All About Your Child

Times have changed. Fashion have changed too. Even our basic living is different from the past. When the environment is different, our thinking changes too. But what about our values as parents and the way we teach our kids?

In the past, many of my grannies’ generation strongly believes that when you spare the rod, you spoil the child. In the olden times, canning a child in school is so common. Now, even when the teacher raised his/her voice at the student, he/she may be in danger of losing his/her job.

Today, Allan told me a story of his friend’s daughter, 14 years old. She had just received a final warning from the school principal. Why? Here’s the story….

“She doesn’t have any extra-curriculum activities, the school insists that its a must for all students to have at least one of such activities. She chose Girl-Scout. The teacher told her that she needed to go through an interview before she can join. Her reply, “No! I am not going for any interview, I have decided to join Girl-Scout and that’s final. If you don’t allow me to join the team, then, forget it, I’ll NOT be joining ANYTHING ELSE.” The teacher tried to explain nicely, but she walked off.

Then she started to bully students who are younger than her. There was a particular girl, a year younger than her, she disliked very much. On her blog, she wrote, FOR FREE F#*K, CALL SO-&-SO AT THIS MOBILE NUMBER. Man! Did that poor girl got lots of nuisance call? You Bet!

Allan’s friend, the teenager’s dad, confiscated her computer and started to read her blog as well as check on all the recent sites she has been to. None of the sites were meant for a young girl like her (that is if you know what I mean). The most heart-breaking info her dad found out was his eldest daughter actually went for a tattoo. She had a dolphin tattooed on her right waist.

Allan’s friend isn’t someone with a good temper, so heated quarrel went on for days…..”

Which kid would dare to argue with the teacher in the past? Which child would dare to do such a thing to their younger schoolmates in the past? Never! Are the kids of today harder to discipline? Or are the parents not getting involved enough with their child’s progress?

Yesterday was at my in-laws house, the usual Sunday routine for the Loh family to meet up.

My second niece, Zeng Yee, does her usual updates of whatever happened to her over the week for me. That’s what she likes to do. She likes to talk to me so much. Hey, I am not bragging, its true. I guess for the very basic reason – I listen to her little voice and hear her heartfelt words.

Yesterday’s hot topic was her dad was in School with her on Saturday for a meet-with-the-parents session, a talk on the way Mathematics were taught in her school. I was looking through the handouts. What Alien they were to me!

Number bonds?! What’s that? It was a new style of teaching introduced a few years back, for children to understand the relationship of numbers and how they eventually do add up or substract from one another.

Why has Maths become even more complicated as it already it? Anyway after reading through the 10 pages long of handouts, the ending was something that woke me up from all the Greek.

In a small decorated box, it wrote:

“Tell me, and I’ll forget.
Show me, and I’ll remember.
Involve me, and I’ll learn.” By Maria Jones

So true, so true. We used to tell and tell and tell our children what to do, what not to do. But children remember what you tell them only if you show them by example. And whatever that you try to drill it in their heads, get them to do it too, that’s how they learn and remember and never be forgotten.

True for you?

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Songs for Lower Primary Math:

www.waterford.org

www.songsforteaching.com

www.sara-jordon.com/MathMenu.html