Children of Today

The saying, “Children should be seen and not heard” has long past its expiry date. When I was in school some decades ago, the saying holds true. The teacher is always right and we students dare not express our thoughts out loud for fear of being reprimanded. Today, it is a whole different ball game. Teachers do not have a monopoly of knowledge any longer. Students as young as preschoolers have general knowledge at their finger tips. At a click of the mouse they are exposed to a whole range of world-wide knowledge through the internet.




I remembered some years back this child at 5 years of age could tell me the geography of a number of countries. Another preschool child was able to name all the 9 planets including some galaxies in the universe. And another was able to name the different car models there were on the roads. He could even identify them from a distance. So teaching children at this day and age is no longer strictly “I teach and you listen.” There is some of that but class room teaching has become more and more of an interactive exercise. Children have a lot on their minds that they want to express. What better place to do it than in the class room.

Chen Li Kindergarten, right from the start, has been focusing on child-centred programmes. Today the classrooms are even equipped with interactive boards. Children no longer sit passively waiting to be “fed.” They get involved. This is what I call teaching children of today in the class room of tomorrow.