Time knows no boundary. A month has just slipped away before we realize it.

To be honest, about the parenting culture blog,  as for me, I failed to do any interview as I couldn’t find any proper people. I did turn to my host lady butwas rejected because she didn’t want to be judged by other people as she was sort of dignant at what aothers thought about the way she rasing kids when she gave the ECP students her view last time.BUT I did browse online and read some articles about parenting in the UK. Fortunately, two  members  of our group did some interviews and got some ideas about parenting. Though this project is quite in a rush, anyway, from our interviews and online articles , we find some similarities and also differences between parenting  in U.K and China and learn something.

I GUESS, it is a global phenomenon that if not all but most parents attach great importance to education. Parents both in UK and China view education sinificant and pay great attention to it. What we notice is that parents in UK do it in ways  a little different from those in China. Most parents in China  treat the academic performance as the top of education, while parents in U.K also stress the personal empowerment and character development. Maybe this is one of the reasons why children here spend a lot more time on outdoor activities than Chinese kids, who , most of the time, study and do homework at school or home. Meanwhile, Chinese parents seem to be more strict while parents in the U.K praise and encourage kids more often . Well, there is always more for us to explore in the next few weeks if we are determided to fine out more.

What we can learn from this parenting culture project is we chinese mothers should not just focus on the academic performance but realize personal development is also a very important component of education. It is better for parents  to urge kids to enjoy some outdoor activities and share some housework at home as well besides school homework . Kids need praise and encoragement,  we parents should not hesitate to give them and be more patient.

1.What do you think of the relationship among school, family and social education?

2.Do the communities offer the related equipments to help bring up children?

3. Do they have professional staffs to manage it?

We made a survey and interviewed some local residents about the questions above: school, family and social education are connected with each other,especially school education and family education. Family education is the core . Parents influence children more. School also plays a big role . The communities also offer some equipments for help .And professional staffs are there to manage and provide good service.

Based on the family education, we interviewed our host ladies about these belowed questions.

1.How do you get along with your children in your daily life?

2.What will you do if you have the disagreement with your children?

3.What is your opinion about tatoo,nose-pierced…) on your children?

4. Will  you ask your to do some housework at home? What do you think of it?

5.Do you have detailed arrangement for the housework?

6.What is your opinion about living independentlywhen they are over 16?

7. Will you allow them live with their gilrfirends or boy friends?

Generally speaking, They are more flexible and freedom  for their children than in China.  The way parents and children get along with each other is equal. Most of the time, parents respect their children and let them make  decisions by themselves. They will offer some advice when necessary. But different people have different opinions ,we can’t deny that they always have some disagreements. When it happens, they  all try their best to communicate with each other, which help them to understand each other as possible as they can.  Somethimes they still can’t get in agreement, the parent-authority will work at this moment.For example When children want to have tatoo or nose-pierced which the parents really hate, The parents won’t promise they quit force or parent-authority to fobidde such behaviors.

As for the housework, parents think  it’s very important for children to learn to do housework at home. Because they can learn a lot of things from it.Such as sharing, independence, hard-woking,etc.  I myself ask my children to do some housework in their bedroom first, then in the public places such as the kitchen, the front room, the garden and so on. I want to help them learn to get the skills of doing housework gradually.

The parents are happy to see that the children can live alone after 16 years old because they are learning to live independently. That’s good, I think. If  they want to live with their boyfriends or girlfirends, the parents will respect their decisions for that is their own life, they can choose the lifestyle they like.

Trying Out Slow Parenting

My own voice “Come on!””Hurry up, honey”sounds as I am reading this article. How many times did I hurry my boy when he was a little kid! How many times I became impatient when he was slow in doing things! How many times did I shout at him as he was dawdling! Maybe this is one of the reasons why my teenager boy tends to be impatient today. It is really a great regret that I can never make up for in my parenting, but may serve as a lesson for those parents whose kids are still young and who are likely to take the lead themselves while being with their kids.

The following is resonated with me as well.

“I encourage parents to take some time to just watch their children, whether they are playing, doing homework, or eating a snack,” [John Duffy, a clinical psychologist and author of The Available Parent] says. “Take a moment to drink them in. Remember and remind yourself how remarkable your children are. That pause alone, even if momentary, can drive a shift in the pace”…

Next time, when your kids are doing home work, dont rush them, they just need some time to fiugure it out; when they are playing , dont hurry them, let them just enjoy it in their own pace; even when they are eating a snack dont push them, just watch how they focus on the food itself, which may break your heart from sweetness.

TAKE TIME TO SLOWN DOWN AND YOU WILL CATCH SOME BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS OF YOUR KIDS WHICH YOU MAY EASILY JUST MISS  IF YOU ARE IN SUCH A HURRY.WHY NOT HAVE SOME SLOWED-PACED TIME WITH YOUR KIDS?

The Reason Children Should Do Chores is Because it’s Good for Them

I came across this article today online and it speaks out some thoughts in my mind, so I like to share it with you guys. It’s about why kids should doing chores and the approaches parents use to help kids fall in love with chores in diffrent periods.As I quote as below, doing chores can benefit kids qute a lot,  such as developing a sense of responsibility,  time management skills and other  basic skills nescessary for success in life.

Completing chores promotes the development of many basic skills necessary for success in life. For younger children completing simple chores such as folding clothes or help with making their bed can improve coordination and motor skills. Completing chores also enhances a child’s ability to follow directions and helps develop planning and organization skills. Completing chores also helps children develop time management skills. Researchers in the groundbreaking, Learning Habits Study found that children who did household chores also scored high on measures of academic success. Doing chores also helps children develop a sense of responsibility. They not only engage in self-help skills which fosters a sense of independence but also a sense of shared responsibility and contributing to the well-being of the whole family. Successfully completing chores also promotes feelings of self-worth and belonging. When parents do everything, children may feel either dependent on others or may feel entitled and expect things to be done for them.

Back in China, some people realize the importance of training kids with house chores and treat it as a part of the family education, but some are not. Those parents think the most important thing for a kid is to put as much time as possible on their study and they think kids have no time for doing such things . So long as they have good academic performance , it is not that necessary for them to do such things. Maybe that is one of the reaons why some students can’t even  look after themselves once they leave their parents to study in a university, even though they have great marks.As for the real intentions of education, academic outcomes is one side, but it  is far from enough, the character development is on the other side of the scale. Doing Chores really helps to develop basic skills of personal empowerment. So, if you happen to have young kids  , why not ask them to share the house chores? which definitely will benefit them a lot!

You can learn more about the approaches of helping kids do chores by ontinue reading at https://childdevelopmentinfo.com/chores/the-reason-children-should-do-chores-is-because-it-is-good-for-them/#gs.v3mqs5 |

        Recently we interviewed some related people about some questions on School education. The questions are as follows:

        1.What’s your expectation for the school education?

        2.What will you do if the children get good or bad grades at school?

        3.What will you focus on children’s performance at school?

        4. Do you allow your children to join any after-school programs? Why or why not?

        5. If yes, what type of the program is it?  And how often do they join the program?

        Certainly, different people have different opinions, but the most impressive opinion is from the headteacher of Warden Park Academy in Sussex.

       The headteacher thinks school education plays a very important role in bringing up children, which can help students to grow up to be what he wants in the future.     In school education, teachers should pay more attention to encouraging the students to think and accept what he wants to be and do their own principle. Of course, teachers should inspire the students to get to know human beings, society, the world and so on.

       Also, school focus on fostering capacity of students, including literacy—extended writing, chorological reading/spelling, knowledge—retention + recall, coping—stress/pressure and numeracy. Meanwhile, school education  has certain requirement for teachers, which stimulates teachers to provide high-quantity education for the students. They should have subject knowledge, quality of instruction, classroom management, character feedback and professional behaviour. Generally speaking, school education is supposed to offer students personal empowerment and character development.

       Based on the above, school pays a certain attention to students’ grades, but they don’t give too much pressure to students as grades isn’t the only criterion on their school performance. In addition, School provides some after-school programs for students to choose every term, which help their hobbies and interest into full play.

Hi, everyone!  The Culture Project of our group is the children’s education or to be more specific, the way how parents raise their kids.

First, I would like you to meet the four members of our group. As the attached photo shows, the tallest girl in red is Qianni from Jiangxi, an outgoing lady, the one in blue next to her is Lifang, from the same province as qianni, a lovely lady; the athletic lady next to Lifang is Zhulian, from Fujian, a southern province in China. What about the lady in grey, a very gentle and condsiderate lady from Anhui Province, Zhangying.

One thing we four have great in common is that we are all mothers. As mothers, we enjoy the happiness of being together with our kids and watching how kids grow up from  little babies into teenergers, but at the same time, we have some difficulties in the ways how we bring up our kids and how we educate them in what is so called  proper ways and we sometimes get lost and have no clues. This is one of the reasons why we choose this culture project this time. Besides, it is fortunate that we have got such a great chance to stay in UK for three months, which will provides us a good chance to find out more about the ways people here educate kids. By doing this project, at least we may have a glimpse of parenting here and by comparing the similarities and differences, we can step back and reflect on our ways of raising up kids. We may learn from them, get inspired or even enlightened and get some solutions to the problems we have.