3e International School

At 3e International School we take a visionary approach to dual immersion bilingual education. Our half day English – half day Chinese program provides students with a research based bilingual curriculum, aiming to develop “creative thinkers and collaborative learners who are able to move respectfully and appreciatively across cultures”.

Our goal is to empower children to explore, experiment and express themselves in a nurturing school environment that is balanced appropriately between child-initiated and teacher-directed experiences. Social competence and an appreciation of other cultures are also important components of our curriculum and instruction.

3e is a non-profit organization that is funded through the sponsorship of the Sunwah Foundation and student tuition. All proceeds are invested back into the school in order to continually strengthen our high-quality program and facilities.

Principles guiding the programme

We strive to fulfill our mission by abiding by our philosophy, and we are committed to decisions and actions that emanate from the following principles:

• All children have the capacity to learn and succeed.
• Children need to have a positive image of themselves as learners, individuals and community members.
• Diversity of culture and language is a valuable learning resource for children who will live and work with others in the 21st century.
• Instruction for the young child must be engaging, meaningful, and useful.
• The quality and climate of the learning community will be a critical factor in children learning about themselves, others, and their world.
• All decisions in an effective educational milieu should be made in the best interests of the children participating in the program. 

Curriculum

3e’s Curriculum has been constructed to reflect research-based best practices in worldwide early childhood and elementary education.

Sections of the Curriculum are aligned to British Math & Language Arts Standards and US Common Core State Standards, in conjunction with Chinese National Standards.

Curriculum domains includes: English and Mandarin Language Arts; Cognitive Development; Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Knowledge and Skills; Global, Cultural and Social Studies; Creative Arts; Physical Development.

3e Program

We are sensitive to children as individuals, provide engaging, meaningful experiences so they can build a solid knowledge base and skills in every developmental domain.

Nursery (for children 2 years old)

Nursery classrooms at 3e are designed to provide children with a safe, stimulating, language-rich environment where learning is fun, interactive, and meaningful. Age-appropriate activities and predictable routines based on children’s interests and needs are balanced through both teacher-directed and play-based teaching methods. The child-teacher ratio is kept at 4:1, keeping children in a smaller, family environment with more opportunities for individual attention. 

Pre-Kindergarten (for children 3-4 years old)

3e has two grades for Pre-Kindergarten: Younger Pre-Kindergarten for children 3 years old, and Older Pre-Kindergarten for children 4 years old.

Pre-Kindergarten children at 3e spend half of their day immersed in a Mandarin-speaking environment and half of their day in an English-speaking environment. Class numbers are limited to a maximum 16 students per class, with two English speaking teachers in the English classroom, and two Chinese speaking teachers in the Chinese classroom.

Kindergarten (for children 5 years old)

Kindergarten classes are kept at a maximum of 18 students per class, with two English teachers and two Chinese teachers in each classroom.

There is slightly more emphasis on teacher-directed instruction as compared to younger grades. Exploration and and play remain important parts of the learning process, but children’s ability to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and ability to express this understanding becomes much more sophisticated. The increased attention span among this age groups allows for more teacher-directed activities that develop reading, writing, mathematical and critical thinking skills in both languages, building the base for them to become not only bilingual speakers but also bi-literate. As children’s social skills develop, more is expected of their ability to work in a team environment to solve problems.

Elementary (for children 6-12 years old)

Elementary classrooms are held at a maximum 20 students. An equal balance of instruction in English and Chinese is maintained. Mathematics and Language Arts are taught in both languages, while Science is explored primarily in English and Global/Cultural studies are explored primarily in Chinese.

Project-based or thematic cross-curricular learning offers numerous opportunities for children to take what they have learned and explore their ability to apply their newfound skills across many different school activities. Children experiment with and apply language, math and critical thinking skills alongside a great many others. Research and inquiry skills are developed and applied and cultural experiences learned from. Digital/computer literacy is also developed in these projects and a rich and exciting learning environment established.