There have always been two opinions on whether to enroll children in interest classes. Those who agree with enrolling in classes believe that children should be trained from an early age. 3-6 years old is the golden period for children. Almost all kinds of enlightenment are Starting from this age, if you miss it, you may never get it back. Moreover, the competition in today's society is so fierce that it is important for children to learn more talents. As the saying goes, having too many skills is not a burden.
On the other side, those who oppose enrolling children in classes believe that interest classes are all for making money. It is too hard for children to start running around on the way to various courses at a young age, and children should be left alone. , childhood is purely about playing, and what can such a young child learn? Enrolling in so many classes is just counterproductive.
Faced with the problem of interest classes, I didn’t think about it seriously because Maizi was young. I intuitively believed that children should focus on playing. As for interest classes, I didn’t think too much about it, and my husband I was firmly opposed to enrolling in various classes, so when my child went to kindergarten, he foolishly asked if there were any extracurricular interest classes that he must enroll in. When he got a negative answer, he felt a burst of joy. In the end, he almost ruined his career in kindergarten because of this. road. At that time, I vowed not to sign up for any interest classes. However, after only a year, as I communicated more and more with parents of children of the same age as my son, I gradually changed my original idea of ??not enrolling in classes, so I changed my mind from my son’s age. After our 4th birthday, we also started to choose interest classes.
At the beginning, I just felt that 4 or 5 years old is an important enlightenment stage for learning various talents. Children should still have some specialties, which can not only cultivate their good temperament and cultivate their sentiments, but also prepare them for future entrance examinations. It may also be helpful. The important thing is that it can exercise children's adaptability and willpower, and it can also add fun to life when children become adults. This is also my own personal experience. But now there are a dazzling array of various interest classes, 20 to 30 popular majors, and hundreds of training institutions subdivided, which makes people dazzled and confused. In fact, I have never worried about the so-called children losing at the starting line, because I don't agree with the starting line at all. I always think that it doesn't matter whether the starting speed is fast or not, what matters is who has more perseverance and endurance to persist to the end! I have never thought about letting my children be proficient in all kinds of martial arts. Not many children are all-rounders, especially because I have been influenced by the education concept of love and freedom. I also really want to give my children a free and happy life. When I was a child, I was afraid of being accused of overthrowing talents, but at the same time, I was also worried that I would miss the sensitive period of cultivating children's talents and regret it in the future. I have been wandering between gains and losses. To this end, I specially read some articles written by experts and experienced parents, hoping to gain experience from them. After reading the opinions of all parties, I feel that I am suddenly enlightened. One thing I have figured out is that "love and freedom do not mean letting oneself go. On the contrary, true love and freedom just need some guidance and restrictions, and love and freedom are not only It's just a formal slogan. Freedom is not the appearance of no restrictions and indifference, but should refer to the spiritual freedom of children. Parents who truly understand this truth will spend time and energy whether they enroll their children in classes or not. , spend time to accompany your children, use your own way to guide your children's interests, and at the same time leave more space for your children to use their own hands and brains to think. However, if parents themselves have limited time, energy, and abilities, rather than letting their children do so on their own, Playing aimlessly, it is actually better to attend some extracurricular classes based on children's interests, with professional teachers giving certain guidance. Even if they have no interest, they can also train them. Maybe they will really find their talents, instead of always giving them a " "free range" to cover up the fact that some parents are actually reluctant to spend more of their spare time with their children.
Although this is said, it is not that you can sign up for interest classes however you want. Many parents make a mistake when enrolling their children in classes, that is, they look at what other people’s children learn and then let their own I don’t ask my children what they want to learn; I don’t ask them what they want to learn, but what I want them to learn. So when children are forced to learn some courses that they don’t like and are not comfortable with, not only is their interest not cultivated, but they also have great rebellion. Psychologically, it may also affect the intimacy of the parent-child relationship, so in the final analysis, the key to signing up for interest classes is not at all whether to sign up, but how to sign up? !
(To avoid suspicion of advertising, the real name of the training institution is omitted. If necessary, you can contact us privately!)
First of all, parents should be clear, Interest classes are about children's interests, not parents' interests, not other people's interests, and not the interests needed for school.
The biggest problem for many parents in China is to compare with each other. Whatever other people’s children learn, their own children have to learn the same, and they also require their children to learn better than others; You want your children to inherit your legacy, or you wanted to learn but had no chance to learn, so you want your children to fulfill your dreams... These practices fundamentally ignore that it is the children who attend interest classes, and they do not take into account the children's interests and interests. Expertise is the starting point and blindly follows the trend. It would be fine if the child does not reject it, and gradually really likes it, but if the child has strong rebellious emotions, not only will the money be wasted, but more importantly, the parent-child relationship will be damaged. While accompanying Maizi to various interest classes, I would often see some crying children being dragged and even beaten and scolded by their parents into the classroom. Every time I see such a scene, I can't help but frown, wondering what on earth those parents are doing? In this state, what interest and happiness can a child have? Therefore, you can refer to other people's opinions when enrolling your children in interest classes, but in the end the deciding factor should be the children's interests or choices, not the needs and wishes of adults!
Secondly, when enrolling in interest classes, you should take the child's feelings as the premise and choose the teaching method that the child likes.
What child wouldn’t like such a course?
Although parents have done extensive research in advance and are willing to sign up for classes based on their children’s interests, they are still a little confused when choosing interest classes. There are hundreds of training institutions with the same profession on the market. Which one is better? I think word-of-mouth is a very important criterion, but with the same word-of-mouth, you have to choose the teaching environment and teaching method that your children prefer. Only when children can truly integrate into the classroom and actively participate in the teaching interaction in the classroom can they learn useful things. Otherwise, if the children just sit there blankly, or look around or wander too vaguely, no matter how vivid the teacher speaks, , is also a waste of time and life. Fortunately, today's educational institutions allow trial courses. This is the best way to understand the courses. It is better to let your children experience it for themselves than to hear a thousand words from others. For every interest class I enroll in, I let him try it out first, and then let him decide for himself whether he can take it or not. For example, when we first applied for art courses, we went to two relatively well-known training institutions. One is the current creative art course in Maizi, which looks like painting but is actually based on creative thinking and uses art game teaching methods. , in class, we play with mud, flour, glue, paint, sand, food... in short, we play all kinds of things, but we can't see a few "decent works". I have only started to have some "decent works" after taking the class for more than a year. I learned a little bit about painting techniques, but the laughter from the classroom often echoed throughout the training center. The other is a training institution that teaches children painting skills. It provides more guidance on color, composition, relationship between points, lines and planes, perspective... and the courses are also diverse, including mud, glass, pottery, paint, food... But the first request from the teacher in class is to keep as quiet as possible. To be honest, if I want to train Maizi to start painting, I would prefer the second one because it is easier to see the results of painting here. I brought back a piece of work from both auditions and framed it and hung it on the wall. , ten out of ten people will say that the second painting is more beautiful, but from the perspective of children's skill development, the first painting is the painting language that a 3 and a half year old child should have.
Figure 1
Figure 2
From the perspective of art education, if attention is focused on learning techniques, imagination may be limited.
And a very important point is that I promised to leave the choice after the trial class to Maizi himself, and Maizi clearly told me that he preferred the first course. For this reason, I delayed it for two months, trying to use time to dilute it. Maizi's consciousness, and then find an opportunity to convince him, look, parents always involuntarily want their children to follow their own will, and I am no exception. But in the end, my son still firmly said that he would sign up for the course at the first company. He also liked the course at the second company, but he would have to wait until the first course ended in two years before going to the second one. I was surprised that he was so interested in him. Was the planning conscious or just casual? ...Of course, in the end, Maizi got his wish, and in order not to waste his playing time, I chose a kindergarten for him near the end of school, and I would go to the kindergarten to pick him up 2 hours early every school day. If the same two hours in kindergarten are simple free activities step by step, then wash hands, eat, and wait for school to be over, and switch to class, even though it is only 1 hour, can you imagine that the children are sprinkled with glue and mud? Crawling and rolling like a loach in the classroom? Sprinkle flour into the air and get it sticky all over your body and face? Smear paint all over the body... Although it is troublesome to wash clothes every time, it is difficult for parents not to be moved by the joy of children's natural instincts being unleashed!
Third, do not force or hinder when enrolling in interest classes, but do so in moderation.
Most parents don’t allow them to accompany them during class, so they almost never take photos in class. This is a photo of Maizi and his teacher in the classroom after winning the gold cup in the first promotion competition
As mentioned at the beginning, many parents who advocate free-range breeding believe that enrolling their children in interest classes is counterproductive. I think this view is a bit extreme. In my opinion, only when the child's ability cannot meet the learning requirements or is not interested in the content, but forcing the child to learn, or even forcing the child to achieve results, is counterproductive. On the contrary, if a child likes it and does have some talents and talents, it would also be irresponsible if the parents blindly block it and restrict the child's growth and development. A child's talent only lasts for a few years. If it is not properly protected and guided, it will slowly disappear. Therefore, if it is discovered that the child has abilities beyond ordinary people in some aspects, parents should still provide appropriate support for the child's growth. Opportunities and conditions, such as the Go lessons given to Maizi. Although I also think it is good for boys to learn Go, as it can train logical thinking skills and make boys calmer, but I have always thought that it should be at least 6 or 7 years old, and it depends on his personal interests and understanding. What I didn’t expect was that during the Spring Festival last year, when Maizi was 4 years old and 3 months old, restrictions on watching TV were relaxed for him. As a result, he accidentally watched a TV Go lecture and became fascinated. When he came back, he asked his husband to read the book for him. I talked about some Go knowledge, and then played outside in the summer. I chatted about Go with a little brother who was 4 or 5 years older than him. It happened that the boy was studying, so the two brothers discussed how to let Maizi attend class next time. I went to the teacher's house to try it out, and I was just the executor. I took Maizi to meet the Go teacher at the time agreed by the two brothers. Unexpectedly, I hit it off with the teacher and started playing Go from then on.
At the beginning, I was worried about the two-hour class, which was still challenging for the 4-and-a-half-year-old Maizi. However, every time I went to the teacher’s house to pick up Maizi, the teacher would praise him and say that he was very stable. He is very serious about learning chess, which really surprised me. He is often messy and dishonest at home, so I thought that in this case, he should learn it. It took half a year. Of course, the progress was indeed not small, and he also achieved some good results. These were entirely due to his love for Go and his little understanding. In fact, I just provided him with a learning opportunity.
In addition to Go and creative art, Maizi is also learning taekwondo, swimming and English, and these interest classes are all decided by him. For example, creative art takes up time in kindergarten, and It is an art game. Maizi only finds it interesting and never feels tired. Taekwondo and swimming are both for strengthening the body and not wasting the brain. In English, I just hope that Maizi can have more language environment and develop a sense of language, so I usually listen to what is said in class. CD, I can have a simple conversation with him whenever and wherever I want, and there is no need to review it deliberately. Only for Go, I really need to go home to practice and lay out the game records and formulas, but I almost never ask him, because this is what he likes. We don’t need to remind him, but he himself often forces us to play chess with him. For this reason, Father Mai and Grandpa Mai are facing the computer and the other is holding a mobile phone, perfecting their chess skills every day, but they still shorten the gap little by little until they are defeated one after another. Wheat catches up and surpasses. Therefore, I feel that Maizi’s extracurricular classes seem to be quite busy at present, but he does not feel any pressure. I once asked him if he was tired from taking so many classes because I was worried. He said that he was tired sometimes, especially in Taekwondo. and swimming, but when I asked him if he wanted to learn less English, he didn’t agree. Even if he later said he didn’t want to learn English anymore, it was because he wanted to change to the piano.
The Taekwondo training classroom is a multi-functional classroom with a piano inside. Every time he goes to Taekwondo classes, Maizi wants to play the piano whenever he has some time. One time he catches up with his good friend Yuan Yuan. Taking piano lessons, Yuanyuan had just learned it at that time, so the content of the lessons was very boring, just repeated training of a certain scale, while Maizi sat quietly and listened for an hour. He was not allowed to talk or touch the piano, so he could only be quiet. It is really not easy for a child under 5 years old to listen and read...
In fact, he asked me to learn piano a long time ago. Recently, he has also learned calligraphy. He has a wide range of hobbies. I was already a little overwhelmed, so I shouted stop without hesitation. I think it is a good thing that he is interested, but calligraphy and piano require regular and quantitative practice every day. If he really signs up and takes up too much time playing with toys, he will definitely regret it, so after making it clear to Maizi, I decided that I can study, but I have to put it aside for the time being. According to Maizi's own request, we agreed not to sign up for English classes next year, and the creative art courses will also come to an end. If we still want to learn piano by then, we will start again. As for calligraphy, I gave it a try and Maizi felt pretty good about it. He has been asking me for the past two days when can I go to class? Children aged 5 or 6 have indeed reached the age to start learning to write. According to the teacher, if you wait until the children go to school and learn to write before practicing calligraphy, the fonts and strokes will already have their own habits, so it will be difficult to practice. It is better to learn to write. Let the children lay a solid foundation at the beginning and start learning horizontally and vertically. In comparison, preschool children have more patience and time. After school, it is difficult for children to sit down and practice calligraphy. I think the teacher taught very well and what he said makes sense. I understand this deeply. I haven’t perfected my handwriting, so of course I can’t tutor my children. Moreover, the place where I study is right next to the kindergarten. It takes only 3 minutes to go out. It won't waste time, but I'm still hesitating if I really sign up for my child. In addition, he has already studied 6 extracurricular classes before. Even if I have no learning requirements for him, even if he likes and is willing to learn, he still can't. It was a lot, so I finally decided to wait.
Fourth, children’s interests are allowed to change, but the reasons must be clarified first and cannot be changed at will.
Maizi’s Taekwondo class changed coaches due to class adjustments. The teaching methods of the two coaches were slightly different. The latter coach was younger and lacked some patience, and was stricter and more intense in training. It was also older, so Maizi wanted to give up Taekwondo for a while. Later, through communication with the coach, he encouraged Maizi. After a period of running-in, Maizi adapted to the training of the new coach, although occasionally he would complain because of the hard work during training. Although I only have one class per week, my balance and agility have obviously improved a lot.
Many children may not be very clear about their interests and are often fickle. They may just find a certain subject fun and become interested in it for a while, but it will soon change. Some children may They are not interested in anything at the moment. If parents also hope that their children can have some special skills, they need to spend more time, carefully observe their children's personality characteristics, and help their children find things they are good at; at the same time, they can also provide their children with more Give them some opportunities to be exposed to more interest classes, have more choices, and discover their own interests in the learning process. There may be many reasons why children do not want to attend interest classes. Even if they choose and like the classes, they may change in the process. This is normal. Parents should not worry about wasting the registration fee, but Nor should those with deep pockets leave their children to their own devices. When encountering this kind of situation, parents should not be anxious and angry, but should first understand the reason. Is it because the child really doesn’t like it and has changed his interest, or is it because he wants to give up because he encounters difficulties in the learning process, or maybe he is just in a bad mood for a while. venting of emotions. No matter what the situation is, parents should calmly accept their children's ideas, but if it is the former, it is best to persist in completing the subjects they are studying even if they change interest classes; if it is the latter two, then parents should find more ways to help their children Overcome difficulties, regulate emotions, and encourage him to persevere. In short, when choosing interest classes for their children, parents should try their best to grasp the scale according to their children's abilities and interests. They should not only give their children the opportunity to choose, but also do so in moderation. They should not blindly accommodate their children. They should learn if they want to learn, and if they don't want to learn, they should not learn. If children are allowed to develop the habit of learning everything in three minutes, it will not only waste parents' money and energy, but also make it difficult for children to truly find their own interests, and they will easily lack perseverance and responsibility.
For example, when I first enrolled Maizi in interest classes, I first screened out some interest classes for him to choose based on his personality characteristics, then arranged for him to participate in trial classes based on the subjects he chose, and finally he decided to study on his own. Not learning. Even if he is excited and has a desire to learn, before he makes a decision, I will remind him of the troubles and gains and losses he may encounter during the learning process, especially the time he may lose playing with toys and the hard work he has to do. In order to let their children attend interest classes, many parents will blindly emphasize the benefits of interest classes and dare not tell their children about the play time they may lose or the difficulties they will encounter. This often leads to their children feeling cheated and starting to get emotional after attending interest classes for a period of time. , especially those interest classes that require a lot of practice after class and are accompanied by various exams and competitions, such as musical instruments and chess. Then I have to tell him that once he pays for registration, he must stick to it until the end of the semester, because this is his own choice, and he must follow it in the subsequent classes. In addition to helping to cultivate his children, Perseverance, but also want him to learn to be more cautious before making decisions and understand to be responsible for his words and deeds. Therefore, when he felt that English was getting more and more difficult and did not want to continue learning, he never cried or fussed with me. Instead, he discussed with me whether he could finish this semester and not renew next year, while still maintaining positivity and enthusiasm in class. state (teacher’s comments); therefore, when he did not adapt to Taekwondo and swimming after changing coaches due to different reasons, he developed a rebellious mentality. However, after I helped him sort out his emotions in a timely manner and communicated with the coach about the training content and intensity. , he quickly regained his confidence and insisted on participating in training on time; because of this, he became more and more obsessed with Go. He had to ask adults to practice chess with him almost every day. When adults didn't have time, he would play chess by himself. Not to mention how cute you are when you look serious...
The last point is that there is no comparison, no utilitarianism, and the grading competition is on the sidelines.
I am not saying that I am against grading competitions in interest classes. I just want to say that in cultivating children's interests, we should focus on how to guide and protect children's interests and talents, rather than focusing on everything. In competitions and exams. Of course, you still have to participate in grade examinations and competitions. Not only can you test your child's learning in the recent period, but you can also improve your child's on-the-spot experience and exercise your child's psychological quality. However, remember that this is only a test of your child's learning at one stage. It is one of the ways, not the only one, and because it involves a certain amount of chance on the spot, it cannot fully explain the child's ability level. Therefore, it cannot be the only criterion for measuring a child's ability, let alone a bargaining chip for parents to compare with each other.
Of course, as long as there is competition, there will be competition. As long as there is competition, there will be winners and losers. It is a good thing for children to want to win the game and have the desire to win. However, parents and children should treat the final result with a normal attitude. Wanting to win is a good thing. goals rather than letting it become the manipulator of mood. In fact, whether you win or lose in a competition, it is just like yesterday's news. You must take a long-term view and encourage your children to work harder. But when you are actually competing, you should relax, put aside gains and losses, and focus on the process rather than the results. Only then can you enjoy the happiness and honor brought by your interest! If parents and children only focus on winning or losing, their mentality will easily lose balance, and the true meaning of the word "interest" will be lost. I feel deeply about this, and to this day I am very grateful to my mother.
In my childhood, the children around me were mainly interested in sports and musical instruments. Although I also regret not learning an instrument, and even today I still sing out of tune. This has something to do with my mother. But my mother also opened another window for me. Outside the window is a sky where I can paint freely. During my elementary school years, I really participated in various competitions, especially art competitions. In fact, I didn’t have any great talent in painting, but because my mother gave me the space to try and develop, I had the opportunity to get more. He had many learning opportunities, so he showed some small talents in school and was discovered by the teacher, who focused on cultivating them. But my mother never cared about those competitions, nor did she put any pressure on me. Instead, she often persuaded me to go to bed early when I stayed up late to paint my works because of participating in competitions, and even argued with the teacher not to make me work so hard, which made her very happy. Feeling distressed. Maybe it was my mother’s “not caring” that made me relax and be more willing to work hard, so I won many big and small prizes. This specialty also brought me many honors. Not only did I win Sanhaosheng and the Red Scarf Medal, Later, when I was promoted to junior high school, I was given the opportunity to enter an additional selection and successfully entered a key middle school. Although I have not been able to make any achievements in the so-called specialties so far, it has not only affected my career choice, but more importantly, it has brought a lot of creativity and fun to my life, making me a person who loves life. , a person who is good at observing and discovering the beautiful things in life, especially now that I have the opportunity to fully apply this small specialty in the parenting process, and I have gained a lot. The person I am most grateful to for this is my mother. I think if she had forced me to practice painting all day long and kept an eye on the results every time I competed, I would have given up long ago. In many things, I would have just failed to bloom. , Unintentional planting willows will make the trees shade! "So now my attitude towards Maizi is the same. As long as he likes me, I will support him. As for whether the so-called interest can be developed into a specialty? What kind of achievements can be achieved with specialties? To what extent can it be improved? I didn't even notice. Just like the Go level competition not long ago, he had just learned Go for half a year and was in preschool. I didn’t think about the level competition at all. Even though the teacher informed me, I hesitated. Later I found out that the teacher had already arranged it, and Maizi was also invited by the teacher. To inspire ambition, we accompanied our children to experience it. The final result was completely unexpected. Although we were indeed very proud and happy for our son afterwards, we didn’t take it to heart the next day and just thought to ourselves. He said, "Oh, my son is also on the road to taking exams!" He didn't really care how far he could go on this road. Unexpectedly, just over a month later, the teacher arranged for Maizi to participate in the 15-to-10 competition. This time Maizi failed to get the medal as expected, but he was successfully promoted. Although the child himself was a little disappointed, I think it was It's a good thing, isn't failure considered success? Only by trying and failing and learning to control your emotions during failure can you really improve your psychological quality. More importantly, the higher the level, the more difficult the game, and the more experience you can gain in on-the-spot games. When I went to apply for the certificate, Maizi actually had to participate in the 10-to-5 competition a week later. Although I didn't object, considering that the time between the two competitions was too short, although the child was very active, it was a bit hard, so I called the teacher first to ask for advice. After thinking about it for a while, I decided to give up the competition, but I still continued to train every day with the senior brothers and sisters who will compete next week.
It would be a lie to say that I don’t want him to win, but what I prefer is to see him working hard for his goals. Every time after the teacher explains the new formula, the child will pester his father to practice with him when he goes home. Time sets the chessboard by itself, and his seriousness makes him exude confidence. As for the final result, it is still those four words - let nature take its course!
This is the journey of Maizi’s extracurricular classes. Many people think that the children are really tired when they hear that I have enrolled so many classes for Maizi. But in fact, because these extracurricular classes are all the children of Maizi insist on again and again. Maizi had to make choices, and most of the classes were like games, especially English and creative arts. Even the seemingly boring game of Go, Maizi learned it with gusto, and became more confident after two games. One day, he suddenly followed I said: "Mom, I want to keep playing Go. I want to win the world championship!" I was surprised by his goal. Although I felt that the goal was too ambitious, it is not easy for people to lose their way only when they are moving towards the goal. Of course, while I affirmed and encouraged his goal, I also told him that in addition to this goal, he should also set a closer goal, such as being able to accept the failure of playing chess with his father more calmly and no longer shed tears because of losing!
In addition, I recently discovered that Maizi can tell cold jokes and brain teasers. When I asked, I found out that the teacher told them during the break in Go class. He found it very interesting every time, so Maizi himself Although he feels tired sometimes, he doesn't feel tired anymore because he likes it. On the contrary, I sometimes complain that it is hard to accompany him to so many classes. In fact, my mother is careful here. But no matter what, I always feel that although I want to spend a happy time with my children every day, my talents are limited. The reality is that I often don’t have time and don’t know how to play with my children? Children usually play by themselves and come to tease others when they get bored, but adults don't know what to play with? So if you let your children have something they are interested in, have teachers to guide them correctly, and have a place where they can play with children and learn happily at the same time, why not?