What is Best for Belle?
February 6th, 2011 | 
Author: 
Belle* is 4 years old. With a summa cum laude for a mother, it was no surprise when Belle skipped Pre Nursery and Junior Nursery and was automatically accepted in Kinder 1.
She is smart, no doubt about that. Her mom is a very nice lady and though I haven’t met her dad yet, I have a feeling that he’s just as nice because Belle is a sweet little kid. What surprised me, however, was what she was doing in a tutorial center. Her grandmother told me that her grade in Reading is lower than those of her other subjects.
After assessing Belle, I found out that she can read, but she reads slowly, maybe slower than her classmates. So, she enrolled in a Reading Program. She really was having a hard time. But I understand that, after all she’s still very young and to read at 4 is not actually very common among kids her age.
It was obvious that Belle was well taught. She can identify a lot of things. I can imagine how her parents raised her. So, when she turned 4, they enrolled her to preschool, where her skills were assessed as belonging to the Kindergarten class. She is the youngest student.
Since it was her first time to go to school she had a hard time coping with the lessons. She found out that all of her classmates knew things that she didn’t know yet. She may be smart, but she lacked the skills her classmates learned from two years in Nursery. And the hardest part is that, most of her classmates can read short words already, while she was just starting to put letters together. Consequently, Belle developed insecurity. She thinks that she’s the most stupid girl in class because she reads the slowest.
Why did this happen? How could a very smart little girl turn out to be last in class? I really wish to help Belle. So, though I believe that kids should stay at home during the weekend, I help Belle with her Reading lessons.
My heart breaks every time Belle struggles over a word. She’s just a baby. She needs to rest on weekends. She needs to sleep, to play, to have fun… I wish anybody could tell me what have gone wrong here…
*Not real name
Posted in teacher's journal
this is sad.. i hope that you will be able to talk to the mom and share your insights… we dont want the little girl growing up with insecurities just because she is in an advanced class..
Give the best to Belle..
Kimmy this is the saddest part. Belle is still a baby.
Hi Mommy Kimmy, salamat sa pagbisita. And don’t worry if you have a hard time with the “cake” I have a hard time with “kakanin” naman. It seems like “kakanin” is more heavier than “cake”. But as I’ve said just enjoy!! ^_^
About “Belle”, what I don’t understand now a days is that the kids is getting younger and younger to go to school. What happen to the play time interacting the brothers and sisters, cousins and neighbors. I also observe that now they want the 1st grader to write well. For me it’s very stressful for the young mind to cope up with this pressure. Remember when we were young, we are outside playing. By that, we develop something so many things that school can’t teach us. I remember my mother told me that my brother only knew how to read well when he was in 4th grade!!! My gush, if he was born this generation, he may came up having a low self esteem, insecure etc.
I know you as a teacher knew that their are some kids that are slow learner and fast learner. And it doesn’t mean that they don’t know nothing, it’s just that something in their development didn’t mature yet.
I think for “Belle” she knew that the people surrounding her is expecting too much of her at her young age, and when she is mixed to a classroom and found out that their is such thing as “somebody who knew more” that’s when she get insecured. Too bad the parents don’t knew this things because it’s too bad she would carry this feeling through out her growing up.
Hope you could talk to her parents and let them see that she is still young let her spread her wings at her own pace.
I hope I make sense Mommy Kimmy, sometimes dakdak ako nang dakdak nawala na ako sa topic lol!! Happy Monday!
Hi Kim
I think you nailed it. She’s just a baby. She needs to rest on weekends. She needs to sleep, to play, to have fun.
~Ron
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kids should enjoy learning just like playing.
Thank you for your post. Now I am confirmed that I should enroll my 4-yr old in preschool first even if I know that she can already make it to Kindergarten (with just a little more push and a summer reading and writing class as some suggests). I know that preschool maybe too easy for her but I fear that she may struggle so much with kindergarten because she just turned 4 and it’s her first time to go to school. Kids like Belle should not be pushed too much to learn and mature fast even if they have advanced intellect. A 4yr old is a 4 yr old, if parents think she is too advanced for preschool maybe they can add subjects or curriculum in her current ones, if she willingly cooperates and without sacrificing the kid’s childhood. Kawawa naman and it may have an adverse effect on her growing up. She may end up regretting school more than enjoying it.
Skipping two years in preschool and letting her jump immediately to kindergarten proved to be her undoing. She was handicapped right from the start. That is why making kids go through the usual school sequence is both wise and methodical. Thanks for the post. God bless you all always.
Don’t push her too hard; she’s still a baby, four years old! Learning should be fun for a kid in her age, right?
I feel so sad for her…
I think children should enjoy just being a kid. Pushing them to do more usually backfires. She’s a smart kid and it will surely show later on. I hope her parents realize this before Belle becomes frustrated with learning.