used fd's flickr toys for this captioner...
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Setting: In one pre-school, for 3yo Jake's interview (Nursery1 class)
Cast of Characters: Jake, the Guidance Counselor, Jerry & me
GC: Hi Jacob! (She proceeds to engage Jake in a conversation.)
Jake: Ma look! (He points to a calendar with a colorful drawing.)
GC: Oh this one... (holding the calendar). Could you identify what you see in the picture?
(Jake successfully identifies the ff: rainbow, elephant, house, etc.)
GC: (Gets her box of crayons and turns to me.) Is Jake familiar with colors?
Me: No, he only knows black.
(GC proceeds to take out some colors anyway...)
GC: Jacob, could you show me the color red?
(Jake obviously makes a guess and points to the wrong color. GC insists on asking Jake some more about colors to which Jake miserably commits mistakes. Didn't I just tell her that he only knows black??? Grrr...)
GC: Oh Jake is really poor with colors...
("Poor with colors"...My smile suddenly feels like a grimace upon hearing this comment. Since when did we measure a tot's IQ with just the colors? Anyway, just to show the guidance counselor that Jake's intelligence is not limited to the concept of color....)
Me: Come on Jake, you tell the teacher the different parts of your body.
(Jake identifies his eyes, ears, nose etc correctly. I am now on a roll...)
Me: Very good. Show the teacher how you sing the alphabet.
(Jake sings proudly the alphabet song...and even sings Twinkle Twinkle as a bonus.)
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If not for lack of time, I would even have drawn the logos of the different car brands and Jake would have been able to differentiate a BMW from a Toyota or a Mitsubishi. This is not unusual as kids are really more visual at a very young age.
Ask them to draw a square and they might not be able to. But give them a shape sorter and they will successfully match the shape with the correct hole. Haay.... It doesn't take a genius to know these things... Then again...
I bet Jake is more adept in using the laptop and mouse than the Guidance Counselor...
After hearing my account, one friend hastily scratched the school from her choice of schools for her son. Tsk-tsk...
One of these days, the Directress of the school will know about the "very good" Guidance Counselor.
We should have let Jake sing songs by Sting and some cool house music....he he he....
ReplyDeleteHI JERRY!
ReplyDeleteJake would be singing: "People rise...together...when they believe...in tomorrow." Or "sending out an S. O. S."
Hehehe...
That lady puts the school in a bad light.
Hi Linnor,
ReplyDeleteYou still have time to teach Jake the different colors... july 5 pa naman ang start niya eh. I'm sure he would master the primary and secondary colors by then.
Napaka tackless naman na counselor yan. You should complain about her.
the world needs more people like Jake who doesnt differentiate colors...the boundaries of people who see people the same way is limitless...
ReplyDeletei sound so preachy and out of topic hahaha. wala kasing comment si Paparazzi for some time now e. Ako na lang.
seriously, tama si JO. and yes tama yung friend mo.
Baka naman you missed the GC's point. Baka naman kaya niya tinanong yun because she's thinking maybe she can recommend Jake to join a higher level...kumbaga accelerate to Kinder agad. O diva...optimistic noh?!
ReplyDeleteang galing pala, kung si Jake black, si Zia naman white. hehehe. Pero ngayon she knows yellow, green, and pink. confused pa siya sa red, blue, orange. Ngayon sa school puro coloring ang assignment niya. the other day, left and right na ang lesson nila. naalala nga kita e. Kahapon naman drawing squares na by following the broken lines. Kailangan pa ng practice.
Bakit ganun yun test? I remember when I had Gaby tested at Miriam's CSC last year all they had her do were block sorting and counting. And she passed. BTW, I didn't send her there because of the student-teacher ratio. Tsaka, kaya mo nga ipapasok para matuto. Hello :)
ReplyDeleteIn the first place, why the Guidance Counsellor interviewing Jake? Meron ba misbehavior agad? Baka ang tanong eh--what's the color of a YELLOW mango?
ReplyDeleteAre there no teachers who are specially trained to do the admission job?
I suspect those teachers at dot-PH are not graduates of PNU, the top teacher training institution of the country. ;-)
HI JO
ReplyDeleteYes I guess that's a good idea. I just wasn't expecting Jake to be grilled on colors during the talk. Ni wala man lang alphabet or numbers na tinanong... HMP.
HI JUNNIE!
I kinda like that thought, being "color-blind" when it comes to different people/races... Hehehe...
HI MAY!
Well it didn't look like that at all. The GC obviously didn't have any clear approach to interviewing young kids.
HI KONGKONG622!
OO nga, parang weird. It was far from the previous experiences I had with my 14yo and 10yo when they were entering school for the 1st time.
You're right. That's precisely my point, kaya ko nga ie-enroll eh di ba? Otherwise, homeschooling na lang. Hehehe...
HI PAPARAZZI!
ReplyDeleteI was expecting a specially trained teacher/GC as you said. Interviewing pre-school kids is not the same as interviewing graders after all. It takes special skills to keep a young kid's attention.
Instead of saying that Jake was "poor with colors", she should have said, "unfamiliar with colors" or something like that.
It's nobody's fault that he doesn't know yet all the colors. I couldn't be faulted too since I felt I should teach him equally (if not more) important stuff other than colors.
Jake knows other things that the GC never asked. He says "please" and "thank you" appropriately. He knows about sharing (food & toys). He is toilet-trained. He can take off or put on his clothes. He washes his hands, brushes his teeth etc... etc... He can even operate the laptop, digicam and cellphone!
But yeah, I have enough time to teach him about colors before school starts. Only because I don't want him to be called "poor with colors".
Linnor, that GC is a disgrace. She doesn't even have the ability to listen to what you said, which is one of the supposedly qualifications of a guidance counselor. Then she even said a statement that is not professionally acceptable. My. Can you still choose another school or is your son going to that one?
ReplyDeleteHI JULIE!
ReplyDeleteI agree, it was an unprofessional remark.
My elder boys attended the same pre-school when they were little. Now that they are incoming 2nd year HS and grade 5 students of another school, they are consistently getting academic honors. And I attribute their good academic records today because of the foundation they have acquired from this one.
I already received a call from the Principal earlier today. I told her I do have high regard for their school. It's just unfortunate that this incident with the GC happened. She agreed that what happened was actually unacceptable and was very apologetic about it.
I felt the sincerity of the call. And this was not something I wanted to blow out of proportion. So yes, Jake is still going to attend the same school. :)
Linnor, that guidance counselor was rude, really. i totally agree with you, those things that the GC asked Jake were only little portions of the big pie that a child will be assessed/evaluated accordingly. if i remember it right, Teacher Julie was even saying that it doesnt mean that if a child knows ABC or how to count, know the colors, among others, it's not even a pre requisite in preschool. what's more important, as she said, was for a child to at least know how to listen, follow instructions, fall in line properly when asked, and the ability to be fairly independent. it's short of saying, IQ equates with EQ also. :)
ReplyDeleteif the GC's point of view is shared by that of a devt pedia or a psychometrian, i would gladly accept the challenge and try to supplement my child with more learning. kaso hindi nga sya, and i'm sure she's not even enriched to remark properly with the parents of prospective studes.
in anyway, i hope Jake enjoys his preschooling. :)
HI FENG!
ReplyDelete"what’s more important, as she said, was for a child to at least know how to listen, follow instructions, fall in line properly when asked, and the ability to be fairly independent"
I so totally agree! I guess my Jake exhibits more of those that you mentioned than being able to recite all the colors and shapes there are.
:D
ARGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! sarap sakalin nung GC ah!
ReplyDeletei think at that age, GCs here only ask if the kid is already toilet-trained and what time does he do siesta.. aba, kaya mo nga i-enroll is to learn at school di ba..
ReplyDeleteHI SHERY!
ReplyDeleteHahaha!
HI ANALYSE!
That is what I recall with my two elder boys when they were at that age and in the same school years ago. Major slip-up for the GC actually.
Oh my, I don't think that GC is properly trained nor qualified to interview aspiring preschoolers after making that remark.
ReplyDeleteI agree, a young child's IQ is not based on colors alone. The GC should have taken your cue after letting her know that Jake is not yet familiar with colors. She should have asked other questions.
HI RACH!
ReplyDeleteThanks to this blog the school superiors already know about the minor upset. And they've assured me that this wouldn't happen again. I hope the GC has learned from the experience. :)
uh-oh. "poor" with colors?? maski ako mao-offend! naku, baka i-unleash ko sa kanya ang mga knock knocks ni ninna mataranta siya, haha! i am on a mission to find a good pre-school for ninna din. sana hindi ganyan ang interview or else, i might seriously consider homeschooling na. hmp!
ReplyDeletebuti na lang you know from experience na ok yung school, kasi kung ibang tao yan, since hindi naging maganda yung initial na impression sa kanila, baka ma-miss-out ng kids nila yung maayos na edukasyon ng school nang dahil sa booboo ng GC. i agree, the school should do something about it.
HI MEEYAGIRL!
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard that remark, "umasim" talaga ang smile ko. Buti na lang Jake wasn't aware of the impact of that statement. No effect sa kanya as he was busy looking around for something to tinker.
I really wanted to give Jake the same experience as what his elder brothers had in that school. Na-tyempohan lang na di naging impressive yung interview not because of Jake's unfamiliarity with the colors but mostly because of how the whole interview was conducted. Like what the Principal and the Directress said (yes she also gave me a call), that's not the way they conduct the admission. I'm relieved and I hope it doesn't happen again to other pre-schoolers.
I hope you find a good school for Ninna in Houston. She will have more people to unleash all her "knock-knock" jokes on. Hehehe.