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Yujing Liu

One of the earliest forest kindergartens in China sees a bright future for the alternative form of preschool education in the country, as more wealthy millennial parents shift away from traditional exam-oriented curriculum for their children.
Rockies Forest Kindergarten, in southern China’s Zhongshan city, is one of a few schools in the country that offer a nature-based curriculum. Children spend a significant amount of their day playing and learning outdoors in a woodland, farm and green yard that spans more than 20 acres (13,333 square metres) at the kindergarten.
The concept originated in Denmark in the 1950s, and over the past few decades forest schools have come up in countries including the UK, Germany, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Advocates believe being in a natural environment enhances children’s confidence, learning capacity and communication. This form of education remains little-known in China.
“Children at our kindergarten can ‘go wild’ even in a big city,” said Tan Xuexia, principal of the school. “The experience-based learning has fostered strong teamwork spirit and creative skills among them, and they are truly happy and energetic.”

The kindergarteners are led by teachers to enjoy a variety of activities outdoors, such as learning to make a fire to cook and growing vegetables. In place of typical art classes, the children make paintings in the wild with leaves, flowers and tree branches.
The school now hosts 625 children, up from less than 300 when it opened in 2016. Most the families live in upmarket residential blocks nearby, while a dozen moved to the city in Guangdong province from Hong Kong, Macau or overseas because of work. The interest in the school has grown so much that parents were applying for a spot a year in advance, according to Tan.
“The parents are mostly born in the late 80s or early 90s. They are more receptive to new education models, and want their children to have a happier childhood,” said Tan, who has worked for 11 years with schools operator Ren Ai International Education and played a big role in founding the school.
Ren Ai International invested 68 million yuan (US$10 million) in buying land and building the school. It licenses the forest school curriculum from Canada’s Rockies Education Group.

Many of the parents received financial support from their parents to buy property in Zhongshan, where prices are lower than neighbouring cities such as Guangzhou or Zhuhai. This allows them to spend more money on children’s education, Tan said.
Tuition and fees at Rockies Forest Kindergarten stand at 17,000 yuan per semester. In comparison, government-funded kindergartens in the city cost as little as 550 yuan per month. The average disposable income of Zhongshan residents was 50,47­8 yuan in 2019.
Demand for high-end international preschool education has been increasing steadily and is set to rise further in the coming years, Tan said. Living standards will improve in Zhongshan as the city grows with the Greater Bay Area, a 11-city urban cluster around the Pearl River Delta that Beijing plans to transform into an economic hub of the country.
Zhongshan revamps as Greater Bay Area transport hub
The local government in September sold a land parcel earmarked for an international school that can host 3,000 students, covering kindergarten to high school.
Kingston Kindergarten, another international kindergarten set up by two Chinese and Australian firms with an investment of 60 million yuan, has been operating since 2016.
The firm, which also runs four other kindergartens in Zhongshan and Jiangmen city in the province, plans to expand in the Greater Bay Area and build a new school in the region soon.


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Rockies Forest Kindergarten in southern China’s Zhongshan city offers a rare nature-based curriculum for preschoolers
Advocates are convinced forest schools enhance children’s confidence, learning capacity and communication


The number of children enrolled at Rockies Forest Kindergarten in southern China’s Zhongshan city has more than doubled since it opened four years ago.


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