I am now getting longer responses from Kitreena to my “What did you learn at school today?” question everyday when she comes home. Last school year in Kindy (at AAS) and Year 1 (at AISM), she almost always gave me the dismissive answer, “I can’t remember everything I learn at school, Mom!” or “I forgot.” I sighed, I rolled my eyes, I even got upset sometimes. But so far I have not missed asking. God bless my stubborn soul!
Yesterday though, Kitreena was kind enough to bring home the lesson she learned at school. From what I understand, Mrs. Franklin gave each of the children a turn to squeeze some toothpaste out of its tube. Yes, toothpaste. Then the kids had to put it back into the tube using a stick. Well, can you imagine kids squeezing toothpaste tube with permission? Oh, I got headache just thinking about the mess! Those little hands are not designed for squeezing big tubes of toothpaste – or any big tubes of anything, for whatever reason, for whatever matter. But hey, they need to learn some time. And I need to learn to hold my judgement.
Kitreena then went on to explain that Mrs. Franklin said, the squeezed-out toothpaste is like bad words. Once you have said bad words, you can’t swallow them back in. So, you have to think about what you are going to say before you squeeze them out. Bad words hurt people’s feelings. Just like toothpaste, if squeezed out too hard, too much and land not on a toothbrush, will get dirty and messy. You can’t squeeze it back into the tube.
I went speechless for a few seconds and went, “Wow! That’s a very good analogy, isn’t it, Monch? It’s very true. I like that analogy!” Kitreena agreed with me totally and said, “It’s okay to feel angry, Mom. But it’s not okay to say bad words to other people. You can’t put them back into your mouth.” That was when I took a very deep breath, thinking… hey, how come my Grade 1 teacher never let me squeeze any toothpaste out of its tube? How come I had to learn it the hard way that when bad words are exchanged in anger, people will remember those bad words – not the issues at hand, not the message meant to be sent across. To be angry is fine, we’re human. But to say bad words is not okay. Yes! Exactly my principle in life. Spot on!
I like this Mrs. Franklin already!
Questa è Enida 
enida, I like Mrs. Franklin very much too! how come cikgu2 kat sek. keb tak ajar the kids mcm tu? Sakit hati dengar budak2 umur 7 tahun swearing like nobody business kat sekolah. grrr..
Oh kan! I heard more swearing and cursing than anything else at this new school Monchies are attending. It’s scary! Last week I ‘reprimanded’ a group of small kids blocking the crazy-busy pathway at peak hour because their parents were too NICE to ask the kids to move. Padahal berduyun-duyun orang nak lalu! Oh do not get me started on this! Please!
[…] winning only for humanity’s sake. Until then, I’ll just stay away from squezed-out toothpaste. […]
it’s a big wonder that we also learn from our children. enida, i also like this mrs franklin. continue your questions and do share with us whatever your precious kitreena’s reply.
Oh I sure will, Nina. Just as I have been.
I like Mrs Franklin too! 😀 In Mariessa’s words.. “ibat la!” (Hebat lah!)
Mimang ibat la ini Mrs. Franklin. Spot on, Kicha! Kaka Titina mimang suka la belajar yang bagini punya stail. Pikiran dia kan mimang dalam. Hehehe.
My oh my! I want Mrs. Franklin for Imtiyaz too! 🙂
Nins, I think we should train our teachers kat Malaysia to adopt this kind of teaching style kan? Our education system and principles in Malaysia, I notice, underestimate children’s capacity for understanding and grasping analogies. So cikgu pun terangkan lah ALL concepts seterang-terangnya without making our kids think, compare and relate moral values to something as simple as squeezing a tube of toothpaste!
Itu pun untung lah jugak dah tak ramai cikgu yang start the class with, “Class, open your textbook and turn to page ____!” (Fill in the blank with any number.)
Satu analogy yang cukup baik. Boleh diguna pakai dalam my training session. Teruskan kedegilan anda untuk tanya Kitreena apa lagi yang dia belajar ya. Then, cerita kat kita orang.
Kadang2 benda-benda yang simple macam ni, kesannya amat mendalam.
Betul Dee! That’s why I was speechless tu. It is a very good analogy. But what stunned me more was… Mrs. Franklin was treating these children with confidence that they will understand the underlying meaning. She doesn’t treat the kids like budak darjah satu. Can you just recall macam mana mentality kita masa darjah satu?
my standard 1 teacher didn’t even remember my name hehehe….yep, definitely a good reminder from mrs franklin..where was mrs franklin when i was in standard 1? hehehe
Oh sedihnya cikgu darjah satu tak ingat nama anak murid. Well, with 30-40 kids in the class, I can understand if she couldn’t remember your name in the first week. Masuk minggu kedua patutnya semua meja dah ada label nama semua. Antara rajin dengan tidak je kita cikgu ni sebenornya kan? Especially budak darjah satu, they are… analogically speaking, like a herd of sheep je. Hambat pi masuk kandang, dia pi masuk kandang. Ligan pi canteen, dia pi canteen. But I guess the secret is to treat them with respect and confidence kot; that they can and will understand what we regard as ‘mature concept’. They can relate.
Mrs. Franklin was in Form 1 when you were in Standard 1, Linda. Ngeeeeeee!
I think I need the whole tube of tooth paste to demonstrate to my other half. Even then, I doubt he would see the reasoning, lagi kena marah sebab membazir adala ha ha ha. Maybe I can use the lebih2 paste tu and sapu kat mulut to those who use hurtful words, biar pedassssssss. Zaman dulu, my Aunty used chili instead of toothpaste, not for reasoning but for aftermath effect of terlajak bahasa. It worked.
I like this Aunty of yours, Wiz! Reminds me of my Mom, who used the same ‘capital punishment’ to saying bad words habit. Memang kepantangan my Mom orang lepas cakap tak pikir panjang. She said, those who say bad or hurtful words usually have bad hearts as well. And their bad words are going to lock them out of paradise/heaven. And my Mom’s list of bad words is like half of Kamus Dewan Bahasa. (Hence, her famous saying, “If you have nothing good to say, say nothing.” gamaknya.)