School Daze in China
My two multi-lingual children have been working together each day on their respective vocabularies, one in English and one in Chinese. In four days Cici added 60 new English words to her vocabulary. Not little words. Words such as "bucolic," " nocturnal," "opaque," "translucent," "prevaricate," "avarice," and 54 more. She is such a good little speller. She writes each word as she spells it, reinforcing her learning.
So tell us, we asked her, about a typical school day for her in China.
We got up at 6:00 a.m. every day, Monday through Saturday, she told us. The first thing we had to do was go outside and run. We all ran together. I hated to run, so some days I would tell a teacher that my stomach felt uncomfortable so I wouldn't have to run. After we ran, we would eat breakfast.
Being curious, we asked her about breakfast.
We had many choices of food to eat, she said. Fruit and soup and vegetables, sometimes even hamburgers. We would eat quickly and then go to our classrooms. There were 48 students in each classroom. In my seventh grade class there were six groups of 48 students at my school. The students never left the classroom. The teachers would go from one classroom to another to teach the different subjects.
We would break for two hours for lunch, and could go back to our room to rest, she continued. At 6:00 p.m. we would leave the classroom and eat dinner, and at 7:00 p.m. we were back in the classroom where we studied in a supervised environment until 10:00 p.m. Sometimes a teacher would be teaching us something new, so we would be trying to do our homework using flashlights once we got back to our rooms at night.
What about summer vacation from school? we asked.
We took 3 weeks vacation in the summer and one week in the spring, she told us. The rest of the year we were in school. But it was too much school, she told us. We became too tired to learn, but the pressure for us to learn was intense, so we worked hard anyway. We all wore the same boring clothes, the same boring shoes, and carried the same boring backpack. We all had our hair cut very short, so everyone looked like a boy. The teachers were very strict. But that was our school.
I can't say that other schools in China were the same, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Cici attended what was considered to be one of the top schools in Guangzhou, so maybe the environment there was a little more intense. Ping and I went to see her one night at school. This was after 10:00 p.m. when the students had returned to their rooms. Cici was in a small room with seven other girls. There were four bunk beds in the small space. We took a treat to her - one of her favorite snacks. She was delighted.
Now here she is in America. It is Saturday morning and she is sleeping soundly in her own room. She is enjoying a vacation of nearly 3 months from school. Perhaps it isn't surprising, considering what she was accustomed to in China, that she has no complaints about the study schedule that I have her on this summer. She even asked me last night if I would bring her flute home from the office today so she can practice more this weekend. She was given some very difficult music to learn this summer, and she is determined to know it cold before school resumes at the end of the summer. I bet she succeeds.
So tell us, we asked her, about a typical school day for her in China.
We got up at 6:00 a.m. every day, Monday through Saturday, she told us. The first thing we had to do was go outside and run. We all ran together. I hated to run, so some days I would tell a teacher that my stomach felt uncomfortable so I wouldn't have to run. After we ran, we would eat breakfast.
Being curious, we asked her about breakfast.
We had many choices of food to eat, she said. Fruit and soup and vegetables, sometimes even hamburgers. We would eat quickly and then go to our classrooms. There were 48 students in each classroom. In my seventh grade class there were six groups of 48 students at my school. The students never left the classroom. The teachers would go from one classroom to another to teach the different subjects.
We would break for two hours for lunch, and could go back to our room to rest, she continued. At 6:00 p.m. we would leave the classroom and eat dinner, and at 7:00 p.m. we were back in the classroom where we studied in a supervised environment until 10:00 p.m. Sometimes a teacher would be teaching us something new, so we would be trying to do our homework using flashlights once we got back to our rooms at night.
What about summer vacation from school? we asked.
We took 3 weeks vacation in the summer and one week in the spring, she told us. The rest of the year we were in school. But it was too much school, she told us. We became too tired to learn, but the pressure for us to learn was intense, so we worked hard anyway. We all wore the same boring clothes, the same boring shoes, and carried the same boring backpack. We all had our hair cut very short, so everyone looked like a boy. The teachers were very strict. But that was our school.
I can't say that other schools in China were the same, though I wouldn't be surprised if they were. Cici attended what was considered to be one of the top schools in Guangzhou, so maybe the environment there was a little more intense. Ping and I went to see her one night at school. This was after 10:00 p.m. when the students had returned to their rooms. Cici was in a small room with seven other girls. There were four bunk beds in the small space. We took a treat to her - one of her favorite snacks. She was delighted.
Now here she is in America. It is Saturday morning and she is sleeping soundly in her own room. She is enjoying a vacation of nearly 3 months from school. Perhaps it isn't surprising, considering what she was accustomed to in China, that she has no complaints about the study schedule that I have her on this summer. She even asked me last night if I would bring her flute home from the office today so she can practice more this weekend. She was given some very difficult music to learn this summer, and she is determined to know it cold before school resumes at the end of the summer. I bet she succeeds.
Top, I wouldn't put it past her to know it better then anyone else at school,....even the teacher
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I have to say you are dead on about school. Even out in the rural area where my family lives, I did not see the son except for a few times because he was always in school, even late into the evening. Sunday was the only day off. I suspect this is going to be another culture shock in the making.
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That's pretty grueling! I wonder if she feels like she can do American schools standing on her head?
However, as a side comment, schools in Japan use the same 'students stay/teachers roam' system.
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