Nothing is Fun Until You're Good at It
What Chinese parents understand is that nothing is fun until you're good at it. To get good at anything you have to work, and children on their own never want to work, which is why it is crucial to override their preferences. This often requires fortitude on the part of the parents because the child will resist; things are always hardest at the beginning, which is where Western parents tend to give up. But if done properly, the Chinese strategy produces a virtuous circle. Tenacious practice, practice, practice is crucial for excellence; rote repetition is underrated in America. Once a child starts to excel at something—whether it's math, piano, pitching or ballet—he or she gets praise, admiration and satisfaction. This builds confidence and makes the once not-fun activity fun. This in turn makes it easier for the parent to get the child to work even more.
Notes:
A meme about the difference between Chinese and Western mothers, where Chinese mothers force their children to keep at tasks until they master them.
Folksonomies: parenting
Taxonomies:
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Concepts:
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Mother (0.922620): dbpedia | freebase
The Child (0.825767): dbpedia
People's Republic of China (0.822492): geo | website | dbpedia | yago
Positive psychology (0.819205): dbpedia | freebase | yago
English-language films (0.814476): dbpedia
Debut albums (0.814113): dbpedia
United States (0.810203): website | dbpedia | ciaFactbook | freebase | opencyc | yago
Why Chinese Mothers Are SuperiorTriples
You Must Become Good at Something to Enjoy It
Nothing is Fun Until You\'re Good at It > Conclusion > Reading the Music of ScienceThis fact is one of the reasons people don't enjoy science, they haven't learned enough about it to appreciate it.
It Takes an Investment of Effort for Tasks to Become Enjo...
Nothing is Fun Until You\'re Good at It > Similarity > A Useful Metaphor for Maintaining MomentumBill Cosby uses the metaphor of a plane burning the most fuel on takeoff before leveling out in the clouds and Amy Chua argues that skills are fun once a child overcomes the frustration of learning them.
