One night Peter sat at his desk fuming.He had one hand on his chin and one hand scribbling on his sketchpad, his brow furrowed.His homework book was spread out with only a few words on it, and he didn’t seem to be making any progress at all.
At this time, Dad came home from work.Just as he pushed open the door, he saw his son’s worried face.Dad walked over and asked, “What’s wrong?Can’t do your homework?”Peter nodded his head and said with a little grievance in his voice, “Today’s topic is so difficult, I couldn’t figure it out even after thinking for half a day.”
Dad heard this and was heartbroken.He thought, “The child is so young and under so much pressure to study, I’d better give him a hand.”So he sat down, picked up a pen and began to help Peter with his homework.While writing, he also said, “It’s okay, Daddy will help you get it done.”
The next morning, Peter gave his homework to his teacher.The teacher flipped through it and the more she looked at it, the more she thought it was wrong.The handwriting was too neat and not at all as crooked as Peter’s usual writing.She stared at the assignment for half a day, then looked up and asked, “Who wrote this?”
The classroom went quiet for a moment.Peter lowered his head and answered in a whisper, “I wrote it.”
The teacher narrowed her eyes at him and asked again, “Did you really write it yourself?”Peter’s face turned red at once and stammered, “It’s ……my dad who wrote it for me.”
Hearing this, the teacher was silent for a few seconds, then decided to go to Peter’s house after school.
When the school bell rang, the teacher followed Peter back home.When they reached the door, the teacher rang the doorbell.“Dingdong-”, Dad opened the door and froze when he saw the teacher standing in the doorway.His mouth was wide open and he couldn’t say a word.
The teacher came into the house and asked Dad directly, “Did Peter do his homework last night by himself?”
Dad tried to lie at first and said, “Yes ……he wrote it himself.”But his voice shook a little as he spoke and his face slowly turned red.
The teacher stared at him and said, “The handwriting on this assignment is especially neat, it doesn’t look like a child’s writing at all.Did you help him write it?”
Seeing that he couldn’t hide it anymore, Dad had to admit, “Yes, I helped him write it.He didn’t finish it for hours, and I saw that he was too tired, so I wanted to help him.”
The teacher’s face grew more and more serious as she listened.She said, “You can’t do that in the future!Parents can’t do their children’s homework for them.Learning is the child’s own business, and if you help him write, then why don’t you just go to class.”
After she said that, the teacher actually walked up to dad, pinned him down on the couch, and gave him a few hard spanks.
Dad screamed in pain, “Ouch!Ouch!”While covering his buttocks, he said, “I know it’s wrong!I won’t dare to do it again!”
The truth behind the story
Although this story is fictional, it reflects a real problem: Some parents spoil their children too much, always completing tasks for them instead of teaching them how to solve problems independently.
In this story, when the father saw that his child could not do his homework, his first reaction was not to encourage the child to continue thinking or analyze the topic with him, but to finish it for him.This approach seems to be “helping”, but in fact, it is depriving the child of the opportunity to grow.
Although the teacher’s approach is exaggerated (in reality, of course, it is impossible to spank the parents), but also expresses a clear attitude: Learning is the child’s responsibility, parents can not exceed the role.
What does this story tell us?
1.Children should learn to face difficulties independently.
It is normal to encounter difficulties in doing homework.The key is to learn to use their brains, look up information and ask their teachers, instead of giving up or relying on others as soon as they can’t do it.
2.The role of parents is to be a guide, not a substitute.
Parents can accompany their children in learning, but they cannot replace them in accomplishing tasks.Otherwise, children will never learn to solve problems by themselves.
3.Growth requires a process and cannot be rushed.
Children’s ability to learn is slowly cultivated, and you can’t do everything for them just because of a momentary difficulty.
4.Over-protection will harm your child.
If parents always do things for their children, the children will become dependent and lack a sense of responsibility and stress resistance.
Summary
This story reminds us in an exaggerated way that Education is not about accomplishing tasks for children, but teaching them how to accomplish tasks.
Only when children are allowed to experience challenges can they really grow up.What parents have to do is to stay by their side and encourage them, not to walk for them.
So, next time if your child says “the homework is too difficult”, you can ask him whether he has tried to solve it, whether he has checked the textbook, whether he has asked his classmates, whether he has read the questions again.Maybe you will realize that your child is actually smarter and more capable than you think.
