What are the benefits of learning piano, painting, English, Tang poetry, arithmetic ... much earlier?
On weekends, girlfriends who rarely meet each other come to visit with children who have just entered primary school. I haven't seen her much since she became a big fan of "Let the children win at the starting line" a few years ago. I only heard her say that children start early education just a few months after birth, go to expensive kindergartens when they are older, and attend various interest classes on weekends, from English, piano, mental arithmetic to Go, and all the children are not left behind. So, every weekend, she is busy on the way to study with the prince. It is as difficult for you to ask her for a cup of coffee as it is to meet a politician. This weekend, I was really flattered that she had time to have tea. However, when I saw her child's face and dim eyes, I knew she was in trouble. After so many years of tossing, her children may have been "tired at the starting line" before winning at the starting line.
Sure enough, as soon as I settled the child in the game room, she threw herself on the sofa and buried her head in the big cushion. She told me in dismay that the child had just entered the second grade and didn't concentrate on his studies at all. They are particularly procrastinating on their homework, and their grades plummet. They simply have a "phobia of going to school", and they are always crying and shouting not to go to school, and interest classes are even more daunting. "I'm really scared. If this continues, he will have psychological problems." She said.
Looking at her depressed appearance, I can't help but sigh, another victim who is obsessed with "letting children win at the starting line". I don't know where this slogan comes from, and I don't know where to verify science. While making early education businessmen earn a lot of money, many children have lost their childhood curiosity and enthusiasm for exploring the world spontaneously. The dim and erratic eyes of close children are the best proof. I really shouldn't be silent anymore. It is better to argue the absurdity of this slogan with your girlfriend, which is also a responsibility to your children.
Life is not a sprint, but a marathon.
"Why do you believe in letting children win at the starting line?"
She gave me a puzzled look: "On TV, online, everyone said so. All the mothers around me believe it, but you don't. Raising children is like herding sheep. "
"You must agree that winning at the starting line is just a metaphor. In what kind of competition, winning at the starting line is particularly important? "
"Of course, it's a 100 meter sprint." She answered without thinking.
"Do you think life is a sprint? Still hope that the child's life is as short as a 100-meter sprint? "
She immediately gave me a white look: "This is too unlucky. Who wants a child's life to be a sprint? If you have to make an analogy, it is more like a marathon. " At this point, she suddenly stopped for a while. "Yes, the marathon doesn't seem to say much about winning at the starting line."
"Since you think life is like a marathon, why do you care so much about whether your child wins at the starting line? In the marathon, how many runners who win at the starting line can laugh at the end? To be good at maintaining strength, there are still many people coming from behind? "
"Said life is a marathon, that's just a case, then again, the somebody else learn English at the age of three, your child doesn't learn, aren't you afraid he can't keep up? People learn abacus mental arithmetic, but your children don't. Why aren't you worried? The little girl of CCTV Spring Festival Evening memorized all her surnames. Your children don't even know Li Qiansun and Zhao. Aren't you afraid of losing face? " She seems a little anxious and talks like a barrage.
It seems that convincing a person in a few words is really an illusion, and I can only take drastic medicine: "I am really in no hurry and I am not afraid of losing face. Face and anxiety are psychological problems of adults. You are worried that if your child doesn't learn English at the age of three and doesn't do mental arithmetic, he will not be able to keep up in the future. That's blind worry, because children's cognition and learning rules are not like that at all. In ancient China, there were Bai Ning in Fang Zhongyong, and they were all called prodigies when they were children. When I grow up, I will be mediocre. It can be seen that life is really a marathon, and winning at the starting line is unreliable. Although Mozart was a model of early wisdom, he died young. According to research, a large part of the reason is that he studied too hard in his early years, his health was not good enough, and his mentality was not sound enough. Finally, he was poor and ill. Therefore, I don't want my children to be Mozart. I hope he is Haydn. Although he is a late bloomer, he can live a long and healthy life and achieve remarkable results. "
She suddenly got angry with it, her brow was full of unconvinced, and she sat there drinking tea fiercely. If there were no problems to be solved, I'm afraid I would have left long ago. After observing my words and feelings, I decided to change my strategy and "lure the enemy deeper."