This is the first time I've ever had to face an entire June holidays as a parent.
The past 4 years while Madison was in preschool they didn't have a month off. They simply had a week off at the end of June to while away and that wasn't so long.
This year however, Madison is in Primary one so she gets to have the entire month of June off!
I've yet to see what homework her teachers are going to set her.
As for the home front, I've been wondering what to do with her.
Initially I started planning activities for her. Speech and drama? Chinese speech and drama? Art camp? Tennis camp? Creative writing ? English or Chinese?
Then I stopped. And I realized I didn't even consult Madison in the planning process.
When I asked Madison what she wanted to do she said art class. So that's the main thing that I've organised for her this holiday. 2 sessions of art camp ( one with a friend ). And one tennis camp with Annika at the end of the month. All her afternoons are free. ( tennis teacher is away, music teacher is away and no Chinese class for the first 2 weeks )
I think the school holidays should also be a time for her to chill out, to just hang out at home by herself to do whatever she wants, and to get bored! Her days are starting to get so filled out by activities it's good for her to have nothing to do.
As for Liam, he's grown to absolutely love Bibinogs! He can't wait to go there on the days he's scheduled, and when class is done he asks to go back in!
Initially I couldn't believe it nor figure out why he would love it so much.
Then I got a few e-newsletters from the school. There were pictures of the kids at class and I saw a few of him doing art and craft! He looked so serious and focussed. No wonder he loves his 'ba lo bo' class ( that's what he calls his school !)
He came down with another round of fever again and missed one day of school this week. Hopefully he'll stay well enough to not miss too many days. I still think it's the SSC pool. Every time he goes for a swim he comes down with another bug.
Half the year is over. The march of time is relentless!
Thursday, May 28, 2015
Meet the teachers -- Primary one SCGS
Today was the very first meet-the-teacher session at SCGS for Madison.
What a world of difference from preschool.
First we had to book the session with the teacher online. First come first served type thing.
Madison was also expected to tag along.
Being a weekday, I left work early to make it in time for the session at 430pm. Chris made it as well so that was nice.
We met the form teacher first. Mrs See is also her English teacher, and apparently a very well loved teacher. ( Nothing but praises for her whenever I tell anyone who Madison's teacher is! )
Mrs See was very encouraging towards Madison, and her main assessment was that while Madison is bright she had a tendency to be dreamy and seemingly not pay attention. ( we knew that since preschool-- a recurrent comment from her teachers! ) She also got along with most girls, and apart from that first incident at the start of the school year she has adapted somewhat to the big girls school.
Madison had to say a short spiel about what she liked doing in school and how she could improve herself. ( apparently a new thing they were trying out for the primary 1 and 2s )
After we collected her portfolio folder we went upstairs to the main hall to wait for our turn to see the Chinese teacher.
Seems like the Chinese teachers were hot property. There were queues at every station waiting to see the Chinese teachers.
We found Madison's teacher and sat down to await our turn. It was a one hour wait. We were booked to see her at 510pm but only got to see her just after 6pm!
But honestly, it was worth the wait. I was so tempted to just leave without seeing the Chinese teacher but I'm glad I waited. It was a good thing Chris was around too so he could take Madison home first for dinner while I waited. By the time he got back it was just in time to meet her. ( not that he really understood what she was saying!!)
She gave a very useful assessment of Madison, and gave me some suggestions to help improve her understanding and use of the language. She made me see that in order for Madison to improve she has to have an innate understanding of the language and that came by listening and reading more. Of course I knew all that but when she reinforced it and reassured that if we could do that Madison MIGHT not need more outsourced help ( IE more tuition -- arghhh ) I was really concerned that the level of Mandarin that the kids were facing would be completely out of my reach but Ms Ng ( the teacher ) was very reassuring. I guess we'll find out next year! Or maybe even before that!
All in, I had a good feeling as I left the school, and I'm very happy and proud that my daughter is now studying in my alma mater. It's truly awesome that she gets to spend her childhood years in this environment, that she gets to call herself an SCGS girl!
What a world of difference from preschool.
First we had to book the session with the teacher online. First come first served type thing.
Madison was also expected to tag along.
Being a weekday, I left work early to make it in time for the session at 430pm. Chris made it as well so that was nice.
We met the form teacher first. Mrs See is also her English teacher, and apparently a very well loved teacher. ( Nothing but praises for her whenever I tell anyone who Madison's teacher is! )
Mrs See was very encouraging towards Madison, and her main assessment was that while Madison is bright she had a tendency to be dreamy and seemingly not pay attention. ( we knew that since preschool-- a recurrent comment from her teachers! ) She also got along with most girls, and apart from that first incident at the start of the school year she has adapted somewhat to the big girls school.
Madison had to say a short spiel about what she liked doing in school and how she could improve herself. ( apparently a new thing they were trying out for the primary 1 and 2s )
After we collected her portfolio folder we went upstairs to the main hall to wait for our turn to see the Chinese teacher.
Seems like the Chinese teachers were hot property. There were queues at every station waiting to see the Chinese teachers.
We found Madison's teacher and sat down to await our turn. It was a one hour wait. We were booked to see her at 510pm but only got to see her just after 6pm!
But honestly, it was worth the wait. I was so tempted to just leave without seeing the Chinese teacher but I'm glad I waited. It was a good thing Chris was around too so he could take Madison home first for dinner while I waited. By the time he got back it was just in time to meet her. ( not that he really understood what she was saying!!)
She gave a very useful assessment of Madison, and gave me some suggestions to help improve her understanding and use of the language. She made me see that in order for Madison to improve she has to have an innate understanding of the language and that came by listening and reading more. Of course I knew all that but when she reinforced it and reassured that if we could do that Madison MIGHT not need more outsourced help ( IE more tuition -- arghhh ) I was really concerned that the level of Mandarin that the kids were facing would be completely out of my reach but Ms Ng ( the teacher ) was very reassuring. I guess we'll find out next year! Or maybe even before that!
All in, I had a good feeling as I left the school, and I'm very happy and proud that my daughter is now studying in my alma mater. It's truly awesome that she gets to spend her childhood years in this environment, that she gets to call herself an SCGS girl!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
My first parent volunteer experience; meeting old friends
I finally did my first parent volunteer job!
When Madison started school, I was so pumped and full of excitement; to be 'part' of the school spirit, to support her in her next stage of education etc etc.
And then life got in the way.
I don't know why life is just so unbelievably busy. Why does night fall come so quickly and so predictably every day?
As it is I barely have enough of me to spread amongst the 3 kids, my husband, my family, work and the house. All house related things have come to an absolute last in priority. We basically go home to sleep and that's about it. There isn't time anymore to potter around the house, or to do any homemaker type activity like bake/sew/cook.
SO.. I was so psyched to do parent volunteering, but when the crunch came, I just couldn't spare any more time. Doing any volunteering means more time off work, at a time when the clinic is finally picking up and starting to do well. I already take time off work to attend any compulsory kid related event so anything more is too much. Poor Liam wasn't allowed to go to his first Bibinogs excursion because I REALLY could not justify another morning off to accompany him to Jacob Ballas Kids Garden!
Anyway, almost half the year goes by without anything and then fortunately 2 friends with kids in primary one cajole me to join them for Recess mum duty. They both work, so they get the time commitment thing.
It was fortunate that I managed to get the same time slot as them, so today I took the morning off to do Recess Mum duty. Wasn't too bad, except that the weather was horribly hot and humid and we had to stand around policing the kids for just over an hour. I got to see Madison for all of 5 minutes before she went off with her friends. ( which is a good thing ! )
After we finished our duty we FINALLY got to sit down and have drinks! Then the BIG girls came out for recess and my goodness! I cannot imagine the day when my little girls get to THEIR size. We sat at the first table nearest the food stalls and that was a huge mistake. Within minutes we were surrounded by swarms of HUGE girls queuing up to buy food!
Since I had the rest of the day off I also made plans to meet up with my old girlfriend from SCGS who is now a dentist. She works near Great World City so we met there for a quick lunch.
It's really nice meeting up with people from the past and still connect in that special way!
When Madison started school, I was so pumped and full of excitement; to be 'part' of the school spirit, to support her in her next stage of education etc etc.
And then life got in the way.
I don't know why life is just so unbelievably busy. Why does night fall come so quickly and so predictably every day?
As it is I barely have enough of me to spread amongst the 3 kids, my husband, my family, work and the house. All house related things have come to an absolute last in priority. We basically go home to sleep and that's about it. There isn't time anymore to potter around the house, or to do any homemaker type activity like bake/sew/cook.
SO.. I was so psyched to do parent volunteering, but when the crunch came, I just couldn't spare any more time. Doing any volunteering means more time off work, at a time when the clinic is finally picking up and starting to do well. I already take time off work to attend any compulsory kid related event so anything more is too much. Poor Liam wasn't allowed to go to his first Bibinogs excursion because I REALLY could not justify another morning off to accompany him to Jacob Ballas Kids Garden!
Anyway, almost half the year goes by without anything and then fortunately 2 friends with kids in primary one cajole me to join them for Recess mum duty. They both work, so they get the time commitment thing.
It was fortunate that I managed to get the same time slot as them, so today I took the morning off to do Recess Mum duty. Wasn't too bad, except that the weather was horribly hot and humid and we had to stand around policing the kids for just over an hour. I got to see Madison for all of 5 minutes before she went off with her friends. ( which is a good thing ! )
After we finished our duty we FINALLY got to sit down and have drinks! Then the BIG girls came out for recess and my goodness! I cannot imagine the day when my little girls get to THEIR size. We sat at the first table nearest the food stalls and that was a huge mistake. Within minutes we were surrounded by swarms of HUGE girls queuing up to buy food!
Since I had the rest of the day off I also made plans to meet up with my old girlfriend from SCGS who is now a dentist. She works near Great World City so we met there for a quick lunch.
It's really nice meeting up with people from the past and still connect in that special way!
Saturday, May 9, 2015
New friends!
I have new friends!
Never thought that after all this time I could still make new friends!
It started off with tennis lessons at the club for Madison. Her coach suggested private lessons which we did, and that led to her sharing some sessions with another boy one year younger.
I bumped into his mother several times over the year, and we both signed the kids up for the JTT mini tennis tournament at United World College earlier this year. Her son actually got champion and runner's up for both sessions!
At the second tournament she mentioned that she just started tennis sessions with another mother at the club, and asked if I would like to join them.
To be honest I was quite nervous, but I thought 'what the heck! Give it a shot and if I don't like it I can stop! '
Turns out the 2 women are really nice people! We had a session with all 3 of us, but then the weather was unfavourable for the next 2 weeks. Last week we finally had good weather, but the one who organized it got a back injury. We still continued with the lesson( just 2 of us) and we had fun.
In support of our injured buddy we will go and swim with her after the tennis session on Tuesdays. (Tuesday is tennis day for us)
I think friends motivate us. I was starting to dread tennis lessons alone and now it feels like the pressure is off. I think that was why I gave up on French lessons. The subject material was quite interesting, but not having or knowing anyone at the lessons made me lose my motivation to attend the lessons. It just seemed that at those lessons the participants seemed to change every class!
We are social animals. I think in life it is the relationships that make life worthwhile and satisfying!
Never thought that after all this time I could still make new friends!
It started off with tennis lessons at the club for Madison. Her coach suggested private lessons which we did, and that led to her sharing some sessions with another boy one year younger.
I bumped into his mother several times over the year, and we both signed the kids up for the JTT mini tennis tournament at United World College earlier this year. Her son actually got champion and runner's up for both sessions!
At the second tournament she mentioned that she just started tennis sessions with another mother at the club, and asked if I would like to join them.
To be honest I was quite nervous, but I thought 'what the heck! Give it a shot and if I don't like it I can stop! '
Turns out the 2 women are really nice people! We had a session with all 3 of us, but then the weather was unfavourable for the next 2 weeks. Last week we finally had good weather, but the one who organized it got a back injury. We still continued with the lesson( just 2 of us) and we had fun.
In support of our injured buddy we will go and swim with her after the tennis session on Tuesdays. (Tuesday is tennis day for us)
I think friends motivate us. I was starting to dread tennis lessons alone and now it feels like the pressure is off. I think that was why I gave up on French lessons. The subject material was quite interesting, but not having or knowing anyone at the lessons made me lose my motivation to attend the lessons. It just seemed that at those lessons the participants seemed to change every class!
We are social animals. I think in life it is the relationships that make life worthwhile and satisfying!
Adjusting to life in Primary one, adjusting my expectations
The year is almost half way through and time isn't slowing down!
Madison is settling down to life in primary school. We've had our hiccups and I'm also trying to find my way around the education system.
It's quite scary when you talk to other parents and their kids seem eons ahead with multiple tuition lessons. And the mothers ( usually stay at home ones ) have all their lesson plans set, with the entire year mapped out.
But I got a reality check when I realized Madison gets stressed, and she doesn't even tell us about it.
She had that one episode earlier in the year when she did that weird crying and walking around her room at midnight thing because she was stressed about being bullied in school.
After that was resolved she was fine.
Then just last week she did that crying and walking around thing again! She initially denied it when I asked her the next day, then finally admitted that she was nervous and scared about an oral presentation. ( which went fine the next day )
And at work, one of my patients came back after not seeing me for 5 years, and told me that her young sibling had passed away. It was most probably self inflicted and it is terribly sad.
So I realized: it cannot be about the grades and trying to just score marks in school. It is more important to be adjusted, to have friends and be happy. Of course it doesn't mean not even trying, but if the kids have done their work, tried their best then the mark is simply to demonstrate where they could learn more. I was speaking to a mum and she told me her husband lost one week's worth of sleep because he was upset his kid scored 95% instead of 100% because she made some silly mistakes.
I think I want my kids to understand that the mark they get from a test should be just an indication of where they could improve on, but ultimately I must also realize that even adults still make mistakes and forget stuff on tests! Given an open book test adults STILL make mistakes! How much more a kid?
It's a work in progress, and I have to remind myself of the BIG picture, of what's important in the long run!
Madison is settling down to life in primary school. We've had our hiccups and I'm also trying to find my way around the education system.
It's quite scary when you talk to other parents and their kids seem eons ahead with multiple tuition lessons. And the mothers ( usually stay at home ones ) have all their lesson plans set, with the entire year mapped out.
But I got a reality check when I realized Madison gets stressed, and she doesn't even tell us about it.
She had that one episode earlier in the year when she did that weird crying and walking around her room at midnight thing because she was stressed about being bullied in school.
After that was resolved she was fine.
Then just last week she did that crying and walking around thing again! She initially denied it when I asked her the next day, then finally admitted that she was nervous and scared about an oral presentation. ( which went fine the next day )
And at work, one of my patients came back after not seeing me for 5 years, and told me that her young sibling had passed away. It was most probably self inflicted and it is terribly sad.
So I realized: it cannot be about the grades and trying to just score marks in school. It is more important to be adjusted, to have friends and be happy. Of course it doesn't mean not even trying, but if the kids have done their work, tried their best then the mark is simply to demonstrate where they could learn more. I was speaking to a mum and she told me her husband lost one week's worth of sleep because he was upset his kid scored 95% instead of 100% because she made some silly mistakes.
I think I want my kids to understand that the mark they get from a test should be just an indication of where they could improve on, but ultimately I must also realize that even adults still make mistakes and forget stuff on tests! Given an open book test adults STILL make mistakes! How much more a kid?
It's a work in progress, and I have to remind myself of the BIG picture, of what's important in the long run!
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