Primary school students enjoy colorful labor activities

Primary school students shared their coloful labor activities during the past winter holiday with teachers as the new school term started, Shenzhen Evening News reported.

Primary schools in Shenzhen now attach great importance in labor education, advocating students to do activities such as cooking, making handicrafts and decorating houses.

Xue Youmei, a Grade 3 student from Gaofeng School in Longhua District, spent the winter holiday in Guangxi, her grandmother’s hometown.

Xue Youmei picks up water chestnuts at a farm field in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.  Courtesy of the interviewees

Everything about village life is novel to Xue who is used to urban life. Xue joined her family to work at a farm field planted with Chinese water chestnuts.

Xue, wearing a pair of boots and gloves, helped his father carry wood and pick up water chestnuts at the field.

Xue’s mother said that “children’s learning capacity is strong. We didn’t teach too much, and she learned how to dig almost on her own.”

“It was very interesting. I learned more about water chestnuts and it improved my labor skills. I want to go to my grandmother’s home next time,” Xue said.

            Hu Jiaming cooks a pancake at home.

Eight-year-old Hu Jiaming learned how to cook pancakes this winter holiday. “Seeing my parents eat the pancakes I cooked gives me a sense of achievement,” Hu said.

At first, Hu cannot crack eggs well and sometimes left bits of eggshells in the bowl. After getting some guidance from his mom and more practice, he finally got the hang of it. The process also made him feel a sense of accomplishment from overcoming challenges.

For Yang Liqiao, a Grade 6 student from Caitian Primary School, the past winter holiday has given her a new identity—garbage sorting guide.

Yang wore a volunteer’s vest and recorded the situation of the garbage sorting work at her residential community. Additionally, Yang also invited her classmates to walk around the park nearby Caitiancun in Futian District to pick up trash on ground.

Yang’s father observed labor activities offer students a chance to learn knowledge not taught at class.

At the same time, some schools in Shenzhen also assigned specialized homework during the winter vacation to let students enjoy play-based learning.

Shenzhen Bao’an Biaoshang School asked students to cooperate with parents to decorate their homes with paper cutting and New Year paintings. The task aims to cultivate students’ creative thinking.

Keyuan School of the Longgang High School Affiliated to Central China Normal University assigned cross-discipline homework to students. One of the tasks, for example, collecting physics related Chinese poems and making an analysis.