Elementary school
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An elementary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in many countries and especially in North America. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom, India, Australia and New Zealand and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).[1]
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[edit] United Kingdom
Elementary school was formerly the name given to publicly funded schools in England which provided a basic standard of education for working class children aged from five to 14, the then school leaving age. They were also known as industrial schools.
Elementary schools were set up to enable working class children to receive manual training and elementary instruction. They provided a restricted curriculum with the emphasis on reading, writing and arithmetic (the three Rs). The schools operated on a 'monitorial' system, whereby one teacher supervised a large class with the assistance of a team of monitors, who were quite often older pupils. Elementary school teachers were paid by results. Their pupils were expected to achieve precise standards in reading, writing and arithmetic such as reading a short paragraph in a newspaper, writing from dictation, and working out sums and fractions.[2]
Before 1944 around 80 per cent of the school population attended elementary schools through to the age of 14. The remainder transferred either to secondary school or junior technical school at age 11. The school system was changed with the introduction of the Education Act 1944. Education was restructured into three progressive stages which were known as primary education, secondary education and further education.[3]
In the UK schools providing primary education are now known as primary schools. They generally cater for children aged from four to eleven. Primary schools are often subdivided into infant schools for children from four to seven and junior schools for ages seven to 11. In the (diminishing) minority of areas where there is a "three-tier" system, children go to "first school" until about 9, then middle school until about 13, then high school; in these places, the term "primary school" is not usually used.
[edit] United States
In the United States, elementary schools offer education between the kindergarten level and, typically, a grade between 4th and 8th. The most common grade range is kindergarten through 5th grade.[citation needed] Elementary schools in the United States are also commonly called "grade schools".
In India it is the stage of education from Class 1 to Class 5. The children in these classes are genrally aged between 5 to 12 years. It is the successive stage after kintergarden (Pre-Nursery, Nursery, Prep or LKG and UKG). The next stage to primary education is Middle School, Class 6th to 8th. In most schools of North India, children in Classes 1st to 3rd are taught English, Hindi, Environmental Science, and Genral Knowledge. In class 4th and 5th the environmental science subject is replaced by General Science and Social Studies. However some schools may introduce this concept in Class 3 itself. Some Schools may also introduce a third language in Class 5th or even in Class 4th. Sanskrit and French are the most common third languages taught in Indian schools. At some places, Primary education is labelled AS the education of Class 3rd to Class 5th and uptill class 2nd as Pre-Primary education. This is because many new concepts are introduced in this class. Children ar taught painting instead of drawing and colourng, exams are taken, Word sums in maths are introduced along with geometory.
edited by Nikhil Jain
[edit] See also
- List of elementary and primary schools by country
- Educational stages
- Elementary Education Act 1870
- Environmental groups and resources serving K-12 schools
- Primary school
[edit] References
- ^ Primary school. In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved on 12 June 2007, from Encyclopædia Britannica Online: http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9061377
- ^ Derek Gillard. Education in England: A brief history. Chapter 2: 1800-1900 Towards a state system. Retrieved on 15 June 2007.
- ^ Peter Anthony Newsam, 'Elementary school', Microsoft Encarta 2004 edition (CD-Rom), 1993-2003.
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