If I have a kid...
I'm so going to spoil my child when I do have one next time.
Whenever I walk into Borders, or even second-hand bookshops, I love to go to the children's section and look at children's literature. It's such a challenge writing for children, especially when you ought to be clear which age group you are writing for. Obviously there's a difference between a 6 year-old and a 10 year-old but how exactly does the language or genre makes this distinction is the tough part. At Borders, they have sections which house books specifically targeted for certain age groups, but the point is, the whole children's section is so cozy, I could spend an entire afternoon there just choosing books for my child.
Recently, I went to a San Bookshop at Plaza Singapura and was so tempted to pick up Roald Dahl mature fiction books (not the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type) for my brother. But I have a feeling he's started out too late. Now he ONLY reads Harry Potter and he's reading the latest edition a second time! Whatever for, I have no idea. I thought he might be keen on Chronicles of Narnia, because after all, the movie's gonna be out soon. But sadly, after personally reading "The Magician's Nephew" and "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", I do not think C.S. Lewis is a good writer, and so I told him to forget it.
It's not just that the language used is simple, or that the content is very fantastical. It's the WAY the story is written. It's just bad, in my opinion. It does not follow one character's thoughts and observations through and as a result, I'm just not drawn into the story.
I'm sure the movie will be much better from the bits of trailer I caught.
For me, I grew up reading Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach", "Matilda", "The BFG", "Glass Elevator" and he is a remarkable children's story writer because there's fantasy (a giant peach for goodness sake!) mixed with childish imagination and good language usage. You may beg to differ, but I'm sure that had a part to play in formulating my interest in literature and story-writing today. It's a pity my brother grew up in the age of computers and handphones and wasn't exposed to books enough.
In Beijing, I went to this massive 7 storey bookstore and as usual, hit the children's literature section. If Borders fails to accomodate for Chinese children's books, that Beijing bookstore failed to accomodate for English children's books. There are plenty of comic books, and short stories on maxims, old Chinese history and such. It's very interesting because a lot of Chinese phrases we use have a story behind and since all children like stories, it'd be good to have them learn from a young age, before they start forming preferences.
So I say, if I ever have a child, I think I'd designate a children's library room in the house, that will have English, Chinese and language books, dictionaries, pictorials, puzzles and so on just for kids. And if it's a big house I stay, and I'm retired, we can have reading sessions on weekday afternoons where neighbours with children can come over to read and play for about 2, 3 hours. That is, if they are either home-schooled, or not old enough for school.
There I go, romanticising again.
I'm 22 for god's sake and I'm thinking of what I'd do when I retire!!
But by then, I figure things would have been different.
Hmm...who says I can't dream?
It's the year-end holidays phenomenon, where children's musicals and plays are being held at various theatres around the island. My brother's a little too old for them, so I keep thinking who I can bring to watch "Snow Queen" and "Oi, Sleeping Beauty" amongst many others. These are great family bonding events that is both entertaining and educational.
So if I have a kid, Christmas presents will be books and performances like these.
Oh no, do I sound like one of those moms who'll bombard their kids with too many activities?
I guess maybe it's because there weren't such choices available to me when I was a kid and I kind of want to make up for it in my child. Expose him/her to as much as possible because after all, kids have sponge brains, so they can absorb a lot and learn faster. And when he or she is old enough to discern, having been exposed to a spectrum of disciplines can allow him or her to choose their preferences more effectively.
If I have a choice, I'd rather not subject my child to the local education system because although it's good, anything within an institution always (I think) tend to promote conformity, which stunts a child's creativity and development. Besides, I've seen how kindergarten or primary school teacher speak to children -- in broken English -- "Wait for teacher outside", "Can one", "You eat already or not?". I'm sure it's the same in Mandarin. And as it is, Chinese is only another subject in school. So as a child, how can he or she master both basic languages effectively if what he or she listens to are inaccurate pronounciations and poor usage of grammar? We can't blame Singaporeans for having Singaporean-slanged English and Mandarin because that's how the new generation is taught.
I'm not being snobbish or atas, but every mom wants the best for their child.
It's only natural.
Whenever I walk into Borders, or even second-hand bookshops, I love to go to the children's section and look at children's literature. It's such a challenge writing for children, especially when you ought to be clear which age group you are writing for. Obviously there's a difference between a 6 year-old and a 10 year-old but how exactly does the language or genre makes this distinction is the tough part. At Borders, they have sections which house books specifically targeted for certain age groups, but the point is, the whole children's section is so cozy, I could spend an entire afternoon there just choosing books for my child.
Recently, I went to a San Bookshop at Plaza Singapura and was so tempted to pick up Roald Dahl mature fiction books (not the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory type) for my brother. But I have a feeling he's started out too late. Now he ONLY reads Harry Potter and he's reading the latest edition a second time! Whatever for, I have no idea. I thought he might be keen on Chronicles of Narnia, because after all, the movie's gonna be out soon. But sadly, after personally reading "The Magician's Nephew" and "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe", I do not think C.S. Lewis is a good writer, and so I told him to forget it.
It's not just that the language used is simple, or that the content is very fantastical. It's the WAY the story is written. It's just bad, in my opinion. It does not follow one character's thoughts and observations through and as a result, I'm just not drawn into the story.
I'm sure the movie will be much better from the bits of trailer I caught.
For me, I grew up reading Roald Dahl's "James and the Giant Peach", "Matilda", "The BFG", "Glass Elevator" and he is a remarkable children's story writer because there's fantasy (a giant peach for goodness sake!) mixed with childish imagination and good language usage. You may beg to differ, but I'm sure that had a part to play in formulating my interest in literature and story-writing today. It's a pity my brother grew up in the age of computers and handphones and wasn't exposed to books enough.
In Beijing, I went to this massive 7 storey bookstore and as usual, hit the children's literature section. If Borders fails to accomodate for Chinese children's books, that Beijing bookstore failed to accomodate for English children's books. There are plenty of comic books, and short stories on maxims, old Chinese history and such. It's very interesting because a lot of Chinese phrases we use have a story behind and since all children like stories, it'd be good to have them learn from a young age, before they start forming preferences.
So I say, if I ever have a child, I think I'd designate a children's library room in the house, that will have English, Chinese and language books, dictionaries, pictorials, puzzles and so on just for kids. And if it's a big house I stay, and I'm retired, we can have reading sessions on weekday afternoons where neighbours with children can come over to read and play for about 2, 3 hours. That is, if they are either home-schooled, or not old enough for school.
There I go, romanticising again.
I'm 22 for god's sake and I'm thinking of what I'd do when I retire!!
But by then, I figure things would have been different.
Hmm...who says I can't dream?
It's the year-end holidays phenomenon, where children's musicals and plays are being held at various theatres around the island. My brother's a little too old for them, so I keep thinking who I can bring to watch "Snow Queen" and "Oi, Sleeping Beauty" amongst many others. These are great family bonding events that is both entertaining and educational.
So if I have a kid, Christmas presents will be books and performances like these.
Oh no, do I sound like one of those moms who'll bombard their kids with too many activities?
I guess maybe it's because there weren't such choices available to me when I was a kid and I kind of want to make up for it in my child. Expose him/her to as much as possible because after all, kids have sponge brains, so they can absorb a lot and learn faster. And when he or she is old enough to discern, having been exposed to a spectrum of disciplines can allow him or her to choose their preferences more effectively.
If I have a choice, I'd rather not subject my child to the local education system because although it's good, anything within an institution always (I think) tend to promote conformity, which stunts a child's creativity and development. Besides, I've seen how kindergarten or primary school teacher speak to children -- in broken English -- "Wait for teacher outside", "Can one", "You eat already or not?". I'm sure it's the same in Mandarin. And as it is, Chinese is only another subject in school. So as a child, how can he or she master both basic languages effectively if what he or she listens to are inaccurate pronounciations and poor usage of grammar? We can't blame Singaporeans for having Singaporean-slanged English and Mandarin because that's how the new generation is taught.
I'm not being snobbish or atas, but every mom wants the best for their child.
It's only natural.
posted by Me at 10:52 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home