Andrew Ropilo Lanyasunya and Moses S. Lesolayia

November 2001

This study took place in the Hubai Village a small village in Hebei Province, China to learn how the villagers raise their children. The report is based on a study of ten village children between age one and three. Time was spent with each of the ten families, who had children that fell into the age group, observing their lives and engaging the caregivers in conversation about their children. The aim of this report was to learn about the villagers' childrearing experiences in their terms, in the context of observing their childrearing activities.

From the foreward... "The report begins with a summary of the childcare arrangements of each of the ten children studied. These arrangements vary from family to family, and frequently change throughout the year so as to accommodate, among other things, parental employment circumstances. The second section of the report describes: adult practices and expectations with respect to children's health and hygiene; the various activities that constitute a child's day, with a discussion of what adults endeavour to teach children, such as how to speak, read, write, count and draw; and children's relationships with adults..."

Contents:

• Foreward
• Introduction
• The village and villagers
• The children
• Health, hygiene and the body
• Children's activities
• Purposeful teaching
• Behaviour towards adults
• Concluding notes
• Bernard van Leer Foundation

This publication is available for download in Word or PDF from the Bernard van Leer Foundation website.