When is a baby ready for formal education? Chinese parents have begun to ask themselves this question as numerous infant education organizations offer varied training programs to their newborn babies.

"Try it lest your baby fall behind others from the very beginning" is always the "open sesame" to the parents' wallets, as a large number of better-off Chinese parents are ready to do virtually anything possible to ensure a good future for their offspring.

As a result, babies are encouraged to stand up, toddle and crawl with their parents' help shortly after they are born, and special exercises have been tailored to boost their muscle development at an early stage.

Many toddlers, on the other hand, are taught to read and write, sometimes in several languages.

"A proper early childhood education can facilitate a child's intellectual development and help him form good habits," said Wang Yuwei, a noted pediatrician in Jinan, capital of the eastern Shandong Province. "But excessive expectations may hamper his development."

Researchers in the northern port city of Tianjin have found that improper infant education can even lead to psychological problems.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Tianjin Children's Hospital, 41 percent of its young patients who had problems concentrating on their work had been daunted by the high expectations from their parents during infancy.

Miaomiao, an eight-year-old girl who had received diverse training since infancy and had an IQ of 124, proved a "problematic child" at school. Though she was still the same good, lovely girl at home, she had problems communicating with her peers and was scared of school life.

And Miaomiao was just one example of improper infant education, said Prof. Sun Shaoqiang, a renowned specialist and vice president of the Tianjin Psychological Society.

Early childhood education, Prof. Sun acknowledged, was more than reading, writing, reciting poems or playing a musical instrument and should be given in line with a child's age, innate talent and interest.

"It's not right to make an infant do what older children are supposed to do," he said.

Researchers from home and abroad have uncovered that 50 percent of a person's behaviors are picked up between his or her birth and the ages up to four, so infant education, therefore, is crucial and should be given in an all-round manner.

"Parents should help their children develop a pleasant personality, desire for knowledge, independence, confidence and perseverance -- things that are expected to benefit a child throughout his life and are therefore more important than literacy itself," said the psychologist.

To that effect, a good way to boost a baby's brain development was to grasp and observe things "so that they can feel the different textures of different objects," said Wang Yuwei, the pediatrician in Jinan.

Elder children should be encouraged to keep and observe their favorite animals, dismantle toys and make their own little toys out of plasticine, she said.

"A child learns from his own experience -- by touching, crawling and capering in a carefree environment," she said. "Parents may actually impair their children's development by spoon-feeding them with book knowledge and keeping them from the joys of infancy."

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2003)