Why send your kid to summer school?

I think most new parents are very anxious on leaving their child to a person whom they don't know personally for some hours to interact with other kids.  Some doubts that kept on wondering in a parent's mind could be, "what if there's a bully who would hurt my child?"  or "what if she starts looking for me and frantically screams the whole session?" or "what if she becomes bored as she doesn't have interest with their activities?"

Before the summer began, we were still having some doubts if Amanda is too young to go to school.  Imagine, from three years old up to well 22, she'll be undergoing a rigid routine of waking up early, commuting to school and then being preoccupied with all the schoolwork with greater pressure as she becomes older.

Maybe I was thinking way advanced and looking at the disadvantage more than what the benefits we could get from having her attend school.  

Two Fridays ago, it was Amanda's end of summer school.  And guess what?  I realized six surprising things that happened to Amanda as a result of her schooling:

1. Create stories - Amanda was able to talk straight and communicate prior to going to school.  However, one great thing that happened to her was her ability to make cohesive plot out of her sentences now.  As what I've written in my previous blog, she's able to tell stories now.
2. Social Skills - I think it's very obvious that parents send their kids to school to see how well they will interact with other children.  I realized that by nature, kids will really talk to each other.  It may not be during the first week but essentially, they will find a way to talk to one another then make friends.  With Amanda, we saw that she's very gentle and behaved.  When Teacher Euke tells the class to keep quiet she's one of the kids who immediately follows. 
3. Change in routine - Before Amanda went to school, she sleeps very late about 12 midnight and wakes up about ten in the morning.  She also had to fight with constipation as she doesn't eat the right amount of fiber and doesn't get enough exercise.  When her class started, surprisingly, just about a week, her sleep routine normalized.  She wakes up at six and then takes afternoon siesta when she gets home from school.  She also feels sleepy and doses off between 8 to 9.  For her daily battle with constipation, all of a sudden it was gone.  Maybe there's a scientific explanation for it but whatever it is, I'm thankful she got better.
4. Uncover her personality - Through her school, I noticed that even though she's quiet and behaved, she speaks out her mind.  One of the traits that I don't have when I was in my early years in school :)  I guess that's a good thing as it'll be easy to communicate with her as she grows up. 
5. Parents and Time Management - As a parent, the most challenging thing to do is to adjust your own routine to accommodate this new activity.  Aside from waking up early you have to consider on how to fit your time with her school activities, work, business, marriage, community and of course playtime.  This leads me to having less time for sleep though.
6. Sacrifice and Payoff - I ran into this article yesterday about an interview with Ravi Zacharias, an evangelist.  One of the lines that struck me was "...With true pleasure, you pay the price before. With false pleasure, you pay the price after.”  Given that we have to adjust our schedules, wake up early in the morning to prepare for school, invoke delayed gratification in order to save money for her schooling and endure the constant battle in having Amanda take a bath... it was all worth it.  She's now more confident in speaking, had lots of new dance moves, knows how to make the sign of the cross perfectly, can count one to 30, can sing more than just twinkle twinkle and boom panes, and of course love and care more for others.
   

Couple of months before Champee's birthday, she got hooked on watching the demo videos for Play Doh.  I realized two things... one, I thought there are weird people that are super excited to buy toys, open them in front of the camera, and then assemble and play and post to You Tube... Two, there are even more insane people watching their videos.

But then, after checking their YouTube hits, they already have thousands like this one.  Meaning these guys are earning good money from what they're posting.  So definitely, they're not insane, just good entrepreneurs recognizing the big revenue opportunity on a seemingly simple demo video.

One of the things that me and Cali were conscious on teaching Champee is her patience.  This was the first time that she requested something from us and that we believe this was the perfect time to teach her the value of patience and perseverance. 

Being exposed to watching the Play Doh videos, she wanted to have one of her own.  We told her that we can buy her that, but she'll have to wait for her birthday on April 17.  So this became her birthday wish script:  everytime you ask her, "When's your birthday Amanda?"  She will always reply.. "April 17th"... and when asked about, "What's your wish? (ala Dibo the Gift Dragon tone)", she would promptly reply "I wish to have a Play Doh..."

There were few instances that we went to toy stores when visiting the malls.  And as you would guess it, it's a haven for kids and toddlers to see all the best toys displayed.  But for parents, it could be their worst nightmare as you can't expect to leave those stores without swiping your credit card or your monthly budget.  So when we went there, it's impossible for her not to see a single Play Doh toy.  Of course she got excited, but what I'm not expecting was that her ability to understand that she'll have her turn to own one on her birthday and not black mail us by crying out loud in the store.

We were happy with her reactions everytime she behaves like that.  Either she's too young now to act negatively OR she understood even with her young mind the things we talked about delayed gratification.  I do certainly hope it's the second one :)

During the course of her waiting, we found her to be watching play doh videos during her tablet time.  Maybe this is one of her secrets to cope with her wants. 

I know this is just a small thing to help her mold her character, but I know, planting these seeds of simple discipline can help her manage bigger issues as she grows older.  As the bible puts it in James 1:3-4 "for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing". That is a parent's every dream for their child... to be able to live their lives full and complete and the only way to achieve that is to infuse in their blood stream the value of patience;  To continue to persevere even with the most difficult challenges;  To break through the barriers of difficulties... To remain on hoping... until you get the promise.