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summer and three short breaks during the year: one week
in the fall, two in winter, and another week in the spring.
There are also several government holidays during the year
when students have no classes.
During the early years (until age nine), students have
the same teachers for all subjects except athletics, music,
and dancing; these are taught by specialists. All the rest of
the subjects are taught in the same room. Children study
reading, writing, counting, crafts, drawing, and a few other
subjects. During the third and fourth years, the number of
lessons in mathematics and physics increases.
At the age of ten, the school format changes sharply.
Subjects become compartmentalized, with special class
rooms for each subject and different teachers for different
subjects. Students of this age study the Russian language,
literature, mathematics, ancient history, natural history,
and so on. Russian and math are taught every day; other
subjects are given two to three times a week. One of the
teachers is a supervisor over all the classes, which have 20
to 40 students in each.
For students 11 years of age, natural history is divided
into two separate subjects: geography and zoology. Chil
dren study the history of ancient ages and begin to study a
foreign language (usually English; rarely French or Ger
man).
Physics and chemistry are introduced at the age of 12,
laying the groundwork for later detailed study. Also, alge
bra and geometry are taught to this age group as two
separate subjects. History classes deal with the history of
the Soviet Union. The following year's physics course is a
simple and clear introduction to electricity. Students of
Sergey Chernyshev, who comes from Tashkent in the Soviet Union, is a student from
He has studied at
Moscow University for four years and is presently taking graduate-level courses in quan
tum field theory and mathematics at SUNY Stony Brook Both authors have had some
experience teaching physics to Russian high-school students.
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Alexander Kusenko isfrom Simferopol in the Crimea. He is also a student from Moscow
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