Using the caterpillar story to teach the lesson of diligence

My four-year-old daughter seemed disinterested in practising her writing and reading. I tried to use rewards to encourage her but they only worked for a short while.

One day, I came across a storybook I bought a few years ago and we read the book together. It was a story about two caterpillars. They both began to build their cocoon because it was the cocoon making season and they were both hard at work. After a few days, one of the caterpillars decided to take a break and refused to work. This lazy caterpillar decided to sleep and eat instead of working hard like the diligent one.

One day, it woke up from its sleep and couldn't find the diligent caterpillar. Thinking that it must have been resting, this lazy caterpillar continued to sleep. Little did it know that the diligent caterpillar was already in its cocoon, going through the metamorphosis process.

One morning, the lazy caterpillar woke up to the sound of a cocoon tearing and out stepped a beautiful butterfly. The diligent caterpillar had turned into a beautiful butterfly and the lazy one was still a caterpillar. As the butterfly fluttered away, the lazy caterpillar was sad and angry because it had missed out on something better because it was not willing to work hard.

When I asked my daughter which caterpillar she would rather be, she said the diligent one. Now, when she is disinterested in hard work like practising her piano playing and writing, I will remind her of this story and she will be more co-operative.

Sok Bee