Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Fourth Ring Road. Most of the major international schools, however, are farther northwest,
outside the Fifth Ring Road in Shunyi district. For an in-depth directory of all the interna-
tional schools in Beijing, contact expat magazine
Timeout
or
City Weekend
for a copy of
one of their annual Beijing school guides.
Homeschooling is also a popular option, although it's not for everyone. While this will give
you the benefit of spending lots of fulfilling time with your child or children, it is time
consuming, tiring, and takes long-term dedication. A full homeschool program should in-
volve 20 to 30 hours a week of teaching. A range of programs can be found online, such
as K12 (
www.k12.com
)
, a popular program for American curriculums, and EdAlive, highly
awarded educational software, which has been used widely across Australia's remote areas
and which comes in different versions for different countries. Armed with such resources,
you may still feel a little isolated, but you don't have to do it alone. Beijing has a well-es-
tablished network for homeschooling. For more help, contact the Beijing Homeschoolers
group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beijing_homeschoolers
. There are more than 200
members, and if you don't already have a friend within the group, you'll need to send the
group's manager an email requesting to be invited.
Finally, a handful of embassies around town, such as the German embassy and the
Pakistan embassy, have their own schools. Entry isn't necessarily determined by which
passport your child has, but you will need to investigate the curriculum choice for its relev-
ance to your child and the teaching language. The Pakistan Embassy College, for example,
offers a British curriculum taught in English, and follows the Islamic faith. The United
States, British, and Australian embassies do not have their own schools.
Many of the international schools can accept children with mild to moderate physical or
learning disabilities. If your child needs more support than what you're able to get from the
mainstream schools, however, then you may need to think seriously about living in Beijing.
Beijing previously had a dedicated school for expat children with disabilities, which ran
out of the Care for Children organization, but this closed in 2012. Your main options now
are homeschooling and support from centers such as Eliott's Corner (the Beijing branch
of Shanghai's Olivia's Place), a pediatric center that provides occupational, physical, and
speech therapy for children from birth to adolescence; and Side by Side, which offers sup-
port for kids with special needs and learning difficulties. A more Chinese-style school, Stars
