<![CDATA[schoolshanghai.com]]> Tue, 28 Apr 2026 03:03:06 GMT Tue, 28 Apr 2026 03:03:06 GMT I've been with in Shanghai education in various positions since 2003. In that time I have noticed many 'hot topics' that we have to deal with while representing the students of up to 30 different cultures - but the one that makes a regular appearance is homework.

    I strongly believe that a good homework adds 10% to the school day.

    It makes the school year 10% longer!

    It makes learning 10% more successful!

    but only if it is done right...

However, some parents would like a daily concentrated dose of homework - sometimes of several hours length per night. And other parents prefer to have time for the children to play - 'to just be children'.

Both are right of course. But all would like to have a little guidance as to 'what is the norm'.

Time for homework

A school's homework policy should be balanced; allowing teachers and parents flexibility over the time spent on homework

    Approximately 30 minutes in total for ages 5 to 7

    Approximately 45 minutes in total for ages 7 to 9

    Approximately 60 minutes in total for ages 10 to 13

    Approximately 90 minutes in total for ages 14 to 16

    Approximately 120 minutes in total for ages above 16, but this will often be in a project based way and thus more difficult to measure.

Reading

If a child finishes homework early - this means they then do extension work. If the set time per day is broken then work could become rushed or done poorly. An ideal extension homework each evening should be reading (in any language)

    Approximately 10 - 15 minutes for ages 5 to 7

    Approximately 15 - 20 minutes for ages 7 to 10

    At least 45 to 60 minutes of reading for pleasure for ages 10
    Note that this is 'for pleasure' and should be enjoyed - books should be chosen by the student.

Writing

A daily journal in English for 8 to 10 year olds is a great way to get into the writing habit.

If learning an additional language, such as Chinese, then writing bi-weekly starting from age 8 is appropriate

]]> <![CDATA[Homework length]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:06:21 GMT As you know children need structure and this is practically achieved at school. There are a clear set of rules for each classroom the students use and for each teacher the students have; the students know precisely what they need to be doing at any particular time.

We find that when we change this structure - for example on a field trip or a Halloween event - we have to make an extra effort to ensure that discipline is kept. We have to make this effort as we have removed the structure; the clear lines that say what students should do and when they should do it. Often we keep discipline by inventing a new structure; a new set of clear rules and times for that event.

If your child has structure at home, a clear time and place set aside for homework, then your child will find it easier to do homework as structure will help.

Scheduled Time

Let's deal with the time first. If you know that your child needs to come home and have a snack before starting homework, then budget that time in too.

For example you could set the homework time as being 4.15 to 5.15 everyday - including weekends.

If this is a new thing for your child you will have resistance at the beginning, but it is important to persevere and reward with, for example, time on a favourite computer game on completion of the homework. As the days and weeks go by your child will need less incentives to sit down from 4.15 to 5.15 everyday. It will be automatic.

A quiet space

We understand that a set time is important to structure. The other aspect of structure I want to talk about is place.

Your child needs a working space for homework, not a playing space.

The desk or table that your child works at should be in a room with few distractions. You can’t play computer games or watch TV at the library and you shouldn’t allow anyone to do that in the room where the child is working.

If you have the space, perhaps the working room should be physically separate from where your child plays - this will assist further with structure. After all at school we keep the running and playing to the gym - both things that students can’t do in a classroom and they understand place better than most adults recognise

If a child is told - ‘In this place, there is this rule and in that place the rule is different’ the child - of any age - gets it intuitively.

If you have a study at home and it is not used from 4.15 to 5.15, then it can be the child’s study too. Your child will understand instantly that this is the place to work, and then that is the place to play.

The study dojo: bow and walk in.
Like martial arts. Students should prepare themselves for battle with the homework; they must clear their minds; they must focus on the task.

I'm joking of course - however, a set place and time for study of course means better focus.

]]> <![CDATA[Homework structure]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:06:21 GMT We have covered the structure that children need to do their best homework, the set time and the set place. Now I’d like to talk about patience and praise.

Parents and teachers know that patience is very important when working with children.

Specific praise is needed: ‘Correct’ rather than bland ‘good’.

Add more examples to the comments section]]> <![CDATA[Homework patience and praise]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:06:21 GMT Directly helping your child with their homework

Yes, you should help your child with your homework if you can.

But there is a line between helping your child and doing it for them!

We do see this problem. Here is a quick table for you to show what I mean.

Children helped with their homework Children who have the homework done for them
(by parent or home tutor)


If asked to do it again:

They could do it with very little assistance

They can’t do it


When meeting a similar problem (for example in an exam):

They can answer it

They guess or copy from another student


When asked to work alone:

Can

Has concentration problems
]]> <![CDATA[Helping Your Child With Homework]]> Tue, 07 Dec 2010 12:06:21 GMT
First a bit of history - after an enforced break international schools returned to Shanghai, led by the Shanghai American School in 1980. After a good run where 15 schools were granted a license by the Shanghai government, the last license was handed to Western International School in 2005, opening 2006.

Of course, anyone who has been following China knows that over that same period average GDP growth was close to double digits. One international school license per year in no shape or form kept up with demand from the influx of expatriates drawn by the opportunities.

Supply and demand stepped in. With schools massively oversubscribed; fees went through the roof.

Thus the anomaly, Harvard University doesn't really compete too much in the local area - its main competitors being the other Ivy League schools and other centres of excellence such as Cambridge and Oxford. If Harvard costed double what Cambridge costs then many prospective students could be tempted to stump up for an airfare to the UK.

However, schools by their nature are generally a bus-ride away - and competitors are those in the area. If you only have 15 'official' International Schools for a foreign population approaching 150,000 then supply and demand is really going to hit you hard. No school can hold 10,000 students, so all schools are oversubscribed; supply has been limited and demand takes over.

Thus we end up with this:
Shanghai international school fees]]> <![CDATA[Shanghai international school fees are more than Harvard]]> Sat, 21 Aug 2010 12:27:52 GMT EuroBiz

Since the introduction of what was possibly the world’s first national curriculum 1,400 years ago, the Sui Dynasty’s Imperial Exams, Chinese families have viewed education as essential for their children’s future. Thus it is no surprise that the squalls of Chinese economic and social change have affected education too, with the arrival of international schools and the re-introduction of private education.

For a communist state this was initially an anathema and the private schools appearing in the 90s hid behind the moniker ‘Experimental school’, these are mostly prevalent in Shenzhen, Shanghai and the coastal areas between – the very regions that felt China’s new wealth first.

Of course, the label Experimental merely means private school and the curriculum remains mostly the same as state schools, complete with political study. However, the exclusivity and admissions policies of these schools enable the same benefits that are available to private schools the world over: that the students are from motivated and well-fed middle classes, and that the teachers can be chosen and incentivised in a business-like way.

Indeed the incentivisation of teachers in China is quite interesting and holds a mirror up to Chinese education as a whole. Teachers are judged on - and quite often paid bonuses relating to - students’ results. Bonuses are especially common in the later grades, where entrance to University is decided by exam and the reputation of the school is on the line. This culture can lead to a ‘teach to the test’ mentality, with the issues that can arise from that; this educator has seen English assessments from Chinese local education authorities that punish certain correct answers as they are not the precise ones the examiner had in mind when setting the test. All the students are trained to avoid those particular right answers and give another.

Simultaneously as these changes were happening in the local education market an international education market sprang up to serve incoming expatriates as multinationals needed to promise their families exact same standard of living and education in order to persuade their staff to relocate.

To promise the exact same curriculum means to operate an educational island; teaching about American or British history and geography to the exclusion of the history and geography available directly outside the school walls. Additionally those students without foreign passports are forbidden by law to attend. These islands, little Britains and little Americas, do deliver to a very high standard; the facilities are superb and the teachers hugely experienced.

The fees are stratospheric however: three years at Harvard University is cheaper than three years at any of China’s 10 most expensive international schools.

This sort of cost is something a well-funded multinational can afford, but as multinationals are less well-funded these days and China’s first-tier cities have become less of a hardship posting, expatriate packages are becoming less generous. This is assisting the rise of education models that are between these two options.

Bilingual schools and local schools with International Streams have sprung up all over China. These schools are Chinese owned but sometimes run by western administrators and staff offering truly international education, in other words including aspects from the host country – China.

Read more on bilingual schools in the next post.]]> <![CDATA[International Education in China]]> Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:20:01 GMT Bilingual schools and local schools with International Streams often have several models co-existing on the same campus: one school offers both the Chinese national curriculum and the International Baccalaureate (IB) on the same campus; another school offers the Chinese curriculum, a Korean curriculum and the English curriculum on the same campus; and yet another school offers 4 different streams depending on the intensity of Chinese or English education required by the parent.

This leads to a great amount of choice, driven by the market, both inside a school and between schools. The costs are much lower than the ‘island’ international schools and the Chinese curriculum aspects open up Chinese language and culture options. Moreover, having access to the world renowned Chinese maths curriculum is highly prized by many.

One way to deliver these choices is Bilingual education, which when done well is an amazing thing to see, with students able to switch between English and Chinese effortlessly and, with those schools that offer the IB, conduct inquiry and research in both languages. Issues with school transfer can arise with this model however, as opposed to international schools that prize their ability to transfer students to and from the school: A student studying 6th Grade English National Curriculum should be able to slot directly into the English Curriculum 7th Grade whether it is taught in Shanghai, Birmingham or Abu Dhabi. Those with a more bespoke bilingual education can have more problems with transfer between schools.

A possible answer to this transfer issue is the IB. The IB Diploma, taken before entry to university, is internationally recognized and a good result can admit a student into the best western universities. The IB also certifies schools to run the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) and the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP). These IB ‘World Schools’ are one the fastest growing segments of international education, with a programme that is globally recognized and accredited. Indeed, many national curriculums are borrowing aspects of the IB. Therefore transfer from IB school to IB school is easier, and, due to the focus on learning how to learn, the transfer back to a national curriculum should also be easier.

The IB is not generally applicable to Chinese mainlanders as they must study the Chinese curriculum, however they do have access to Bilingual schools and are the largest customer segment in that market. In addition Chinese mainlanders with foreign passports are a growing segment of the international school market. Further, China’s international school market has enticed the South Koreans who have relocated to China in droves.

The many different nationalities, over 30 in some schools, present interesting and challenging cultural differences. A parent coming from Finland will have a much different expectation of education to a parent from China. In addition there are many ‘third culture kids’ who may have studied for only a short time in their country of birth but may also not be entirely at home in China. All of this presents a unique challenge to educators trying to set and meet expectations across cultural boundaries. A particular hot topic is homework: a western parent may prefer a child to have time to play and socialize with other children, whereas an Asian parent may prefer hours of homework per night to ensure that the child achieves highly.

All of this means that parents in China have access to an incredibly diverse, yet sometimes confusing, education market. However, these cultures coming to China present a unique chance in education for ‘east meets west’; to take the best ideas from both sides of the planet and ensure students are truly global in their outlook, learning from an international curriculum. Something their peers from the Sui Dynasty could not dream of.]]> <![CDATA[International Education in China, part 2]]> Sat, 04 Apr 2009 10:20:00 GMT