Categories
Characters 人物 Culture文化 Education 教育

The influence of Vermeer

Before Isabel was three years old, a poster of “A Lady Writing a Letter” was hung up in our living room. Every time I pointed to the painting and told her that the painter was Vermeer. And I taught her to identify Vermeer’s most distinctive color yellow.

At that time, a poster of Klimt was hung on the wall of the dinning area. I pointed often to this painting and told her that the painter is Klimt. I watched Klimt’s album with her together to make her aware of the difference between gold and yellow. After she became acquainted with many colors, she made it clear for the first time that one of her favorite colors was gold.

Before the age of seven, I took her to the Mauritius Huis Museum in The Hague three times and saw the original “Girl with a Pearl Earring”. When she saw this painting for the first time, I let her guess whether the painter was Vermeer or Klimt. She chose Vermeer without hesitation and confirmed it three times. She also explained that Klimt likes to use gold. It seems that the aesthetic education that Isabel received before the age of three has paid off.

In my another article “A Story Triggered by A Few Silk Scarves” wrote that Isabel liked to use silk scarves to make her own design works when she was three. Sometimes she could play with these scarves for hours. When she was 7 years old, one day she was focused on her painting. I suddenly discovered that her outfit was full of style. I quietly picked up the camera and whispered to her. She looked back with a calm and peaceful expression. I pressed the shutter without hesitation, and then I couldn’t help but laugh. This independent design image is truly amazing! She is combining the essence of Vermeer’s different paintings. It is estimated that her creative inspiration comes from her early memories.

It takes time and effort to cultivate the recognition and taste of beauty. In the process of training, we often do not see obvious large-scale. Unknowingly infiltration is a long-term operation, in anytime and anywhere. I also mentioned infiltration education in my other “Teddy Bear Hospital”. The important thing is that you need to have a pair of eyes that are good at observing. Otherwise you will miss a lot of subtle and random behaviours and works. Never expect short-term effects. Be patient and diligent. The final results are often surprising.

中文版请见微信公众号:生活艺术佳
Categories
Education 教育

Taking medicine

Today, I went to the pharmacy to fetch the medicine. When I was waiting, I saw the children’s cough drops on the shelf. And suddenly I remembered the first time Isabel took medicine. When she was two years old, we took her to Beijing to visit my family. That was the third time she went to China. She started coughing when we was about to return to Europe. The doctor gave her a bottle of cough-relieving medicine. The task to persuade her to take medicine was handed over to my father (her grandpa). For to eat and to drink has never been a difficult task since Isabel was born. But she seems to realize that taking medicine is a different challenge.

Grandpa was more than patient like always: “Isabel, shall we take the medicine?”
Isabel: “Maybe not?”
Grandpa: “You will feel better after taking the medicine.”
Isabel: “Maybe not!”
Grandpa: “Take three spoons, then you can eat a fruit candy.”
Isabel: “Two spoons!”
Grandpa: “You need to take three spoons.”
Isabel: “One!”
Grandpa: “Only three spoons.”
Isabel: “Fruit candy first.”
Grandpa: “Take the medicine first, then the fruit candy.”
Isabel: “One spoon!”
Grandpa: “Three spoons.”
Isabel: “Two spoons?”
Grandpa: “Three spoons, you will finish quickly.”
Isabel: “Eat fruit candy first, right?”
Grandpa: “You will be happier if you take the medicine first and then take the fruit candy”
Isabel: “The fruit candy is delicious.”
Grandpa: “…”
Isabel: “…”

On the other side of the living room, I listened to their soft-conversation and slow bargaining. Surprisingly the endless circles made me not irritable, but fascinated me. They talked back and forth gently for more than ten minutes. Finally they happily completed the task.

Looking back on it, I still can’t stop laughing. The patience of an adult can definitely affect a child’s reaction. In fact, for the impact on adults is the same. Later, every time Isabel needed take her medicine, we replayed the discussion between her and grandpa. Of course she couldn’t stop laughing too.

中文版请见微信公众号:生活艺术佳

Categories
Culture文化 Education 教育

Sinterklaas Memories

我的女儿三岁时第一次近距离接触Sinterklaas,那时候她写给Sinterklaas的信由图画来表达。 她四岁时收到了Sinterklaas的一封来信,那时,她也没想想为什么圣诞老人会写中文😄。 四岁上学后每年在学校以唱歌来迎接Sinterklaas的到来。 她五岁时开始在节日戴黑Piet的帽子,六岁时换上了Sinterklaas的红色斗篷。 终于在七岁时,可以亲自给Sinterklaas读一个故事了。 每年这个节日的晚上她都在家等待惊喜,期待着黑Piet送来的礼物麻袋。当然了,是我们邻居配合把礼物提前放在门外并按门铃。 门铃响了以后,当然无人在门外,恰似黑Piet飞檐走壁消失在夜中。她迫不及待地拖进大麻袋,探个究竟。在她八岁那年,因为节日当天生病不能上学,因无法见到Sinterklaas而感到郁闷。 这时候我这个超级妈妈开始显神通。 因为我是学校的义工摄影师,多年来和Sinterklaas混熟了。 我请他写了封亲笔信给我们的小病人,结果,这封信成为整个学校最令人羡慕的Sinterklaas礼物。

My daughter met Sinterklaas for the first time at the age of three. She received a letter from Sinterklaas when she was four. At that time, she didn’t realize why Sinterklaas can write Chinese😄. Singing in school every year to greet the arrival of Sinterklaas. She started wearing Piet hat and later changed to Sinterklaas’s red cloak. Finally, she can tell Sinterklaas a story. Then at home in the evening waiting for surprises. We asked our neighbors to put the gifts outside the door in advance. After the door bell ringing, she can’t wait to find out what in the gift bag. When she was eight years old, she couldn’t go to school because she was sick that day. She was upset at home because she couldn’t meet Sinterklaas. So here comes super Mama. Because I am the school volunteer photographer. I have been acquainted with Sinterklaas for several years. I asked him to write a letter to my little patient. As a result, this letter became the most envied gift of the whole school.

Categories
Education 教育

Learning process   学习的过程


上周陪女儿做地理作业,我发现学校发的地图上把西西里岛标在了撒丁岛上。我让女儿自己找家中的世界地图册来确认西西里岛的位置,并且希望她第二天告诉老师这个发现。第二天接她放学时她主动告诉我今天的地理小测验,就是填写所有作业中复习过的地理位置。她说她得了满分10分,但是有两个同学得了10+。我问为什么?她说因为这两个小朋友标出了正确的西西里岛位置,纠正了教材的错误。我纳闷了,问她:“难道你没标对位置?我们不是已经找到学校教材的错误吗?”她说她最终还是按教材上错的位置回答的,也没告诉老师她发现了教材上的错误。我询问:“为什么你不相信自己是正确的呢?我们昨天已经纠正了学校教科书中的错误呀!”
她看起来有点烦躁:“这很重要吗?”
我说:“这非常重要。你至少需要努力捍卫真理。”

当我再次考虑这件事时,我仍然相信它确实很重要。你需要一个过程来学习如何以正确的理由争取并捍卫你的观点。此过程的时间长短取决于每个人不同的个性。我女儿是一个通常不主动为自己的言语权和个人利益而争取的人。争取需要勇气。我希望她能理解坚持真理的重要性,学会凡事尽力而为,勇敢的坚持。

Last week, I accompanied my daughter to do her geography homework. I found that Sicily was marked on Sardinia on the map issued by the school. I asked my daughter to find the world atlas to confirm the correct location of Sicily. I hope she will tell the teacher about her discovery the next day.

When I picked her up from school the next day, she took the initiative to tell me that today’s geography quiz is to fill in all the geographic locations reviewed in her homework. She said that she got a perfect score of 10. But two classmates of her got 10+. I asked why? She said that because those two kids marked the correct location of Sicily. I was puzzled and asked her: “Did you not mark the right position? We corrected the error in the school textbook yesterday.” She said that she finally answered same as in the textbook. And she did not tell the teacher that she found the error from the textbook. “Why don’t you believe that you are right?” I asked. She looked a bit irratable: “Is this so important?”
“It is very important,” I said. “You need at least to try to defend the truth.”

When I think this topic again, I still beleive it is really important. It takes a process to learn how to fight in right reasons and defend your opinions. How long of this process depend on different personalities. My daughter is a person who normally doesn’t take the initiative to fight for her speaking right. It takes courage to stand up. I hope she can understand the importance of adhering to the truth, and learn to try her best and persevere bravely.

Categories
Education 教育 Nature 自然 Travel 旅行

Adventure for two

最近我又尝试了一个新挑战,尝试17米高的攀登丛林活动。首次尝试,没想到,我发现了一个令人疗愈的良方。我10岁的女儿几周前同她爸爸去了攀登丛林的营地。因为他爸爸不敢尝试7米以上的路径,所以在没有大人的陪同下,我女儿也止步于7米的高度。当她回家后,多少有点失望。那时,我就决定为了她挑战我自己。我们在暑假的最后一天回到攀登丛林的营地。面对17米高度时她反而有点犹豫了。为了鼓励她,我故作轻松的说:“一定很好玩,咱们一起上!“最终,我尝试了17米高度的路程,感觉好极了!在完成了最后一个吊滑后我问她:“你感觉如何?”她回答:”妈妈,我为你骄傲!“我禁不住感动得眼泪在眼眶里打转。这是过去23个月以来我同女儿一起做的最特殊的一个活动。我确信她不会忘记这一天的经历。

Another one of my recent challenges, Klimbos 17 meters height. My first try. Unexpectedly, I found a very healing method. My 10 years daughter visited Klimbos with another adult a few weeks ago. Because that person not dare to take a route higher than 7 meters. Without the company of an adult, my daughter cannot try other routes higher than seven meters. When she came home, she was a little disappointed. At that moment, I thought of challenging myself for her. We went back there on the last day of her summer holiday. She was actually a little hesitant when she chose the 17 meter height. In order to encourage her this time, I told her “It must be fun. Let’s go together!” In the end, I tried the 17-meter height journey and it felt great. After the last section of the slide, I asked her “how do you feel?” She said “Mama, I am proud of you!” I can’t help but feel so moved that tears are rolling in my eyes. This is the most special activity I have done with her together in the past 23 months. I am sure she will remember the experience of this special day.

Categories
Characters 人物 Education 教育

We are together

我们在一起

Isabel drew a picture for her weekend Chinese School. Content is the current status. Due to the epidemic, for a 10-year-old child, daily life has changed a lot. For her, going to school is actually a socializing. In the past ten weeks, not only she has stopped her normal social environment, but other daily activities are also impossible, such as swimming training, dancing and horse riding… Of course, these days of not going to school are also different from holidays. All public places are closed. This is a challenge for everyone.

Children are easier to adapt to the living environment than we (adults) can imagine. They have unique radar systems to find their own tracks. Sometimes, instead of worrying about whether they can adapt to the environment, it is better to calmly face the less satisfying life situation with them together.

By the way, did you see the sign “Keeping the distance of 1.50m”? 

一和君为她的周末中文学校画了一幅画。 内容是当前的隔离状态。 由于新冠病毒这一流行病,对于一个10岁的孩子来说,日常生活发生了很大变化。 对她来说,原来上学最重要的是一种社交活动。 可是在过去的十个星期中,她不仅停止了她平时正常的社交环境,而且其他日常活动也无法进行,例如游泳训练,跳舞和骑马…… 当然,这些不上学的日子同以往的假期也非常不同, 所有公共场所都关闭,这些状况对每个人都是一个挑战。

其实儿童比我们(成人)想象的更容易适应生存环境,他们拥有独特的雷达系统来寻找自己的航迹。 有时候,与其无限担心他们是否能够适应环境,不如与他们一起平静地面对这突如其来的生活状况。

顺便问一下,您是否看到“保持1.50米距离”的标志?;-)


 

Categories
Education 教育 Music 音乐

Free Style

即兴创作

5-year-old Isabel and 8-year-old Irene unexpectedly improvised Chinese style music when they first played four hands together.
5岁的Isabel和8岁的Irene在首次四手联弹时即兴创作了中国风乐曲
Categories
Characters 人物 Education 教育

Little April

Because of her mother’s academic research, four years old April came to the Netherlands with her parents last year. By chance, she found me to learn piano. After 10 months knowing each other they will return to Xi’an this Saturday. I made a dinner for them last Sunday. That evening she said many times that she didn’t want to leave me. In fact, she has mentioned it many times in the past two months. I promised her to see her when I am in China, and she can see me when she comes to the Netherlands. When it was time to say goodbye, she stopped talking and couldn’t help crying. I hugged her and said, “We will meet soon, you will make me cry.” I really cried. She resisted wiping her tears silently until my front door opened. She was crying loudly against the storm in the “darkness” (she described).

I closed the door, returned to the kitchen and started to cry. So innocent, I really want to stay at five. Perhaps the child felt the pure land in my heart and spread her love with open arms without reservation. This expression of love should be the highest compliment!

Open the refrigerator and saw the meat bread that April’s parents made for me. Tomorrow I will eat them, delicious! The beauty of life comes and goes. We will continue to harvest in real life.

小四月

因为妈妈的学术研究,小四月(April)随爸妈一年前来到荷兰。机缘巧合找到我学钢琴,当时她四岁。10个月时间一晃而过,她现在五岁了,本周六他们一家将返回西安。上周末我为他们做了顿晚餐,算是个简单的饯行。当晚她说了好多次不想离开我,其实过去两三个月里她已经提到过很多次了,我们大人给她不断心理建设,许诺她我去中国时去看她,她来荷兰时来找我。当真到告别时,她欲言又止,然后忍不住哭泣。我抱着她说:“我们很快就见面了,你这样会把我也弄哭的。” 我是真的也掉眼泪了。她强忍着无声的抹眼泪,直到大门打开,迎着漆黑(她当晚形容夜晚的词汇)中的大风放声大哭。

我关上门,回到餐厅,开始流泪。好纯真的年纪,真想自己也停留在五岁。也许是小朋友感受到了我心中的那块不愿长大的净土,毫无保留的张开双臂传递爱意。童言无忌,这种示爱应该是最高级的赞美吧!

打开冰箱,看到四月爸妈给我做的肉夹馍,明天我将大口吃肉。生活中的美好随时来也随时走,真实中不断收获。