Young Parents Corner

Gone are the days when parents

waited till their child was at least
three years old to send her to school,
and of course, classes were added
on much later. Nowadays toddlers as
young as 1.5 years are being sent to
playhouse or pre-school to give them
an early start and prepare them for a
bright future.
Many of our readers have asked us for an article on the right age to start school,
to enrol children in classes, etc., so we decided to give you the information you are
looking for. What really is the appropriate age at which to send your child to school?
What about enrichment classes or extra classes do we need these? When do we
send children to these classes? Issue 12 (May-June 2013) of ParentEdge had a detailed article on enrichment classes, what these involve, the benefits of these classes,
etc. In this article, we focus on how, as a parent, you can decide on when you want
to enrol your child in school, as well as in other classes.

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September - October 2013

Young Parents Corner

Archana Pental currently heads

DPS Vasant Vihar School, the
Primary School of DPS RK
Puram, New Delhi. She has
worked with DPS for more
than 21 years, and gives us an
educationists perspective on
this issue.

What is the correct age at which children

should start formal schooling?
I personally feel the correct age as far as
India is concerned is around four years.
Some working parents would prefer three;
western countries prefer six+, which I feel
is a little late. Four years is the ideal time,
because by this age, the child has developed
physical skills, eye-hand co-ordination, is
emotionally and socially mature, and is also
able to control her emotions to a certain
extent.
What is your opinion of the pre-schools
and nursery schools that small children
are sent to sometimes at the age of 1.5
years? Are these necessary?
I think at that age, children should be
allowed to stay at home with their parents.
These are the formative years when they
can imbibe qualities and social skills from
their natural surroundings, especially their
parents. Pre-school and nursery school at
that young an age do not seem necessary.
Its very important for them to spend their

The right age to

send children to school:
Interview with
Archana Pental, New Delhi
formative years learning family values.
Let them have fun when they are young,
learning what is important to them and at
their own pace!
What about extra-curricular or enrichment
classes for very young children should
children be sent for these?
Learning should be fun for the child.
These enrichment classes can supplement
school learning of course, they are not a
substitute. Since these classes are basically
based on the skill or talent of the child,
this decision is best left to the parents.
If a child is gifted or shows inherent
abilities in a particular area, the parent
must send the child to a class to hone
that skill. Send them to summer classes,
teach them to articulate, to understand
the world around them thats what
is important. Filling up their days with
classes is not required. I personally feel
that at a young age, children can pick up a
lot from their parents themselves and from
their surroundings too!
What, according to you, is the right age
to begin these classes?
These classes should be about channelising
the childs energy and time into a
meaningful pursuit of creative instincts. For
this reason, I would say, the older a child
is, the more ready she is for these extracurricular activities. And dont push your
child into something she does not enjoy or

is unable to cope with simply because you

feel that it is important.
Can a parent provide a child with the
kind of stimulation required at this age
without sending them to classes?
Of course! I think a parent can provide much
more stimulation and teach the child a lot
more than these extra-curricular activities
can! Parents are incredibly talented and
have knowledge of many things that cannot
be taught outside of home.
Once the child starts regular schooling,
should she continue to attend
enrichment classes, or is what she learns
at school sufficient stimulation?
The stimulation provided in school is
definitely sufficient. Schools have many
hobby classes, sporting activities, debating
clubs, etc. which enhance a childs awareness
and show her where she stands amongst
her mates. They create an atmosphere of
healthy competition. I think once the child
has started regular schooling, the amount
of exposure and stimulation she receives is
more than sufficient for her.

September - October 2013

35

Young Parents Corner

The right age to send children for enrichment classes:

Interview with Priya Srinivasan, Mumbai
with which creativity is concerned. So
kids have to be definitely at least six if
they are to benefit from these activities.
They need to be capable of understanding
intangibles. To explain further, take
something like theatre to be able to read
and understand plot, the child needs to be
at least nine years old. You cannot tell them
to pretend to be someone and expect them
to understand why. While they are playing,
they are constantly pretending, but to ask
them to do theatre suddenly becomes too
formal a platform for the younger kids.

A staunch believer in making learning

fun, Priya Srinivasan tells us what
she believes are enriching activities
for young children. She is part of the
faculty that runs The Pomegranate
Workshop (TPW) in Mumbai. TPW
organises classes and workshops in
visual arts, painting and theatre for
younger kids, and fiction, filmmaking
and animation for the older ones. In
this interview, Srinivasan extrapolates
what she has learnt in her many
years of organising such classes and
advises parents on what to keep in
mind.
At what age do you believe children
should be sent to enrichment classes?
The essential requirement for a child to
start any enriching activity is for her to
be able to understand abstract concepts. I
would say a child needs to be at least six
years old before she is enrolled in such
activities. Most enriching activities are
meant to develop the personality and bring
in an extra dimension. So it would be better
to wait till the child is old enough to benefit
from this kind of learning.
For instance, take the activities that we
offer. Most of them require an understanding
of abstract concepts. Children need to
understand the kind of expression format
36

September - October 2013

How can parents recognise if their

children are ready for enrichment classes
and activities?
Hard to say. As long as children enjoy what
they are doing, the parents can be sure
that they are ready for it. Having fun at
this stage is very critical. If a six-year old
child says she does not want to enrol in a
particular activity, then maybe she is not
ready for it and she shouldnt be forced
to go.
What kind of classes would you
recommend for younger children? How
will this change as they grow up?
As a child grows, the ability to understand
abstract thoughts and comprehend
say a story book develops. At the age
of about nine, they are ready to take on
more challenging activities. At the age
of six, however, we feel that children are
most comfortable colouring with big blocks
of crayons, running around and basically
having fun. This is why at TPW, we insist
on putting them into visual arts. Its
something natural to them, we dont teach
them anything. They learn and practise
various new media of expression. They
understand that there is no wrong or right
and that everything they learn or feel can
be expressed.
Can a parent provide a child with the
kind of stimulation required at this age
without sending them to classes?

Of course parents can provide this

stimulation at home as long as they
understand that it is counter-productive
to restrict children. As parents, we need
to show children that there is no right or
wrong. Once she gets this, a child will show
a lot of creativity and brilliance.
I believe that children should be read to and
given things to do at home. Children can learn
much more at home than they can outside
in classes. The problem today is that parents
dont find the time to do various activities
with their kids. I often tell parents to buy
massive rolls of paper and stick them up on
the walls. Allow your child to use big brushes
and just paint! This whole obsession with
colouring books and minute details is so sad!
Why dont we let our children colour with big
blocks of crayons that they can grab with
their entire hand? It helps them move about
freely and gives them satisfaction, instead of
using the tiny crayons they cannot even hold.
They need to explore, gather things, find
things and understand things. The basic
problem is that nowadays everything
revolves around dont waste your time or
what are you going to learn from this?
Once the child starts regular schooling,
should she continue to attend enrichment
classes, or is what she learns at school
sufficient stimulation?
It depends on what the stated aims and
objectives of the school are. If the school
believes in building a good attitude and
allowing freedom, then of course, this
will provide good stimulation to the child.
According to me, children should enrol in
enrichment classes as well as attend school.
Today it is very important to build your
profile and your portfolio. You must build
your personality. A degree just says what
you have studied what is more important
is to show what you are made of. How have
you shone in comparison to everyone else?
Thats whats really important.

- Shruthi Y.

September - October 2013

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