REMINDER TO ALL PARENTS:
A School Principal in Singapore sent this letter to the parents before the exams..
Dear Parents,
The exams of your children are to start soon. I know you are all really anxious for your child to do well.
But, please do remember, amongst the students, who will be sitting for the exams, there is an artist, who doesn’t need to understand Maths.
There is an entrepreneur, who doesn’t care about History or English literature.
There’s a musician, whose Chemistry marks won’t matter.
There’s a sportsperson, whose physical fitness is more important than Physics..like Schooling
If your child does get top marks, that’s great! But, if he or she doesn’t, please don’t take away their self-confidence and dignity from them.
Tell them it’s OK, it’s just an exam! They are cut out for much bigger things in life.
Tell them, no matter what they score, you love them and will not judge them.
Please do this, and when you do, watch your children conquer the world. One exam or a low mark won’t take away their dreams and talent.
And please, do not think that doctors and engineers are the only happy people in the world.
With Warm Regards,
The Principal.”
_____
This letter has been circulating in Facebook. A college friend who is now a teacher by profession shared this on her wall. Upon reading the letter, I immediately hit the like button and wrote a comment. I said:
“Kudos to the principal. That’s exactly my mantra at home (I am referring to the principal’s requests). We’re practicing this at home because my children are both visual learned and perhaps, artists in the making. Medals and awards are just some of the bonus or rewards for their being diligent throughout the school year. Preparing them for being things in life is all the more important, as mentioned by the principal”
Thus, ensuring that the children are confident and brave enough to face the real world is more important that perfect scores in academic subjects or straight A’s in the student report card. It is also important to teach our children to remain humble and remind them to treat others with respect and kindness.
The letter of the principal is related with dolphin parenting, which balances the extremes of tiger and jellyfish parenting. More about this in my next post. Stay tuned!
How about you? What is your reaction to this letter?