Tip 209: A vision of achievements

At 2 years old, Haruka is growing up well. She has interest to learn and has the attention span to concentrate on minor lessons. I am sure part of it is due to her intelligence and ability to observe and grasp new lessons. Another part is due to her dad providing her a vision of her achievements. When kids play, they begin to learn how to play, understand the objectives of play, derive satisfaction from it, imagine role play and envision different outcomes from the play time. The child observes daddy, mummy and others close to their heart and want to be as clever and as strong as them. They believe that by reading picture books or by playing toys, they not only amuse themselves, but also learn to be like daddy or mummy. They begin to develop a vision or ambition to achieve something more each day.



















A child learns through play. But it is through communication with others during play that the child learns better what to expect out of play. For instance, a child may have learnt how to combine lego blocks together to form a larger block. But unless the child is exposed to the different designs and construction possible, the child may be limited in his/her vision to see what the possibilities are. It is not about pampering the child with too much time spent together. At some point in time, the child needs to learn to play alone, learn independence and to think on his/her own. Yet, just 5-10 minutes during each play, it can be worthwhile to point the child in the right direction. To provide a vision of possible achievements, to communicate ambitions and examples of good values and admirable deeds. These are powerful images that would assist the child to dream and to imagine. Then, the child will learn how to create such visions on their own. I would for instance build a new lego design and structure at the beginning of Haruka's play and create a story behind this design and structure. If I have the time, I would point to Haruka the new type of design I tried, so she could review such new design concepts. After a while, she prefers to play on her own and feels daddy is imposing his designs on her. Then, it may take just daddy's presence to play by her side to praise her for her new creations and suggest to her what she can do to make the lego structure more interesting without doing it for her. The vision is painted and it is fun to admire it together and creatively consider the different possibilities.



















I do the same when encouraging good behavior in Haruka. I create a vision that Haruka will be praised by her teacher and students at Sunday School. I remind her of how it felt when she stood on the stage in front of the church and recognized as a member of Sunday School with applause from everyone. I praised her on how well she smiled when she stood on the stage and she should increase her good deeds and well manners, so that she will have that pleasure again on stage. When she was younger and could not envision such grander ambitions, I would just point her to a fun role of being a Barney girl. I am sure all this impacts her creative thinking .

(Photos show Haruka at Singapore Botanic Garden, the only botanic garden with many awards that opens the longest hours, yet not charge any admission fee.