In the holidays, why not let children play and explore the world themselves?

涂于德

In the holidays,
why not let children play and explore the world themselves?

       For the summer vacation, what parents ask their children to do vary a lot. But the arrangement those parents made for children have one theme in common ----- prepare a full hurry-for-clock study “holiday”! Take my neighbor’s son as an example. Here’s the kid’s daily routine:
5.30 a.m.                get up
5.40 a.m. 〜 6.20 a.m.       work out ( walk, horizontal bar, more often, run)
6.30 a.m. 〜 7.00 a.m.       morning English reading
7.00 a.m. 〜 7.30 a.m.       breakfast & time for a little rest
7.30 a.m. 〜 9.30 a.m.       preview & do the exercises of two chapters for
                        Junior Math Book I
9.30 a.m. 〜 10.00 a.m.       have a break
10.00 a.m. 〜 11.45 a.m.      read & prepare to retell 3 chapters of “Romance of
                        the Three Kingdoms”
at noon
( from 12.00 to 2.00 )         have lunch & rest
2.00 p.m. 〜 4.00 p.m.       physics teaching in home
4.30 p.m. 〜 6.30 p.m.       English teaching in home
the evening                 supper & TV time
( from 6.30 p.m. 〜 early next morning )

       Why dare parents not let their kids spend the holiday in their own way? It’s known to all that Hemingway won the Nobel Literature Prize in 1954. His success resulted from his open-minded father, who has a special way to train and cultivate him!
Being a doctor, at the very beginning, any time he went out to see his patients, he brought out his son to walk through the thick dangerous forests and visit the scattered villages. It was with Father’s help and introduction that young Hemingway learnt fishing, hunting and exploring. Later when Hemingway became older, Old Hemingway let the young kid go himself and force him to explore the world alone!
        In his holidays, Old Hemingway said to his son, “Go and have fun. Explore the colorful world yourself!” During the exploration of nature in vacation, not only did Young Hemingway learnt how to deal with problems and difficulties, but he learnt what was responsibility as well. Having enjoyed much the beauty and exploration in his vacation, he got still more interested in learning, for he knew, through his experiences in his holidays, only by learning and practice can a person learn the skills and the knowledge to get on well with nature and the world around them. We can’t help asking a question-----
        Since the capability is of much more importance and significance than restricting children at home to recite a few words and statements, why not let children play and explore the world themselves in the holidays? All study and no play makes Jack a dull boy!

asan82

WHY?Because time and tide wait for no man

Personally, i don't think parents should get all the blame as you assumed.
They do this out of a good intention hoping the kids won't lag behind when they grow up.
Besides discipline and self-reliance must be fostered at a young age.

涂于德

Thank asan82 for your kind attention.

For the sake of study's sake, parents are right.
Yet, students need something more as well as "discipline and self-reliance".
Big environment is not benefitful for kids' full development, though, which causes
another discussion in a new article.

asan82

引用第2楼涂于德于2007-08-24 14:46发表的 :
Thank asan82 for your kind attention.

For the sake of study's sake, parents are right.
Yet, students need something more as well as "discipline and self-reliance".
Big environment is not benefitful for kids' full development, though, which causes
.......

sth. more?

guess you mean freedom

anyway u can hardly accomplish anything without hard work, that's what i believe

as to how to achieve the well-rounded effect, really looking forward to your essay...