young practitioners' tales: daily cultivation practice of kids at minghui dou dou kindergarten in taiwan (photos)

PureInsight | August 8, 2005

[PureInsight.org] Located in Yonghe City, Taipei, Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten may look like every other registered kindergarten in Taiwan, but it stands out from other kindergartens in many ways. [Dou Dou means "little sprouting beans" in Chinese, a common metaphor for small children.] For starters, their faculties are Falun Gong practitioners that educate the young students according to Falun Gong's cultivation principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." The children at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten may or may not have started practicing Falun Gong at the time of enrollment, and their parents may or may not be Falun Gong practitioners, but all of their parents approve of Falun Gong and agree to put their children under the education guided by Falun Gong's cultivation principles and in the hands of the school faculty composed of only Falun Gong practitioners. Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten has a very rich curriculum, which emphasizes the education on the traditional Chinese culture and moral values. The faculty studies Falun Gong books with the kids and illustrate traditional Chinese moral values with Chinese historic tales. In addition, studying Falun Gong books and practicing Falun Gong exercises are part of Minghui Dou Dou kindergarten's daily curriculum.

Children at the kindergarten often say "thank you" to each other. The faculty here will apologize to the small children to honestly acknowledge their mistakes. When a conflict occurs between kids, the faculty will remind or prompt the kids to search inward to improve their morality according to what they have been learning from Falun Gong's teaching. In this school environment that encourages kids to constantly examine themselves, we have witnessed the continuous upgrades of the children's morality level. This place is like a melting pot like Teacher has once said. All the children and faculty members have benefited immensely from this cultivation environment. The responsibility of creating a new age for the mankind might rely on the children's shoulders. We believe that an education based on cultivating the students' morality is genuine education for humankind. This is the education philosophy of Minghui School.

Left: Students at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten studying Falun Gong's books
Center & Right: Students practicing Falun Gong exercises

Chao Shun
Chao Shuan is four years old this year. He has been attending Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten for only one semester. His father is a schoolteacher at a nearby junior high school. Chao Shuan's father is not yet a Falun Gong practitioner, but he has decided to enroll Chao Shuan at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten because he is very attentive to Chao Shuan's education.

Compared with other kids here, Chao Shuan is an introvert. In many group activities, Chao Shuan prefers silently observing other children instead of being an active participant. When it comes to studying Falun Gong's books, however, Chao Shuan is the most enthusiastic participant. For the past semester, we had the kids study Hongyin II every afternoon. Sometimes when other kids started studying Hongyin II without him, Chao Shuan would burst into tears for missing the beginning part!

One day during the lunchtime, Chao Shuan suddenly said to his teacher, "It is not easy to make it to the Falun Paradise! There are so many people waiting in line to be admitted to the Falun Paradise!"

Left: Chao Shuan practicing Falun Gong's sitting meditation
Right: Chao Shuan learning to make French fries

[Note on children's nicknames: It is common for Taiwanese parents to pick one character in their small child's first name and double it to make it a nickname. For example, a child with the first name of Ding Ling may have a nickname of Ding Ding or Ling Ling.]

Ding Ding
Ding Ding is a sensitive child. She is very squeamish towards the school environment and everyone in it. When she was first enrolled at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten, she would often look sullen, frown and burst into tears within seconds before the teachers and her peers had a chance to find out what happened.

Sitting in front of Ding Ding is an overactive little boy. One day, he repeatedly kicked Ding Ding in her shins. Ding Ding cried at first after his repeated bullying. Then a teacher said to Ding Ding, "Ding Ding, he may be bigger than you, but he is still a child at heart. Why don't you try to forgive his childish behavior like you would forgive a small baby? What do you think?" Little Ding Ding thought for a moment, and then she folded her feet under her chair. She announced in a soft voice, "This way he won't be able to kick at my shins again. He is a big baby. I will forgive him." Ding Ding broke into a sweet smile for she had come up with a peaceful solution on her own.

Left: Ding Ding kept her feet folded under her chair

Ding Ding has become a lot less sensitive. As she continues to study Falun Gong's books and practice Falun Gong exercises, she has started to apply the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance when she interacts with other kids. She has even learned to joke with the teachers at times. Sometimes when we watch her sending forth righteous thoughts, we feel the five-year-old Ding Ding has matured a lot.

Rong Rong
Rong Rong has been attending Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten for five months. According her mother, Rong Rong picks up Zhuan Falun after dinner each day and studies it on her own. Rong Rong's mother often finds her daughter mumbling and realizes she is reciting Lunyu and Hongyin when she walks near Rong Rong.

Rong Rong's mother has spent a lot of time giving Rong Rong home education prior to enrolling her at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten. Rong Rong is only two years old, but she is already in the reading level of a child of three or even four years of age. Rong Rong's mother checked out Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten's environment, its faculty and students two times over the course of three months first. In her second visit, she saw a very notable improvement of the students here, so she immediately decided to enroll Rong Rong at Minghui Dou Dou Kindergarten. Impressed by the effect of the education based on Falun Gong's books, Rong Rong's mother immediately bought a copy of Zhuan Falun from a bookstore after the second visit and started reading it at home.

Left: Rong Rong at two years of age
Right: Rong Rong learning to use a pair of children's scissors

Han Han
Han Han is three years old this year. He is a reticent little boy. Her older sister is also a student here. At first, he would follow his older sister everywhere. Compared to his more outgoing and direct sister, Han Han appears to be a shyer and more reserved child.

Han Han now smiles a lot more. He has taken an interest in arts and crafts. Each time he helps another kid finish a craft project, he will light up and become very energetic!

Han Han, three years old

Every other week the students are asked to clean up the classrooms. The reason is two-fold. Cleaning will help the children improve their hand-eye coordination. Besides, this will teach the students to take responsibility for the environment around them.

The kids are very serious about their cleaning duties as though they were cleaning their own homes. It is very important to give the children an opportunity to help with the housework. They will develop a sense of pride and accomplishment. They will also feel more secure when they feel they are needed.