Parenting approaches: Courses and extra-classes
The kiasu (scared of losing out) syndrome is everywhere. In the malls, in the brochures, on the notice boards of schools. Everything looks necessary, everything looks beneficial, they will not turn out bright enough if they don't attend this one or that one. But Wednesday is already busy, let's squeeze him into the Thursday session instead - skip the nap, he usually doesn't even sleep.
These are typical conversations Celest and I have about sending the children to each course we see and recently we've backed down from a number for various reasons including not having enough time, not having enough money and yes, the children might be tired.
The last point, being tired, might be a big concern among many parents as they feel that their kids are overloaded and won't enough rest. That is true to a certain extent. However, the human brain, especially those of young children, are like highly elastic balloons - always looking for ways to expand, able to stretch. These balloons become stiff over the years and get more difficult to inflate, and more easy to explode.
So, don't hesitate to exercise their minds, test their capabilities and you'll find that they will mostly take everything you throw at them and then turnaround and ask for more. You'll find them to be like little information monsters, with a hunger and craving to learn new things, pick up skills.
So here we are with extra speech & drama, piano, art, ballet, Chinese, science & technology, and not to mention the numerous extra holidays camps/courses and orchestral concerts, musicals, storytelling sessions and so on. If you say that children are the best investment, then we are certainly are investing heavily.
Of course, we check back with them after each lesson to see if they had fun - because learning can not take place without a certain element of fun - and we all know that.
These are typical conversations Celest and I have about sending the children to each course we see and recently we've backed down from a number for various reasons including not having enough time, not having enough money and yes, the children might be tired.
The last point, being tired, might be a big concern among many parents as they feel that their kids are overloaded and won't enough rest. That is true to a certain extent. However, the human brain, especially those of young children, are like highly elastic balloons - always looking for ways to expand, able to stretch. These balloons become stiff over the years and get more difficult to inflate, and more easy to explode.
So, don't hesitate to exercise their minds, test their capabilities and you'll find that they will mostly take everything you throw at them and then turnaround and ask for more. You'll find them to be like little information monsters, with a hunger and craving to learn new things, pick up skills.
So here we are with extra speech & drama, piano, art, ballet, Chinese, science & technology, and not to mention the numerous extra holidays camps/courses and orchestral concerts, musicals, storytelling sessions and so on. If you say that children are the best investment, then we are certainly are investing heavily.
Of course, we check back with them after each lesson to see if they had fun - because learning can not take place without a certain element of fun - and we all know that.