Greetings from Beijing

[ChinaEYFSguy]

Hi all,

I'm an American care provider in Beijing.
Our school recently made the wise decision to move away from traditional Chinese education and toward EYFS.
(It is, in fact, one of only 2 Chinese schools in the entire country which has done so)
The local teachers are having difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept of "child led" and other such things.
Wondered if anyone had some teaching points they feel are "more relevant" to help everyone here be on the same page.
What I mean is, every teacher is different in method and means, sooo, I wouldn't mind hearing from everyone as to the question:

"What do I feel is most important about EYFS"

I'll keep everyone updated as to how it's going.

The road will be long and filled with drama, I'm sure.

M
Beijing

[mama2three]

wow , big step.

To me the most important thing is to truly get to know the child as an individual - harder I appreciate in a school setting.
Once you have observed the child , you can follow their lead - how they like to approach problem solving , how they learn , what interests them.
Its about allowing a child the freedom to learn in the way that best suits them by providing essential equipment ,activities , experiences , enthusiasm and a little guidance.

Good Luck

[chriss]

what is the set up there ? Then maybe it will help us to help you ? :D

[ChinaEYFSguy]

As care providers I'm sure many of you would be shocked. But I'll skip the details.
Essentially we're working with a British University to "bring EYFS to China"
We've got the funds (it's a semi-private school) and we're making drastic changes to the current curriculum.
We have 4 foreign staff members and 20+ Chinese teachers in our department.
We've already started our older kids on KS1 but many of the Chinese teachers are having difficulty with
EYFS. They disagree with the value system and to them it seems like we're "just letting them play around"
:panic:
Anyway, I agree with Mum2three, but that concept, as basic as it seems to us...is not a Chinese value...oi.