Education
Small classes, homey atmosphere for young children
By Wang Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-12-22 15:13
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It is 6 pm, an hour past the average kindergarten closing time of 5 pm. But a dozen children are still drawing pictures at the Naughty Monkey Kindergarten in Huilongguan, Changping district.
It is one of more than 60 kindergartens in Huilongguan area that now provide in-home-style care for very young students on a large scale.
Such kindergartens are plentiful in US due to a law that stipulates children under age 12 cannot stay home alone. Parents who violate the law may lose guardianship of their child. The distinctive feature of in-home-style kindergartens is that they provide comfortable care in a setting similar to what kids are used to in their own homes.
Similar private kindergartens are now widespread in Huilongguan because public educational facilities have failed to meet the needs of thousands of residents in the area, said a press officer with the Changping district commission of education.
Li, who studied preschool education at university, opened the facility five years ago. She has 20 children in the kindergarten ranging from 6 months to 6 years old. Class hours are from 7:30 am to 6 pm, with a teacher for every four children. The price, 1,980 yuan a month, is similar to the cost of public kindergartens in Beijing, Li said.
"We are small and flexible, so we can frequently adapt new ways to cultivate children according to their behavior," said Li, the mother of a 6-year-old.
Because all the youngsters are the only child in their family, Li said the kindergarten recently introduced a "toy-sharing day" when children are required to take one of their toys to class and trade it with other kids.
Li said at first some children didn't bring any toys because they didn't want to share. But they felt ashamed after they found themselves with nothing to exchange. Now they voluntarily bring toys or snacks they like to share with the class.
"I think personalized service is better for children's intellectual and personality development," she said.
A mother surnamed Liu, whose 2-year-old girl studies at the kindergarten, said most teachers at public kindergartens in Huilongguan area are relatively young and have little experience on how to raise a child, but Li Meng knows what is good for children's growth.
"Plus it saves me a lot of hassle since the kindergarten is 5 minutes away from my home," Liu said.
"It opens before 7:30 am when I leave for work, while most of the public kindergartens open after 8 am."
