Mary Jew, Head of Keystone Academy’s Primary School, explains how parents can prevent their children losing learning over the long holidays

Now that the school year is coming to an end, many parents might be at a loss when it comes to how to plan their kids’ summer schedules. As seen in Beijing’s varied summer program and camp offerings (pages 8-11), there are two very different philosophies: allowing kids to just be kids via play and summer fun, or signing children up for full day enhancement or enrichment classes to improve their existing skills or build their knowledge in preparation for fall.

Should summer be a vacation from studying for kids, or should parts of it still be utilized for learning? The answer lies in the research behind “summer fall back”, sometimes referred to as “summer slide”, “summer brain drain”, or just “summer learning loss”.

We talk to Keystone Academy’s Primary School Head, Mary Jew, about the meaning of the term “summer fall back”, how it might apply to your child in Beijing’s diverse international environment, and how you can help prevent summer fall back in your child—possibly even overcoming it with summer improvement!

What is summer fall back?
The term summer fall back refers to how students “lose” some of their academic knowledge over the summer. Research shows that students generally forget about two months worth of learning, especially in mathematics, due to a lack of use and practice. Reading skills can also suffer, particularly in lower-income students who do not engage in reading or learning activities throughout the summer. As a result, teachers have confirmed that the first few months of the fall semester are generally spent on review and reacquisition.

In Beijing, Jew believes summer fall back is especially prominent with students enrolled in bilingual immersion programs, as there is always one language that has regressed with lack of use. Unless the home environment is also bilingual, the student will likely face a lack of practice and exposure to their target language (e.g. English for Chinese natives, Chinese for English natives), which will then be reflected in the fall when they return to their bilingual school environment.

How do we prevent language regression?
Preventing language regression is more about finding a mix of enhancement and enrichment. Support or enhancement classes serve much like tutoring lessons, where a child’s weaknesses, as identified during the school year, are addressed in personalized programs. Such a methodology would be especially useful for second language learners, as they might not receive individual attention in a school classroom environment.

Enrichment classes, on the other hand, tend to be more about learning a new skill or knowledge, such as the art of Chinese calligraphy, or the history of the industrial revolution in Europe. Taking enrichment classes in the target language will provide variety in instruction, topic and theme, as well as assignments, and will hopefully prove to be more interesting than enhancement lessons. Children learn best when they are immersed, so parents should allow their kids to decide for themselves which enrichment programs they prefer. Whether your child should sign up for enhancement or enrichment programs depends on his or her individual needs, according to Jew. Many summer programs include both support and learning, with a variety of fun choices for students to select from.

Finding a summer camp that focuses more on language enhancement will be helpful for second language learners hoping to maintain the language. Parents can consider hosting study groups with native speakers, such as your child’s classmates, or hiring a native-speaking tutor or au pair to enhance the home language environment. Younger children need play dates with native speakers several times a week in order to have enough opportunities to use their second language effectively.

If face-to-face native language immersion is not convenient or other language exchange opportunities not possible, parents can also guide children to use free online resources for English or Chinese learning, such as educational Youtube videos or websites similar to IQ Chinese (see Resources below). However, Jew reminds our readers that adults must supervise children’s use of the internet for learning, and should not leave children alone to search or surf the internet.

How do we prevent overall learning loss?
As with preventing language regression, Jew recommends fun summer camps and programs to engage children in learning activities during the summer. Not only do these programs provide social interaction, and foster communication with native speakers of the target language, but they also give a framework for a structured and organized summer so that children do not become lethargic from too much freedom or boredom. Even without enrolling your child in a summer program, parents can create a routine via a summer schedule, ensuring that kids are eating on time and sleeping early, and won’t struggle in the fall when they have to prepare to return to school.

One of the most important ways parents can assist in preventing summer learning loss is by being actively involved in your kids’ learning. One of the reasons why children of lower-income families tend to perform more poorly and lose more knowledge is because the parents are too busy with work to engage them or supervise their learning. This is why Jew reminds parents not to leave your kids with grandparents, or the Ayi or nanny, without planned activities, or risk your child facing a higher summer fall back than other children.

How can you be more involved in your child’s learning?
Read books to your kids and encourage them to read on their own if they can. Most schools provide students with reading lists for the summer, and Jew recommends having children read in every language of proficiency even if you have to find a book list on the internet. Finally, don’t forget to model good reading habits by reading for yourself, and talk to your kids about what you have read or learned from reading, whether it’s a good book, a newspaper article, or an informational WeChat post.

To motivate your children to stick to their summer schedules and perform well, it’s a good idea to set daily, weekly, and monthly goals with your child and reward them accordingly.
If you’re traveling with your family during the summer, pack wisely. Take books from the reading list with you. Have a variety of options for long commutes and boring wait times, such as audio books, interactive e-books, educational apps and games, or even videos in the target language. Always find opportunities for teachable moments, and engage your child in the target language or activity by asking useful math questions, for example (if dinner was USD83, the state tax is 10 percent, and we are giving a 15 percent tip, how much should Daddy be paying the restaurant?)

Finally, Jew reminds parents that simply having children spend a portion of their day engaged in learning activities, rather than allowing them to indulge in completely unsupervised play, will result in significant changes in the fall and possibly even gains in their oral language abilities. Research shows that students generally forget about two months worth of learning, especially in mathematics

BrainPOP, BrainPOP Jr. T
he Brainpop and Brainpop Jr websites are popular choices for educators to use in class, as many schools have purchased paid subscriptions. The website covers a wide variety of topics, from English ESOL to literature to math and sciences, which are presented in fun Flash videos with music, sound effects, and even quizzes to test for understanding. The interface is easy to use, and the movies can now be more conveniently watched on an iOS device via the app: BrainPOP Jr. Movie of the Week. www.brainpop.com, www.jr.brainpop.com

Reading A-Z
Reading A-Z is one of the many websites educators rely on to teach engaging leveled reading. The site is specifically for reading, but has sister sites, such as Science A-Z and Writing A-Z, which are all under the overall Learning A-Z umbrella. The Reading A-Z website has come top in polls of teachers and offers many free resources for parents who would like to try out the service before subscription. The site provides reading assessments, a large variety of targeted reading assignments, and reading comprehension questions, as well as other forms of assignments. www.readinga-z.com

IQ Chinese
IQ Chinese has a selection of products for purchase, including multimedia courseware, textbooks and workbooks (Go! Chinese), software tools, online practice systems, and even teacher training services. Perhaps the most child-friendly of all their products is the iGo Chinese iOS apps, volume 1 of which won the 2013 Parent’s Choice Approved Award. The apps are leveled, and promise to teach children “more vocabulary than they can use in their daily lives”. www.iqchinese.com

Learn Chinese (Mandarin) iOS App
MindSnack’s Mandarin learning app has a total of eight games, of which the first one is free. The app was awarded best educational app of the year by Apple, and begins with the basics of tone and pinyin to teach the essentials of conversation skills, moving on to more vocabulary and characters in later levels. www.mindsnacks.com/subjects/mandarin

Talking Learn (Chinese)
Talking Learn is a free Chinese learning website that offers audio for learning basic phrases (situational dialogue), Chinese e- books for children, and video clips of popular movies (e.g. Frozen) in Mandarin with English and Chinese subtitles. www.talkinglearn.com

This article originally appeared on pages 48-49  of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contactdistribution@truerun.com.

Photos: Courtesy of Keystone and 

Beijing may have a profusion of indoor water parks and swimming pools, but on those hot, muggy summer days all the kids really want is to splash around in the sun. Barring a weekend trip, it’s surprisingly difficult to find a good outdoor pool with decent facilities and within a reasonable distance from home. Here’s a roundup of outdoor pools ranging from the basic to the luxurious. All prices and hours are accurate as of print time.
Qingnianhu Park
Qingnianhu Park boasts a massive water park with pools for kids, serious swimmers, hot tubs, and slides. There isn’t much shade, so be sure to bring hats, sunscreen, and other sun protection. The admission price includes access to the wider park.

RMB 40 for adults, RMB 30 for kids under 1.3m. Daily 9am-7pm from June to August. Qingnianhu Park, Andingmen Waidajie (corner of Andeli Beijie), Dongcheng District (8411 6321) 东城区安定门外大街青年湖公园（安德里北街路口）

Splash Recreation Club
This long-running hotel swim club is a favorite with many Beijing families. Based out of CITIC Hotel Beijing Airport (formerly known as the Sino-Swiss Hotel), the Splash Recreation Club
(浪花俱乐部 lànghuā jùlèbù) is open to outside guests, and grants access to the hotel’s indoor and outdoor pools, a poolside bar, and a restaurant. The admission price includes towels and a locker.

RMB 100 for adults, RMB 50 for kids over 1m, free for kids under 1m. Open Mon-Sat 10am-10pm. CITIC Hotel Beijing Airport, 9 Xiao Tianzhu Nanlu, Shunyi District (6456 5588) www.citichotelbeijing.com 顺义区小天竺南路9号北京国都大饭店

The Emperor
For a touch of luxury, The Emperor hotel has a glass-edged outdoor pool open to outside guests. It ain’t cheap, but the lack of crowds and views of surrounding Qianmen may well be worth the indulgence. The admission price includes towels and a locker. On weekends, The Emperor also offers a buffet breakfast from 7am to 10.30am.

RMB 258 for three hours (kids and adults). The Emperor Hotel, 87 Xianyukou Jie, Dongcheng District (6701 7790) www.theemperor.com.cn/en/index.html 东城区鲜鱼口街87号皇家驿栈前门店

Chaoyang Park
Chaoyang Park Water World features 250,000sqm of pools, slides, artificial beach, and beach volleyball facilities. Sure, the outdoor pools can get crowded during the summer, but it doesn’t get much more convenient than this. The drawback is that Chaoyang Park’s pools open later than most; when we called, an employee said they wouldn’t know the new admission prices and opening hours until the end of June.

2016 prices and opening hours TBA. Chaoyang Park, 1 Chaoyang Gongyuan Nanlu, Chaoyang District (6506 5409) 朝阳区朝阳公园南路1号朝阳公园

Tuanjiehu Park
This one inspires a lot of debate; some parents hate the Tuanjiehu Park water park, while others swear by it. It’s a modest affair by any standards, consisting only of a large pool and a small beach, but its location makes it a standard for many Sanlitun families. Our advice? Try it for yourself.

RMB 60 (weekdays) or RMB 80 (weekends) for adults and kids over 1m, free for kids under 1m. Open daily 9.30am-8.30pm from June 1 to August 31. Tuanjiehu Park, Tuanjiehu Nanli, Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District (8597 4677) 朝阳区东三环北路团结湖南里团结湖公园

This article originally appeared on page 28-29 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos: Wikimedia Commons, Scott and Elaine Ver Der Chijs, Sergei Galyonkin

Summer in Beijing: time to get out the t-shirts and shorts, and enjoy the sunshine. But beware, there are bloodsuckers about… All that exposed skin just presents a feast for mosquitoes, as they wake from their winter hibernation.

Mosquito bites are not just annoying, but can be dangerous. Malaria kills around half a million people every year, and recently there has been concern about outbreaks in South America of the Zika virus, which can cause birth deformities when pregnant women are infected. Other diseases spread by mosquitoes include yellow fever, dengue fever, Japanese encephalitis, and West Nile virus.

First the good news: you’re unlikely to contract any serious illness from a mosquito bite in Beijing. There are over 3,500 different species of mosquito, divided into two main sub-families and 43 genera. Of these, not all are bloodsuckers, and many of those that do bite can’t transmit diseases. Even then different diseases are associated with different genera – and in all species, only the females bite.

It’s mainly the Aedes genus that transmits Zika; its name means “unpleasant”, appropriately enough, since it’s also responsible for spreading yellow fever, dengue fever and numerous other nasty conditions. Malaria meanwhile is linked to the Anopheles mosquito (meaning “useless” – Victorian naturalists were obviously no keener on mosquitoes than we are.) While both can be found in Beijing, they aren’t present in sufficient numbers or the right species to present any serious risk of infection.

However mosquito bites are still a pain. Their saliva is an anticoagulant, preventing blood from clotting and making it easier for them to drink. It’s the proteins in this saliva which cause bites to itch. Children should be discouraged from scratching (though we know how difficult that is!) as scratching can lead to infection. Hydrocortisone cream or antihistamine tablets can help soothe itching.  If bites do become infected you should consult a medical professional, as antibiotics may be required.

But it’s better to avoid being bitten in the first place. Mosquitoes lay their eggs in stagnant water, so you should clean out anywhere in or around your home where they may be hatching: ponds, pools, fish tanks, vases, buckets, and pipes. Air conditioner vents too can be a breeding ground.

You’re unlikely though to be able to eradicate them completely, so the next best thing is to keep them at bay. Check that your window screens are properly fitted and in good repair. Loose fitting clothing that covers your skin may be a better choice than shorts and t-shirt, especially at dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active. The beds of babies and small children should be protected with mosquito netting.

Repellents
There are a wide variety of repellents on the market, and a number of natural substances which are touted as deterring the bloodsuckers. To understand why (and whether) they’re effective, it helps to understand how mosquitoes find their prey.

Mosquitoes operate primarily by smell. They are drawn to the odors of the carbon dioxide which we exhale and the lactic acid in our sweat, and can detect these from as much as 50 yards away. At 10 yards they can see their target as a dark shape, and from a yard away they use body heat to close in.

Most repellents work by masking our natural odor with other strong smells, so there are a whole variety of substances which are effective, including garlic, cinnamon, peppermint, and citronella. Chemical repellents operate on the same principle, but have one significant advantage over natural substances: they last longer. N,N-Diethyl-meta-Toluamide, better known as DEET, is the active ingredient in most commercial repellents, and will work for up to eight hours, whereas the natural alternatives are effective for a couple of hours at best. Unless you’re willing to wake up two or three times a night to reapply your repellent, then DEET-based products are your best bet.

When buying repellents over the counter, the brand isn’t important – only the amount of DEET it contains. 30% concentration is long-lasting and safe to use on adults and children over two months old.

On the other hand, substances which have a sweet smell similar to lactic acid, such flowery perfumes, can attract mosquitoes. Since they are drawn to sweat, simply showering can help reduce bites (as long as you don’t use scented soap.) There are two kinds of sweat gland: eccrine glands which produce odorless sweat, and apocrine which produce smelly sweat. People of East Asian origin have significantly fewer apocrine glands, and are therefore less likely to be bitten! There’s no evidence though that your gender, age, or blood type has any impact.

You can’t change your sweat glands, but you can change your clothes. Since they’re looking for large shapes in the dark, mosquitoes are drawn to dark colors. Wearing brighter colors will help to keep them at a distance.

A different, “hi-tech” approach to repelling mosquitoes uses ultrasound – very high frequency noise which is inaudible to the human ear, but which supposedly frightens off mosquitoes because it resembles the sound made by dragonflies, their natural predator.

The latest version of this technology comes in the form of smartphone apps. There’s only one problem: there’s no scientific basis for the idea, nor any evidence that it works.

The apps’ makers claim that they have many happy customers, and since the apps are mostly free that there’s no harm in trying it. Scientists though are concerned that people will rely on these devices and neglect solutions which actually work, potentially putting themselves at risk. One leading entomologist videoed himself entering a tank full of dengue-fever carrying mosquitoes with a smartphone in his hand, ultrasound buzzing away. The mosquitoes can be seen descending hungrily on him, completely undeterred. (Fortunately, he was wearing protective clothing, and survived unscathed.)

Electronic “zappers” are also ineffective, because they kill all insects indiscriminately, and only catch a small proportion of mosquitoes. There is one low-tech solution which is said to be effective though: a saucer of beer in the corner of room is supposed to attract the bloodsuckers, who then drown in the liquid. Whether or not it works, it’s a good excuse to open a cold one on a hot summer’s day…

This article originally appeared on page 20-21 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photo: huffpost.com

Teachers from Beijing World Youth Academy and Harrow International School Beijing recommend educational apps for the summer months

Math Battles to Go
Zach Ellis, first grade teacher at Beijing World Youth Academy, recommends Math Battle as a great time killer app for kids when waiting for a flight or sitting in the back of a car on long journeys. Math Battle is free to download with no additional paid add-ons or distracting advertisements, and is an innovative math practice app that combines math problems with a futuristic space ship battle. With the level of difficulty ranging from kindergarten up to complex long division, the gameplay alternates between arithmetic drills and exciting space missions. Getting the right answers powers up your spaceship for the next mission.

Zach adds, “This app really feels more like a game than anything educational and represents a fun challenge for all ages and levels that really helps develop a child’s numeracy and mental arithmetic abilities. Children are using smart devices all the time these days but apps, such as Math Battle, ensure that the time playing on a smart phone or tablet doesn’t have to be time wasted. This is a great app to have on any device that your child regularly uses and is a perfect way to keep children occupied during any vacation down time.
“WiFi is not necessary in order to enjoy the app so it is perfect for those summer travel plans as content is accessible wherever you are. It also includes a full tutorial on how the play the game, so your children will be working their brain cells while destroying asteroids in a far off galaxy before you can say blast off!”

Designer Outlets
Ian Wade, Design and Technology teacher at Harrow International School Beijing recommends two software programs for your laptop hugging child! The first is Westpoint Bridge Builder, which as its name suggests, is a program for budding engineers to discover what it takes to build a strong and sturdy bridge. Once you’ve finished the design, you can name the bridge, see how much it costs to construct, and assess the weak and strong aspects of your design.  Finally, you can even test your bridge by opening the design in the simulator, which will play a 3D animation of a lorry driving over your bridge, at which point the question will be: will your bridge be strong enough?

The second software that Wade recommends is TechSoft2D Design, which allows users to create sophisticated drawing and design features without having to pour hours into learning how to use it.  TechSoft2D Design’s simple user interface means that 2D Design is the Computer Assisted Design (CAD) standard for the vast majority of secondary schools, allowing for drawings for traditional engineering, colorful free-form designs for embroidery, or smart graphical presentation sheets.  Once you’re back in school, you can ask your Design Tech teacher to assist in producing your 2D design with whichever tool you need: laser and vinyl cutters, embroidery machine, or any other Computer Assisted Manufacturing (CAM) output that can be used with 2D design.

This article originally appeared on page 39 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos courtesy of BWYA & Harrow Beijing

How do you relax?
Participating in extracurricular activities such as debate and the school play helps me let loose; I get to channel my energies in different ways, which helps me in my studies as well.

What is your most treasured possession?
My collection of all the posters and scripts of productions I’ve been in since year 7, as well as the accompanying film recordings. Toad of Toad Hall, Witches, A Christmas Carol, Alice in Wonderland, Lessons in Love, Sleeping Beauty and this year, Little Shop of Horrors.

What sound or noise do you hate?
The sound of Velcro snapping; I don’t know why but it makes my skin crawl. I cringe and feel a ticklish feeling at the base of my skull when I hear that sound.

What would your super power be?
To fly fast because then a) I wouldn’t have to deal with Beijing traffic on my commute to school, b) I could quickly go to Sanlitun for my favorite ramen whenever I want, and c) I could also visit my grandparents in Taiwan whenever I want.

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you were growing up? What do you want to be now?
I started out wanting to be a lawyer because I was good at debate and loved working with people. However, that all changed when I started volunteering at a hospital in Taiwan. Working in the emergency room made me realize that medicine is, in part, a social science, so I decided I want to become a doctor.

If you could bring one extinct species back to life, what would you choose?
The Baiji White Dolphin, a beautiful marine mammal that’s native to China.

If you could edit your past, what would you change?
I would go back and work harder on my IGCSEs. It didn’t seem that important at the time, but nothing sucks more than getting 89% on tests when a little bit of effort could have pushed me past the A* threshold.

What advice would you give other students at your school?
Ask questions. If you don’t understand something or you want to try something, never be afraid to ask. I wanted to participate in the Intel Science and Engineering Fair, but no one from my school had ever done it. All it took was for me to ask, and six months later I was in Sichuan with my partner, explaining my project to a crowd of visitors.

When were you happiest?
A couple of months ago, at a friend’s birthday dinner where everyone was laughing, we had good food, and great people. It was right after we had finished our mock exams, so it was just a great time to de-stress and relax before our hectic schedules started up again.

What trait do you most dislike in yourself?
I am way too loud. I get way too passionate and loud sometimes and I don’t really hear myself at that volume, so I have no idea until someone points out that birds are falling out of the sky due to the sonic booms coming from below.

What is your favorite word?
Soporific, the first SAT word I had ever learned, which I got wrong. I thought it meant “multiple, or many”, but it actually means “induces sleepiness or drowsiness”.

What is your least favorite word?
Markscheme. It’s every IB student’s least favorite word.

What do you owe your parents?
Everything. But most importantly, my wonderful sense of humor from my mother, and my dashing good looks from my father.

What is the most important lesson life has taught you so far?
Life is like an electrocardiogram, it has its ups and downs. If it’s flat, it means you’re dead.

This article originally appeared on page 41of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos courtesy of DCB

Nichole Liang, 6, China
I made five insects on three sides of my paper!

Karla Joerss, 5, Germany
I did not want a bug on the bottom of my paper because it looks better like that.

Yu Fei Han, 6, China
Look at the small eyes on my insects!

Qingyu Zhang, 6, Hong Kong
It took me half of an art class to cut out the bug on the right. Seriously!

Jack Ma, 5, China
I like to add details to my bugs.

Mia Fulton, 5, USA
The stripes in my bugs make them look like bumblebees.

Nicholas Ray, 5, USA
I really wanted to label the insects and my teacher let me.

Tiger Zheng, 6, China
It was hard to cut out the small legs.

Jeff Cai, 5, China
I cut out the bug and then cut out the middle and then cut out the middle again!

Katelyn Welch, 6, USA
I kept losing all of the pieces I cut out before I glued my bugs on!

This article originally appeared on page 36-37 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos courtesy of 3e.

American Laura Rogers has been living in Beijing for the past four years, and loving her position as a kindergarten teacher at International School of Beijing (ISB).

What brought you to Beijing? How did you end up at your current school?
Four years ago I was looking for a primary teaching position in an international school.  I interviewed with schools in Italy, Japan, Korea and a few schools in China.  ISB was by far the most progressive, best organized, and enriched school I had interviewed with.  My time at ISB and in Beijing have far exceeded my expectations, I have absolutely loved living in Beijing and think ISB is a great place for kids and a fantastic place to work.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? What other career options did you explore before teaching?
When I was a kid, I told my mother that I wanted to be either a cheerleader or a teenager.  I was never a cheerleader, but definitely managed to hit that second career goal for seven awkward years before retiring.  I held a variety of part-time jobs throughout university; I worked in coffee shops, I was a waitress, and also worked in a ski shop.  My true passion has always been travel, so after I became a teacher, I discovered the world of international schools. I am now hooked and cannot imagine doing anything different. Teaching and living abroad suits me perfectly, much to my family’s dismay!  Luckily, they love coming to visit me.

How would you (or your students) describe your teaching style?
I try to make my classroom a welcome place for parents and a feeling of community for the kids.  We do a lot of collaborative group work and projects in my classroom; there’s a saying where I come from, “Two heads are better than one!”  Students learn from me, of course, but they learn so much from one another as well. Students’ education should help them to develop the skills they will need in real life such as communication, listening, confidence, and problem solving.  Working collaboratively puts students in situations where they have to practice such skills.  It’s amazing how quickly students learn through this style of education.

What are some of the topics you cover?
Being a primary school teacher at ISB, I teach a variety of subjects including reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and technology.  My favorite things to teach are holistic social studies units that integrate as many subjects as possible, including subjects taught by our many specialists at ISB such as art, music and library. Students are always more engaged when learning directly connects to their lives.

How do you encourage your students to be passionate about learning?
Students are most passionate when learning connects to their own lives. I do my best to help students make those connections, deepen those connections, then share those connections.

What class project in your teaching career was the most meaningful to you?
The most meaningful project I have done with students was a unit where we connected our International students with students at other schools around the world, both local and private schools.  It was incredible to see kids connect with kids from other countries, whose experiences varied greatly, and to observe how wonderfully blind young children are to stereotypes and biases.  It reminded me of the impact I can have in helping to maintain and encourage a perfect perspective and tolerance among my students.

This article originally appeared on page 39 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of ISB

Sandra Greenwell
A clever pictorial extravaganza about summer holidays for all ages
“Never break the rules. Especially if you don’t understand them.” Strange and mysterious things can happen, as discovered by a young boy and his brother one summer! This is the lesson we learn from Rules of Summer by Shaun Tan.  Sandra Greenwell, Head of Libraries at Dulwich College Beijing (DCB) has chosen a story about a young boy and his brother who recount their previous summer through the rules they invented. These are not just any rules, Greenwell tells us; they are filled with mystery, wonder, humor, and magic.

“As a young child summer was always associated with holidays, family, friends, the beach, BBQs and so on. It was a time when my friends and I would invent new adventures and games and, like the two children in the story, have our own rules for play. But unlike in the story, our rules were mundane – we never had rules that threatened punishment by mean, oversized, hooked beaked creatures if we ate ‘the last olive’ or invited a nasty tornado for stepping on a snail! Throughout the book, the little brother follows his older sibling, trying his best to keep up and understand the rules that he makes up.

“The opening line of the story, ‘This is what I learnt last summer,’ unlocks the rules. It is obvious that the older boy is there to protect his younger brother from the imagined danger associated with breaking the rules. Like being stalked by giant scary red rabbits and alien monsters. The rules are just one liners, mostly starting with ‘Never’ and a few with ‘Always’  ̵ the consequences are shown in Tan’s amazing paintings, which reflect the imagination of the young boy as he tries to understand them. It is this combination that makes this book a winner and allows all ages to make the connections and interpretations.

“Tan’s richly coloured and highly textured paintings aptly capture the setting and fun and fear shared by the brothers. There is so much detail to be found in them and they allow the reader plenty of room to reflect and come to their own conclusions.”

James Honey
A source of inspiration on the merits of imagination, creativity and individuality
A few years ago, James Honey, Primary Year 4 teacher at YCIS, stumbled across a fantastic book that reminded him of a time when every day was spent in search of adventure and excitement.  The book, titled Weslandia and authored by Paul Fleischman, tells the story of Wesley, a boy who is far from popular at school and spends most of his time being bullied for being different to the other children.  Instead of eating junk food, playing football, and having the trendiest haircut, Wesley prefers to follow his own path and generally spends most of his time in the library, reading up on many different subjects, until one day he has an amazing idea.

“His summer project will be to start his own civilization,” Honey says. “ Now, of course, Wesley hasn’t taken this lightly, and through his reading he knows that every great civilization in history had its own staple food crop.  So this is where he begins, turning over a plot of land in his garden until one night the wind blows in a collection of seeds that will become the basis of Wesley’s civilization.

“Over time Wesley finds that these plants, which he can’t find in any book, provide him with everything he needs to live a happy life.  Soon, Wesley finds that his civilization quickly thrives in the summer sunshine and before long other people start to take notice.

“I absolutely loved this book, and my class enjoyed it too.  In a world where children seem to spend the majority of their time glued to one screen or another, it shows us that adventure and possibility are everywhere in the world, even if we only venture as far as our own gardens.”

This article originally appeared on page 38 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Tim Metz, productivity expert, is the co-founder of Saent, a fully distributed tech company which has employees working remotely on three continents. Saent has been building a hardware device and software designed to help its users become more productive and develop healthier work habits — a product YCIS students seem profoundly interested in as they near their exams.

Eugene, 15, Singapore
What are qualities you look for in a new hire?
Enthusiasm, energy, eagerness to learn, intelligence, flexibility, and how the person will complement the rest of the team.

Nick, 16, USA
How do you plan on advertising your business?
We plan on advertising mainly through digital word-of-mouth mechanisms within the product itself. For example, we have a Leaderboard where users can invite classmates, colleagues, and friends, which motivates our users to invite many new ones. We will also market using blog content about productivity and achieving work life balance.

Harry, 15, Korea
How can I focus better and overcome interruptions and distractions?
Make distractions harder to access and get to. Stop multitasking, but focus on doing one thing at a time.  Try to dedicate more time to a task because you can’t get any complicated work done in five minutes. Also, find out when you’re naturally more focused (e.g. in the mornings), and then make sure you use that time for complicated tasks that require more focus, rather than on simple tasks, such as replying to emails.

Emanuele, 17, Italy
Did you attempt and fail with a similar product in the past? What did you gain from the experience and how did it help you in the success of this product?
I have failed many times at many things in the past, though not with a similar product. Each failure is tough, but each has held incredibly valuable lessons. I think one of the main things you learn from failure is resilience, which is important as there will always be more difficulties ahead.

Marcello, 17, Italy
How did you manage to start up your company after initially having the idea?
For the first six months or so, I put in my savings, while Russell Haines, our co-founder, put in his time in exchange for equity.  I also hosted productivity and time-management training workshops to companies to fund our company. Then, once we had a prototype finished, we used it to raise our first seed investment of USD 110,000 in February 2015, and then crowd-funded in July 2015 to raise an additional USD 60,000.

Daniel, 17, Korea
Does the software stop you from opening programs that hinder your work?
It doesn’t literally stop you, as we believe our users should retain their freedom. What it does do is if you navigate to a source (a website or application) marked as “evil” during a focused session, Saent will initially block access to it. However, you always have the option of visiting it regardless. Your focused session will just end and you will receive less productivity points. We find that the extra step helps people reconsider and return to finish their session.

Katie, 16, China
What was your motivation to overcome your [startup]difficulties?
I think the main motivator should always be the reason you launched your startup in the first place. In my case, it was seeing too many people stressed and overworked while not reaching their full potential due to poor (work) habits. I’m convinced Saent can help solve their problem,  allowing them time to live more fulfilling lives.

Wilfred, 17, Hong Kong
Have you considered targeting your product to students?
We are launching a pilot program with 2,000 students at the University of Calgary (Canada) in September, 2016. The purpose is to develop a partly academic version of Saent. We have yet to consider a version for high schools and colleges, but that might change because of the response Saent got here today!

This article originally appeared on page 34-35 of the 2016 June-July Issue of beijingkids magazine. Click here for your free online copy. To find out how you can obtain a hard copy, contact distribution@truerun.com.

Photos by Uni You and courtesy of YCIS