihat pertimbangan saya ketika mengambil keputusan ini adalah

1. The younger the better learner he is. Saya tidak mau kehilangan kesempatan utk memperkuat daya pikir fabian. Dari beberapa buku yang saya baca belakangan ini, semua memberi penjelasan yang sama. Bahwa semua anak adalah adalah calon genius. Dan yang membedakan genius atau tidak adalah stimulasi yang diberikan oleh orang tua/pengasuh kepada anak dari umur 0 sampai 5 tahun. Bila saya perhatikan, bila saya bekerja, fabian hanya bersama susternya, dan hanya dapat mengamati  bagaimana mencuci piring, menyapu, memasak, membersihkan meja, memcuci baju, dan sedikit mainan lain seperti play doh dan mobil-mobilan. Saya tidak mengatakan bahwa suster saya salah, karena memang di tempat saya tidak ada pembantu, jadi dia sebenernya sudah luar biasa membantu saya. jadi memang seharusnya saya yang berkewajiban utk mendidik Fabian. Tapi karena waktu yang saya punya tidak banyak, mungkin sebaiknya Fabian mendapatkannya di sekolah.

Pemikiranku tentang pendidikan anak

Sudah setahun setengah aku mencari info mengenai bagaimana cara mendidik anak yang benar agar anak memiliki bekal yang cukup untuk masa depannya. Dari beberapa literatur yang saya baca belakangan ini, semua mengatakan hal yang sama. Sekolah saja tidak cukup, tidak semua ketrampilan yang dibutuhkan untuk terjun ke dunia sesungguhnya diajarkan disekolah.

Kalau mengutip kata dari beberapa sumber, dunia telah berubah, teknologi berkembang pesat, marketing berubah bentuk, science menemukan hal-hal baru, tapi tidak demikian dengan pendidikan. Bidang yang satu ini tetap konstan dan tidak bergerak ke arah mana-mana, setidaknya di Indonesia. Sekolah yang memang mulai memikirkan perubahan, adalah sekolah yang bergelar ‘national plus’ atau sekolah international yang nota bene, sangat mahal dan sulit terjangkau oleh masyarakat indo pada umumnya.

Hal ini yang mendorong saya untuk memikirkan, sebenernya apa yang kurang dari pendidikan saat ini. beberapa hal mendasar yang saya temukan dari beberapa buku, yaitu:

A whole new mind — by Daniel H Pink

I just finished a book sharing session with my colleague for this very interesting book. I’m amazed how he could open my eyes about the “logic VS creative”  thing that has hanging in my head lately and gave me a very great answer. 

Whole new mind means Left-side brained mind with 6 basic sense of Right-side brained mind. Why does right brain concept raise all the sudden? the answer is 3A, Abundance, Asia and Automation. The world has full of efficient, logic people. Product quality is only a entry ticket to the market, then a great design will make a differentials. Furthermore, logic and analytical tasks are easily transferred to India, Singapore, and other Asia where the cost of resource are cheaper. The last is that machine will definitely defeat human in analytical capability. All end up with the raise of “a whole mind” concept.

There are 6 senses that need to be developed: