1 School—the second home if children
Beginning school
As I as time for my nephew to begin school, my sister and I went from place to place in the hope of finding him a strong primary school so that he could get a good start. However, we didn’t get what we expected. In Canada, 95% of the schools are public schools. Permanent residents, just like Canadian citizens, attend public schools for free. But they cannot attend schools out side the area where they live. As a result, Yuejue entered a public school, not far away from home.
年初，侄子越杰要上小学了，姐姐和我开始到处奔波，希望给他找个重点小学，让他开个好头，打好基础。可是一通忙话之后，结果却让我们的期望落空。加拿大的中小学95%为公立，永久居民和公民一样，上公立学校是免费的，但是原则是要就近按照学区划分(即住处所在地)入学，于是，越杰进了离家不远的一所公立小学。
The classroom—a fairy tale land
I brought Yuejie to school on the very first day and got a chance to visit the classroom.
The teachers tried all they could to make their classrooms look like a see of flowers, with the children’s drawing and paintings hanging on the walls. There is no individual desk. Five or six hairs of desks and chairs were arranged in a group. It was quite a friendly atmosphere. The children seemed more like brothers and sisters than classmates. At 8:45, the students began arriving. It was snowing outside. The kids took off their boots and coats in the hallway and put on their indoor shoes all in front of their individual cupboards. It Ws freezing outside, with the temperature more than ten below zero. However it was quite warm inside. All the students were wearing T-shirt or skirts.
In such a beautiful classroom, you felt as if you were in a fairy tale world. No wonder these children come to school everyday so happily.
第一天送越杰上学，顺便参观了一下教室。
老师们竭尽全力把自己班级的教室布置像花海一样。墙上挂满了孩子们的作业和作品。在这里没有单独的课桌，所有桌椅被摆成五，六个一组，孩子们一起做功课或者分享和讨论。气氛非常友爱默契，既是同窗，更像弟兄姐妹。早上8点45分，学生陆陆续续来到学校。因为外面下着大雪，大家在走廊内换掉靴子，换上室内鞋，并且在自己的柜子里脱掉厚重的外套。尽管室外是零下十几度，漫天飘雪的寒冬，教室里却很暖和，大家都穿着T恤和裙子走来走去。
置身于这样美丽的教室就像进入了春天的童话世界，难怪孩子们每天欢天喜地的来上学呢。
2 about love
Close friends
As Yuejie been in Canada for no more than 3 months, and because he was a transfer student, we were worried about whether he would have trouble making friends or fitting in due to his poor English. For a few days during play-time I went quietly to see whether everything was OK and found he was happily playing with the other children.
After getting home, I asked him whether he could understand what others were talking about. He said no. However he told me he could see and understand how others were playing. Son Yuejie had a few close friends.
There as a mentally handicapped child in Yuejies class. During the noon break, the children took turns accompanying him in playing games. In the words of the teachers, it is an important part of their teaching program to allow the children to learn how to be kind and help others.
Yuejie likes his school, teachers, and classmates. No one has ever rejected or bullied him. A shot time later, Yuejie told me that an Indian girl came to his class. He treated the new student just the way others had treated him at the very beginning. Now the two are very good friends.
越杰到加拿大不到3个月，又是插班生，我们一度担心他会不会因为英文不好交不到朋友，或者受到其它同学的排斥和欺负。于是有几天课间休息的时候，我悄悄跑到学校去看，发现他和大家有说有笑，玩得很开心。
回家问他是不是能听懂大家说的是什么？他告诉我说他听不懂，但是呆以看懂大家在怎么玩。很快的越杰班里有了几个铁杆好朋友。越杰班里，有个智障的孩子，中午休息的时候小朋友们轮流陪他玩游戏。老师说，让孩子从小就培养一颗善良和心和帮助的精神是这里教学的重要方面。
越杰很喜欢学校、老师和同学们，从来了没有人排斥他。过了不久，越杰说班里来了新同学，是个印度女孩。越杰就像刚开始别人对待他那样帮助新来的同学。现在人们已经是非常好的朋友了。
The headmaster and class teacher Miss Parker
Yuejie also told me that he likes the headmaster of the school. The children often go to the headmaster’s office to visit. The headmaster is very kind to them it made me think of how different my experiences were in dealing with Yuejie’s headmasters n china before going to Canada. Not even the parents, let alone the children, were willing to meet the headmaster and the dean of the school. Their solemn faces and arrogant attitudes really put me off.
另外，越杰告诉我，他很喜欢校长太太，孩子们常去校长室，校长对他们非常礼貌也很和蔼。这让我回想起出国前和越杰国内学校校长打交道的经历。别说孩子了，连大人都很不愿意去见校长和教导主任。他们对于铁面无私的面孔以及不怎么尊重人的态度让我每次都心生恐惧。
Not only do the kids really like the headmasters, they are also very close to the teachers. They often cal their class teacher ”Miss Parker”, Miss Parker often uses very loving word to address the children, such as “dear”, ”darling”, “honey”, “sweet heart” and “sweetie”. The polite expressions “thanks” and “please” are often heard when teachers and kids are interacting. Perhaps this is the biggest difference between Chinese and overseas teachers when they are dealing with their students. I remember reading some newspaper articles about Chinese student hating their teachers or even seeking revenge on them in some very extreme ways .This is very shocking to me. The way the headmaster and Miss Parker interact is something that should be learned from. Here, every smile and hug from the teachers make the kids feel warm. They trust and love each others just like close friends.
其实，孩子们不光喜欢校长，大家和老师的关系也很亲密。常听同学们直接称呼班主任Miss Parker，而Parker小姐也常常把“dear”, ”darling”, “honey”, “sweet heart”, “sweetie”这些亲昵的称呼挂在嘴边。当然，“thanks” 和 ”please”这些礼貌用语更是在老师们和孩子交谈过程中常常听到。这也许是国内外师生相处模式最大的不同之处了。记得曾经看到报纸上一些关于国内学生憎恨老师，甚至对老师采取过激报复行动的报道，非常震憾。像校长和Miss Parker这样和孩子的交谈方式以及尊重的态度倒是值得借鉴。
在这里，老师的每一个微笑和拥抱都使孩子们感觉备受宠爱，他们相处的就像知心朋友，互相赖和依恋。
How much do you love me?
Teachers often say to the children “I love you”. I learned a lot form this.
The Chinese don’t often express their feelings. Even when they love someone, they never open their mouths so ay t. but in the west, people are more open and direct in education the children about expressing love. Therefore we also often say to Yuejie”we love you” or “we like you”. Yuejie is always happy to hear this.
常听到老师们对孩子说“我爱你”，从他们的言语中我也学到了不少。
中国人的情感是含蓄的，常常是“家你在心口难开”。但是在西方，孩子们爱的教育是开放的、直接的、易于理解的。于是我们也经常对越杰说“爱你，喜欢你”，每当这时候越杰总是笑嘻嘻很开心的样子。
3 a diverse culture in the little “united nations”
“Celebrate New Year’s in Hong Kong, eat zhajiangmian in South Korea and ride elephants in India.”
Yuejie’s classmates come from different counties all over the word. They often gather together to have their own “United Nation’s conference”. One day after school, Yuejie declared solemnly they he would go to hongkong to celebrate new year’s, then eat zhajiagmian(noodles with soybean paste) in South Korea, and ride the elephants in India along the way. He even designed the route: first drive to the unted stats;then cross the padific to land in South Korea and eat the noodles, then take a train to India, and lastly celebrate New Year’s in Hong Kong.
越杰班里的同学来自世界不同的国家，大家在一起常常也有他们自己的“小小联合国会议”。有一天放学回来后越杰小同学突然郑重宣布，他要去香港过新年，在韩国吃炸酱面，再顺路去印度骑大象!甚至连路线也设计好了：开车到美国；横渡太平洋登陆韩国—吃面；吃完再坐火车到印度；最后一站到得香港过年…
In promoting integration of diverse cultures, the school often holds various activities such as a potluck dinner party. The parents of each student are invited to the party and encouraged to bring ethnic foods representing their country. The patents also often wear ethnic clothing. The arty not only aims to help the students learn from different cultures , but also helps the students learn to respect and tolerate others different lifestyles, behaviors’ and thinking.
在多元化的融合方面，学校也常常举办活动，例如举办百乐餐聚会。每个学生家庭都会被邀请参加，并且每家都带着自己制作的一两道具有民族国家特色的食物，穿着民族服装来参加活动。活动的目的除了要交流和学习不同背景的文化外，也是要孩子学会尊重别人、包容与自己不同的生活方式、行为和思维模式。
4 Give a fish? Teach how to fish?
I want to know the universe!
Canada adopts very flexible education model in its primary schools, affording the kids the opportunities to think, create and practice. No fixed textbooks are assigned. Little homework is given. However the teachers require the students to read 30 minute every day, 4 books of various differ作者: 加肥猫 时间: 2007-9-4 15:53
4 Give a fish? Teach how to fish?
I want to know the universe!
Canada adopts very flexible education model in its primary schools, affording the kids the opportunities to think, create and practice. No fixed textbooks are assigned. Little homework is given. However the teachers require the students to read 30 minute every day, 4 books of various different subjects each week. In the overall teaching program, the English language subject distinguishes itself. The teacher teaches grammar and writing in a vivid way, giving the students popular science reading material. These include subjects such as astronomy, geography, nature amongst others. If a child is particularly interested in a subject, the teacher will offer him or her various channels to find more related materials.
加拿大的小学教育方式灵活而且多变，也给孩子们很多思考的空间，以及创造和实践的机会。
虽然小学没有固定的课本，并且每天的家庭作业也很少，但是老师坚持要学生每天花30分钟阅读，每周要读4本各类书籍。在总体的教学规划中语文课最有特色，老师以形象生动的方式教授语法和写作，同时还会给学生读一些知识性很强的少儿读物，如天文、地理、动植物、历史故事和自然等等。如果有孩子对其中的内容特别感兴趣，老师还会提供给他各种渠道去找更多的相关资料。
Yuejie is crazy about space. A few months ago, Miss Parker gave a lecture called”I am in the universe”, helping him become interested in all things relating to space, the universe and planets. He borrowed a lot of relevant books from the school and pubic libraries and asked us to teach him how to read them. He also asked his mother to bring him to the planetarium several times. With a deeper understanding of space, he has become more and more fascinated with spacecraft and space travel.
几个月前M Miss Parker泊一堂主题为“我在宇宙中”的语文课，让越杰对太空、宇宙、行星这些主题大感兴趣。他不但从学校和公共图书馆借回一大堆相关内容的书籍，并且缠着我们教他阅读，还央求妈妈带他去参观了好几次天文馆。随着对于太空的认识深度发展，最近他又迷上了宇宙飞船和太空旅行等话题。
The questions that come out his mind often completely baffle us adults. Fortunately the school organized a class trip to visit the Toronto Center library, the biggest library in Toronto. Now whenever difficult questions come up, his mother takes shim to the library to find the answers
.越杰脑子时里冒出来的问题常常是连我们大人都没办法解答的。不过还好，最近学校带孩子们参观了多伦多最大的中心图书馆。这样，一碰到难解释的问题，妈妈就会带他去图书馆寻找答案。
Sometimes we wonder whether such abstract field is beyond the depth of a second grade child, however, he is so immersed in exploring everything about space that we admired his thirst of knowledge and support him in his pursuits.
Just like the subject of space, prehistoric creatures, prehistoric creatures, astronomy, ice hockey, and camping out also really fascinate the students of class A at the Public School.
有时候我们觉得，这样深奥的地一个二年级的孩子会不会太遥远深奥了。可是，看越杰执着的继续“探究”着神秘遥远的太空世界，我们又很佩服他的求知欲，决定支持孩子这种探究学习的恒心。
像太空学一样，史前动物热、天文热、冰球运动热、野外露营热，等等都曾经有这所小学二年级A班中掀起过一股接着一股的热潮!
Yuejie’s check list
Next week, the school will organize a camp-out at Blue Mountain for the second grade students. I was planning on helping Yuejie pack his clothing and necessities. But when I got home, I found he was already busy packing. I also saw the “check list” he had written. All the necessities, the things that were ready and things that needed to be added were listed clearly. The school might not provide enough knowledge for Yuejie. But we are confident in his future. Give him a master key, and is where any door that he cannot unlock?
下周学校要带二年级的学生去Blue Mountain露营。本打算下班帮越杰收拾衣物和必需品，可是到家发现小家伙已经在忙着张罗自己的行李了。还看见他给自己写的备忘录。所有的必需品，已经准备好的物品以及需要补给的东西都被清楚的分类列好了。也许现在的学校没有提供给越杰更多的“知识”，可是对于他的未来我们反而更有信心了。给孩子一把万能钥匙，还有什么样的门他打不开呢？
As learn more bout the primary school system in the west, I wonder what education is really about. Is it forcing the students to echo every word that the teacher says in class? Or simply training them as an expert in a particular field? Perhaps everybody agrees now that education should be about developing a good character, teaching children to think for themselves and giving them a positive attitude. That is what western education does – it nurtures children with wit and develops their abilities in self-learning, Self-realization and self-development. Just as the old saying goes,”give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he’ll eat forever”!
随着对西方小学的了解不断深入，我不禁在想到底什么是教育？是在教室里按老师所说的照本宣科？还是简单的把孩子培养成为某方面的专家、能手？也许，在每人心中都有一个共识：教育是要塑造孩子良好的性格、情趣、引导他们思考，并激发积极向上、不怕挫折的精神。而这也正是西方教育所做的，培养智慧的孩子，教他们建立和健全自我学习的能力，自我反省的能力，以及自我发展的能力。与其授之以鱼，倒不如授之以渔!作者: 原子 时间: 2007-9-5 09:27
猫导写得真好！我看过很多旅外的人士写得关于国外教育和学校的文章，描述的种种情况似乎是我们不可及的。我在想这种生态状况是如何形成的？我们可以做什么来改变？