Just comparing

I get asked periodically by friends from my home country on my plans to enroll our little one in a pre-school which as always to my initial horror, I feel that question should not have been thought of in the first place. I would then struggle to explain my lack of enthusiasm for it.

I realised that my friends' question meant something else. Putting their young children into pre-schools is a prestige as a parent, a status symbol of sorts for them, in a country where premium education is for the priviledged. While in this country, it would be a status symbol if young children can stay home with one parent staying home full-time until of school age! (1 parent earning a living for the family means they can afford to live on 1 income!) As most families have both parents working nowadays, their young children (and very young babies) are placed in pre-school (day care) centres to be cared for 10-12 hours a day. This is one of the main reasons why I'm very hesitant to put our little one into a daycare centre. I have read opinions and research conclusions of several reknowned childcare experts/advocates encouraging parents to arrange for 1 on 1 care as much as possible as the carer-child ratios of centres are not 'healthy' for young children. Families who could afford a one-parent income here do not normally go into pre-schools (until 4 years of age, I presume, just for school preparedness). So in contrast, it is like a prestige here if children and their primary carers (i.e., mothers) can stay home.

On a related note, I understand my friends' secondary purpose on pre-school is to prepare their children for the battery lessons of proper schools. There is a need to catch up else the poor child might not be able to understand his kindy lessons! Education here is slightly different from how Asian countries conduct theirs. I've been told Kindy classes to Year 10 classes are nothing compared to my experience in Philippine private education. There's no huge pile of homework! Now I think that (i.e., no homework) would lead us to another discussion for our next blog entry.