A Wonderful Tool for Parents......

So, I am probably, like the last person on earth to have read the book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. Well, let me not be soooo hard on myself. I actually read it a year ago, and I really enjoyed the book. Although at the end of the book, in her hindsight, she might have done some things differently; I not only applaud her in her ethics, but I have also instilled a lot of her tactics into my own household. Now I am not saying that everything she did was correct-not for my family, rather taking a look at what I was and was not doing is what I gained most from her book.

For example; over the summer I choose to use some of the new resources I learned from her book by drilling words with my four year old every day. I took all his toys away, and put them in the garage. He was able to earn a few of them back every day when he learned the words (4-7 words) of the day. We did this for most of the summer, and when we were done, my son new approximately 40 words and could read the book Go Dog Go by Dr. Seuss.

In one section of the book, her youngest daughter is playing tennis. She hadn’t been playing long, but apparently her lessons were going well. Her instructor gave Amy Chua, very glowing reviews about her daughters’ determination, loyalty and attitude to complete a task, and better herself.  Amy Chua asked her daughter about it, and she said she was just using the technics Amy taught her (or put her through) when she played the violin.

Now I don’t know about you, but what that says to me, was that she learned a skill that she could apply to any area of her life, to help her succeed. Could that have been achieved in a different way, most certainly! Nonetheless, her method did work. I think we also forget that the time a child is putting into all of this, so is the mom. There were a lot of things she could have done with her time, besides sitting down practicing, whatever, with her children.

What I recognized, from reading Amy Chua’s book, was that I was not spending enough time with my child in educating him. I am his mother, I am his first teacher, and if he is going to be pushed it should be by me. Speaking of being pushed, I also learned that all kids are not the same, and sometimes pushing is exactly what that child may need.

If you haven’t read the book, I implore to read it. Don’t focus so much on what you think she did wrong; rather focus on what tools you can learn from her methods, and how you can implement them into your household.

I know that will be hard to do. We as human beings are so judgmental. Give it a try. You might just come away with some great tools your child can use for the rest of their lives.