In the first half of 2020, affected by the pandemic, kindergarten children began home learning, and parents developed new demands for educating their children at home. According to an investigation by Beijing Business Today, a new business model of “home teachers” has emerged in the 0-6-year-old early childhood education market. Unlike traditional home tutoring, home teachers mainly cater to young children aged 0-6, addressing the educational needs of children who cannot attend kindergarten. They provide personalized education in areas such as physical education, music, and English based on parents’ requirements by sending matched teachers to their homes. With the introduction of community classes and living room mini-classes, the economic cost of personalized education is no longer prohibitive.
As a new educational model, home teachers have not only accelerated the rise of personalized education but also offered parents a new early education option. Looking ahead, it remains to be seen whether the services of home teachers will gain further acceptance from parents and whether they will become a beneficial supplement to inclusive preschool education.
Solving Pain Points with Group Classes
When it comes to the education of 0-6-year-olds, the whole family often gets involved, but how to scientifically raise children remains a common concern for many parents. Many parents previously told reporters that with kindergartens closed in the first half of the year, being cooped up with their children at home turned from “harmonious family time” into “chaos.” Home teachers emerged in this context, meeting the educational needs of families without leaving home and addressing teachers’ employment challenges during the pandemic.
Furthermore, some parents shared an economic calculation with reporters: if several children in the same community take group classes together and share the cost of the home teacher, the expense for each child can be reduced to about 2000-3000 yuan per month, which is even lower than some kindergarten fees. “The home teacher model solves the problem of not being able to attend kindergarten and the cost is much lower than we expected,” one parent said.
Currently, platforms offering home teacher services have begun to appear on the market. Beyond home teachers, they have further developed personalized education services tailored to different scenarios. According to the corresponding home teacher apps, parents can select teachers based on their expertise and teaching direction. Current personalized education models on the market include living room small classes (one-to-many), home early education (one-on-one), and parent-child study tours (outdoor scenic spots).
Personalized Early Childhood Education is Still a Blue Ocean
With the implementation of the two-child policy, the number of children aged 0-6 in China is steadily increasing. Data from the iiMedia Future Education Industry Research Center shows that in 2018, the number of infants and young children aged 0-6 in China exceeded 100 million, indicating a massive demand for the education market. Currently, China’s infant enrollment rate is only 4.3%, compared to the OECD countries’ average of 33.2%, highlighting a significant gap. Additionally, data from iiMedia shows that the number of kindergartens in China is expected to surpass 300,000 in 2020, and the market size of early childhood education in China is projected to exceed 270 billion yuan.
In addition to the vast market, recent years have seen a series of policies promoting inclusive early childhood education. In May 2019, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Development of Care Services for Infants and Young Children Under 3 Years Old,” providing national-level development guidelines for the 0-3-year-old childcare service industry, which previously lacked policy support. This demonstrates that not only parents, but the entire early education market and national policies aim to achieve the goal of “nurturing every child” and “good early education for every child.”
“Personalized education can effectively meet the educational needs of Chinese families, providing high quality at a reasonable price, reducing family education costs, and creating a supportive social education service system for Chinese children,” said Na Yao, founder and CEO of Moremom.
In Na Yao’s view, personalized education in early childhood might become a beneficial supplement to inclusive education in the future. “Currently, personalized education is a new form of education aimed at the future. It provides services for more families with specific needs, supplementing inclusive preschool education. Personalized education helps promote community and family childcare models in Chinese society and offers beneficial personalized education for kindergartens.”
Promotion and Implementation Still Require Mindset Shifts
Industry insiders point out that in the promotion of personalized education, parental attitudes are crucial for the implementation of innovative educational models. Although some young parents are actively exploring new educational methods, elderly caregivers often have doubts about new models, making mindset shifts a primary challenge for the future of personalized education.
Shi Fen Ye, Dean of the Golden Autumn Education Research Institute at Peking University, Visiting Professor at the College of Humanities of Northeast Normal University, and PhD in Curriculum and Teaching from the University of Florida said, “The most crucial aspect of early childhood and preschool education is the parents, specifically their understanding and practice of early childhood education. Parents must know the growth patterns of young children and form a clear understanding of children aged 0-6. During these six years, parents help children prepare for their future learning journey.”
Similarly, when discussing early childhood and preschool education, Huiqi Tong, researcher of the National Cultivation Education Research Project and founder of Sensory Integration Training Without Equipment, emphasized that the foundation of any education is a unified family education concept. “In my research on thousands of family cases, I found that the parents who excel in education focus their efforts on children aged 0-6, setting a solid foundation that benefits the children for life.”
“Education is a science, requiring each family member to study diligently and form a unified educational value system. Every child is born with talents and missions, and we must not let educational failures bury these talents,” Tong further pointed out.