The beijingkids and JingKids 2014 Spring School Choice Fair is sponsored by RGF AIR Purifiers.  

The recently concluded third annual beijingkids and JingKids Spring School Choice fair, sponsored by RGF AIR Purifiers, brought over 2,500 guests to mingle with 30 local and international schools; four summer camps; four education consultants and after-school activities centers and four health care providers. The two-day fair was took place at the Hilton Beijing from 10am till 4pm.

The fair occupied the second and third floors at the Hilton Beijing at Liangmaqiao with exhibitors armed with gifts and reading materials for fair attendees. Curious parents took the time to get more information from the participating schools about their curriculum, facilities and fee structures.

The Hilton Beijing’s Elements Restaurant provided lunch buffet for families that were not done exploring the fair or were just about to begin their exploration and needed a power boost.

There were two kids’ play areas manned by Ivy Schools and UCCA Creative Studio. The Ivy Schools partnered with Siemens Kitchen to have kids enjoy kitchen based activities such as dough rolling. Also, there were craft and reading corners staffed with teachers from the schools that was popular with Kids and dads looking to escape the crowds and just talk to other dads.

The success of this event would not have been possible without our sponsors, service providers, all exhibitors and attendees. We would like to say a special thanks to:

• Hilton Beijing
• RGF AIR Purifier
• Dulwich College Beijing, Harrow International School Beijing, Wellington International College Tianjin, IMTI, and Cathy Chang (Chang Qing) for giving out informative education lectures
• Victor Wong and son Victor Junior, Theresa Ahdieh and daughter Monique Ahdieh, for taking the time to share their experience in the parents panel discussion
• Lily Zhao (Zhao Wei), Abi Wang (Wang Zhe), Irene Chen (Chen Yijun), for also taking the time to share their experience in the parents panel discussion

Here are some highlights of what took place last weekend.

Be sure to see more photos on our gallery page here.

Be sure to catch us next year.

About our sponsor RGF AIR Purifiers

With our signature PHI pro-active air filtration system, RGF Air Purifier is a breakthrough in the history of air purification.  The innovation is nothing like the existing technologies and we are leading the field of air purification with advanced technology.

With our product, you will no longer be bothered by the typical problems: purification blind spots, insufficient treatment, secondary pollution, excessive cost, distracting noise and more.

The new technology allows you to breathe forest-like fresh air by eliminating harmful micro-organisms and substances in the air, including bacteria, viruses, mould, formaldehyde, benzene, TVOC, odors, and PM2.5 particles.

With RGF, you have nothing to worry about the air around you! Relax and enjoy.

Photos by Ken, Mitchell Pe Masilun and Sui

I started this blog because I got pregnant for the first time and I had no end of questions about the foreign experiences my body was undergoing. Then, dealing with that in a foreign country meant I was multiplying this foreign experience twofold. I thought I could retire this blog after I had my first child, but then I got pregnant again. The blog resumed its previous course.

The funny thing is that I’m starting to think that I should rename the blog. Maybe “Mothering in China” or “Kids in China” or “Pulling My Hair Out in China”… ? You see, the moment I think I’m on a roll with this parenting thing and have life wrapped into a rhythm that I can understand, perhaps signalling the final retirement of this blog, new questions arise.

For instance, my daughter is already two years old and the most common discussion in our household is where she should go to nursery school next year. This is most often asked of us by outsiders as well. It’s as though “Where will you birth?” has been supplanted with “Where will you school her?” without even dropping a beat. And therein lies the continuing foreignness of my mothering experience: schooling is a wide and detailed topic in Beijing with choices so varied and complex that makes the range between options astoundingly vast. Cue head spinning.

Some of the questions are these:
 

•     Local school or International school?
•     A Chinese-only School (local) or a Bilingual School? English only? French? A mix of all three? Does that exist?
•     Which education system? Montessori? The English National Curriculum? The Chinese National Curriculum? International Baccalaureate (IB)?
•     How much can we spend? If we’re on a budget, should we splurge in the younger years or the mid-years or the older years?

As a blogger here in Beijing, I was approached to attend the “School Choice Fair” that is organized by a magazine in town called “Beijing Kids Magazine,” a publication for which I also write a bi-monthly column. They asked me to attend the event and write a blog about it (content of my choosing) in exchange for a free brunch at the Hilton for my family. Who can resist a free brunch? Besides, I am currently in this spiral of questioning and I really wanted to have a good reason to get myself (and two little ones) out the door in pursuit of some answers.

Luckily, my mother-in-law was keen to attend too. Nothing like an all-you-can-eat seafood bar as inspiration for her accompaniment, not to mention the sushi, and salad, Chinese dishes, and dessert—it was decadent, no question. In the absence of my partner who is far too overbooked these days for spontaneous brunches, a friend also came with us. Their help with the kids was essential.

We arrived at The Hilton and were greeted by a great big colorful creature (a person dressed as a cartoon character) that scared little Echo into a tucked position behind our knees, our legs her protective trees in a forest of adult-sized cartoons. I don’t blame her. Those big costumes are scary!! Shortly thereafter, we were ushered upstairs by helpful staff.

Basically, the School Choice Fair (officially called “beijingkids & Jingkids 2014 Spring School Choice Fair”) is a trade show. Sponsored (fittingly, for this city) by RGF Air Purifiers, it took place on the second and third floor of the Hilton with some tables set up in small conference rooms and others around a mezzanine circle outside of the elevators on each floor. Each school (as well as a few additional services for the international community) had a table or “booth” at which they were handing out information and flyers. Many had play tables for kids off to one side and balloons and gift bags, etc. I found myself wondering if it was unfair for me to be judging the schools most likely to be overcharging in the way of school fees by the quality or quantity of their free gifts! There were also lectures that I couldn’t attend, but I think I’ll go again next year without the kids and do so!

I was quite eager to ask after a few specific schools located in our neighborhood, but I admit that I was a bit overwhelmed when we arrived. The din of the crowd, the close and narrow hallways in the circular mezzanine sections, and what seemed a non-logical ordering of school tables made the event feel scattered.*

Then again, I was carrying an infant in a pop-out car seat carrier. People kept stopping to coo at him because he looks like a teddy bear at this age, all bundled up in his brown bear suit and doll-like. My daughter was exclaiming about the balloons and colours and running in various directions. My mother-in-law and friend were trailing her but disappearing behind groups of people while I was waylaid by the good-natured cooers. Several times, I lost sight of them around corners. So, maybe it was just me who was scattered and not the event! I had some distraction going on.

I managed to get a hold of some flyers for a couple of the schools I had been seeking, but I came upon yet another trial related to my children and their fuzzy citizenship status here. Without a visa in the foreign passports, I was told, they will often be turned away from international schools. Some will make allowances if at least the one parent who is a foreigner (me) has a work visa (Z), which I do not have. (Work visas are issued by formal jobs that are often 9-5, and that’s not likely to happen!) I spoke with one gentleman (a fellow Canadian) who represents the Ivy School system here in Beijing, of which there are several locations. Also married to a Chinese national, he knew all about my issue and could only advise that I may get my kids through some school’s doors and not others. It was unclear. He nodded in sympathy.

I left my daughter, friend and mother-in-law in the play area that the Ivy Schools were offering to the kids. Cooking classes, bracelet making, and Echo’s personal favourite: playing with pasta. Two wooden bins had been filled with uncooked pasta of various shapes. They provided spoons and containers for the kids so that they could scoop up the noodles and dump them out randomly. She was in heaven. She kept holding up the bowtie pasta and screaming, “Bow! Bow! Mommy! Bow, Bow!” I laughed and said, “Yeah, baby, I see it! It’s shaped like a bow!” (How exciting!)

I then took my son in his carrier and felt my head clear as I left on my own to explore the third floor. I was particularly searching for the Canadian school’s booth. A very friendly guy named Cory gave me some great answers to my visa questions. He said their school would enable enrollment in this special case, especially since my kids hold a Canadian passport. Apparently, they’ve done this before. Seems my countrymen are able to jump some of these bureaucratic fences!

I successfully refrained from collapsing (years of performance techniques) when I learned that half-day pre-school for Echo at the Canadian International School of Beijing (CISB) will cost over $15,000 Canadian a year, full day $21,000. And I’m talking Canadian dollars here! (I’ve done the conversion.) And, that’s just kindergarten or pre-school; it’s even more expensive when you get to the older years. The only way for it to be cheaper is if I were an employee at the school. I thanked Cory for his time and walked away smiling, wondering if I could get a job there and/or if I really wanted to be a teacher after all?! For the sake of my kids, I’ll consider it…

FYI, I don’t get a discount because I’m Canadian.

When I returned to the play area to fetch my family, Echo was still up to her elbows in pasta and my mother-in-law was sitting peacefully off to one side watching the chaos of kids and parents swirling in and out of the big, loud room. It was time for lunch and I lured my daughter away with promises of cheese (her favourite food) and pasta that she could actually eat (her second favourite food). She left holding my hand, but with her head turned back yelling, “Bye bye pasta!” over and over in a very forlorn voice, like she was leaving an old friend.

If I were running things (!), I would have chosen a larger space like a gymnasium or a double-sized conference room in which all the booths could be located together. It would have been on a single floor and it would have been organized geographically, such as by districts in the city perhaps. Maybe if the schools had multiple locations, they could have had multiple tables? To be honest, I would have preferred to walk less and only review the schools that are in my general neighborhood because we simply can’t send Echo somewhere across the city.

That’s my only critical feedback. Otherwise, I’d say it was a successful fair!

My head is still spinning, however. I’m not sure I’m further along in the pursuit of answers or confirmations on which direction we’ll take this schooling quest. At least I was given a bit more insight through the event, however, and have more information on which to base our choices next year. Oh, and I have A LOT of promotional flyers and folders to sift through.

And the brunch was amazing. It was worth every word of this blog post and then some.

*(Later I realized we had been given a map lay-out in the welcome package given at the main entrances. OOPS! Perhaps posting those as signage at the entrances as well would have helped those of us who didn’t realize those maps were tucked in the folder for us!)

This post first appeared on Ember Swift’s site on March 3, 2014.

Photo courtesy of Ember Swift

Assessing a school’s academic success was once just a matter of measuring  students’ competence in the "three Rs": reading, writing and arithmetic. Courses were designed to provide children with very specific skill sets and as a result linear thinking was prioritized in an effort to ensure that students could “keep up” with their peers.

But developments in educational psychology over the last few decades have shown that there is more to learning than the old  drill of “listen-repeat-remember,” and as work options have expanded, so too has the need to teaching children new skills beyond the three Rs.

It is imperative to take learning style into consideration when measuring academic progress. Newer learning theories attempt to provide additional ways of understanding and addressing the needs of children who do not do well under a more traditional system.

Hemispheric Dominance, for example, was first posited by Roger W. Sperry in the late 1960s. According to this theory, people predominantly use either the left or right side of the brain in learning (hence the terms “left-” and “right-brain learners”). So if a child tends to work sequentially, and in clear and often logical steps to build up a solution to a problem, Sperry believed that they work primarily with their left brain and would be considered a "traditional" learner who typically does very well in the three Rs.

Conversely, if the student tends to see the whole picture first (i.e. a more holistic approach) and fills in the details in the process of working out a solution, they would be labeled a “right-brain learner” with a more creative “out-of-the-box” approach.

Another notion that has shifted public attitudes towards learning is Howard Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences Theory. Based on the premise that there are “many kinds of smart,” this theory posits a range of “intelligences” ranging from linguistic and logical-mathematical to spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalistic, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Students who are “word-” and/or “number-smart” should theoretically do better in school under the traditional three Rs educational system.

But what about those whose strengths do not lie in either of these two areas? Based on research that he conducted from the 1970s to the late 90s, Gardner proposed that individuals draw on these multiple intelligences in order to solve problems that are relevant to the societies in which they live. Today, educators have applied the Multiple Intelligences Theory to alternative ways of teaching children, allowing them to grasp concepts more intuitively.

A third key development in educational psychology has been increased understanding of how developmental delays affect learning. According to the Developmental Disabilities Act (US) of October 2000, developmental disability is currently legally defined as “a severe and chronic disability in an individual 5 years of age or older that is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or a combination of both; is manifested before the person reaches age 22; is likely to continue indefinitely; results in substantial functional limitations in three or more areas of major life activity (self care, receptive and expressive language, learning, mobility, self-direction, capacity for independent living, economic self-sufficiency); and reflects the individual’s need for a combination and sequence of special, interdisciplinary, or generic services, supports or other assistance.”

Developmental delays can be manifest as consistently low scores on intelligence tests, poor academic functioning, and lack of adaptive skills. Sometimes, delays in motor development and in receptive and expressive language skills are also present. Special educators are armed with a wide range of learning theories that are necessary to understand and address the way an individual child learns best.

Whether learning difficulties encountered by the child are due to cognitive delays or behavioral challenges, the result is the same: The child’s academic performance is negatively affected, and their social development and self-esteem suffer as a consequence.

Additional learning support centers fill the gap where regular or mainstream schools are unable to meet some of the children’s needs. In some cases, these centers offer supplementary activities designed to help a student navigate school on their own. In other cases, the child’s cognitive or behavioral needs require addressing in a small school environment.

In Beijing, the following three centers can provide children with learning support services.

The Learning Center
The Learning Center (TLC) offers tutoring to students who need additional assistance after school. Teachers provide review and homework support to struggling students with the aim of completing schoolwork independently and raising their grades. Assistance can also be extended to students who are capable of doing advanced work outside the classroom, such as gifted students looking to enhance their skills in mathematics, science, and English as a foreign language.

Tutoring at TLC is available for grades K-12. The goal is to complement the program at each child’s school. The tutors regularly coordinate with teachers and/or learning support staff to provide help where it is most needed.

The center was founded in 2004 by Jennifer Sachs, an American teacher with over 20 years of experience in China. She and her team of qualified, native English-speaking educators run one-on-one, small group, and immersion classes in all key subject areas, including advanced English, science, math, humanities and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). TLC can help with SSAT, IGCSE, SAT, IB, AP, A-Level, and university entrance preparation.

Eliott’s Corner
Eliott’s Corner is a therapy center with a sister establishment in Shanghai called Olivia’s Place. It was founded in 2011 by Jacqueline Chen, the mother of a boy born with cerebral palsy. The center is named after her son, whose condition requires ongoing physical therapy.

Eliott’s Corner offers speech, occupational and physical therapy for children who have been diagnosed with special needs. Speech-language therapists help those who have difficulty communicating while occupational therapists help children develop their learning, self-care, and socialization skills.

Since its opening, Eliott’s Corner has served around 400 clients ranging from babies to young adults (up to 18 years of age) with a variety of special needs.
Special needs children are defined as those who have been diagnosed with mental health conditions that require therapy, special education services, or other specialized services and support. Examples of special needs conditions include Down’s Syndrome, autism, and dyslexia.

Physical therapy, which specializes in maximizing movement and physical function, incorporates play as part of treatment. Other services include child psychology assessments, applied behavior analysis, learning support services, reading clinics, and social skills groups.

Eliott’s Corner adopts a holistic approach designed to meet individual needs, and therapists work closely with any medical professionals who monitor the child’s developmental progress. The multicultural team of therapists can conduct interventions in English, Chinese, Dutch, German, French or Spanish.

As a service to the community, Eliott’s Corner has weekly support groups for families with special needs children, and a weekly baby corner, where speakers give talks on childhood development topics. They also host information sessions for teachers and parents of children with a variety of needs like autism, ADHD and other behavioral issues.

Side by Side
Side by Side is a learning and educational support center that helps children with special needs and learning difficulties, their families, and their networks. The center offers three main services: academic tutoring, learning support and music therapy. It also provides social skills training, family support, and informational workshops.
Tutoring is available to students who need help completing homework or who have difficulty in a specific subject or area. Learning support is available to children with difficulties stemming from diagnosed or suspected learning or behavioral issues. This program is ideal for guiding those with expressive and receptive language delays, difficulties with organization, attention or executive functions.

Music therapy is an alternative form of creative expression for children and adults who need to work on emotional, behavioral, communication or organizational issues. Music therapy works well for anger management and self regulation issues, and is also a great way to help a very reluctant or shy child to express themself.

Side by Side is a very small and personal organization. The homely set-up enables the children to do chores like they would in their own home, including feeding the cats, measuring the growth rate of Side by Side’s resident puppy, helping prepare meals, washing dishes, and tending the vegetables in the garden. The objective is to create independence in everyday tasks, which also requires the child to listen to teachers and cooperate with other students. The center celebrates birthdays, outside achievements, school results, and progress both great and small within their programs.

Side by Side also offers a range of community support services, including workshops and training for schools, community groups and parents; information on parenting skills; and support for those dealing with a transition or a new diagnosis.

Word from a Parent
“The Learning Center has been a wonderful resource for both of my children since it opened nine years ago. Teachers provide brief summaries of content coverage for lessons, which are an excellent communication tool for both students and parents. My children have also enjoyed TLC’s summer programs. I highly recommend the educators and professionals at [TLC], as they create a truly positive, supportive and effective learning environment.”
– Julie Upton-Wang (US), mother of Patrick (age 17) and Megan (22)

Word from a Therapist
“Jared [not his real name]was born full-term without complications. After coming home, he seemed like an easygoing baby who spent most of his time just reclining in his baby seat and watching [everything around him]. He was quite slow to learn how to roll over and to sit up as compared to his sister and developmental charts.

At 15 months, when Jared was still doing nothing more than sitting, his parents took him to [Eliott’s Corner], to have him evaluated by a team that included a physical therapist, occupational therapist, and speech therapist. This team found that Jared was significantly delayed and would benefit from all three therapists.

The speech therapist started by teaching Jared some simple hand signs and also made a photo album with pictures of Jared’s family and of his favorite foods and toys so that he could point to what he wanted. He quickly learned to express himself for the first time and started to make speech sounds. By the time he was 3, he could say a dozen words and use 30 signs. By kindergarten, he spoke in full sentences and attended speech therapy to work on enunciation. Following this, his primary school performance was very good.”
– Maggie Tai Tucker, occupational therpist at Eliott’s Corner

Word from a Parent
“We enrolled our son in music therapy at the recommendation of our psychologist to assist him with attention and social issues. Throughout the last year and a half we have noticed that he is much calmer because he has found new ways to express his emotions through music. He is also extending his attention span and can spend much longer on a specific topic.”
– Mother of a 10-year-old music therapy student at Side by Side (name withheld by request)

RESOURCES

The Learning Center
TLC charges RMB 155-175 per hour for workshops and starts at RMB 550 per hour for individual tutoring (in both cases, price varies according to subject).

Mon-Fri 10am-8pm, Sat-Sun 9.30am-4.30pm. 2108 Gahood Villa, Xibaixinzhuang, Houshayu, Shunyi District (8046 3886/7085, registration@hyde-education.com) www.thelearningcenter.cn 


Eliott’s Corner
Fees vary according to individual needs; contact the center for details. Besides its headquarters in Lido, Eliott’s Corner’s services are available at New Century Women’s and Children’s Hospital and New Century Harmony Clinic (Shunyi).

Mon-Sat 9am-6pm. Unit 19-05, Block 2, Kandu International, 10 Dongsihuan Beilu, Chaoyang District (6461 6283, contact@oliviasplace.org) www.oliviasplace.org

Side By Side
Individual sessions for Learning Support or Early Intervention cost RMB 550 per session (including reports); RMB 1,800 for school observations; and RMB 1,000-2,200 for assessments (the latter two include reports and recommendations). Individual attention for Music Therapy costs RMB 400 per session (including progress reports); contact Side by Side for group therapy information.

Mon-Fri by appointment. 3336 Capital Paradise, Xibaixinzhuang, Houshayu, Shunyi District (8046 3858, info@sidebysidebeijing.com) www.sidebysidebeijing.com

Handy Websites
capone.mtsu.edu/studskl/hd/learn.html
painting.about.com/od/rightleftbrain/a/Right_Brain.htm

www.education.com/reference/article/characteristics-intellectual-disabilities

sped.wikidot.com/developmental-delays

As the government ramps up its efforts to combat Beijing’s air pollution, a number of the city’s international schools have followed suit by re-evaluating their air quality management policies and taking action to create cleaner campus environments for their students.

Setting upper AQI (Air Quality Index) limits to determine when outdoor activities should be canceled has been a priority for many international schools. All seven of the institutions we surveyed in early 2013 told beijingkids they had established AQI limits based on readings from both the US Embassy and the Chinese government.
It may seem like a small and simple step. But for many students, not having such policies in place could spell the difference between a productive day at school or a day – if not a whole week – at home sick. The World Health Organization considers PM 2.5 readings in excess of 25 micrograms per cubic meter as potentially harmful to asthmatics.

Last January during the now-infamous Beijing “Airpocalypse," the density of PM 2.5 particulates surpassed 700 micrograms per cubic meter. Harrow International School of Beijing reported a sudden increase in students with upper respiratory infections, but the phenomenon could not be directly linked to the sky-high pollution readings.

This alarming spike, along with other health concerns, prompted the school to revise its AQI policy last April from a cut-off point of 275 to two different levels that determine when students are restricted from outside activities. Harrow also posts current AQI readings around play areas and guides students on how to modify their activities on polluted days.

“When the AQI reaches [200 and over] younger students do not go outside. For our older students, the cut-off is 251,” explains Nici Newbold, the head school nurse at Harrow. “The different levels take into account the increased effect of pollution on younger children as they tend to be more active during playtime.”

“Healthy lifestyles are a key part of the school’s curriculum and air quality is also discussed with students during tutorials,” Newbold adds. “Students need to understand air quality and its effects, and not just be told they can’t go outside to play.”

Several schools have also invested in free-standing air purifiers for classrooms. The International Montessori School of Beijing, for example, adheres to a cut-off point of AQI of 200, keeps its units constantly running, and replaces filters regularly. On days that exceed that benchmark, all windows and doors are kept shut students are restricted to indoor activities during recess. Some have even taken up knitting as a result.

Keeping students indoors on polluted days may be sensible, but it can come at the expense of much-needed opportunities for physical exercise. This problem was on the mind of administrators and staff at The International School of Beijing (ISB) when they measured how many days elementary school students had to be kept inside based on the school’s AQI limit of 270.

“When considering the fall semester of 2011, we found that there were four consecutive weeks exceeded our AQI limit,” says Gerrick Monroe, the chief operating and financial officer at ISB.  "As a result, our students had to stay in the cafeteria and library during recess about 20 percent of the time. We needed another option.”

To get around this problem, ISB came up with an ingenious solution: the school constructed two sealed sports and recreation domes to ensure that students could still exercise on polluted days.

“They love the fact that they have places to run around,” says Gerrick. “They still prefer playing outside, [so]we are working on making the domed areas more fun for them.” With the introduction of the domes, students at ISB are still able to get the physical exercise they need when the AQI exceeds 150.”

Filled with purified and pressurized air, ISB’s two sports and recreation domes sit side-by-side on an area spanning over 8,500sqm. Facilities include a five-a-side soccer pitch, a 400m running track, a large multi-purpose area, and six tennis courts. The domes also have heat recovery systems to maintain an ambient temperature, allowing students to practice a variety of traditionally "outdoor" sports regardless of season or temperature.

Besides the domes, ISB has taken steps to improve its indoor air quality. The facilities team upgraded the air filtration system across the campus by installing 34 new air handlers designed to provide what is called "pharmaceutical-grade" air equivalent to the quality of air in a pharmaceutical laboratory. Pressurized entrances and stairwells ensure this air quality throughout the 51,000sqm premises.
Not surprisingly, all these improvements require significant investment and maintenance. But consider these numbers: The average AQI at ISB reads between 30 and 40 in the domes and 10 to 15 in the classrooms any given day. Parents and faculty agree that the expense is necessary to ensure a safe learning environment for staff and students.

“I think everyone understands that we are in Beijing and unfortunately pollution is not something we can change,” says Carol Kim, vice president of planning and communication at YueCheng Education, which oversees Beijing City International School (BCIS). “But what we can change is the mini control of our environment.”
As with the other schools, BCIS has installed Blueair air purifiers in all nursery and pre-kindergarten classrooms. When beijingkids visited the campus last November, the school was aiming to filter all of the campus’ indoor air by year’s end. 
BCIS is also building an environmentally-friendly Early Childhood Center (ECC) for its youngest students. With a scheduled completion date of August 2014, it will be the first pre-school building in Beijing to be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) to have the Gold standard certification.

According to Kim, the building will maximize exposure to sunlight, which will be converted into solar energy. In addition, there will be a rooftop garden where students can grow their own vegetables.

“Beijing is our home and we want to be as proactive as we can when it comes to air quality,” she says. “We believe that it is our responsibility to take measures and educate our children that you have to be aware of the environment and do things to make it better for everyone.”

Find the downloadable 2014-2015 School Choice Guide here.

Photos courtesy of BCIS and

Parents with young children may feel like university or college is a long way off. In the daily battle to get the kids packed up and on the school bus, the idea of their future academic ambitions (and associated financial demands) can seem like a dot on the horizon.

But with fees at top US universities reaching as much as USD 50,000 (around RMB 305,000) a year, parents who delay or ignore the issue altogether do so at their own (and more crucially, their children’s) peril.

Higher Education Costs
If you are planning for your kids to study abroad, you may need to pay significantly higher fees than the country’s citizens. Even if you plan for your children to return to your home country, you cannot be certain that the costs you anticipate will remain the same.

Taking inflation into account, the price of education has proven fickle. In 2012 for instance, the maximum yearly tuition fees that British higher education institutions could charge domestic students jumped from GBP 3,290 (around RMB 33,000) to GDP 9,000 (around RMB 89,000) – an increase of 174 percent.

Next, factor in living costs (which may need to include rent in an expensive major city) and you may find yourself facing a huge yearly bill. In some countries, low-interest loans are available to students and plenty of institutions offer scholarships, but it is very difficult to know what assistance will be available to your child when it comes time to apply.

Put simply, enrolling your kids in university is an expensive endeavor and it is hard to predict how much you will need to put away. But despite these uncertainties, one thing is for sure: if you save too little or start too late, you risk having to compromise on the standard of the institution that you are able to afford.

When to Start and How Much to Save
There is no simple answer to the question of when to start saving, according to Mark Matlaszek, a senior financial advisor at BlueStar AMG, an asset management company catering to the expat market in Asia. While he sees plenty of families with young children looking to begin education planning, Matlaszek also encounters parents-to-be preparing for the future.

“It can be too late to start, but it’s never too early,” he says. “Let’s say you’ve got a child on the way and you’ve got to set aside USD 200,000 for their higher education [over]an 18- or 19-year window. To accumulate that sort of money [in]this timeframe is very affordable and very possible. If you have a shorter window then it becomes incredibly expensive and difficult.”

The next obvious question for parents is “How much do I need to save?” Again, there is no definitive answer and it will depend on what type of institution and course you are aiming for. Some may want more flexibility to cover the larger financial burden of top universities or programs like medicine and architecture. Each family’s circumstances will be different, but your financial planning will always revolve around three main factors – your existing assets, the income available for regular contributions, and the amount of time you have left before your child enters higher education.

Some parents may choose to manage their own savings, assets, and investments. This could be in the form of safe but low-yield options such as fixed-interest accounts, or other traditionally stable investments such as  property. Others look to higher-risk options such as the equity markets (stocks and shares).

Your ability to absorb potential losses is another crucial factor in decision-making. But this resilience to risk is likely to change over the course of the saving period. Choosing an investment or saving plan that allows you to adjust the level of exposure to risk can help maximize your returns while ensuring that your money remains relatively safe in the long term, suggests Matlaszek.

“If you have a [long]time frame, you should perhaps aim to be a little bit more risky in the early years – equity investments, for example. That means you have plenty of time for recovery and to take advantage of market volatility,” he advises. “As the years go by and you get closer to reaching your goal, you should be shifting to a much lower-risk portfolio because any gains that you’ve made or capital that you’ve accumulated need to be protected against negative market movements.”

Plans and Packages
For parents who do not know their bonds from their bear markets, fear not – many people turn to structured plans for long-term savings. Even those who are fluent in finance may benefit from the ease of a managed plan, as well as the ability to spread their risk more widely.

The type of arrangement that Matlaszek often recommends for education planning is fixed-term (in other words, designed to reach maturity when you need to access the money) and can be paid  on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly basis. Your money will be spread across funds that comprise a mixture of stocks, shares, bonds, commodities, and currencies. With the assistance of a financial advisor, you can vary the level of risk to suit your circumstances and be confident that someone is keeping a close eye on the markets where you keep your capital.

Many families also find that this type of structured plan helps them be disciplined when preparing for the future. This was the experience of UK-born Paula Zhou, head of schools at The Children’s House International Montessori Kindergarten. Along with her Chinese husband Weihua, she began saving for 8-year-old Eiriana and 3-year-old Liam at the beginning of 2012.

“Living in Beijing can often see life run away with us – exotic holidays and Michelin Star restaurants [are]all on our doorsteps,” she explains. “The salaries that we earn might seem reasonable, but without a scheduled, routine saving plan it was really difficult for us to ensure that we could continue having fun today and provide for our family tomorrow. Having this plan has really helped us feel a little more secure that there is something going toward our children’s future.”

The Zhou family now saves the equivalent of around RMB 7,000 a month, which goes into a fund earmarked for both the children’s education and the couple’s retirement. The investment has a forecasted yield of over 5 percent a year and is managed by an advisor, something that Zhou benefitted from after finding that “the technical jargon of financial planning [was the]greatest cure for insomnia.”
Regardless of your circumstances and needs, independent financial advice should be free and there is often no harm in consulting a professional to see how to make the most out of your current and potential wealth. The most important is to start thinking about the future as soon as possible. A small amount put aside today could go a long way towards securing the best education for your kids.

Editor’s note: Mark Matlaszek was interviewed by beijingkids to provide independent financial advice and this does not equate to an endorsement of the investment packages recommended by BlueStar AMG or any other asset management company. All investments carry a certain level of risk and you should first carefully consider your financial position and the potential losses you are able to absorb.

BlueStar AMG
BlueStar AMG is an asset management group operating across Asia and offering a range of savings, investment, and insurance. The company offers a free 45 minute consultation to discuss your needs. Citizens of mainland China are not permitted to transfer funds to overseas institutions so are normally ineligible for the company’s savings plans, although property investments are available to the domestic market.
16/F, Gemdale Plaza, Tower A, 91 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang District (5920 8238 info@bluestar-amg.com) www.bluestar-amg.com

Top Universities
A website providing detailed information about world universities, including world rankings and up-to-date fee information. 
www.topuniversities.com

Find the downloadable 2014-2015 School Choice Guide here.

Photo by Ken

Finding the right school is often the top priority for families living in or relocating to Beijing. But education in the capital comes at a cost.

Many larger companies offer full school funding for employees’ children as part of their relocation packages, meaning that money is no barrier to the top international schools. But not all are so fortunate. Some may choose to simply pay the fees out-of-pocket, while others look to local schools, homeschooling, and different sources of financial assistance to mitigate the cost of education. We spoke with four families about their solutions to the school funding conundrum.

Homeschooling: The Ambrose Family

Yearly Spend
Art lessons- RMB 3, 000
Sports programs- RMB 4, 000
Chinese lessons- RMB 3, 000
Events at The Bookworm- RMB 1, 500
Books (first two semesters)- RMB 7, 300
Total: RMB 18,800 (excluding cost of miscellaneous equipment and Jennifer’s time)

Jennifer Ambrose relocated to China from the US in 2006. A columnist for beijingkids, she has two children with her husband Randy: 10-year-old Myles and 5-year-old Brigid. She homeschools both of her children at the family home in Changping outside North Sixth Ring Road.

Why did you decide to homeschool your children?
I was always curious about homeschooling, mostly because I have quite a few friends that homeschooled in the US. I didn’t think we would actually do it ourselves but my husband’s compensation package [did not]include school tuition. That’s when I stopped just toying with the idea and [started]considering it more seriously.

There’s often a feeling of being on a learning adventure together. Sometimes, all it takes is the three of us gathered around a book, learning some weird and wonderful fact about dinosaurs, or one of the kids to ask a simple question, and we all fall into the rabbit hole as we pursue the answer.

Was the cost of the alternatives a factor in your decision?
Cost was definitely a factor, but also the flexibility of schedule. Currently, my husband’s job requires him to visit other cities in China [as well as]the US and Europe. Since we aren’t tied to a school calendar of testing and holidays, the kids and I often travel with him. It’s an opportunity we have to take advantage of while we can.

Were the costs as expected and do you have any financial tips for families considering homeschooling?
I was prepared for the books and supplies cost but families that aren’t able to make trips to their home countries to bring back books may need to consider the cost of shipping. For [anyone]wary of the expense of outside teachers, it is possible to work out arrangements with other parents to exchange talents. Right now I do this with a Chinese family in Changping. I tutor their son in English, and his mom spends that time playing with Brigid in Chinese.

How else do you share resources with other parents in the same situation?
Art is a subject that I have no idea how to teach or even guide. We’ve been lucky to be able to join up with other homeschooling families to share art teachers and we rely on Sports Beijing for our physical education. Myles plays baseball and Brigid plays soccer right now. The kids have their [training]and matches on the weekends, so during the week the kids are motivated to practice on their own at the park.

Additional Fees Explained (Well, Sort Of)
When choosing a school and planning for the academic years ahead, it is important to take into account all of the various fees that you may encounter. Schools may be relatively upfront about their fees, but there are often a number of hidden (or at least not well-publicized) charges. Here are some of the most common ones to keep in mind.

• Lunch fees. These can vary from RMB 15-50 per day and may be paid for monthly, yearly, or through a top-up card system.
• Bus/transportation fee. Anywhere from RMB 3,000-13,000 per year depending on the school and the distance required. Some schools charge this monthly.
  
• Application/new student fee. Normally between RMB 1,000 and 2,000 for international schools.
• Deposit. Can be as high as RMB 20,000 and some schools require the same amount again at the beginning of each year.
• Uniform fee. Can vary from approximately RMB 500 to 3,000 per year. Students can usually re-use them from year to year as long as they still fit and are in good condition.
• Donation fee (zanzhu fei). A phenomenon found in local schools where access to the most popular institutions is secured with a “donation.” Reportedly as high as RMB 30,000.
• Zafei. To complicate matters further, many of the above charges are rolled into the all-encompassing zafei (“miscellaneous fees”), especially at local schools. This ambiguous term seems to differ in definition (and price) between every school that charges it and may, or may not, include electricity/water fees (shuidian fei, 彊든롤) and textbook fees (shufei, 蝎롤)
• Capital levy fee. In the context of international schools, this fee normally applies to money used towards buildings, facilities, and facilities. Schools differ in their definitions, though it is usually in the region of RMB 10,000-20,000 a year.

When beijingkids spoke to Ma Fei, a lawyer specializing in education, he had a very different definition of the capital levy fee, describing it as an optional fee for primary or middle school students either (a) choosing a school in a different district than where they live or (b) who do not have high enough grades.

The moral of the story is this: Ask the schools you’re interested in to provide a full list of fees. We try to ensure that the schools featured in the listings pages of this guide provide a comprehensive overview of their charges, but there are not always set definitions of what many of the fees really cover. Each school configures their fees differently, so we advise you to be thorough in your research and assertive in trying to figure out just what you need to pay – and what you don’t.

Find the downloadable 2014-2015 School Choice Guide here.

Photo by Mitchell Pe Masilun

The beijingkids and JingKids 2014 Spring School Choice Fair is sponsored by RGF AIR Purifiers.  

The third annual beijingkids and JingKids 2014 Spring School Choice Fair sponsored by RGF AIR Purifiers is this weekend, at the Hilton Beijing on March 1 and 2 from 10am-4pm. This is your chance to get face time and information from representatives from over 30 of Beijing’s top schools, as well as attend education related lectures and parent led panels.

Study up on all participating schools with the beijingkids 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, (articles, 70 school listings and entire magazine online).

Don’t forget preregistration is required for the fair — click here to register:

• www.beijing-kids.com/scf
• or use the JingKids (Chinese only) site www.jingkids.com/zxz

The schools confirmed to date are: 

1. 3e International School
2. Australian Haileybury International School(Tianjin Campus)
3. Beanstalk International Bilingual School
4. Beijing BISS International School
5. Beijing City International School
6. Beijing Collegiate Academy
7. Beijing Huijia Private School 
8. Beijing International Bilingual School
9. Beijing No 4 High School International campus
10. Beijing SMIC Private School
11. Beijing World Youth Academy
12. British School of Beijing
13. Canadian International School of Beijing
14. Daystar Academy
15. Dulwich College Beijing
16. Harrow International School Beijing
17. House of Knowledge
18. International Deparetment of  Beijing No 4 High School
19. International Montessori Teaching Institute
20. Ivy Schools
21. JiaDe Montessori kindergarten
22. Keystone Academy
23. Maple International Academy
24. Muffy’s International Kindergarten (MIK)
25. Saint Paul American School (SPAS)
26. The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China
27. Tsing Hua International School  (THIS)
28. Wellington College International Tianjin
29. Yew Chung International School of Beijing
30. Yew Wah Infant and Toddler Education Center  
31. Yew Wah International Education School

You can also get information from exhibitors in health care, after school education and camps: 

1. Bayley & Jackson Medical Center
2. Century Glory International Education
3. Foundation Global  Education
4. Haiyi Education Group
5. Hongkong International Medical Clinic
6. Horizon Sports Medicine Clinic
7. JTC  Camp
8. New Century Women’s  and Children’s Hospital
9. OASIS Health Management Hospital
10. OASIS International Hospitals
11. Princeton English and Amercian Culture Camp
12. Stateside Adventures
13. The Learning Center
14. YESSAT 

Kids’ Corners

Ivy Schools will host a kids’ corner for younger children (age 2-6) on the second floor from 10am to 4pm. Activities include creative art, a sensory table, science exploration and a library corner. Free. 

Older children can visit the third floor, for a creative art based children’s corner hosted by the newly launched UCCA Creative Studio. Suitable for children aged 5-12 years from 10am to 4pm. Free.

About our sponsor RGF AIR Purifiers

With our signature PHI pro-active air filtration system, RGF Air Purifier is a breakthrough in the history of air purification.  The innovation is nothing like the existing technologies and we are leading the field of air purification with advanced technology.

With our product, you will no longer be bothered by the typical problems: purification blind spots, insufficient treatment, secondary pollution, excessive cost, distracting noise and more.

The new technology allows you to breathe forest-like fresh air by eliminating harmful micro-organisms and substances in the air, including bacteria, viruses, mould, formaldehyde, benzene, TVOC, odors, and PM2.5 particles.

With RGF, you have nothing to worry about the air around you! Relax and enjoy.

For further inquiries, you can get in touch with the marketing team either by calling 5941 3243 or emailing events@beijing-kids.com to get more information about attending the event. If you wish to participate in the School Choice Fair please e-mail  schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

beijingkids file photo. Photo courtesy of ivyschools.com

Finding the right school is often the top priority for families living in or relocating to Beijing. But education in the capital comes at a cost.

Many larger companies offer full school funding for employees’ children as part of their relocation packages, meaning that money is no barrier to the top international schools. But not all are so fortunate. Some may choose to simply pay the fees out-of-pocket, while others look to local schools, homeschooling, and different sources of financial assistance to mitigate the cost of education. We spoke with four families about their solutions to the school funding conundrum.

Self-Funded: The Foster Family

Yearly Spend
Tuition- RMB 136, 680
Lunch- RMB 6,000
Yearly deposit- RMB 5, 000
School trips- RMB 200
Texbooks- RMB 60
Total: RMB 147,940 (Placement fee paid in first year)

Jody and Scott Foster from Australia have lived in Beijing for two and a half years with their daughters, 4-year-old Macy and 8-month-old Keira. Jody volunteers at the International Newcomers’ Network and the Australian and New Zealand Association (ANZA) of Beijing, while Scott works for a mining and engineering company. Although Scott’s expat package provides education for school-age children, it does not cover kindergarten. Until then, the family is independently funding their eldest daughter’s education at House of Knowledge International Kindergarten.

What has led you to self-funding Macy’s education?
When we first moved to Beijing we were looking for something similar to what we had in Australia – one or two days a week [at kindergarten]– but there weren’t that many schools offering this kind of schedule. Our other option was to get an ayi and not send her to school until she was older, but all of the additional costs, like art classes, were very expensive. After her first school year, she moved up a class she could only do full time. We asked [Scott’s] company for assistance but they only offered a small amount so we could either pull her out of the school or fork out. We decided to keep going because she really enjoyed it there.

Did you consider sending her to local school?
No. Initially we were only planning to be here for 12 months, so at the time cultural immersion in Chinese was not a priority.

Were you surprised by how expensive international education is in Beijing?
Yes it’s ridiculous – mind-blowing. I was posting on Facebook telling everyone how expensive [education is]here. The amount that you would normally spend on a high school education in Australia is what you need for a 2-year-old here. But it’s an excellent school; we’ve been fortunate enough to always have good teachers and the curriculum is well-established.

Have you had to make sacrifices to be able to pay for fees?
Thanks to our package we do not have to pay for other things like rent. In that sense it hasn’t impacted on our lifestyle – what comes out of one hand now comes in by another. We also have rent coming in from our place back home, but we have lost a substantial amount of our savings that we would have put towards renovating our home in Australia. So inadvertently we have made a sacrifice.

What are you plans for Keira’s education when she’s older?
We’re actually relocating to Nanjing. But hypothetically, we wouldn’t do the same for our youngest daughter because we have an ayi now. The culture in Beijing is to send kids [to school]full-time from a very young age, which is very different from Australia. There are far fewer [schooling]options in Nanjing and it’s even more expensive there.”

Find the downloadable 2014-2015 School Choice Guide here.

Photo by Mitchell Pe Masilun

Finding the right school is often the top priority for families living in or relocating to Beijing. But education in the capital comes at a cost.

Many larger companies offer full school funding for employees’ children as part of their relocation packages, meaning that money is no barrier to the top international schools. But not all are so fortunate. Some may choose to simply pay the fees out-of-pocket, while others look to local schools, homeschooling, and different sources of financial assistance to mitigate the cost of education. We spoke with four families about their solutions to the school funding conundrum.

Local School and Expat Package: The Nair-Harikishan Family

Yearly Spend (in RMB) for Peiji Bilingual
Tuition- RMB 54, 000
Lunch- RMB 4, 800
Bus- RMB 7, 200
Application fee- RMB 1, 600
Insurance fee- RMB 50
Late pickup (for working parents)- RMB 4, 800
Total: RMB 72,450

Yearly Spend (in RMB) for BSB Sanlitun)
Uniform
Lunch
Total: RMB 8,200 
(Full school fees and trips 
covered by expat package. 
Application fee and security deposit paid in previous years)

Rohini Nair and her husband Harikishan Narayanan both hail from India and moved to Beijing three years ago. While the family’s expat package covers the cost of 7-year-old Manu’s education at the British School of Beijing (BSB) in Sanlitun, 2-year-old Aryan is still too young to qualify, so he currently attends a local Chinese kindergarten, Peiji Billingual.

Why did you choose to send your youngest son to a local kindergarten?
[My husband’s company] will only cover the child’s education from the age of 5 but I wasn’t happy with my son spending so much of his time just with the ayi. He didn’t have that many friends in our compound to play with, so now he gets the chance to interact with other children – that’s my only expectation of the school.

How has your experience of the kindergarten been?
I’ve been impressed by the food, which is cooked at the school and catered for the children. It doesn’t have any stuff like fries and burgers and it’s very healthy. Secondly, they have CCTV set up, so any time I walk into the waiting area I can see what he’s up to. They also have a password they give to parents so you can log in and see what’s happening in class. I can see he’s picked up a lot and I’m quite happy with the school.

Were you surprised by the fees for local kindergarten in Beijing?
We moved from Zurich, where we paid quite a lot for kindergarten. But compared with a country like India, [Beijing is] way higher. [Our son is] making progress in Chinese and English and for a bilingual school with good standards, I don’t think [the fees]are too high.

Your eldest son goes to BSB Sanlitun on your husband’s expat package. How have you found the school?
It’s a small school and I thought a smaller campus would be better for a younger child rather than being intimidated by a big one out in Shunyi. It’s very close to where we live and we weren’t interested in moving further out. I’m happy with BSB – it’s a very good school and if we’re still here when my [youngest son]is 4 then he will also go to the same school.

Would you be been able to afford to send both kids to international school were it not for the financial assistance?
No, we wouldn’t be able to pay for both children. It is also a question of whether we want to. If we were going to pay for a bachelor’s degree, say for four years, then that’s the same amount I would spend on education at an international school. It could cover the cost of a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree at one of the most reputable universities in the world. I don’t think a good education is necessarily [based on]how much you pay for it.

Find the downloadable 2014-2015 School Choice Guide here.

Photo by Mitchell Pe Masilun