Students at Tzu Chi Early Childhood are known for their hospitality, they smile and greet ‘Zhao An!' with their cute faces every morning. Humanistic education holds an important role at Tzu Chi School and is being implemented early to develop the child's character.  

To introduce deeper values of humanistic education of gratitude, respect, and love to children, Tzu Chi Early Childhood held its annual Humanistic Culture Week from 24 to 28 February 2020.

The theme of this year's Humanistic Culture Week is filial piety, which is indeed one of the important values taught in Tzu Chi School. This year, the school wants to remind children that filial piety is not only for parents but also grandparents. Therefore, in this happy week, students welcomed their grandparents to share loving moments and spend quality time together.

There were various activities done with grandparents such as serving tea and snacks, giving massages, as well as presenting students’ handmade cards. Children happily decorated their handmade cards with coloured pencils and wrote ‘I Love You’ in each of them. 

Similar to last year, this year’s Humanistic Culture Week also taught children some daily life skills to teach children to be more independent. Daily life skills equip students with basic skills such as sweeping the floor, wiping tables, and tidying their own cutlery. "We want children to practice these skills, even the most simple ones like putting on their own socks and fold their own clothes. These things are simple but if they are always helped at home, they will not be able to be independent," said Ms Hsu Min Yu, Ren Wen teacher at Tzu Chi Early Childhood. 

The peak of the Humanistic Culture Week was the drama performance played by Tzu Chi Early Childhood students from N1 and K1 level. "We use characters from the Aladdin to make it more familiar but we modified the storyline. In this performance, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine went on a courageous journey to find a cure for their parents’ illnesses. Their love and good attitude presented them with the help from a fairy or a good genie, so that they are able to find the fruit to cure their parents' illnesses."

Ms Zhao Yang, mother of Zhang Meng Han, a K1 student who played Princess Jasmine was touched and proud when she saw her daughter on the stage. Ms Yang said, in addition to showing filial piety to our own parents, there are other values that can be drawn from this performance. "Being filial to parents and all families. Children are also taught to be brave, as well as caring and loving to the family," said Ms Yang.

Without the courage and well intention that comes from their love for their parents, Aladdin and Princess Jasmine will not be able to complete their mission to find the medicine. Tzu Chi School hopes that this week's activities can remind students to always show their respect and love to their parents and family.