VENA是個平時大大咧咧，在孩子教育上屬於重度強迫症病患的媽媽，她，是一個有趣的人！
VENA現任青苗國際雙語學校順義校區家長教師聯合會PTA主席，我常常被她纏住做各種涉及孩子成長的事，當我聽說她曾經寫過一個關於她和孩子旅行的故事，就非常有興趣的拿來看了看，我驚訝於一箇中國孩子在國際學校教育下的奇妙變化，在文字裡，我讀懂了一個母親的驕傲，為孩子，為進步的中國教育，為自己果敢的選擇。
特意跟VENA溝通後，她同意我將此文發表於我的媒體號上，她希望這樣的經歷能幫更多迷茫中的家長，我也很樂得將這些分享給所有需要它的人！
我要帶著Elijah 去旅行。我列了5頁紙的假設去預防所有可能發生的意外，萬無一失了吧，我想，但是我心裡知道每次旅行的唯一不確定因素都在於我那個調皮搗蛋的慢蝸牛。
Elijah 是個很率真的小孩，好惡分明，不會討巧，行事緩慢，加上小孩子特有的好奇，不聽指揮，帶給我不少麻煩，我總是抱怨他不懂得體諒我的辛苦，看著和他同齡的“小棉襖們”都貼心得不得了， 心裡羨慕極了。
臨行前我像每次出門一樣和他約法三章， 這是唯一一個可以安撫自己情緒的方式，畢竟他最擅長的是不失時機得帶給我各種出其不意。
本著學生時代對名校的嚮往，我把第一站設在了波士頓， 可以讓Elijah去各大名校走走又能滿足我的哈佛情懷， 我為我聰明的計劃點了一萬個贊。 我們落地的的那天正逢大雪，整個波士頓用一身銀裝來迎接我們， Elijah完全沉浸在這片雪景中，完全沒有因為航班延誤了三小時而感到睏倦，我答應第二天一早我就帶他去玩雪。
“I only want to be a friend”
我特地定了哈佛附近的酒店，我們可以步行到哈佛。第二天一早，我們一路沿著查爾斯河欣賞雪景，Elijah很興奮，一會兒撿起雪球要和我開啟雪戰模式，一會兒又被路邊探出樹洞的小松鼠所吸引。 我 們路過哈佛廣場的時候，Elijah的目光瞬間定格在一輛停在路邊的巡邏警車上。他從小最愛警察車，我猜，他接下來會拉著我的手要求我帶他去摸一摸那輛炫 酷的警車，於是我開始擺起譜來，我故意放慢腳步等著他回頭來尋求我的幫助，但令我意外的是，他完全忽略我，徑自走過去開始跟車上的警察聊天 。“ I like your car, it’s pretty cool …” “.....”然後他們開始互相自我介紹，那位警察教他怎麼開警燈，怎麼鳴警笛，他興奮得用揚聲器喊 “ Mom, I’m here! ” 我沒有在他眼裡看出任何對陌生人的羞怯，這遠遠出乎了我的意料，好像不太符合我對一個六歲小孩的正常定義。回想我六歲的時候應該還是一個買顆糖都要拉著媽 媽衣角的寶寶。
我 們跟警車告別， Elijah有點不捨，不住的回頭望，離開很遠Elijah還轉身跟坐在車裡的警察揮手再見，直到他回過頭再也看不見那輛警車，他拉著我的手對我說 “媽媽，我長大也要當警察” “好呀” 我心裡挺高興，“警察叔叔抓壞人，可威風了。” “可是我不想當警察叔叔，我要當美國的警察” 我有點意外他的話 “為什麼？可你是中國的寶寶啊！” 我腦海裡浮現出無數對他進行愛國主義思想教育的片段，Elijah 低著頭沉默了很久，然後他用低低的聲音回答 “我們那裡是警察叔叔，美國這裡警察是…friend” 我頓時明白了他要表達的意思 “ You only want to be a friend not an ‘uncle’，right？” “Yep!” 他看著我，給我一個大大的微笑，他好像很高興我終於能夠理解他。然而我卻很慚愧，我彷彿一直在教他怎樣去努力去競爭去成為人上人，而他卻告訴我，他只想 用友好用善良用一顆平常心去對待全世界...... 我們牽著手在雪地裡走了很久，雪後的哈佛真的很安靜，安靜到只能聽到靴子踩進初雪的聲音......
“You are my seeds”
在 波士頓的第四天，早上醒來，Elijah 爬到我床上跟我說昨天晚上他和Mrs. Night在屋後的天鵝湖裡喂天鵝，Mrs. Night 邀請Elijah 去她家裡做客。我耐心得跟他解釋，那只是在做夢，他趴在我身邊，失落得點點頭，“我一定是想Mrs. Night了” 他自我定義道。Mrs. Night是Elijah在青苗的老師，很和藹的老太太，說話慢慢的很溫柔，我幾次看到她用很慢的語速和小朋友們交流，耐心得解釋到他們明白為止，沒有很 嚴厲的懲罰手段卻可以讓每個淘氣包都乖乖聽指揮，不僅學生喜歡她，家長也是對她心服口服。後來老太太回到了美國，Elijah還是會常常跟我提起她，我看 出他對Mrs. Night 感情很深，這次既然是沒有目的地的旅遊，不如去探訪一下她。
很高興得接受了我的提議，我們定了機票南下達拉斯。Mrs. Night對於我們的到來非常高興，準備了豐盛的晚餐招待我們，整個晚上，Elijah都在跟Mrs. Night報告後來發生在學校的趣事，我坐在邊上沒有插話，只是看著他講得繪聲繪色，努力壓抑自己的驚訝，我很意外他英語口語的流利程度和詞彙量， 而他在聊天中提到的很多最樸實的為人處事的道理是我自己都不曾考慮過的，這更是讓我欣喜和感動。 回 去的路上， Elijah突然問我 “媽媽，你看我是不是開花了？”我很奇怪他為什麼這麼問，他說，Mrs. Night在離開的時候說我們都是她的種子，每天早上 他都會幫我們澆水，抱我們出去晒太陽，但是現在她要回家去了，她把我們交給Ms.Marina保護，等到我們開花的時候，她就會很高興。我今天見到 Mrs. Night，她很高興，我一定是開花了”。 一路上，Elijah都因為自己開花的事情美滋滋的，而我卻被Mrs. Night這種獨特的解釋離別的方式所感動，這是我聽過最美麗的告別，讓分離變得溫馨而不傷感，卻在小朋友心中埋下了要茁壯成長的種子。 我摸摸Elijah的腦袋 “是呀，你開花了，媽媽也好高興呢！”
“不是每個喜愛的東西都要帶回家的”
我們的最後一站是墨西哥，連著幾天的沙灘日光浴讓我們懷念起了北京的初雪，在這次旅行中，我明顯感覺到了Elijah的進步，為了鼓勵他連日來的配合，我給 了他200比索讓他可以在機場免稅店選購一件自己喜愛的紀念品，他轉悠了很久，最後挑中了一輛小汽車，拿著汽車去櫃檯結賬的時候，售貨員告訴他小汽車的價 錢遠遠超過了200比索，而這個時候，機場廣播開始催促我們登機了，他頓時紅了眼圈，強忍著眼淚把小汽車放回了原處，然後拉著我的手頭也不回地往前走，我 停下腳步跟他說，如果你很喜歡，媽媽幫你買回來吧，他搖搖頭說 “媽媽我們走吧，我不要了，雖然我還是會想它。”
去 登機的路上，Elijah只是默默地流淚，一直控制著不哭出聲來。坐定在位子上之後，他已經收住了眼淚，跟我說 “老師說過，不是每一件喜歡的東西都要帶回家的，家裡已經有很多小汽車了” “對啊，家裡這麼多小汽車在等你陪他們玩呢。” “可是它上面有閃電和星星的圖案，我真的很喜歡的，沒有它我真的有點難過，我只想哭一會兒，可以麼？” 我不禁笑出聲來，不僅為了他略帶稚氣的回答，也因為感覺到他在一點點的長大，這是我第一次感覺到流眼淚是因為捨棄了自己喜歡的東西。我突然間有點恍惚這個 小孩還是那個當初為了冰淇淋在街上大哭大鬧的Elijah麼？
愛是另一種教育方式
我在全家百分之七十投反對票的情況下堅持把Elijah送進國際學校，也曾經在同齡公立學校孩子能倒背三字經，熟練算乘除法的時候猶豫過我當初的選擇是不是 正確，但是，每次看到Elijah在思維和觀念上的進步往往超越了我這個媽媽的時候，我更明確，我希望他擁有的是獨立思考的能力，自我決斷的勇氣和溫柔對 待世界的善良，畢竟誰都不需要一臺配置高端的解題機器。 中國古云“棍棒底下出孝子”，而今天，我們應該明白，愛是另一種教育方式。我為當時固執的選擇感到慶幸，也感謝青苗學校在成長的道路上點綴的斑斕，讓孩子們明白人生原來是這般美好。
---------- 作者：吳微娜
I was planning to take Elijah for a long journey. I listed five pages of precautions and possible scenarios to prevent any mishaps from occurring. It should be a 100% safe, I thought, but I know in my heart that the only uncertainty of every family trip is my little mischievous, slow snail.
Elijah is a naive and uncomplicated child, with likes and dislikes clearly; he doesn’t know how to compliment and always does things slowly. With my child’s unique curiosity and not listening to parental commands, he used to bring me a lot of trouble. I complain that he doesn’t appreciate my hard work，and sometimes I quite envy other mothers who have well-behaved “small cotton padded jacket” (another way of saying daughters). Every time before leaving, I always make a few simple rules for him to observe, which is the only way to soothe my emotion, as he is very good at giving me surprises time to time. In the light of yearning for elite universities during my school time, I decided to make our first stop in Boston, where Elijah can visit the renown schools, I would like to click ten thousand “ likes” for my clever plan. Upon arrival, there was a major snowstorm, the entire city of Boston was covered in white, Elijah was totally fascinated and completely occupied by the beautiful snow scene without any concern about the three-hour flight delay. I promised him to play with snow on our second day.
“I Only Want to be a Friend”
In order to walk to Harvard University, I specifically reserved a hotel nearby. On our second morning, we walked along the Charles River to enjoy the snowy landscape, Elijah was very excited, making snowballs to throw at me. Then, he was distracted and in awe by the little squirrels in the tree hole by the roadside.
As we passed by Harvard Square, Elijah's eyes were fixed on a patrol car parked on the side of the road. He has loved police cars since he was a toddler. I guessed that he would grab my hand and ask me to take him to touch the cool car, so I deliberately slowed down the walking pace and waited him to turn back to me for help. However, to my big astonishment, he totally ignored me, walked directly and talked to the policeman: “ I like your car, it’s pretty cool.” They introduced themselves and the policeman taught him how to turn on the lights and the siren, he was so thrilled and shouted to me with the loud speaker: "Mom, I'm here!" Elijah was not shy at all, which was a real surprise to me. He did not resemble my opinion of a normal six-year-old child. I recall when I was six years old only pulling my mother’s clothes to buy candies for me.
We said good-bye to the police car, Elijah was reluctant to part—looking back several times and waving to the police—until he couldn’t see the police car any more. He took my hand and said to me, “Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a policeman. They make me happy, as police officers catch the bad guys, and they are inspirational and strong.” Elijah continued, “but I don't want to be just any policeman, I want to be an American policeman." I was a bit astounded and hollered, “But you are Chinese boy!” Countless images of my patriotic education appeared in my mind. Elijah kept silent for a long time, and answered in a low voice, "the United States policemen is...MY Friend. " I suddenly realized he was trying to say" You only want to be a friend not an "Uncle" right?" "Yep!" he looked at me and gave me a big smile. He seemed so happy that I could understand him at last, and I felt humbled. For long time, I have been teaching him how to work hard and become the strongest of men, but he showed me that he just wants a peaceful, and friendly world. We held hands and walked a long way in the snow. Harvard campus was really quiet and we could only hear the sound of boots trudging through the snow.
“You Are My Seeds”
On our fourth day in Boston, Elijah woke up in the morning, climbed to my bed and told me that last night, Mrs. Knight and he fed the swans in the swan lake behind the house. Mrs. Knight invited him to her house. I explained to him very patiently, that was only a dream. He laid on my side, nodding his head disappointedly, "I must be thinking of Mrs. Knight," he said to himself. Mrs. Knight was Elijah’s teacher in the Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS). She is a very nice lady, speaking slowly and gently. Several times, I saw her talking to her young students and explaining patiently until they understood. Without punishment, she always could make each kid listen to the command, not only the students like her, but the parents were influenced by her as well. Mrs. Knight had returned to the United States. Elijah often mentioned her to me, and I can see that he had a strong feelings for her. Since it was not a holiday travel season, we took the chance to visit her.
Elijah was very pleased to accept my proposal, and we booked the tickets and headed south to Dallas, Texas. Mrs. Knight was very happy to see us and prepared a superb dinner to treat us. For the entire evening, Elijah was talking to Mrs. Knight about the interesting stories happening at our school since she left. I sat on the side and didn’t have a chance to get a word in. He spoke in a very vivid way that I could only look at him, and made every effort to suppress my surprise. I was so stunned that his oral English had become so fluent with an extensive vocabulary, and moreover, in that moment, I realized how mature my little son had become. I was overtaken with emotions, which made me even more content and touched. On the way back, Elijah suddenly asked me, "Mom, do you think I have bloomed?" I was amazed. He said, "when leaving, Mrs. Knight, she said, “we are all her seeds, and every morning, she waters us, takes us out for sunshine, but now she needs to go home, so she hands us over to Ms. Carolina to educate and safeguard us. When we blossom as a flower, she will be very happy. When I saw Mrs. Knight today and she was proud, so I guess that I must be. "
Along the way, Elijah was overjoyed about his maturity, and I was moved by Mrs. Knight’s unique interpretation of his child development. It is the most beautiful farewell I ever heard, making the separation easier, with no sadness, which planted a growing seed in children’s hearts. I touched Elijah's head gently and said, "Honey, Mom is so happy to see you blossom!"
“ Not Every Favorite Thing Can Be Taken Home ”
Our last stop was Mexico. Fortunately, while we had a few days of sunbathing on the beach, we heard it was snowing in Beijing. During this part of the trip, I had time to reflect on Elijah’s remarkable progress. In order to encourage him for the cooperation and good behavior, I gave him 200 pesos so that he could buy a favorite souvenir at the airport duty-free shop. He wandered around for a long time, finally selected a toy car. When he took the car to the register, the salesman told him the price of the car was far more than 200 pesos. Then, we heard the announcement that our plane was boarding. He suddenly turned, fighting back his tears and put back the car, and then pulled my hand and walked forward without even looking back. I stopped and said to him, “if you really want it, Mom can buy it for you.” He shook his head and said: "Mom let's go, I don’t need to buy it although I will remember it."
While in line to board, Elijah was about to burst into tears, and doing his very best to control himself. Once in our seats, his tears stopped and he said, my teacher said, “Not every favorite thing can be taken home, and I have a lot of cars at home already. " Ah, those cars at home are waiting for you to play with them. He added, “but it has shiny and star patterns on it. I really like it. I feel a little sad without it. I just want to cry for a while, can I?" I couldn’t help smiling, not only for his juvenile reply, but also for his continued growth. This is the first time for him to cry because of his favorite thing. Suddenly, I was put in a trance—was this little boy Elijah who formerly cried in the street for ice cream?
Love is Another Method of Education
I insisted on sending Elijah to an international school with 70 percent of our family members opposing the idea. I doubted my decision as well when I heard public school children his same age, who could recite advanced multiplication and division problems with great skill such as the three-character primer, which is a famous introductory mathematics book for child in China. However, every time when I see Elijah’s progress in his critical thinking and independent ideas–some even going beyond me. I believe the BIBS curriculum has the best of both of worlds: a bilingual program and the student-centered IB PYP and with Elijah learning these new attributes: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-taker, balanced and reflective – I am confident that he will flourish emotionally, socially and academically throughout his life. I know I made the right school choice for my son.
There is an old Chinese saying that “dutiful sons come from sticks.” However, today, we should understand that love is another way of education. I feel lucky for my initial decision, and would like to give my heartfelt thanks to BIBS for the progress in his growth, letting the children understand that life is so beautiful.
---------- By Vena Wu
青苗教育集團始創於 1998 年，現已發展成為擁有 20 餘所校區、涵蓋從幼兒園到初高中的中西合璧式教育集團。先後獲得美國西部院校聯盟 WSAC 資格認證、劍橋大學 IGCSE 資格認證、美國大學 AP 資格認證和國際文憑組織 IB 認證。其精心打造的教育資源覆蓋北京、南京、昆明、成都、西安、海口、三亞 等地，為來自世界各地上萬名學生提供中西合璧的優質雙語教育。