Parent Letter: Ethan and Olivia’s Mom

Looking back at the past year that my son has been attending SAIS, I feel emotional. I can clearly remember that this time last year, I was anxious about my 3 year old son attending school and separating from his parents. I was concerned so much about whether my son could adjust to the new environment and get along with teachers and classmates. This concern continued for 3 months.

On his very first day of school, my son drew everyone’s attention by his loud crying and screaming. Facing this difficult situation I plucked up the courage to turn around and leave, and entrusted the SAIS teachers to take care of my son. I believed they could handle this situation with their experiences and professional knowledge. Initially I thought it would take several weeks or even months for my son to adapt. But to my surprise, he accepted being separated from his mother on just the third day. My son trusted the school, and it also reflected SAIS’s professionalism with early learning education.

American education encourages learning with fun, learning in the great outdoors, learning with independent thinking and learning through projects. It fosters individuals with a distinctive personality and charm, with care for others and with the heart to appreciate nature. SAIS is an international school specializing in American education and I observed them for one year before enrolling my son. Critics may say that there are many other good schools, especially those that specialize in certain subjects such as opera, art etc. So why was I confident that SAIS was the best choice? The answer is reflected through 3 values: Responsibility, Confidence and Trust. These are what SAIS offers to parents and children.

Responsibility is a two way process. I feel that the teachers at SAIS respect the children in the same way they would respect adults; they allow children to speak their thoughts and be taken seriously and not neglect them.

Confidence stems from a teacher really knowing the children. At SAIS, the teacher recognizes the sparkle in each child, captures and nurtures it, and over time these ‘sparkles’ will ensure the child shines brightly with their own unique personality and charm.

Trust is based on the valuable feedback of fair love. Teachers give the children equal love so that children have the sense of security and trust at SAIS.

In the past one year, the joy American education brings to my son and the children is beneficial. They learn to get along with others through the responsibility SAIS gives; they learn to apply what they have learnt, both inside and outside of school, with the confidence SAIS inspires; they feel the truth, goodness and beauty in the interaction with people through the trust SAIS builds. The early learning environment of children plays a crucial role throughout the rest of their lives. As such, a successful ELE will offer children a great start and lead them down a bright path.

One day, I was walking holding my son’s hand and suddenly he said to me in English: “Mommy, look! It’s a cloudy day today.” I was so moved by this simple sentence, raising my head and looking into the sky. I felt it had been a long time since I had noticed the change of nature. Recently, my son is always asking me when he can go back to school. The joy American education brings to the children is self-evident.

A new school year has begun and I wish the children a wonderful school year at SAIS.