Interview with Grace So, Founder & CEO, ActiveKids
What do you think is a good education?
As an educator for almost two decades and a mother of three, I have always been challenged by the question of what is the best approach for educating children.
My “traditional voice” is always yelling at my kids, “Study Hard! Hurry up! Get Good Grades! Get into a good college!” – as if ‘harder’ and ‘faster’ are the keys to a successful education and getting into college is the endgame. However, my “educator mind” has taught me to slow down and think through what a ‘good education’ means in the 21st century.
Having taught thousands of children, I see that a ‘good education’ serves multiple objectives
some near-term such as developing skills that will allow them to maximize their intellectual capabilities and collaborate on projects, and some longer-term such as inspiring children to enjoy learning and to be good responsible global citizens.
With our children squarely in the digital world, today’s education should emphasize less on memorizing and more on deciphering, analyzing and utilizing the information effectively. Google “What skills do kids need in the 21st century”, and study after study will show the keys to future success require capabilities such as collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, responsibility and self-motivation. So, is our current education providing enough opportunities to develop these life-long skills?
The Birth of ActiveKids
With that exact question in mind, I started searching for opportunities to supplement my children’s traditional education with programs that would engage different parts of their mind, while importantly being fun and interactive. Back in 2003, there were only a few options, and the quality of the activities was often not very consistent. Hence, I quickly realized that there was a big gap in such high-quality, interactive afterschool programs.
Given my background (Engineering Bsc from Brown University, Chicago Booth MBA and FMCG work) and experience in raising three young children, I seized this opportunity and founded ActiveKids in 2004. The overarching objective was to help children develop the love of life-long learning through a series of best-in-class, engaging and innovative programs, not found in a typical classroom. We want students to have fun ‘doing’ and in the process develop skills such as critical thinking, creativity and collaboration.
