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DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Children start school not knowing their own name
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 08/07/2011 11:49:47 PM · #1
I recently read a shocking article, that stated many British children go to school not knowing their own name, or even that they have one.
I Found that disturbing, but then I thought about it, and could actually believe this sort of thing does go on.
Are there any teachers out there who have experienced this.
 08/07/2011 11:54:05 PM · #2
how could a kid not know their own name? Don't their parents call them by there name? Very strange.
 08/07/2011 11:55:11 PM · #3
I believe you mean the surname, correct?
 08/07/2011 11:56:23 PM · #4
Originally posted by bspurgeon:
I believe you mean the surname, correct?


now that I could believe.
 08/07/2011 11:57:40 PM · #5
The article did'nt state which name. I'm just going to track it down, to post. Wait a minute.
 08/07/2011 11:59:02 PM · #6
Here is the article.

//www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/8668117/Growing-number-of-children-dont-know-their-own-name-when-starting-school.html
 08/08/2011 12:38:33 AM · #7
Originally posted by Neat:
Here is the article.

Link


Message edited by author 2011-08-08 00:39:37.
 08/08/2011 12:40:24 AM · #8

âWe do have a problem. Anecdotally, itâs getting worse from what head teachers say.â
 08/08/2011 12:43:35 AM · #9
I know when my kids were smaller, I would often ask other children how old they were, and they had no idea. some where 5 or 6, i feel this is old enough to know. A childs age, and phone number and address is something I taught my children as soon as they could speak fluently between 2-3 yrs of age. You wouldn't want them to get lost and not be able to communicate it with any one.
 08/08/2011 01:00:06 AM · #10
Originally posted by Neat:
many British children go to school not knowing their own name, or even that they have one.


Reminds me of most of college and part of high school.
08/08/2011 01:00:38 AM · #11
I'm a photojournalist, so I'm always asking people their names, including kids. I've found that most kids 5 and under don't know their last name, and definitely not how to spell it. It's worse when kids have a funny spelled (first or last) name that's not phonetic. I'm usually impressed when a 7-year-old can spell his or her whole name. I was shocked by this at first, but when I remember that there are some schools that want to give up teaching kids how to write with writing utensils, I'm not really surprised anymore. I should also mention that I have absurdly high expectations of the education system, which are far from being met.
 08/08/2011 01:36:00 AM · #12
My kids could write their own names before they got to school. I didn't force anything, they just wanted to. One kindergarten teacher actually told me off because my son had written his name (Scott) on his picture.
 08/08/2011 01:40:20 AM · #13
Originally posted by jomari:
My kids could write their own names before they got to school. I didn't force anything, they just wanted to. One kindergarten teacher actually told me off because my son had written his name (Scott) on his picture.


Incredible hey, they should be encouraging it, not discouraging it, I hope the rest of his year was good.
 08/08/2011 01:56:07 AM · #14
Originally posted by Neat:
Originally posted by jomari:
My kids could write their own names before they got to school. I didn't force anything, they just wanted to. One kindergarten teacher actually told me off because my son had written his name (Scott) on his picture.


Incredible hey, they should be encouraging it, not discouraging it, I hope the rest of his year was good.


Yes, thanks, the rest of kinder was happy for him. (And I don't think he was aware his teacher had a go at me). Anyway it's a while ago now. That son turns 35 tomorrow.

Back to the article you linked us to. That is very disturbing and is both a symptom of problems with society now, and a nasty clue as to what's coming. I don't know why people have families if they aren't interested in how they develop. Personally I think that failure to read (or tell) children stories is pretty close to being a form of child abuse, but I know that that view isn't universal.
 08/08/2011 02:02:46 AM · #15
Originally posted by jomari:


Personally I think that failure to read (or tell) children stories is pretty close to being a form of child abuse, but I know that that view isn't universal.


I have to totally agree, especially being read to, that could eliminate so many learning problems children have these days. I see it all the time at school, those children who have not being read to struggle the most, or the children not allowed to play outside and get dirty and exp nature, is detrimental to learning......I could go on and on, believe me.
 08/08/2011 02:12:33 AM · #16
Or not allowed to play/paint/create inside and make a mess... LOL, I could go on and on, too.
 08/08/2011 02:32:26 AM · #17
Articles like this tend to be sensationalistic, forcing parents in to stripping their children's formative years away. Here in California, and likely all over, there are two general groups of parents...those who want play based pre-schooling/daycare and those who want highly structured pre-schooling.

A number often quoted is 5-10% of school age kids have a learning disability. These numbers usually exclude developmentally delayed kids, and often "emotional" causes (i.e. autistic/adhd/bipolar kids are often left out of these numbers).

Class of 30. 1.5 to 3 will have a learning disability. Using the rise of 58%, and rounding, we now can expect 2.5 to 5 kids. I don't have a study to cite, but amongst this increase will be the effect of increased screening, inconsistent classifications, and wrong diagnoses.

I don't like this article. It's inflammatory from the outset, and biases the reader to concluding these kids are going to be using "crayons...for stabbing". Rubbish. Not surprisingly, this sound bite is from a politician (well, he is a czar). Double rubbish.
 08/08/2011 08:17:06 AM · #18
so what is the article trying to say?

are they trying to place the blame on parents when the kids in school aren't doing well, by saying "well they didn't even know their name when they got here, its no wonder i couldn't teach them." most kids know their name and they will know their last name if its constantly reinforced, the kids will learn it quickly when they have to write it everyday on a paper.

i agree there are many distractions at home, but its not like tv wasn't there when i was a kid, and the internet isn't an excuse becuase its way more interactive than tv is, i prefer my daughter to go on the internet than to veg out, at least i know she is working on her typing and reading skills, playing some sort of interactive game... basically using her brain.

parents need to be involved in the kids education, there is no doubt that material needs to be reinforced at home, but article like this that subtlety make excuses for teachers pushing the blame to parents are wrong. Im not saying teaching is easy, its not, but their are lots of factors that go into why the education system is failing and its wrong to start trying to cast all the blame onto one party.

Message edited by author 2011-08-08 08:18:39.
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