Mr. Thomas looked at Chenchen, who was sitting opposite, he didn't say a word, and he did seem extraordinarily honest. Mr. Thomas put down the folder in his hand, shook his head resolutely, and said, "Seven subjects is already the upper limit for ninth graders, and we do not encourage any ninth grader to complete eight courses in one school year. ”

Xia Xiaoyan tried her best to keep her tone soft, but she was definitely not prepared to make concessions on matters of principle. She said, "Mr. Thomas, we know you're struggling, but, have you thought about it? In fact, in order to be able to have a full four-year high school experience in the United States, Charlie repeated the ninth grade, that is, his receptivity and learning ability should be the same as his classmates in the tenth grade of the current school. Charlie himself wanted to learn more, so we made this request. ”

Mr. Thomas pondered for a moment and said, "You may not know much, our school is famous for the difficulty of the courses in American private high schools, don't underestimate these seven courses, each of which has a lot of content to master. Not to mention that a new education system in the first year like Charlie's will be a challenge even for children with very strong learning ability in the United States. If you take eight classes at the same time, it means that the child will be exhausted and will not have time to do the things he loves, and there has never been a precedent for this in our school. Please believe us, School A has more than 200 years of successful educational experience, and we will make more scientific and reasonable arrangements for students' learning, life, sports and various extracurricular activities. Your request is beyond my purview, and all I can say is that I'm sorry. ”

Xia Xiaoyan is a person of perseverance, she moved her chair forward, looked at Mr. Thomas very earnestly, and said word by word: "Mr. Thomas, Charlie is a child with strong learning ability and willingness to endure hardships, and our family has high hopes for Charlie. Even if I can't give him an extra lesson, I'd like to ask you to give him another lesson, can you see it? ”

Mr. Thomas frowned, took a sip of coffee, sighed helplessly, and asked, "Which class would you like to change for your child?" ”

"Charlie has a class this semester, it seems to be carpentry......"

Mr. Thomas looked surprised when he heard this, and seemed to understand randomly, and immediately interrupted Xia Xiaoyan and said: "Oh, no, it's not carpentry, it's a very good art class, the teacher will take them to make a violin of their own by the end of the school year, and every year many students feel regret and annoyance because they can't sign up for this class." ”

"Charlie, the kid, didn't have any artistic energy at all, and I didn't think there was any need to waste time on something I wasn't good at. If you could swap this class for AP Statistics, Charlie's dad and I would be grateful. Xia Xiaoyan said.

Mr. Thomas said: "It doesn't matter if a child has no foundation, our excellent art teachers will nurture him and guide him to open the door to the world of art, and art is an indispensable part of a liberal arts education, which can not only cultivate their sentiments, but also benefit them for a lifetime." ”

Xia Xiaoyan said with a smile: "However, considering that in the future, when you take the university entrance examination and find a job, AP statistics is more practical, isn't it?" ”

Mr. Thomas shook his head noncommittally, and apparently showed the utmost patience, saying: "Allow me to say that it is entirely wrong to think that you go to high school only for the sake of learning more difficult subjects. I think that if you make such a curriculum adjustment, it will put Charlie's growth into an imbalance. As you know, we have agreed to Charlie's request to take AP Calculus directly, and it is impossible for him to take two AP courses in 9th grade, knowing that AP courses are equivalent to the difficulty of college, which will cost a lot of time and energy to children. Even if you expect your child to become a mathematician in the future, it is unreasonable to expect your child to complete two college-level math courses in the ninth grade year. Although I am in charge of the academic department of the school, I still firmly believe that children need to grow in all abilities at the same time in high school, so I hope that Charlie can spend more meaningful time in addition to his studies, complete the formation of himself, and become a more well-rounded person. ”

Despite Mr. Thomas's painstaking words and long speeches, Xia Xiaoyan was not an easy person to persuade, and she insisted: "So, what if you replace art class with biology? High School Biology. ”

Thomas's eyes fell on the class schedule again, and he muttered: "He chose physics in his science class this year, and adding a biology is what it means to double major in science." This ......"

Xia Xiaoyan nodded desperately and said, "Yes, it's double science, you know that Charlie's father is a university physics professor, and Charlie is indeed very talented in science." ”

Mr. Thomas had nothing to do with Chenchen's mother, and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Of course, we will respect your wishes to the greatest extent. However, you have to understand that if you just use going to school A as a shortcut to university, then you are actually giving up more important things. We are not just a preparatory school for a university, we can give more to our children, we want to shape a person who contributes to society and humanity, a complete person. ”