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1. Introduction
In a lifetime， family is the first school. Generally， the earliest education is also the longest and most profound one. There are many kinds of family education in the world and each of them shows distinctive features based on different social systems， culture backgrounds， and educational aims and so on.
According to the interview in a Canadian family， we found many great differences in the concepts， methods and contents of education between Canada and China.
2. Aims of family education
“What is family education for？” It is the general idea of what family can help to foster the children and what kind of people they are taught to be. According to our research， there’re some basic types among Chinese and Canadian.
In China， most of parents make effort to provide good conditions for children in the hopes of ensuring them a carefree future. In this sense， the top concern in Chinese family education is good performance in study， and other abilities come off second place.
Contrastively， in Canada， family education is not about being outstanding. They attach greater importance kids’ strength and experiences. Therefore， they value the ability to adapt to changing environment and live independently with self-consciousness and confidence. Canadians don’t pave the road for their kids. Instead， they involve themselves into the kids’ education.
3. Methods of family education
Different aims in family education lead to distinguished methods in fostering children. Basically， we find two typical kinds of approach in Canadian and Chinese family education.
3.1 Patriarchy and staying around
In China， parents are the instructor， and obedience is commonly praised. Mostly， when parents are talking with their children， words like “do not”， “can not”， “should not”， appear repeatedly. And most children accept their parents’ words as golden rules to behave and socialize. Some even view their parents as authority.
Besides， Chinese parents are more likely to have their children stay around. This may originate from an old wisdom that one must bring up sons to support his/her old age. So when children are still young， parents try to prepare all things for their children. Therefore， most Chinese kids start to live on their won at an older age than Canadians， who leave their parents’ roof at 18.
3.2 Equality and letting go
Canadian parents are more likely to adapt to a method of equality in this process. Actually， most Canadian parents don’t formally educate their children specifically in anything but to provide them with backgrounds information for them to choose. Besides， unless serious issues happen， they seldom interfere with children’s private life. It’s also encouraged for children to find the value between spending and saving. And this is a way to earn one’s own respect self-worth. When kids become adults， most of them leave the house and begin an independent life. Canadian parents take it natural to let go. Just as the Canadian father said in interview， “If you are interested in teaching your children to be better people， the society they are living will be a better place.”
4. Contents of family education
As for contents of family education between Canada and China， we roughly sum them up the difference in two directions： academic-abilities-oriented and comprehensive-abilities-oriented. Besides， since sex problem has been a heated issue today， it’s fit and proper for us to discuss sex education.
4.1 Academic abilities
In China， a well-rounded education usually consists of moral， intellectual， physical and artistic education. Since a child enters school， the intellectual one comes to the first place in the eyes of both children and parents. And the center of family education turns from survival and morality to intelligence and performance. Parents push children to finish homework after school and take them to tutorial class on weekend. Over all， Chinese parents lay most emphasis on the academic abilities which are acquired from books and accessed by various kinds of tests.
4.2 Comprehensive abilities
Canadian family education pays more attention to children’s all-around development， including language， religion， cognition， comprehension， emotion， survival skills and other techniques. For example， some fathers will teach their kids about how to look after mechanics without hoping them to become an engineer. In addition， as we visit the civic center in Richmond， we see many children swimming in the pool， reading books in the library， learning to play instrument， and making sculpture clay. In all， Canadian family education give children multi-choice of their life.
4.3 Sex education
In China， sex is almost a taboo in family talking. Among our respondents， none has heard about safe sex from their parents. And 85% of them get knowledge about sex from media， book and their peers. This might give us some clues as to many social and family tragedies that result from lack of knowledge about sex， birth control and safe sex.
Frankly， this kind of tragedy also happens in Canada， but Canadian do better in sex education. According to our interview， Canadian children have sex courses at school and parents talk about it at home but not very often. In their eyes， talking about sex will embarrass the kids but they should know the boundaries and the consequence.
5. Conclusion
Family education is the foundation of the whole school education and social education.
For China， with the number of one-child family being larger， family education must be improved and linked to school education and social education. It’s necessary to inherit and develop the excellent tradition and get rid of the defects of traditional education. Parents should pay more attention to the responsibilities for the society and consciousness of independence， cooperation and the spirit of caring about others.
In a lifetime， family is the first school. Generally， the earliest education is also the longest and most profound one. There are many kinds of family education in the world and each of them shows distinctive features based on different social systems， culture backgrounds， and educational aims and so on.
According to the interview in a Canadian family， we found many great differences in the concepts， methods and contents of education between Canada and China.
2. Aims of family education
“What is family education for？” It is the general idea of what family can help to foster the children and what kind of people they are taught to be. According to our research， there’re some basic types among Chinese and Canadian.
In China， most of parents make effort to provide good conditions for children in the hopes of ensuring them a carefree future. In this sense， the top concern in Chinese family education is good performance in study， and other abilities come off second place.
Contrastively， in Canada， family education is not about being outstanding. They attach greater importance kids’ strength and experiences. Therefore， they value the ability to adapt to changing environment and live independently with self-consciousness and confidence. Canadians don’t pave the road for their kids. Instead， they involve themselves into the kids’ education.
3. Methods of family education
Different aims in family education lead to distinguished methods in fostering children. Basically， we find two typical kinds of approach in Canadian and Chinese family education.
3.1 Patriarchy and staying around
In China， parents are the instructor， and obedience is commonly praised. Mostly， when parents are talking with their children， words like “do not”， “can not”， “should not”， appear repeatedly. And most children accept their parents’ words as golden rules to behave and socialize. Some even view their parents as authority.
Besides， Chinese parents are more likely to have their children stay around. This may originate from an old wisdom that one must bring up sons to support his/her old age. So when children are still young， parents try to prepare all things for their children. Therefore， most Chinese kids start to live on their won at an older age than Canadians， who leave their parents’ roof at 18.
3.2 Equality and letting go
Canadian parents are more likely to adapt to a method of equality in this process. Actually， most Canadian parents don’t formally educate their children specifically in anything but to provide them with backgrounds information for them to choose. Besides， unless serious issues happen， they seldom interfere with children’s private life. It’s also encouraged for children to find the value between spending and saving. And this is a way to earn one’s own respect self-worth. When kids become adults， most of them leave the house and begin an independent life. Canadian parents take it natural to let go. Just as the Canadian father said in interview， “If you are interested in teaching your children to be better people， the society they are living will be a better place.”
4. Contents of family education
As for contents of family education between Canada and China， we roughly sum them up the difference in two directions： academic-abilities-oriented and comprehensive-abilities-oriented. Besides， since sex problem has been a heated issue today， it’s fit and proper for us to discuss sex education.
4.1 Academic abilities
In China， a well-rounded education usually consists of moral， intellectual， physical and artistic education. Since a child enters school， the intellectual one comes to the first place in the eyes of both children and parents. And the center of family education turns from survival and morality to intelligence and performance. Parents push children to finish homework after school and take them to tutorial class on weekend. Over all， Chinese parents lay most emphasis on the academic abilities which are acquired from books and accessed by various kinds of tests.
4.2 Comprehensive abilities
Canadian family education pays more attention to children’s all-around development， including language， religion， cognition， comprehension， emotion， survival skills and other techniques. For example， some fathers will teach their kids about how to look after mechanics without hoping them to become an engineer. In addition， as we visit the civic center in Richmond， we see many children swimming in the pool， reading books in the library， learning to play instrument， and making sculpture clay. In all， Canadian family education give children multi-choice of their life.
4.3 Sex education
In China， sex is almost a taboo in family talking. Among our respondents， none has heard about safe sex from their parents. And 85% of them get knowledge about sex from media， book and their peers. This might give us some clues as to many social and family tragedies that result from lack of knowledge about sex， birth control and safe sex.
Frankly， this kind of tragedy also happens in Canada， but Canadian do better in sex education. According to our interview， Canadian children have sex courses at school and parents talk about it at home but not very often. In their eyes， talking about sex will embarrass the kids but they should know the boundaries and the consequence.
5. Conclusion
Family education is the foundation of the whole school education and social education.
For China， with the number of one-child family being larger， family education must be improved and linked to school education and social education. It’s necessary to inherit and develop the excellent tradition and get rid of the defects of traditional education. Parents should pay more attention to the responsibilities for the society and consciousness of independence， cooperation and the spirit of caring about others.