Our first official day in Russia began with a lecture about Russia's education system.
It was given by the Deputy Minister of Education for the Karelian
Republic, Alexander Federov.
In Russia, most schools have specialties (like magnet schools)
and children attend according to their special interests and abilities.
Schools are K-11, so children of all ages pass one another in
the hallways. The school day ends at 2 pm and then children go
on to optional classes (electives) that end around 6 pm. The class
schedules are different each day depending on the number of subjects
the student takes. Examples of class types include astronomy,
zoology, crafts, environment, and anatomy. Russian children officially
start taking English in the fifth grade. By then they have had
one or two other languages, usually German or French.
