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Pushing the envelope on learning

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Elaine Yauin Beijing

On a stage crowded with 40 lively children, two-year-old Luna Belza swayed to Chinese music and belted out nursery rhymes with gusto. She was the youngest participant of a study trip to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing earlier this year. Organised by local kindergarten KinderU Group, the graduation concert was the culmination of a seven-day music and cultural programme of daily choral practice and visits to such cultural landmarks as the Great Wall and Tiananmen Square.

Some children burst out crying in the concert hall and others looked puzzled and threw tantrums. But it hardly dampened the enthusiasm of the 80 parents who accompanied their children on the trip.

Luna's father, banker Sergio Belza, joined the tour with his wife, Alicia Garcia-Herrero, and their two older children. He says it provided good immersion in Putonghua and traditional Chinese culture for the youngsters.

Garcia-Herrero and Belza are firm believers in the early education philosophy espoused by KinderU Group.

Their two older children, who are now studying at the ISF Academy, also attended the kindergarten. The couple proudly rattle off their children's wide-ranging interests and linguistic capabilities: flamenco, ballet, flute, violin, piano, soprano singing, football, tennis and being able to speak German, French, Spanish, Putonghua and English.

'We don't think the kindergarten pushes them too hard by expecting them to read early,' Garcia-Herrero says. 'You can read early and still develop critical thinking.'

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