Dear Reader,

  I don't know what it is like in you city, but in Taichung there are
  many expensive schools advertising that they are using 100% American
  curriculum. It is interesting to see parents being fooled by this
  kind of marketing ploy.

  Personally, I don't feel that an "imported" curriculum will work for
  Asian children. Unless your child grew up in an English speaking
  home, he will have major gaps in his English ability. Case and point,
  why do Asian children immigrating to the US or Canada have to attend
  separate ESL classes for 1-2 years before they can attend regular
  classes? This is because these gaps exist and ESL classes will close
  these language gaps.

  These schools know this. Schools that use "imported" curriculum will
  drastically tailor their curriculum. It certainly won't be like the
  way it is taught overseas. In which case, what's the use? Parents
  need to be aware of this fact and recognize it as a marketing ploy
  of these schools.

  For me, rather than taking something and cutting it down to size, we
  built a curriculum from ground up. The result being that we have a
  much more flexible curriculum. We don't mold our students to fit the
  curriculum, but rather the curriculum is molded to fit them.

  On a totally separate note, a fellow reader just sent me these great
  pictures from the recent Taipei Lantern Festival,
  http://www.path2english.com/Reference/Lantern.htm I know you will
  enjoy them.

                                                  Take it easy,
                                                  JacksonFive

NEXT ISSUE's FEATURED TOPIC:

    "Misconception #4: The bigger the better. Big, flashy schools
      always offer the best learning environment."