A taste of the Finnish education system is coming to China this year for those aged two months to five years, as Dibi Academy China opens its doors in both Beijing and Shanghai. Dibi Academy is a one-stop shop for parents who want their child to gain a deeper understanding of specific educational content through studying that content from different vantage points. Dibi Academy asks, “Why take your child first to sports lessons, then to art classes and finally to music lessons, when you can get everything in one place?”
Based on the “top-ranked pedagogy from Finland,” Dibi Academy focuses on heightening communication skills and social group skills among children as well as between parent and child. The teaching methods emphasize play, innovation, and environmental awareness.
The Academy claims to use green technology and ergonomic solutions to ensure that children are learning in the most environmentally responsible, non-toxic, and safe environment. The teaching also integrates five cartoon canines called “Dibidogs” which represent the group’s five subjects. The Dibidogs are used to keep children engaged and help in the educational process.
Dibi Academy China’s early education centers will provide weekly classes for children based on two age groups: Babies’ Curriculum (2-23 months) and the Kids’ Curriculum (2-5 years old). The group will have both Finnish and Chinese instructors who will teach based on Finnish educational models, and the programs will encompass music, art, sports, math, and nature studies. Classes will be taught in English and translated into the local language. The Dibi Academy website states that both their concept and curriculum are “non-political and non-religious.”
Dibi Academy’s Babies’ Curriculum consists of arts, music, communication, and gym which all help to support the “baby’s development as a social being and the parent’s closer contact with the baby.” The Babies’ Curriculum is further broken down into three groups for babies aged 2 to 7 months, 8-14 months, and 15-23 months. Each lesson lasts 45 minutes twice a week with both babies and their guardians participating.
The Kids’ Curriculum has four separate groups, for two, three, four, and five-year old toddlers respectively. Children two and three years old participate in lessons with their guardians twice a week, while four and five year old kids participate on their own once a week. Just as with the Babies’ Curriculum, each lesson lasts 45 minutes. Lessons are broader than in the Babies Curriculum, including five subjects: art, music, sport, nature, and math. With regard to the curriculum, Dibi Academy states that the five subjects build on each other in order to enable “wide-spanning creative thinking which is strengthened with multiple, changing themes throughout the year.”
As the Dibi Academy China location has yet to open, the best way to contact them is to visit their website at https://www.dibiacademy.com/ or email them at peter.storgard@dibigreenglobal.com.
Photos: Annie Wang, courtesy of Dibi Academy
