Family reading program

It’s pleasantly humbling the active and proactive role of parents who’ve decided to guide their children in reading programs. This little sacrifice has great benefits ahead: 1). Shows the kids you have their interest at heart. 2). Pays off handsomely down the stretch as they move through academia.

If I have it my way, I’d combine this with music and writing simple compositions. The former is proven to improve the IQ of kids, the latter gives parents a quick glimpse into the reading comprehension of their young scholars.

It’s also good for parents to read materials in advance so they could subsequently engage their kids in a discussion. It’s great partaking in the discussion of familiar issue and an excellent way to develop their cognitive abilities. Engage them in simple debates to get them to begin using simple inference.

Parents are kids’ bedrock

The buddy system must come with house chores for the kids. “Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and self-reliance,” according to Marty Rossmann, professor emeritus of the University of Minnesota. This view came via an article by Jennifer B. Wallace, contributing editor of EmpoweringParents.Com.

“Today’s demands for measurable childhood success—from the Common Core to college placement—have chased household chores from the to-do lists of many young people. With students under pressure to learn or do other things at school…it is hardly clear such activities are a better use of their time.

“Parents today want their kids spending time on things that can bring them success, but ironically, we’ve stopped doing one thing that’s actually been a proven predictor of success—and that’s household chores,” says Richard Rende, a developmental psychologist in Paradise Valley, Ariz., and co-author of the forthcoming book Raising Can-Do Kids. Decades of studies show the benefits of chores—academically, emotionally and even professionally.

“Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and self-reliance, according to research by Marty Rossmann, professor emeritus at the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Dr. Rossmann analyzed data from a longitudinal study that followed 84 children across four periods in their lives—in preschool, around ages 10 and 15, and in their mid-20s. She found that young adults who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends, to achieve academic and early career success and to be self-sufficient, as compared with those who didn’t have chores or who started them as teens.

“Chores also teach children how to be empathetic and responsive to others’ needs,” notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. It isn’t bad at all to keep the kids busy with little chores after school.

Legacy: Lee Kuan Yew

The passing of Singapore’s founding father and elder statesman, Lee Kuan Yew, was mourned by the global community a week or so ago.

As a continuing student of government, I was fascinated by his mystique since two decades ago and turned him into a personal case study. He was a grand visionary and a confident leader: how would he navigate the fractured culture of his homeland or to rebuild his country after it was expelled “unceremoniously” in 1962 from the ill-fated union with Malaysia.

Lee led by virtue using his Asian values as his foundation, rebuilding Singapore from zero-sum without resources to a world-class country on the same league as other wealthy nations throughout the global village, e.g., U.S. and Europe. It was his belief in such values that is now the beacon light of the Republic of China.

In less than a generation, he turned Singapore into global trade and finance powerhouse with a platform of clean and efficient government, business-friendly economic policies and social order. Yes, there are detractors who noted the widening divide between rich and poor and the rising cost of living and influx of foreigners. Critics praised him for his “outstanding wisdom and courage” but…”many Singaporeans were sacrificed during the process of nation-building and policy-making and our society has paid the price for it.”

Indeed, it was a complicated pile of substantive issues I had to meticulously dissect to foster a clearer understanding of the man and his country. His vision and leadership were uniquely rare that isn’t found in others over the last half-century. To attempt anything in the legacy he’s left behind is to teeter on oversimplification or diminishment of his work. Would his legacy last? The sentiment among his people is in the affirmative. Is there a Lee Kuan Yew here?