For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

New Bamboo Education was founded in 1993 in Liaoning Province. One of the first private education institutions in northeast China, it now counts private schools and international kindergartens in Beijing, Shenyang and Nanjing. New Bamboo Academy in Beijing uses the US High Scope curriculum as its foundation. In an attempt to answer the question “What kind of talent is needed for the future?” New Bamboo Academy has incorporated the most up-to-date research in its teaching.

Founding date: 2010

School type: English-language local preschool and kindergarten

Grades offered: Kindergarten and pre-school

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education? In process

Tuition fees (2013-2014 academic year): RMB 60,000

Application fee: RMB 1,000

Lunch fee: RMB 30/day

Lunch offered: Chinese and Western food, vegetarian options available

Age range: 1-6

Number of students: 50

Nationality of students: 70 percent Chinese, 30 percent foreign

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching language: English

Other languages taught: Chinese

Class size: Maximum 15

Teacher/student ratio: 1:5

School hours: 8am-5pm

School facilities: Indoor playroom and outdoor play area

Total area: 606sqm

School nurse or doctor available? Yes

Contact: East Ruijing Tower (West Gate), 16 Jianguomenwai Dajie, Chaoyang District (6569 1123, bjrj@newbambooschools.com) www.newbambooschools.com 朝阳区建国门外大街16号东方瑞景小区（西门）

Word from a Parent:
“I’m very happy with the service and smiling faces of the teachers and staff. Everyone is very warm and friendly, which makes it welcoming for the kids and family to attend school. I would recommend any family to send their kids to New Bamboo Academy.” Gaia (Malaysia), mother of a 3-year-old

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide email editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail  schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of New Bamboo

For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

Eduwings is a trilingual international kindergarten for German, English and Chinese kids. Students are 1-6 years old. Following a German Kindergarten curriculum, students are put it in small groups with native speaking teachers for an enjoyable learning experience. The alumni have gone on to attend various international schools such as the German Embassy School, British School of Beijing, International School of Beijing and Chinese Primary Schools. They have two campuses in Shunyi and Haidian Districts.

Founding date: 2010

School type: International kindergarten

Registered with China’s Ministry of Education: Yes

Accreditation: Berlin Education Program (Germany)

Tuition Fees (2013-2014 Academic Year): RMB 58 000/year (Half day); RMB 80,000/year (inclusive of lunch- Chinese and western food homemade by our chef, special food for baby class, uniform and afternoon activities)
Application fee: RMB 4,500

Bus fee: RMB 8,000—10,000/year

Scholarships offered: No

Age range: 1-6

Number of students: 100 (Shunyi campus); 50 (Haidian campus)

Nationality of students: German, Chinese, American, Mexican & Swiss

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching languages: German, Chinese and English

Languages taught: German, Chinese and English

Class size: 12 (infant); 15 (others)

Teacher/student ratio: 2.5-6 years old groups 1:5; below 2.5 years old 1:3–1:4

School hours: 8:00am-4:30pm

After school activities: Art, Dance, P.E, Rollerblading, Fun Cooking, Swimming (in summer season), Orff Music, Africa class. Special in Shunyi campus:  German Drama, Street dance class;

Special in Haidian campus: Soft ball class.

Special needs programs: Yes. In cooperation with ELG

School facilities: climbing room (Shunyi), indoor playground (Haidian), art and science room, P.E. and dance room, sleeping room, outside playgrounds with sand box and kid´s kitchens.

Total Area of Campus: 4,000 square meters (Shunyi); 1,000 Square meters (Haidian)

School nurse: Yes

Contact: Shunyi campus: Building 52 Merlin Champagne Town, Liyuan street,Tianzhu, Shunyi District (6450 8384, eduwings@126.com) 顺义区天竺镇丽苑街6号美林香槟小镇会所

Haidain campus: No.6 Guangda xiyuan, Wanliu Zhonglu, Haidian District (8257 0436, eduwingshaidian@126.com) (海淀万柳中路光大西园6号）

A word from Parent:
"Though the kindergarten is big, the atmosphere here is like a family. What I also appreciated very much is that our kids are encouraged to explore. The monthly topics give our children the perfect avenue to get information, conversations, experiments, creative and theme relevant field trips.”
Ute Türk (Germany), Niklas, 5 and Louisa, 3

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide e-mail editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail  schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of Eduwings Kindergarten

For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

Founded in 2002, the Children’s International Bilingual Academy (CIBA), formerly known as Children’s Learning Center of Beijing, has served the local Chinese and expatriate community in Shunyi for over a decade. CIBA implements an integrated International curriculum based on American & British National Standards. “The Head Start Child Development and Early Learning Framework” and “Early Years Foundation Stage” known as the EYFS are used by our teachers to guide the planning, implementation and reflection of learning programs that will meet all children’s needs. Both frameworks have a strong emphasis on play-based learning as play is a necessary vehicle for young children’s learning providing the most appropriate stimulus for brain development. The Frameworks also recognize the importance of communication and language including early literacy and numeracy and social and emotional development. CIBA also implements the Chinese Thematic Curriculum. 

Founding Date: 2002

Type of school: International Bilingual School

Is the School registered with the Ministry of Education: Yes

School grade levels: Pre-Nursery to Year 2

Tuition Fees (Tuition Fee 2013/2014 School Year): Pre-Nursery –  RMB 55,000; Nursery – RMB 60,000; Foundation Stage 1 – RMB 65,000; Reception – RMB 67,500; Year 1 & 2  – RMB 72,000 . Fees inclusive of ABC Music & Me & Professional Dance Classes

Application Fee: RMB 1500 (non refundable)

Lunch fees: snacks & lunch RMB 35 daily. Onsite kitchen provides nutritious Western & Chinese dishes.

Transportation fees:  RMB 30-70 daily depending on location. Door to door service.

Age of Students: 15 months to 7 years old

Number of Students: 85

Students accepted: Local Chinese and international students accepted.

Nationality of Students: USA, European, German, Swedish,Norwegian, British, Australian, Chinese

Primary Teaching Language: English/Chinese

Languages Taught: English/Chinese

Class Size: Pre-Nursery – 10; Nursery – 16; FS1 – 20; Reception – 20; Year 1 & 2 – 12

Teacher –student ratios: Pre-Nursery 1:3; Nursery 1:4; FS1 – 1:5; Reception – 1:6; Year 1 & 2 – 1:7

School hours: 8.30am to 4pm

After school activities: ESL/CSL, Tutoring, Dance & Drama, Singing/Choir, Piano & Chinese Arts. “Little Gems” Mommy & Me incl. ABC Music & Me

Summer Camp: July – August    

School facilities: Music & dance room and extra playing area, multi-purpose room, dance studio, library and large outdoor purpose built playground and private garden that extends between both buildings. Equipment includes, 2 sandpits, large trampoline, climbing equipment/ropes and slides etc.

School nurse: Yes       

Contacts: 3052-3056 Gahood International Villas, Shunyi District (8046 7082 (Eng/Ch), 8046 3122 (English only), administration@clcbkids.com (English) and wendy@clcbkids.com (Chinese) www.cibabeijing.com 北京市顺义区后沙峪嘉浩别墅3052/3056 

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide e-mail editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail  schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of CIBA

For the coming weeks, we will be highlighting local and international schools around Beijing from our upcoming 2014-2015 School Choice Guide, which comes out in early February 2014. Scroll down for more information on how to participate in our annual school choice fair in March 2014.

Established in 1999 Huijia Kids has over 40 centers nationwide and is the starting point of the complete 16-year program of the Huijia Educational Organization. Following its stated mission of “New Type, High Taste, and Internationalization,” Huijia Kids aims to achieve the highest national standards for early childhood education via the Primary Years (PYP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) programs. Combined with its overall holistic approach, Huijia encourages students to possess international views and become comprehensive life-long learners. 

Founding date: 1993

School type: Private kindergarten

Grades offered: Kindergarten

Is the school registered with the Ministry of Education? Yes

What accreditations does the school have? IB, PYP

Tuition fees (2013-2014 Academic Year): RMB 41,500-85,800 per year

Lunch fee: Varies according to campus

Transportation fee: Varies according to campus

Age range: 1.5-6

Number of students: Around 7,000

Nationality of students: US, UK, Singapore, Korea, China

Foreign passport holders accepted? Yes

Local Chinese students accepted? Yes

Primary teaching language: Chinese

Languages taught: Chinese and English

Class size: 15-25

Teacher/student ratio: 1:4 to 1:5

School hours: 7.30am or 8am-5pm

After school activities: Weekly activities as well as interest classes, including piano, skating, dancing and painting.

School facilities: Playground, multi-purpose center, library, piano room.

School nurse: Yes

Lunch offered: Chinese and Western food.

Contact:
1) Wanquan campus: 35 Xinxin Jiayuan, Wanquanyuan, Bagou Nanlu, Haidian District (8255 1751) 海淀区巴沟南路35号小区万泉新新家园

2) Sanyuan Qiao campus: 6 Jing’an Dongli, Chaoyang District (6463 5251) 朝阳区静安东里6号

3) CBD campus: 24 Xincheng International Apartment, 6 Chaowai Dajie (6597 9358) 朝阳区朝外大街6号新城国际公寓24号楼

4) Changping campus: Huijia Vocational College, 20 Chuangxin Road, Zhongguancun Kejiyuan, Changping District (5163 1603) 昌平区中关村科技园创新路20号汇佳职业学院内

5) Shangdi MOMA campus: MOMA, Anning Zhuang, Haidian District (8275 9510, 8274 1391) 海淀区安宁庄上地MOMA小区

6) Xibahe Campus: 103 Xibahe Donglu, Chaoyang District. (6465 5212) 朝阳区西坝河东里103号

Word from a Parent:
“I am very happy that my son attends Huijia kindergarten. The teachers treat the children well and when I mention the kindergarten, my son gets excited. He likes his teachers and has a lot of good friends at kindergarten. He is happy to stay there, happy to play and happy to eat.”
Joan Bros and Rocio Sobejano (Spain), parents of Juan Bros, K3

For more information on the 2014-2015 School Choice Guide e-mail editor@beijing-kids.com and click here to view the 2013-2014 School Choice Guide on ISSUU. For more information on our upcoming School Choice Fair on March 1-2, 2014, please e-mail  schoolchoicefair@truerun.com.

Photo courtesy of Huijia Kindergarten

Farshad Danicek is the co-founder and principal of House of Knowledge, a trilingual kindergarten (German, English and Chinese) which offers a curriculum which incorporates Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Confucian theory. We asked Daniecek to school us on the Reggio Emilia approach. For Part 1 click here.

How did you become interested in Reggio Emilia?
I’m German and I grew up in the multicultural heart of Germany, Berlin. I studied at Freie Universitaet Berlin and did my diploma in early childhood education (MA.Ed.). A Professor at the university, and a very good friend of mine, Prof. Dr. Annette Dreier, sparked my interest in the philosophy of Reggio Emilia education. She was very passionate about Reggio Emilia and infected me with that passion.

Why did you decide to make it a core feature of the HoK curriculum?
Actually, the Reggio Emilia education is more a philosophy of life than a curriculum per se. As it is a child centered education you have to adjust the learning outcomes to each child individually. The HoK curriculum defines outcomes for all our age groups and development areas, but there are hundreds of ways to reach those outcomes. For the HoK curriculum the path of development is more important than just reaching the outcome, the path becomes the aim of our approach.

Each child follows their own journey, as HoK educators accompany the children on this path of building a strong foundation of core competencies. For me personally, the Reggio Emilia approach is the best educational approach in a multicultural and multilingual environment like Beijing.

What are the benefits of Reggio Emilia? What advantages does a Reggio Emilia school give children?
From my point of view each Reggio Emilia school is different from one another and each Reggio school can only be an adoption of the Reggio Emilia approach and not an attempt to copy or duplicate. The culture, country, parents, teachers, environment and the students will always influence and create a unique adoption of the Reggio Emilia approach.

Therefore, the advantage of Reggio Emilia is a child-directed approach that allows for highest possible level of intrinsic motivation to explore, discover and learn at school, expanding their social and academic potential.

Reggio seeks to promote fundamental competencies for lifelong learning. This philosophy believes that we are all students for life, and infinitely able to learn about our surroundings and ourselves. More important than learning facts, is the process of learning to learn.

Can children from Reggio Emilia schools be accepted into any elementary/high school (e.g. local Chinese elementary schools, American-style junior high schools)?
Absolutely, even if a child is stepping into a new curriculum or previously unknown academic subjects, Reggio will have equipped them with the competencies to pursue and acquire knowledge. They will use deductive reasoning; feel confident to ask others for help, or utilize any number of other methods to get the information they need. Through use of these strategies, a child will learn from and use their new surroundings, making them highly adaptable in any school setting.

What one thing would you like Beijing parents to be more aware of, as regards choosing a school for their kids?
The basic foundation of learning is not to build up meaningless and endless knowledge in different subjects. It is more important to build a foundation of competencies, on which a child can grow. Those competencies are for example, a positive and stable self-image, a high level of self-esteem, trust in one’s own strengths, a helpful attitude towards others, strong conflict management skills, ability to accept responsibility, etc. Parents should choose a kindergarten which helps build strong competencies.

Furthermore, I recognize that in order to become a successful world citizen in a globalized world you need to be open to new cultures and to have knowledge of different languages. Parents should choose a school which offers a multicultural environment with multiple choices of languages and a high student-teacher ratio to assure new languages are learned in the time frame giving in the early years.

How are parents involved at Reggio Emilia schools?
Parents are the child’s first teacher, they must be prepared to be involved at a Reggio Emilia school. At HoK for example, we ask our parents how they might involve themselves into our projects. We appreciate parents coming to our classes to talking about their professions, cooking dishes or teaching us dances from different countries, etc. Furthermore parents are asked to help by preparing events or joining some field trips.

It is said that the Reggio Emilia approach is not teacher-directed. What does this mean?
In a teacher-directed school the teacher is the center of the class, directing daily school life and lesson plans and also deciding what subjects will be studied. The Reggio Emilia philosophy, is a child directed or child-centered approach. Therefore, teachers must observe very carefully their student’s interests and plan the daily tasks based on those interests and the level of intrinsic motivation the child is bringing to explore and discover within the lesson and classroom projects.

How are Reggio Emilia classrooms arranged?
The Reggio Emilia approach sees the room as “The 3rd Teacher”, after the parents and the classroom teachers. A Reggio Emilia classroom must invite children to explore their environment independently. All Materials and learning stations must be reached by children without asking for help, e.g. all kind of art materials, learning stations, computer, books, etc.

Furthermore, at HoK we design all our classrooms with high level areas so our children can climb up to a place to overlook the classroom and be taller than others. This gives the children another perspective to see things from another angle. The speaking and project walls are also part of our classrooms.

Photos courtesy of House of Knowledge

Farshad Danicek is the co-founder and principal of House of Knowledge, a trilingual kindergarten (German, English and Chinese) which offers a curriculum which incorporates Reggio Emilia, Montessori and Confucian theory. We asked Daniecek to school us on the Reggio Emilia approach.

What is Reggio Emilia?
The name Reggio Emilia originated from a city in northern Italy in1945. After the end of WW2, the citizens of Reggio Emilia (Reggiani) started to re-build their city. Parents and educators wanted to create a community of support centers for families and a unique system of early development centers their children. The educator Loris Malaguzzi (1920-1994) systemized those ideas and helped to open the first infant, toddler end preschool centers in Reggio Emilia.

What are the core values of the Reggio Emilia educational approach?
Before I describe the core values of the Reggio Emilia approach I would like to explain the view of a child of a Reggio educator. We see children as poets and musicians, as artists and performers, scientists and philosophers. Children discover the world through their own will through movement and all their senses. They know exactly what they have to do to acquire knowledge and skills. For this reason, we see children as an active builder of their own development.

• The first core value is, that a child is an active participant in all learning processes.
• The second core value is that a child learns through his relationship with others, so his parents, teachers and other students are part of its learning community.
• The third core value is that children have endless ways to express themselves.
   

What separates Reggio Emilia from other curricula?
Every curricula and teaching method has its advantages. Where Reggio excels is its ability to teach children how to acquire knowledge. Teachers work through careful observation to see what children are interested in, and what their curiosities are. When questions arrive from these curiosities, a teacher      does not give answers as you would in a conventional school, but instead, they enthusiastically prompt kids with questions that will allow students to arrive at their own answers. Through this dialogue, kids are not just obtaining facts or academic skills; they are developing the strategies and methods with which to acquire knowledge throughout their lives, in any field.

In the adult world, learning to engage with these self-directed competencies, and thus easily realizing how one can use their environment to help others and themselves, is often what makes a person equipped with the confidence and abilities to be in high-level jobs or succeed as entrepreneurs. These positions require more than a reserve of facts or academic knowledge, they require forward thinking people who are quick on their feet and equipped with excellent problem solving skills. This type of thinking, knowing the strategy to independently find answers and solutions, comes from an environment where children are prompted and trusted to ask questions and make discoveries, not just taught facts and given answers. This is where HoK gets its motto “learn to learn” from. When it comes to learning, Reggio philosophy remembers that the journey is always more important than the destination.

How is Reggio Emilia different from Montessori?
I see the differences in the length and depth of projects, a project between 4-8 weeks is not a rarity and each project then focus on connecting the different developmental areas. Another difference is the idea of learning as a process of co-construction of knowledge; this implies the idea that each child has already a hypothesis in mind by each question they ask. In order to reassure their hypothesis they need to try, to observe and get feedback from others.

Because of this, Reggio Emilia educators emphasize the social nature of a learning process. Learning from and with each other is very important because we see all persons (and the classroom) as part of the child’s learning community.

What is the core curriculum?
While Reggio firmly believes in strengthening children’s academic skills (such as math, geometry, biology, etc), the thing of greatest importance is to experience one‘s surroundings (persons and materials) via all their senses. This is how children learn to learn – through experience. Founder Loris Malaguzzi used to say that children are born with 100 ways to communicate, but we as adults steal 99 of those away from them. His point was that children have an infinite ability to learn, communicate and create (through song, dance, drama, painting, dialogue, exploration, etc.) but unless we provide them with the opportunity to do so, we remove from them their avenues to communicate, and thus, their opportunities to learn.

To draw an example from our daily life at HoK, we can look at a “numbers” unit. With Montessori, children may be given ten balls to count with. This is something tangible that they can see and feel, and helps them understand numbers effectively. At HoK, the Reggio Emilia side of our philosophy takes this further and we ask the kids to become the numbers, allowing them to use drama and/or creativity for their learning process. So one child may hold up five fingers to be the number five. One may hold two balls in his hand to represent the number two. And so on and so on. Children are learning numbers, but they’re also learning how to creatively utilize their surroundings to their advantage, all while using and expanding their communication skills – even more so at HoK because the children will do this activity in three different languages.

Part 2 of our interview with Danicek will be available tomorrow at noon.

Photos courtesy of House of Knowledge.

Parents looking to send their kids to an international kindergarten in Beijing have a plethora of options. That said, it never hurts to have one more.

On July 1, Beanstalk International Bilingual School (BIBS) will open the doors to its newest campus: the Beanstalk International Kindergarten, Wanda Branch.

This will be Beanstalk’s second kindergarten and its fourth campus, the other two being their primary school and their middle/high school.

The new kindergarten is smack dab in the center of the CBD’s Wanda Plaza—a massive complex encompassing office buildings, shopping, restaurants, and more. The Wanda branch will offer two programs, with the choice of program left up to parents.

The Bilingual International Program will evenly divide instruction between Chinese and English, while the Immersion International Program will be taught fully in English.

Some of the Chinese teachers have been transferred from Beanstalk’s original Liangmaqiao location, while others are newly hired. Meanwhile, all English teachers will be native speakers.

Beanstalk’s new facilities are lovely, with primary colors scattered about. The school has three floors with 15 classrooms, six piano rooms, a dance room, two playgrounds and even a stage so children have the chance to explore a wide range of interests outside of basic academics, from music to performing arts.

Parents are free to visit prior to its opening. To arrange a visit, call 5960-3997.