Not all children can be early star-ters
WITH GROWING SCHOOL SUSPENSIONS, THE STRICT DEMANDS OF SCHOOL MAY JUST BE TOO HIGH, WRITES REBEL WYLIE OF KIDSPOT.COM.AU
Education Queensland data has revealed the number of school suspensions applied to children five years old and under has more than doubled in just three years. Is this a sign that maybe they’re just too young to be at school in the first place? Editor of Families Magazine Brisbane, Janine Mergler, says we might be labelling children as ‘naughty’ when, in fact, they are behaving completely appropriately for their age.
DATA from Education Queensland has revealed that the number of school suspensions applied to children five years old and under has more than doubled in just three years. Is this a sign that maybe they’re just too young to be at school in the first place?
As difficult as it is to imagine a tiny preppie being suspended during their first year at school, it’s something that does happen. In fact, twice as regularly as it did three years ago according to data from Education Queensland.
Kids in their first year at school (Prep in some states, Kindergarten in others) faced suspension over incidents including: physical misconduct – some involving objects like rulers etc, verbal abuse, persistently disruptive behaviour which adversely affected others, property misconduct and the refusal to participate in class activities.
The data showed that 1028 Prep year kids were suspended in 2016, compared with 572 who were suspended in 2013.
And a growing number of experts say the reason or the increase lays solely in the fact that we’ve moved away from play-based learning.
Kids as young as four-anda-half are simply not ready for the rigours of the ‘curriculum based learning’ that is being prescribed by the department.
There is growing evidence that play-based learning is best for most children all the way up to the age of seven, and when you look at the reasons why, it makes a lot of sense.
Former teacher and editor of Families Magazine Brisbane, Janine Mergler, says we might be labelling children as ‘naughty’ when, in fact, they are behaving completely appropriately for their age.
“Extended play-based learning gives children time to learn about their world whilst they grow and develop into young students,” she explains.
“Until a child can self-regulate, control their own impulses, consider their peers and make choices about their own behaviour it is ridiculous to expect them to sit still, write letters, numbers, words and sentences, listen to sets of instructions and follow them without distraction causing them to ‘wander off’.
“Our teachers are struggling with kids who want to (and need to) move and wriggle and lie on the floor and jump and be noisy and investigate their world through play, and that means touching things and seeing what happens when we drop them, throw them, squeeze them etc.
“Our teachers are limited with having to churn through curriculum designed to ‘raise our standards’ and ‘meet curriculum guidelines’,” says Janine.
“Is this the best response we can come up with to support five-year-old children?”
Dr Amanda Mergler, a senior lecturer and registered psychologist at Queensland University of Technology, questions how suspension is helping these kids who most likely are not ready to be in the classroom in the first place.
“When will our policy makers accept that expecting children as young as four-and-ahalf to sit still and do English and Maths may not be in the best interests of children?
“As play-based learning continues to decrease in Prep and increased testing regimes take over, we will see more behaviour labelled as bad, which is in fact a normal reaction to being asked to engage in ways you developmentally cannot do,” Dr Mergler explains.
As suspensions rise, so do the number of parents who are coming on board with the idea of delaying their child’s entry into the school system.
“It’s no wonder parents are choosing to let their child be a little older when they start Prep, so that sitting still, listening, sharing and holding a pencil are all easier, making it less likely they’ll end up labelled as ‘poorly behaved children’ who might find themselves on the road to suspension,” says Dr Mergler.
“Certainly, children who behave so poorly in Prep that they are being suspended have behavioural issues that need addressing. But how does suspension address these needs exactly?”