Abstract

Tao Xingzhi, a famous education expert, insists six liberations on creating educational thoughts. That is liberating children’s brains, hands, mouth, eyes, space and time. All these ideas advocate giving an opening and free condition for children to cultivate the independent character. Famous Italian professor Maria Montessori also advocates that parents should free the children’s actions. In Maria Montessori’s opinion, the actions of the child are basically instinctive. Their free actions can experiment the children’s imagination. And now Chinese family education ignores the training of children’s independence and even killing the children’s spirit of creation. But American family education encourages children to do experiment, find mistakes and correct the mistakes by themselves. The author analyzes this phenomenon with the related theories and points out the reasons of culture, history and value systems accounting for these differences. Accordingly, the author points out Chinese family education need to pay more attention to the training of independent character of children.

Key Words: American and Chinese education, child education, family education，independence

摘 要

著名教育专家陶行知的创造教育思想中坚持六大解放，即解放孩子的头脑、双手、嘴巴、眼睛、空间、时间，让孩子独立思考、实践、消化所学的知识。意大利女教授玛利亚蒙台梭利也提倡给予孩子成长的空间，这样才能培养孩子的自我创新能力和独立能力。在中国现阶段，家长容易忽视孩子个性及积极性、主动性的培养，忽略甚至扼杀孩子的创新精神。而美国的家庭教育则鼓励孩子亲自动手实践，自己在实践中发现错误、改正错误。本文作者结合相关理论分析并指出来其背后的文化、历史、价值观等方面的原因，从而呼吁中国的家庭教育需要更重视个性的发展、人格的完善，在生活中采用耳濡目染的渗透式教育法培养孩子的独立性格。

关键词：中美教育；儿童教育；家庭教育；独立性

1. Introduction
Independent character means a person with the character free from influence of others, who is inner-directed, who can make decisions by his own judgments. Independence is a very precious character of human beings, which can make children become a future talent with independent ideas and abilities. But nowadays, many parents, in the name of “love”, limit children’s actions, helping them do almost everything in the family surroundings.
2. Demonstration
2.1 The roles and importance of independence in personal social life
In terms of personal independence, famous Italian professor Maria Montessori, the worldwide figure as children educator in 20th century, provides some valuable opinions. She advocates that parents should free the children’s actions. To grow up is the obligatory course of the child and parents should lead the child to experience. At times the child would like to do something that seems like wasting time, such as looking for worms or looking at the ants for a long time. It seems that the child is always interested in everything. In Maria Montessori’s opinion, the actions of the children are basically instinctive whose free actions can experiment the children’s imagination.  Being children’s parents, it should not be encouraged to neglect these phenomena and assume them to be ignorant. Children are also independent individuals, who have their own choices. Children’s development will be influenced if parents force the children to follow their minds.