Competition
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- February
- 15
Here’s the scenario: A group of kids in a pre-K class were given a homework assignment that required them to make a snowman. It was part of an arts & crafts project. Sounds good, right? Fun for the kids; some creative input from the parents.
This was at the pre-K where my girlfriend’s son goes, and she had fun helping him put together a snowman made from paper plates, glue, glitter, markers and some fluffy stuff. He was way proud, and should’ve been.
Now, we all know what happens in these situations. Some parents do the project for their kids so the kid will have the best one in the class. As if that’s the point. Anyway, it certainly was the case here. But that’s not the issue.
When they presented these things in the class, they actually gave awards for the best ones. That is to say, only two or three of the kids got rewarded, and most of the kids didn’t win an award, and got a certificate for doing it. Our little guy was heartbroken.
That strikes me as wrong. I’m all for teaching kids to be competitive and all. But at 3 and 4, I’d opt to give all the kids some kind of award, just to reward their efforts on the arts & crafts project.
What do you think?
This entry was posted
on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 4:23 pm by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon.
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Your girlfriend should have a serious talk with the school’s director as well as the teacher. Giving awards to two or three kids for a “homework” assignment is thoroughly inappropriate for such young children—in fact, what is the teacher thinking (not much, I would guess) giving a homework assignment of any sort to pre-schoolers? Terrible idea.
You know I am a little torn on this , however, I think if everyone got a certificate and you had 1,2,3rd place awards no harm no foul. However, if this was just homework yeah not too swift.
Kids need to learn there are winners and losers, and 9 years ago when i moved up here I was shocked by how games changed to make everyone a winner. um this is a bad idea… life is about winning and losing, its sad , it sucks but that is reality. whether it should be done in pre-k or not well just think of childrens games, hot potato. u have the potato u lose. for a short time they were treating kids with the potato as a winner. wrong lesson.
Teaching kids about reality is never a terrible idea, there’s a time and a place and a way. Maybe the method used here wasnt the best and we would all feel a little upset. But the lesson as parents here are, sit with the child and say , hey you got the homework right and were told so, these other 3 got an extra award because of a contest either we didnt know about or didnt realize happened. we’ll do better next time and start teaching the child that its ok to be upset to lose but use it to make you stronger and better.
As i said the teacher may have communicated this better, however, we all need to learn about this unfortunate fact of life. winners and losers. we deal with it every day and kids will hit this in the playground so prepare them…not protect them
thats my 3 cents
Steve;
I’m with you. That was my thought. I actually sat on this topic for a week before I blogged on it, because I figured, you know, kids need to compete and learn to do their best ina challenging environment.
And I remember my son and his friends sometimes being in “everyone wins” situations, which irritated me.
But it’s the age. And, at 3, I think it’s a bit much. The certificate was fine, but the point is there was still a certain amount of attention on awards for the best achievers, which was a small select group of the kids.
So, I’m all for teaching reality. And the little one gets “homework” all the time, as in to bring in show-and-tell assignments, or a favorite toy, or to tell what his weekend was like. But this is different. It’s a project that he takes part in, takes pride in, and looks forward to presenting to the class. So it’s different.
In the end, I agree with you in principle. What I’m questioning is the age when it’s being introduced.
Diane;
Didn’t mean to overlook you. Obviously, we’re on the same page. Thanks, and keep reading.
I agree with you Jorge. I think that true competition for a contest such as art begins when a child has a grasp of what “art is”. I remember when I attended a parochial school and was in second grade how hurt I was when only the children whose parents were involved in the school had extra privileges and were given gifts in front of the class. Children don’t forget these things, they impact them more than we realize.
in general: I do think that if any parents were involved in a project than there should be no awards given – then it has to do with who gets the most help and who has the most money to do it better.
All children in this age group should be rewarded with certificates. In my opinion, no one should have any prize that’s different. Perhaps treat the kids to some cake or cupcakes, or art supplies. I would definitely have a talk with the teacher and principal about this.
This happened to me and to this day I feel badly that I judged my daughter if only in my mind:
Jenn was in pre-k and all the kids were walking out of class with this beautiful 3 foot by 3 foot paper with cut out trees and leaves on it. Everyone was correct – that is, the tree bark was upright and the leaves were glued onto the branches. I was looking forward to seeing Jenn’s as she walked down the stairs to the parking lot. When I saw it, the leaves were all glued on the bottom of the page and I felt my heart sink. Why? I asked Jenn, why she put the leaves on the bottom and out of the mouths of babes I was put in my place—
it was fall and all the leaves were on the ground outside so she wanted her picture to be correct – she said everyone else was wrong
It’s easy to get in a competitive/comparative mode with our kids, even unconsciously—but I’d never do it again, especially with these impressionable angels.
Nice story, Gina. And very cute.
I think the artistic expression kids are capable of is amazing. And, as in your case, sometimes the “artist’s” explanation of their work is the best part.
Thanks.
No ‘awards’ for homework assignments where the parents help. That’s a really bad message. What would have been better is if they all made their snowman in class and voted on their favorites – it’s an election year, right? Good time to learn about voting and majorities. Could have been a really ‘teachable’ moment. But it was blown big time.