The world of Tzu Chi March 2021 (Vol.132)

TZU CHI 132 11 will help to allay parents’ fear and nervousness during this challenging time.” Parents stepping up as teachers Since the pandemic started, both the educators and parents have been adapting to the change together. When TCISKL began online teaching on April 1, 2020, our kindergarten teachers shared their teaching materials via Google Drive with parents. In addition to weekly live video lessons, presentation slides, short video clips and learning sheets were uploaded to Google Classroom with guides for parents to supervise and teach their children alongside teachers. Chong Lee Hui, a mother of four, and a lawyer by profession, decided to send her two youngest children to TCISKL. Both parents are in concurrence with Tzu Chi humanistic culture education. Lee Hui recalled, “During the MCO last year, all my kids had to attend classes online, while I had to juggle between working from home and taking care of my family and kids. I was up to my eyeballs with all these.” It took Lee Hui a month to fully adapt to the new norm. In recollection, she appreciates the time she spent accompanying her children studying at home. She found that by understanding the lesson contents and her kids’ learning abilities, it has helped foster parent-child bonding. She commented, “The teachers were very mindful in sourcing for teaching materials. The picture books they chose are vivid. They also prepared presentation slides to guide parents step by step on how to teach their children. It was quite comprehensive and we just need to follow along.” Be a good kid at home In a progress update on the onset of online classes, Mei Teng was gently reminded by Echo Chien, CEO of Tzu Chi KL & Selangor, that children must be taught to behave when their parents work from home. Teachers must put themselves in parents’ shoes. Thus, the kindergarten adapted the humanistic culture Realizing Character Education – First Year Anniversary of TCISKL