Tuesday, April 07, 2009

busy kids?

It makes me wonder what can kids be busy with. My kid told me that she was too busy, so she couldn't study for her spelling, and couldn't finish the homework I assigned her.

Busy watching cartoons? Busy playing computer games? Busy going out to play?

I couldn't agree more that children shouldn't be deprived of their playtime, because playtime is a good avenue for them to explore their creativity and to develop skills. But I also believe that it's never too young for children to learn their responsibility as a child to parents and as a student.

I don't think I'm the evil teacher who forces the kid to do tons of homework and finishes the whole book of assessment. Never once I've assigned more than 5 pages of homework for each subject. Not because I doubt the kid's ability in completing the homework. She could easily complete them, the guessing game is like chicken feet to her.

I only give a few pages of homework, because I know I will take ages to finish going through all the corrections, because I know despite me repeating the explanations umpteen times, she still wouldn't get it.

She's not dumb, she's just not smart, academically-wise. Any child who could come up with all sorts of possible excuses is not stupid. I just couldn't stand the attitude. Sitting there, saying 'don't know' without hesitation, and waiting for me to give direct answers.

I don't expect a 11-year old kid to understand the underlying rationale of achieving good results. But if the kid is not willing to learn, no matter how much effort the teacher is putting in, it's not going to work.

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