For some children life begins at 3

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. But for some Chinese parents with young children, too much play and too little work may be even worse. At least it seems so judging by their reactions to the first official guidelines on education for preschoolers.

While emphasizing the physical, social and emotional development of children aged 3-6, the draft instructions by the Ministry of Education have set forth minimal academic requirements that are causing panic among urban middle-class parents who fear the criteria, if implemented, will shortchange their children's opportunity to learn and end the nation's time-honored tradition of tough education from an early age.

One of the most criticized study objectives given by the guidelines, which were recently posted on the Internet for input from the public, is that children aged 5-6 who are about to enter Primary One, are only required to learn to add or subtract up to 10. Another is related to their language skill, which is prescribed as "an interest in words and symbols that come with certain meaning".

Though their children may already be whiz-kids at math or language by these official standards, many parents are not satisfied. A recent study of more than 1,000 urban Chinese parents shows that prior to their kids entering primary school, 89 percent of them have prepped their children in math and Chinese; 28 percent in a foreign language, while another 20 percent have sent their children to study some Primary One courses in advance.

My son Haobo, who is 3, also beats the targets for his age group. There are some skills and abilities he has learned by chance, like counting floors from one to nine during his daily elevator rides. Many others have been acquired by design. For example, he was given an electronic English learning toy when he was 12 months old. Now he can recognize the English words for some animals, foods and modes of transportation, and repeat the alphabet with reasonable fluency.

I hope when Haobo turns 4, he'll be able to count objects up to 100 and down from 20. He is also expected to write all 26 letters of the alphabet, as well as some simple Chinese characters with a proper command of basic strokes. There will be more to come in his last preschool years, but my plan will become an elusive dream if the curriculum that "helps shoots grow by pulling them up" is abolished or watered down at his kindergarten and his time is spent on play.

Let's face it, in an education system that hinges on a series of competitive exams that lead the successful candidate into the best schools and the best jobs, a carefully planned early leg-up is necessary to ensure our children are not left behind.

When given the choice, the majority of Chinese parents say they would spend significantly more time on raising a smart kid than a healthy or nice kid. For most people, there is no better way for their children to get smarter than making them study harder and longer. It's instilling a work ethic at a young age that will serve a child his whole lifetime. This may explain why a mother will ask her 5-year-old to spend hours on homework in the evening, copying Chinese characters learned in kindergarten class or solving arithmetic problems.

But this is not what the education authorities want to see. The guidelines are meant to make the lives of young children less stressful, and serve as a wake-up call to "overzealous" parents who are caught up in the national early-education craze.

It remains to be seen if parents will be convinced that their children should enjoy more time on the playground without changes to the school system. So far the guidelines seem to have only won praise from parents who are disappointed in their children's academic performance.

The writer is editor-at-large of China Daily. He can be reached via email: dr.baiping@gmail.com

(China Daily 06/09/2012 page5)