Among Shanghai's many kindergartens, the Bright Start Academy is a rare institution. This year marks the school's sixth academic year and today it now has around 75 students. With such a small student body, Bright Start Academy ranked sixth overall on the 2013 list of China's top 500 kindergartens as compiled by China Research Group, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington DC.

When Janice met Lana

The principal of Bright Start Academy is Janice Sigrist, an American with almost 30 years of experience in education. She came to China in 2000 to work as the head of an international kindergarten.

In 2006, Sigrist met her eventual partner, Lana Lai, a Chinese American living in Shanghai with two children. That year, Lai began looking for an international kindergarten for her daughter Sophie. After talking with Sigrist, she was impressed with Sigrist's philosophy and knowledge on early childhood education and decided to send her daughter to Sigrist's kindergarten.

Not long after their initial meeting though, Sigrist decided to leave the school she was heading. Not wanting her children to lose the opportunity of studying with Sigrist, Lai came up with the idea of starting a kindergarten with this seasoned educator. After searching for a suitable school location, she called Sigrist and pitched her idea 72 hours before Sigrist was set to board a plane leaving Shanghai.

With the help of another American business partner, a father of two children, Lai and Sigrist founded Bright Start Academy in 2009 with just five students.

One day at school

Sigrist helped build a French immersion program in Kansas City, Missouri, and is an expert in immersion education. Later, she brought her expertise in this area to Bright Start Academy as she carefully designed each aspect of the school's curriculum.

At the academy, teachers use English for communication and for teaching. "It's like when the children come into the kindergarten, they are in the United States," Sigrist told the Global Times.

According to Sigrist, there are two different programs at the school. One is the bilingual program, where children have two Chinese teachers and daily English lessons. The other is the international program, where children have one international teacher and one Chinese teacher. The children in this program will also have Chinese lessons.

The children are divided into four age groups. Each age group receives classes in physical, emotional, social and intellectual development.

Every day, the students enter the kindergarten at 8:30 am. After some developmental activities, such as paper cutting and drawing, they gather in their morning circle, where teachers will lead a discussion about a particular educational topic. Then they will enjoy some play time to relax and socialize with their classmates and friends. Normally, in the morning, the children will receive one lesson in English and one in Chinese.

At noon, the children learn life skills, such as basic table manners, while they have lunch in English. This is followed by story time and a brief afternoon nap. After the children wake, they receive another Chinese lesson and one more English lesson, with the day ending at 3:15 pm.

Parties and activities

Outside of regular classes, the academy also regularly organizes activities for its pupils and children in the community. On the morning of September 14, 60 families gathered at Bright Start Academy to enjoy some stimulating extracurricular fun and games at the Loving to Read Party. From 9:30 am to noon, the children could choose to participate in activities such as making handcrafts, reading, singing and dancing. Activities involving pinyin, phonics and storytelling were also scheduled.

Throughout the year, Bright Start Academy organizes other activities and parties as well; including its annual Halloween party, Chinese New Year's party and lantern festival party. These events are primarily for children between 18 months and 5 years old.

Children take part in a dinosaur dance at a reading party organized by the Bright Start Academy last Sunday.

 

Storybooks used during the activity

Photos: Yang Lan/GT