Alternative teaching aims to cultivate creativity, personality and emotional intelligence, Deng Zhangyu reports.

Mom: simple education

Nun gives gift of language

In 2006, Zhang Dongqing decided to home-school her little girl and with three other families, she rented an apartment where she would teach their children. After eight years, the education pioneer is proud of the growing number of families that have embraced her educational concept.

Fruit trees in Beijing's suburbs surround the redbrick buildings that house Ririxin School. On the football field kids chase each other. Three boys look for insects in the grass while a girl draws a picture of fruit trees in the distance.

"Playing is the way children get to know the world," Zhang says while walking towards her office. During the short walk she was greeted by children running by, some of whom stopped to share their little secrets with her.

Unlike most traditional schools where teachers keep a distance from students, staff at Ririxin are friends with their pupils. They play with them, tell them stories, make handicrafts together and write letters to each other.

Vegetable plots behind the school produce healthy food for the kids and allow them to stay close to nature.

The school offers classes on ancient Chinese poetry, martial arts and handicrafts. Zhang, who was a university Chinese teacher for 20 years, compiles the textbooks for Chinese classes herself. Twice a year, children from the school travel to other places to study for two weeks and experience life in ancient towns or villages.

"Kids are like seeds. We just need to provide a good environment for them and leave them to grow naturally," says the 48-year-old educator.