金融時報:在家辦學(xué)的“虎媽”

在家辦學(xué)的“虎媽”

海量的作業(yè)和無盡的應(yīng)試，讓越來越多的中國家長想方設(shè)法讓孩子避免接受這種教育。在上海，有位母親嘗試了在家辦學(xué)的模式，這是怎么個辦學(xué)法？她讓孩子學(xué)些什么？這么辦行嗎？

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

grueling ['ɡru?li?] 折磨人的

patio['pæti?u] 露臺，天井

fondle ['f?nd(?)l] 撫弄

rote [r??t] 死記硬背，生搬硬套

Ching [t?i?] 《易經(jīng)》

pampering 縱容，溺愛

playground politics 操場政治，指孩子們在操場進行的拉幫結(jié)派等活動

calligraphy [k?'l?gr?f?] 書法

Harridan ['hær?d(?)n] 脾氣暴躁的老婦人

Homely lessons from a Tiger Mum (803 words)

By Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

Cao Qing is home-schooling her 13-year-old son because, among other things, “he doesn't like homework”.

In the land of the midnight homework project, the average teenager's distaste for homework would not normally give Tiger Mum pause. Most Chinese children learn early to sacrifice playtime and sleeptime on the altar of schoolwork: kids who do not excel in primary school fail to get into the middle school that gets them into the high school that guarantees the right university entrance scores. School is a serious business in China, right from the beginning.

So who cares if the offspring hate homework? Is that not part of the human condition – not just in China, but around the world?

Ms Cao is one of an increasing number of Chinese parents who no longer think suffering is a necessary condition of academic success.

“The school gives too much homework,” she says, as an autumn breeze blows through the open patio door of the walk-up duplex flat she rents in a Shanghai suburb to use as a home-schooling base for her son, Zhou Yi. “Besides, he's a boy, and boys like to play, they don't like to sit still for a long time,” she says, adding: “They can't just get all their knowledge from textbooks.” Our chat is obviously distracting the boy in question, who pops up from his studies at the nearby kitchen table and goes off to fondle the family's newborn kitten and fetch his beetle collection for us to admire.

Schools teach children in bulk, and it's not suitable for every child, Ms Cao says, adding that “each one has a different talent, and is good at different things. I don't think the rigid education in school suits my son.”

Plenty of Tiger Mums and Dads around China agree with her on that one: China's education system is geared to helping millions of children each year pass the selfsame exam, the dreaded gaokao or university entrance test, widely faulted even in China for requiring too much rote learning of irrelevant content. Many families are so desperate to avoid the gaokao that they send their children abroad to study, at an earlier and earlier age.

But instead of sending Zhou Yi to board in Europe or the US, Ms Cao, a former fashion designer, takes him to the swimming pool at lunchtime to give him a practical lesson in the principles of flotation (which he has just finished studying in a textbook). And every day, two hours are devoted to the study and interpretation of ancient Chinese texts. “Schools do not pay attention to traditional Chinese culture, especially the classics from Confucius and other Chinese philosophers,” she says. “They are the essence of Chinese culture and as a Chinese person, my son must be familiar with them.”

Ms Cao says that day's text was I Ching, the Book of Changes, one of the oldest (and hardest to parse) of the Chinese classics. I make a mental note to pull out I Ching whenever my teens complain about homework: they would prefer a week of schoolwork to spending even five minutes reciting that with me over the kitchen table.

And what about the social training that comes with all that schoolwork? There are many things that China's one-child generation arguably needs less of: calories, electronic games and pampering from parents, to name a few. But less time spent with children their own age would not normally figure at the top of the list.

Employers complain that China's only children are spoiled, selfish and bad at teamwork. With no siblings to cut their teeth on – and six doting adults devoted to each of them (mum, dad and two sets of grandparents) – they should arguably spend more time playing playground politics, and less piano.

Ms Cao says her son is naturally sociable, but just in case she has added the 10-year-old child of a friend to their home schoolroom. The schoolday starts with morning exercises, then six hours of lessons punctuated by an hour of free time on the internet at midday, a swim and an hour of calligraphy every evening. No piano, no violin – all in all, a lot less time than he used to spend on schoolwork, she says. And learning about insects – which Zhou Yi wants to make his life's vocation – “he can do in his own time”.

The only drawback: “Parents who home-school don't have teachers to blame if the child doesn't do well,” she says. “It's a big responsibility,” But at least this way, Tiger Mum does not also have to play the part of Homework Harridan. Although reciting I Ching while peeling potatoes must take some practice.

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1.Mrs. Cao designed a curriculum for his 13-year-old son, which of the following is not on it?

A.Caligraphy.

B.Swimming.

C.English.

D.Ching.

答案(1)

2.Who say(s) that “China's only children are spoiled, selfish and bad at teamwork”?

A.Employers.

B.Teachers.

C.Foreigners.

D.Universities.

答案(2)

3.With no siblings to cut their teeth on – and six doting adults devoted to each of them…What does the highlighted phrase mean?

A.Without brothers and sisters bullying them.

B.Without siblings' help when bullied by other children.

C.Without siblings helping and accompanying them .

D.Without brothers and sisters helping raising them.

答案(3)

4.How does the writer think about the Chinese mother's idea of homeschooling?

A.Brilliant.

B.Rediculous.

C.Making a fuss.

D.She does not imply.

答案(4)

* * *

(1)答案：C.English.

解釋：ACD都是Cao Qing給兒子安排的課程。母親還尤其強調(diào)，學(xué)校對中國傳統(tǒng)文化的關(guān)注太少，尤其是孔子等人的哲學(xué)。 she says. “They are the essence of Chinese culture and as a Chinese person, my son must be familiar with them.”

(2)答案：A.Employers.

解釋：這句話在倒數(shù)第三段。

(3)答案：C.Without siblings helping and accompanying them.

解釋：這個說法的意思是沒有人幫助他們獲得生活經(jīng)驗。

(4)答案：D.She does not imply.

解釋：作者一方面贊同學(xué)校的應(yīng)試教育弊端很多，但是并不確定這種做法會有好效果。她說，我可以在孩子們抱怨作業(yè)多的時候拿出《易經(jīng)》來嚇他們：他們寧愿做一個星期的作業(yè)也不愿背誦五分鐘的《易經(jīng)》。