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A-mao (熱門博主)
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從害羞男孩到group leader候選人

(2006-09-26 07:45:03) 下一個
昨晚一到家,上一年級的兒子就高興地給爸爸報喜:“I am a candidate for junior group leader.”

“How many candidates?”

“Totally 3 candidates for junior group in after-school program.”

“Great, son. Keep working hard and I will give you 1 dollar if you become the leader.”

。。。。。。


和大多數中國男孩子一樣,兒子從小就是一個靦腆而害羞的孩子。為這,我和太太沒有少操心。總是想辦法讓他多和別的孩子玩,送出去,請進來,家裏的聚會,經常是為他。他至今在陌生的環境中依然害羞,不敢在生人麵前表現自己。但這些年,進步是巨大地。

preschool對他幫助最大

兒子的第一個daycare是我們在匆忙中找到地。那是一家私人的daycare center。因外公外婆要回國,而那時又是在學期的中間,很難在好的daycare找到位置,就匆匆確定下來。孩子才兩歲多,但還是很懂事。哭了一個星期,也就不哭了。但不情願去。爸爸媽媽知道那隻是個喂飽孩子,不讓孩子出大事的地方,所以,從進出的第一天起,就開始找好一點的daycare center。正好我工作的大學新開daycare center,在聽完負責人的講解,太太和我就決定報名。兒子幸運地抽到簽,轉到了這家帶研究性質的daycare。去之前,帶兒子去看過好幾回,讓他熟悉環境。第一天去,就高高興興,沒有半點猶豫。第一天回家,就高興地宣布他喜歡這個新的地方,並說:“There is no time-out!”

後來,和老師接觸多了,知道了老師在處理孩子們相互之間矛盾的方法:總是有一位老師坐下來,和孩子們講道理,分析誰對誰錯,然後,由錯的一方道歉,解決爭執。老師說,兒子害羞,加上英文不好,好多時候別的孩子搶了他的東西,他就一個人趴在一邊哭。一個老師就坐在他旁邊,讓他說出來。開始不說,後來膽子慢慢大起來,就說開了。老師就帶他去找搶他東西的孩子論理。半年下來,就有了不少改變。

接著就升到同一係統的preschool。相同的理念,讓兒子有了長足的進步。兒子不再為被搶了玩具而哭,而是找老師去論理。再後來,連老師也不用,而是直接和人家論理。由於出生日期比上學的cutoff晚了一個月,兒子在那裏多呆了一年。我們和老師坐下來,討論如何讓兒子學習與別的孩子相處。提出了讓兒子在學校多承擔一些“工作”,幫助老師和同學,如給小朋友讀書,幫老師收拾桌子等等。這一年是兒子進步最大的一年。在學校裏,他會和別的家長聊天,常常說個不停,讓急著上班的家長哭笑不得。學校的表演,他也落落大方地參加。

After-school program 讓兒子學會了適應新環境

進KG了,兒子幸運地碰到了一位好老師。我們和老師商量,兒子在Academy上不用花太多的時間,主要是希望他學習Personalskills。要求老師多給他機會,去幫助別的孩子和老師。老師真地給他機會。為了“賄賂”老師,我們也是盡量捐助班上需要的學習用具,讓兒子帶到學校。“Let him feel proud”是我們的目標。

進了KG,最頭痛的事是挑選After-schoolprogram。我們也是兩人都工作,沒有其他選擇。問了問周圍的朋友,不少是把孩子送到私人的program裏。那樣,孩子的學習抓得緊。我們看了看兒子的情況,覺得學習上我們可以自己辛苦點,在家裏教。在after-school program,兒子能學點sports,膽子大點,會更好些。就決定送兒子學校的program。由於便宜,非裔孩子多。我們開始也擔心兒子個頭小,打不過人家,會受欺負。但發現老師還是不錯。但每次去接孩子,發現他要麽一個人玩,要麽和老師玩,很少見他和別的孩子玩。問過他幾次,他也不說。後來知道他人小,搶球搶不過人家,又不會玩,不想在別人麵前“露醜”呢。知道了他的心理,就放心了。讓他在那裏混著。在家裏,我和他一起在後院玩,從橄欖球,棒球到足球,我們都玩。老爸水平差,正好是給他的對照。讓他有機會“嘲笑”老爸,我們一起學。慢慢地,他也敢和別的孩子玩了。現在在after-school program,非常活躍。每次接他,老師都誇獎他,同學和他打招呼,讓他高高興興地回家。Very proud of himself。



孩子個性的改變是漸漸的,家長一定要有耐心。自信心的建立,要從點滴開始。家長多參與孩子的教育和學校的活動,不僅有助於了解自己的孩子,還能讓孩子感到驕傲,從而提高孩子的自信。讓孩子參與team sports,不要有急功近利的思想。不要認為孩子在運動上沒有天賦,就不必浪費精力和金錢。team work 是孩子學會personal skills的最好方式。

(9/25/2006)
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閱讀 ()評論 (8)
評論
belgiumqq 回複 悄悄話 thanks a lot!
I like your writing about your children.
A-mao 回複 悄悄話 reply to BELGIUMQQ:

Right, though it has a long history for the pre-school ( not he daycare. Keep in mind that not every ones run by a college/university are of the same quality. So parents have to spend some time to figure out.
BELGIUMQQ 回複 悄悄話 thanks for the reply. as I understand, this daycare/preschool is an experimental one. You can not find it in every place in US.
A-mao 回複 悄悄話 A university-run pre-school/daycare. If you move to a new place, check local university/college to figure out. The one my son went is a facility for children development study. So a lot of new methods are introduced to test. And a lot of college students practice there and graduate students do their research, too. So we had to sign permissions for this type of research.

We like the most is that it encourages kids to learnn while they are playing. However, as I mentioned in another article, kids are not very organized in the school--always make a mess. We always joke that's because the kids are more creative.

So pick up a daycare according to your kid's personality. If your kid is very organized, the type of daycare like my son's may be a good choice.
BELGIUMQQ 回複 悄悄話 what kind of daycare and preschool are you talking? can you give more information about it? We are in Europe now,and we are going to US one year later. We would like to have a such a daycare for my son. It sound good, my son is also a little bit shy.
Thank you!
A-mao 回複 悄悄話 Which one you are talking about? My son's daycare/preschool? No, it's not. The M's system was on our list for a while. However, we thought it over and chose a different one with different style and methodology.
睿ma 回複 悄悄話 I suspect it's a montessory school. Am I right?
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