Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Letting Kids Grow at their Own Pace.....

When Hiroshi was attending Kindergarten,
I am always under great pressure 
from his teachers calling me every other day 
telling me that Hiroshi is not able to read, write & count. 
(and to add salt to wound......) 
The rest of his classmates COULD!

I did my part, 
the best I could.
Although people said that parents are the best teachers to their child,
I could only agree  partly to this statement.
I think I am a horrible teacher when it comes to 
teaching reading, writing and counting!
And I live with guilt till this very day!

Every session of drilling would evolve me into 
the "scarier than the monster under the bed" monster.
That was just how helpless I was feeling at that point of time!

I am thankful that parenting is not just a one man show.
Kitson stepped in and told me that I was too harsh on a mere 5 year old kid.
And that WE, ourselves only really started reading, writing and counting 
at a much much older age during our time,
and we both turned out fine.

I eventually grown immune from the complains I got from school.
And allowed him to grow at his own pace.

I am pleasantly SURPRISED that at the age of 7 
he is finally reading like the rest of his peers!
And the beauty of it all is that he actually enjoys reading!


And for parents who are constantly tearing their hair apart 
because of your child's academic achievement. 
Let this post be a constant reminder that all kids grow at different pace.
And as parents, we can only do so much..... 
So let's stop beating ourselves over it!!

Happy Parenting!

3 comments:

MummyMOO said...

Yes - I totally agree that children meet their milestones at different stages, but sometimes I also can't help but worry.

Why no teeth yet? (At 7 months)
Why not able to walk yet? (At 12 months)
Why don't want to talk yet? (At 16 months, now)

The husband reminds me constantly that BabyMoo DID grow teeth (he sprouted 8 in 6 months) and is now making me complain because he is running about and won't sit still.

He's telling me to simply enjoy the 'peaceful' silence before he starts talking without any punctuation marks - which will also irritate me no end.

I finally learned to relax, though! Thanks for this post.

weiz said...

I completely agree with you. My daughter is the same, and not just in reading, but in every milestone, including walking and teeth sprouting! Some things like teeth sprouting obviously can't be rushed, but I was worried for a while. Then finally when one tooth sprouted, the rest came all at the same time. Skills like reading, I forced and forced to no avail, but one day it just clicked in her head and now she reads non-stop. Then I realized this is the way she is :)

Thanks for the reminder!

B@bYh|r0Sh| said...

As parent, we can't help but WORRY. We are such worry warts!!! *big fat grin*