Anyhow, he went through the test and I must say that he came home quite devastated.
They said very plainly that since there are limited number of places in the club, those who didn't pass the test should "get lost". That hit him quite hard and I guess were really quite a cruel word tool to other children as well. He cried when he reached home recalling quite a few of those questions he was unable to do.
I sat there quietly as Yan relate the incident to me. I guess those questions must have needed his spatial imagination quite a lot. Anyway, we comforted him and assured him that if he is serious about it, we could always do Robotics on our own (yes, we do have Lego Mindstorm and I even developed an IDE for him so that he can program the brick). Furthermore, we could even sign up as independent contestant to compete with his school too. It all depends on how determine he is on this learning.
This evening, I received a suprise message on my mobile.
Dad, igot accepted in2 robotics.
A short SMS. He wanted to share with me his joy. I rejoiced too. It is what he wanted.
Just before he sleeps, I asked him
So, you want to learn computer programming?
And he said 'yes'.
Being in the IT line, I really do not like the idea that my kids end up in this line too. Then again, I wonder whether I should block the way entirely and not leave it to his heart's desire.
Congras, son. I am happy for you.
2 comments:
Which competition is he looking to join? I will have similar issues next year with our FIRST LEGO League, but I am not worried as I was head coach this year, and will be again next year. The limit on participants should be driven by number of coaches available. Testing at this early stage I find unbelievable, as to me the INTEREST in it alone is enough to get entry, but passing a TEST :(
Yes, it can be quite unbelievable to assess children of such tender age. With limited resources, I am not sure what other options do they have. And I do agree that interest is a very important criteria to gain entry into learning Robotics (or perhaps any subject). I wished they were more tender to these little children in their encouragements.
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