Tuesday, September 14, 2010

略谈教育

Here are the collections of the blogs from a father of a ten year old boy whose IQ is 160.

http://www.unknownspace.org/article_t/Parenting/31492729.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31275247_0.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31276027_0.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31278411_0.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31280387_0.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31283107_0.html
http://www.mitbbs.com/article0/Parenting/31298403_0.html

I agree with most of their opinions and approaches, but some of them gave me a different perspective on things that I didn't expect or think of. Every kids is different, the most important thing is to understand your kid, and find a right way for him/her.

扁豆五岁半的时候经常去一位小朋友家玩。那个小朋友和扁豆一样大。他们家刚买了
Yamaha 钢琴,并给孩子请了老师。有时候就让孩子即兴弹个儿歌什么的,扁豆羡慕得
不得了。回到家跟我们说,他也要学钢琴。于是我们就买了一个德国的杂牌钢琴,请了
个台湾老师教。钢琴老师在美国拿过音乐硕士,用美国教材教,很认真,对孩子也和蔼
可亲。教了有一年,孩子也学了简单识谱,但扁豆妈觉得教得太浅,只是局限于儿歌之
类。于是她就去咨询有没有更好的老师。调查的结果是,俄国的钢琴老师水平比较高。
一来二去的,我们就让扁豆去和一位严格得出名的俄国老师学琴了。头一次上课,上来
就让扁豆弹 German Dance by Bethoven。我们扁豆一是看不懂谱子,二是弹琴手型不对,用老师的话说“是敲琴不是弹琴”。结果被一顿臭骂。回来的路上,扁豆就哭开了
,说不想和新老师学了。她妈苦口婆心地说:严师出高徒。你再学一个月。如果还是受
不了,我们就换。又去“挨骂”了三、四次,回回扁豆都哭。他妈就问他:换不换老师
?扁豆说:这个老师严厉是严厉,但水平的确高。她弹 German Dance 不费力气,很好
听。虽然被骂,心里难受,但我还是想跟她学。这一晃三年下来,扁豆钢琴已经考过四
级,“挨骂”的次数越来越少,比赛小奖也拿了一两个。更重要的一点,老师的言传身
教,让扁豆对音乐的理解提高了一个层次。用老师的话说,他已经知道 tempo,
expression 的重要性了。相比之下,原来先学琴的小朋友早就不弹了。Yamaha 钢琴成
了客厅里的摆设。

言归正传。扁豆中文学校用的教材是中国暨南大学华文学院编的一套《中文》教材,给
海外儿童用的。一年学一册。现在已经开始学第五册了。我这孩子记性不错。上次提到
的 whale's blowhole 的趣事就是一例。一旦他用心学,笨鸟先飞,磕磕绊绊地也就赶
上来了。现在的中文班上,扁豆已经属于好学生之列。主要是他肯学。据他讲,好多同
学都放弃了。上中文课根本不听。听写单词可以错上一半的,大有人在。他老实,老师
让干啥就干啥,从没二话,一步一个脚印地走下来了。所以龟兔赛跑的故事,在他身上
应验了。

我们为了提高他的学习兴趣,特意让他和一位中国声乐老师学唱歌。大家一听肯定笑了
。一个男孩子,学什么唱歌呀。不瞒你说,我开始也有同样的看法。可扁豆妈有她的一
套理论:一是我们当父母的都五音不全。这孩子可不能步我们后尘,给耽误了。二是学
唱中文歌曲,有助于巩固所学中文。三是上台演出,如果不怵观众的话,有助于培养扁
豆的公众演讲能力。这第三条对我比较有吸引力。于是就这么办了。

你甭说,几年下来,扁豆在这三方面都有进步。歌喉嘹亮,音域宽阔;中文利索多了;
大庭广众下的言谈举止,更拿得出手了。四年级在学校做的课堂报告啦,课上发言啦,
都比以前有进步,有口若悬河的趋势。这点从他的成绩单中也能显示出来。语言表达能
力上了一个台阶。上台唱歌也从扭扭捏捏型,变成大大方方型,自信心倍增 。有时候
在家,他心血来潮,会一边弹琴一边唱歌,有滋有味的。

Monday, September 13, 2010

Albert to play pretend

Recently Yuqi and I asked Albert, how's things at school, who he played today. His mouth would popped up a few familiar names. And sometimes, he even said "I didn't play with anyone, I played with myself. No one wanted to play with me." I got worried, and had Yuqi asked his teacher. Surprisingly Ms Vino said Albert played very well at school, played with almost every one. He's even very talkative now, v.s. before going back to China, Albert was quite at school. Albert also translated for two Chinese classmates who don't speak good English.

It seems to start to happen after Albert came back from China, he wanted to have a little brother just like his good friend Maomao does. Tonight he even named his fluffy toys Mommy, Daddy, Albert and little brother, and played pretend by himself. Big pressure on me. : (

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Good Children's Books (2-6 years old)

不一样的卡梅拉(法)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9213954&ref=book-02-D
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20531735&ref=book-02-D

青蛙弗若格和朋友们(荷)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9203153

贝贝熊系列丛书(美)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9201235
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20353519&ref=product-0-B
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20689592&ref=product-0-E


蹦蹦和跳跳的故事(全10册)(德)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20163873&ref=product-0-A

斯凯瑞金色童书(美)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9284655&ref=product-0-F
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20039610
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20163872&ref=product-0-A

14只老鼠 (日)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20817211&ref=product-0-A

小兔汤姆系列 (法)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20213333&ref=product-0-A

可爱的鼠小弟 (日)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20646032&ref=product-0-B

好奇的乔治(全8册)(美)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20805043&ref=product-0-A

聪明豆绘本系列(英)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9272644&ref=product-0-A
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=9238009&ref=product-0-E

古利和古拉(日)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=20676778&ref=product-0-A

窗边的小豆豆 (日)
http://product.dangdang.com/product.aspx?product_id=706089&ref=book-02-D

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Albert's back to school

Albert finally went back to school. He came back last night, seemed to be happy. A few friends graduated or left for preK. But Albert's still got his best friend Harrison, buddies Luke, Anolf and girlfriend Harper to play with. Albert said that his classmates asked if he could speak both Chinese and English, he said yes, proudly :).

Started to read "Frog and Friends" with Albert, very fun and educational. Definitely recommend it.
From Wikipedia:
The characters deal with elementary feelings such as love, fear, sadness, insecurity, happiness and more. These themes are materialized by simple and clear stories. Frog and his friends try to understand the feelings they encounter in both good and bad times.