如何为你的孩子选择第一所学校？30年教育经验校长亲述

Why is it so important to attend nursery or kindergarten? How do you choose your child’s first school? What should you be looking for?

为什么上早教托班和幼儿园如此重要？你是如何选择你孩子的第一所学校的呢？哪些是你应该关注的重点呢？

In the next few weeks I will try to share my experience as a Kindergarten principal in China and as a Mom of three adult children every Monday. I hope this will help you in understanding why a kindergarten education is important and help your quest for the perfect First School in your Child’s Life.

在接下来的几周里每周一，我会尝试和大家分享一下我在中国作为国际学校校长以及三个成年孩子母亲的一些经验。希望这些能够帮助你更好地理解为什么幼儿园的教育如此重要，同时帮助你找到你孩子人生中第一所完美学校。

As a mother of three children who has lived in ten different countries on four continents finding the best school for our children was the first thing on our to do moving list.

我是三个孩子的母亲，有过4大洲10个不同国家生活经历，在移动计划列表中，为孩子找一所最好的学校是首项重要任务。

Choosing our children’s Kindergarten from the age of 2 is particularly important.I realise now how this first choice sets up the stage for the rest of children’s education. As parents, we want them to be confident, socialize, learn a different language, become independent and develop a love of learning. It is also tough to trust other adults in our children’s life and some parents are very apprehensive. It is tough. We love our children and sending them in a new environment away from the home can be difficult for both the parents and the child.

从孩子两岁开始找幼儿园是非常重要的。我现在意识到我们为孩子寻找的第一所学校的标准是我们为其他孩子的教育选择学校标准的基础。作为父母，我们希望孩子能够充满自信、善于社交、学习第二语言，变得独立以及发展热爱学习的能力。有些父母非常焦虑，同时她们很难相信孩子成长环境中的其他成年人。这是很艰难的，尤其是父母们不得不把孩子送到离家远的一个新环境里，这对于父母以及孩子都是很艰难的适应过程。

I have been working for 4 years in China and I have met many parents who were on the quest for the best kindergarten for their child. Most parents came to visit when their children had reached the age of three others were four or five years old and had never been to school. Parents and grandparents knew they should send their child to school but were so anguished about it they decided to protect their child as much as possible from the world outside home. After all, the family loves the child and being surrounded by family and ayis centering on the child’s every needs is best, no?

我在中国已经工作4年了，期间我也结识到很多在为自己孩子寻找一所完美幼儿园的父母亲。大部分父母亲会在孩子3岁以后为孩子寻找一所幼儿园，也有的孩子4岁或者5岁了都没有上过幼儿园。父母以及祖父母都知道应该送孩子去幼儿园，可是他们太担忧，以至于他们想要尽可能的保护孩子免于受家庭以外的外部世界的伤害。毕竟，整个家庭都爱着孩子，并且全家人以及阿姨们都围绕着孩子，时刻满足孩子的各种需求是最好的，不是吗？

It is wonderful to care so deeply about your child and protect her/him, unfortunately it is now enough. The longer you wait, the more difficult it is for your child to adapt and build his social skills in particular.

如此贴心的照料和保护孩子是很棒的，不幸的是，这些，对于孩子现在都已经足够了！如果你等待的时间越长，你的孩子适应集体环境以及发展他在日常生活中的社会技能会更艰难。

Why should you send your child to kindergarten?

为什么要把你的孩子送去幼儿园呢？

The right kindergarten will develop many aspects of your child’s personality and this learning will set the tone for his/her learning attitude for the next 20 years of education children have to look forward to.

一所合适的幼儿园会帮助发展孩子的各方面品格以及打下孩子未来二十年的教育所需要的学习态度基石。

☞Developing self-esteem:is one of the important goals of kindergarten. This is the process of helping your child feel good about who she/he is and develop confidence in their ability to tackle the challenges of learning.

☛培养自尊：这是幼儿园一项重要的目标。这是帮助孩子对自我感觉良好的一个过程，同时培养孩子在面对学习挑战时能够充满自信。

☞Sharing/cooperation:the ability to work, learn, and get along with others. Life in kindergarten provides your child with the opportunity to learn patience, as well as the ability to take turns, share, and listen to others — all these skills that she/he will use through his school years and in life.

☛分享/合作：工作、学习以及与他人相处中的能力。幼儿园中的日常生活给孩子提供了练习耐心同时排队，分享以及倾听他人的机会——这些技能在她/他毕生的学习生活和日常生活中都能运用。

Being curious: Children are naturally curious, but somedo not know how to focus or use their curiosity. Kindergarten is a time for sparkling and directing your child’s curiosity and natural love of learning with the help of professional educators - the class teachers

充满好奇心：孩子天性是充满好奇的，可是一些孩子不知道怎么专注或者使用他们的好奇心。幼儿园的时光是能点燃以及引导孩子的好奇心以及在专业的教育者——班级老师的引导下发展对于学习的热爱。

Learning a new language:Our ability to learn languages is best before age 6.Being with a foreign teacher who will speak a new language to your child will develop his comfort dealing with people looking different than him and his family, learn about a new culture and a new language. Some of the little students I had in my schools were learning up to 4 languages as English and Chinese were not spoken at home.

学习一种新的语言：我们学习语言最佳年龄在6岁前。和一个说一种新的语言的外教老师在一起能够帮助发展他在面对一个与他和他的家庭不同面孔的陌生人的舒适性，同时学习一种新的文化和新的语言。我以前所在学校的一些孩子能掌握4种语言，因为外语和中文在家是不说的。

☞Independence is the most difficult one to teach here in Chinaas parents, grandparents and ayis seems to think young children are helpless and should be assisted in every aspect of their life. As a principal in a Montessori school, the emphasis on building a child’s independence is key in the education philosophy. This can sometimes bring a lot of readjustments in some families. Loving our children is letting them do things on their own. As early as 18 months a child can start dressing, eating, walking and mastering every day skills. Our children are not puppets. Adults need patience and take the time to show and model how to eat, pour water in a glass, drink, put on their shoes, dress but also do a puzzle with no help trying to figure it out. In a Montessori kindergarten we give children time to think and do things on their own. This is how we build our children’s self-esteem and confidence and the goal of the best kindergartens.

☛ 独立性在中国是最难教授的，因为在中国作为父母、祖父母以及阿姨们似乎认为小孩子都是无助的，他们应该在各个方面都得到帮助。作为一所蒙氏学校的校长，我们强调培养孩子的独立性是整个教育的哲学根基。这有时可能会在一些家庭中进行大量调整。爱孩子是要放手让孩子独立做自己的事情。在孩子18个月大的时候，孩子可以开始穿衣，吃饭，走路以及掌握日常基本技能。我们的孩子不是木偶。成年人需要耐心并且花时间向孩子展示如何吃饭，往玻璃杯中倒水，喝水，穿鞋子，穿衣服，同时把这个作为一个没有帮助情况下需要来解决的难题来对待。在蒙特梭利幼儿园我们会给孩子时间思考和独立去做。这就是我们如何帮助孩子建立自尊以及自信同时实现最好幼儿园教育的目标！

See you next week!

下周见！

Dr. Maria Montessorisaid it best: “We wait upon our children; and to serve them in this way is not less fatal than to do something that would tend to suffocate their own useful, spontaneous activities.

We believe that children are like puppets. We wash them and feed them as if they were dolls. We never stop to think that a child who does not act does not know how to act, but he should act, and nature has given him all the means for learning how to act. Our primary duty toward him is to assist him to perform useful acts. A mother who feeds her child without taking the least effort to teach him how to hold a spoon or to find his mouth, or who, when she is herself eating, does not at least invite him to watch how it is done, is not a good mother. She offends her son’s human dignity by treating him as a puppet, whereas he is by nature a man that has been entrusted to her care.

Everyone knows that it requires much more time and patience to teach a child how to eat, wash, and clothe himself than it does to feed, bathe and clothes him by oneself. The one who does the former is an educator; the latter performs the lower office of a servant. "

玛丽亚蒙台梭利博士说：“我们等待我们的孩子，以这种方式为他们服务的并不比那些会扼杀自己有用的自发活动的东西更加致命。

我们相信孩子就像木偶一样，我们洗他们，像娃娃一样喂他们，我们从不停止，认为不行动的小孩不知道如何行动。但他应该采取行动，大自然给了他一切学习如何行动的方法。我们对他的主要任务是协助他执行有用的行为。一个母亲喂养她的孩子，而不用最小的努力教他如何拿勺子或找到他的嘴，或当她自己吃饭，至少邀请孩子看看她是如何做的，这样不是好妈妈。她把自己的孩子当作一个傀儡，冒犯了儿子的人格尊严，而孩子只是委托她照顾的自然人。

每个人都知道，要教孩子如何吃，洗，穿，比自己喂养，洗澡和洗衣服需要更多的时间和耐心。前者是教育者；后者在执行仆人的下级职务。”

About the Author

Christine Jensen

A mother of three adults

She has worked in education for over 30 years. And she has experience of being a principal for many international schools.

She has traveled to more than 30 countries and has worked and lived in more than ten countries and regions, including Singapore, Vietnam, Morocco, France, Canada and China.

She is proficient in English, French and Spanish.

本文作者

Christine Jensen，

59岁，

三个成年子女的家长，

她拥有多所国际学校校长经历，

30多年教育行业工作背景，

游历过30多个国家，

曾在新加坡、越南、香港、摩洛哥、法国、加拿大、中国等十个国家工作和生活过

精通英语、法语、西班牙语三国语言