By Amy Chua
In case you have been living on another planet lately and have missed the controversy surrounding this book and the author's ideas you must read this article. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html
I also enjoyed Steven Colbert's interview with Chua:
http://tv.gawker.com/#!5743483/tiger-mother-amy-chua-defends-herself-to-stephen-colbert
http://tv.gawker.com/#!5743483/tiger-mother-amy-chua-defends-herself-to-stephen-colbert
The book is much the same. Maddening and fascinating. There is a lot of preaching about the "Chinese way" and the "Western way." Chua does have a dry sense of humor and she does poke fun at herself and point out her faults in a way that is somewhat endearing and partly irritating. There are parts of this book that made me laugh outloud, mostly at some of her over the top "tiger mother" ways. A few things were downright hysterical. I don't think she really knew where she wanted the book to go and it kind of just stops- perhaps because she isn't through parenting yet. I always appreciate a book that makes me reflect on my own parenting values and makes me think about where I want to go from here. If there is one thing I learned from this book, it's that I yell too much and that's not who I want to be.
I would be fascinated to know what my fellow mothers out there think about all this hubbub and also - when/what do you think the best way to introduce music to your children is?
4 comments:
Currently reading Nurture Shock and loving it. I think parents have been looking for a reason to be tougher on kids, though personally I think Tiger Mom is insane and should be hospitalized.
I bought this book on my iPad last week but haven't had a chance to read it. Her interviews are just like you describe... irritating and kinda remarkable. I;ll let you know when I finish.
ps- I think introducing music starts the day they come home. Music playing in the home often, singing to them and getting them musical toys. As far as formal teaching? It's different for every kid. Ethan is only ready to play by color (like him playing the saxophone on our Christmas video), Lorali BEGS for her piano lessons every Sunday. Right now I'm teaching her but as soon as she's in 1st grade I'm getting her a teacher- to really push her.
I think it's important to follow your own instincts about when your child is ready, but my piano teacher, who was also one of the greatest mentors of my life, recommends waiting until a child can read. He also told me that boys (not that this is of any real concern to you or me since we only have girls) don't develop certain muscles in their hands until around 8 years old, so they will stumble quite a bit until then.
I think you can force a child to practice or be very strict about it and get results, but that won't necessarily instill in them a love of music which, in my opinion, is the most important. My teacher truly instilled a love of music in me. We developed friendship and mutual respect, and because of this my parents didn't need to push me to practice, I wanted to. Wow, I could go off on this topic for hours...One interesting thing I stumbled across is http://letsplaymusicsite.com/. My sister-in-law told me about it and I think it may be a fun way to introduce smaller children to music. I'm still forming an opinion. Sorry for the novel!
Sorry, one other thought...I think the fact that you love music and have perhaps purposely and/or inadvertently shown them that music is fun to sing, to dance to, to listen to, is the best way to initially introduce a child to music. I think sometimes people think about introducing children to music and they are focused in on classical music. Violins and piano are wonderful, but my dad is a saxophone/clarinet player and I grew up first hearing jazz and that love of music led me to the piano. So perhaps a more casual approach has its merits. Can you tell I don't really agree with the "Chinese way"? :)
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