Family Profile
I should learn and understand
all aspects of my culture, so that
when I go to another country, I
can be a cultural ambassador.
Q: Deng Zezhi has been attending international
schools since he was four years old, which is a very
good way to learn English. The bilingual immersion
curriculum offered here at Keystone is in many
ways different from the language learning models
at many international schools. What motivated you
to choose the Keystone model?
Mother: The importance of attaining both fluency and proficiency in
both languages cannot be overstated for any child who aspires to stand
out in a competitive world. We believe that compared to the language
learning models at other international schools, the bilingual immersion
program at Keystone will be more effective in enabling children to switch
effortlessly between Chinese and English. Take my son for example:
before Keystone he often found it difficult to translate an English
concept into the right Chinese word or phrase. In a bilingual immersion
setting, concepts are taught in both Chinese and English through subject
content, and not through repetition. Children will thus cognitively learn
how to express the same thought in these two languages, which will help
them achieve native-level fluency in both.
Q: Deng Zezhi, you are still young, but in a few
years, you will join Keystone’s boarding program.
What do you hope to get out of this experience?
Deng Zezhi: Living on campus will bring me closer to my classmates and
teachers. We can build deeper friendships, and become a tighter group.
Staying on campus will also allow me to participate in more school
activities, and hone my skills in living independently.
Mother: Sending Deng Zezhi to a boarding school will be a fairly easy
decision for us – the foreign schools that he eventually will be attending
are all boarding schools, so it would be best if he could become
acclimatized to being a boarding student. I once read an article in which
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The Keystone Magazine
a father shares his experience of sending his child to a boarding school.
He said he felt the family grew closer, and the child shared incidents and
experiences from life on campus more enthusiastically. Deng Zezhi is
not a boarding student yet, but after the first family dinner organized by
Keystone he told me matter-of-factly that he wanted to live on campus.
He was impressed by the range of activities that boarding students
could attend, such as bird watching, Halloween night, and local specialty
market visits, and more – a few of which he participated in even as a
day student. And when I spoke to other parents, they said their children
were equally excited about the prospect of living on campus one day. As
a mother, it will be a bit hard for me to send him away to live on campus,
but Deng Zezhi has already set his heart on it.
Father: Although it can take time for a child to adjust to boarding life,
the experience will help him learn to live independently, and improve his
management and social skills. I believe children feel the innate need to
take their own initiative to interact with people and society, and want to
establish deeper friendships with their peers. A boarding life experience
would be an enabling environment for this.
Q: As you have mentioned, there are plans for further
studies abroad after graduating from Keystone. So
why