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Creating Early Learners or Lifelong Learners?

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I met and found lots of kiasu parents nowadays. Most of today’s parents eager to have children who can read at age 2, can do counting at age of 1, can speak fluently at 18 months old, can play piano at age of 3, etc. And thus, lots of companies are really making money, by taking this pure advantage and offering lots of packages of early learning.

During my childhood, kids are sent to kindy at age 5 or 6. But today, most of the kids are going to kindy at the tender age of 2 or 3, especially urban kids. This might the cause why the gap between urban and rural kids is very very wide, since not all rural kids go to kindergarten at such ages, and some might not even go to kindy.

Of course I am not excluded cos my kids are in the group of ‘urban kids’ 😀

Like other mothers, I want my kids to get the best for their life, able to read, count, recite, talk, trick, etc. like their friends.

But sometimes I forget, “Do we really enjoy these?”.

I have a family member, who was (and still is) bright, however, because of that he becomes lazy and slacker, except during exam week then he’ll struggle to score. Other than that, he refuses to learn, read, watch or does anything adding value. He could read at a very tender age, until up to a point he refused to read anymore because “I can read, so what?”.

What important is to instill the spirit of lifelong learning, not just to be a bright early learner/reader, but a lifelong ones.

I give books for my children to ‘play’ with, and usually Hafiy would ask me to read for them, and sometimes ‘reading’ by himself. I read and I explain. Our intention is to create bonding between them and books, so that it’s not only about ‘reading’ but enjoying the process and learning new things through reading.

I am a bit selective in their reading material, because I too, love reading, but unfortunately I like things like comics, rubbish magazine, etc. When it comes to ‘good materials’, my brain stuck and suddenly my system pops out the ‘error message’ because my DOS cannot open .exe files.

To others, maybe it’s not a big deal, as long as it is ‘reading’, but to me it’s really a big deal cos it gives negative impacts to my beloved siblings. Reading unnecessary stuffs is good for past time but if all the time only reading those stuffs je… then becomes ne’er-do-well pulak. Except if you’re working as a cartoonist ke, good la to read all those stuffs kan, it’s your job after all 😀

Some friends of mine told me how unlucky they are for not having chance to learn, use and apply the today’s hot early learning methods such as Shichida and Glenn Doman. They were afraid if their children might left behind for not having early stimulation.

From my experience, we’re providing the best stimulation when we provide our unconditional love to them. It doesn’t matter what methods we are using, or doing it our own ways, as long as both us mother and child enjoy the process. If you ask mothers of Adiputra, Yusoff’s family, and other ‘geniuses’, their secret recipes are mere ‘loving them’. In fact, Einstein was loved by his parents and his uncles who were great engineers, so no wonder he became so genius in physics then.

Education started before the birth, and it is very abstract. It’s not only to have children who able to read or do Maths at age of 3, but also get a kick out of it. So that they could value the learning process and able to think independently and grow up as adults who have a very intelligent-extrovert interaction with the world.

Some of us might aware of the existence of ‘textbook people’, or maybe we’re one of them and we find that they’re not very dynamic and fear to take risks. Some bright students becomes employees for their whole life and some ‘red report card’ students have  luxury lifestyles doing businesses or becoming managers.

It is not about when our children can read or count, but how they learn to value it.

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42 responses to “Creating Early Learners or Lifelong Learners?”

  1. Salwa Avatar

    exactly like what we have discussed yesterday before i went to sleep
    very good article
    btw my son is admitted, and i am waiting for being fetch to hospital to take care of him
    please pray for Kauthar’s good health..
    .-= Salwa´s last blog ..Kauthar Admitted =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      oh i hav no idea that keadaan kauthar smlm was that serious! semoga dia tak ape2.. speedy recovery!

  2. sya Avatar

    setuju..
    rasanya masa saya kecik2 dulu masuk tadika umur 5 tahun jugak.. dan, tak de lah tertekan sangat kena belajar membaca sebelum umur lima tahun..

    tapi, ye lah.. zaman dah berubah, dunia dah maju.. apa pun yang ibu bapa buat untuk anak2 diorang, nak bagi pandai baca cepat ke, genius ke, yang penting, kasih sayang tu jangan dilupakan, serta ajarkan mereka supaya bijak menggunakan ilmu…
    .-= sya´s last blog ..deraan + rilekskan minda =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      maybe ini dilema kerajaan jgk. since urban kids umur 5thn dh baca buku cerita, rural kids masuk darjah 1 tak kenal hurup lagi, so depa wajibkan prasekolah so that darjah 1 semua dh bole membaca. kang takkan nk buat kurikulum lain2 plk kn.

      tak gitu ke cikgu? hehe.

  3. NeroEcha Avatar
    NeroEcha

    Mek aku setuju ape ko tulis ni..tak kisah ler kita tak guna method2 yg mahal tu or hantar pi early learning tapi kalau tak lasting tak guna gak..belajar secara perlahan with love of parents lg baguskan..keep on make posting about this sebab aku suke

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      yg bebudak tensen, dia penat pg skolah, blk umah mak duk tgk drama tp bising2 marah kalo dia join. suh belajaaa je tp mak duk lepak2 dpn tv ape kes?

      wah, pandainya aku menspeku.

  4. ummufateh Avatar

    1. Dr Fadzilah Kamsah ada buat kajian, dan mengatakan anak-anak byk belajar melalui tingkahlaku dan persekitrannya, terutama di rumah. Anak2 jarang belajar dari apa yang diberitahu kepadanya/pengajaran melalui lisan.

    Kalau parents kaki tengok movie dan wayang, maka begitu jugalah terbentuknya minat anak. Dll.

    Jadi, semaikan minat anak-anak untuk minat belajar melalui contoh dan tauladan ibu bapa dahulu. Contoh: ibu bapa pun kena baca buku juga, baca papers, ada koleksi buku.. 🙂 baru anak2 tengok dan semnagt nk buat koleksi buku dia.. 🙂

    Boleh jugak galkkan anak-anak dgn bawa ke perpustakaan dan kedai2 buku, yg skrng ni byk hiasan dlmn mmg sesuai dgn kanak-kanak. learning in fun way.

    2. Ilmu juga bukan setakat ilmu akademik dan duniawi. Galakkan untuk mencintai dan terus menimba ilmu agama juga perlu diterapkan. jd, sekali lg parents kena tunjuk contoj baik. hadiri kuliah di masjid, usrah, diskusi. Baru anak-anak tengok..owh.. ebalajar ni sampai ke tua.. bukan setakat kelas agama petang atau kelas Qiraati saja..

    budak2 selalu tertekan dgn kelas Qiraati, kenapa la kena bljr baca Quran? dah la kena pegi sekolah pagi, petang kena sambung lg kelas, mana lagi nak sipakna homework..?
    kalau parents di rumah rajin baca quran depn anak2, anak2 akan seniri faham.. owh..esok dah besar kena dan senang baca Quran sendiri…
    dia akan stress kalau parents hanya memaksa baca dan belajar Quran, tp, parents sendiri xamalkan pembacaan Quran (huish..muhasabah utk diri sendiri ni..) 🙂

    3. kesimpulan.. Ibu Bapa yg bertanggungjawab mencorakkan anak-anaknya.. dan ilmu itu mencakupi ilmu duniawi dan ukhrawi..

    my 10 cents view..
    .-= ummufateh´s last blog ..Ramadhan Yg Ku Nanti =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      TQ ummufateh for the good sharing! 😉

  5. littlemama Avatar

    me hanya belajar membaca dan menulis masa umur 7 tahun (darjah satu).. pegi tadika umur 6 tahun pun cuma untuk bermain dengan kawan2, mewarna dan menyanyi. Tak ingat pun ada belajar ABC ke apa… tapi turn out ‘genius’ jugak…ha..ha..ha

    kadang2 kesian kat baby yang parent terlalu focus on pushing their kid to pandai baca at 2 years old.. memang tak salah ajar awal2 but not to be too ‘kiasu’ ok.. it’s not good for the baby.

    jangan jadi macam banyak budak yang genius sebab pandai baca or matematik sejak 2 -5 years old, tapi bila besar memberontak (macam sufiah dll).. sebab apa.. sebab masa kecik tak dapat nikmati hidup sebagai seorang budak..
    .-= littlemama´s last blog ..Izzah Driving a Car! =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      cepat betul zaman berubah kan. nanti zaman cucu kita tah2 umur 2 bulan dan pandai membaca 😛

      maybe that thing (rebel) possible to happen if parents tak bagi kebebasan pada anak2 untuk make their own decision, apa yg dia suka, apa yg dia nak buat, etc. but bile anak2 dah enjoy belajar, mestila tak jadik hal kan.

      same goes to some boarding school kids yang hanya bole belajar bila kat asrama je, kat rumah tak bole langsung nak study sebab dalam otak fikir rumah ialah tempat berehat dari belajar 😀

  6. isabelle Avatar

    betul tu. kdg2 risau gak kot2 anak kita ketinggalan sbb x belajar segala methods tu.
    tapi kita dulu tadika setahun je. masa tadika dah pandai baca suratkhabar pun.xpayah pun nak sichida segala.
    .-= isabelle´s last blog ..Meet the Parents =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      that’s my point.

      kadang2 kita tertipu dengan idea pemasaran yg grand. padahal benda memang dah ada keliling kita.

  7. mai Avatar

    lyna, i pun selalu fikir pasal ni. mcmna nak ajar them. adakah follow the flow yg kiasu giler ni or mcm our old skool way.

    the thing is my fren bgtau, sekarang kalau darjah 1 tak pandai baca & tulis, diorg kene masuk kelas bimbingan.giler kiasu..dulu darjah 1 la baru nak belajar baca & tulis.

    so mcm parents nowdays kene speedup everything sebab enviroment mcmtu.unless nak homeschool anak-anak sendiri lah.i dah tak der push sangat dah my kid. Dulu admit la i mcm kiasu jugak. tapi now ni dah tak kot.

    but i like comments from ummufateh.
    .-= mai´s last blog ..A little update =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      itula maybe sebab ada kids yg too advance & ada yg tak advance2 nak systemiza sistem persekolahan pun bercelaru. lama2 kang ramai yg officially homeschool kot hahaha.

  8. ida.z Avatar

    Oh I also write about this thing in my previous posts..the dilemma of child education nowadays..
    http://applecrux.blogspot.com/2009/08/childs-education-which-way-to-go.html

    And I truly agree with you, ‘loving them’ and show them the good example insya-Allah will make them turn out to be ‘People’.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      i read yours tp tak dapat nak tinggal komen.. hmm.. good writing tho, and it’s really happen. my cousin masuk tadika since 4 tahun, she could read then & bila 6 tahun dia dah boring sbb belaja benda sama je.. then masuk darjah 1 lagi stress sebab baru diajar mengeja! 😆

  9. mamadanish dan arissa Avatar
    mamadanish dan arissa

    Betul tu. Sebab apa yang kita bina dalam diri anak-anak kita sekarang ialah penentu masa depannya. Mcm seorang contractor, memangg boleh bina rumah, kalau asasnya tak kukuh,rumah itu akan roboh, begitulah jua anak kita, kalau asas tidak kukuh anak kita jua boleh jadi seperti rumah itu, roboh!Besarnya tanggungjawab kita.

    Dan, kita mmg boleh merancang, nak develop itu ini, nak anak itu ini tapi perlaksanaannya adalah sukar sekali. Memang sukar. Along the journey we will make mistake, here and there but its ok, that’s life.

    Maka istiqamah, berdoa dan berserah pada Allah, itu je la yang termampu.
    .-= mamadanish dan arissa´s last blog ..Eumora =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      Indeed.

      Mmg pening kepala nak membesarkan anak kan. Bukan setakat bg makan kasi besar badan je, emosi dia, dalaman dia, tu yang payah mau selam. Kadang2 rasa dah buat yg betul dah, tp tiba2 benda lain yg jadi. Ape2 pun semuanya ada sebab & musabab dia & atas keizinan-Nya jua.

  10. kak N Avatar

    Hakikatnya anak2 hari ini perlu pandai cepat, mana taknya jika darjah 1 baru nak belajar membaca dan menulis ….maka anak ini akan ketinggalan.
    .-= kak N´s last blog ..Wajah kesayangan hamba…. =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      Teringat adik saya. Duk kampung tak tekan sgt benda2 gini.g tadika pun byk main, nyanyi je. Darjah 1 baru terkial2 blaja mengeja. Now standard 4, still merangkak2 lg.

      Sgt besar gap dgn budak bandar or kids yg mak bapak kiasu, most of them b4 dajah 1 dah terer membaca dah.

  11. fid Avatar

    saya tadika umor 6 tahun
    anak saya pun maybe apabila 6 thn la kot..maybe
    kalau thn depan dia nak sekolah ‘lebih besar’ kena la antar

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      Saya kan, tak suka pegi sekolah. Selalu cari alasan nak ponteng. Tadika pun selalu ponteng. Sebab sy slalu kena buli.

  12. jiji Avatar

    Anak sedara br 3 tahun ..

    “Maksu whats that shape?”

    arr.. oblong?-jiji

    “No, maksu its oval”

    sama laa tuh eessh! -jiji
    .-= jiji´s last blog ..Nenen Kempess!! =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      hehe

      nasib dia tak jawab dalam bahasa spanish ke france ke

      mau ternganga maksu 😛

  13. laila Avatar

    mommylyna…
    beh baco demo tulih ni… setuju benar lah ngan demo.

    kekadang risau gak kalo tak ajar anak awal2… tp pd ms yg sama still rasa bagus kalo buat cam org dulu2…. 6-7 tahun baru belajar A-B-C tu…
    sekrg ni damia 1.3 thn, sy hanya beli buku utk main2… belek2… kadang2 utk koyak2… huhuhu…
    pastu belikan kad besarrr alif-ba-ta dan A-B-C tu utk tengok2 gambar sahaja….
    sekrg.. damia tgk kad besar2 tu dan tahu sebut.. AION–> LION sahaja… hahahahhaha..
    tapi yg saya segan ialah…
    damia pandai suruh sy mengaji kalau sy pakai baju semayang. dia akan tunjuk2 quran tu…… mengingatkan sy yg sy mesti baca quran tiap2 hari…
    ***bukanlah directly SURUH sy mengaji… wpun sebenarnya dia tunjuk quran tu sbb sambil saya baca quran dia nk belek2 quran tu…
    .-= laila´s last blog ..Pelik binti ajaib =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      itula kalo parents/sistem takleh catch up anak2 begini mmg kesian kat dia la. yang penting kita mak tahu ability diri sendiri & anak kita supaya sama2 seronok nak buat ape pon kan. pedulik la kat orang lain nak buat apa kat anak dia hehe.

      bab sistem takleh catch ni mcm cthnya Adiputra, bila masuk sekolah dia boring. sbb sistem sekolah terlalu terkebelakang utk dia. mcm kita la kalu dah pandai bawak motor racing, sekali orang suruh kita BELAJAR step by step naik basikal, tak ke fedap kan?

      as long as parents bole catch up insya-Allah tadak masalah anak jadi cemana pun kan 😀

  14. Precious Avatar
    Precious

    Moms get excited having children who read at a very tender age … who speak perfect English … etc … but the very same children are actually losing a great deal on just being children …
    Please … let them enjoy being just children … no pressure on them …
    .-= Precious´s last blog ..Sticky sticky post!! =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      Kak Lili yang banyak pengalaman mesti dah nampak macamana budak2 bila kena pressure kan 😉

      tapi, ada ke parents macam tu ek? tahan sungguh hati pressure anak2 utk akademik je.

  15. m-i-o Avatar

    menurut pendapatan sy (:P), early learners will eventually become lifelong learners – kerana kita telah memperkenalkan mereka kpd budaya belajar dan pengetahuan sejak dari awal, maka minat dan kecenderungan itu dapat dijadikan sebatian yg hanya boleh dileraikan melalui proses elektrolisis. berbanding dengan sekiranya kita baru terhegeh2 utk menunjukkan mereka apa itu buku pada ketika mereka telahpun menjadi buluh yang keras kejung, betapa susahnya ini utk dilakukan!

    early learners will always stay ahead. if they can read at 2, is it appropriate to ask them to stop? the same goes to early walkers. if they can walk at 8 months, why should you force them to crawl and only start they first step at the age of 1?

    raise superkids by first be a supermom – every responsible mothers should equipped themselves with knowledge in parenting. and knowledgable mothers know that the child learns best at the age of 0-5 years old. within these period, the child learns naturally, without much effort if provided with the necessary stimulation. after the age 5, the windows of opportunity close and that explains why a late learner will always stay behind in his schooling years.

    dan seorang ibu yang berilmu mengetahui bahawa perkataan belajar bukanlah bermaksud anak anda perlu dirantai di meja dan kerusi sambil membenamkan muka ke dalam buku. belajar juga tidak bermakna anak anda mesti pergi ke sekolah (adik-beradik sufiah belajar di rumah dan diajar oleh ibunya). belajar adalah satu sifat semulajadi anak dan anak belajar perkara baru pada setiap saat! semua kajian oleh pakar-pakar sedunia bersetuju bahawa rangsangan awal perlu diberikan kepada anak.

    apabila kita mengajar anak kita tentang perkara asas dlm hidup, mungkin kita akan terfikir 2 kali – sama ada kita yg sedang mengajar mereka atau mereka yg sedang mengajar kita tentang bagaimana utk menjadi ibu yg lebih baik.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      begitulah gayanya.

      apa2 pun mak bapak yg mencorakkan anak2 dari sehelai kain putih. even kalau tibe2 anak dia tak minat belajar pun mesti parents tu dah prepare & akan cari solution apa yg patut dibuat.

      cuma MUNGKIN ada parents yang terikut2 dengan orang lain tanpa memikirkan apa sebab dan akibat, mungkin sebab nak compete dengan anak jiran sebelah. atau kes2 lain yang mana anak2 bijak tp tak dapat support yang sepatutnya. last2 dua2 takleh cope, parents takleh catch up, anak pun jadi malas. nauzubillahi min zalik la kan.

      contohnya budak bijak nama apa ye.. Hanafi ke apa masa kita kecik2 dulu. sampai Ungku Aziz ambil dia jadi anak angkat, tp lain pulak jadinya. dunno la what was in his mind kan. last2 tak masuk U pun & last thing i knew about him, dia kerja buat roti canai. bab takdir tu memang lah, tapi sepatutnya he could be somebody la hari ni kan.

  16. Hanz Avatar

    Me tak pernah pergi tadika seumur hidup & so all my siblings..kami jadi ‘orang’ jugak, kan? 😆

    that’s probably one of the reason, i stopped Hanafi from attending kindy & prefer being taught by his Mama. Though not every single day, the concentration of few hours for 3-4 days in a week is meaningful & fulfilling.Not anxious to send him here & there, just let him be…i tend to agree with m-i-o, starting early but with moderation & constant pace, able to create lifelong learner. You shown them that learning is fun & you, yourself never stop learning.

    Take it this way. You seems has no interest, no hobby in particular & not ‘up’ to something for your own satisfaction then you expect your child to enjoy learning & thave hat kind of motivation? If you already projected yourself as dull parent with no ambition, chances are your child will likely followsuit.
    .-= Hanz´s last blog ..Bad Customer Service from Online Business(es) =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      indeed.

      i’m not saying that kita tak patut ajar anak awal2 but how we should plan for the learning process so that ia akan berlangsung selama sepanjang hayat.

      i’m really worry if any of my children yang one day rasa malas nak belajar sebab rasa dia dah pandai. cos it does happen.

      1. Hanz Avatar

        meaning that kalau kita nak puji2 anak2 kita pun kena berpada-padalah,kan..which is not that easy…orang kata puji bukan untuk hasil mutakhir sesuatu itu tapi pada effort & the process.. 🙄
        .-= Hanz´s last blog ..Bad Customer Service from Online Business(es) =-.

  17. Diyana Avatar

    haha. i would not use sufiah as an example ever…
    .-= Diyana´s last blog ..Melodramatic Bedtime Story =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      doakan je la dia kn. smg dia kambali pd cara hidup kita n reunite dgn mak dia kat sini ni haaa…

  18. m-i-o Avatar

    to diyana,
    yg baik jadikan tauladan, yg buruk jadikan sempadan.

    as a human being, we’re not perfect at all. we make mistakes. but on top of that, it’s important to learn from our mistakes (and other people’s mistakes).

    suffiah’s achievement is undeniable. as for me, i choose to look at the brighter side, rather than judging her from a narrow point of view. after all, everbody deserves a second chance.

    *peace*

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      hehe tiada komen kerana saya tidak tahu apa yg beliau hadapi

      tapi yang pasti bukan side effect kerana terlalu dipressure utk menjadi genius.

      1. Diyana Avatar

        fuyoo…
        i get a respond whole to myself! heehe
        yeah go ahead.. everyone is free to idolize whom ever they feel appropriate…
        🙂
        .-= Diyana´s last blog ..Melodramatic Bedtime Story =-.

  19. mamamiya Avatar

    I’m not sure of my stand here, but I believe that life is a learning process. So we learn all the way & no body should ever say that they have learned enough..kan?
    .-= mamamiya´s last blog ..Tercipta Sejarah – Mama tarawih gendong Miya. =-.

    1. Mommy Lyna Avatar
      Mommy Lyna

      belajar dr dlm buaian hingga ke liang lahad, aint it?

      tapi there are cases yg budak2 rasa dia dh pandai & malas belajar. hmmm…. mungkin kecik lg tak dapat nak timbag betul2.

  20. fid Avatar

    ayat penyata berani tanggung
    anak i lahir2 dah pandai so tak pi sekolah pun pandai
    kahkahkah
    joudan joudan(joke joke)

    pada saya
    anak masa kecil kita ajar jeeee
    takyah peduli
    ajar le apa nak ajar tapi jgn paksa
    Alhamdulillah
    apa yang saya ajar 4 thn lalu sekarang sedang berputik
    cuma belom tahap ingat kali-kali 12 kali 12 ja lagi

    ‘apabila tiba masanya…SURE punya laaa’

    nancyatte….
    toiu koto de gambare…(maka dengan itu…mari berusaha)
    .-= fid´s last blog ..pak Yop =-.

  21. aidie Avatar
    aidie

    sgt setuju. kids are like sponge, they absorb easily. i like to teach my kids to think creatively rather than following the book. belajar utk menimba ilmu dan bukanbelajar hanya kerana exam (spt saya).

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