The Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool’s class of five-year-olds cooked pasta under the supervision of teachers and shared the meal with their parents on Filial Piety Day. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
“Today you will all become little chefs. Do you know why you must wear face masks and a headscarf?” asked the teacher of her five-year-old students.
“Because when we talk, drops of saliva might fall in!”
“We might sneeze!”
“So that our hair will not end up in the pasta!”
In response, her young charges offered a multitude of answers.
In order to let their students understand the pains of being a parent and thus nurture gratitude in them, teachers from the Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool developed a series of experiential learning lessons. On 15 June 2015, the class of six-year-olds were asked to wear their bags in front of their bodies. In so doing, they learnt how difficult the period of pregnancy was for their mothers. The next day, the class of five-year-olds did a trial cooking class so that they could learn how to prepare their favourite pasta dish for their parents on filial piety day.
Cooking With Mindfulness and Patience
The children were divided into three groups according to their responsibilities of either washing or cutting up vegetables, or cooking the noodles and sauce with their teacher. As they washed the colourful array of peppers, tomatoes, carrots and corn, they had a good time playing with water and gleeful cries of “this is fun!” could be heard.
In another section, children used plastic knives to cut up vegetables; if the right amount of force was not used, the tomatoes would be flattened and the peppers could not be cut up properly. After slicing up the peppers, they removed the seeds and passed them on to their team mates to re-wash.
Yang Zhi Shan, always active and full of energy, used a vegetable peeler to remove the outer skin of the carrots, and if he was not meticulous enough, he would have to re-do the process.
“My neck hurts……” Having spent only a short time on the task, he “complained” of his discomfort to the teacher.
“Just a while and you’re having pains? Your mother prepares and cooks your food like this every day!” said teacher Hu Qinliu.
When a volunteer asked Zhi Shan if he would help his mother prepare vegetables the next time, he nodded his head as he continued to peel carrots.
After the two teams had finished preparing the ingredients, they gathered in front of the induction cooker. There, they learnt that the pasta which had been cooked in the boiling water, needed to be removed and then rinsed in cold water.
“Cooking takes time, right?” said Teacher Chong Voon Hwee, as she proceeded to get the previous two teams of students to sit down and wait patiently while the third team of students learned how to cook.
Hu later praised the students for their good performance during the trial cooking class. Compared to how they were a month ago when they first stepped into the school, she could see improvements in the way they mindfully carried out their tasks. In preparation for the trial cooking, the teachers themselves had to do some homework beforehand. They would take the opportunity to remind their students about hygiene and took pains to prepare the plastic knives, which were safer to handle.
A Three-Year-Old’s Influence on His Parents
At the other section of the PreSchool, the three-year-olds, too, donned face masks, headscarves and aprons. Under the supervision of their teacher, they crushed cornflakes in bowls and stirred honey with vigour. After half an hour of effort, they produced small cups of cornflake and honey treats which were to be served up during the filial piety celebration to be held in three days’ time.
On 19 June 2015, the parents of Philip Leow, like many of the other parents, took leave from work after receiving their invitation cards to attend the event. Soon, it came to Zhe Xian’s turn to offer tea to his parents and he calmly did so as he expressed his gratitude to them. His parents received the tea with palms folded in thanks and he similarly returned the gesture.
Philip joined the PreSchool in January this year, and his parents revealed that he would often share with them what he had learnt in school. His mother said that from him, she had gradually picked up the habit of being grateful at all times, avoiding wastage and cherishing one’s blessings. She had seen the changes in her son, such as him insisting on not having his hands held so that he can line up to pay at the mall’s cashier counter, and even singing the song of gratitude taught by the school before he takes his meals at the food court.
His mother also noted that whereas in the past he could only speak in English, his Mandarin had now improved tremendously. He had become more independent and no longer needed others to feed him during mealtimes. In addition, he had learnt to share his food with others, while being more aware that one has to count one’s blessings. To his parents, the seven-month wait for Philip to be accepted into the PreSchool was worth it as they had wanted him to study in an environment that would provide vegetarian meals, and they were very keen on a curriculum which incorporated moral ethics in the syllabus.
Happy and Satisfied Parents
At the event venue, parents were blindfolded and could enjoy the experience of being fed the cornflake and honey treats by their three-year-olds. When Tan Li Peng was fed a piece of the treat, she would neither chew nor swallow it, causing her daughter some anxiety. Laughing about it later, Tan explained that she had wanted to tease her daughter as on normal days, her daughter had the habit of doing the same when she fed her. Through her laughter, Tan was unable to hide the tears of happiness in her eyes.
In 2012, before her younger daughter was born, Tan was holidaying in Taiwan when she was taken ill suddenly and admitted to the Tzu Chi Medical Centre in Hualien. The hospital’s warm and loving atmosphere left a deep impression on Tan and her husband and two years later while searching for a kindergarten for their son, they unexpectedly saw the familiar name of “Tzu Chi.”
“They are able to learn about Chinese culture here, such as serving tea as a mark of respect (to elders). The teachers here are also more enthusiastic and patient.” Tan shared that her son would often get scolded by the teachers in his previous school and would get nightmares at night as a result. After being transferred to the Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool, he has improved in his behaviour and become more aware of and interested in the happenings in his surroundings.
Raising Confident, Able Children
“Welcome! We are grateful for your presence!” At 2pm in the afternoon, the parents filed through the main door of the Tzu Chi Great Love PreSchool. Four students from the class for five-year-olds welcomed the guests and presented a shoe bag to each of them to keep their shoes in.
White stools were laid out in the hall and a video of the experiential learning class of the day before was shown on screen. As the music began, the little children presented two songs with confidence. These songs were chosen by them and they had been practising the songs over the last three weeks. Cameras clicked as parents raised their mobile phones to capture the moment.
During the tea presentation ceremony, every child had memorised their lines well: “Daddy and mummy, thank you for bringing me up.” This was followed up by a thank you card made by each child, with a family picture enclosed, and each child would explain to his parents what he wished to convey through his drawings on the card.
“I’m very surprised, you teach them so much here. For example, slicing vegetables, folding clothes and washing cups and bowls. We did not teach our child this at home, so we are very grateful.” Madam Lim Phik Lian said. She now intends to let her son help out with the housework at home. She also shared that after he started attending the PreSchool, he would offer to help whenever he saw his parents sweeping the floor. In the past, he would just wait for the maid to do it.
A “Tyrant” Changes for the Better
As he enjoyed the pasta with his parents, Christian nestled up close to them and said, “I love you, Mom. Thank you for sending me to this school.”
His father Chen Yi Hua described how his son used to be such a “tyrant” at home. Yet now, from his actions, his respect for parents, self-discipline, and kindness are evident. Chen is very grateful for the humanistic education his son has received. Christian’s mother was similarly moved when she saw her son kneel down to serve her tea. “Filial piety is very important……we come from very traditional Chinese families so we feel the importance of this. Schools that stress on academic knowledge are common everywhere, but it is (the inculcation of) moral values that are important to me.” She went on to list how her son now behaves more politely towards his family members, and even treats every plant and animal he sees with kindness. She has also asked her maid to stop helping her son so much in daily matters.
As the Chinese maxim goes, “One’s behaviour at three years of age determines one’s future”. The early childhood years are crucial in nurturing the right values in a child. Through experiential learning, every child came to understand the efforts and sacrifices made by their parents, and they expressed their gratitude through actions. During the celebration of filial piety day, the bliss of every family was evident just by looking at their faces.
Little chefs don headscarves, face masks and aprons as they happily learned how to wash and cut up vegetables. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
When her student Yang Zhi Shan “complained” of neckache not long after he embarked on peeling carrots, Hu took the opportunity to ask him to reflect on how hard it is for his mother to prepare food for the family daily. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Teacher Chong Voon Hwee gives the little chefs as much hands-on opportunity as possible in the tasks of cooking pasta and preparing the sauce. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Chian Fon Jay from the six-year-old class learned how to write the Chinese characters for “gratitude,” which he would present to his parents during Filial Piety day. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Three-year-old Philip Leow (left) and his classmates learn how to make cornflake and honey treats under their teacher’s instructions. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
During the ceremony, without any show of nervousness, Philip Leow presents tea to his parents to express his gratitude. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
Parents are blindfolded and fed cornflake and honey treats by their child. (Photo by Bernard Ng)
Chian Fon Jay and his parents play a family bonding game where each family tries not to step out of the boundaries allowed by a small piece of paper. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Parents quickly snap photographs of the little ones as they perform a sign language song. (Photo by Susan Ong)
Ng Wei Jie happily presents two cups of steaming tea to his parents. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
Christian’s parents get to taste the pasta made by her and listen to her explain the meaning of her drawings on the hand-made card. (Photo by Chua Teong Seng)
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