Top of the Class: How Asian Parents Raise High Achievers--And How You Can Too

by Jane Y. Kim, Soo Kim Abboud, Jane Kim

Book Overview

Asians and Asian-Americans make up 4% of the U.S. population...and 20% of the Ivy League. Now find out how they do it. The numbers speak for themselves: 18% of Harvard's population; 25% of Columbia's; 42% of Berkeley's; 24% of Stanford's; 25% of Cornell's... What are Asian parents doing to start their kids on the road to academic excellence at an early age? What can all parents do to help their children ace tests, strive to achieve, and reach educational...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425205614
• ISBN13: 9780425205617
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

We Tried It ... and It Worked!

As an American temporarily living in Tokyo, I have been very impressed with the high achievements and standards set by the Japanese children around me. For example, at my daughter's school, which encompasses a large international group of children, I noticed that the Japanese and Korean children do seem to take home not only the majority of the academic awards, but also a great majority of the music and sports prizes also. After a little investigating on my part, I found the American parents often hold the attitude that children should come home and relax or play after school, and that the Asian parents pushed their children too hard to achieve. American children on the most part did not study beyond doing the required homework, played whatever sport was available for the three month sport season, and had no required practice time for music or other skills. However, after school many Japanese children attend extra school tutoring. Rather than play a different sport every three months, they concentrate on one sport, practicing year round to achieve greater competence. It is expected that homework, music or sports practice, or whatever be done to the best of one's ability. After reading this book, I applied several of the ideas to my daughter. I have just left her end of the school year award ceremony, where she just increased her reading book count from last years minimum, to this year being the second highest reader of the school. She also just received an award for her new musical accomplishments. As for after school activities, she recently won several trophies for big wins in swimming competitions. She is so proud of herself, sees what a little extra work can do, and wants to accomplish more. This summer we are adding extra math work to bring that score up to the reading score, and two weeks at swim camp. The ideas work. Read with an open mind, and I am sure you can find several ideas you can apply with your child also.

Top of the Class is Helpful

I had to read this book for one of my education classes and although in the beginning I felt as if the book concentrated a lot on the writers' childhood, I soon came to the conclusion that the book can be extremely helpful for parents.It's a good book to read if your child is just starting off in school and you want to make learning fun yet educational.

BEWARE

I was raised in a very traditional Chinese family. Oh yes, I even now attend an Ivy League school. One slight problem, my father used to terrify me by yelling at me and calling me "stupid", "lazy", and "useless" whenever I got a math problem wrong. This was during trigonometry lessons when I was in 5th grade. So, raise your kids the asian way, and they'll turn out to be valedictorians (like I was), Ivy-league students (like I am), and on anti-depressant medication (like I am). They'll also refuse to speak to you after they leave for college. I have not spoken to my father for about 5 years. Not a word. Oh yeah, the asian parenting also turned me into a raging feminist whose mission is out to punish every single father who tells his straight-A daughter that she is stupid, fat or ugly simply because she didn't know the graph of cosine.

extremely helpful book

In a day when so much emphasis is placed on the underachievers it's refreshing to me to read about what the high achievers are doing. Not only did the authors cover the high points of Asian parents' successes they also provided a chapter for their errors as well. I felt the book was helpful and clearly written. I disagree with the previous reviewers comments. I didn't see any back slapping here. Just a sincere effort to pass on a love of learning to others in an attitude of service.

a must read!

I found the book to be extremely helpful - as a result of the book I am more committed to education as a single parent and hope to embrace a true love of learning myself that I can pass on to my daughter. The book gets you excited about learning and gives you hope that you can make a big difference in your child's life without money or power. Truly inspiring and even entertaining!