Who is the culprit?

So much have been said about our education system giving so much stress to our children but I think it is the parents giving the stress because of the FEAR factor. Where does the FEAR factor come from? Yes, teachers and parents.

I attended a ‘teacher meet parents’ session last week. Not one of the teachers present said anything about helping children to enjoy school, to have fun at learning. They talked about helping the children to get to the top class when they move on to the next standard. Parents were asking about the Gifted programme, the Math Olympiad, doing the Higher Mother Tongue…I wonder do they even consult their children for their views after all, the kids are the ones who will be studying and not the parents.

Ann was placed in the highest level of her Chinese class. The spouse and I wanted to give her lesser stress. We  spoke to the Chinese teacher that we would prefer Ann to start at a more manageable level. Her response was, would Ann feel inferior going to a “lower” class. Wrong, so very wrong. Children should never be made to feel this way and teachers must show an example.
We have put across to the teachers a very strong and clear message…that we are not their typical parents who are result-oriented. That’s why I said right from the beginning, I will do my darnest to keep my children away from the pressure cooker.

You know who are the happiest group of people? Yes, tutors and all tuition centers.

The meeting with the teachers was held at a P6 classroom and on my table, these words were scribbled…”Life is tough”. Very sad, this coming from just a 12 year old. Parents and teachers, I hope you hear their cries!

When friends gather...

Nothing is more fun than celebrating an old friend’s birthday…all of us have known each other for more than 3 decades. It is hard to find a friend, even harder to find one and still remain as friends 30 years later.
 

She is capable of doing a lot more

These were sewn by Ann. The spouse only showed her once how to do it and she did all these herself.

 
Done by a little girl, I think this is an excellent effort.

My first cooking class since coming home

Nian gao, a different kind. Ann came along.

 

 

Children must always love going to school 

Yes, they must. It is when they love going to school, they will love learning. There is this saying “Do what you LOVE and you will never work a day in your life.” It is good that we have been away. Being away made me care less about the paper chase, the pressure cooker education system. You see, when you stay overseas you miss school sometimes because of heavy snow days, typhoon and a whole lot of other reasons. The kids didn’t learn less and they were not in any way more stupid. In fact, school or no school, everyday is a learning day.

This is their second week of school and I was initially worried that Kai and Ann will not enjoy school in Singapore. Well, little Ann seems to know what I am thinking. Daughter and mama have telepathic power. She came out from school and said, “mama, I love going to school.” “I love Singapore school, I just miss my SSIS friends.” So happy indeed to hear that. I told her, we will arrange to meet her Shanghai friends.

Over dinner, I asked Kai. “Can you use one word to describe your secondary school life?”.

Son : Interesting

Me : Even more interesting than SSIS?

Son : Yes, there are more interesting things to do.

Kai is definitely an advance learner. He enjoys hands on subjects. Design and Technology is fast becoming his favourite subject. Science experiments are more exciting now. Because of his reading habits, he enjoys Literature, Geography, History. The three years in Shanghai has helped him improve his Mother Tongue. It is no longer a chore, he can breeze through it now.

Last weekend, we went to school for the Tea with Principal session. Met the principal for the very first time and I love her. She is a no nonsense lady. Very disciplined and regards values as an important aspect of life. You can see what kind of principal the school has by looking at the kind of students they produced. Very well mannered, very disciplined. Kai thoroughly enjoys his time in school. In life, when a door is shut, it may not be a bad thing. It could mean a window of opportunities.

It is definitely the right choice to be home.

Looking back…


Seeing Ann walking out from school brought back so much memories…Time has changed. I was always looking out for Kai walking out from school. I have looked after him since he turned one and I have always been the one sending and fetching him from school. Only when he was in P2 that I decided to let him take the school bus cos’ it was really impossible to send two kids to different schools at the same time. After taking the school bus for just one term, we were off to USA and then Shanghai. I continued to be their main caregiver, seeing them to school and seeing them home even when we were overseas.

Felt strange just seeing one child walking out from school. Kai is now in sec 1 and he is completely capable of taking care of himself. Soon, Ann will also not need me as much. Then, it will really be an empty nest. Age is catching up too. Since school started, I am so exhausted, completely, thoroughly exhausted. The day starts at 5.15am. I tried sleeping early but I am such a light sleeper and because of that, I could hardly have a restful sleep. Like the other day, I slept at 10.30pm, woke up at 11.30pm and then 2.30am and finally 5.15am…sigh. They say, old people sleep lesser. Is that true?

Another Election

This era must be the era that saw the highest number of elections. It is very interesting to read some of the analysis, it is like playing the game of chess!