“Ms He, I’m Chauncey. I found that the editor made a mistake. It should be "戛然而止", not "嘎然而止". I just looked it up in the idiom dictionary,” said Chauncey Liu, a Grade 2 student at YWIES Beijing, who found the wrong characters when reading Different Carmela 5 – I Love the Black Kitty。

Chinese Teacher Amy He praised him and helped him contact the publisher. Soon the publisher gave a reply and expressed special thanks to Chauncey for the mistake he found, admired him for the serious reading attitude at such an early age and informed Chauncey that the new edition of the book had been corrected.

“Chauncey is a diligent, steady and careful student. In class, he dared to speak and ask questions. The teacher could feel his thirst for knowledge from his concentration. He can finish homework carefully and hand it in to the teacher on time. When encountering problems in his study, he is willing to take the initiative to look up information and discuss with his teachers and parents. In his spare time, he likes playing the piano, drawing, playing Go and climbing trees!” This is the evaluation of Chauncey by Ms He.

YWIES upholds the philosophy of lifelong learning which helps students develop critical and creative thinking. Teachers arouse students’ interests in learning through carefully prepared themes and guide students how to obtain, filter, analyse and use related information based on their interests. Teachers also encourage students to explore, question and express own opinions accurately with relevant reference.

Chinese teachers and foreign teachers work closely to create opportunities of discussion, debate and speech for students to practise both Chinese and English, which is helpful for students to develop critical and creative thinking and lifelong learning. The development of habits in YWIES lays a solid foundation for their future.

Motivate Students to Learn, Explore and Experience
Through interesting and well-planned programmes, YWIES motivates students to learn, explore and experience in a love of learning and stimulating setting.

Promote a Love for Learning
YWIES aims to instil respect, love, and excitement for learning through enjoyable and developmentally appropriate experiences.

Cultivate the Habit of Lifelong Learning
One major goal of YWIES is to develop lifelong learners who will still be highly inquisitive long after their formative education has been completed.

Primary school is the golden period for people to develop memory and learning ability. Books are the ladder of human progress. The importance of reading has been well known at all times and at home and abroad. Extra-curricular reading enables students to deepen their language skills. It is very important for students to read more and accumulate more knowledge.

Beijing YWIES Reading Plan
"Beijing YWIES Reading Plan" was launched last year and became a part of the YWIES Chinese programme. Last semester, the students in Grade 2 read the author Sun Youjun's Magic House and Pig Snoring in Dilute (phonetic version). At the end of the semester, students created picture books with animals as characters to report their reading results, in which they wrote their own story and illustrated their own book.

Affected by the COVID-19, we can't finish the work in the classroom, but that has not stopped people’s enthusiasm for reading. From April this year, every Friday Ms He sends an electronic picture book to Grade2 students as an extended weekend reading assignment. Now we are reading Different Carmela series, the adventure story of a hen named Carmela and her children Camille and Carmen; everyone in the family is so brave, and dare to imagine and try.

Many students have the habit of reading at home; all the students reading the same series can help the students become more focused, and read the story carefully. Long-term persistence will become a habit and we hope reading will become students’ lifelong habit.