Promoting family education, raising happy children

Li Wenyuan and his wife, Chen Shiying, both teachers in Southwest China's Chongqing municipality, are dedicated to sharing their knowledge of family education with other parents, to help them raise happy children.

Li is a teacher and director of the office of academic affairs at Sanjiang Middle School, Qijiang district. Chen is a teacher at Jiulong Primary School, in the same district.

Both have said they "want their child to grow up happily and healthily." Their daughter, Li Fenyan, now studying in the UK, had a happy childhood, and she grew up to become an excellent young lady. In May 2022, the family was selected as one of the nation's most beautiful families.

Both Chen and Li Wenyuan grew up in rural China. Although their parents received little education, they taught their children principles to be used throughout life — through their own words and deeds.

"I once promised a neighbor I would buy him medicine after school, but I forgot. My father said to me, ‘What if the neighbor is in urgent need of the medicine? His condition might exacerbate and something worse might happen.' Out of guilt, I walked more than two hours, on mountain roads at night, to get the medicine. That was how I learned that one must keep one's word," Li Wenyuan recalls.

Chen says her mother influenced her a lot, especially when she was a child. She still remembers, when she was 8, how she and her two older brothers followed their mother into the fields to harvest the rice. They worked hard from dawn to dark. "My mother has the traditional virtues of the working people, such as diligence, and she sets a good example for us," Chen says.

"We also want to set a good example for our daughter, and to influence her with our own words and deeds," Chen says. She and her husband have been supporting their daughter's hobbies and decisions. Li Fenyan liked drawing when she was little, and her parents hung her drawings on the living room walls. During family gatherings, at holidays, they would invite their relatives and friends to comment on the drawings. When Li Fenyan became interested in writing, in primary school, they took her to visit other cities and the countryside to enrich her experiences, and to see how others lived.

"We think family education means parents convey the thoughts, ideas and norms of behavior to children during their daily lives, follow the laws of children's growth, accompany children wholeheartedly, and in a scientific way, and finally let go of their adult children," said Li Wenyuan.

The family established a WeChat group, where they share their lives and views, and where they show love and support for each other. Once they talked about "What is home?" Then, Li Fenyan sent the following message to the group: "Home is the harbor of love, and a place where one can feel real and free."

Li Wenyuan also writes to his daughter at important times in her life, such as after she wrote the college-entrance exam, and on her first day at university. "I just want to give her some suggestions at critical moments, and tell her what's on my mind," says Li Wenyuan.

Having grown up in a loving family, Li Fenyan is confident when she makes her own decisions, and she is brave enough to explore the world. She attended the International Youth Conference for Peace in the Future, in Japan, as a middle school student, and she was named "Ambassador for Peace in the Future." She joined the Communist Party of China when she was student at Communication University of China. Now, she is pursuing her master's degree, at the University of Bristol, in the UK. In a video call, she once told her parents, "I'm grateful and lucky to have you as my mom and dad. I feel loved and supported on the other side of the world."

As successful parents and teachers, the couple wants to share their parenting knowledge, experience and skills with other parents, to help them raise happy children.

In 2015, Li Wenyuan was named a member of the family education lecturer group of Qijiang District, and he gave lectures in primary and middle schools. A father began spending more time with his child after listening to Li Wenyuan's lecture, Accompanying Children in a Scientific Way Is the Best Education. Not only did their relationship improve, the child's academic performance improved. The father also shared his family stories on the Internet, in short videos, to share parenting knowledge.

In October 2016, Chen and Li Wenyuan launched Family Education Book Club, to share parenting and family education knowledge. They organize reading clubs once a week, where members read family education articles, share their parent-child stories and discuss relevant topics.

Chen and Li Wenyuan often give "tips" to attendees of the reading clubs. Once, a mother said her three-year-old son didn't talk too much, and she worried that he might be autistic. Based on the information she provided, Li Wenyuan suggested her son might need more contact with children his age. The mother took his advice, and it worked.

In August 2017, Li Wenyuan established an account on Ximalaya, a popular audio-sharing platform, to share knowledge of family education. He has also shared several family education books with his followers.

Li Fenyan is very supportive of her parents' efforts, just as her parents have always been supportive of her. She also wants her parents to be happy and brave in pursuing their dreams — spreading knowledge of family education and helping parents raise happy children.

Photos Supplied by Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly January 2023 issue)