Several Effective Methods for Child Education

Whether a child can change their understanding depends on meeting them at their level and altering their perspective within their own world. The story of Mencius' mother cutting the loom threads is a perfect example.

When you tell a child to study hard, warning them that they'll have no future otherwise, they may not comprehend it, nor grasp the concept of abandoning something halfway. These ideas are beyond their current understanding. However, they can easily understand the waste and misfortune of cutting a perfectly good piece of cloth, and this realization can have a profound impact on them.

To address repeated misbehavior, it's essential to connect the lesson to something within their world. When they can clearly see the severe consequences of their actions, it leaves a significant impression. This is similar to how some mothers urge their daughters to marry early, but the girls, focused only on fun, don't understand the older generation’s warnings about the difficulties of finding a partner later in life. By the time they realize it themselves, it may be too late.

The challenge of education lies in bridging this gap between the higher understanding of adults and the lower understanding of children.

Mencius' mother was a master of education. She tailored her approach to what mattered most to her child, showing that when you target what's most important to them, it's highly effective.

Creating a scenario where repeated misbehavior leads to severe consequences can be a powerful lesson. Today's children are difficult to discipline, partly because of the prevalence of mindless entertainment in the media that lacks educational value. Children who spend all their time watching shows like Ultraman and cartoons may not grasp important lessons, leading to a lack of understanding and becoming disconnected.

In educating children, adults either need to enter the child's world or bring the child into theirs. Without this intersection, communication becomes ineffective, like chickens and ducks talking past each other.

Ouyang Xiu's mother, for instance, brought her child into the adult world, leading by example, which naturally elevated the child's understanding beyond a simplistic view of the world, allowing them to mature and develop wisdom early on.

Many parents feel like they are constantly battling with their children, even losing hair over it. Once a conflict begins, educational efficiency drops significantly. Children raised with strict discipline and harsh punishment may succeed, but they might grow up emotionally distant, suppressing their emotions.

Education has always been challenging, not just today. Even in the Analects, you see adults asking questions that seem almost foolish, yet Confucius patiently explained. Most people in this world are not particularly wise, and children even less so. However, even those asking seemingly simple questions in the Analects were at least trying to learn, to improve. The real problem arises when someone stays silent, doesntt learn, doesn't ask, and when they finally act, it's often in negative ways.

Expecting every mother to be like Mencius' mother is too high a standard and too exhausting. Instead, we can create an environment that promotes positive guidance, like parent-child reading clubs, which can address this issue. Every city should have such clubs. If children are constantly thinking about heroes like Yue Fei and Emperor Taizong, they won't have time to dwell on bad thoughts.

Creating an atmosphere where dozens of people are present can make a child behave more respectfully than in a one-on-one situation at home. The idea is similar to the saying, "Surrounded by hemp, straightening without support." You need to create a field of hemp for the child to grow in; otherwise, parents will exhaust themselves straightening their child only for them to revert the next day.

Regular participation in reading clubs, even in the evenings, where they can hear historical stories and classic teachings, will fill a child’s mind with positive ideas, leaving no room for negative ones. Again, "Surrounded by hemp, straightening without support." Just as white sand becomes black when mixed with mud, so too does a child need the right environment to thrive.