Little J will be going to Primary One next year. Last week, I brought him to the Chinese Primary school near our house to register him for the school. It is a big school compared to the Kindergarden he is attending now. He was  excited to go to the new school and I took the opportunity to walk him around the school. 5 minutes after walking around, we heard tons of footsteps and saw a bunch of students coming out of their classrooms to go home. Apparently, they were some Primary 6 students who stayed back in school for extra lessons.

As we walked to our car, we saw 3 boys playing and one of the boys was handled quite roughly by his 2 friends. Immediately I can feel Little J squeezing my hand very tight and moving very close to me. He started to point to the boys and said, “Mummy, look! Those are bullies! I am very scared of them. I don’t want to come to this school!” I explained to him that the boys were only playing and not bullying each other and assured him that he needs not to be afraid of going to the school. Little J has always been a very timid and introvert child compared to Big J who has no problem adapting to any new environment.

Talking about school bully, my heart sank when I read this piece of news about a Year One student being bullied in school. I can’t imagine a 7 year old boy using a blade to inflict pain on his classmates. The bully really needs help. I am not jumping into conclusion, but a young child will not be violent unless he has been bullied either at home or elsewhere, or he has seen someone bullying another person. Monkeys see, monkeys do…. I hope the school authorities will visit his home to find out why he turned so violent..

My typical daily conversation with Big J used to go like this :

Me : Have you finished your homework?

Big J : No

Me : Then why are you watching tv?

Big J : ……….. (eyes rolling..)

Me. Go and do your homework right NOW! You are banned for watching tv for a week! How many times do I have to tell you that you can only watch tv after you finish your homework? Why can’t you listen and obey me? Do you know that if you don’t finish your homework, you will get punished by your teacher? Do you know how embarassed this is going to be (blah..blah.. blah for 10 minutes…)

Big J : …………

Sounds familiar? That is how I USED to communicate with my children. Reading Adam Khoo’s “Nurturing The Winner & Genius In your Child” has transformed the way I communicate with them! It really blew my mind away and I can now connect so much better with my 2 heroes. The book gives tips on how ANY child can become a top achiever through nurturing their self-esteem, confidences and self-motivation. It shares the “secret”  on study success formula and a win-win disciplinary strategies. One important point I gather from this book is that parents play a very, very important role in the child’s personal development. It is the parents who can tap the unlimited potential of the child and shape he/she to become a high achiever in all fields! The key word is for things to change, we as PARENTS must first change!

The book has a lot of illustrations and double spaced lines which makes reading much more comfy and soothing to the eyes especially for “old” folks like me, who has both hyperobia and myopia. I must confess that although I love buying books, I often do not complete reading the books further than 3 chapters or I tend to skip chapters and to read only chapters that interest me. But surprisingly, I diligently finished this book without any skipping in 2 weeks and I am contemplating to re-read the book! Ha! I am now a fan of Adam Khoo and just bought the book “I am Gifted, So are You”.