I questioned a boy under the pine trees.
"Master went herb-gathering," he said:
"He is still somewhere on the mountainside,
So deep in the clouds, he can't be seen"
On looking for a Hermit and Not Finding Him—Chinese classical poetry
The eraser likes to stand
against the chalk.
The chalk writes characters
on the blackboard,
And the eraser wipes them out.
This angers the chalk and makes it shorter.
Eraser and Chalk—Contemporary children's poetry
Yellow chrysanthemum,
Twelve pieces.
Great aunt,
Pick me up.
Pig cuts wood.
Dog burns fire.
Cat cooks rice.
Making me laugh crazily.
Yellow Chrysanthemum—Contemporary children's language practice
A succession of light, pleasing ballads adapted from poetic passages, flows smoothly from a live, mini-scale chorus recital staging on a corner of a low platform in the center of the basement room. Amplified musical tones mix with frequent applause to break through the usual serenity of the Spring Gallery, a privately-run exhibition center near the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.
Children's paintings, instead of the Gallery's routine contemporary arts, hang along the show walls. Children ranging from 3-12 years occupy the central platform, concentrating on their drawing efforts. One draft, with an old fisherman as its main character, is apparently inspired by a fishing net obliquely draped overhead. Giant-size colorful Mandarin phonetic symbols, dancing on a nearby dark-green wall, seem to call on accompanying mothers to join the pronunciation practice.
Displayed near the recitation area are violin, accordion, pipes, bass drum, snare drum, and other musical instruments, adding a certain musical color to the live "ballad concert." A do-it-yourself sound-producing experiment, staged along the spacious passage encircling the Gallery, attracts every visitor to hit away on different musical materials-bars of bamboo, iron, bronze, and aluminum.
Learn by wanting, learn by seeing, learn by hearing... above all, don't be turned off by education—These are the foci.
Inside a room next to the main hall, a seminar on Language Development of the Child-Listening, Speaking, and Singing lifts its curtain. Here, prestigious experts and interested parents enthusiastically exchange views and experience on this major concern of early childhood education. A door poster proclaims three other seminar topics: The Importance of Ballads and Music in Early Childhood Education, The Illustrated Painting World of Children, and Basic Elements of Sounding and Soundless Publications for Children.
Wen Lung-hsin, a contemporary composer and chief sponsor of this Exhibition for A Speaking and Singing Childhood, explained his motivation:
"We hope to enrich children's audio-visual experience through personal participation in a combined presentation format of poetry, painting, and music in an open, free, and potentiality-triggering environment. Besides swimming, picnicking, mountain-climbing, and other outdoor exercises, perhaps we may add a cultural message to children's summer vacation routines."
Wen, a pacemaker in the development of Taiwan's early childhood musical education, spent about ten years abroad, mostly in European countries, collecting musical education reference materials. A graduate of the National Taiwan Academy of Arts, his work, Phenomenon II, won second price in 1975 at Holland's International Gaudeamus Contemporary Composers' Competition.
In line with the seminar topic, Wen elaborated on the importance of children's language development. Most investigators agree, he pointed out, that true speech starts when the child begins to develop meaningful associations with the words he uses (an infant who imitates the word "mama" without understanding its meaning is not engaging in true speech). For a child between two and six, speech is a major task, involving both expression and comprehension. By about the age of four he has mastered the fundamentals of the systematic grammar of his language. By the age of six the average child has gradually increased his vocabulary-the degree of increase depending on the environment, its variety, and on the willingness of adults to relate to the child.
As Mary Poppins preached, "A little bit of sugar makes the medicine go down ..."
One of the many objectives of early childhood education, Wen added, is to provide training in elementary language skills for all children. To improve their comprehension and speech, there are listening and language games. Educators who find educational games a successful teaching device claim that they stimulate the children's interest in learning. And music, flaunting many other elements in its accessibility, plays a very important role in the entire process.
Determined to break through out-of-date, tradition-bound teaching methods, including the notorious pre-exam "cramming" practice, Wen has adopted a heuristic approach by blending music into the language learning process. His musical teaching-aids production includes the Gorgeous Childhood in 1978, and, the latest, A Speaking and Singing Childhood.
A complete set of Speaking and Singing Childhood consists of three heavily illustrated textbooks, eleven musical tapes, and a box of phonetic symbols, coping with three stages of development in the language learning process-prattling, smoothly speaking, and uttering literary remarks instantly.
Various fancies, ranging from phonetic symbols, children's ballads and poetry, tongue twisters, and Shu Lai Po (rhythmic storytelling to clapper accompaniment), to selected poems of the Tang Dynasty, have been designed for musical and versatile sounds presentations.
How about that? Is there a tot immune to such an illustration?
This initial combined experiment is intended to fully display the characteristics and rhythm of language, while well-designed colorful textbooks, plus a three dimensional symbols demonstration, aim to bring about a pleasant learning experience, a key to children's future learning success.
One mother trumpeted her view: "The Chinese are an emotion-minded people. In ancient times, poetry was frequently blended with songs, becoming a part of life. The best evidence is The Book of Odes (the earliest publication of Chinese ballads). It is really creative to remodel a learning environment into one in which children can better understand contemporary language, enjoy classical poems, and appreciate the beauty of Chinese characters."
Another mother also put It well: "I just love children, care about children. I only hope they will have a happy childhood with happy learning memories."
The well-known American educator Marie Winn, in her latest book, Children Without Childhood, accuses parents of negligence that is shortening the child hood span. For children here in Taiwan, Wen's programs and a series of other activities, give promise of making that happy childhood period longer..., longer ....