(1) last night we attended erita's intended high school gathering to listen to groups of teachers talk about transitioning from middle school
(1-i) the school's curriculum / scheduling / learning protocol is similar to that of universities, where kids must take certain courses and elect to take others, depending on their current academic levels, interests, exploration, scheduling, and progression towards goal of certain number of credit hours to graduate, taking standardised tests at any particular level, etc etc
(1-ii) consequently it is possible for a 9th grader to end up in classes full of upper class kids, and for an upper class kid to be amongst 9th graders
(1-iii) the courses chosen may have an impact on what courses can be taken later
(1-iv) need to do some group-think w/ the coconut, especially take into consideration her extra curricular ballet
(1-v) erita is generally thinking of setting up an easier 1st semester so she has buffer for acclimatisation, thus
- taking one intensive (10 days only, but 8 hours per day) summer course in visual arts to satisfy one requirement and to explore
- taking honours biology because she is sure she can handle the reading / comprehension / load given her current level in science and language arts, as opposed to chemistry given its problem-solving nature
- taking honours geometry because she can, is approved, wants to, and some of her friends shall
(1-vi) our advice to erita be:
- do not take class at level that involves no challenge is therefore boring
- do not take class at beyond-challenge so that it is no fun
- do not be fussed about honours / non-honours. think of the differences as more-guided / more-freewheeling, and either way, learn the basics and do well at any particular level
- follow interest
- let GPA take care of itself
(1-vii) the coconut received another semester's honour roll, blah blah blah, very predictable
(2) the jack is a hilariously happy camper starting today, more so than usual, because crisis is a partner
bloomberg.com
Hong Kong to Extend School Holidays as Deadly Flu Outbreak Spreads
More stories by Jasmine Wang
February 7, 2018, 12:27 PM GMT+8
Hong Kong’s kindergarten and primary school students will start their Chinese New Year holiday from Thursday, earlier than originally planned, amid an influenza outbreak that has claimed more than 100 lives in the city.
The government rolled out the measure due to the “severe” infection, said Wong Ka-hing, Controller of the Centre for Health Protection, in a briefing on Wednesday. School children were originally scheduled to start the holiday two or three days before the Chinese New Year on Feb. 16.
Two children have died during the current outbreak in Hong Kong, according to officials. Authorities have recorded 194 severe cases among adults, 111 of whom have died. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced in January an additional HK$500 million for the city’s public hospitals to tackle influenza. |
