My friend Tami who teaches in China has not gotten back to me about the questions this week, but she did send me some information about about the schools in China vary from the U.S. She teaches first grade, this is what she told me:
I can only speak from my experience at the int'l school. It is much more rigorous. Students are expected to work a lot more at home. They are pushed to be reading on level 14(DRA) by the end of Kindergarten. Know their addition and subtraction facts and be able to write. Some of this comes from being an IB school. We do teach Everyday Math for our math curriculum. Although it is supplemented with higher level expectations. The Korean students in my class have school on the weekend and in the summers to learn Korean. It is quite rigorous. They are expected to sit and do exactly what the teacher says. They don't think much "outside" the box. That is one of my biggest challenges is to get the Asian students to think for themselves. They are often told what to think and how to think.
Her response was interesting to me. Currently teaching kindergarten, I cannot imagine my students reading at a level 14 by the time they leave me! It also makes me sad because it seems like they are not allowed to be children. They are expected to sit and do exactly what an adult tells them all day.
Leigh:
ReplyDeleteThis is such of interesting posting, reading to "level 14" is awesome. If you reach that enormous goal, you have to price this children with a grandiose ceremony at the school "Library" Take some pictures to see! That is a challenge if you get a chance send me the info in sharing doc of the course.
Hi Leigh,
ReplyDeleteI feel sad for those children. They are pushed to do so much and don’t have time to do normal childhood things. Of course, that’s a part of their culture so they’re used to it and they don’t know what their missing. In order to compete with them, there are higher and higher standards being put on children which I know affects your kindergarten classroom. It’s interesting that your contact says the Korean children especially don’t think outside the box. Here in the US, there have been articles written about the lack of imaginative play, less time for children to explore and less creativity although people are saying we need more creativity in the upcoming work force. In a way, our academic standards are opposite to individuality and creativity which we value so much in American society. Thank you for your post.
Hi Leigh,
ReplyDeleteI do not think it is healthy to be so rigorous on children and to make them think and act a certain way. While sometimes I wish we could go a little "old school" with our children, I do not think that controling children is necesarily the answer. I am sure this has been the way for generations in China and Korea, but I wonder if there will be lasting and longing psycological affects of such demands. Thank you for sharing your professional contact with us all!
Leigh, your China contact information is very interesting. This is alarming. Is this why Chinese students 'are said' to be further advanced than US students?
ReplyDeleteThank you for a interesting blog this class. It was informative and fascinating. Good luck in future classes!
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