My dad told me about this crazy woman today who wrote to The State Times (letter copied below and can be read
here until ST removes it) to complain about how her precious son cannot attend the kindergarten ceremony. Oh the horror right, so of course I had to read it. Oh the horror indeed - at the crazy woman.
She wrote to ST forum because the kindergarten (in their infinite wisdom, I must say) chose to do away with a full fledge graduation, but instead have a class representative to collect the scrolls, and put more effort into a song and dance item.
I think that this is a great idea because this is after-all a kindergarten. This is not high school, nor college. The kindergarten "degree" is nothing more than a certificate, and it is not even compulsory for children to attend. This mom sounds like those crazy competitive mom who would enroll her son in every damn course available, just so that SHE can get her own satisfaction of seeing her son go on stage to collect some award.
What about her son's feeling? Surely we don't want children as young as 5 or 6, to think that going on stage to get that scroll is the most important thing on earth; and other equally important parts in life such as having fun, being a team player (hence the dance) should be overlooked. At their time in life now, they should learn and enjoy learning in every way, not only in academics.
I am sorry, but I honestly do not see what this crazy woman's issue is, so much so that she needs to write to the press. And her words - of how the omission of the ceremony will "painfully felt by the parents" is so dramatic that, it left me speechless (well not exactly, considering the length of this note). But honestly if she has been to a graduation ceremony, the pain is sitting through 900 other names.
Of course the moment we get our scroll is a moment of glory for our parents, but seriously, yhis is KINDERGARTEN.
I have no more words left to say but that this woman is dumb. And boy am I glad I am not her son. She might be sad to find out that only in Singapore, do we have a graduation ceremony where we all go on stage individually. In most other countries, a representative collects it on his cohort's behalf.
But she will be too dumb to know anyway.
EDIT: I think we should do away with the scroll altogether for kindergarten. Why allow children so young to wonder why is some other kid chosen and not me (though I believe that they seldom feel that way, and its the parents who make their children feel this way).
-----------
Nov 11, 2010, ST
I ATTENDED the full-dress rehearsal of my six-year-old son's graduation ceremony at a grassroots kindergarten, PCF Pioneer Kindergarten, last Sunday.
I expected to see him and his fellow graduands go through the full, happy process - putting on graduation gowns and going on stage to collect their scrolls as the photographer took pictures.
Instead, the ceremony was reduced to a superficial shadow of what such milestones should be.
A pupil went on stage to receive the scrolls on behalf of each class. The focus appeared to be on the accompanying concert.
Shocked, I questioned the principal, who replied that the truncated ceremony had been the kindergarten's practice.
I was also given to understand that it was too time-consuming to have each pupil go on stage as the ceremony involved hundreds of graduating preschoolers.
Shouldn't the organisers focus on the primary purpose of the graduation ceremony, which is to acknowledge and celebrate the completion of a child's preschool education - marking that first milestone in their journey of lifelong learning?
Is the success of a dance item or two more important than recognising a child's first rite of passage?
Does the PCF headquarters issue guidelines to its kindergartens to ensure that such acknowledgements remain the primary focus of the ceremony?
My son's kindergarten ceremony is tomorrow. Except for the class representative, he and his fellow classmates face the unhappy prospect of not wearing the graduation gowns, not hearing their names called, not going on stage to receive their scrolls and not having their pictures taken.
The kindergarten may argue that it had fulfilled these separately earlier, but such canned arrangements of convenience defeat the purpose and spirit of a graduation ceremony.
The kindergarten's omission will be felt painfully by parents, unless the organisers do the proper thing: change its attitude and the ceremony, quickly.
Yap Wai Ling (Mrs)
- love the green sofa -
