[Junior High School Entrance Exam] There are less than 100 days left until the entrance exam for my daughter's school of choice. At this point, we are going back to basics.

Good evening, this is Emma.
Following my previous post, this is another post about my daughter's junior high school entrance exam. While my daughter's motivation for the exam and her determination to pass have been waning, we have finally reached the point where there are less than 100 days left until the exam for her school of choice. In my last post, I think I described how various anxieties and impatience were spinning around in my head like a merry-go-round.

Time has passed since then, and I have gone back in time to analyze in detail why my daughter ended up like this and what we can do to improve the current situation. There are various possible causes, but the main ones include having too many daily tasks and not knowing where to start, my daughter's opinion that "there is no time to spare and no room to think for myself," and not getting enough sleep, leaving her feeling unrefreshed.

First, regarding the problem of having too many daily tasks, because she has things to do for both ballet and her studies, the burden is inevitably twice that of a typical student taking entrance exams. Since we cannot focus on just one or the other, I thought about shifting to a method of prioritizing and deciding to do at most two things.

Next, regarding my daughter's claim that she has no time to spare, I decided to reduce the number of times she goes to ballet class, as it is clearly too high for someone preparing for entrance exams. Even if a single ballet lesson is short, it lasts at least 1 hour and 45 minutes, and depending on the situation, there are days when it runs over (I am very grateful for the teacher's enthusiasm in their instruction), which automatically makes her return home late. Naturally, that leaves no time to spare. She had a lesson yesterday as well, but she came home early and worked thoroughly on her practice problems.

Finally, regarding the problem of not getting enough sleep, since the above issues were resolved, her bedtime has become significantly earlier. In my experience, I believe that sleep deprivation is a serious problem that causes both physical and mental distress. After giving birth, when my daughter would cry regardless of the time of night, I fell into a state of chronic sleep deprivation. I couldn't recover from fatigue, and my way of thinking tended to become negative. I also felt growing frustration toward my husband, who was too busy with work to participate in childcare. Once my daughter's daily rhythm stabilized, the sleep deprivation naturally resolved, and I began to feel energy welling up from the morning, allowing me to spend my days actively. From this experience, I know that sleep deprivation is a great enemy.

My daughter has the strong energy of a child, and her brain is running at full capacity from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed, but after three days of sleep deprivation, she inevitably says, "I don't want to go to school (or cram school)." If we prioritize the entrance exam, she cannot take time off from school or cram school, so there were times when I let her skip ballet class afterward to let her sleep early, but she must have been unable to concentrate in class due to sleepiness.

I did a little research on the importance of sleep. It is said that while sleeping, the brain organizes the information and thoughts obtained during the day. It also helps to solidify what has been learned and improves concentration and learning ability. From now on, I will ensure she gets enough sleep so that she can work hard on her exam studies in a healthy state of mind and body.

With less than 100 days until the exam date for her school of choice, the cram school has stopped doing regular lessons and is focusing mainly on past exam papers. Is it possible to solve past exam papers without sufficient basic skills? (That shouldn't be possible.) Especially in my daughter's case, her writing ability is overwhelmingly lacking. I realized, albeit late, that she is the type of child who can understand things just by going to cram school and listening to the instructor's explanations, and she is not suited for the exams of public integrated junior and senior high schools, which require thinking and expressive skills. If anything, I think she is better suited for private junior high school exams.

The hope for passing lies in her school report. Her school grades are consistently high across the board, so I believe that if she can just write a decent essay, passing will be within reach. Therefore, during the elementary school break that begins after the cram school's regular exam this weekend, we will aim to raise her basic skills. I plan to start with the basics, such as how to write an essay and what exactly is the writing ability required for the exam.

We will use the cram school's textbooks and reference books purchased at a bookstore. This reference book is written in a way that is easy for anyone to understand, so that the child can proceed on their own. When I showed it to my daughter, her expression brightened up. As if to say, "I can do this!", she started solving the reference book on her own. I thought this was the way learning should be. Learning should not be something that feels painful, but something fun that tickles intellectual curiosity. Perhaps the content at the cram school was too difficult for my daughter. Even adults feel discouraged when they feel something is difficult. I will have my daughter go back to basics and restart her studies at her own pace.

Every day, I confirm with my daughter "why she is taking the junior high school entrance exam." Things like being able to avoid high school entrance exams and focus on ballet, acquiring high-quality education to lead to deeper dancing, and even if she were to become a ballerina, it would be useful for her future career formation.

As I wrote in my previous post, it is okay if she fails the exam. Even if she doesn't pass, I think it would be fine for her to focus on ballet while attending a public junior high school. There is also the option of correspondence education without taking high school entrance exams. In any case, as a parent, my only wish is that she has no regrets. As my daughter's number one fan, I want to believe in her and support her.

Thank you very much for reading to the end.