Article from Jingkids Beijing Infringement deleted.
Interview, text |Photo courtesy of Ah Vinegar |Little Red Book @ Wandering with a baby.
Educate children whether they should be chicken babies or lie flat? In between, Vita opted for "out of the loop". Vita used to be a top student, but after high school, he lost his enthusiasm for learning because of his plummeting rankings, and he was almost depressed. After becoming a mother, she didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, so she decided to educate her children in a different way.
part.1
Don't want to replicate learning anxiety,So I took the baby and "escaped".In my second year as a mother, I decided to take my children to live abroad. It was still during the epidemic, and there were few opportunities to go outside after the birth of the child, and staying at home was really not good for the child's growth. After thinking about it for a long time, taking my child out of the house became my goal that year, and I wanted to take him to some countries to see the scenery outside of home. More importantly, I also need a long period of "wandering" to empty myself, to think about how to give my child a happier and more relaxed growth environment, and not let him repeat my anxiety back then. I studied in Beijing in primary school and junior high school, and until I was 16 years old, my academic performance was at the top of my grade, and I thought that studying was too easy. However, after the high school entrance examination, I transferred to a high school in ShanghaiThere were a lot of top students in that school, and I was no longer at the top of the list. The huge gap between "I can no longer be the number one" makes me feel very deeply frustrated. Worse than that, I suddenly realized that I didn't really love learning, and I realized that I had no passion for knowledge at all. It's not just meThere are also some students in my class who used to study very well, but when they go to high school, they suddenly find that they can't study anymore. That terrible state lasted my entire high school and still affects me today. Until now, when I prepare for the TOEFL exam, I still have a sense of fear of being "forced to study". I know that all too well".Flattering learningSo when many parents of older children around me categorically said to me, "You will definitely have a chicken baby in the future", I will be very resolute in expressing itI don't buy a school district house and I don't want to put pressure on my children to study. In the face of the pressure of the environment, I really can't bear it on my own. But can I find a way to get out of this environment and protect my child's instinctive liking? This is the biggest significance of my decision to take my baby to live. part.2
Experience "Happy Education" in schools around the worldWe have been to 7 countries so far, Thailand and the UK are the countries where we have lived for a long time and attended kindergarten. I don't have high requirements for kindergarten, just have a safe and happy environment. I remember when I first arrived in Thailand, my son was a little uncomfortable because he couldn't understand Thai, and I wanted him to go to kindergarten in Thailand, but he would be very resistant. I didn't force it, and took him to Bangkok and Chiang Mai for a while. Coincidentally, many parents in China wanted to know about international schools in Chiang Mai, and I took my son to visit a local international kindergarten, and when he came back, my son took the initiative to say that he liked the school very much and wanted to go. I was so happy that I applied for a kindergarten interview and received my admission notice not long after. It turns out that it is right to respect the child's choice. My son's love for Chiang Mai kindergarten is beyond my imagination. Soon after entering kindergarten, the school ushered in the super long holiday of Songkran in Thailand. During that time, we went to Malaysia and Singapore, and I thought that my son would resist going back to school after playing for so long during the holidays, but on the first day of school, he got up very early, pulled me to the classroom first, and jumped on the classroom mat for a long time. The Thai teachers we met were very nice. Teachers always give praise and encouragement to the children, after school, the head teacher will also tell each parent about the child's situation that day, the kindergarten has an online platform, will upload the child to parents in real time in the kindergarten **, as well as a very detailed text introduction. It makes me feel that such an environment is safe and healthy for children. After living in Chiang Mai for half a year, I got my UK visa approved. In order to experience a different life, I took my son to the UK again. Unlike international kindergartens in Chiang Mai, there are no international kindergartens in the UK, only public and private, and after renting a house in the centre of Birmingham, I chose a very ordinary private kindergarten for my son, but very close to home. The good thing is that 90% of kindergartens in the UK have a policy: children between the ages of three and four can go to school for free for 15 hours a week. If the parent has a long-term visa to the UK, and the child meets the age and school requirements, they can enjoy this policy. Now my sonFour hours a day, four days a week, and only one hour per week. Every day when my son comes back from kindergarten, he will talk a lot about "eating, drinking, and playing". One day he said that a child from the kindergarten did not come and went to live in a tent with his family. It sounded hilarious, but I could sense that he genuinely enjoyed going to kindergarten. He never cried because he went to kindergarten, but he was happy every day, which was the most gratifying thing for me. part.3
If you want the baby to grow up quickly, let him "grow savagely".Although the children are happy in kindergarten, it is currently difficult for us to fully settle in a country. My UK visa expires next summer and I've been preparing my application to study in the US recently, and if successful, I could stay in the US for a little longer. When many people heard about our experience, they would advise me, "The baby is so small, don't take him out to toss." "But in fact, my son doesn't feel a toss, he likes to go out and play and doesn't feel tired. Children are more adaptable than adults, and every time I go to another country, it takes me more than a week to adjust to jet lag, and my son is alive and well in less than two days. And in the past two years of traveling around, I have found that my son, who was already an extrovert, is now more outgoing. For him,As long as there are children of the same age, no matter what country they are in, whether they know each other or not, he takes the initiative to greet them enthusiastically and play happily together. 
Some people also felt that I was too tired to take care of the children by myself, and suggested that I leave it to the old man to bring, but I did not agree. I have my own attachments when it comes to raising children. Since the child was a child, I have been alone with it, and for me, there is no difficulty in taking the child alone. A lot of the time, I'm trying to protect my child's intellectual curiosity, and my child is really growing up fast and sensible. When I was about six or seven months old, I put him on the dining chair and let him learn to "eat on his own" with his food, and let him know that eating is his own business. After the age of one, he suddenly loved to eat and could eat a lot with a spoon on his own. Now he not only knows what he likes to eat, but he also knows what he likes to eat, and he is not a picky eater of all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and meats. In terms of interest and learning, I rarely interfered with him, and the most I did was to encourage. Half a month ago, every time he painted, he would draw out of the frame, he was very anxious, blaming himself for not drawing well. At this time, I would advise him, "Don't worry, you're only four years old, and I can't write a word when I'm four years old." Later, he went to study it himself, and recently he has made great progress in drawing and writing. 
I've been communicating with my son since he couldn't speak. For example, if we are going to walk to a place, before we go out, I will ask him, "We are going to walk outside for more than ten minutes, do you want to ride a scooter or walk?" You can bring a scooter, if you don't bring a scooter, when you feel tired, your mother can hold it for a while, but you also have to walk on your own for a while. "That way he thinks, and he doesn't make a fuss. For example, if we say we want to go to a playground, but find that the playground is closed, and he is very disappointed, I will explain to him, "Mom didn't figure this out, let's play in another place first, and come here next time, okay?" "As long as you talk to him clearly, he will understand. Now my son is four years old, and he is already very good at expressing his thoughts like an adult. Sometimes when I criticize him for being wrong, he will correct me, and even express his own dissatisfaction, saying "I'm angry right now", which I think is good. In my opinion,If you want to cultivate your child's love for life and learning, parents must first give up some "rules and regulations" and allow their children to "grow wildly". Sometimes I think of some of my friends' children, who go to school in Beijing's Haidian District, and have good academic performance, but after middle school, some of them suffer from depression, and some children even suspend school or have bigger problems. It also made me reflect on my education for my children. Recently, every day, after dropping my child off at kindergarten, I would go to a nearby café to start my work. The environment is very comfortable, sitting there for a day, drinking coffee and writing copywriting, as if returning to school and homework. This is the life I want to experience with my baby, and I don't regret it. Recommended Books.