To the editor:

Re: (Sept. 1, p. A3)

If the new B.C. government really wants to move to the forefront of public education in Canada, it needs to look to Finland, where all children have access to free, full day daycare (up to age 5). Full day kindergarten begins at age 6, and Grade 1 begins at age 7.

According to world-renowned family therapist and parenting author Steve Biddulph, full day kindergarten for 5-year-olds is too long, and any younger is a big mistake developmentally. Decades of research has shown that most boys (and some girls) are slower to develop fine-motor and language skills.

I香蕉视频直播檝e asked a number of kindergarten teachers: 香蕉视频直播淲hen reviewing your class in June, are there any children you feel are not developmentally ready for Grade 1?香蕉视频直播� Responses from teachers typically range from zero to four children, depending on the class. But in the current educational climate it香蕉视频直播檚 extremely rare for a child in Canada or the U.S. to repeat kindergarten.

In his web article, We Can Do Better By Boys, Biddulph writes: 香蕉视频直播淚n English-speaking countries, boys make up more than 80 per cent of all remedial classes. In Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and many other countries where school [Grade 1] does not begin until age seven, this gender gap in literacy does not exist香蕉视频直播� Professor Kathy Sylva at Oxford University recently reported findings that starting school too soon creates a failure mentality, while kindergarten 香蕉视频直播� which used to be a year of play, activity, and social learning 香蕉视频直播� has succumbed more and more to pressure for skills learning. This compounds the problem.香蕉视频直播�

Why is Finland香蕉视频直播檚 school system the envy of the western world? Finland has consistently been among the highest scorers worldwide in the international assessment for student performance.

Carl Honor茅 writes in Under Pressure: Putting the Child Back in Childhood (2009): 香蕉视频直播淭heir [Finnish children] early childhood is spent at home or in nursery programs where play is king. When they finally do reach school, they enjoy short days, long vacations and plenty of music, art and sports. Apart from final exams at the end of high school, Finnish kids face no standardized tests. Teachers use quizzes, and individual schools use tests to track their pupils香蕉视频直播� progress, but the idea of cramming for SATs is as alien to Finland as a heat wave in winter. This presents a delicious irony: the nation that puts the least stress on competition and testing, that shows the least appetite for cram schools and private tutoring, routinely tops the world in PISA香蕉视频直播檚 [Programme for International Student Assessment] competitive exams.香蕉视频直播�

I believe if we adopted the Finland model in B.C.香蕉视频直播� enrolling kids in kindergarten at age 6香蕉视频直播� by the time they enter Grade 7 or 8, at least 70 per cent of learning assistance time (and money) in an elementary school could be eliminated simply because most children wouldn香蕉视频直播檛 require any! Most of the learning assistance teachers, who spend their day working with individual students and small groups, could transition back into the classroom and assigned an entire class of students.

In Michael Moore香蕉视频直播檚 2015 travelogue-style documentary, Where to Invade Next?, he observes: 香蕉视频直播淔inland香蕉视频直播檚 students have the shortest school days and the shortest school years in the entire western world. They do better by going to school less.香蕉视频直播� (Google the movie trailer)

If a Canada-wide survey was done of parents who 香蕉视频直播渞ed-shirted香蕉视频直播� their own kids 香蕉视频直播� waited to enrol them in kindergarten at age 6 香蕉视频直播� I香蕉视频直播檓 certain the vast majority would say it was one of the best decisions they ever made as parents.

David Buckna, Kelowna