https://www.scmp.com/rss/319598/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chen Yidan, a co-founder of Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings, wants to “create a better world through education”. That’s why he recently created the Yidan Prize. While many philanthropic programmes take a broad-brush approach, the Yidan Prize sets itself apart with its aim of recognising enterprising efforts in areas such as the quality of school systems, integrating technology into teaching, and vocational training for a future labour market that will be defined by human-machine... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1974288/2030-vision-5-ways-worlds-educators-must-adapt-new-machine-age?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1974288/2030-vision-5-ways-worlds-educators-must-adapt-new-machine-age?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Jun 2016 04:47:06 +0000 Early childhood educator Catalina Parentini is a great believer in the idea that children learn by doing. “Even through daily tasks, we can introduce the whole world to kids,” she says. “We can teach them everything from maths and science to language, the arts and history.” This conviction led Parentini to set up a novel education service shortly after she came to Hong Kong one year ago. The Chilean-Italian calls it We Play At Home to reflect the type of learning she aims to facilitate. For a... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1925023/expert-teaches-hong-kong-families-how-play-meaningfully-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1925023/expert-teaches-hong-kong-families-how-play-meaningfully-children?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Mar 2016 16:00:00 +0000 Literacy expert Matt Glover has more than 20 years of experience as an educator in the US, including 12 years heading an early childhood school in Cincinnati, Ohio. His work with kindergarten and first-grade students showed him that we often underestimate what young writers can achieve. Since then, Glover has written several books on literacy development, including Engaging Young Writers, and Already Ready (with Katie Wood Ray). Glover was in town earlier to speak at a regional conference hosted... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1918522/meaning-genre-and-purpose-most-important-motivating-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1918522/meaning-genre-and-purpose-most-important-motivating-children?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Feb 2016 12:30:22 +0000 One in four children entering kindergarten in the US is not ready to learn, according to a study jointly published in October by the Pritzker Children’s Initiative and the Bridgespan Group. The finding has timely implications for Hong Kong, especially as the Education Bureau is set to update its “Guide to the Pre-Primary Curriculum” this year. The US report, which is based on 18 months of research and interviews, stresses the importance of “school readiness” and highlights the difference in... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1899932/hong-kong-centres-getting-children-ready-kindergarten?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1899932/hong-kong-centres-getting-children-ready-kindergarten?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 Jan 2016 23:00:00 +0000 Another elite international school will open in Hong Kong in September, joining the ranks of foreign operators Harrow and Nord Anglia, which have opened schools in the city in the past four years. The American School Hong Kong (ASHK) will occupy two former school buildings in Tai Po, which are being overhauled for the new tenants. The school will be run by Esol Education, a Dubai-based group set up by Walid Abushakra in 1976. A Lebanese civil engineer who found his calling in education, he has... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1897971/hong-kong-get-another-american-school-year-tai-po-district?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1897971/hong-kong-get-another-american-school-year-tai-po-district?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 04 Jan 2016 20:00:48 +0000 When Geetanjali Dhar moved to Hong Kong in 1999, she struggled to find good, structured Hindi-language programmes for her young son. The scattered classes available either lacked a strong cultural component or focused only on what was in vogue, such as Bollywood song and dance. Seeing her son's expatriate friends natter away in their native languages, Dhar decided to address the gap in Hindi programmes: she set up Sanskriti, a school offering language lessons and cultural immersion for the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1874950/expats-who-try-instil-some-their-countrys-culture-their-children?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1874950/expats-who-try-instil-some-their-countrys-culture-their-children?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Nov 2015 00:01:08 +0000 When Chow Yat-fat started his first distance learning diploma in computer programming at the Open University of Hong Kong in 1995, he was three years into his career as a Chinese typist in a media company. In 2014 - 19 years later - he graduated with a bachelor's degree and received the institution's prestigious HK$10,000 Alumni Scholarship for his academic achievements. Throughout his years of part-time study, Chow rose up the ranks in his company, eventually becoming a director in its digital... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1863252/learning-18-80-hong-kongs-adult-education-boom?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1863252/learning-18-80-hong-kongs-adult-education-boom?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Oct 2015 04:06:12 +0000 "What is community?" a nine-year-old boy asked to the raucous laughter of his peers during the launch event of "Kidsunity", a pilot community engagement programme for underprivileged children in Hong Kong. Despite its seeming innocence, the question was more than apt, since the programme - with a name that merges "kids" and "community" - explicitly aims to instil social awareness in children and empower them to contribute to their communities with their resourcefulness. Aimed at schoolchildren... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1853019/group-thats-helping-hong-kong-kids-give-back-their-communities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1853019/group-thats-helping-hong-kong-kids-give-back-their-communities?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Aug 2015 08:00:45 +0000 Becoming a father not only gave Israeli entrepreneur Amir Koren different priorities in life, it also led to Sparkup, an educational technology venture that he started with friend and business partner Roei Simantov. The pair had been running entertainment-related businesses since their teens - organising events, parties and the like - but parenthood brought a different lifestyle and new perspectives. In particular, Koren was struck by a friend's practice of recording himself reading children's... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1850180/gadget-reading-aloud-your-kids-when-you-cant-be-there?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1850180/gadget-reading-aloud-your-kids-when-you-cant-be-there?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Aug 2015 16:31:27 +0000 Having grown up in a bilingual environment in Hong Kong, Daphne Chu chose to be a teacher. A year ago, she joined Lam Tai Fai College in Sha Tin and has since relished her time brushing up students' English. When she was in school, English was used by teachers across the board. At home, her parents talked to her in Cantonese, but together they also watched movies and read books in English. "I have always enjoyed learning English, so when I grew up, I decided to combine my passion for this... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1832073/two-languages-class-better-one-hong-kong-teachers-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1832073/two-languages-class-better-one-hong-kong-teachers-say?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Jul 2015 22:14:47 +0000 There's a liberal, university-like atmosphere at HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity in Kowloon City. Along its ground-floor "creative promenade", students and teachers engage in discussions on art and life, addressing one another by first names. It seems unlike any mainstream secondary school in Hong Kong. Founded in 2006, Lee Shau Kee School is a direct subsidy scheme senior secondary school that offers Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education courses and a creative arts curriculum that it... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1823806/special-curriculum-helps-creative-hong-kong-students-gain-skills?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/families/article/1823806/special-curriculum-helps-creative-hong-kong-students-gain-skills?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Jun 2015 22:27:22 +0000