Dear Beatrice, 

  Thank you for your support and understanding. Your compliment has enlightened our dreams and vitalized us. I hope more and more children and parents realize the importance of learning through living. That is the reason why I hold summer and winter camps. Through this close contact, I have the opportunity to know the children better and they also have a chance to put what they have learned from class into practice. During this learning process, they have turned knowledege into wisdom of life, which I think is a crucial stage for them to form their characters. Children's personalities have been shaped by this process as well. They encounter problems and do their best to find out the answers and solve the problems. They meet people from different walks of life and show their respect and sincerity.

  They know that life is not always happy. There might be unpleasant moments, especially while they think that the situations are out of their control, like losing things, breaking stuff or arguing with friends. However, they will always find their way out! All the adults have to do is wait and give them time to think and to make the best decisions by themselves, which you might find it difficult to do so in life of the big cities. People seem to be in a hurry all the time. We adults try to avoid "trouble" and hope that things can always be in order and organized. We clean the mess for our kids and plan things for them. However, it turns out that the more "trouble" we avoid, the more time and effort we spend on educating them, which sometimes they might even have the ability to educate themselves! I would like to share some episodes with you during this camp. While Kevin lost his hats and sun glasses, Peter told him that he had to pay more attention to his belongings. And when Peter lost his feeling of playing the violin, Kevin told him to focus and that if he wanted to win the first prize he had to keep practicing. Kevin was always there while Peter was playing the violin and Peter was always there to remind Kevin while he forgot his belongings. When Peter accidentally broke his violin string, they argued because of misunderstanding each other's meanings but then solved the problem by making a final decision to make a phone call to Peter's father. I was there with them all the time to see them solve their own problems. Amazingly, they did it quite well. They actually made the word "friendship" meaningful.  

  At the age of 9, Peter and Kevin are full of energy of learning new things and curious about the information that they have never heard about. I am very pleased to see that a petal, a leaf, a breeze and a wave fill their life with mirth. The nature tickles them. They are not addicted to the artificial amusement such as video games, on-line games or TV programs, which I appreciate the parents' effort very much on controlling their time of using the technological entertainment at home.

  Peter and Kevin are active and optimistic. However, they are quite sensitive as well. They know how much I care about the manners-- table manners, bus manners, museum manners, art gallery manners, airport manners, in-flight manners,... and so on. What they have heard from me most during the camp is probably the word "manners" and two sentences "Did you ask for permission?" and "Did you say 'please' and 'thank you' when you talk to people?" When they leave home, they know that they are not the "ONLY" boys anymore. They learn to comprimise with the group. Making concessions is a major lesson for them. I had formed a habit of spending some time chatting with them and explained what had happened during the day and how the other people felt about us before they went to bed. I could tell that they were doing their best to improve themselves and be responsible each day.

  To see what they see, to listen what they listen and to talk what they talk are the best ways to understand their thinking and feelings.  Children have douts as adults do. They question life and how people interact with each other. It does take time before children treat adults as their true friends. And it does need a skill to maintain the relationship that holds us together. Knowledge, wisdom, humanity and consideration come with the art, literature and philosophy of life. I do appreciate your supporting the camp and making all of these dreams possible.

Love,
Camilla