When it comes to preschool education in Yangpu District, everyone knows the well-known China Welfare Association Kindergarten. Founded in 1949 by Ms. Song Qingling, the kindergarten of the China Welfare Association has been relocated and rebuilt several times, and now has two campuses in Jiangwan and Kangqiao, and the Kangqiao campus has been restructured into a private kindergarten. As one of the earliest kindergartens established in New China, China Welfare Association is not only a leader in Shanghai's public kindergartens, but also a benchmark in the country, with the titles of Shanghai Demonstration Kindergarten and Shanghai Advanced Unit of Early Childhood Education. If Shanghai is the gathering place of the best preschool teaching resources in China, then the China Welfare Association Kindergarten is the representative of Shanghai's top kindergartens.
Opened in 2009, Jiangwan Park ranks first among public kindergartens in terms of environment and facilities. The new kindergarten covers an area of 23 acres, which is so large that it is rare even among the top kindergartens in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The wide site has outstanding advantages, one is that it can be equipped with a variety of equipment, activity rooms and functional areas to provide rich campus activities for children; Second, the children's activity space is sufficient, the life is comfortable, and the children are not easy to cross-infect germs. High-quality public parks are generally built early, there are limited space, aging infrastructure, single equipment and other shortcomings, and the new park is equipped with excellent hardware, which not only has the mature operation experience of old kindergartens, but also avoids the problem of insufficient hardware conditions of public kindergartens.
The exterior of the building is simple and bright, the interior decoration is warm and lovely, and the campus is full of green trees. With sand, meadows, hillsides, bamboo groves, plantations and feeding areas, the outdoor area is like a miniature farm where children can get close to nature and experience the joy of farming. In addition, there are indoor heated swimming pools, plastic sports fields, large-scale activity equipment and other sports facilities, so there is no place for activities. All classes have their own activity rooms, bedrooms, washrooms and dining rooms. The indoor space is spacious, including teaching rooms such as life simulation room, computer room, multimedia activity room, etc., as well as creative art room, construction game room, Jerica game room, small kitchen, carpentry room, Hubble room, reading room, audio-visual classroom and other activity rooms.
In addition to the first-class facilities, the activities of the China Welfare Association are also praised. In small club activities, children choose their own clubs, and by playing the roles of carpenters, painters, gardeners, architects, etc., they can make handicrafts, develop interests, and learn about all walks of life. The festival activities of the China Welfare Association are quite distinctive, entertaining and educational, which not only allows children to enjoy games, but also enables them to understand traditional culture, exercise their ability to communicate and cooperate. During the garden party, activities such as catching small fish, creative color painting, and cartoon character catwalk show were set up on the wide lawn, and the children had a lot of fun. In addition, teachers have set up a variety of festival-themed activities, and every Spring Festival, children experience the traditional culture of respecting the elderly and caring for the children through the New Year's greetings between teachers and students. During the Dragon Boat Festival, the teacher led the children to make zongzi, hang wormwood, and make sachets, so that the children could understand the traditional folk customs in the activity. The stamp collection and map tour are designed to cultivate independence and planning skills, and the large and small activities guide children to help each other.
In addition, fun activities such as mixed-age sports and food making are quite common in the China Welfare Club. The China Welfare Association also carries out interest activities such as computers, electronic organs, Chinese painting, singing, chess and English. Compared with private kindergartens, the China Welfare Association emphasizes a happy childhood, pays attention to the education of basic qualities such as etiquette, socialization, self-care skills, and morality, and lacks knowledge transfer and English teaching, which is different from most private kindergartens.
The China Welfare Association has been well received in terms of parent services. First of all, the kindergarten will carry out activities for parents, such as parent volunteers and cooking lessons, but participation is not mandatory. Secondly, teachers make children's growth files on the APP, so that parents can understand their children's life in the kindergarten and actively communicate with parents about their children's problems. Finally, the kindergarten responds quickly to parents' opinions, and handles and gives feedback in a timely manner.
It is worth mentioning that today, when female teachers occupy the kindergarten teacher team, the China Welfare Association has noticed the educational problems caused by the lack of male teachers, and hired a number of male teachers, hoping to strengthen physical training and will and character education with the help of male kindergarten teachers. The reputation of the China Welfare Association is very good, and the vast majority of teachers have a bachelor's degree or above. The park also pays attention to education and scientific research, and the overall teachers are excellent.
The China Welfare Association has opened nursery classes, primary, middle and large classes, only recruiting small classes and nursery students, and does not accept transfer students, recruiting students from all over the city, Shanghai household registration and foreign children, but still giving priority to nearby children. There are not many enrollment places, parents need to register by phone first, and the teacher will preliminarily review the conditions, such as whether they have a Shanghai hukou, etc., and then arrange an interview. The registration phone number of the China Welfare Association is notoriously difficult to call, and many parents complain that they have to make dozens or even hundreds of phone calls to get through, it is not easy to register, and the pass rate of the interview is also low. The interview is divided into two parts, one part interviews parents, with more questions, including educational philosophy, etc., and the other part is for children, and the teacher observes the child's performance when playing, and the content of the questions is simple.
Although the China Welfare Association as a public kindergarten, the childcare fee is not high, but it will charge a different amount of sponsorship fees, the fee is the first in Shanghai's public parks, but compared with the monthly tuition of thousands or even tens of thousands of private kindergartens, it is very affordable and cost-effective. Whether in public or private kindergartens, the hardware conditions and teachers of the China Welfare Association are in the first place, but as a public kindergarten according to the policy can not teach too much English, mathematics and other knowledge subjects, there is no highly sought-after foreign teacher bilingual teaching, which is the aspect that most parents are more concerned about, and private kindergartens are not subject to these restrictions. Most private primary schools in Shanghai have set up admission interviews, which will assess English communication, arithmetic, etc., and parents who generally hope that their children will attend private primary schools will prefer private kindergartens that focus on foreign language teaching.
