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s it really back-to-school time already? I hope you’ve all enjoyed your summer holidays , wherever you spent them. With no August issue to contend with, the Playtimes team hopped off the treadmill for a few moments, too. Some of us travelled – I was lucky enough to spend time with friends and family in both the US and Europe – and some of us stayed closer to home – fip to page 14 for news about our own Florence Choy and her new baby girl . However you spent your holidays, I hope you and your family are geared up for another exciting school year. To get you in the mood, we’ve got an issue jam-packed with articles about education. Are you worried about whether there’ll be a space for your child when school time comes? Have you ever considered homeschooling? We address both topics inside. Do you wish your kids would get as excited about their schoolwork as they do about their video games? We’ve got tricks from the game makers that might just help you in the homework battle . Can Hong Kong’s mainstream schools help kids who have been diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder? You’ll fnd this and so many more answers inside.

You might have noticed that this issue seems a bit heftier than normal. I’m delighted to say that this is the biggest issue in Playtimes history! We haven’t quite caught up with the folks at

Vogue , where their September issue is clocking in at nearly 1,000 pages – but we’re on our way, and pretty proud of it. This month marks my own two-year anniversary with Playtimes and I’m having such fun, together with the team, growing the magazine from the 68 pages per month we averaged until 2010 to the big book we present to you today. I do hope you’re enjoying reading the added articles as much as we enjoy putting them together.

Thanks for reading,

Tracey Starr, Editor-in-Chief

welcome

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