Little Soldiers audiobook

I am struggling with writing this review because I have so many thoughts about the ideas presented in this book. First of all, I found the first hand account of the author's experience to be fascinating and well written. The author is first generation American of Chinese descent, educated in Texas public schools, carrying the burden of high academic standards while balancing her own American dream. She subsequently graduates from college, marries a midwesterner, and moves to China for his career opportunities with a small child in tow and faced with the choice of participating in the Chinese education system or entering a kinder pedagogical international approach. They choose the Chinese way and suffer cultural shock which leads her to further delve into educational theories, comparing and contrasting between them. There is much to be said about the educational system in Shanghai which is why this book was written. It is fascinating and multi-faceted with different results. I read the study performed in 2012 PISA results and came to a conclusion that differed from the author's. That said, I found merit in the conversation she had with the Father of the test. One sentence in the book undid all the fascination and good I got out of the book which is terribly unfair to the book. I believe it was a manner of opinion but I vehemently disagree with one part of a statement while agreeing wholeheartedly with another part; "The quality and status of American teachers have declined alongside levels of content mastery..."Ouch. As a public school guidance Counselor in her 28th year, I believe my experience merits a voice. In fact, I vehemently disagree that the quality of educators that surround me has declined. Only a few weeks ago, I was asked if I noticed any marked differences between students from the beginning of my career to now. The answer to that question was difficult to quantify because the biggest difference between the students occurred with changes of demographics. The elitist, more monied group are more entitled and parents are more invested in their students' grades and ACT or SAT scores. Some parents doing their children's homework and hiring expensive tutors for taking the exams. On the other end of the spectrum, I had immigrants whose parents spoke no English and had 2and 3 jobs, encouraging their children to work hard. That was the population I preferred, frankly. Through grit and hard work, they were improving their lives. The answer I gave the person who posed this question was completely different, however. I've seen an increase of quality of educators over the years. The status of educators has declined but the quality is exceptional in most cases. Today's American educators are expected to educate every child that is assigned to them, regardless of disability and laws of inclusion. While the Chinese laggards eventually drop out, we are expected to retain every student. Every student is expected to be successful and the teacher is expected to teach every student at their level. In the same class. The elementary school teacher is expected to be master of all academic content, maintain classroom management, deal with behaviour problems without being punitive, appease hovering parents, and keep up with legislators who are so far removed from the classroom yet feel entitled to tell teachers versed in pedagogical theory how to teach, how they will measure them yet recently allowing truancy court to be abandoned because a certain legislator needed his son to be free of such constrictions to pursue his basketball career. In secondary schools, the issues are the same except teachers must be highly qualified in their area which may mean they are still teaching physics, astronomy, chemistry and 7th grade science. They are also expected to regularly attend collaboration, professional development, be trained in spotting child abuse and know how to handle it, implement a suicide prevention program, remediate students who have been attending a charter school which has little to no oversight and did not progress in the content while they attended said charter school, and placate parents who are upset because the homework is too hard for their little nuggets. And these teachers do all these things. Tangent over. Back to the book. Neither educational system is perfect and much can be gleaned and emulated from one another. The Chinese are attempting to make changes in a culture that resists change and in a space that can not tolerate much individualism. The American system is at the mercy of legislators who don't have a clue while incredible teachers continue to teach the curriculum without public respect and against the backdrop of more constrictive laws, different student needs with IEP's and 504's and behaviour problems when really, they just want teach because they love teaching. And there are no kickbacks like expensive Coach purses. Although sometimes I get a potted plant at the end of the year or maybe a mug. I still highly recommend this book. It's an excellent read with good comparisons drawn. The problem arose when I finished the book when I was tired and my obsessiveness can. Not. Sleep. Until I've said my peace.My apologies to the author for getting hung up on that sentence.This book was provided to me by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The book by Lenora Chu, an American of Chinese descent, who, together with her husband and son, came to live and work in Shanghai in 2010, reflects to a large extent the same duality. Shanghai is not quite China, who understands, and at the same time, the symbol and banner of today's Celestial Empire, no less than Beijing.Rainie was turning five, it was necessary to take care of education, the family decided to arrange him in a state kindergarten. Not least because of the payment, private gardens in Shanghai are very expensive, but mainly because the world was amazed by the published results of the Chinese educational rating. Lenora and her husband wanted their son to experience the beneficial effects of this wonderful system, so that he was brought up in bilingualism and this helped him in the future.They were incredibly lucky to get into Song Qing Ling, the best Shanghai kindergarten. Is known: you will not get a promising job if you have not graduated from a prestigious university, which you will not get into, if you have not studied at a good school, where you are most likely to get to after the right kindergarten. However, in China, with its cult of the Gaokao state exam (in South Korea, by the way, it's exactly the same story with Sunen, but the favored treatment and coverage of all segments of society is much higher), so - in China, the importance of this kind of educational continuity is much higher than European or American.Eight tenths of "Chinese children are little soldiers" is a story about Rainey's stay in Song Qing Ling, about the shocking authoritarianism of the primary education system for a Western person: army discipline, going to the toilet in formation, force-feeding, the opportunity to drink water as a privilege for good behavior. About the absence of a constructive dialogue between parents and the teacher (the so-called kindergarten teachers) - the orders of the latter should be perceived without discussion.«Я маленький солдатик, я каждый день в строю»Пока мы спорим о том, имеют ли значение международные рейтинги, Китай стремится снабдить своих детей лучшими навыками, которые важны в быстро меняющемся мире, попутно демонстрируя блистательные способности в математике, чтении и науках.Сколько себя помню, отношение к Китаю было двойственным. В детстве, в Алма-Ате, которая очень близко к китайской границе, одна из городских легенд: Мао Цзэдун подарил этот город жене на день рождения, а один из самых сильных страхов - китайцы нападут и убьют мою маму. За себя не боялась, дети не верят, что смертны. И не очень верилось, когда мама рассказывала, что прежде мы были друзьями, а в ее юности пели "Москва-Пекин, дружба навек". Но косвенным подтверждением тому были две, сохранившиеся с прежних времен, вещи: дивной красоты покрывало и большой термос - то и другое китайскоеПозже, в девяностых, Китай стал местом, откуда везли кучу удивительно дешевых вещей скверного качества. "Китайское" тогда было синонимом плохого. Но к тому времени не посоветовавшись с потертой на сгибах распечаткой И-Цзин, я не принимала ни одного сколько-нибудь серьезного решения. Потом оказалось. что всю сложную технику и гаджеты делают в Китае, еще потом, их автомобили, которые поначалу все ругали, буквально за десятилетие, стали едва не эталоном качества. А я с гордостью носила ципао.Книга американки китайского происхождения Леноры Чу, которая вместе с мужем и сыном, приехала в 2010 году жить и работать в Шанхай, в немалой степени отражает ту же двойственность. Шанхай не вполне Китай, кто понимает, и одновременно, в не меньшей, чем Пекин, мере символ и знамя сегодняшней Поднебесной.Рэйни исполнялось пять, нужно было позаботиться об образовании, семья приняла решение устроить его в государственный детсад. Не последнюю очередь из-за оплаты, частные сады в Шанхае очень дороги, но, главным образом потому, что мир был поражен опубликованными итогами китайского образовательного рейтинга. Ленора с мужем хотели, чтобы сын испытал на себе благотворное действие этой замечательной системы, чтобы был воспитан в двуязычии и это помогло ему в дальнейшем.Им немыслимо повезло попасть в Сун Цин Лин - лучший шанхайский садик. Известно: ты не устроишься на перспективную работу, если не окончил престижного ВУЗа, в который не попадешь, если не учился в хорошей школе, куда больше всего шансов попасть после правильного детского сада. Однако в Китае, с его культом государственного экзамена Гаокао (в Южной Корее, кстати, совершенно та же история с Сунён, но режим благоприятствования и охват всех слоев общества много выше), так вот - в Китае значение такого рода образовательной преемственности много выше европейской или американской.На семь десятых "Китайские дети - маленькие солдатики" - рассказ о пребывании Рэйни в Сун Цин Лин, о шокирующей западного человека авторитарности системы начального образования: армейская дисциплина, хождение в туалет строем, кормление насильно, возможность попить воды как привилегия за хорошее поведение. Об отсутствии конструктивного диалога между родителями и учителем (так называются садовские воспитатели) - распоряжения последнего должны восприниматься без обсуждения.О низкопоклонстве и подхалимаже родителей перед учителями, о распространенной практике подкупа учителей "дарением" дорогой косметики и аксессуаров. О том, как детей буквально ломают через коленку жесткостью организационных требований и как те поначалу ненавидят сад. Но и о том, как скоро становится заметна разница между дисциплинированными вежливыми мотивированными детьми воспитательной системы китайского образца и дерзкими неуправляемыми, росшими в демократичном западном образовательном пространстве.О том, насколько различается урок математики в американской школе, где педагог хвалит детей, стимулирует их творческую активность и успевает опросить пятерых, из которых двое вызвались отвечать сами, от китайского: к детям обращаются по номерам, задания делаются на время, за урок получено шестьдесят ответов, работает весь класс. Насколько отличается китайский, конфуцианский подход к учебе, с его почтением к образованности, которая рассматривается как плод ежедневного тяжелого труда , от западного, со ставкой на задатки, гениальность, быстрый успех.Я сказала о семи десятых - на оставшиеся тридцать процентов книга - рассказ о пропасти, отделяющей сельский материковый Китай от крупных городов. О том, как отсутствие возможности нормально жить в семье, потому что родители либо тяжко трудятся в полях, либо рабочие-мигранты в городе; о том, как это лишает большинство китайцев перспектив. Не стоит забывать и о последствиях Культурной революции, уничтожившей образованный слой. О коррупции в системе образования, о непотизме и клановости, чрезвычайно распространенных в стране.Которая, тем не менее, являет образец удивительно интересного опыта совмещения традиций и современности, лидируя по всем значимым позициям. Перевод замечательно хорош, но у Шаши Мартыновой иначе не бывает. Классная книга (во всех смыслах).##Синдбад, Китай, образование, воспитание, космополитизм. нон-фикшн, педагогика, перевод Шаши Мартыновой

The author is born in Philadelphia and raised in Houston. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in journalism. Her grandparents fled China during the Cultural Revolution and immigrated to the United States. Chu notes the irony that 50 years ago Mao conducted his anti-intellectual purge and now Shanghai schools top the world in math, reading, and science and the USA is only in the middle of the pack.Chu and her husband live in Shanghai for his work at a news agency. They have a young son who goes to the local school. His skills in math and Chinese language excelled but Chu noted behavioral changes that lead her to examine the educational system in China and the USA.The book is well written and researched. It is written in the journalistic style. The author noted that the Chinese schools give less attention to the poor students and spend time and resources on the high achievers. She stated the U.S. system is “No Child Left Behind”. She noted the Chinese schools are rote memorization then they allow them to explore more complex applications after they have achieved a certain level of understanding. The Chinese schools also taught obedience and self-discipline and squelched individualism and creativity from the beginning of school. I found the differences in educational techniques interesting and was wondering if there was a way to combine the best of the two systems to create a better school system. The conformity and lack of individualism and creativity really bothers me about the Chinese system. According to the author, China is in the process of changing its methods to allow for more creativity in the students.I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is eleven and a half hours long. Emily Woo Zeller does an excellent job narrating the book. Zeller is a voice over artist and an Audie nominated audiobook narrator. She has also won numerous Earphone and SOVAS awards plus was voted Best Voice in 2013 and 2015 by Audiobook Magazine.

Comparisons between this book and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother are inevitable, so here goes. Both books are written by American-born women whose parents were Chinese immigrants. Both married white American men. And both have respect for the Chinese aspects of their upbringing and try to implement it with their own kids, but they go about it differently. The author of this book is not a fierce tiger mother. Instead of staying in the States, she and her family move to China where she enrolls her four-year-old in a traditional Chinese school where she faces a whole staff of tiger teachers. Since she’s the soft-hearted American, she’s a more sympathetic narrator than Amy Chua. But had this book been merely a parenting and educational memoir, I would only have given it 4 stars. It earned its fifth when the author branched out from her own child’s experience and told the stories of other Chinese students. At that point, it became sociological reportage about a world I know little about, and it was absolutely fascinating.As bad as the wealth and achievement gaps are in this country, the effects of the urban/rural divide in China are far worse. Because of the vast population, places in the best schools are scarce, and students are made to compete for them at a young age. If someone has the misfortune to have been born to a rural farm family, the picture is grim. For those whose parents leave the farm for factory jobs, it’s even worse. And amidst the middle and upper classes, there’s a whole lot of cheating and bribery going on to secure those coveted spots in the best schools. Yet for all the faults of the Chinese educational system, the book will show you its advantages. The comparison between a Chinese math class and an American math class is especially illustrative. The Americans emphasize self-esteem whereas the Chinese emphasize acquisition of skills. They learn more, and in spite of it all, I don’t think we feel any better about ourselves. When a Chinese student makes a mistake in class, he seems less likely to berate himself or be made fun of than American kid, at least compared to my own experience. And if there’s one thing this book does, it makes you reflect on your own educational experience. If you like that sort of thing, which I most certainly do, then like me, you’ll find this an enormously absorbing book.

Ms. Chu, the child of Chinese immigrants but raised in Texas, placed her own son in a Chinese school when living abroad for work. The authoritarian culture within his classroom soon filled her with alarm. Her background, however, gave her a certain respect for Chinese methods; and so she did not yank her kid out when his preschool teachers did things like require him to sit with perfect discipline in his chair, force feed him egg, or claim his mommy would not come back to get him if he did not obey instructions. Instead she began a research project. Her book examines the culture and methods of Chinese education, particularly in mathematics, and compares it to what is offered in American schools. *Little Soldiers* begins in a rather negative vein. The stories the author tells in the first section will curl the hair of any gently-educated American reader. The system is harsh, the pressure on students enormous, and corruption and cheating common. However, her research project seems to have changed her own philosophy of education, and she ends the book much more positively. The strengths of the Chinese system are particularly fascinating to me because of my interest in classical education. The author quotes a primary teacher who told her that “a child’s ability to memorize is very good at this stage, and it should be tapped.” (The phrase is reminiscent of Dorothy Sayers’ comments in her speech on “The Lost Tools of Learning” that has so hugely impacted the neo-classical education movement). Later, Chu explains that in school, “The Chinese commit to memory the first twenty elements of the periodic table, mathematical formulas and theorems, and historical facts, among others. Passages from classical poetry and famous writings are also important; my father can still recount the poems he learned as a primary-schooler.” Her research convinced her that rather than being robotic spouters of memorized information, Chinese students actually experience math lessons that go much deeper conceptually, at a much earlier age, than what is presented in the typical American classroom. This is because basics are memorized early (VERY early in a city like Shanghai, where toddlers are often sent to private math cram classes) and because strict discipline keeps classrooms focused and orderly. Yet the Chinese students Chu interviewed and observed are not the joyful, life-long learners and virtue-loving individuals promised by American classical educators. There seem to be two main reasons for this. The author recognizes one of the reasons and seems completely oblivious to the other. Both reasons should be noted by proponents of classical education. The first overarching problem has to do with incredibly high-stakes testing. There are not enough seats for everyone in academic high schools and universities, and the country requires a way to sort their enormous population into the appropriate categories. Thus, the fate of individuals is determined by their scores on a series of standardized tests. Kids who test well can receive the education that leads directly to the ranks of China’s burgeoning middle class. Kids who test poorly will fare poorly. (Theoretically the system is a meritocracy. In reality, children from rural areas--often raised by illiterate grandparents in third-world conditions while their parents work as migrant laborers--have little chance of matching the scores of city kids.)The immense pressure to test well in a highly-competitive world is further intensified by China’s one-child policy. When six adults (parents and two sets of grandparents) focus all of their hopes for glory and future financial support on a single student, it is no wonder that child has little time to play or relax. This leads to a kind of achievement inflation in which everyone must join the rat race of constant study in order to keep up with each other. In this system, students do not learn for the joy of it. They cram because they must. Unsurprisingly, the high stakes lead to endemic cheating. When a test site in Hubei unexpectedly installed metal detectors and outside proctors in an attempt to circumvent cheating, a mob of angry parents rioted outside, throwing rocks at the proctors and chanting about unfairness. They claimed that cheating is a “nationawide pastime,” and that it put their kids at an unfair disadvantage not to be allowed to cheat like everyone else! The second major flaw of Chinese education (at least as presented in this book) is one which Ms. Chu does not discuss. Her chief concern seems to be that her son will be cowed by school culture into an overly obedient, rule-following citizen. She rejoices when he disobeys her or when he points out that his teachers’ threats are lies. Like many Americans, she seems to assume that the key to health and happiness is the ability to exert one’s own will. Classical educators disagree. A classical educator would say that children need strength of will not simply to do as they please, but in order to do what is objectively right even in the face of opposition. The education Ms. Chu observed is morally hollow. It is shaped by the uneasy marriage between a quest for material success and Community Party political values. She notes that students see the futility of the morals they are taught and do not believe the maxims they must publically espouse. Yet she does not seem to realize how dreadful this is. There is no heart in a purely utilitarian education. Such an education fails to help students answer any of the truly important questions in life. Because it has no real voice of its own--no voice for goodness, truth, or beauty--it is no wonder it cannot stem the tide of corrosive pressure to perform (nor the tide of ever-cleverer cheating methods). The schooling Ms. Chu observed bears some similarities to the modern classical education method, but it is not a "liberal education" in the old-fashioned sense, and that makes all the difference. Classical educators need to remember the difference as we build schools of our own.

This is a really interesting book that offers a firsthand view of the Chinese school system from a mostly-American perspective. Lenora Chu is a daughter of Chinese immigrants who was raised in the U.S., her husband a white American who volunteered in China with the Peace Corps. After moving to Shanghai for work, they enroll their son in a prestigious Chinese preschool. Concerning incidents at the school spark the author’s journey to learn more about the Chinese school system: she observes classrooms in China and the U.S., talks to experts, and gets to know Chinese high schoolers and parents.So the book is part memoir, part nonfiction. From an American perspective it’s a fascinating comparison; so much of what I tend to view as going wrong in current American ideas of education and child-rearing seems to be heightened in China, from overscheduled kids (in China it’s usually tutoring or extracurricular classes rather than swimming, gymnastics etc.), to an unwillingness to let kids play freely and explore because they might hurt themselves (other parents judge Chu for letting her son run around the living room jumping off chairs, etc., and the school states that kids aren’t allowed to talk during lunch because they might choke), to a heavy emphasis on testing. Regarding that last one, pressure for the high school and college entrance exams in China is so intense that in one town a crackdown on cheating resulted in parents and students rioting.Which actually leads to one of the positive features of the Chinese system: Chinese families tend to treat academics the way American families treat sports, to the point of huge crowds of people gathering outside exam sites to see their kids off and shout well-wishes. While Americans face a social penalty for being “nerds” and tend to view academic success as a matter of inborn talent (so if you don’t have it, why bother to try), the Chinese have valued brains – and judged people by their test scores – for centuries, and believe that success is largely a matter of effort. They aren’t afraid to demand work from kids or to ask them to memorize. This is especially noticeable in math: while American schools tend to wrap up simple math in verbally complicated “word problems” in an attempt to make the work “relevant” to kids who won’t have a professional job for a decade or more anyway, Chinese schools forge ahead and have young kids doing more advanced problems. This is helped by the fact that Chinese teachers specialize in their subject matter from the first grade, while American elementary school teachers are generalists (who by and large don’t like math and weren’t good at it themselves). Of course it’s also helped by Chinese schools’ making no attempt to integrate kids with special needs into regular classrooms, which American schools must do.It’s evident from Chu’s writing that all of these issues are complicated: each school system has its advantages and disadvantages, but many of the advantages come with their own negatives or are bound up with the culture and therefore hard to replicate, while the disadvantages can also have silver linings. And of course no huge country has a uniform school system: just as the U.S. has both great and failing schools, China too has huge disparities, with many rural schools being shafted.There's a lot in the book that I haven't even discussed here: politics in the classroom, the social position of teachers, the encouragement of creativity or lack thereof, and how all this affects students in the long run. But the book isn’t a treatise. Chu keeps it lively and interesting with accounts of her own family’s experiences, and with a clear, journalistic writing style. I imagine some readers might criticize her parenting decisions – at times it felt as if she were trying to claim a high-minded rationale for a choice of school that ultimately came down to cost, while she and her husband seemed willing to accept (if unhappily) a certain amount of what many Americans would consider abusive treatment of preschool kids (such as forcefeeding, or threatening to call the police on them when they misbehave) in the interests of having a disciplined and well-behaved child. But for the American reader it’s a fascinating window into a very different school system, and into Chinese culture as a whole. It is balanced and thoughtful, and the author comes across as open-minded, curious and willing to adapt rather than pushing an agenda. I do wish it had endnotes rather than a chapter-by-chapter bibliography, for readers to follow up and learn more. But I learned a lot from this book, enjoyed reading it, and would recommend it.

I am fascinated by how different cultures educate children. This book is a glimpse into the Chinese school system (and a simultaneous comparison to the American school system). It's a memoir, written more for a parent than a teacher, but the author provides many of her own educational insights and lessons after observing both school systems. I disagreed with many of her conclusions, but I still appreciated reading such a different perspective from my own. And as is often the case when I read about education, it further cemented my desire to educate my children at home. :)

It’s hard to find a good book about the Chinese education system: most coverage of this topic quickly veers off into politics, fearmongering, and reductive “which system is better” comparisons to American education.The truth, as usual, is somewhere in the middle... and that’s where Little Soldiers shines. This is both the most comprehensive and levelheaded treatment I’ve seen yet on this topic, and I love that it’s not afraid to examine shades of gray on both sides.The main arc is the author’s own family journey: A Chinese-American who moved to Shanghai with her husband and three-year-old son, she enrolls him in a ruthlessly competitive public school and soon receives a crash-course in culture shock. In another author’s hands this might have dissolved into a navel-gazing memoir, but Chu brings a journalist’s insight to turn it into something more like an investigative discussion. She sits in on elementary classes to understand how the teachers are teaching, and more importantly, why — what is the reasoning, what are the effects, and how it all is embedded in and is influenced by a larger cultural framework. She speaks openly about some of her moments of cultural cluelessness, and interviews several high school students and families to understand their perspectives from the tail end of the system, and especially the stark differences in rural vs. urban education in China.It’s not a perfect book; I’d have liked to see more coverage of the rural areas and exchange students, and a clearer idea of whether the “sacrifice everything for success” behavior of the parents at her son’s school was typical of most families or simply an artifact of a super-competitive school. But on the whole, I found it a very compelling read, and well worth a look.

A fantastic look into comparative education and the Chinese system. As someone who taught English at a Kindergarten in China...I cannot overstate how much this book took me right back. So many things about the school her son attended were just like where I worked...forced eating of eggs included!

I’m not a perfect parent. And I’m not an expert in education. Years ago when I was first divorced and raising my toddler as a single a mother, I didn’t speak Mandarin to him even though he spent his first two years hearing it from his grandparents (for the first year) and his father (until I left him a few months shy of Jake’s second birthday).I didn’t speak Mandarin to Jake because I was worried he would pick up my American accent, often devoid of tones. As a result, Jake didn’t really learn Mandarin until he started college 16 years after he stopped hearing it on a daily basis.But I did something else. Starting around the time Jake turned three, I would push him on the swings at a Chicago playground with the Sears Tower looming behind us. And as I pushed him, he would count out loud–in Mandarin. Yi, er, san, si, wu, liu, qi, ba, jiu, shi, shi yi, shi er, and on and on until he got into the hundreds and then thousands. After reading this eye-opening book, I realized I hadn’t completely failed as a young mother years ago.And it’s not that Jake’s ability to count in Mandarin contributed to his later language acquisition. It may have or it may have not. But according to Chu, the act of engaging in some kind of math exercises before children start kindergarten is huge. It may have contributed to what I thought was Jake’s natural ability in math. After reading Little Soldiers, I no longer believe in a natural ability; it was from learning numerical patterns and understanding how to count into the thousands and ten thousands and hundred thousands at an early age–and in another language.Chu’s son Rainey enters a local kindergarten (which is what we’d call pre-school in the US) at a prestigious school in Shanghai. Chu and her husband are expats in China’s financial hub and do all they can to get Rainey into this sought-after school. But once he begins, Rainey is subjected to some pretty draconian practices like being force fed food he doesn’t eat (Jake cringed when I told him this part; he doesn’t eat eggs either) and being made to conform to the group and not shine as an individual.But there are also some great advantages to the Chinese educational system and Chu dispels many myths. Chinese students aren’t naturally better in math than American students; they just start at an earlier age (per my example above). And students from the big cities don’t have a much easier time getting into the top universities in China compared to their compatriots in the countryside because the former are smarter and the latter less intelligent. It’s that the universities give more places to city kids than rural ones.One of the most eye-opening parts of the book was the culture of graft. I feel like I’m pretty generous when it comes to giving teacher gifts in December. I’ve bought European throw blankets and pretty scarves for my kids’ teachers, but never the designer handbags or money envelopes that’s expected in China. I was upset when we had to pass out cigarettes to the police when my ex-husband needed some forms signed at a Hubei government office for his green card application 22 years ago. How in the world would I deal with handing out Tory Burch?I could go on and on about what I learned in this book, but I don’t want to spoil it. I bought a copy for the principal of my kids’ school (here I go again with gifts to educators, but it’s not Prada!) and when I saw him last week and started to get excited about the book, he said he didn’t want any spoilers either. So please pick up this book if you’re at all interested in education, global affairs, China, or just love to read compelling stories. You’ll love it!

This book is a personal journey through the Chinese Education system from 2010 to 2017. The story begins with the experiment of sending the author’s preschool son Rainey to a coveted preschool in Shanghai after her family’s relocation. The motivations for sending Rainy to a Chinese public school were rooted in their own backgrounds– her husband’s Peace Corp experience in rural China, and her own Chinese American background by birth. As parents, they felt it was important for Rainey to learn another culture and they wanted a nimble child who could handle a rapidly changing world as a global citizen.The author has mastered the Chinese language not only the written characters and 4 tones associated with each character but also the phrases and the associated stories behind those phrases which allow her to give additional insights in her comments from the perspective of an American. Given her exposure to Chinese culture as a daughter of immigrants who unwillingly attended America Chinese School before her coming of age, combined with her professional journalist background and first-hand experience in Chinese education of sending her precious toddler through the pipeline of the Chinese school system, Ms. Chu is in a unique position to write this riveting and revealing story about the current Chinese education.Following the arduous steps of getting Rainy into school, Ms. Chu had entered a brave new world of Chinese Education system where she mastered the art of dealing with Chinese school including the knack of gifting, connecting to school with constant webchat, roaming Shanghai on her bicycle amid the congested traffic, reconciling education in Chinese style vs that of western style, and how to fit in with a Chinese parent group by attending birthday party, how to talk politely to the teacher getting her point across with respect for the teacher, how to walk around the established rules etc. More interestingly, the author interviewed many Chinese friends and even ventured into the country side to observe a middle school examination in addition to her prior first-hand experience in accompanying one of her young friends in his college entrance examination. As an outsider Ms. Chu gained first-hand knowledge how these examinations are conducted and the associated deficiencies related to this high pressured events. With the assistance of two older teenaged friends: Amanda- a rebellious exchange student who visited the US, and liked to read Camus and Proust; and Darcy- a more conventional bright student from rural China who is ready to climb the social ladder by joining the communist party; Ms. Chu discovered more interesting aspects of their lives growing up in China. Despite their divergent path, both these teens agree that hard work will eventually pay off for their respective future endeavors irrespective of what they may think (the central doctrine of Confucianism). Both kids realize democracy is a luxury whose inefficiency may impede the progression of China to be a developed country, keenly aware of the existence of the censorship and the power it wields over ordinary citizens and the vast gap in wealth and social inequality between the rural poor and nova rich city dwellers as the result of private enterprise. Despite the mandatory infusion of political ideas into public education, the state has overestimated the impact of state advertising on the youth as Darcy whispered to Chu that “China is growing a nation of patriots who worship the party in public but cultivate alternative thoughts in private”.Ms. Chu also broached the difficult subject of social and economic inequality. For her research Ms. Chu ventured from prosperous Shanghai to the rural part of China thru a migrant domestic worker– Lauren as she explained the plight of a hundred million who are separated from their family and kids in the village because the antiquated household registration system and the disparity in economic and educational opportunity between urban and rural China- the very condition foment the rise of Mao and communism 70+ years ago.In the book, Ms. Chu explained the difference in educational philosophy between China and the US results in the difference in altitudes of the public toward children’s education. These dissimilarities evolved into vast different teaching methods and school discipline in guiding students. Her comments relating to what she learned are worthwhile reading for many who are not familiar with Chinese culture. I have enjoyed reading through the book as the story moving from Rainey’s registration and admission to Soong Ching Ling School to the successful graduation for both the author and Rainey in adapting to a new education system in spite of her initial misgivings about the cultural differences. Kudos to Ms. Chu for sharing one of the oldest ritual practiced in the Chinese family- the thought process in naming her sons. For Rainey, she chose the word comprised of three stones stacking on top each other（磊）. Stone symbolizes an upright person in Chinese literature and 3 uprights will last more than a lifetime. For her second son Landon, the word gold is repeated 3 times denoting lifetime prosperity（鑫）. For a family, there is nothing better than to have a child upright in character and another with three-fold prosperity.In addition to other well-written education books such as “Grit” by Anglo Duckworth and “The Smartest Kids in the World” by Amanda Ripley, this book is a must-read for those interested in education in general and Chinese culture in particular as the world turns toward a new China century.

This book was fascinating for me. As an American who placed my two oldest children in the Japanese public school system for 7 years, and then many years later entered my three youngest children in Korean Hagwan (extra-curricular school) in Korea for 2.5 years, I resonated with many of the situations the author found herself facing. I also found myself first being bewildered, upset, and even angry at many of the situations my children and I encountered in the Japanese and Korean school systems (which are similar to the Chinese school systems, especially the Korean). And like the author, I also found myself feeling grateful and appreciative for the many, many positive aspects that were beneficial for our children and our family. Like the author, I ended up feeling that a combination of the strengths of East Asian and American school systems (and cultures), would accomplish the ultimate good.Now I teach English to Chinese children 6 days a week. And I marvel at how well behaved, respectful, and intelligent these children are - how willing they are to learn - how willing they are to patiently follow instructions and keep trying until they get it right - how well they understand advanced math concepts at very young ages. They are a marvel This book helped me to understand why they are this way, and why American children are not nearly as much this way. As I read this book, I experienced the now familiar roller coaster of emotions - feeling upset and even angry at the Asian (this time Chinese) school system, and all it demands of children - then gradually realizing that there are good aspects of the Asian (Chinese) school system that we lack in the west, and that could benefit our children - and ultimately realizing that a fusion of the best parts of both school systems (and cultures) would accomplish the ultimate good. We have always been so grateful for our time in Asia. We haven't lived in China, but we have visited. We were blessed to spend enough time in Asia to be able to let go of our western paradigms, at least a little, and start to understand and embrace the positive aspects of collectivist cultures. There are so many aspects of these cultures that would strengthen and improve our American culture greatly. Since the earliest of our 12 years in Japan, nearly 26 years ago now, we have hoped that we could choose and implement the best parts of eastern and western cultures in our lives and in our value systems. We have found that doing this makes it so we don't fit into American culture well anymore, and we are often misunderstood. We generally feel like outsiders, and often long to feel that we fit in, especially here in the Midwest. But we also find that we are changed for good (and hopefully for the better). We can't erase the imprint of East Asian culture on our hearts and minds, and we don't want it to be erased. We love East Asian culture. We love the people. We love their love and respect for education. We love the time we spent in East Asia, and we miss the people and their cultures terribly.

Wow this is going to be my first-ever book review after 3(?) years of my account being dormant... still trying to figure out the functions of Goodreads so please no bully if review bad ;-; (and I'm staying casual for my returning attempt)In the opening pages of the book, I was slightly off-put by seemingly pretentious claims and sweeping generalizations made by the author to know both the American and Chinese education curriculums. However, with a little perseverance in reading, it quickly became apparent of the amount of work and tenacity put behind this investigative piece, convincing me, as an individual that partially experiences the situation described in the book, of her qualification and astuteness. Perhaps most inspiring, Lenora Chu narrates her findings through the experience of her own son in a local Chinese schooling system, flawlessly transitioning between real-world implications and the humanizing connections she makes to her own son. Overall, I would highly recommend this book, especially to individuals in SAS. Her discussions are eye-opening and should resonate with anyone that has experienced a mixture of Chinese and American education to a certain degree. Moreover, one chapter of the book is dedicated to exploring the effects of a seemingly perfect meritocratic educational system (defined purely by testing scores and academic results) on rural areas of China and consequently the creation of migrant schools for students without "hukou". Ironically, these couple of pages explained more than my understanding from an entire lifetime at SAS, delving into the perverse rural experiences that expand beyond a generic statement of "donating equipment/money/classroom materials to migrant schools" into truly understanding the structural problems faced in hierarchy of education in China. *PS. One more small anecdote to convince you to read the book if my loosely-tied thoughts have not yet: Over the Eleventh, Ruitao, out of boredom, began to frivolously read a couple of pages in the middle with me during the writing sessions. Little did I know, for the next two hours, he held my phone hostage as he demanded to let him continue reading while ignoring my (rightful) requests to have my phone back -.-

Author Lenora Chu and her husband were living in China when this book was written. Her parents came to the US before she was born, so she was raised in a Chinese-American household. Her husband is an American. They were living in China because he got a job there.Because she had heard good things about Chinese schools, they decided to enroll their eldest son in a Chinese preschool in Shanghai. What happened next formed the basis for a research project into the Chinese educational system, as well as a personal reflection on how the school system has impacted their life.The author gives a fascinating first-hand look inside of Chinese schools, from both a Chinese and an American perspective. The school system in China is much different than the one in America, but the two have their similarities.I really enjoyed reading this book as my son recently married a China national. She was born in Yan Tai, China, and lived there until she came to the US to go to graduate school. Because I might someday be the grandmother (I hope) of a child with both American and Chinese heritage, I was drawn to a book such as this. The subject matter is very interesting and the writing is both factual and personal. I learned a lot more about Chinese culture than I knew before I read this book (although I was familiar with some of it). The text is sprinkled with Chinese words that are defined in the text and that help lend meaning to the story line.Even though I really enjoyed reading this book, and I gave it 5 stars because of the topic and the writing, I have to say that the author could have used a good finishing editor before the story went to print. There were a few discrepancies in the story line that bothered me. One of them was when the author talked about the process of finding a Chinese nanny for her son to help around the house. The text says she interviewed 3 perspective employees, but for various reasons, chose none of them. However, prior to the mention of this interview process, and after this segment in the book, she talks about her son's nanny, but the reader is never told how she found a suitable person for the position since she rejected the only 3 she actually talks about in the book.

Lenora Chu's insights into the Chinese education system were fascinating. At once alarming, and insightful, I appreciated the way she navigated the line between American education philosophy and Chinese education philosophy. From an educators point of view, I find the whole of Chinese education to be fascinating. The idea that a central form of education has sprung up in a couple of decades, compared with America's public education system that has existed for around 150 years, the Chinese are doing remarkably well at making it up as they go along. As Chu states in the book, perhaps this has something to do with the fact that the Chinese quite literally invented the standardized test, and that anyone could take this test to raise their social station. I think American educators have a lot to come and ponder in this book, both good and bad. I especially enjoyed Chu's outsider view, not only on Chinese education but education in general as she is not trained as an educator and approached this only as a concerned mother. For as often as our educational system is compared with China's, there is little we actually know of China's education system and this book goes a long way towards remedying the lack of insight.