Shame on those parents whose kindergartner can’t do their ABCs: Finland offers interesting ideas
Vancouver Courier
September 27, 2010
By Fiona Hughes

I’m a bad parent. I’m far from perfect, but I didn’t realize how terrible I was at parenting until I read Shelley Fralic’s Sept. 23 Vancouver Sun column headlined “Why can’t Johnny read? Maybe it’s his parents’ fault.” She singled out parents whose kindergartners, such as my five year old, can’t count to 20, tie their shoe laces or recite the alphabet and are chronically tardy. As for reading? She can’t do that either.

Let’s back up the truck a bit. Isn’t kindergarten precisely to further kids along in these areas? The headline, as attention grabbing as it was, inaccurately summed up the column, which had nothing to do with reading and everything to do with parental failings.

The Sun column was in response to a University of B.C. study that found almost one in three five year olds in B.C. is unprepared to enter kindergarten. (Just to clarify, there are also many four year olds starting kindergarten.) …

Fralic’s response to the UBC study led to thoughts of Finland, a country oft cited for having the best education system in the world. Children start school at seven. They’re a bit behind in reading compared to other kids around the world at that age, but when Finns reach 15 they consistently earn the highest scores in sciences, literacy and math compared to the rest of the world. What gives?

From the age of eight months, all children have access to free, full-day daycare. The Finns consider it a child’s right.

Whether you’re rich, poor or middle class, finding quality daycare in Vancouver is difficult and stressful, which might explain why even affluent neighbourhoods are home to apparently ill-prepared kindergarteners. Daycare should not just be a place to dump your child, but sometimes that’s the only heartbreaking choice a parent has.

The UBC study noted that Canada’s investment in a child’s early years is among the lowest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Canada is a wonderful country, but our priorities are messed up. If Finland, which has low levels of immigration, understands the importance of early childhood development, multicultural Canada with its high levels of immigration, should overwhelmingly embrace the concept so all Canadian children get an equal start in life.

Why are we still talking about this?

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