Reading through the book, I feel that the author's evaluation of Chinese and American education is relatively objective. She doesn't think that American education is all advantages and China education is nothing, but compares the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese and American education.
After reading this book, I learned that American education is more encouraging. The teacher uses a magnifying glass to find the advantages of students. Every student is a genius in the eyes of the teacher and has his own uniqueness. In school, students have the highest status, and teachers are also very polite to their parents. American schools generally teach in small classes, with about 20 students in each class. Public primary schools in the United States pay more attention to students' health and teach simple knowledge. American elementary schools are children's paradise. When the author's son goes to school in China, he is afraid of going to school. However, when he came to America, he became fond of going to school. American primary school classrooms are more in line with children's play nature. They don't ask students to sit in the classroom, and they can't walk or talk casually. They are more casual. The content of the teacher's teaching is also more casual. The teacher can teach whatever he wants, and there is no outline. Primary school classes are also very short, and school ends at 3 pm. Physical education class has more recess time. Moreover, there are many holidays in the United States, and students spend less time in school than in China.
The author also mentioned that the disadvantage of elementary education in the United States is that schools teach too little knowledge. As long as children have fun at school, there is less knowledge education and children are not trained to develop good study habits. Therefore, some elites are more willing to send their children to private schools. The overall quality of education in American private schools is better than that in public schools. In addition, children finish school at 3 o'clock, and children under 12 can't be alone at home. Parents should spend more time and energy to take care of their children. Some families in the United States have several children, and some mothers stay at home to take care of their children despite their good academic qualifications.
The author objectively analyzes the soil of American education needs, and American education conforms to American national conditions. But it doesn't necessarily conform to China's national conditions, so we can't copy American education. China is short of educational resources and has a large number of students. There should be 50-60 students in a class, and teachers simply have no energy to take care of so many students. Education in China is picky, and students are afraid of teachers. China, in school, teachers are the tallest, not students.
In addition, the author thinks that primary education in China is more suitable for girls, which suppresses the nature of boys. The primary education in the United States conforms to the nature of boys. Boys are naturally active and energetic, and it is really depressing to sit in the classroom all day.
Family education is very important in both American education and China education. The basic education in American public schools is not solid, so many Asian parents will make up lessons for their children themselves, or ask tutors to make up lessons for their children. If the conditions are better, go to a private school. Parents' personality and behavior will also exert a subtle influence on children.
The proportion of teenage mothers in the United States is quite high. There are nursery rooms in middle schools, and some 15-and 16-year-old girls have become mothers. This is unthinkable in China. In China, most boys and girls aged 15 and 16 are afraid to hold hands, and school teachers and parents prohibit their children from puppy love.
I have lived in America for some time and met some excellent Chinese in China. For example, he is a famous professor in China. After arriving in America, he couldn't find a suitable job, so he had to work in a restaurant first. Some people have been working in restaurants, and some people are lucky to find decent jobs. In the book, the author's friend, Mr. Xia, is lucky to be a scientist in the institute, while Mr. Xia's colleague in China, Mr. Xu, is not so lucky. He started working in a restaurant and later switched to taxi business. At first, Mr Xu immigrated to America for the education of his children. In the end, he lost his career and children.
The author has been debating whether to stay in the United States or return to China. She has compared the advantages and disadvantages of Chinese and American education many times. She doesn't want her children to become "American-born China people", but she can't make up her mind to return to China. Mr Xu's story made the author make a decision. Finally, the author returned to China. Parents and children grow up together.
The idea of educating children mentioned in this book is still worth learning. Whether in China or the United States, family education is very important, and I even think that family education is better than school education. Therefore, don't think that children can throw off their arms and ignore them completely when they go to school. Family education is also very important for children's growth.
Excerpts from Chinese mothers' choice between Chinese and American education;
Being a teacher of American primary school students, a colorful campus life.
In primary schools in the United States, learning is a very happy thing. There is no need to worry about teachers' criticism and no pressure. There are not many knowledge points to learn, and the content of learning is very simple. Generally, you can master it in class, and there is no more homework when you go home.
Looking at American education objectively, we will find many unique aspects, and there are also some unsatisfactory places in the system. First of all, American primary schools attach too much importance to students' personality, and classroom teaching is quite casual. There is no fixed outline where to think and study.
Generally speaking, American primary schools have eight major courses, namely, language, mathematics, science, sociology, health, art, music and physical education.
American education is a way of education to let children know that money needs to be obtained by labor, not easily. American elementary schools encourage children to help their parents do housework at appropriate times every day during holidays and cultivate their labor habits.
Americans are often at a disadvantage in competition, while Americans can't compete with Indians in northern China. Analyzing the reasons, we can see that the English of Indians is better than that of us in China. Indians have stronger ambitions and ambitions to occupy high-level positions than we do. Some Indians are very good at getting along with their superiors and are very active in social activities. However, our natural shortcomings are poor language skills, inability to socialize and lack of interest in being a leader.
However, the two countries are similar in one thing. Both countries attach great importance to children's education. Compared with parents in China, Indians pay more attention to children's education.
American education is more conducive to the growth of boys.
Teaching in the United States, I feel that primary school students in the United States are more confident than those in China. Boys, in particular, are very happy at school, regardless of academic performance and innate qualifications, even the most stupid children. American education is more conducive to the growth of boys, and it is easier to cultivate optimistic and confident men.
However, domestic education believes that students sit still in the classroom honestly and knowledge is the most basic requirement. This is a very unfair thing for active boys.
From a biological point of view, boys need about four extracurricular activities every day, but in our education, it is good for boys to have one. When every nerve in a boy's body is urging him to run and jump, he must sit up straight and listen to the class for eight hours with his hands behind his back. If he doesn't do this, the consequences will be very bad.
Zheng, the king of fairy tales, said: "Our education is to put all the students in the same shoes and then let them have nowhere to go."
As long as we respect the boy's brain, respect the boy's inherent growth law and willingness to learn, and encourage them more, our boy will certainly grow into an indomitable man.
There are many problems in American education.
As a teacher in the United States and the parents of primary school students in the United States, I feel that the education in the United States is not perfect, and there are many places that need to be improved, which is shared by many parents in China in the United States. Many Chinese believe that primary and secondary education in China is better than that in the United States. Many people send their children back to the motherland to attend primary and secondary schools, and then go back to the United States to complete their college studies.
Comparing the education between China and the United States, I think the public basic education in the United States is too laissez-faire and loose, and we should study harder and make the basic knowledge more difficult.
Domestic basic education can appropriately reduce the difficulty of teaching materials, give children more leisure time, and let children have a wonderful and unforgettable childhood.
Strict education model of American private schools
There are no children with poor education, only parents who can't educate their children. Children's education is a university that needs patience, perseverance and confidence. It takes three generations to make a gentleman. Raising children is not an easy task.
What kind of parents have what kind of students in China, and the same thing happened in the United States. The growth of a child is closely related to whether his family attaches importance to education.
These successful parents provide a relaxed, free, confident and happy living and learning environment for their children. And because of personal success, their confidence in life is also passed on to their children, so that they can learn to face everything with confidence consciously or unconsciously. In addition, attention should be paid to children's education, and the way to educate children should be appropriate, so it is very important to give children a good educational environment for their success.
When most children are born, there is not much difference in intelligence, physique and many other aspects. But with the growth of age, the gap between children is getting bigger and bigger. Family education, school education and personal struggle are the fundamental reasons for these differences.
The wealthy class in the United States have a lot of dissatisfaction with the free public education in the United States, and they are not at ease to let their children grow up on their own. They spend a lot of money to let their children receive the best all-round education and train them into all-round talents. In a sense, American private schools have created elites.
It can be said that American private education has led the trend of basic education and higher education in the world and trained a large number of outstanding talents for the United States and the world. American private schools are leading the way of education improvement in the 2 1 century.
Girls' schools in America
American educators believe that single-sex schools can make students concentrate on their studies and do their own things, and the relationship between students is simpler and the atmosphere is better. In the history of Europe and America, the real aristocratic schools are all single-sex schools, which originated from the Catholic idea. After hundreds of years of development and experience, now all-boys schools and all-girls schools have become elite schools in the United States.
The best girls' school in America is in Connecticut, called Westover School. Westover
The school, a famous American girls' school, is the top school in the United States, whether it is academic or sports competition. Compared with mixed schools, they pay more attention to women's leadership and the quality training of future female elites, which is incomparable to mixed schools. Because it is impossible for mixed schools to offer such courses for girls alone, in addition, some sensitive self-protection topics of women are very concerned in girls' schools. The educational purpose of such schools is to cultivate female elites.
On the inequality in the United States from the perspective of discrimination against Chinese mothers in the United States
The name "Chinese mother" is discriminated against in the United States for deep cultural reasons. Racial discrimination in the hearts of Americans has not died out as some pure-hearted people in China expected. On the contrary, racial discrimination is like a ghost, floating in the hearts of some people. The derogatory meaning of the word "Chinese mother" reflects that although the discrimination in some people's minds has disappeared on the surface, there is still a market in people's minds.
The rootless embarrassment of Chinese descendants
Culture is a kind of ocean, and children are submerged in the ocean of American culture, which is not the kind of person that Teacher Xia expected at all. The children have become locals. Except China, they are all Americans ... but Americans think they are from China because their skin is yellow and their hair is black.
In the case of limited domestic educational resources, parents are very important for children's growth, often more important than schools. If a child is unhappy and has something hard to let go, parents should patiently help him relieve the pressure.
In the education of children, it is definitely a hard work and a harvest. A child is like a seed. If you grow up in different environments, you will have different endings. Seeds that enjoy full sunshine will get a good space for survival and development, and eventually grow into towering trees. A seed without enough growth environment may be just a weak seedling, and even be malnourished and unable to become a talent. If children with the same academic qualifications have different educational resources, the gap between children in learning is huge.
The contrast between Chinese and American education is a topic that will never be out of date, and each has its own shortcomings and advantages. What we can do is to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two kinds of education and learn from each other.