For parents in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, life is almost "lottery". Buying a house, buying a car, having a child and going to school, and now, even reading interest classes have to be lottery. Xinyi, who is about to enter the age of no confusion, has a seven-year-old son, and since the kindergarten class, she has either accompanied the child to interest classes in her spare time, or waited for the interest class by lottery. "We have classes in the children's center, and the cost is very cheap, a third or even half of the cheaper than the outside institutions, so there are so many people that we can only draw numbers. "In addition to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, some economically developed provincial capitals, interest classes for public training institutions are also hard to find. In the Little Red Book, pens about the Children's Palace lottery also abound, and in many notes, some people even posted the "nanny-level" strategy of the lottery, some people reported the admission "results", and some people complained, "The Children's Palace lottery has never been hit!".In this issue, Micro Story interviewed several parents of 6 to 11-year-old children to understand their views on the interest class of "lottery":
Among them, some are "fans" of the Children's Palace, and feel that the interest classes of the Children's Palace are more "reliable" than other institutions;
Some people think that the Children's Palace is a "nursery" that can help take care of children;
There are also people who think that the Children's Palace is an existence like a "university for the elderly", and they will not consider sending their children to it;
There are also people who don't know that there are interest classes in the Children's Palace, and they spend "huge sums of money" every year to let their children participate in various trainings, but in the end they "give up" ...... halfway
Here's a true story about them:
Text | aaron
Edit |Excellence
Xinyi is a native of Beijing and has a stable job in a state-owned enterprise. Her unit is a second-tier company, and the business volume is not much, and the work pressure is relatively not so great.
For her,The biggest pressure is the education of his son Xiaobao.
Like many parents, since Xiaobao went to kindergarten, Xinyi began to enroll him in various interest classes. As for the location of the class, she chose to be locatedChina Children's Center on West Street, Ping'an Lane.
As a public training institution, registration needs to be through a lottery. In order to be able to shake the number, Xinyi almost gave up the right to choose the course independentlyAs long as you can shake it, it doesn't matter what interest class you go.
Figure |Event posters in the children's center.
Even so, it is not so easy to "win". "I didn't win basketball and art for three semesters, and it continued during the winter break and the next semester. Xinyi said with a smile.
Although a lottery is required, it is very cheap, and it is only thirty or forty yuan for a vocal lesson. You don't have to worry about being cheated when you take classes here, there are too many training institutions outside that run away. ”
Like Xinyi, Lihua's recognition of public training institutions is also relatively high: "Government-run institutions are more advanced than those outsideThe teachers who can enter the Beijing Children's Palace, at least they have an establishment, and the personnel mobility is not so strong
Before moving, Lihua's family lived near the Beijing Children's Palace. When her eldest daughter was 8 years old, she enrolled her child in an interest class in the Children's Palace.
"The classes in the Children's Palace are very popular, and online registration is really a second time. ”Lihua recalled that in 2020, when the school was not open, the child learned to paint in the Children's Palace, and it only cost more than 20 yuan for a class.
Figure |Exterior view of Beijing Children's Palace.
If it weren't for the move, Lihua might have continued to let her children study in the Children's Palace, but after the move, the distance was far away, so she had to find a training institution near her home.
The teachers at the outside institutions are very average. I enrolled my child in dance and piano lessons in Orange Tree, but the teacher's level did not dare to disobey and I couldn't do it well. Because I found some problems, I asked for a refund, but they refused, and then it was very unpleasant. ”
Lihua, who has had an unpleasant experience, has become extra cautious when choosing a training provider. Her daughter's current flute teacher also let her child learn after she inquired a lot.
Xinyi, who has been living in Xicheng, does not have the trouble of moving, but the repetitive action of "lottery" may continue for a long time.
"Shake it slowly, you will learn if you shake it, and if you can't shake it, you will not learn. ”Xinyi said.
Figure |Notes on the Hangzhou Children's Palace Lottery Raiders on Little Red Book.
In the major first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the places in the Children's Palace need to pass the lottery. For example, Hangzhou, which was affected by epidemic prevention in the past few years, was even more difficult to find. In the 1-to-1 single course, the piano number ratio has reached 281:1, which is no less difficult than the college entrance examination.
For Chinese parents, children's education is a big deal, and "chicken baby" is the main task of almost every family. 
Unlike Lihua's affirmation of the teachers of the Children's Palace, Lihua's friend Flora has the opposite opinion.
In Flora's opinion, the courses at the Children's Palace are all entry-level and not suitable for the long-term development of children. Therefore, since kindergarten, she has spent ** in private training institutions to enroll her children in dance classes and piano classes.
My daughter has never been to the Children's Palace, and I have never shaken the number, we all attend classes in the training class outside, and the tuition is definitely more expensive than the Children's Palace.
Like the Children's Palace or the Children's Center, this kind of inclusive institution is really cheap, but the monks can't grab more porridge and less porridge, and they can't learn anything if they grab it, so they can only get started.
After getting started, if you want to go deeper, you still have to pay money, the better the teacher, the higher the price, and it is impossible to expect a large class to improve. ”
Flora's 11-year-old daughter, Youyou, is in the fifth grade of elementary school and has been learning Xi dance since kindergarten and has continued to do so until now.
In addition to attending professional interest classes and hiring qualified teachers, Flora also takes her children to participate in various performances and competitions at her own expense. The daughter is also very competitive and has won her a lot of trophies and certificates.
Like Flora, Lusu spares no expense in her children. Lusu's son, Yueyue, is the same age as Flora's daughter, Youyou, and is also in the fifth grade.
Since Yueyue went to kindergarten, Lu Su began to register him for classes, Lego, basketball, taekwondo, and calligraphy, all of which she chose for her son.
"Children don't have any ideas when they are young, and the average parent must cast a wide net, and then find the child's interests and hobbies, and focus on cultivating. But as the grades get higher and higher, there will be fewer and fewer interest classes, because the proportion of subject classes is higher. ”
Lu Su, who works in a public institution, has an average income, but in terms of children's education, he only spends a lot more than other parents. For interest classes alone, she throws more than 50,000 yuan into training institutions every year.
I have never been stingy with time and money when it comes to raising children. The parents around me all register their children for classes, and the 'roll' is certain, but even if others don't report it, I will report it. Lusu said.
Some data show that education expenditure accounts for a considerable proportion of the total domestic household fiscal expenditure, and it is increasing year by year.
In 2017, the national average household education expenditure was 8,143 yuan (2017 China Education Finance Household Survey).Only two years later, the average value has exceeded 10,000 yuan, and children's education consumption is concentrated between 12,000 and 36,000 yuan(2019 Survey on Children's Education Investment in Domestic Families).
A lot of the money was spent on interest classes.
Figure |Guangzhou Second Children's Palace Lu Su said that he didn't know about such a thing as the lottery on the Children's Palace, "Even if I knew, if I was far away from home, I wouldn't consider it." ”
Although a lot of time and money were invested, Yue Yue still did not find her hobby. After studying taekwondo for six years, I gave up because it was too hard, and finally became interested in basketball, but I also dropped it because of the increase in schoolwork.
However, Lu Su does not regret his efforts.
In the child's childhood, parents are actually a kind of active awareness of their hobbies, even if they do not develop in this area in the future, they can also cultivate their sentiments and hone their will, which is also beneficial to their future growth. Lusu explained.
Those who gave up interest classes because of the increased workload of schoolwork, as well as their daughter Mengmeng in the summer.
11-year-old Mengmeng is in the sixth grade this year and will be in junior high school next fall. Afraid that the child would go to too many classes on weekends and not have enough energy, he stopped some interest classes in the summer, and only kept Mengmeng's favorite table tennis and piano.
When her daughter was young, she was sent to the Children's Palace in the summer to study Xi, "Public institutions are cheap and good, only more than 1,000 yuan a semester, if the lottery can be shaken, of course it will be very friendly to parents." ”
Mengmeng studied art in the Children's Palace, the teacher is good, and she likes it herself.
In the past, the teacher was very fond of the child, but unfortunately the class was not opened later. I've also found outside training institutions that are quite expensive, so I didn't go back to them. In addition, my child is in the upper grades, and I don't want her to be too burdened. ”
For the functional attributes of the Children's Palace, Summer has its own understanding.
In her opinion, the Children's Palace is like an early education class, where children are sent over and watched, and parents can relax while waiting. At the same time, "it also opens a door for the child to see the outside world".
As a parent who tends to let their children grow naturally, Summer feels that children are born with their own light"If she has to have that talent, even if she doesn't go to any training class, she will definitely shine. ”
Also holding a different view of the interest class of the Children's Palace is Ms. Fang from Guangzhou.
Ms. Fang is the mother of a six-year-old girl. In her impression, the Children's Palace is similar to the University for the Elderly:
"To give children or the elderly a place to cultivate hobbies, they have to grab classes online or on mobile apps, but the quality of classes is average. ”
Figure |Screenshot of the message that the number cannot be shaken.
Ms. Fang, who was born in the 80s, also took classes at the Children's Palace when she was a child, but the experience was not good. In her memory, the children's palace she went to paid too much attention to education, and the teacher was not too attentive to class.
Since it is an interest class, the teacher's attitude should be better, to mobilize the children's interest, some Olympiad classes are purely test-oriented. Of course, this was the case before, and I don't know how it is now, but it may have changed a little over the years. ”
Perhaps because the influence of childhood is too profound, when her daughter reaches the age of attending interest classes, Ms. Fang does not send her children to the Children's Palace, but enrolls in other institutions, hoping that her daughter can cultivate certain interests with high quality.
However, Ms. Fang also attaches great importance to the child's own feelings, "If the child goes to a trial class and there is a teacher or friend who I like very much, I will also give up my own insistence and consider letting her take classes in the Children's Palace." ”
Although parents have different opinions on where to attend interest classes, when asked whether attending interest classes is for their children to develop in this area in the future, or simply to cultivate hobbies, everyone's answers are basically the same:
Cultivate interest.
Xinyi, who tirelessly insists on "lottery", does not have such high expectations for her children, "Just have a hobby and know what's going on." ”
Figure |The interior of the children's center.
The mentality of signing up at the beginning was to expand your horizons and pass the time. The purpose of spending money is to occupy the child's time, not to let her learn something, I have this mentality. Lihua said.
Even Flora, who has invested "a lot of money" in her children and her daughter has already achieved a small success, said quite simply: "I just want to cultivate an interest for my children." ”
The reason why Ms. Fang let her daughter learn piano is because her daughter likes it, and she hopes that the child can lay a good foundation from an early age and have a soothing outlet in the future.
If she really has the talent in this area and wants to make it a profession and develop in this area, I will also support it. Ms. Fang said.
All the parents interviewed seemed to be more open-minded when it came to attending interest classes. But what parent wouldn't want their child to be successful?
Summer admits frankly:"Occasionally, I wonder if the adults are too lazy and should force myself to work harder with my children when I see other people's children getting medals or certificates.
But from the bottom of my heart, I hope that art and infectious energy can be integrated into my daughter's life, and become something as natural as eating and drinking. ”
In terms of cultivating children's interests, Summer prefers Western-style education.
"You see, in Western countries, even the most ordinary cleaner has his own perception and understanding of art," she said.
Of course, with the time and effort spent, who wouldn't want to see a result?
However, I don't want to burn that calorie too much until my child is not enthusiastic about it. If you don't become an artist, it's even more pitiful if you don't even want to feel art. I don't want to pull out the seedlings and help them grow. ”
Lu Su, who didn't expect his son to become famous and start a family, didn't care about Yueyue's abandonment halfway through the interest class.
In fact, not only Yueyue, but many children around Lusu are like thisA few years of study this year, a few years of study that, as I grew older and increased my studies, a lot of interests were put on hold.
If I couldn't find an interest, I had to switch to subjects, and now we have applied for subject tutoring in mathematics and English. "It seems that the end of interest is still the subject. ”
And this seems to be the norm for all children.
The interest class is just the beginning of their little life. After that, they will follow the established trajectory of small promotions, and they will rise until they are admitted to university.
The older you get, the less interest you have. The softness of the piano and the melodiousness of the violin will eventually be replaced by a sea of books.
Those days when they were held by their parents and ran between one interest class and another will eventually fall into the dust and become part of the memories of childhood.