THE LEUNG FAMILY
Kyle is our iSpeech student subscribed to the English Interactive Storytelling online course. He attended the iSpeech 2024 Achievement Ceremony in August and won the award for Best Storyboard Design. Kyle is in Primary 2 and studies at a mainstream school. Both Mr and Mrs Leung are working parents and instead of choosing a domestic helper, they rely on the grandparents as secondary caregivers to Kyle.
Considering it is a norm in Hong Kong households
Why did you decide not to have a domestic helper?
Because we wanted to closely follow Kyle’s developmental milestones and watch him grow following our family’s values. With the grandparents’ support this has created a close bond between them. We prefer to be hands-on and without a domestic helper we are able to set clear boundaries but also encourage Kyle’s independence within the limits. Kyle needs a bit more attention in regards to his studies and as he is in Primary 2, these next few years are very important to establish good learning habits together with him.
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baby.manhoi is your IG page that has 2.8k followers, did you expect your content to amass an impressive following?
I created the page to really document the moments and experiences in Kyle’s life. Children grow up so quickly and it’s a good archive to remember back on and appreciate each stage.
We can see Kyle’s interests and changes as he is growing – although still a die-hard transportation fan! We are an adventurous family and enjoy going to exhibitions, museums and events relating to learning through a fun way. It’s nice to be able to share to other parents how just going out as a family gives the child a nurturing environment.
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Kyle was quite a social butterfly at the Achievement Ceremony and had everyone captivated with his storyboard. How did you shape him to be sociable and confident?
Since he doesn’t have siblings, we do our very best to socialise him with other children through events and competitions. There are times when he does show the “only child trait” where he doesn’t want to share, and we are there to guide him to listen to his instincts and to be kind. Social interaction is our main priority and if he happens to win at the competition then that is an added bonus. We praise him for his hard work and instill in him possibilities are endless.
Travelling is a good way to practice being sociable. He is very good at switching language channels depending on the country. Exposing him to different cultures enriches his perspectives and gives him interesting stories to share afterward. We try to provide as many real world learning opportunities to him as possible.
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Kyle was filmed as part of a television programme competition, what did he learn from this experience?
It was a lucky chance to have Kyle be part of the programme. It was filmed during the Summer holiday so Kyle conveniently had an activity to do – it was sort of like a day camp. We would not choose something that would affect his school work because at the end of the day, his studies matter more than being discovered as the next child star. This fortunate opportunity exposed him to how behind the scenes work, socialising with adults and interacting and collaborating with many different children.
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Being mindful and child-led parents, what misconception is there of children with learning differences?
Just because a child cannot follow the class curriculum, then he/ she is not listening to the teacher and not trying. I don’t like the blame to be solely focused on the child. A child needs to feel a connection and be engaged in the class topics. Sometimes it’s just a matter of how a subject is taught and delivered.
Lastly, why did you choose iSpeech for Kyle?
We prefer online courses or private home tuition compared to sending Kyle off to a centre to learn because we can explicitly see what he is being taught. We can map his progress and see whether he is genuinely interested and engaged. Kyle is a unique little boy and iSpeech’s course understands that children learn in many different ways. Through learning organically, it has awakened his interest in the English language. From not wanting to speak it, he has the confidence to at least try and it’s not a struggle anymore. Moreover, the lessons give him the space to convey his views and opinions which mainstream school classrooms do not have this luxury. I feel that by listening to children, it makes them feel valued and motivated to learn.
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Writer's Notes
I had the pleasure of meeting Kyle at the Achievement Ceremony. He interacted with me like I was a good friend of his and made me very welcome by inviting me into his own little world.
Talking to Kyle’s mama, I can sense that both parents have a fiercely independent trait to them and it is a great advantage to Kyle to be able to model this. Both hands-on parents, they teach Kyle what they know, and what they don’t know, they try their best to learn with him. The family is nurturing a growth mindset within Kyle and this is one of the habits to building a lifelong learner.
September 2024
