American Kindergartens and Options Available to Parents

My daughter just turned six this year. Last year she joined me in Philadelphia; I studied at the University of Pennsylvania and she went to a nearby public kindergarten. Kindergarten in the United States is similar to kindergarten in Mainland China. My daughter has been attending kindergarten for over seven months now, so in the past few months I have closely examined the American primary school education system.

Americans Choose Schools Without the Annoyance of Household Registry

In China, many parents are often troubled by the problem of choosing a good school for their children. This phenomenon has caused expensive school zone housing to sprout up. Actually, it is the same in America. America’s schools are also divided into districts, and parents will move into a certain school district so their children are able to go to a better school.

Unlike China, America does not have the household registry system, and it is not necessary for parents to buy a house in order to have property rights. Parents can simply live in the school district. It doesn’t matter if they are renting or even sharing the property; all of the parents that live in the school district may send their children to the ideal school.

The quality of education and the academic atmosphere is very good in suburban schools; consequently, more and more people are buying houses in those school districts. Even those who are just studying or researching for a year or two will come rent a home in the suburbs in order to give their children a better education. In Philadelphia as in many cities, more poor people live in the city center and crime is more prevalent there. An American we know named David lives in the city center with his wife and child. His parents and grandparents often come by to help them out, and they want the family to move to the suburbs.

Of course, some schools in the city center are good and some are not as good. The U.S. Department of Education ranks city schools every year according to students’ test scores. One can find very detailed information about the schools online.

The school that my daughter goes to, Wilson Elementary, is not very good. The students’ test scores are very low. But the school and the Department of Education do not hide this fact. Instead, they clearly explain the situation to parents. Last term we received a letter sent to parents by the Department of Education and the school, saying that according to five years of investigations, the school at which our child was studying was determined to be a low-performing school in Philadelphia. As expected, ever since the new term started in February, the Department of Education has constantly sent parents various materials, including instructions on how to help children study, useful teaching materials to work on at home, lectures for parents, and websites with tips about helping children study.

The Department of Education has the courage to admit to parents and society in general that its own capacities are insufficient; what’s more, it even works hard to make improvements. This is far better than the deceptive methods that some schools in Mainland China use, and it gives people hope.

The Right to Choose Homeschooling

Besides education received through public schools, many parents in America choose to homeschool their children. As the name indicates, homeschooling is where the child learns at home, and the parent (primarily the mother) is the child’s teacher. In the town of Lancaster, near Philadelphia, we met a man named Glen who works with computers, whose children were homeschooled.

Glen has five children aged eleven, eight, six, three, and one. His wife is a stay-at-home-mom. The three oldest children are homeschooled and they have a very strict schedule. They have classes and homework, and they have vacation.

At the end of every semester, the mother needs to give a report to the Department of Education, and the children take an exam. As long as the children pass the test they can continue homeschooling. The mother said, “Since the children are homeschooled we have more freedom to manage our time. I always start school a little earlier at the beginning of the year so we can have a longer summer vacation. We can travel when the weather isn’t too hot.”

We also met another homeschooled child whose father is a pastor and whose mother is a housewife who volunteers at the church. The boy and his younger brother were studying under their parents’ instruction. At age 15, he is a freshman in high school; his brother is thirteen.

This situation is an impossibly difficult task in the eyes of Chinese parents. I remember a few years ago there was a school in Shanghai called Meng Mu Tang. Even though this school could not be considered to be a private school in the same way as homeschooling is, it was still very difficult for Meng Mu Tang to garner support from China’s Ministry of Education.

Various Options Besides Free Education

America’s public schools (elementary, middle school and high school) are all free of charge. Tuition is not an issue, because there is none. Our school provides free breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack. On every weekly announcement published by the school, it emphasizes, “Parents, please let your children eat breakfast at school everyday.” It seems as if they are afraid that parents do not know how to feed their children. Every month the cafeteria workers give parents a menu describing what is offered for breakfast, lunch, and snack, so the parents can know what’s going on. At the same time, this teaches the children how to eat independently. Many children who go to public schools are very capable. They run into the cafeteria, get their food, and immediately open their bags and eat. They eat as fast as possible and run to the playground as soon as they are finished.

Besides the free food, the school gives out free coats in the winter. This is a real surprise to Chinese people. My daughter first entered the school last fall. Not long after she entered, the school gave every child a free jacket, a scarf, gloves, and two hats. The clothes came in a plastic bag with the words “Keep Kids Warm” written on it.

My daughter likes the jacket very much. She chose pink clothes. Unfortunately the jacket is not very flattering. After washing it many times during the winter, the cotton padding shifted and bunched up in some places. As a result some places were very thick and other places were just two pieces of cloth. But just as she was about to complain about it, she stopped, since the clothes said “Made in China” on them.

Public elementary schools are dismissed at 3:09 pm every day. After school is dismissed, afterschool programs are offered, which cost money. There are many different kinds of programs, some of which are more expensive than others. My daughter’s school has an advantage because it is very close to the University of Pennsylvania and has a partnership with the university. The Knight Community Center at the University of Pennsylvania opened a community school for Wilson Elementary.

This afterschool program recruits volunteers from the University of Pennsylvania campus, so the cost is very low. The program costs $30 for the whole year. Since my daughter started to attend the afterschool program in April, the fee was only $20. This price is extremely low: paying for a nanny to take care of the child for half the day would cost $1000 a month in Philadelphia.

This afterschool program starts at 3:09 pm and ends at 6:30 pm. First there is snack time, then the activities start. There are many different kinds of activities. First of all, the counselors help the children with their homework. After that there are arts and crafts, music, storytime, and athletic activities. Some activities are planned according to the season and the weather, such as driving to the edge of town to go hiking, walking to the community center, and swimming.