Taipei City has done away with standardized summer and winter vacation homework, leaving many parents and students at a loss. Xingxing Elementary School in Hsinchu County asks students to decide on their holiday research topics before the semester ends, then carry them out during the break—some have even created mini-books like "An Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine." Meanwhile, Neicheng Elementary School in Yilan County takes students biking and hiking during the holidays instead of assigning traditional written work.
The Ministry of Education today held a press conference titled “Fun Winter Vacation – Learning with Joy,” inviting Xingxing Elementary School near Hsinchu Science Park and Neicheng Junior-Senior High School, an experimental school in Yilan County, to share how they plan these breaks.
Xingxing Elementary School Principal Chang Yi-tsai said that since the 100th academic year, they have eliminated standardized paper-based winter homework, encouraging students to plan ahead and borrow books of interest before the break, engaging in diverse parent-child reading and activities for self-directed learning. In summer, students are tasked with theme-based research projects—for example, older grades introduce exemplary figures, all presented through themed mini-books or posters.
Fifth-grader Guo Xinyu from Xingxing Elementary School shared that during her summer after advancing to fifth grade, she became interested in Traditional Chinese Medicine after watching the Korean drama “Dae Jang Geum.” She visited the library for research, interviewed herbal medicine shop owners, and bought some herbs to study. She learned that TCM not only treats illnesses but also promotes wellness, and ultimately completed her mini-book “An Introduction to Traditional Chinese Medicine,” which gave her a great sense of accomplishment.
Neicheng Junior-Senior High School Principal Liu Hsien-tung said they encourage students to plan their favorite learning activities and then fulfill them over the summer and winter breaks. For instance, students are tasked with completing at least five “Hundred Peaks” mountain climbs, four river tracing or rafting trips, identifying 300 species of wildlife, taking two county-wide or island-circling biking tours, and trying independent travel.
Neicheng Junior-Senior High School teacher Shih Chung-nan said that during the 2014 winter break, students independently planned a 5-day, 4-night self-guided trip to Japan—including itinerary, flights, and accommodation—all managed by the students themselves. The principal raised several hundred thousand New Taiwan Dollars externally, and each student contributed 16,000 NTD to make this rare project happen.
Yuyi Chuan, a seventh-grader at Neicheng Junior-Senior High School, said that during his summer after sixth grade, he and over ten classmates planned a 300-kilometer biking trip through Hualien, Taitung, and Green Island over four days. The school provided three months of training beforehand, including physical conditioning and bike repair skills. During the trip, one rainy day, an unknown retired teacher heard they were coming and cooked a big pot of chicken soup using preserved radish for them—a flavor he still vividly remembers.
“This kind of holiday homework gave me better childhood memories,” Yuyi Chuan said. He’s glad he didn’t have to do boring assignments over the break, and that hiking, biking, and independent travel made his vacations much more fun.
(China Times)