Formal education(kindergarten etc) or informal education: which one is better?

sabb

Just nak tanya,

Anyone pernah ada experience or any opinion about formal education n informal education? Cthnya, is there any proof either one of this better or it's actually depend on the parents yg membuatkan the children become a better person?

Actually sabb tgh berpk pasal nak hantar anak ke kindergarten. Sabb baca byk pasal montessori, smart reader n byk lagilah yg seumpamanya dgn dan feesnya pon boleh tahan (maybe sbb this is my first experience as a mother n sabb dulu skolah tadika pon murah jer). Eventhough I was quite shocked with the fees tp I believed the sylabus definitely x sama ngan tadika zaman sabb skolah dulu.
Cuma sabb skang ni ada lah sikit terpikir. Is it worth it kita bayar anak kita to that school or is it better for us to spend the money dgn beli bahan2 sendiri then ajar anak2 kita sendiri kat rumah? Mungkin sabb dibesarkan dgn cara hidup kampung so my mentality pon x begitu advance ngan hidup kat zaman yg serba mencabar ni. Sabb kadang2 terpikir, our children actually learn a lot of things from informal education. For example kalau reading skill : kalau everyday kita sendiri spend masa untuk ajar anak kita membaca dia x leh pandai mcm kalau kita hantar dia ke skolah ker? . I really need opinions from experienced parents out there.

KakFie

Originally posted by sabb at 16-9-2006 01:21 AM
Just nak tanya,

Anyone pernah ada experience or any opinion about formal education n informal education? Cthnya, is there any proof either one of this better or it's actually depend on the pare ...

Could truly understand your predicament dear.... Sebagai first time mother memang macam tu kan.  Akak dulu pun macam tu...risau pasal benda-benda .  One important note from akak, we will never know for sure sama ada apa yang kita buat sebagai parents  untuk anak akan menjadikan anak kita a better person TAPI one thing we know for sure, anak-anak adalah amanah kita, jadi tanggungjawab UTAMA untuk mendidik adalah di tangan KITA.  Yang lain-lain tu cuma secondary saja.  Kita jalankan sepenuhnya tanggungjawab di pihak kita lepas tu doa dan tawakal sajalah.

Bagi akak sendirilah - akak stay at hom mom- akak nampak tadika tu sebagai tempat untuk dia belajar social skill bukan tempat untuk dia duduk jadi robot, belajar benda-benda akademik semata-mata.  So akak punya benchmark, kalau tadika tu ada homework then its definitely  crap.  Sebab point akak hantar bukan suruh dia berhomework dalam usia yang sekecik tu.  They dont need to grow up  that fast.  Dia akan ada 15 tahun sekurang-kurangnya dalam hidup dia nanti untuk buat homeworks, thesis, disserttion segala.  So let them take it slowly.

Jadi pemilihan tadika terpulang pada individu.  Apa aspirasi sabb sendiri terhadap anak-anak.  One technique doesnt fit all.  Kalau akak kata Smart Reader tu mengarut ( ini contohlah), orang lain might have different views.  Begitulah.  

Tentang membaca...yup...akak dah try bermacam-macam cara dengan anak-anak akak masa kecik dulu, flash cardlah, Glen Domanlah, phonicslah, tehcnique sendirilah...tapi the best technique akak would recommend is to READ ALOUD with your children.  Dulu akak pun tak paham jugak apa bagusnya read aloud dengan anak-anak ni until it is proven bila kita buat sendiri.  Bila kita selalu baca buku dengan dan untuk anak-anak, yang pertama dia akan nampak kepentingan dan kebaikan buku tu.  Bila dia dah aware tentang itu, minat untuk membaca dan sekaligus belajar untuk membaca akan mudah kita cultivate dan nurture.  Kalau minat kita tak pupuk dari awal, yakni dari RUMAH, hantarlah anak gi Smart Reader ke, Montessori ke, Lorna Wilson ke, KUMON ke, Cosmotots ke, Q Dees ke, dan bermacam-macam lagi brand yang ada, kita akan cuma melahirkan anak-anak dan generasi yang ALITERATE - boleh baca tapi tak suka membaca.  No point jugak.

Memang ramai anak-anak yang bertadika dari umur 4 tahun lagi, bayar beratus-ratus tapi bila ke primary/secondary school tak jugak perform, tak boleh jadi creative thinker, tak ada lateral thinking skill, tak ada self confidence segala.  Jadi brand tadika BELUM TENTU boleh menjamin apa-apa.  Kita sebagai parentstetap kena monitor dan supervise anak-anak kita walau tadika mana sekalipun dia pergi.  Tapi betul, anak-anak sekarang dan dunia sekarang memang advance.  Kita memang kena equip anak kita dengan kemahiran membaca, kemahiran komputer, dari kecik lagi supaya dia tak ketinggalan.  Tapi janganlah sampai anak jadi robot.

Nasihat akak, sabb pergilah tadika-tadika tu semua dan tengok sendiri/tanya what they have to offer, Lepas tu sabb decidelah yang mana bersesuaian dengan aspirasi sabb.  Nak tanya pendapat ramai pun, hati dan otak manusia ni lain-lain...kan?

I'd  have to stop...memang tak boleh nak berhenti kalau cakap tentang benda-benda ni....

sabb

Originally posted by KakFie at 18-9-2006 11:59 AM


Could truly understand your predicament dear.... Sebagai first time mother memang macam tu kan.  Akak dulu pun macam tu...risau pasal benda-benda .  One important note from akak, we will neve ...

I like the point that you said, ada ramai yg bayar tadika mahal2 n later bila besar pon x jadi apa. Mmg sabb pon takut cam tu gak. N sabb pon pk menda yg sama, sabb hantar anak g skolah untuk dia dapat better exposure bukan untuk dia jadik org yg pandai dalam pelajaran. 4 me, sori to say, zaman skang ni mmg paper qualification is very important tp x semestinya anak kita pandai in school, dia pon pandai kerja. Ada ramai best student out there, derang x pandai kerja.
Sabb maybe berpikiran camni sbb didikan family kot. kitaorg ramai adik beradik so as usual x semua antara kitaorg yg dapat good result. ada adik sabb yg lemah betul pelajarannya tp mak sabb kata biar dia buat apa yg dia boleh buat. So after SPM dia x sambung belajar sbb mak pk dia pon x leh nak berjaya kalau belajar so dia terus kerja. Skang ni rasanya gaji dia sama kot ngan gaji sabb yg U graduate ni. hehehe. So my point kat cni ialah, sabb nak abak sabb jadik org yg boleh berdikari bila dia besar. Maknanya in whatever menda yg dia buat, dia boleh berjaya n survive dan ingat akhirat.

macademia

i would suggest.... hantar pada tadika of your choice.... yang mana mampu... (KEMAS pun ok...) .AND do informal learning at home also...... the child will get the best of both worlds....

KakFie

Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Stop turning our kids into jelly rolls
20 Sep 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I RECENTLY came across a few passages from the 1963 writings of Betty Friedan, the author of the Feminine Mystique, which I found to be rather interesting.

"Strange new problems are being reported in the growing generations of children whose mothers were always driving them around, helping them with their homework ? an inability to endure pain or discipline or pursue self-sustaining goal of any sort, a devastating boredom with life.

"Educators are increasingly uneasy about the dependence, the lack of self-reliance, of the boys and girls who are entering college today.


She also wrote about a general concern about "? the physical and muscular deterioration of American children: were they being over-nurtured? Sociologists noted the outstanding organisation of suburban children? lives: the lessons, parties, entertainment, play and study groups organised for them."

Substitute Malaysia in place of America, and include things like tuition, mental arithmetic, piano lesson, etc., into the paragraphs and we would see that we are also looking at the same problem, 40 years on.

What is to become of our children? I say, blame it on us, and the education system.

There has been much hand wringing with regard to our education system: What are we producing? Why are some of our graduates unable to compete? Why are we producing more and more students with loads of A?, but less of those who can think and be independent?

Are we putting too much on the soft shoulders of our children, at such tender ages? Have they skipped the entire childhood years, missing the age of discovery and innocence of youth, to fall down, scrape their knees, and instead be burdened with huge academic responsibilities and be forced to venture straight into adulthood?

The Education Ministry is said to be planning a seismic change in the nation? education system, one that encourages the learning experience and gives rote learning and memorising the boot.

Good. At the same time, I would like to make a couple of suggestions.

First, throw out the Primary Six Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah examinations. It is in my opinion the root to what I often describe as the "robotisation" of our kids. It is an assessment of the effectiveness of our early education system that has unfortunately evolved into an examination designed to suck the life out of our children.

The UPSR has coloured the entire primary school education experience, which is supposed to put children in the discovery mode and to understand and appreciate the concept and tools of education.

But to prepare for the UPSR, parents have been known to be sending their cares to tuition and extra classes, from as early as pre-school.

This is surely not good, and unnatural. In some developed countries, children only begin to read and write when they enter the school system. Here, my five-year-old is feeling the stress of needing to know how to read and write in two languages, and sometimes three, if we were to include the optional Mandarin lessons; and do basic arithmetic. And these do not include religious classes, which would come soon, and other extra-curricular activities.

There must be other ways to measure the academic development and achievement of our young minds than examinations.

The Education Ministry says a blueprint is being developed to set the standards and criteria to assess students? performance. The road map would stress character, as well as to encourage a continuous and better learning culture

I say good luck, because if there is anyone who is going to put the spanner in the works, it will be us parents. Throwing out rote learning and memorising is easier said than done. This is because for many of us, our children have become the proxies for our competitive streaks.

Yet we are angry at teachers who moonlight as tutors. Are we angry at them for compromising their school duties, or are we annoyed that they are making a lot of money? Or are we annoyed that we feel compelled to send our kids to them to feed our own insecurities about their academic achievements.

Think again. Would there be a need for tuition classes if we as a society are not so obsessed with grades, and begin to look at education as a continuous learning process to educate and inform, rather than the be all and end all for a better life.

We are the ones crying for good grades, and we create the demand and the market for tutors. Yet we are angry at the monster we created and fed excessively.

The other thing I would like to suggest is to stop throwing accolades to high scorers as well as schools producing the most number of As. As much as we like to celebrate achievements, we, and the media included, should refrain from going overboard.

What kind of message are we sending? The more As the better?

At the same time the Education Ministry should also stop using exam results as the sole yardstick for rewarding schools, principals and teachers.

It is a vicious cycle, as long as schools are recognised and rewarded for producing As, teachers would most likely be teaching for examinations, and students and parents will demand that, too, instead of educating and instilling the love for knowledge.

How many of our children can navigate using the North Star, or have a good appreciation of poetry, or understand the value of volunteerism or social work? How many of us would encourage our children to take up sports?

I personally believe all the plans in the world, and the best education system with the noblest intention of knowledge-gathering and intellectual pursuits, are not going to improve the lot of our kids, if we decide to have them live our expectations, dreams and ambitions.

What we may end up doing is to turn our kids into jelly rolls ? chubby and sweet and good to look at, but soft in the centre.

sabb

Originally posted by KakFie at 20-9-2006 11:18 AM
Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Stop turning our kids into jelly rolls
20 Sep 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I RECENTLY came across a few pas ...

I belived this is correct. As for myself, masa sabb kecik, sabb selalu jadik attn of my family sbb result peksa sokmo bagus walaupon x study. My family actually don't know, sabb belajar sungguh2 to make them happy. My parent x pernah force tp masa tu kitaorg susah n sabb pk dgn result yg bagus, i would make my parent happy.
As kakak sabb, result dia selalu nya average. My sister dari form 4 dia kerja part time. Balik skolah dia kerja smpi mlm then pg pegi skolah. Dia study bebetul ttp result dia x derlah excellent tp still ok x derlah teruk. I still remember, upsr dia time tu 3a2b n semua org x sangka. tu dikira bagus for my sister's standart. And salah satu subject yg dapat b is english. Bila dia form 1, dia ada 2 org Indian best fren. I was so shocked sbb bila dia tingkatan 3, she can speaks english fluently.
Ppl alway c that I'm better than my sister tp the fact is I always admire her. I can see that she never bother about other ppl n dia selalu try to improve herself. Dia x pernah kisah sejak kecil kena tanggung family.
My sister only had diploma n dia habiskan diploma dgn cemerlang di Uitm. Tp skang ni gaji dia jejak 8k. what happen to me? hehe, kerja pon biasa2 jer gaji pon average jer eventhough dulu i belajar di asrama penuh n ada degree. Kadang2 malu ngan diri sabb. Masa kat U sabb byk main coz sabb penat belajar sejak kecik. sabb x pernah kisah apa result kat U cuma sabb pk nak habiskan sajer.  
That's y sabb x nak anak sabb jadik mcm sabb. sabb nak dia jadik org independant. sabb until skang ni mmg manja. sabb x boleh nak challenge kakak sabb bekerja. Dia ni very independant and mana2 company dia kerja mesti dia akan jadik important person.  Tu yg sabb learn a lesson, x semestinya org yg pandai mampu membuat kerja dgn baik.

smaidin

Originally posted by sabb at 16-9-2006 01:21 AM

Formal education(kindergarten etc) or informal education: which one is better?
Anyone pernah ada experience or any opinion about formal education n informal education? Cthnya, is there any proof either one of this better or it's actually depend on the pare ...

rasanya kedua-dua tu sama penting.

Bagusnyer kita hantar ke kindergarten dan sebagainya tu, anak-anak dapat  belajar  bercampur gaul dan berkawan dengan ramai kanak-kanak yg kebiasaannya terdiri dari pelbagai bangsa dan latarbelakang keluarga yang berbeza. Ini memberi peluang kepada anak-anak tadi untuk belajar berkongsi dengan orang yg bukan  ahli keluarga mereka, berinteraksi dengan rakan sebaya dan berkongsi kreativiti dan idea.

informal education seperti belajar dirumah harus diteruskan seperti  membaca, mengira dan sebagainya bersama anak-anak. Bayaran fees yg mahal-mahal tu pun tidak akan berguna sekiranya pembelanjaran di  sekolah  terhenti sebaik berada dirumah. ...


:nerd::nerd:

my-alja

Originally posted by KakFie at 20-9-2006 11:18 AM
Zainul Arifin on Wednesday: Stop turning our kids into jelly rolls
20 Sep 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I RECENTLY came across a few p ...

I RECENTLY came across a few passages from the 1963 writings of Betty Friedan, the author of the Feminine Mystique, which I found to be rather interesting. "Strange new problems are being reported in the growing generations of children whose mothers were always driving them around, helping them with their homework ? an inability to endure pain or discipline or pursue self-sustaining goal of any sort, a devastating boredom with life. "Educators are increasingly uneasy about the dependence, the lack of self-reliance, of the boys and girls who are entering college today. She also wrote about a general concern about "? the physical and muscular deterioration of American children: were they being over-nurtured? Sociologists noted the outstanding organisation of suburban children? lives: the lessons, parties, entertainment, play and study groups organised for them." Substitute Malaysia in place of America, and include things like tuition, mental arithmetic, piano lesson, etc., into the paragraphs and we would see that we are also looking at the same problem, 40 years on. What is to become of our children? I say, blame it on us, and the education system. There has been much hand wringing with regard to our education system: What are we producing? Why are some of our graduates unable to compete? Why are we producing more and more students with loads of A?, but less of those who can think and be independent? Are we putting too much on the soft shoulders of our children, at such tender ages? Have they skipped the entire childhood years, missing the age of discovery and innocence of youth, to fall down, scrape their knees, and instead be burdened with huge academic responsibilities and be forced to venture straight into adulthood? The Education Ministry is said to be planning a seismic change in the nation? education system, one that encourages the learning experience and gives rote learning and memorising the boot. Good. At the same time, I would like to make a couple of suggestions. First, throw out the Primary Six Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah examinations. It is in my opinion the root to what I often describe as the "robotisation" of our kids. It is an assessment of the effectiveness of our early education system that has unfortunately evolved into an examination designed to suck the life out of our children. The UPSR has coloured the entire primary school education experience, which is supposed to put children in the discovery mode and to understand and appreciate the concept and tools of education. But to prepare for the UPSR, parents have been known to be sending their cares to tuition and extra classes, from as early as pre-school. This is surely not good, and unnatural. In some developed countries, children only begin to read and write when they enter the school system. Here, my five-year-old is feeling the stress of needing to know how to read and write in two languages, and sometimes three, if we were to include the optional Mandarin lessons; and do basic arithmetic. And these do not include religious classes, which would come soon, and other extra-curricular activities. There must be other ways to measure the academic development and achievement of our young minds than examinations. The Education Ministry says a blueprint is being developed to set the standards and criteria to assess students? performance. The road map would stress character, as well as to encourage a continuous and better learning culture I say good luck, because if there is anyone who is going to put the spanner in the works, it will be us parents. Throwing out rote learning and memorising is easier said than done. This is because for many of us, our children have become the proxies for our competitive streaks. Yet we are angry at teachers who moonlight as tutors. Are we angry at them for compromising their school duties, or are we annoyed that they are making a lot of money? Or are we annoyed that we feel compelled to send our kids to them to feed our own insecurities about their academic achievements. Think again. Would there be a need for tuition classes if we as a society are not so obsessed with grades, and begin to look at education as a continuous learning process to educate and inform, rather than the be all and end all for a better life. We are the ones crying for good grades, and we create the demand and the market for tutors. Yet we are angry at the monster we created and fed excessively. The other thing I would like to suggest is to stop throwing accolades to high scorers as well as schools producing the most number of As. As much as we like to celebrate achievements, we, and the media included, should refrain from going overboard. What kind of message are we sending? The more As the better? At the same time the Education Ministry should also stop using exam results as the sole yardstick for rewarding schools, principals and teachers. It is a vicious cycle, as long as schools are recognised and rewarded for producing As, teachers would most likely be teaching for examinations, and students and parents will demand that, too, instead of educating and instilling the love for knowledge. How many of our children can navigate using the North Star, or have a good appreciation of poetry, or understand the value of volunteerism or social work? How many of us would encourage our children to take up sports? I personally believe all the plans in the world, and the best education system with the noblest intention of knowledge-gathering and intellectual pursuits, are not going to improve the lot of our kids, if we decide to have them live our expectations, dreams and ambitions. What we may end up doing is to turn our kids into jelly rolls ? chubby and sweet and good to look at, but soft in the centre.

i like this article.....

cuma nak educate org ramai yg ambik masa...

tina^^

i think both formal and informal education have different strength...and both are important ..

if ada sesiapa has the guts or strength not to send their children to the school, instead ajar anak tue sdirik (home-schooling) and then challange dgn bebudak yg pegi skolah kat luar tue...wooo hooo its rather challenging mannn...tp tak mustahil, kan???

as for me, knowing my limits and "capacity'' (haha) i will choose both types of educations...

real learning can happen in a setting where children feel less intimidated or tatahupon that actually they are in a state of "learning' but have going through it naturally.... and the ultimate goal is that thier success in informal setting of education can lead to greater confidence and success in the formal education..

it shall jives together and thus i see both are important.

tina^^

and ya i find it unhealthy thinking to put a measure of success by how much others earned in $$$ terms.

success in life is more than that. i cant deny the fact that the more RM, the better...(haha - at least for certain cases) but look it at an overal view...helicopter view.

do they have enough time with their family?? can $$$ replace their absent time with their kids like a money back guarantee-method?? having higher wages (mcm yg sabb compare with her sesta) demand higher resposibility and most of the time MASA menjadi pertaruhan. even jadik Dato CEO or perdana menteri yg sudah kaya raya pon i bet.....derang have minimal / litle precious time dgn ana anak.

is that wat u want in life? ah you choose....

nashra

dua2 pun sama bagus..

tapi tengok pada kanak2 tu juga..

ada sesetengah kanak2 dgn parents derang tak boleh nak dok diam and ikut ajaran parents tu..while some others boleh..

macam anak nash memang nash tak boleh nak ajar sendiri..dia dah terbiasa manja so kalau nak belajar ikut mood dia je..but kalau i hantar dia pi kindy, dia boleh ikut arahan dan sebagainya..

dari segi bersosial pun lebih meluas kalau dihantar ke kindy..boleh belajar macam2 kemahiran, bermain dgn kawan2, sharing concept sume tu..kat rumah pun boleh juga ajar tapi kalau dgn kawan2 sebaya ni selalunya kanak2 lebih cepat..

dari segi bayaran pula, memang ler kebanyakkan tadika sekarang ni mahal2 belaka..kena pandai2 survey and tengok poket sendiri mampu atau tidak..tapi ada juga tadika yang reasonable..

paling bagus kalau dapat terapkan kedua2nya..pembelajaran di kindy and di rumah..