Babel School in Taiwan

Only in Taiwan (and maybe other small countries) can normal kids get a chance to appear on TV. I know that some of you may say that my kids have been on TV quite often and their faces are recognisable, but when they started their TV adventure they were ... just a couple of young homeschooled children, without any experience in front of the camera. How did it all start? Few years ago, when Zosia was 9 and Jas 4 years old we met by chance the Public TV team filming a popular children's program 下課花路米 Follow me, go! . Tim talked for a few minutes to the director and gave him his contact number. Few days later TV called back asking some more questions about our homeschooling adventure. And that's how it all started ... Later there were interviews, more interviews, never ending interviews ... Two and a half years ago kids were asked to take part in another Public TV children's program: In the beginning of 2012, after Zosia and her friends made a short documen...

This time I would like to write a few words about my 15 year-old daughter. After we got back to Taiwan from Poland I've realized what a busy teenager she is. It's really hard to believe in how many different things/activities she is involved. This semester she doesn't have many classes outside home, only art class and ice-skating. After 10 years of dancing in Cloud Gate Dance Studio, Zosia decided to quit, not because she doesn't like dancing anymore, but because of conflicting schedule. She chose to take part in the production of a first Taiwanese musical " Dancing Diva " 台灣舞孃 . One night a week she spends 4 hours observing the rehearsals and helping with little tasks. This way she is learning how a big theater production takes shape. She can see the work of director, producer, music director, choreographer and of course dancers and actors. Last week TEDx Youth@Taida took place in Taipei. Also in this event Zosia had a small part to play - she was one ...

It's been a while since I've last posted anything here, but it doesn't mean that nothing has been happening. In my opinion - too much has happened ... A month ago I decided to go back to Poland to take care of my Mom who has just undergone a serious operation. Timing was not perfect, to say the least - with the book promotion tour in full spin it ment that my husband, Tim, would need to take over all the presentations, TV and radio interviews and book signing events. To tell you the truth, I was kind of pleased with that... All those public events are not something that I enjoy. To make things easier on Tim, I took one child, Zosia, with me to Poland. Why the older one and not the younger one? Simply because I knew I wouldn't be able to look after Jas, think of activites for him and keep him happy and not bored. Zosia, on the other hand, can take care of herself, move around the city by herself and do her lessons without me sitting next to her. Before I left, I had t...

Since the publishing of our book we've been bombarded with requests for interviews, from newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations. Looks like almost overnight we've become some kind of celebrities. Below I am posting a few links to articles about our homeschooling experience: "Taiwan Lihpao" - a quite comprehensive article on our homeschooling experience "China Times" "ETtoday" - an Internet news article which is just a compilation of other news articles More articles are coming up soon. I didn't know that the author's work doesn't finish even after the book has been published. We are also having meeting with the readers. For more information please go to Facebook - 陳家國際自學校 Where to buy the book on-line? Cite Eslite Kingstone books.com.tw PCHome

Sleepless nights, kids left to do their homework all by themselves, minds full of thoughts and memories, stiff fingers from typing - all this leads to one great thing - A BOOK. After a lot of work on our and our editor's 黃靖卉 side we are coming closer to publishing our first book. Tomorrow we will be going over the blueprints and tomorrow night the printing begins! It will be for sale in bookstores island wide at the end of April or beginning of May. What is the book about? It is all about our experiences in raising and teaching kids in a multicultural and multilingual environment.  You can read about the reasons for choosing homeschooling and how we actually teach our children, how others do it and what resources there are for kids around Taiwan and on the Internet. We've been planning on putting our experiences on paper for quite a while, but we never could have gotten around it if 黃靖卉hasn't contacted us last fall and hand held us all the way. Thank you, 黃靖卉. The b...