This is my view at 12.30pm each day as I wait patiently for JD. He trots out of school, laden with his 10kg school bag, and we drive home by e-bike for 3-4 hours of English (and some Maths) home-schooling. The afternoon studies are going quite well overall. I've been impressed by JD's grammar and comprehension abilities, but somewhat exasperated by his erratic spelling. |
After learning the spellings of certain words for ages, he'll take a 5-minute break and then forget them all! But we're very slowly getting there, I think. Very slowly!
0 Comments
JD went on his annual school outing last week - along with half the school (2000+ students). The trip started and ended with a 90 minute journey by coach, with various kids throwing up. The location was just some place housing a handful of animals (pigs, some llamas and a camel) with very little to see and do. The weather was cold and wet. There was some sort of presentation, but most of the 2000 kids couldn't see or hear anything. It seems that none of the teachers had visited the site in advance and the hosts had been caught unawares by the number of visitors. Kids were unable to do the various craft activities, squeezed 15 to a table. And JD's class had been told not to bring raincoats, so the outdoor activities were mostly cancelled. JD was so excited beforehand, but returned very disappointed. The one redeeming factor for him was the promise that there would be no homework that day - until three papers came through later in the evening to be completed by the next day! More broken promises. This is the third outing in three years that has been something of a disaster. You'd think the teachers would learn...
I can understand their reasons, and we ourselves now get more daylight in our living room, but it is still quite sad to see dozens of stumps around the neighbourhood.
Lovely hand-painted birthday card from the wife today.
Can't think of anyone else I'd rather travel the world with! Today I met up with an ex-student of mine from 20 years ago. "Cinderella" was was visiting Kunming with her son who, very sadly, has a serious heart disease, despite only being 7 years old. They were having tests done at a cardiac specialist hospital here. It was lovely to see her again and play with her cute son. JD's "girlfriend", QiQi, invited us to join her large birthday party yesterday, [JD & QiQi are in the centre of the bottom left photo].
Jiajia and I bought some UK Premium Bonds a year or two ago, rather than have cash languishing in the bank gaining little or no interest. We've been surprised at how often we've won small prizes - usually £50 or £100. Every month or two we get a "Congratulations!" email. But our latest win was our biggest!
JD's been sleeping in a home-made bed-den this week. He says it keeps him warm and snug through the night, and cuts down the noise from the construction site at the back of our house. They seem to be working all night recently - banging, grinding and floodlights!
After a nice meal with friends the other day, JD visited an "Upside-Down Gallery"(!?), and these were the best of the photos taken there.
JD's been after a new bike for ages, so we went to a few bike shops today and settled on a blue mountain bike. We bought his last bike when he was five years old! This one is a (very) early Christmas present. It made sense for him to get a decent 6 months of usage out of it before we head to the UK, rather than leave it until late December. We're hoping his newfound enthusiasm might lead to a little bit of weight loss, too!
JD's homework today included a 300 character essay on why he shouldn't be naughty. Every student in the class had to write one. Why? Because the teacher left the classroom in the middle of a lesson and while she was AWOL for 20 minutes, some of the students were apparently talking... So the teacher punishes the whole class (guilty and innocent) for HER unprofessional absence, and the punishment is to do some creative writing - in addition to the usual 4-5 hours of regular homework. What sort of lesson is this for kids??
I met up with my old friend Nita (and her friend, LiXia) a few days ago for lunch. LiXia gifted us some homegrown persimmons (a lucky gift in China) and Nita gave me some bread rolls. I'd not been sent the "bring a gift" memo! It was nice to chat and catch up on news. I've known Nita for 20+ years now.
We spotted this worrisome scene near a riverbank last weekend. At first, we weren't sure if we should call the police or an ambulance..?
In the end, we settled for a photo. JD's Primary School have been getting really silly yet again about the amount of homework they set. Last night he did 6 hours, finishing at 12.40am this morning. The day before it was 5 hours. We've heard of classmates staying up until 2am to finish. And there's not even an exam coming. I've started using some of my afternoon "English home-schooling" time to let him have an hour's nap, which is not what we had planned at all! The sooner this term finishes the better. JD probably needed the basketball/dance P.E. session this morning to wake him up.
|
AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
April 2024
Tags
All
|