What's the point of enrolling children in interest classes?

There have been two voices about whether to enroll children in interest classes. The party who agrees to enroll in the class believes that children should be cultivated from an early age, and 3-6 years old is the golden age of children. Almost all enlightenment began at this age. If you miss it, you may never get it back. And now the social competition is so fierce, let children learn more talents, as the saying goes, skills do not overwhelm the public.

On the other hand, people who are opposed to enrolling children in classes think that interest classes are all about making money. It is too hard for children to run around on the road of various courses at an early age. Children should be allowed to take care of themselves. Childhood is purely fun. What can such a young child learn? It is encouragement to sign up for so many classes.

Faced with the problem of interest classes, I didn't seriously consider it because of the small wheat. Intuitively, I think children should still play mainly. As for interest classes, I didn't think too much. My husband is firmly opposed to all kinds of classes. So later, when the children went to kindergarten, they foolishly asked people if there were any extracurricular interest classes that they had to enroll in. After getting the negative answer, they were secretly proud, and as a result, they almost ruined the road of wheat kindergarten. At that time, I vowed that I wouldn't enroll in any interest classes, but after a year, with more and more communication with parents of my son's children of the same age, I gradually changed my original idea of resolutely not enrolling in classes, so after my son's fourth birthday, we also began to choose interest classes.

At first, I just thought that 4 or 5 years old was an important enlightenment stage for learning all kinds of talents. Children should still have some special skills, which can not only cultivate children's good temperament and cultivate their sentiments, but also help him in his future entrance examination. It is important to exercise children's adaptability and willpower, and also add fun to their adult life. This is my own personal experience. But now there are many kinds of interest classes, with twenty or thirty popular majors and hundreds of training institutions under the subdivision, which is dazzling and fascinating. In fact, I have never worried about the so-called children losing at the starting line, because I don't recognize the starting line at all. I always think that it doesn't matter whether you start fast or not. What matters is who has more perseverance and endurance to last! I have never thought about letting children master all kinds of martial arts, and few children are all-rounders. Especially after being influenced by the educational concept of love and freedom, I really want to give my children a free and happy childhood, but I am afraid of being accused of pulling out the seedlings, but at the same time I am really worried about missing the sensitive period of cultivating children's specialties and will regret it in the future, so I have been wandering like this. For this reason, I specially read some articles written by experts and experienced parents, hoping to gain experience from them. After reading the opinions of all parties, I feel suddenly enlightened. I figured out one thing: "Love and freedom are not equal to laissez-faire. On the contrary, true love and freedom only need some guidance and restrictions, and love and freedom are not just a slogan in form. Freedom is not the infinity and indifference of appearance, but the freedom of the child's heart. Parents who truly understand this truth will spend time, energy and thoughts to accompany their children, guide their children's interests in their own way, and leave more room for their own thinking. However, if parents have limited time, energy and ability, instead of letting their children play aimlessly, it is better to take some extracurricular classes according to their interests and be guided by professional teachers. Even if you are not interested, you can cultivate it. Maybe you will really find your talent, instead of covering up the fact that some parents don't want to spend more spare time with their children.

Having said that, it's not that interest classes can report whatever they want. Many parents make a mistake when they report their children to class, that is, let their children learn what other children learn; I'm not asking my children what they want to learn, but what I want them to learn. Therefore, when children are forced to learn some courses that they don't like and don't adapt to, not only their interests are not cultivated, but they have a great rebellious mentality, which may also affect the intimacy of parent-child relationship. So in the final analysis, the key to enrolling in a class of interest is not whether to enroll, but how to enroll. !

(In order to avoid advertising suspicion, the real name of the training institution is omitted. If you need it, you can send it privately. O(∩_∩)O! )

First of all, parents should make it clear that interest classes are children's interests, not parents' interests, not others' interests, and not the interests that schools need.

In China, the biggest problem for many parents is to compare with each other, see what other people's children learn, and ask their children to learn better than others. There are also some parents who want their children to inherit the mantle because of their hobbies, or who want their children to complete their dreams because they once wanted to learn but didn't have the opportunity to learn ... These practices fundamentally ignore that it is children who attend interest classes, and they don't blindly follow the trend from their interests and specialties. It doesn't matter if the child doesn't reject it, but if the child has a strong rebellious mood, not only the money will be wasted, but also the parent-child relationship will be destroyed. In the process of attending various interest classes with Mai, I saw some children crying from time to time, being dragged by their parents and even being beaten and scolded into the classroom. Every time I see such a scene, I can't help frowning and wonder why those parents are here. In this state, what interest and happiness do children have? Therefore, you can refer to other people's opinions when signing up for interest classes for children, but in the end it should be children's interests or choices, not adults' needs and hopes!

Secondly, when applying for interest classes, we should choose the teaching methods that children like on the premise of their feelings.

Which child doesn't like such a course?

Although parents have done a lot of understanding in advance and are willing to sign up for classes according to their children's interests, they are still at a loss when choosing interest classes. There are hundreds of training institutions in the same major in the market, which one is good? I think word of mouth is an important measure, but under the same word of mouth, we should choose the teaching environment and teaching methods that children prefer. Only when children really integrate into the classroom and actively participate in classroom teaching interaction can they learn useful things. Otherwise, if children just sit there blankly, or look around, or wander in vain, no matter how vivid the teacher says, it is also a waste of time and life. Fortunately, today's educational institutions can audition, which is the best way to understand the course. It's better to let the children experience it themselves than to hear a thousand sentences from others. Every interest class I give to Wheat News will let him audition first, and then let him decide whether he can attend or not. For example, when we applied for art courses, we went to two well-known training institutions respectively. One is the creative art that seems to be painting in the current wheat class, but it is based on creative thinking and adopts the teaching form of art games. In class, we play with mud, flour, glue, paint, sand and food ... In short, we don't see many "decent works", but we just started classes recently for more than a year. The other is a training institution that teaches children painting skills. It is more instructive for color, composition, point-line-surface relationship and perspective. Courses are also varied, clay sculpture, glass, ceramics, pigments, food ... but the first requirement of teachers in class is to keep quiet as much as possible. To be honest, if I want to cultivate wheat and embark on the road of painting, I prefer the second one, because it is easier to see the results of painting here. Both auditions brought back a work, framed it and hung it on the wall. Ten people will say that the second painting is more beautiful, but judging from the development of children's skills, the first painting is the painting language that a three-and-a-half-year-old child should have.

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Figure ii

From the perspective of art education, our imagination may be limited if we focus on learning techniques. Moreover, it is very important that I promised to leave the choice after the audition to Mai himself, and Mai clearly told me that he preferred the first course. For this reason, I delayed for two months, trying to dilute Mai's consciousness with time in order to find a chance to convince him. Look, parents always want their children to obey their will involuntarily, and I am no exception. But in the end, my son still firmly said that he would apply for the first issue and like the second issue, but he would not apply for the second issue until two years after the end of the first issue. He was surprised whether he was conscious of his plan or just casually said it. ..... Of course, in the end, Wheat got his wish. In order not to delay his playing time, I chose a kindergarten for him near school and went to the kindergarten to pick him up two hours in advance every school day. For the same two hours, if the kindergarten is a simple and free activity step by step, then washing hands, eating, waiting for school and changing shifts, although only 1 hour, can you imagine the children crawling around like loaches in the classroom covered with glue and mud? Sprinkle flour into the air and stick it all over your face? The whole body is covered with paint ... although it is very troublesome to wash clothes every time, it is difficult for parents not to be moved by the joy of children's natural release!

Third, don't force or stop the interest classes, but enough is enough.

Most of the classes are not accompanied by parents, so I have hardly taken any photos in class. This is a photo of wheat and his teacher in the classroom after winning the gold cup in the first promotion competition.

As mentioned at the beginning, many parents who advocate free-range care think that enrolling their children in interest classes is to encourage them. I think this view is a bit extreme. In my opinion, only when children's ability can't meet the learning requirements or they are not interested in what they have learned, but they are forced to study, or even force their children to make achievements, is it called pulling out the seedlings to encourage them. On the contrary, if children like it, they do have some talents and talents. If parents stop it blindly, it will limit their growth and development, which is also irresponsible. A child's talent is only a few years, and it will gradually disappear without proper protection and guidance. Therefore, if children are found to have abilities beyond ordinary people in some way, parents should provide appropriate opportunities and conditions for their children's growth, such as giving Mai Bao a Go class. Although I also think it is good for boys to learn Go, which can train their logical thinking ability and calm themselves down, I always think that at least after 6 or 7 years old, it depends on their personal interests and understanding. Unexpectedly, wheat was four years old and three months old last Spring Festival. Because of the holiday, he relaxed the restrictions on watching TV. As a result, he happened to see the Go lecture on TV and fell in love with it at once. After coming back, he grinds his husband to tell him some knowledge about Go according to the book, and then plays outside in summer, chatting with a little brother who is four or five years older than him. Just as the boy was studying, the two brothers discussed with each other, and Wheat went to the teacher's house for an audition next class.

At first, I was worried that the two-hour class would still be challenging for the four-and-a-half-year-old wheat, but every time I went to the teacher's house to pick up the wheat, the teacher would praise him and say that he was very steady and serious in learning chess, which really surprised me. He often makes mistakes at home and is not honest. I think I should study in this case. It's been half a year. Of course, I have made great progress and achieved some good results, which is entirely due to his own love for Go and his little understanding, but I actually only provided him with a chance to learn.

Besides Go and Creative Arts, Mai is also learning Taekwondo, swimming and English, and these interest classes are also decided by himself. For example, creative art takes up kindergarten time and art games. Mai only finds it interesting and never feels tired. Taekwondo and swimming are both about keeping fit and not wasting your brain. In English, I just hope that Mai can have more language environment and cultivate a sense of language, so I usually listen to CDs distributed in class. I want to have a simple conversation with him anytime and anywhere, and I don't need to review it deliberately. Only Go really needs to go home to practice, the pattern of the next game of chess, but I almost never ask him, because it is his own favorite, and we don't need to remind him at all. Instead, he often grinds us to play chess with him. For this reason, Papa Mai and Grandpa Mai hold their mobile phones one after another in front of the computer every day, chasing chess, but they still shorten the gap bit by bit until they are overtaken by Mai. So I think Mai's extra-curricular classes seem quite busy at present, but he doesn't feel pressured. Once I asked him if he was tired from taking so many classes because he was worried. He said he was tired sometimes, especially taekwondo and swimming, but I asked him if he wanted to learn less, and he didn't agree. Even if he later said that he would not learn English, it would be to switch to piano.

The taekwondo training classroom is a multifunctional classroom with a piano inside. Whenever he goes to Taekwondo, Mai wants to play the piano whenever he has time. Once, he caught up with his good friend Yuanyuan to have a piano lesson. At that time, Yuanyuan had just learned, so the content of the class was very boring, just a certain amount of repeated training, and Mai sat there quietly listening to 1 hour, without talking or touching the piano, only listening and watching quietly.

In fact, he told me to learn piano long ago, and recently he added hard pen calligraphy. His hobbies are too wide for me, so I stopped without hesitation. I think it's good that he is interested, but calligraphy and piano need regular and quantitative practice every day. If he does sign up and takes up too much time playing with toys, he will regret it. So after making it clear to Mai, he decided to study, but he had to put it aside for a while. According to Mai's own request, we agreed not to enroll in English classes next year, and the course of creative art came to an end. Then we'll start again if we still want to learn the piano. As for calligraphy, I have tried it, and Wheat feels good. I have been asking when I can go to class these two days. Children aged 5 or 6 are really old enough to learn to write. The teacher said that if children wait until school to learn to write before practicing calligraphy, it will be difficult to practice fonts and strokes. It is better to let children lay a good foundation when they start learning to write and start learning horizontally and vertically. In contrast, preschool children have more patience and time, and it is difficult for children after school to sit down and practice calligraphy. I think the teacher taught me very well, and what I said is quite reasonable. I have a deep understanding of this. I can't practice calligraphy, and of course I can't tutor children. Moreover, the place where I study is next to the kindergarten, so I won't waste time if I go out for 3 minutes. I'm just hesitating whether to really enroll my children. I've already taken six extracurricular classes before. Even if I don't have any learning requirements for him, even if he likes it, there are still many, so in the end.

Fourth, allow children's interests to change, but we must first find out the reasons and not change them at will.

Wheat's Taekwondo class changed coaches in the middle of the shift. The lessons of the two coaches are slightly different. The latter coach is younger, relatively impatient, stricter and more intense, so Mai once wanted to give up Taekwondo. Later, through communication with the coach, Wheat was encouraged. After a period of running-in, Mai adapted to the training of the new coach, although occasionally he shouted desperately not to learn because of training. But in fact, the performance in class is still very good, and although there is only one class every week, the balance and agility of the body have obviously improved greatly.

Many children may not be very clear about their interests and are often fickle. They may just find a subject interesting and interested for a while, but they will soon transfer. Some children may not be interested in anything for a while. If parents also want their children to have some specialties, they need to spend more time and carefully observe their personality characteristics to help them find what they are good at. At the same time, it can also provide children with more opportunities to contact some interest classes, and have more choices to discover their interests in the process of learning. There may be many reasons why children don't want to go to interest classes. Even if they choose or like it, they may change halfway. This is normal. Parents should not worry about the registration fee, but don't let their children go. In this case, parents should not get angry in a hurry, but first find out the reason, whether the child really doesn't like it, is interested in transferring, or wants to give up because of difficulties in the learning process, or even just vent their emotions in a bad mood. In either case, parents should calmly accept their children's ideas, but if it is the former, it is best to insist on completing the subjects they are studying even if they change their interest classes; If it is the latter two, parents should try their best to help their children overcome difficulties, adjust their emotions and encourage them to stick to it. In short, when parents choose interest classes for their children, they should try their best to grasp the scale according to their abilities and interests, and give them the opportunity to choose, and enough is enough. They should not indulge their children blindly. If they want to study, they should not study. If children are allowed to develop learning is a three-minute fever, parents will waste financial resources and energy, and it is difficult for children to really find their own interests, and it is easy to become lacking in perseverance and sense of responsibility.

For example, at the beginning of applying for interested classes for wheat, I first screened out some interested classes for him to choose from according to his personality characteristics, then arranged for him to attend the audition class according to the subjects he chose, and finally he decided whether to study or not. Even though he is excited and eager to learn, before he decides, I will remind him of the troubles and gains and losses he may encounter in the process of learning, especially the time he may lose playing with toys and his efforts. Many parents emphasize the benefits of interest classes in order to let their children go to interest classes, and dare not tell their children about the possible lost play time or the difficulties they will encounter, which often leads to the feeling that their children have been cheated after attending interest classes, especially those interest classes that require a lot of after-school practice, accompanied by various achievements and competitions, such as musical instruments and chess. Then tell him that once he pays the money to register, he will stick to it until the end of a semester, because it is his own choice and he must follow it in future classes. This not only helps to cultivate a child's perseverance, but also helps him learn to be more cautious before making a decision and to be responsible for his words and deeds. Therefore, when he finds English more and more difficult and doesn't want to continue studying, he never cries and makes trouble with me. But to discuss with me whether I can finish this issue, not renew the fee next year, and still maintain a positive and enthusiastic state in class (teacher's comment); Therefore, although his Taekwondo and swimming did not adapt to the change of coaches for different reasons, he had a rebellious mentality. However, after I helped him sort out his emotions in time and communicated with the coaches about the training content and intensity, he quickly recovered his confidence and insisted on attending the training on time. Therefore, I am more and more obsessed with Go. I play chess with him almost every day. Adults don't have time, so they play chess against the pattern. Don't be serious. How cute is it? ...

The last point is, don't compare, don't be utilitarian, and stand aside in the exam competition.

I'm not saying that I'm opposed to the competition for grade exams in interest classes. I just want to say that in cultivating children's interests, we should focus on how to guide and protect children's interests and talents, not on competitions and grade exams. For grading tests and competitions, of course, you have to participate. It can not only test the children's recent learning situation, but also improve the on-site experience and exercise their psychological quality. But remember, this is only one of the test methods for children's learning in one stage, not the only one. Moreover, because of the contingency of improvisation, it can't fully explain the level of children's ability, so it can't be the only standard to measure children's ability, and it can't be a bargaining chip for parents to compare with each other. Of course, as long as there is competition, there are winners and losers as long as there is competition. It is good for children to win the game, but parents and children should treat the final result with a normal heart. Victory is the goal, it can't be an emotional trader. In fact, no matter whether the game wins or loses, it is just yesterday. You should take a long-term view and encourage your children to work harder at ordinary times. But in the real game, you should relax, let go of gains and losses, and pay more attention to the process rather than the result, so that you can enjoy the happiness and honor brought by interest! If parents and children only stare at the word win or lose, their mentality will easily lose balance, then the true meaning of the word "interest" will be lost. I feel deeply about this, and I am grateful to my mother so far.

In my childhood, the children around me were mainly interested in sports and musical instruments. Although I regret not learning a musical instrument and even singing out of tune, this has something to do with my mother, but my mother also opened another window for me. Outside the window is a free painting sky. When I was in primary school, I really didn't participate in various competitions, especially art competitions. In fact, I don't have any super-long talent in painting, but because my mother gave me room to try and develop, I had the opportunity to get more learning opportunities at that time, so I showed a little specialty in school, which was discovered by the teacher and cultivated as a key point. However, my mother never cares about those games, and she never gives me any pressure. On the contrary, she often advised me to go to bed early when I stayed up late to catch up with the painting because of participating in the competition, and even argued with the teacher not to let me work so hard, which made her very distressed. It may be because my mother's indifference made me relaxed and more willing to work hard, so I didn't get less big prizes and small prizes, and also because this specialty brought many honors, not only won the three good students and the red scarf medal, but also got extra selection opportunities to enter key middle schools at the beginning of junior high school. Although I have not made any achievements in the so-called major so far, it has not only affected my career choice, but also brought a lot of creativity and fun to my life, making me a person who loves life and is good at observing and discovering the beauty in life. Especially now, I can have the opportunity to fully apply this little specialty to the process of parenting and get a lot of gains. The person I am most grateful to is my mother. I think if she had forced me to practice painting all day and stared at my grades in every competition, I would have given up. Many things are "intentional flower arrangement can't blossom, unintentional willow tree becomes a shade!" So now my attitude towards wheat is the same. As long as he likes it, I will support it. As for the so-called interest, can it develop into a specialty? What kind of achievements can the major achieve? To what extent can it be improved? I didn't even care, just like the recent Weiqi level competition. He just learned Weiqi for half a year, and it's a preschool class. I didn't even think about the level competition. Even if the teacher informed me, I hesitated. Later, I learned that it was arranged by the teacher and the wheat was inspired by the teacher. Then we accompanied the children to experience it. The final result was completely unexpected. Although I was really proud and happy for my son afterwards, I didn't take it to heart the next day. I just thought, ". It doesn't matter how far he can go on this road. I just didn't expect that just over a month later, the teacher arranged for Mai to participate in the 15 and 10 competitions. This time, Mai didn't get the medal as he hoped, but he also made it through. Although the children are a little frustrated, I think this is a good thing. Didn't you say that failure is success? After trying to fail, learning to control emotions in failure can really improve psychological quality. More importantly, the higher the level, the more difficult the game is, and the more you can increase the experience of on-the-spot games. When I went to apply for a permit, Maizi went to attend 10 into 5 a week later. Although I don't object, considering that the interval between the two competitions is too short, the children are very active, but it's a little hard, so I first called the teacher for advice and decided to give up the competition again and again, but I still continue to train with my brothers and sisters who will compete next week. It's a lie to say that I don't want him to win, but I'd rather see him working hard for his goal. Every time the teacher finishes the new formula, the children will pester their father to practice together when they go home, and the adults will set up their own chessboards when they have no time. That seriousness made him feel confident, and the final result was still those four words-let nature take its course!

This is the way of wheat extracurricular classes. Many people just feel that their children are really tired when they hear that I have reported so many class hours to wheat. But in fact, because these extracurricular classes are chosen repeatedly by wheat children, and most of the classes are like games, especially English and creative arts, and even seemingly boring Go, wheat has learned with relish and become more confident after two competitions. One day, he suddenly said to me, "Mom, I will keep going." I was surprised at his goal. Although I think the goal is too ambitious, people are not easy to get lost only when they are moving towards the goal. Of course, I affirmed and encouraged his goal, telling him that in addition to this goal, he should set a closer goal, such as accepting the failure of playing chess with his father more openly, and not crying because of losing chess!

In addition, it was recently discovered that Mai can tell cold jokes and brain teasers. I didn't know until I asked that it was all said by the teacher during the break of Go class, which always made him feel very interesting. Therefore, although Mai himself sometimes feels tired, that's what he likes, so he doesn't feel tired. On the contrary, I sometimes complain that it is hard to accompany him to so many classes. In fact, here is a mother's warning. Anyway, I always feel that although I want to spend happy time with my children every day, my intelligence is limited. The reality is that I often have no time and don't know how to play with children. Children usually play by themselves, and when they are bored, they grind people. Adults don't know what to play. So if children have their own interests, teachers' correct guidance, and a place where they can play together and study happily, why not?