While some new parents expect kindergarten to become a turning point for growing up for their children and more relaxing time for themselves, Chinese families with kindergarten pupils are complaining about homework which is not only testing the children but also the whole family.
很多父母都期望幼儿园阶段能够成为孩子成长路上的转折点,希望让他们在这段时间可以放松身心,自由成长。然而最近一些中国幼儿园适龄儿童的家庭却抱怨,幼儿园布置的家庭作业不仅仅是为孩子而留,还考验了整个家庭。
For kindergartens, doing handicrafts as homework carries their hope for children to use more imagination and train their hands-on skills as well as the kindergarten's good wishes for more parent-child interaction, never expecting aggressive parents to step in and help their children do their work instead.
幼儿园方面对此表示,布置手工作业旨在培养孩子的想象力以及动手能力,同时也促进亲子之间的交流与互动,绝不是让父母从中介入,全权代替孩子来完成相应工作。
According to Chinese media outlets, the most commonly suggested homework at kindergartens are drawings and handicrafts-making, which sometimes include paintings on fan coverings and eggs, or designing homemade clothes or specimens.
据中国当地媒体报道,幼儿园推崇的家庭作业大多以绘画和手工制作为主,偶尔也包括扇面和鸡蛋的彩绘,或者是自行设计服装或标本等。
"To make a specimen, you need to catch an insect first and then all the decoration objects … In the end, I bought a specimen scorpion online at 50 yuan for my kid's homework," a mother told the Spring City Evening News.
一位母亲在接受《春城晚报》采访时表示:“为了制作一个标本,你需要先抓一只昆虫,随后要准备所有的装饰物品,太麻烦了。最后实在没办法,我花了五十块钱给孩子在网上买了一个蝎子的标本,给孩子当作业上交了。”
A father complained that he stayed up all night to make a plasticine "Angry Bird" for his child's homework. "It does not much have the looks of an 'Angry Bird', but I am angry," he said.
一位父亲抱怨自己通宵给孩子捏“愤怒的小鸟”,他说道:“到最后小鸟倒是没愤怒,但是我却很愤怒!”
Other parents told the newspaper that their children's kindergarten homework of keeping a diary for pet raising ended up resulting in themselves taking care of the pets and keeping records for their children.
还有一些家长向该报社反映,幼儿园给孩子布置养宠物并写日记记录宠物成长历程的作业,到最后都演变成自己在替孩子养小动物,代替孩子写记录。
While these parents personally help their children with their homework so that their children "will not be ashamed of not finishing homework," other professional helpers are making profits out of their skills online, according to the newspaper.
据该报报道,由于父母们总是帮助自己孩子完成家庭作业,以至于孩子本身不会因为没有完成作业而感到愧疚,而一些专业的作业帮手更是抓住商机,在网上趁机牟利。