Bilingual Education

——Interview with Ms. Jeannie Chang, Principal of Small World Preschool & Kindergarten

Small World Preschool & Kindergarten

No.72 Shenyang Road, Heping District,

Tianjin, P.R.China

JIN: When did the Small World Preschool & Kindergarten establish?

Jeannie: Small World Preschool & Kindergarten opened on August 28, 2004. It was established by American D&J Education Co., Ltd and 11th Kindergarten of Heping District. Small World Preschool & Kindergarten has state of the art equipment; there are computers and many other facilities in every room. Parents can observe their child's daily activities in the kindergarten at any time through online browsing.

JIN: Why did you choose Tianjin to set up Small World Preschool & Kindergarten?

Jeannie: After successively investigating big cities as Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shanghai, Tianjin, and others, I finally settled with cooperating with 11th Kindergarten of Heping District to make an multi-directional bilingual kindergarten in Tianjin.

JIN: How many children are enrolled in Kindergarten at present? Where are they from?

Jeannie: We now have about 120 children. Most of them are local children from the 11th kindergarten. We’d like to create a comfortable studying and living environment for children, so we did remodel the whole school inside out.

JIN: What demands are there for children?

Jeannie: There is no demanding in early childhood education, only giving. It is important for us to be there for them, create a good study environment, let children learn how to choose in their younger age and give them freedom to grow and develop.

JIN: What are the characteristics of Small World Preschool & Kindergarten? What makes it different from other kindergartens? Do kindergartens adopt any unique education ways to educate children?

Jeannie: Kindergarten is using the multi-intelligent approach; children enjoy a free and relaxed education here. Every class has an experienced foreign teacher who provides small class teaching. Teachers adapt their teaching methods according to the children’s needs. Emphasize for the work of training the future elite to do good job and excavate children’s potentiality.

JIN: What course and extracurricular activities are provided for children in the Small World Preschool & Kindergarten?

Jeannie: There is artistic course besides basic courses, we will often make some recreational activities, let the children celebrate western festivals, let the children understand more western culture under the foundation of bilingual teaching.

JIN: What is the philosophy of Small World Preschool & Kindergarten?

Jeannie: Let children “live happily, express freely and grow adequately” which reflects the characteristic that Small World Preschool & Kindergarten cultivates children’s personality. Cultivate children’s better personality and promote their personality development, show the individual moral education, let children learn important knowledge while playing, and learn to make choice when they are young, and learn how to make good choice. We’d like to train their ability on thinking and solving problems independently.

JIN: What are the plans of Small World Preschool & Kindergarten in the future?

Jeannie: We hope to run more plans of exchanging course and culture with U.S.A. in the future: Children can go to U.S.A. to play and study, American children can come to China to study too, our teacher and teacher of U.S.A. exchange and study. This Sino-American kindergarten promotes education communication between western and eastern and lets the children receive Chinese style education and authentic American style education simultaneously. And make a better foundation for children to adapt modernized and international society in the future.