HEADLINES!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
"How My ESL Daughter Went to College in the USA at 16"
We married in 1995. In 1997 our younger son was born. He is the only one of our four children who has heard both English and Chinese spoken at home right from birth. Therefore, my three older children are not like typical Taiwanese-American children who have heard English spoken at home their whole lives. They have struggled, and continue to struggle, towards becoming fluent in English.
Because my wife and I planned for our children eventually to attend university in the U.S., we knew that they would have to learn English well. Unfortunately, because they attended Chinese school during the day, and I taught other students at night, we just couldn't find enough time for them to learn English well enough and fast enough. So, after the three older children finished the 6th, 5th, and 3rd grades respectively, we began to homeschool them in both Chinese and English, but with greater emphasis on English.
After two years of general homeschooling, they started a distance-learning high school program without ever having attended junior high school. Our older son is now a third year student at Cal. State University, Long Beach. Our older daughter is a third year student at Univ. of Cal., Irvine. Our younger daughter graduated from her accredited correspondence American high school program in August 2006 at age sixteen which allowed her to start college right away. She is now in her fourth year at U.C.L.A.
Our younger son child, now age 12, is enrolled in an American correspondence high school program and has already begun earning high school credits. He also studies Chinese, art, and music.
Bilingual homeschooling has brought us many challenges. Although we have made mistakes along the way, we’re learning from our experience and we’re still making progress towards achieving our goals. Because of our success, I firmly believe that many Taiwanese students, if given the chance and the proper preparation, can earn an American high school diploma in Taiwan while still living with their parents, and be prepared to attend college in the U.S.
Friday, September 25, 2009
"EDUCATIONAL RULES AND OPTIONS IN TAIWAN"
by Timothy Beach
Children of any age who enter
At present, high school attendance in
Most students in
For students whose parents are considering having them attend university overseas, there are other options available that render both the High School and the University Entrance Exams irrelevant. Please see the section below entitled Possible Options for Junior High Graduates.
Educational options for elementary and junior high age children can be divided into two broad categories: traditional schools and "non-schooling".
Traditional schools can be further divided into two groups: public schools and traditional private schools. Public and traditional private schools have one particular feature in common: they both strictly follow the Ministry of Education (MOE) prescribed curriculum, the primary aim of which is to prepare students to take the High School Entrance Exam after they graduate from junior high school. Traditional private schools include both secular and religious schools. Even Protestant and Catholic schools may be categorized as traditional Chinese schools because their curricula and tests are designed to comply with MOE regulations.
"Non-schooling" can also be further divided into two groups: family-based homeschooling and group homeschooling (also referred to as private "non-schools" or alternative schools).
Family-based Homeschooling.
Group Homeschooling (i.e. "Non-schools" or alternative schools). The law also allows parents to form a group homeschool (a "non-school"), or enroll in an existing one. These "non-schools" are, in essence, alternative private schools. They do not usually receive government support, and so must raise their own funds. However, they enjoy a great deal of freedom in deciding the content of their curricula. The local Educational Bureaus typically evaluate the performance of the non-schools in their jurisdiction on an annual basis. Students attending non-schools are not required to attend a public school at all, and are not required to take public school tests. However, non-school students are registered at a local public school and the non-school administrators report the students' progress to the public school usually twice a year.
Both legally registered homeschool students and non-school students may receive a Junior High Diploma, allowing them to be admitted to the High School Entrance exam.
Options for Foreign Passport-holders
Traditional Chinese Schools. Children who enter
- their child's age and his or her ability to handle Chinese as the language of instruction at the grade level he or she would be entering;
- the Chinese system's emphasis on rote memorization in preparation for tests;
- the Chinese system's lack of emphasis on fostering independent learning and thinking skills;
- cultural differences regarding what is considered acceptable behavior that may influence a foreign child's formation and character development in ways possibly deemed unacceptable by his or her parents;
- slower first language development due to following a Chinese-only curriculum;
- use of corporeal punishment (although perhaps less frequently than in years past.)
On the positive side, when compared to school learning environments in western countries, one should take note that schools in
International Schools use English or another foreign language as the language of instruction, follow a standard curriculum of the country in which they are accredited, usually provide excellent facilities and well-trained and experienced teachers. However, they are also typically quite expensive, because international schools incur high costs in the process of providing the kind of educational learning environment that many foreign families expect. These costs may include construction and maintenance of state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, offering foreign teachers high enough salaries to attract them to come to Taiwan, providing the teachers with paid housing, paid airfare to and from their home country, paid medical insurance, and tuition-free attendance for the teachers’ children. All these expenses must be covered by the tuition and fees paid by the families of the regular students. As a result of these high costs, international schools end up mainly serving the children of international business personnel whose companies can afford to pick up the expensive tuition tab, and affluent Taiwanese families. (To compare the fees of such schools, click on the International Schools link.)
Non-schools / Alternative Schools, mentioned above, provide a second alternative to the traditional Chinese schools. These also use Chinese as the language of instruction, but in some cases may be more accommodating to English-speaking or bilingual students. Usually, these schools will be much less expensive than the international schools and at par or less expensive than most of the Chinese private schools. Unfortunately, at present, there are not very many such alternative-schools in existence. (For more information, please click on the Alternative Schools link. Those unable to read Chinese should be advised that their web sites, in most cases, will be in Chinese only.)
Homeschooling provides a third educational option to foreign passport-holders, and one that is even more viable than for many Taiwanese because foreigners are basically free to follow any educational method or philosophy that they like. Possible methods include parents doing all the teaching in their home, using an internet-based or other distance-learning program, group homeschooling with other ex-pat families, participating with Taiwanese homeschool support groups, or delegating some of the teaching to tutors or other teachers. One big advantage to homeschooling is the fact that a student does not have to follow the rigid traditional age-grade lockstep system found in both the traditional Chinese schools as well as in the international schools. This means that if a student can learn faster and enter high school and graduate earlier, then he or she may start college earlier. For more information on how to start high school early, please see the section below entitled American High School Diplomas by Distance Learning.
Possible Options for Junior High Graduates
Because Taiwanese students are presently only required to attend school through junior high school, junior high graduates have other possible educational options. However, some of these options are not necessarily suitable for all students. For example, if a student simply doesn’t like to study and has great difficulty in learning even basic English, then the following options are probably not suitable for him or her. However, if a student knows how to learn well on his or her own, and desires to learn English well, then he/she and his/her parents may want to consider seriously the following options.
American High School Diplomas by Distance Learning have been earned by hundreds of thousands of students from around the world, providing them with a convenient way to graduate from high school and prepare to study at American colleges and universities. Most are much cheaper than attending either an international school or a private high school in
Furthermore, thousands of these students have been ESL students. [Please see my article How My ESL Daughter Went to College in the
Tutoring for
Another way is for parents to form or join a support group with other homeschool and distance-learning families and then share with each other the various talents of group members. If one parent is capable of teaching math, another science, and another English, then they may help each other. If there is a subject that no one is qualified to tutor students in, then the group could hire a tutor and share the cost accordingly.
A third way is to send the student to an English language school or study center that offers tutoring or supervision for distance-learning students. The advantage of this approach is that the student has a place to go every day, and there is an experienced educator present to supervise his learning program. For a list of recommended programs, please click on the Tutoring link.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
American Distance Learning High Schools
Allied National High School
Ashworth University High School
Christa McAuliffe Academy
CompuHigh Online High School
EPGY ONLINE
Keystone National High School
Orange Lutheran High School Online Basics
Monday, September 21, 2009
Taichung Alternative Education Parent Group Intro.
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Alternative Schools in Taiwan
慈心華德福學校(宜蘭縣) Ci-Xing Waldorf School
道禾實驗幼兒園(新竹縣) Natural Way School (Hsinchu County)
道禾幼稚園(台中市) Natural Way School (Taichung City)
◆國小 Primary Schools
種籽實小(台北縣) Seedling School (Taipei County)
森林小學(台北縣) Humanistic Education Foundation (Taipei County)
昶心蒙特梭利小學(台北市) Charm Montessori School (Taipei City)
諾瓦小學(桃園縣) Renoir Creative School
大坪國小(新竹縣) Da-Ping School (Hsinchu County)
道禾實驗學校(新竹縣) Natural Way School (Hsinchu County)
磊川華德福實驗小學(台中市) Leichuan Waldorf School (Taichung City)
道禾實驗學校(台中市) Natural Way School (Taichung City)
豐樂實驗學校(台中市) (Taichung City)
苗圃蒙特梭利中小學(彰化市) Miao-Pu Montessori School (Jiang Hua City)
沙卡學校(台南縣) Sarkar School Neo-Humanist Education (Taian County)
慈心華德福學校(宜蘭縣) Ci-Xing Waldorf School
◆國中 Junior High/Secondary Schools
臺北市自主學習實驗計畫(已結案) A-Learn Schools (Taipei City)
開平中學(台北市)
全人中學(苗栗縣) Holistic Education School (Miaoli County)
道禾實驗學校(台中市) Natural Way School (Taichung City)
苗圃蒙特梭利中小學(彰化市) Miao-Pu Montessori School (Jiang Hua City)
沙卡學校(台南縣) Sarkar School Neo-Humanist Education (Taian County)
慈心華德福學校(宜蘭縣) Ci-Xing Waldorf School