Neatness Vs artistic licence

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In the 1980s, local school teachers (Singapore) were terrifyingly-strict about neatness, punctuality and sticking to proper British spelling/grammar! There was virtually no way any of my classmates or I could develop bad hand-writing or terrible basic grammar. And no way were we allowed to be whimsical and lazy. These were unimaginable 'crimes' and punishable (eg. being made to stand on a table, sent to thr principal's office and/or being scolded for many minutes in front of the class/assembly).

My folks at home were glad I had strict teachers at school. They consistently reminded me to exercise self-discipline and responsibility towards my academic progress. Before entering kindergarten, my mom did her best to 'train' me to be neat, tidy, alert and careful when I did colouring/writing/drawing. I naturally grew up to enjoy submitting neatly completed assignments and receiving remarks like "neat work", "lovely hand-writing" etc. Academic excellence was never the priority my parents although there was disappointment when grades took a dip (not because the grades were poor but because I sometimes allowed carelessness and complacency to get in the way).

My son likes to randomly choose different As to trace

As a parent to a vivacious and imaginative child, I understand the imperative to inculcate positive values in children (focus, discicpline and patience). I give my son alphabet-tracing worksheets not because I want him to be some sort of genius at the age of 3 but rather to encourage him to be neat, focused and patient. Guess my kid and I are miles apart in terms of 'neatness' hahaha... I would have felt very terrible if my homework looked like this (see picture below):

My son is very proud that he can draw and trace on the same piece of paper. He's certainly entitled to praises for completing around half of the As very quickly in 10 minutes and taking the initiative to 'enhance' the otherwise boring looking worksheet.

For a perfectionistic mom (me) who takes pride in keeping things neat and organised, I can only say that I wish the kid could be less hasty and not break his new crayon so soon! Let's see how the Bs go in a few days' time.


UPDATED JULY 2012:
He's largely able to write all the alphabets on his own but we're still letting him do tracing in hope that he'll neaten up things a little. Check out some other alphabets and zeds here.

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