Our children were good students, but they did NOT get up at 3 am in the morning to study for 2 hours. They may have STAYED UP that late cramming for a college exam. They may have watched 3 am come and go at a slumber party or camp out. They have set their alarm for 3 am to go on a mission trip or catch an early plane. But get up at 3 to study? Uh-uh. So you can imagine my confusion when Dennis asked me if studying at 3 would bother anyone. Since their room is upstairs and ours is downstairs, I said "No, but why would you want to do that?" This kind of behavior is totally foreign to all the teenagers I have ever known, and I am a high school teacher. Enough said. He informed me that this was common practice in his country. The students his age routinely study many hours of the day or night, sacrificing sleep and recreation in order to be ready to take their major exams. Wow. Of course, they don't get to be on an athletic team, sing in a school choir, hang out at the mall, or even see their families much if they go to a boarding school. They also don't get to talk back to their teachers, fail exams, or break school rules. Discipline is meted out with a cane. While this seems a bit extreme, I'm wondering if there is a happy balance between Dennis' and Victor's home educational system and our own. While I'm not advocating middle-of-the-night studying, I can see that we could learn from the high value they place on their education and they could learn from us how to turn out well-rounded individuals who can work on teams. Of course, I realize it is not that simple. But it is interesting to think about.
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