CCR CSR Child Friendly Spaces Program - Overview and Impact 2019 CCR CSR Child Friendly Spaces Program - Overview a | Page 10

CASE STORIES
A MIGRANT COUPLE DECIDE TO KEEP LIVING WITH THEIR SON AFTER CFS
“I never knew that in the eyes of my children, I am
red.” Mr. Miao said. He just learned from Teacher
Wang that both of his children said their father was
always ‘red’ during a recent in-class activity whereby
children were asked to associate a colour with their
parents.
“I should have spent more time with my children to
get to know them better.” Mr. Miao sighed. Before
this summer, both of his children – six-year-old Miao
Mengle and three-year-old Miao Mengge – lived
with their grandparents back in their hometown in
Zhoukou, Henan Province. Mr. Miao and his wife,
Ms. Wang, joined his factory in December 2017 and
have been living in Wenzhou since then. Though
the grandparents were responsible and caring for
the children, Ms. Wang worries that they might be
too caring or even spoil the children. “They [the
grandparents) would often satisfy all their needs and
let them do whatever they wanted.”
In previous summers, either Mr. Miao or his wife
would take some days off to go back home and
visit their children. This year, their factory rented a
classroom in a nearby kindergarten to start the CFS
programme and hired professional teachers. Miao
Mengle and Miao Mengge came to Wenzhou to
spend the summer with their parents for the first
time.
The two children liked the centre very much. “My
favourite activity here is building robots. We can
use different blocks to build a truck, a digger, or we
can design a robot ourselves. This is not easy you
see, because we have to find the right blocks and
put them together. We all need to learn how to use
screwdrivers.” The brother likes the robotics class
a lot, and he would proudly tell Ms. Wang what he
made in class that day and show her the picture.
Compared to her brother, Mengge is quieter and a
little bit shy. Despite being the youngest child in the
class, she behaves very well and is always very active.
“Sometimes when I asked the children to recite
poems or learn new songs, Mengge would always
try her best to follow even though she couldn’t read
most of the characters,” Teacher Wang commented.
Besides robotics and reciting classics, the CFS offered
a range of activities: drawing, singing & dancing,
story-telling and more. Mr. Miao and Ms. Wang were
glad that their children learned a lot during the past
few weeks. “Every day, when they come back from
CFS, they will excitedly show me what they’ve learned
that day.” Ms. Wang said.
Lessons learned
The parents also learned a lot after this summer.
“Before they came here for the summer, I usually
cooked a simple dinner after work and then played on
my phone because I had nothing else to do. Now I pick
them up, ask them what they want to eat for dinner,
prepare the food while talking to them about their
day, play games with them after dinner or take them
out for a walk with my husband. Even though I have
more things to do, I feel much more fulfilled because
my time is well spent,” Ms. Wang explained.
“I didn’t spend enough time with them, so sometimes
I don’t know how to communicate with them. When
I see the children doing something inappropriate, I
want to correct them so much that I can be impatient
and irritable. Maybe that’s why they think I’m
always red.” Mr. Miao reflected. After having regular
conversations with the teachers at CFS, Mr. Miao
and his wife learned how to communicate with their
children more effectively to educate them better.
Long-term unity
“I’m grateful to our factory for organizing the CFS
programme. Because of the CFS, I can spend more
time with them, and we can all get to know each
other better.” The couple were very satisfied with
this year’s CFS programme and decided to have the
children stay with them after the summer. “It might be
a little bit difficult to find schools for them, but there
will always be solutions. The most important thing is
for the family to stay together,” Mr. Miao said of his
family plans. “We’ll definitely send them to CFS next
year as they enjoyed their time here very much!”
10