Morality and discipline start in preschool and grade school

(Conclusion of the 3-part series ‘Dalaga Ka Na’)

Mother Nature’s principle of development during the formative years consists of indirect preparations. Before the infant could acquire independence in walking and speaking, the child’s mind unconsciously learns to babble then speak the first word during the first year, at the same time the infant learns to make the first toddling step, with legs strengthened by constant crawling from the sixth month.

The “Explosive Epoch” of speech and movement is the second year of life when the child runs, not walk, and speaks continuously. He has an unconscious Absorbent Mind that acts like a camera “snapping” the vocabulary, syntax, grammar of the local language, as well as the movement and mannerism of the members of the family. Just think of the Filipino baby born either in Paris or Rome learning perfect French or Italian better than a Filipino adult scholar. By three the Absorbent Mind becomes conscious, and can be scholastically directed in a preschool.

My past two articles dealt with Mother Nature’s way of moral discipline during puberty and adolescence. Now, we shall see the indirect moral preparation of the child in preschool and primary school.

The UN Millennium Goal Of Quality Education Demands The Revolution Of Ece Curriculum

It’s the nature of the preschooler at three to six years old to be physically active. Learning to bathe and dress up by oneself, sweeping, washing small handkerchiefs, setting the table, etc, keep this age group happily occupied, much more than playing with toys.

What we need is the complete transformation of the conventional playschool or workbook-oriented early childhood curriculum by converting the classroom into an exciting “do-it-yourself” environment. What’s the difference between play and work? Play occupies the child momentarily, while work has an intelligent purpose, which holds the attention longer and develops concentration.

Four open shelves contain Practical Life materials, Sensorial apparata, Hands-on Math and Geometry kits, graduated in difficulty. Even Decimal numeration appeals to the age group. This “sensitive period” for learning language like the mother tongue, as well as any other languages, is strongest in preschool. It is wrong for DepEd to insist on the use of the local dialect until the third grade. It’s a waste of time since English is easily learned; on the early years, spoken and written.

Dottoressa Montessori created a national sensation when the multi-handicapped children she trained made better grades in the national exams than normal children, who were trained to study merely by memorizing books.

Do you see why the Philippines could have been among the top ten countries in Asia excelling in math and science education instead of tailing behind among 40 countries?

The moral value of work education

Accompanying the preschooler’s intellectual pursuits is the development of a self-confident and joyful personality.

The Montessori curriculum have employed to both well-off children (for 47 years), and the Pagsasarili system, its slightly modified version for the underprivileged ones in 156 laborers’ barangays all over Luzon (for 30 years), has standardized set of universally-tested materials. What are the practices and principles involved? “One of a kind” materials enable each child to work independently, since they are kept in trays or baskets in the same place. There is enough apparata per room for 30 or more children. A “control of error” is built in each material that enables the child to correct himself instead of the teacher doing this. Teachers then never humiliate anyone.

Each one “respects the other at work” and “waits for his/her turn.” Each one habitually completes the cycle of work. But it’s really the child’s “secret teacher” conditioning him to repeat and master the work without interference, then return the work tools to the proper places.

The moral implication of the cosmic curriculum for elementary school children

The second stage of childhood is six to 12. Once more, Mother Nature develops two marked characters of these children: the enormous reasoning power and moral sensitivity.

Developing one’s full potential requires an all embracing and fully integrated course on the sustainable development of man. It’s labeled Cosmic Curriculum.

The only way mankind can survive is by acknowledging and preserving the Cosmic Organization of planet Earth. Several illustrated charts of Science, History, Zoology and Botany “inflame” the child’s imagination to excite learning. The main chart shows the Plant, Animal and Mineral kingdoms in our planet, over which the sun shines. Below these are different families representing various races of the world.

Genesis: ‘In the beginning God created the world’

Genesis, chapter I of the Bible narrates the Creation. And God said, “Let there be life…” and commanded the various animals to go and multiply.

To depict creation the colored chart “Clock of Eras” is used by primary children. This chart represent the entire history from a mass of gas to the appearance of man. Instead of the biblical measure of seven days to complete creation, this chart shows a special clock divided into 12 hours to illustrate this history. Each hour in this clock is equivalent to 375 million years instead of 60 minutes.

THE FORMATIVE IS DARK ERA, last 0 to 4 o’clock, when the Earth was dark and cold and was still forming crust. THE ARCHAIC ERA from 4 to 10 o’clock. It’s yellow when the sun starts to shine. We really do not know what happened during the six-hour period. One thing we know was there was a form of life that existed at this time but no fossil remains. THE PALEOZOIC OR PRIMARY ERA lasted for 1 hour and 12 minutes. It is the era of the oldest animals particularly those living in the water. The MESOZOIC OR SECONDARY ERA is represented by color brown and lasted for 31 minutes and 11 seconds. This was the era when the Amphibians were dying out and the little mammals were coming to life. THE CENEZOIC OR TERTIARY ERA is represented by color green and lasted for 16 minutes and 34.5 seconds. The large mammals came particularly the plant eating ones. THE NEOZOIC ANTHROPOZOIC ERA OR QUARTERNARY ERA, it took the Earth 11 hours, 59 minutes and 45.5 seconds. A special being appeared during this period – Man. It is color red because it signifies blood of man or life itself.

History of life is complemented by the evolution of love

The primary grades I to III lessons of the Cosmic program introduce the development of animals and plants from the Paleozoic Era (10 o’clock to 11:45 in the Clock of Eras).

The first were fishes, mollusks, corals and other creatures living in the water. Fishes laid eggs but did not care for them. One species, the lungfish developed lungs like the frog that allowed it to live on land. This was the beginning of the Age of Dinosaurs. Although large, their brains were small. They laid eggs anywhere and did not nurture their young. Eventually they became extinct.

The winged dinosaur, the Pterodactyl evolved into small birds. Although small, they were more intelligent. They protected their chicks in a nest up on a tree and even taught them to fend for themselves. Mammals began appearing. They were very different for they did not lay eggs but bore their young within their bodies. They know how to guide their babies until they learned to live independently.

A few minutes “before 12” in the Clock of Era (the Neozoic period or new life) Man appeared just as planned. He prepared all animal and plant life as His gifts to help human beings sustain their lives. God tasked mankind to ensure the Cosmic Organization.

God so loved mankind that He created Man and Woman to His image and gave them intelligence. The woman carries the child as a fetus for nine months, the longest gestation period compared to other mammals. Then she and her husband are to continue and love their children throughout their childhood until they mature and can live by themselves.

The difficult task of parents and teachers instilling sexual attitude

The sexual urge is stronger during adolescence than in any other period of life, and there is no way to guarantee that an independent teenager will choose to control it. It is impossible and probably undesirable, to shield him from the permissive attitudes which are prevalent today; television brings every element of sexual revolution into the sanctuary of one’s living room, and the details of immorality and perversion are readily available in the theater or from the neighborhood smut dealer.

The best approach is one that begins in early childhood and extends through the years, according to a policy of openness, frankness, and honesty. Only parents can provide this lifetime training. It cannot be done by one massive conversation, which is typically provided by reluctant parents as their child approaches adolescence. What is needed is gradual enlightenment that begins during the third and fourth year of life and reaches a culmination shortly before puberty.

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