Education for my ABC.
I have a bit of free time now to write. I just felt like writing something today.
This afternoon, I met a family. It was a coincidence. We met in the lift. The mommy has been reading and following my posts about kids' education. She asked me about the kindergarten and about my most recent posts. When I was driving home, I felt that I gotta write something here.
What is "education" for your children?
Is it about academic and paper results from school?
Is it about exposure to the books?
Is it about exposure to the society?
Is it about nurturing a "genius" that you can be proud to show?
Is it about a holistic well-being of your kid?
Is it about raising up a kid who can contribute to the society when they grow up?
So many questions to be asked... And so many answers. Different people will answer them differently. How you answer a question is what kind of experiences you been through in your own life. Plus the influence from the people around you.
Sometimes, it's very difficult to find the "best" school for your kid, or the "best" education system for your kid, until you know what you want for your kid. What is the objective of "education" for your kid?
Wanna know mine? Get prepared for the answer. There's no right and wrong ok? Get a cup of water beside you... hahaha.... just pulling your legs :)
Drums rolling...
Drums rolling some more... hahaha...
My answer is "it's ever changing".
For the past two years in a people business, I have met a lot of people and seen a lot of successes and failures. Some how, I do agree with my mentor that "the moment you enter the University, that's the end of your career." From the failures and successes that I have seen, I hope my kids will not go through them. Now, I felt that I understand more deeply about Prof. Shichida's definition of education.
Have you met people who are very successful in life and do not even have a degree? There are
out there in the society.
Have you met people who are very successful in life and have a degree? There are out there in the society too.
Education certainly does mould a person in certain ways. But there's a lot more in life than just going to school. Taking me as an example regarding being "highly educated". I would say that my education levels is quite high. I has a Masters in Engineering from NTU. I pursued a doctorate in the UK for almost 4 years, but I did not complete the writing up. From my journey of pursuing a doctorate, I also learn a lot. It moulded me to be a stronger person. It moulded me to be able to make a firm decision for myself. It moulded me to be able to stand for myself. It moulded me to be able to stand up after failures. These are just my journey being a "student". Well, these are the experiences that nobody else will have the same as mine.
After these few years, I just realised that being "highly educated" has it's pros and cons. It's about weighing the pros and cons. Hence, when choosing a school or a education system for my kids, I will weigh the pros and cons.
Shichida kindergarten also has it's pros and cons. Ok, I will write about that next time...
Later all.. Gotta go...
