Expat Schooling Options in Beijing: Kindergarten and Preschool

Expat Schooling Options in Beijing: Kindergarten and Preschool

Choosing a preschool or kindergarten in Beijing can be overwhelming, with literally hundreds of schools to choose from both local and international, from English only, to Chinese only, to bilingual from Montessori to traditional, with prices ranging anywhere from 10,000RMB a year all the way up to 150,000RMB a year or more. Here we help you wade through some of the more popular preschools and kindergartens that expats in Beijing expats have chosen for their little learners.

Etonkids International Kindergarten
What they offer: Etonkids offers a Montessori-based curriculum and is spearheading a new Montessori teacher training program in Beijing, although not all of their teachers are necessarily Montessori certified. They have international kindergarten programs, which are fully English, bilingual kindergarten programs, which are 70% English and 30% Chinese, and what they call the Huizhi Bilingual Kindergarten, which is targeted more towards Chinese families. There are native speakers in every classroom in every program and they emphasize, in their own words, the Etonkids 3 Cs “Creativity, Character, and Culture.” They also have campuses located throughout Beijing, so families can choose the school nearest their home.

Website: http://www.etonkids.com

Price range: mid/high (60,000RMB-90,000 RMB/year)

3e International Kindergarten
What they offer: 3e’s stated mission is to “is to develop critical thinkers and passionate learners who can move fluidly and confidently across cultures.” 3e also boasts what it considers to be a true bilingual environment which results in children being fluent in both English and Chinese, something that other schools, with their heavier emphasis on English, seem to lack. Classes are small, with a maximum of 16 students in a class, and students spend half their day fully immersed in a Chinese environment and the other half in an English one. 3e is a relatively new arrival on the international school scene, having started in 2005 with a small pre-school program and rapidly expanded to include elementary up to 3rd grade. Despite being new on the scene, 3e has built its reputation and is strongly endorsed by former parents for the bilingual education it provides to young students.

Websites: http://www.3einternationalschool.org
Price range: High (206,000RMB - 229,000 RMB/year)

Sanlitun Kindergarten
What they offer: Sanlitun is a local public kindergarten which accepts foreign students. Sanlitun kindergarten has an excellent reputation among Chinese parents, and is known especially for its physical education curriculum. Because Sanlitun Kindergarten is a public kindergarten, prospective parents should expect spaces to be limited. Parents wanting to enroll their children in this exclusive kindergarten have even been known to camp out overnight the night before enrollment begins.

Websites: http://www.yeyslt.com
Price range: Low (500 RMB-1000 RMB/month)

International Montessori School of Beijing
What they offer: International Montessori School of Beijing is the most well established Montessori school in Beijing and hires only Montessori certified lead teachers and prides itself on their commitment to hiring only professional qualified teachers. At MSB, parents can be sure that their children are learning in a true Montessori environment, whereas other Montessori schools in Beijing have been criticized for using the Montessori name for profit. MSB is an accredited International School and specializes in pre-school, kindergarten, and elementary education. MSB has three handsome campuses in Beijing, located primarily in Chaoyang.

Websites: http://www.msb.edu.cn
Price range: High (80,000-140,000/year)

The Children’s House
What they offer: The Children’s House offers perhaps a more affordable alternative to the Montessori School of Beijing, with a true Montessori environment at about half the cost of MSB. They are the oldest Montessori school in the city, having opened their doors in 1992 and employ Montessori certified teachers from around the world. The Children’s House offers regular international classes with all instruction done in English, as well as bilingual classes where instruction is in Chinese with English speaking assistants in every class. The Children’s House also offers a full range of extracurricular activities including Kung Fu and Chinese language classes. The Children’s House currently has 3 Campuses at the World Trade Center, Lufthansa Center, and Yosemite Village.

Website: http://www.montessoribeijing.com
Price range: Mid/High (23,000RMB half days-60,000RMB/semester)

Beanstalk International Bilingual School:
What they offer: Beanstalk is an Bilingual school for students from aged 2-15 and they follow the International Primary Curriculum, which focuses on student centered, inquiry driven learning. Beanstalk combines Eastern and Western teaching philosophies and strives to promote a truly multicultural environment, with native English speaking teachers and Chinese speakers in all classrooms. The goal of this school is to create, in their words, “truly international citizens.” Beanstalk has been operating in Beijing for over ten years and has a reputation for offering a quality bilingual education at a more affordable price than some of the more expensive international schools in the city.

Website: http://www.bibs.com.cn
Price range: Mid (60,000RMB-80,000 RMB/year)

Epoch International School
What they offer: Epoch International school offers a Montessori-based approach at a more affordable price than some of the other International schools in town. Each class is staffed with both a native English speaking teacher and a native Chinese speaking teacher. Epoch also offers a load of afterschool extracurricular activities like dance, piano, violin, Beijing opera, English and Chinese reading class that students can participate in by choice.

Website: http://www.epoch-school.com
Price range: Low (20,000-30,000 RMB/year)

Muffy’s Place
What they offer: Muffy’s Place is unique in that while the student body is primarily Chinese, they follow a Canadian curriculum and employ foreign kindergarten teachers. Instruction is entirely in English and students learn phonics, writing, social studies, science and math, with a focus on mastering these early skills. Muffy’s has two campuses, both in Haidian -- one  is in the Xiangshan area and the other in the Wanquan area.

Website: http://www.muffys.cn
Price range: Mid (50,000RMB-70,000 RMB/year)

Ivy Academy
What they offer: Ivy Academy is “a Multiple Intelligences based pre-school created in collaboration with Harvard Graduate school researchers.” Teachers tailor lessons to each individual child’s needs and interests, and give weekly reports to parents on their child’s progress. Class size is extremely small, with a 5-1 student teacher ratio in nursery and pre-k classes, and 8-1 in kindergarten classes. Ivy’s lead teachers are all highly qualified native English speakers with education degrees and teaching backgrounds in their own home countries. Although Ivy might seem expensive for a pre-school, your child is certain to get the individual attention that makes the higher price worthwhile.

Website: http://www.ivyacademy.cn
Price range: High (78,000RMB half day-116,000 full day/year)

Warning:The use of any news and articles published on eChinacities.com without written permission from eChinacities.com constitutes copyright infringement, and legal action can be taken.

Keywords: best international preschools Beijing best Beijing kindergartens Best beijing preschools best international kindergartens beijing expat schooling options beijing

1 Comments

All comments are subject to moderation by eChinacities.com staff. Because we wish to encourage healthy and productive dialogue we ask that all comments remain polite, free of profanity or name calling, and relevant to the original post and subsequent discussion. Comments will not be deleted because of the viewpoints they express, only if the mode of expression itself is inappropriate.

GeorgeMartin1

This is true that there are many pre-schools or kindergartens in Beijing. Many schools from them have been set more than affordable price which isn’t possible for an average income parent to pay the fee. Apart from that everything is good but the parents need to judge the school first—that is everything is up to the mark or not? Like the hygienic food, water, safety, playgrounds, student to teacher ratio, study curriculum etc. should be examined carefully by the parents. So that they can get the maximum output from their hard-earned money. For more information about Pre-school education go to http://www.greatbeginningslc.com/

May 23, 2016 18:17 Report Abuse