How would you like to start your school year in January, take Saturday classes, or have two-hour lunch breaks? Students all over the world face their own unique challenges but still manage to have fun. Today’s Classroom Extra gives you a peek at a few international classrooms.
AT 15-year old Jonathan Fonesca Camarena’s school in Guadalanjara, Mexico students learn in shifts. The first shift is from 7 AM to 1 PM and the second s from 2 PM to 8 PM.
Jonathan likes the afternoon shift. He spends time with his friends after school and plays his guitar.
He’ll complete his nearly three hours worth of homework in the morning. More than 1,000 students leave the morning shift while another thousand plus show up for the afternoon shift.
The school that Jonathan attends is called a preparatoria. It’s the equivalent of high school. He is required to take Spanish, math, art geography, chemistry, physics and history during the week and computer science and music as electives on Saturdays.
At the end of his school term he’ll choose a technical college. He hasn’t chosen a career yet but is excited about his future. “There are so many possibilities,” he says.
Ding Xu of Beijing, China isn’t thrilled about going back to school. “We have so much homework,” she laments. It’s a common complaint. The pressure is on because Ding is entering her final year of junior high school and she must prepare for the senior high school entrance exam. In fact, she even started school early, on Aug. 19, just to get a head start.
Getting into a good school is just as important in China as it is in the Unites States and like here, parents start their kids in good kindergartens.
At Ding’s school there are few after school activities – more time for studying.
“The best thing about going back to school,” she says, “is the chance to see my friends.”
Tanya Zarutskaya of Moscow loves math. She attends Moscow School No 57 – “the best math school in Russia,” she says. Tanya will have a tough school year ahead. She is busy studying for college entrance exams – the equivalent of our SATs. She and her classmates will again be working together. Students often remain together in the same class from first grade until graduation – forming friendships for life.
Tanya traveled over the summer with her classmates to the
historic Russian cities of Tver and St. Petersburg. They were short on money so they stayed at hostels – cheap hotels for students – but still managed to have a great time. It’s fun to travel when you’re with your best friends.
“When one of us has a birthday, we all celebrate together. Whenever a problem comes up, someone figures out a way to solve it,” she said.
Perhaps you’ve been looking forward to seeing your classmates after the long summer. You can swap vacation stories and make plans for the school year. Though you’ll face new challenges in this year, take comfort in knowing that kids all over the world are hitting the books too.
Source “Back to school around the world” http://www.scmonitor.com
Global Classroom Facts
– In Kenya, there are three 13-week terms with a month-long break in between each.
– In China, classes start at 7:30 a.m. and end
at 5 p.m. with a two-hour lunch break.
– In Spain, school is mandatory only until age 16.
– In Cambodia, only 9 percent of the population attends high school.
New York Post Activities
Look through today’s Post for stories about events in other parts of the world. Write an essay about what you think a typical school day would be like in these places.
Using today’s Classroom Extra page, compare your school with one of the schools mentioned. What are the advantages of your school?
Select a country from today’s lesson and draw a picture of what you think a classroom would look like.
Today’s lesson fulfills the following New York standards:
English Language Arts E1c E2d, E3c, E3d, E4a, E4b
For more information about the Classroom Extra program, contact Customer Service at 1-212-801-0100. Today’s lesson can be found at nypost.com. Click on the “More” pull down menu.