Methods to help children learn well of Chinese parents

Chinese parents often help children study or check the progress of learning; or comparing children with other children to promote efforts.

In the PISA rankings of 2018 published by OECD on December 3, Chinese students ranked highest in three areas of Reading, Mathematics and Science. There are many reasons for this outcome, including the method of educating Chinese parents.

1. Children’s mission is learning

Chinese families believe in the specific roles of each member and children are no exception. Children in this country must perform two tasks. One is to respect elders and obey their parents. The other is to study hard and achieve good results to have a bright future.

In the Chinese family, fathers can be pillars, mothers are managers, and teachers of children. The task of students at school is to obey teachers and try to study, at home is obeying parents and reviewing knowledge. They also clean their houses and do extracurricular activities, but most consider learning a top priority.

At home, Chinese parents are often there to help their children study or check their study progress. Many families do not sit next to their parents, but their desks are often arranged so that they can be easily observed.

A special feature of Chinese culture, the profession is highly regarded. Parents show special care and appreciation to educators. They treat teachers like allies in parenting and always remind children to respect.

2. Self-improvement

According to psychologist Jin Li (Brown University, USA), Chinese parenting techniques are rooted in Confucian beliefs about self-improvement. Through non-stop training, people can reach perfection.

Therefore, Chinese students are encouraged to make the most of their time possible. One more lesson is that they can learn more knowledge in many subjects and perfect their skills.

3. Saving compliments

American parents believe that praise is a positive source of energy that encourages children to work and improve self-esteem. They often praise their children as much as in performances, outdoor games or studying. Unlike American parents, Chinese parents often refrain from complimenting their children or giving compliments only when it is really needed.

Chinese parents will praise them when they score A or 9-10. If children get lower scores, parents often encourage their children to do better next time. By doing so, they implicitly let their children understand that parents set high standards for their children and hope they will try to achieve this.

In addition, when praising, they avoid using generic adjectives that pay attention to the child’s accomplishments or efforts. For example, Chinese parents do not comment “You are the smartest person ever”. Because this statement makes children arrogant, think themselves the best and can not stand the feeling of failure. Instead, they will say, “You have achieved an impressive score on this test. The extra time you spend on your studies paid off.”

4. Encouraging competition

Chinese parents think the class is like a competition, many students come in, but only one of them becomes a champion. Therefore, they often compare children with other children to promote learning efforts.

This competition does not imply negative but rather healthy competition, ie children should look at your success to learn. If it fails, children should not keep negative thoughts, instead Chinese parents teach their children to look at their own shortcomings, explain the mistake and avoid repeating it the next time.

5. Never give up

In Chinese thinking, failure is not an option. Chinese parents believe that the worst thing they can do is let their children quit their unfinished work or duties. On the contrary, nothing is better than building your child with confidence, perseverance and efforts to overcome all difficulties.

Once Chinese children have set goals, parents will support or help their children on the path of conquest. From games, sports or learning, perseverance is always strengthened and reinforced with the belief that you can apply it in your future work and achieve success.

6. The result of hard work

According to Chinese parents, joy will not appear if you do not work hard to achieve certain results. So, besides perseverance, Chinese parents remind their children never to be lazy. According to research by the University of California, Asian students in general and China in particular learn more than students on other continents on average 5 hours a week.

Take the example of learning to play the piano. Chinese children will be required to practice hard every day under parental supervision. After a period of non-stop work, parents will register their children to perform in a band or orchestra, from which children will realize the hard work always pays off and makes more effort.