July 2008: L-R: The girls with
Zhu Yu Cheng, Edie's 'boyfriend'; Edie's end-of-term Class Photo; a pensive
Edie, front row, 4th from right
L to R: Here's the front gate of the girls' school - welcome to Simao
District Nursery; Edie with Ms.Yang
APRIL 2007
Edie (pictured below in the playground) is now going to Nursery three
mornings a week, and she loves her two teachers, Ms. Yang (above right) and Ms.
Guo. This is
a great development - it means she is now making lots of friends her own age -
and Ali now has Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings all to himself to
pursue his various projects...or do the housework, depending on how he's
feeling!
SEPTEMBER 2006
Freda is now going to school 5 mornings a week, eating her lunch
with her classmates before returning home for the afternoon. At school she is
studying mathematics, geometry, Chinese, art, health & hygiene and
calligraphy. She also works as Miss Chang's English Teaching Assistant,
demonstrating pronunciation and usage in the English class!
JUNE 2006
Below is Freda's Class Graduation photo! Next term she'll be returning to
the school with most of her classmates. We'll get Edie involved then too...
MAY 2006
Freda is now well settled into her nursery routine - she is
pictured below with her second class teacher Ms.Chen and some friends. She
leaves the house on her own at 8am and meets Lily at the basketball court to get
her lift to school. Dad picks her up on the bike after her lunch at 12. She is
currently practising a routine she's doing for the Nursery Childrens' Day
Performance Party - singing the ABC Song with Lily and Edie! the party will be
held in Simao's Century Square: enormous stage, microphones, spotlights, and
half the town watching...
L to R: Lili and Freda; Freda and Ms.Chen; Freda and Gogo
MARCH 2006
The first kindergarten didn't work out so Freda now attends a state-run
nursery (school) three mornings a week, while Edie stays at home. Monday morning
starts at 8am with patriotic music and a solemn raising of the National Flag.
After that, the classes are varied and interesting (I have to say that - I've
been roped into giving some of them!): art, arithmetic, English, dance, poetry
reading, PE, etc. Freda also has breakfast and lunch here.
The school has 900 pupils and Freda's class is about 40, one
of whom is her friend from the College, Lily. We get a lift to school in the
morning in Lily's Mum's car - and soon Freda will be going by herself (without
Dad). Freda is
pictured above with her teacher Ms.Cun (R) and the class-room assistant (L).
There is a heavy emphasis on physical education, and plenty of
opportunity for the children to get out and play on the playground equipment, or
take part in the energetic exercise routines (early-morning, mid-morning, etc.
!!!). After all this, the children flake out after lunch on their beds, though
Freda is not used to this part of the routine yet!
One of Freda's favourite activities is art. The pictures above
show her Art Class. Freda's latest offering is pictured below left. The other
artwork (below right) is a mural on one of the nursery buildings.
OCTOBER 2005
This month Freda and Edie
started going to a private Kindergarten in Simao. It's very new - this is what it looks like...
... a set from a fairy tale? Maybe,
but don't be miss-led. The day starts with an energetic workout of marching and
dancing on the playground at 7.45 am.
After morning exercise the children
have breakfast - noodles - before trooping up to their classroom. This is a
picture of a morning drawing exercise. You can see the sleeping area behind
where all of the children have an afternoon nap from 12-2 pm every day.
Fred and Edie drawing during a lesson
on "facial expressions in art"
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