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Grade 6: Online Parents’ Meeting

November 11, 2021

The grade 6 online parents’ meeting was held on the evening of November 4th. Grade 6 is the first year of middle school, which means the 6th graders will face many changes in their studies, social relationships, physical body, and psychology. How can they adapt to their new school life? The cooperation between family and school is undoubtedly essential.

The parents’ meeting consisted of three parts. Firstly, Ms. Yan, the grade 6 supervisor, introduced the general condition of the whole grade. The middle school cultivates students into “independent learners” and “responsible world citizens.” Ms. Yan presented “What is an independent learner” and methods and activities that help students become independent learners, such as using the planner, reading activities, and goal setting. Music, PE, Art, and IT courses provide different interesting learning content throughout the year, and we look forward to outstanding performances from students during the Art Festival this semester.

Secondly, Ms. Scott talked about how parents can encourage independent learning. She mentioned three ways. The first way is helping students prioritize their mental health by communicating more with children and understanding their feelings and emotional changes. The second way parents can encourage independence is by helping their children better develop problem-solving skills. If children make mistakes, it is important to help them find solutions to problems, which will help them not be nervous and know how to deal with issues in the future. The last one is focused on time management ability. 6th graders often procrastinate until the last minute. Parents can guide children to use their planners and manage their time to find a suitable place to complete their tasks.

The third part of the parents’ meeting was the head of each subject introducing the curriculum, objectives, levels, and abilities required for studies. Ms. Yan, the head of the middle school math department, said grade six was a critical moment to help students form good habits, such as completing homework on time with high quality, concentrating, and taking notes in class. The math department provides optional courses, ELP courses, clubs, and international math competitions to expand the learning content and meet students’ different needs for math learning.

Ms. Yao, the head of the middle and primary school science department, especially emphasized that cultivating students’ scientific inquiry ability was vital, such as doing research, designing experiments, and analyzing data. The science department also provides optional courses, projects, and competitions to enrich students' learning.

Mr. Key, the head of the English department, discussed how English classes focus on reading and writing. There are different types of writing in each semester. English teachers utilize MAP tests to evaluate and track students’ English development. Mr. Key said parents could facilitate students practice English outside the classroom and encourage children because motivation is key to linguistic learning.

Ms. Liu, the head of the middle school Chinese department, introduced the differences between the non-native Chinese and native Chinese courses. The non-native Chinese course enriches the interest in Chinese learning through various activities. The native Chinese course carries out learning in literary history and helps students to study in IB courses when they go to high school.

Ms. Crips, the head of the history department, talked about which chapters history classes will cover this semester. The skills that history classes focus on are identifying sources, source literacy, and informational writing (CER writing). By the end of the school year, the goal of history class for students is to answer essential questions, such as what defines a civilization, how power is obtained and maintained over time, and how we know if the information is credible.

Through this parents’ meeting, parents received more information about students’ learning and campus life. With the cooperation between family and school, the sixth-grade students will grow up and become qualified middle school students. This will be an incredible year for every 6th grader!

(Written by Liu Chen, Jess Scott Pictures by Liu Chen Edited by Huang Shiyuan, Brie Polette)