这些幼儿园向我们证明了孩子们比我们想象的更加坚强！

每位家长都想孩子变得坚强，拿得起放得下。但开始锻炼孩子经历挫折能力的理想年纪是什么时候呢？是越大越好吗？应该没有完美的答案，其实我们可以从日本的家长中得到一些暗示，他们中有许多人认为，爱之深，责之切，不管孩子多小，严厉的爱他们才是正确的！日本家长在为孩子选择幼儿园时，越来越看重严格的运动和学习规划！

Every parent wants resilient kids. But what’s the ideal age to start getting tough with them? Is older better? There’s no perfect answer, but it might be time to take a cue from our Japanese counterparts, many of whom believe kids are never too young for tough love. Increasingly, Japan’s parents are opting for kindergartens that emphasize strict exercise and academic regimens.

在东京的有一个偏向体育教育的幼儿园Buddy Sports，在这里，小朋友们会用一次3000米跑来开始一天的学习生活，3-6岁的小朋友都在参加，并且他们不能将自己年纪小作为懈怠的借口。老师会督促他们，抱怨的小朋友也会受到批评。

One such school is the physical education-oriented Buddy Sports kindergarten in Setagaya Ward, Tokyo. Here, the kids kick off their day with a 3-kilometer run. The runners range in age from three to six, but their youth is not seen as an excuse to slack off. Teachers push them to keep pace, scolding those who complain.

在一天的日程当中，同样也会有其他锻炼力量和协调性的活动，比如体操、篮球和网球等。有些时候，年龄稍大的孩子还会被送去参加五小时越野赛富士山站！

Also on the daily agenda are other sports aimed at basic muscle and coordination development such as gymnastics, basketball, and tennis. Some days, the older children are taken on a five-hour trek to the seventh station of Mount Fuji.

这些对孩子来说太多了？太早了？

Is It Too Much, Too Soon? 

答案取决于你的观点。Buddy的创始人和校长Takeshi Suzuki认为，现阶段家长溺爱孩子的现象太严重了。

The answer to that depends on your perspective. According to Takeshi Suzuki, Buddy’s founder and principal, these days many parents are overprotective of their children.

学校的校训是“try your best”，那么孩子们就必须完成倒立，平衡木后手翻和五次箱跳等项目才能毕业，在幼儿园30年的历史当中，还没有孩子不能成功毕业！

With the school mantra being “try your best,” children must be able to perform headstands, back flips on the bar, and five-box vaulting in order to graduate. In the kindergarten’s 30 years of operation, no child has failed to make the grade.

Suzuki说：“这说明，如果教学方法正确的话，那么所有孩子都是可以完成以上这些项目的！”

“This means that all children can do those things if you teach them properly,” says Suzuki.

许多优秀的毕业生都证实了他的说法，包括优秀的马拉松运动员川内优辉还有足球明星武藤嘉纪！

Many of the preschool’s past pupils have since proved him right: Prominent alumni include marathon runner Yuki Kawauchi and soccer star Yoshinori Muto.

Buddy Sports幼儿园是日本首都仅有的几所拥有严格的学习方法的幼儿园之一，广受父母喜欢。Izumi 幼儿园是东京另外一家拥有大强度课程安排的幼儿园，并且有许多孩子排队等着入园。他们更加专注于语言和音乐方面。课堂开始前，他们会朗诵论语和俳句，然后静静思考。练习钢琴时，他们会蒙上孩子们的眼睛来帮助他们集中注意力练习。

The Buddy Sports kindergarten is only one of several preschools in Japan’s capital with a strict approach to learning that parents seem to like. Izumi Kindergarten in Tokyo’s Adachi Ward is another school with a tough curriculum—and a long waiting list. Here the focus is on language and music. Classes start with three minutes of meditation followed by recitals of Rongo (the Analects of Confucius) and haiku. When it comes to piano practice, the kids are blind-folded to help them focus on hitting the right keys.

科学同样伴随着他们成长

Science Is on Their Side

有些家长和教育者可能会批评学校的这种恐怖的严苛政策，但是科学却在为这些学校撑腰。英国的一项研究表明，在严厉与温和并存的环境下成长起来的孩子，性格会更加圆润，比那些溺爱或者家长专政环境下成长起来的孩子更能控制好自己的情绪，集中注意力，面对挑战。

Some parents and educators might criticize the schools’ style as too severe, but some science backs up these methods. One study by the U.K. think-tank DEMOS, found that kids raised by caretakers practicing tough love—defined as a mixture of discipline and warmth—are more likely to become rounded personalities, better able to control their emotions, work through challenges, and concentrate on and complete tasks compared to those brought up by cosseting (or completely authoritarian) moms and pops.

类似的想法在斯巴达勇士赛群体中也存在。Jay Jackson开发了斯巴达主题课程，来帮助孩子们通过磨练和韧性克服困难。他说：“现如今，孩子们的适应能力太差了，主要原因是父母的呵护以及发达的科技让他们做起事来太容易了。”

Similar thinking exists in the Spartan race community. “Resilience in today’s kids is very low, often because parents and tech are there to make things as easy as possible for them,” says Jay Jackson, who co-developed the Spartan Edge school curriculum that helps students overcome obstacles through grit and toughness.

“然而，当孩子们参加斯巴达勇士赛的时候，他们发现自己可以完成未曾想象过的任务。这会使孩子们变得谦卑。当它们被困难这么的不得不尽全力克服的时候，他们自然就会努力去做。”

“However, when the kids are out on a Spartan course, they find themselves accomplishing things they never knew they could,” he says. “It makes them humble. They’re being kicked in the ass by something that they have to work really hard to overcome. And they do.”

Jackson认为孩子们需要知道你对他们的态度，就是很严厉，因为你是相信他们的潜力的。他说斯巴达勇士赛周边的工作就像在培育一颗种子！

Jackson believes that kids need to know you’re coming down hard on them because you believe in their potential, and he says a lot of the Spartan Edge work is about planting a seed.

你的付出可能不会立即收到回报，但就像这些幼儿园里走出的孩子成人之后，你就会看到自己付出的意义！

“The effects might not be fully apparent right now,” he says, “but they will be later as these students become men and women out in the world.”

Tips：扫描下方二维码，关注【SpartanKids】

近期更多儿童赛消息，敬请期待！

完