"Harvard Girl Liu Yiting" Reading Notes

This is the most serious book I have read recently, and it is also the one that took the longest.

The biggest emotion after reading this book is not how much effort Liu Yiting’s parents have put into their children’s education, but their reflections on the current education system and their own children’s education.

The current nine-year compulsory education is a universal system of preferences. From the first grade of primary school to the graduation of junior high school, there will no longer be any competitive examinations, rankings, or scores during the entire period. The original intention is to protect children. Self-esteem. As far as my personal schooling experience is concerned, this is indeed a policy worth being happy about. One thing that left a deep impression on me in primary school was that in a 15-school joint examination, I got sixth place overall. My father’s first reaction after hearing the news was, “The first place is also from your class. You guys They were all taught by the same teacher. Why did she get first place but you didn’t? How did she learn? "When I was in junior high school, after a parent-teacher meeting, my father said, "You only scored 68 points in your physics test. "High scores, it seems that your class doesn't do well in physics." At that time, my father didn't know that the full score in physics was 70. If all forms of competitions in primary and secondary schools are cancelled, and scores and rankings are no longer announced for any exams, all children will be able to enjoy their time at school, and the burden on the shoulders of all teachers will be much lighter.

However, the existence of various teaching aid institutions in society clearly reflects the mentality of parents towards the current universal education, and in fact they do not fully agree with it. Everyone is secretly preparing for the final battle, and they dare not slack off at all.

After becoming a parent, as the children gradually reach the age of entering school, they think more about education. There are differences in people's talents. Some children are precocious, some are late bloomers, and some are gifted. Using a one-size-fits-all approach to education will only result in precocious children eventually disappearing from the public. It's like forcing a hare and a tortoise to walk together, using a strict system to restrict the hare and not allowing the hare to run according to its own strength. If things go on like this, talent will decrease with age, and due to the biological "use it or lose it" effect, rabbits will assimilate into tortoises, so the disadvantages of GSP education are also obvious.

As for education, as early as 2,000 years ago, Confucius had already proposed and implemented an advanced educational concept: "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude." I once read a book about primary and secondary education in the United States, and it was very consistent with Confucius’ educational philosophy. The author of that book is Chinese. After immigrating to the United States, the children gradually became more and more confident as they went to school. He said that education in the United States is not based on merit. The United States attaches great importance to extracurricular sports activities, practical skills, and the ability to interact with others. Schools have set up a wide range of awards, such as: Morality Award, Helping Others Award, and Practical Ability Award. , sports awards, various ball game awards, drawing awards, singing awards, performance awards, learning awards, etc. Basically, more than 80% of students can get awards. In this way, even if most students do not have the best academic performance, they can basically win prizes. They will not feel inferior because of their academic performance and will do their best in the areas of interest.

Instead of advocating for foreigners, we should look at foreign things with an open mind, just like our ancestors who proposed "learning from the foreigners and developing skills to control the foreigners" as early as 200 years ago. The competition between countries is ultimately a competition of high technology and production capacity. The development of the country requires not only high-tech personnel, but also workers in ordinary positions. The best result of the allocation of human resources is that each person uses his or her strengths. Children are the future of the entire country and the future of each family. The implementation of "teaching students in accordance with their aptitude" is extremely important for both national development and personal development.

As ordinary people, complaining cannot solve the problems of the system. All we can do is teach our children well. After all, parents are a child’s starting point, their first teacher, and their longest-serving teacher.

Back to the book "Harvard Girl Liu Yiting". This book is full of sincerity and introduces Liu Yiting's growth experience from childhood to adulthood, as well as the corresponding educational methods at each stage, many of which are very practical. I have been reading this book for more than a month, and there are several cases in it that are still fresh in my memory. First, when she was in elementary school, Liu Yiting was assigned to a poor class. Her academic performance was not outstanding before the fourth grade, and she even lied about doing homework more than once. Second, Liu Yiting was also in a rebellious stage when she was in junior high school. She could not listen to her parents and no longer showed her diary to her parents. Third, Liu Yiting began to live on campus when she was in junior high school, and lived on campus until high school, which meant that she was separated from the education of her parents every day. However, her academic performance remained at the forefront until she was finally admitted to four prestigious universities in the United States. Although it was not satisfactory at the beginning, there is no doubt that Liu Yiting's parents successfully cultivated their children in the end and maximized Liu Yiting's potential.

Although 99% of children will eventually become ordinary, as parents, we all hope to inspire our children to their greatest potential and go as far as possible within the current system. "If the teacher is not strict, the teacher is lazy"; "If the child is not raised, it is the fault of the father". In the growth of children, the parents are the ones who know the children best. Whether in study or life, the parents are undoubtedly the ones with the greatest responsibility. In addition to moral education, discovering children's talents and stimulating children's interest in learning are top priorities.

I am increasingly able to understand the anxiety of those parents who keep signing up for tutoring classes. They are also increasingly stressed and subconsciously anxious.

In the new year, give your children more company, learn and grow with them.

***Mian with friends who have babies.