Preschool | Two-year-old eskari gets knocked out by parents: Children are forced to study at the expense of play

“Eskarilainen have been mourning for the past two years almost daily that there is little time left to play. We would have gladly given our child two more years of childhood.”

This is what a man from Helsinki says about eskar in HS’s survey, where readers could tell what kind of experiences they have had with two-year preschool education.

There were more than 70 responses to the survey, and the majority of them were of the opinion that two years of preschool education is not needed. There were many kinds of reasons, but what bothered people the most was that children are forced to study like school and the amount of free play decreases.

The experiment was taken so seriously in our child’s kindergarten that there seems to be no time for play and outdoor activities. After breakfast, the children are guided to sit at the tables and do handout tasks, whatever the weather, while the others are outside. For several days, the child has not gone outside at all. Woman, Karkkila

In Eskari’s year, there have been tasks to be returned by Monday every week. On several weekends, we have done up to fifty math problems with the child. Man, Helsinki

If you ask early childhood education teachers about play, they often mention that teaching is done through play in the shade. According to the respondents, it is not the same as free play.

Toy and play researcher at the University of Turku Katriina Heljakka agrees with the respondents: free play is different from guided play. If the children were asked, most would like to play without guidance.

“Free play is the best thing the world can offer them in their everyday life. Guided play is the second best option.”

Heljakka is saying that if play is reined in or steered too much towards a desired outcome, then it ceases to be free play and children’s opportunities for self-expression and creativity are then curtailed.

“Play is, as it were, instrumentalized, that is, instrumentalized for the use of teaching. If we think that preschool is two years old, then we will certainly cut something central out of that play through its educational nature.”

Our daughter participated in the experiment. I was shocked. No benefits were achieved with two years of pre-primary education. Almost two years were spent on what the child does not yet know. Man, Valkeakoski

Free play with Heljaka can seem chaotic or even anarchic to adults. The toys are scattered and a mess is created. But that’s part of the point, and play can be very meaningful to children themselves. With it, the children deal with things to think about, practice interaction and test cause-and-effect relationships.

The two-year preschool serves those early childhood educators who lack a deeper understanding of the meaning of play. It does not serve children. Play is the key to learning in five-year-olds. Instead of pushing the child into the world of school too early, it should be ensured that the child is surrounded by professionals who ensure that the growth environment is open to high-quality play. Play is a child’s work. Finnish early childhood education should protect this idea. Woman, Helsinki

According to Heljaka, the value of play is not always understood even in homes. Heljakka brings out of sad beige parentingwhere the home is decorated according to the parents’ preferences and the child’s games are strictly limited to their own room only, so that the interior is not spoiled by the mess.

The early school age in other countries is due to the fact that the school system there developed before the development of child psychology, and Finland’s system was better. I was proud of it and despised people who wanted little children to go to school just “because other people do”. Now I despise my entire people that they would even give in to such a stupid argument. Woman, Oulu

For the survey answered several early childhood education professionals, and their opinions were divided regarding the usefulness of preschool education.

Those who praised pre-school education felt that it was especially useful for children with immigrant backgrounds. The professor emerita of psychology interviewed by HS earlier was on the same lines Liisa Keltikangas-Järvinen. He said that targeting education to children with poor language skills from foreign backgrounds would probably bring better results than compulsory two-year preschool education for all.

Like Keltkanka, I would really like a lot of resources for teaching the language, especially to boys who speak other languages. They fall behind and are in real danger of being underachievers in our society. Great and bright guys who would need good functional language teaching and structured everyday life in smaller groups and I claim that many pitfalls on the school path would be missed. Early childhood education teacher, Helsinki

I work in an area with a lot of immigrants, and at least there I have seen the benefits of the experiment concretely. In children with an immigrant background, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish between language incompetence and real learning difficulties. Now we have had time to make sure that we know how to support the right cause instead of hasty conclusions. Early childhood development teacher, Vantaa

Two-year pre-school education has also brought an obligation to participate in pre-school activities. This is good, because families with an immigrant background participate in early childhood education very irregularly: They are away for long periods of time or only bring the child for lunch, so the child does not get the benefits of the morning activities. Early childhood development teacher, Vantaa

However, not all early childhood educators thought the two-year preschool was good. Many had the same concerns as their parents. Some also considered the expansion of compulsory pre-school education to all to be pointless.

As a teacher of early childhood education (almost 40 years old), I feel that play, playfulness and basic skills want to stay under the thumb and be forgotten when five-year-olds start kindergarten. Parents expect academic skills, as if you can’t go to a real school if you don’t know the letters. Early childhood education teacher, Helsinki

I work in an early childhood education unit where two-year preschool education was tried. The experience was not good. Five-year-olds are a good model and support for 3- and 4-year-old children in groups. When the 5-year-olds moved out of the groups, the power of peer example left. Woman, Northern Finland

A completely pointless project that wastes money and resources. I work as a classroom teacher and I notice that even though the differences in children’s skills are big in the fall, they even out enormously during the year. Classroom teacher, Helsinki

Many respondents were worried that childhood will be shortened when play becomes a secondary part already in kindergarten. You are not usually allowed to bring toys to school. According to Heljaka, this in its own way tells about the low appreciation of play: you can take your phone to school, but not toys.

“There is a big paradox involved, because at the same time excessive use of mobile phones is widely frowned upon. We have trained the children for it ourselves.”

The decline in play has already been noticed in daycare centers in Mikkeli. HS told last week, that the amount of play there has been systematically increased.

Yes, the child learns, I won’t deny that, but at what cost. The price is high. The child loses the peace of being a child, the peace of playing and the peace of being safe. Early childhood educator, Tampere