It Should Always Be in The Interest Of The Child

I have asked my daughter to be stepped down by a class! Recently, I started a secondary school project in a nearby local government from the town I live and so I decided to change the school of my kids to the same local government so that the work responsibilities do not pull us apart. It has been one month plus into this arrangement and I am super grateful for the opportunity to do the school run and the conversations that happen on those long rides to and from school.

There is however a downside that I want to speak about. Also, that involves the deliberate consideration of both schools and parents. Let us imagine that this post is a table talk for all of us. Last Friday, after carefully deliberating with my husband and my second child (who this post is about), I asked their new school to step her down from Grade 2 to Grade 1.

Early September, I took my two children to go and write placement tests in a particular school and in the end, my older scored 17/20 (I noted the numbers, not the percentage) in Mathematics and 93% English. The second however scored 43% in Mathematics and 90% in English. As a teacher myself, I asked to see the scripts. When I saw 43%, I thought to check the concepts that she was tested on and behold, they were far above what she had learned in the previous year. For example, there was an addition of improper fractions. So, I raised the concern that those were advanced concepts for Primary 1 and to my surprise, the reply was that they were a high standard school and that was how far they went.

They mentioned that my daughter could repeat Primary 1 which I did not agree with. I have resulted from her previous school where she excelled and as my family policy applies, she does all her homework by herself. The teacher also mentioned that I could put her through lessons. However, I believed it was not fair to ask her to repeat. So school resumes and I discovered that this school is using the year ahead textbooks. My first worry is that my daughter is going to have missed an entire layer of learning. So last week, I went in to pick the kids from school and noticed that my daughter was not done with her sums. While waiting, my first observation was that she might be one of the smallest in the class. Then secondly, there was a child standing beside her and telling her what to do.

I observed quietly and asked myself if we were paying fees for another child to aid my child. I knew it was time to make a decision. I had a conversation with my husband who later said that while he was supervising her homework, he discovered that she had no idea of the concepts. So on Friday, I made the formal request and while the school agreed, they reminded me that they had mentioned that I should consider having the child repeat Primary 1, which is now what I was asking for. On the issue of the year ahead textbooks, the principal insisted that it was excellent practice and has been working for them. The class teacher, on the other hand, said that all I needed to do was get a private lesson teacher. She also mentioned that my daughter was not the youngest in class.

For background, she is 6. In fact, she is a September child and she has a classmate who is 8. But there are other bigger 6-year-old.

My points in a nutshell:

• The year ahead textbooks are appropriate for that age. The fact that a few, and I mean ridiculous few, can cope with it does not mean a whole set of kids should be subjected to it.
• My first daughter is one of those kids who can cope, yet she explains that sometimes she has to think things over.
• Many kids can cope because of their age. Children born earlier in the year and in the right classes have the stability and maturity to cope. My first is May and the second in September. This means that if they were age mates, she will be 6 years and 4 months in September. That is a lot of maturity and difference and it aids learning.
• The year ahead textbooks are egoistic and is more about the ‘reputation’ of the school than it is about the legitimate interest of the learner. I hear some schools brag about one child who left their school and went and blew people’s minds somewhere. Sometimes, those are naturals. Schools need to be data-driven to succeed. Collate data on what you are doing and its impact on the whole, not a few. This is not Utopian. Now, I run a secondary school where we give students paper type tests and examinations. Because we need to evaluate ONE CHILD and his or her learning needs per time. It is time to start saying 40% of our kids do this, 30% do this before bringing the one boy or one girl wonder story.
• There are many intelligent kids in our classroom who are left behind. Unfortunately, these kids believe they are not as smart as a result, which is dangerous. One of the reasons is their learning style. Our classrooms in Nigeria are predominantly auditory. A few textbooks have activities for kinesthetic learners. Due to this predominance of auditory learning approaches, other kinds of learners may struggle to grasp concepts or perhaps not meet up the pace of their peers of the auditory learning styles. My child in question is kinesthetic, and I noticed because of classroom patterns, she needs a little more time to get concepts but once she does, she has a way of thinking ahead of concepts. If you judge her by the pace of others, you are wrong.
• She is a big thinker which for me is the greatest tool for learning. In fact, during the same test, the supervisor walked up to me to say she was playing with her clothes and distracting herself but that he loved the way she thinks. As a point of note, children who play with the edges of their clothes in class are kinesthetic learners. They are either bored with the lesson or are using the movements of their hands to get their brain to think along with the lesson. What a teacher calls distraction is what they are using to focus.
• I don’t believe that extra lessons serve kids in the long run. There are times when they are necessary but I believe that a child who goes to school in the morning, needs to come home to nap, play and do a bit of homework. Parents can create systems for them to show commitment to school work, like maintaining a reading culture and consistency while parents are available to answer their questions. Lessons, I believe, give child adult schedules and in the long run, are not good for their mental health.
• Finally, this head of school mentioned that a child in Nursery 1 should be able to write 1-200 and for them, that was the standard for a strong foundation. Why do I feel that is wrong? I believe that at each point, learning must begin within the realms of reality to a child. This helps children cultivate a love for learning. Many schools say it is us parents that push for these things. So today, I like to appeal that we allow our children to learn what is right and safe for today. Double promotions are not entirely a great idea. Leaving in primary 4 and 5 at age 9 is not good for the child as well. I know money can be an issue but it is better not to mortgage your child’s future because you want to save money.

Dear parents and educators, learning and school should ALWAYS be about the LEARNER.

Yes, in the best interest of the LEARNER!

— with Kingsley N.T. Bangwell.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Irene Bangwell is the Co-founder of KNOSK, an organization that offers low-cost premium education, parenting education and research. Along with her husband, Kingsley Bangwell they have founded The KNOSK N100-a-day Secondary School in Kuje, Abuja. Irene is a four-time parenting book author with books including ’12 Things Every Parent Should Know’, ‘Moving from Overwhelmed to Overwhelm‘ among others.

Her new book “Raising Girls and The Boys Who Would love them” is due to be released on December 31st, 2019. Irene is providing parents with the knowledge that they need to nurture their children to their place of shine. She is a mum of two daughters Briona & Elena Bangwell, who love God, arts and want to solve global problems.

She can be contacted via irene.bangwell@gmail.com