Chinese Lessons

The president of Yale on the rise of Asia’s universities.

I know it’s still early but I can’t help obsessing about  grade schools . My latest discovery is Xiangyang primary school. All I know about it so far is that it has a website and that it enjoys a reputation as a ‘ happy school’ (the website lists ‘positive mood’ and ‘light burden’ as ’school aims’).  One mom told me that she didn’t want to send her son there because she had heard that key middle schools were reluctant to accept kids from Xiangyang school because they were ‘too happy’. To me this sounds promising.

This article on homeschooling complains about the drilling, testing and busy-work that goes on in American kindergartens. What interested me was this quote:

While middle-school, high-school and university education in Asia is famously competitive and demanding, most Chinese and Japanese schools (according to the Alliance for Childhood report) remain play-based until about second grade.

This matches my own experience. My kid’s kindergarten (which goes from ages 2-6) seems very lax. There are no signs of tests, drills or homework. I’m told that this all changes next year when Max starts ‘da ban’ and the pre-school starts preparing the kids for grade 1. We’ll see.

Steven Strogatz on algebra, square roots and geometry

more blurry pics (taken with my cell phone) of Zoe’s school day performance after the jump:

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What makes a teacher great? No – it doesn’t just come naturally.

If you are a teacher follow this link and watch Bob Zimmerli work wonders with a simple ‘thank you.’

I sure wish someone would do this kind of ‘what works’ investigation of the university classroom.

This is meant for me – an intro to the enthralling nature of mathematics that starts with Sesame Street.

The series continues here, and here

Much has been made about Chinese cinemas dropping Avatar to make way for the new film Confucius (see here and here ). My own experience of trying to go see Confucius (there were only 2 screenings both at awkward times) made it clear that – in Shanghai at least -   if Avatar was pushed aside for anything it was to make room for 喜羊羊与灰太狼  ‘Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf’ (which has screenings every 15 minutes).

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