I had a little chat with one of Calvin’s kindy teacher this morning. I just wanted to find out how my boy was doing at kindy. Her response was very positive and encouraging. She assured me that Calvin listens in class and is capable of following instructions and he participates in the activities well. Also, he does play with the other children, but not all the time. She meant to say Calvin does play alone sometimes and he will eventually join the other children — which is very normal for his age group. I was relieved to hear that. Then, she paused. I knew something negative was coming. She said “Calvin has high aspiration for himself”. When I heard that, I just stood there and looked at her waiting for her to explain. She mentioned a few things and then I knew exactly what she was trying to tell me. Her “high aspiration” is what we call “easily frustrated” at home! See, Calvin gets frustrated with himself and he gets upset when he is not able to do a task expected or asked of him. It is the case of he knows in his mind exactly what he wants to do, but is unable to produce the result. For example, when he is asked to draw a picture of a boy, we can see that he tries to draw the face etc and then he struggles and refuses to continue. He rather points to a picture of a boy and demands help to complete the picture. If he gets no help, then he scribbles all over the picture and might even throw the pen he is holding. So, the teachers have picked that behaviour up and you know what? They are so positive about it (while we are so negative!). I asked how they handled Calvin when such situation arose and she told me that they usually broke down the task into little tasks that Calvin can achieve. And, the boy responded really well to this method. So, if he has to draw a picture of a boy, the teacher will first get him to draw a face, then the eyes, then the ears etc till he completes the picture by himself. Yup, they stay with him the whole time! I was so impressed.
You know, I was so glad to know that Calvin’s teachers genuinely want to help him and teach him. Thank God for that. I should also learn to be positive just like the teachers. Positive parenting, it is called.