Progressive vs. Traditional Schools

For several years now, progressive schools has been multiplying all over Metro Manila. Parents have been enrolling their children to these schools rather than putting their children to traditional ones. How can we differentiate one school from another? Do children really benefit from these schools compared from traditional ones which were dominant during 1970's-1990's?

I have limited knowledge with regards to these types of schools but basing on the experience of my nephews and nieces, i sometimes wonder if the teaching techniques in progressive schools are effective compared to traditional ones.

My nephews and nieces are studying from a school founded by a German named Rudolf Steiner. The school, i think, was established during the 1990's. It is a co-ed school but students are limited to just 15-20 children per teacher. Subjects are taught in months basis, for example; math and science are taught for 2-3 months straight, no other subjects. For the next months, english, grammar, foreign language for another 2-3 months. A student's teacher in grade 1 will be his or her teacher until grade 6. As i mentioned, foreign language is taught as early as grade 2, musical instruments like recorder (flute), violin, guitar, etc. are also taught. Kids are exposed to 2-4 days of outdoor camping (outside manila) as early as grade 3.

Other non-traditional activities: Kids are highly discouraged to watch TV (even cartoons) and play video games. Kids are not allowed in school to wear clothes, shoes even bags to have cartoon characters printed on it. Milk products (except fresh milk) are discouraged to be taken even for toddlers, they only recommend breastfeeding up to 2 years then straight to solid foods, fruits and vegetables. Formula milk is a no-no.

Reading comprehension is not pressured up to grade 4, they believe that children will learn how to read when they are ready and there is no need to initialize reading. You can just imagine my mom's (my nephews' grandmother) frustration in teaching her grandchildren how to read since she still believes traditional school is better than progressive ones. So, since reading is not a priority, spelling and writing skills are all put behind.

There are a lot of differences between these two types of schools. What progressive schools offer are totally different from their traditional counterparts and they believe that children should not be too pressured to learn in their early years. Progressive schools still believe play is an essential part of learning and they don't believe that kids as early as grades 1 and 2 should be burden by advanced mathematical problems and science concepts. For them learning should be fun and the last thing they want is for their students to give in to school pressures, requirements and exams.

Giving to Charity this Christmas Season

Christmas is just around the corner and everybody is busy buying gifts and preparing for Christmas eve and Christmas day. December is also a busy month for weddings. In fact, my wife and I have attended 1 wedding last weekend and another tomorrow. December is indeed one of the busiest and most anticipated month of the year. Try looking for food caterers during this month and you will be very lucky to find a good one. Chances are, good caterers are fully booked everyday until January next year. People attend all sorts of parties, Christmas parties, reunions, weddings, birthdays, office parties and New Year parties.

Since everybody is so busy these days, have you thought of the people who are less fortunate? Have you considered having your party to an orphanage or a place for the elderly? Have you participated to your church activities for the poor this Christmas season?

Honestly, most of the time, I haven't thought of this for a long time. I have been involved in a number of charity programs when i was in college but after school i have been too busy working. I worked for an environment organization for 3 years which somehow helped people most especially people living outside Metro Manila. My previous work, last year, was with Philippine Business for Social Progress which again reminded me of the need to help people who are less fortunate. I was specifically assigned to a program to help public schools get assistance from private companies. I visited a number of schools in Navotas, Malabon, Valenzuela and Caloocan. I was really shocked to learn that most of the public schools have 3 shifts, meaning 1 shift from early morning to afternoon, another from afternoon to evening and the last was late afternoon to late evening. To think that they are only high school students. The average number of students in a section is 80-90 students, and one year consists of 20-30 sections. If you make a computation, 90 students times 20 sections, that's 1800 students in one year level. Multiply it to 4 year levels and you get 7200 students! Can you imagine the state of public school system here in Metro Manila? These public schools only have limited classrooms and overworked and underpaid teachers. How can 1 teacher teach 90 students in one section?

I have a personal mission and this includes helping our environment and our educational system. I know that i might have a minimal impact but i know no matter how little my efforts are, at least i know i helped to the best that i can. Who knows if i become successful in blogging, i might make a difference in our public school system. I could not forget the feeling when i was personally thanked by the head of the school after assisting them in getting a donation from a private company to improve their library and computer class facilities. What more if personally i was able to contribute to improve their condition? That will be one of my personal goals in life.