speaking not enough english is not to blame
this is on today's "toronto star." a study concludes that some 30% of Peel region senior K children are not ready grade 1, primarily because those kids have english as their second language. the study also finds that children who attended organized preschool programs were more ready for grade 1 than those who did not.
speaking of the language factor. i met a 9-year-old girl named helena over the weekend. she came to canada 2 years ago without speaking a word of english. it took her 3 MONTHS to pick up the language and got ready to be blended into a regular class. examples of this kind are not rare. it goes to say the readiness to approach the structure of knowledge is more important than the language. coming from china, helena was apparently more used to structured learning than anyone else in her class. for her, to learn english was another thing to learn and she tackled it. the preschools here, by the same taken, also teach kids the ability to learn and to deal the educational system early on.
those non-english speaking families are mostly new immigrants. just like other working-poor parents, they don't have enough access to community support and cannot afford preschool programs. kids from these homes are likely to miss out LEARNING THE ABILITIES TO LEARN. they miss out on different levels, emotionally, physically and socially. on top of everything else, they don't have good enough english.
i just don't want the study to be misleading to some new immigrants. it's a pity when i heard that some parents deliberately give up speaking chinese (or their mother-tongue) to their youngsters so that they can be part of the english-speaking crowd safe and sound. don't forget, being bilingual or multilingual is exactly an add-on ability to learn. a friend of ours, dr. li states, "to learn chinese is not an option for my kids: they must learn." and i agree with him.
speaking of the language factor. i met a 9-year-old girl named helena over the weekend. she came to canada 2 years ago without speaking a word of english. it took her 3 MONTHS to pick up the language and got ready to be blended into a regular class. examples of this kind are not rare. it goes to say the readiness to approach the structure of knowledge is more important than the language. coming from china, helena was apparently more used to structured learning than anyone else in her class. for her, to learn english was another thing to learn and she tackled it. the preschools here, by the same taken, also teach kids the ability to learn and to deal the educational system early on.
those non-english speaking families are mostly new immigrants. just like other working-poor parents, they don't have enough access to community support and cannot afford preschool programs. kids from these homes are likely to miss out LEARNING THE ABILITIES TO LEARN. they miss out on different levels, emotionally, physically and socially. on top of everything else, they don't have good enough english.
i just don't want the study to be misleading to some new immigrants. it's a pity when i heard that some parents deliberately give up speaking chinese (or their mother-tongue) to their youngsters so that they can be part of the english-speaking crowd safe and sound. don't forget, being bilingual or multilingual is exactly an add-on ability to learn. a friend of ours, dr. li states, "to learn chinese is not an option for my kids: they must learn." and i agree with him.
posted by minimum at
12:56 AM
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