https://www.scmp.com/rss/328087/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com At the Xi Guan Middle School in China’s northern Shanxi province, students are taking part in an unusual kind of exercise. They're learning to shuffle dance with their principal. The 40-year-old Zhang Pengfei learned a Chinese shuffle dance called guibu, or the “ghost step,” and taught it to his students. A video of the school’s dance routine has gone viral online.  Daily exercise is compulsory in Chinese schools: but most schools stick to calisthenics, not dance. https://www.scmp.com/education/chinese-school-dances-their-way-fitness/article/3000542?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/education/chinese-school-dances-their-way-fitness/article/3000542?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jan 2019 09:22:26 +0000 [Sponsored Article] The big debate in early childhood education today is the ‘push down’ of academics, robbing children of play.  Many professionals are concerned about what this means for young children, and for the future of society as children grow up without the vital learning self-initiated play provides them.  In Hong Kong, there can be a tendency to over-fill young children’s schedules with formal, planned lessons to provide children with more learning.  However, professionals, such as... https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/hong-kong/topics/early-childhood-education/article/2157084/play-essential-living-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/presented/news/hong-kong/topics/early-childhood-education/article/2157084/play-essential-living-and?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Jul 2018 16:00:50 +0000 Horrifying photos of a young child covered in scalding burn wounds have provoked an outpouring of anger on the Chinese internet. The photos show what appear to be severe scalds in the lower back and the buttocks of the little boy, known as “Teng Teng.” In a social media post, his parents accused kindergarten teacher Yu Haibo of causing the injury and demanded her arrest. “A four-year-old child was punished in a pantry by a kindergarten teacher, leading to severe scalding injuries,” Teng Teng’s... https://www.scmp.com/society/scalded-boy-images-enrage-chinese-internet/article/2141647?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/scalded-boy-images-enrage-chinese-internet/article/2141647?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Apr 2018 10:45:15 +0000 Here's a cautionary tale for every parent who's ever handed their toddler a screen to distract them. A two-year-old boy in Shanghai managed to disable his mom’s iPhone for 25 million minutes – or 47 years – after repeatedly entering the wrong passcode, news website Kankanews.com reported.  Each time the wrong keys were pressed, the phone was disabled for an increasingly long period of time. An Apple technician said that the mom could either wait the full 47 years – or wipe her phone.  Chinese... https://www.scmp.com/society/how-chinese-toddler-locked-iphone-47-years/article/2136059?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/society/how-chinese-toddler-locked-iphone-47-years/article/2136059?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 07 Mar 2018 09:45:00 +0000