Lift Up Your Hearts!

I'm designing a playroom, and have been for years.  I don't ever expect to see it, since (1) our children are grown, and (2) my design takes no account of cost.  Nonetheless it's fun imagining what I'd do if I could, kind of like mentally spending lottery winnings (even though I never buy a ticket).

My playroom would be as much outdoors as I could be while still being usable in all seasons—lots of large windows or sliding glass doors with screens, perhaps, and an indoor/outdoor connection.  The latter could be a door, but wouldn't a tunnel be fun?  There would be a large art/craft section, and music (instruments for playing and a CD player for listening), and a brachiation ladder; well-stocked bookshelves and perhaps a sunken reading pit with comfortable cushions; a timeline all around the room and many maps and pictures on the walls.

The centerpiece of my imagined room has always been a structure of tunnels, ladders, ramps, and steps to encourage crawling, creeping, and climbing.  I was quite excited to discover that such a thing really exists!  However, even if Heather and Jon had room for it, and we could afford it, they wouldn't be getting it for Christmas.  This one was custom-made for a Hong Kong preschool.  Still, maybe the idea will catch on.

Having discovered the Rightmind Kindergarten through that link, of course I couldn't resist investigating further.  It's an amazing school!  My Faithful Readers know well that I dislike the idea of preschool, which combines the twin Evil Empires of day care and institutionalized education.  And yet....  If I had to live in Hong Kong, this would have some temptations for me, despite its hefty price tag of over $5000 (U.S.) per year for three hours a day.  In any case I think we can learn something from this school.

For one thing, they have a clear respect for the great ability of young children to learn.  This is a total immersion bilingual program, 50/50 English and Chinese.  That's impressive enough, but for most Hong Kong children that's not one but two foreign languages, as the Chinese is Putonghua, a.k.a. Standard Mandarin, not the Cantonese they speak at home!  These preschoolers learn thousands of Chinese characters—ask Janet how difficult that is.  They learn to read English through a phonics-based program.  The strong emphasis on academics is not the workbook-based curriculum you see in many U.S. academic preschools, however, but (as far as I can tell from their videos), is integrated into a fun program of song and story.  Physical development is also stressed (see the above-mentioned play structure), as are the arts, such as traditional Chinese dance, Suzuki violin, and singing in several languages.  Check out this video for an adorable version of the Chicken Dance in French.

I had an interesting discussion yesterday with a man whose children graduated not long ago from our local Catholic schools system.  He mentioned that his son found his college classes much easier than the ones he took in high school.  This man believes that education in the United States in general, and textbooks in particular, have been significantly "dumbed down." As I've written before, I both agree and disagree with that statement.  I find it generally true even though there are notable, marked exceptions.

I'm not one to be overly awed by statistics purporting to show how much better other countries' educational systems are.  It wasn't that long ago that we were sending teams to Japan to discover why their children were learning so much more, yet at the same time the Japanese were sending teams here to learn why American students were so much more creative and innovative.  And yet the signs are screaming like downtown Tokyo, from this tiny preschool to the large population of foreign students on U.S. college campuses, particularly in the hard sciences and engineering:  Other countries take education, effort, and discipline far more seriously than we do.

So far we have survived on our creativity, our intellectual capital, and our tremendous natural and financial resources.  We've also enjoyed political and economic systems that are conducive to innovation and growth.  And we've been lucky.

Would I revamp our educational system to sponsor preschools such as this one all over the country?  No.  But I do wish Americans respected children, valued education, and encouraged self-discipline much more than we do.

And I'm going to keep my eyes open for play structures like that one.