Nervous Mom

~Just Playing~

When I'm building in the block room, please don't say I'm "just playing".
For you see, I'm learning as I play, about balance and shapes.
Who knows, I may be an architect someday.

When I'm getting all dressed up, setting the table, caring for the babies,
don't get the idea I'm "just playing". For you see, I'm learning as I play;
I may be a mother or a father someday.

When you see me up to my elbows in paint or standing at an easel, or moulding
and shaping clay, please don't let me hear you say, "He is just playing.?
For you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm expressing myself and being creative.
I may be an artist or an inventor someday.

When you see me sitting in a chair "reading" to an imaginary audience,
Please don't laugh and think I'm "just playing".
For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a teacher someday.

When you see me combing the bushes for bugs, or packing my pockets with choice
things I find, don't pass it off as "just playing." For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I may be a scientist someday.

When you see me engrossed in a puzzle or some "plaything" at my school,
please don't feel the time is wasted in "play". For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to solve problems and to concentrate.
I may be in business someday.

When you see me cooking or tasting foods, please don't think that because I enjoy it, it is "just playing." I'm learning to follow directions and see differences.
I may be a cook someday.

When you see me learning to skip, hop, run and move my body, please don't say I'm "just playing". For you see, I'm learning as I play. I'm learning how my body works.
I may be a doctor, nurse or athlete someday.

When you ask me what I've done at school today, and I say, "I just played,?
please don't misunderstand me. For you see, I'm learning as I play.
I'm learning to enjoy and be successful in my work. I'm preparing for tomorrow.
Today, I am a child and my work is play.

by Anita Wadley
 
Hi Carang,

The poem you posted made me think of this poem that my beloved stp-dad sent to me when I started university. It's also about education and learning, but more abstract:

***********
Warning to Children

Children, if you dare to think
Of the greatness, rareness, muchness
Fewness of this precious only
Endless world in which you say
You live, you think of things like this:
Blocks of slate enclosing dappled
Red and green, enclosing tawny
Yellow nets, enclosing white
And black acres of dominoes,
Where a neat brown paper parcel
Tempts you to untie the string.

In the parcel a small island,
On the island a large tree,
On the tree a husky fruit.
Strip the husk and pare the rind off:
In the kernel you will see
Blocks of slate enclosed by dappled
Red and green, enclosed by tawny
Yellow nets, enclosed by white
And black acres of dominoes,
Where the same brown paper parcel -

Children, leave the string alone!
For who dares undo the parcel
Finds himself at once inside it,
On the island, in the fruit,
Blocks of slate about his head,
Finds himself enclosed by dappled
Green and red, enclosed by yellow
Tawny nets, enclosed by black
And white acres of dominoes,
With the same brown paper parcel
Still untied upon his knee.
And, if he then should dare to think
Of the fewness, muchness, rareness,
Greatness of this endless only
Precious world in which he says
he lives - he then unties the string.

-- Robert Graves
 
Carang and Loupou, thanks for your poems. The one "Come, Play With Me!~ " best illustrates the situation of my child, or any other child. Whenever I try to revise her books with her, she'll say "I'm not in the mood", then she'll suggest playing a game with her. As for Robert Grave's one, I'm still figuring out what it means.

Histamin,

I haven't heard of Po Leung Kok Tan Siu Lin primary school before. But Po Leung Kuk is a famous educational instituion, and most of its schools are band 1 schools, though not in English medium. Mind you, Po Leung Kuk's schools are pushing its students hard, academically and in extra-curricular competitions, because their minds are set on becoming a prestigious brand of schools. It's becoming a direct subsidiary school very soon, which means it will have tution fee just like a private school, and it's full time, of course. All local primary schools will be full time by 2007.

In fact, I do not object to 8 or 10 items of homework a day, which are good for building up a good academic foundation of a child. I grew up under the local system with this workload, and it gave me a good academic foundation. It's the long school hours I'm against. When I was in primary school, it was half day. I had time to play during the day, now the word "play" is just like a dream for the poor kids. Why the change to full day school, because there're not enough students to support a school, and the less competitive ones are moving or closing down soon. So those morons at the educational bureaus are sacrificing our kids' energy and sleep to save the schools and educational workers. Imagine these kids are the future of our society, being brought up in a system with the lack of sleep and play at so early an age. I'm still figuring out how I can help my daughter to survive when she goes to primary school. Why don't those morons let the children finish homework before they come home so that they'll have time to play and rest?

If only we'll listen to our children and make them happy, they'll be willing to learn. But the present system just doesn't allow that. By the time they found out full day primary school is too tiring for kids, my child would have graduated then.

So why don't I send my child to an international school? I want her to be bilingual, that's my consideration.
 
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you could try chinese international school or yew chung international school...

even if you send your child to an international school, if you speak cantonese at home, your daughter will still be bilingual. she would need help with reading and writing though.

good luck!

and more importantly, RELAX! your pressure on her may just have the opposite effect to what you want!
 
Hi, Valencia
I'm glad to hear your opinion about Po Leung Kok local schools, because I'm foreingner in HongKong, I've never experienced HongKong's school.
It's not normal in my country that small age of kids in primary school have many homeworks and exams, we even don't have activities after school in primary stage 1 to 3, so we're only playing with our classmates after school.
I found Po Leung Kok Tan Siu Lin school in Kowloon side, they said 30% of the students from overseas, they're learning in multi-cultural atmosphere, so I'm considering this school for my son who is growing as mixed.
I prefer international school, ESF to local school without caring how much should we expense money for our children's education. But what do you think about their chinese (if you want them learn Chinese)?
Are all the local schools really doing same like sacrifing children's rest and sleep?
I heard some schools (private ones) don't, but it's hard to get in because of overwhelming of applications..
 
Histamin,

>>Are all the local schools really doing same like sacrificng children's rest and sleep?

I'm afraid yes. For example, my friend's sons are in P.1 - P.3. Their school doesn't have much homework, in fact. However, this year it's moved from Kwun Tong to Tseung Kwan O. They live in Kwun Tong. So the poor kids have to get up at 6:30 and catch the school bus, which arrives at the school at 7:30, even though the classes start at 8:00. School ends at 3:30, by the time the kids reach home, they're simply exhausted. Moreover, their school requires each student to have at least one sports activity, and they have to attend other extra-curricular activities after school, which leave them little time for homework and revising, let alone play.

90% of schools have at least 6 or more homework per day, plus tests and exams. Those who have less homework are usually not band 1 school and have a poor English standard. I can think of two exceptions. One is DBS, one of those you mentioned so hard to get in. Another one is Creative Primary School in Kowloon Tong, which unlike traditional schools, is activity based. However, most parents are worried that their kids may not catch up academically if they study in this kind of school.

In short, the study environment here is crazy.
 
Dear Valenica,
I am sorry that you are so stressed about your child's education. Just a few observations.....
I taught at one of he most prestigious Girls' Schools in HK for three years. Although the standard of English was very high, the girls mostly reminded me of robots - they were unable to think independantly, and if a questions was not phrased in the same terms as their textbooks, they tended not to know the answer. In my experience with many HK students, the ability to think creatively and laterally is not at all valued in schools.
IN my experience, most developed countries have primary schools running fron 9ish - 3.30ish every day. It is not the full school day that is the problem, but a combination of unrealistic amounts of homework, and the ever growing trend for children to do TOO MANY activities after school. I have students who play two or three musical instruments, a couple of sports, + extra maths, tutoring etc etc. To have a 10 year old student (as I do) who does piano, clarinet, violin, tennis, basketball, netball, and extra maths and chinese classes, is aksing for an exhausted student, an an unhappy family.
Don't get me wrong - I am all for kids experiencing lots of things, but kids in HK do far too much, and simply don't have time for creative play. (or indeed, ANY kind of play).
I understand that HK is competitive for students, but you don;t have to be a doctor/lawer/architect/civil servant to be happy, or even to make a good salary.
I cannot help feeling that the competition sometimes is as a result of competition between mothers/parents. I hear conversations between parents that are just a constant battle of one-upmanship.
My little baby is not even one year old. But I would prefer him to be happy and average, than unhappy and extraordinary. So much depends on being balanced, and so little depends on being 'successful'.
Good Luck,
HappyV
 
Thanks Carang, but I think the Chinese international school teach only Mandarin, not written Chinese. Btw, Yewchung is exhorbitant! There's no way I can push her. Play is important, but I wonder how I can let her play under the present system and time-slot.
 
HappyV,

I agree with you totally. I had private students from those schools, so it's my vanity and ambition to put my child in those schools. I won't like my child to participate in too many activities, but most moms in HK now are obsessed with the extra-curricular activities in order to earn credits for their children. Schools too are obsessed with activities and competitions in order to survive. I've heard about the mentality of those parents in those schools, and I'm afraid of becoming one.:haha: These days I'm still adjusting to my new schedule, and reflecting on my academic obsession.
 
Hi Valencia and others,

My kids are now in ESF. They have Mandarin classes 3 times per week in school and DH and I also enrolled them in extra Mandarin after school.

Their progress is a bit slow, but they are begining to understand and use it as a *language*, not just as a purely academic exercise. However, ESF uses simplified characters in the reading and writing, while I wish they used complex characters, because that is most practical for living in HK and reading anything published before 1950.

Both my kids take an instrument. The older one (10) has violin & the younger one (8) guitar. We try to make them practice every day (1/2 hour for the older one & 15 minutes for the younger one).

The younger one has Kung Fu lessons & they both have a drawing class on Saturday.

It is a rather heavy schedule, but it would be heavier if we allowed them to take all the classes they have requested (riding, gymnastics, swimming [we only give them swimming in the summer], rock-climbing...].

Their school day goes from 8:30 to 2:30. I take them to school myself, we usually leave the house at 7:45-8:00.

It *is* hard to resist the competative urges. I remember at my son's 6th birthday, one of the mothers told me her son twas taking cello and *loved* it and practiced at least 1 hour each day, and at first I felt inadequate. Why wasn't I giving my son cello lessons or calligraphy? But then I said "wait a minute, unless the kids is an extremely unusual prodigy, isn't that a kind of sad childhood? She says he loves it, but do you really believe it....?"

Understanding the Robert Graves poem... I've been chewing on it for over 20 years (since my step-dad sent it to me). At this point, I think it is a poem about knowledge, self-knowledge and understanding. That when we embark on a true education we think about the mysetries of the world, which culminate in still more questions and maybe the answer does exit ("the neat brown paper parcel").

Once you have looked at the answers to the complex questions (opening the parcel) you find see even greater complexity and more things to answer (the neat brown parcel again).

His "Children, leave that string alone" because once you try to delve even deeper into the beauty and questions and complexities, you become enmeshed in them and tumble into further mysteries (which is how great scholars and scientists may spend their lives).

So then, after experiencing so many layers of complexity and mystery and trying to answer them, and if you are still love and are intrigued by "fewness, muchness, rareness, Greatness of this endless only Precious world " you are then ready to penetrate its mysteries and come up with some real answers.

And all this: the awe at the world around us and the quest for answers *is* true education, and is a deep and sometimes dangeorus endeavor that never stops.

At least, that is what I think it means now.... I will probably keep looking at that poem for the rest of my life and puzzling it over. :)

Because we all need to remember that education and academics are not the same thing (although they can be aligned) and remember the quote attributed to Mark Twain:

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education"
 
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