However, it could also be because at that point in time, we are mostly raised in families that spoke our own mother tongue rather than English. So, most of the kids like me only aim for a passing grade in English. I remember I have to crunch my Primary English Textbook very very hard, English is so hard to learn.

Now that Miloboy’s in Primary One. I am so shocked that he has to learn SO MANY things in one year. He learnt the Nouns, to common Nouns, then proceed on to Singular and Plural of animals, to Singular and Plural Forms of Verbs, to Punctuation (include speech based punctuation) then Present Tense, Present Continuous Tense to PAST TENSE….

That’s basically his syllabus for Primary One. I am real amazed by the fact that our Ministry of Education Singapore did such a Compressed English Syllabus for 7 year olds, when they really should be focusing on strengthening their English, instead, they chose to move on with speed to the deeper levels of English.

That is not all.

All Primary One kids are supposed to be able to write a minimum of 60 words based on a 4 picture sequential story telling composition by the final term. The model answers given by the teachers are Full of Adjectives and one look at it tells me, its not something that all 7 year olds can do…. well, ironically, those kids that receive Enrichment Courses might be able to do it.

Miloboy missed a point to the passing mark on a mock storytelling composition. But I really can’t blame him. What he wrote were very simple sentences.

E.g. Model Answer Opening: It was a bright Sunday morning with beautiful white fluffy clouds. My mother exclaimed, “Why don’t we go to the beach?”.

Miloboy’s Opening: Last week, we went to the beach.

On several other occasions, Miloboy mixed up Singular and Plural forms of verbs with the Past Tense.

E.g. Do (Present Tense), Did (Past Tense), Miloboy told me the Past Tense of ‘Do’ is ‘Does’.

These made me realise that the Fundamental Teachings are gone…. They compressed so much stuff in one year, for the poor 7 year olds. I wonder by what age they need to write Reported Speech. That is one of the most difficult part of English.

Even so, you know, teachers also make mistakes. They also get confused  at times. I have seen errors in their marking before, let alone the poor 7 year olds who have to digest so much stuff in one year?

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If you have not, and are pretty concerned about teaching your kid(s) yourself, then you may want to know more about it.

Personally I do like the concept. And I actually went to a Kumon Centre nearby my house, wanting to register my kids in it, when Miloboy is 5 years old. Got to know Kumon through his kindergarten teacher as she feels that it will be very good if he is enrolled in that programme.

So I made an appointment and took leave from work. 

When we reached there, the kids went in for the assessment test, on the subjects you want them to enrol in. Afterthat, they let us into the centre and we had to sit through a video session and a powerpoint presentation…..its like a Registration Ceremony, kinda unwarranted.

I remember the appointment time is 3pm, my kids couldn’t tolerate the long “Registration Ceremony”. At 4.30pm, the presentation is still ongoing……we had to get out of the centre….. . When I had to leave, one of the staff told me the “individual assessment” will be conducted at 5pm, but I cannot come back here once I leave as it is not allowed. All parents had to sit through the presentation.

I can’t help it, my boy is hungry, my girl is crying and my baby is alone at home with her grandpa, who is unable to entertain her for too long…..

I tried to make another appointment but the staff told me its subject to availability of the Presenter, that they will call me up when they manage to get hold of the Presenter.

You may have guessed this right: They Never Call Me Up…..

What the Presenter did that day was:

1. Show all parents a video on how successful the Kumon teaching has on their students.

The assessment alone took about 45 mins. This video alone took about 30 mins. Quite unwarranted, if we are not interested, we won’t want to enrol our kids in there.

2. Powerpoint presentation

The initial slides should be DELETED. We dun need to know about KUMON’s history. Just tell us what is expected of us parents to make Kumon a wonderful programme. Yes, I listened to this for 15 mins before I had to leave the centre.

My Interpretation of the KUMON Programme:

1. Its all about Practice, Practice and Practice.

2. Parents have to spend 30 mins EVERYDAY with the enrolled kid to complete his kumon worksheet/booklet.

3. The timing requirement of the Kumon worksheets is good as it sort of “enforces” the kid to be well-versed, and complete the worksheet within time limit.

As I said, I personally do feel that Kumon is a wonderful teaching method. Although I dun have a good experience there. I actually tried to implement it since I am teaching Miloboy myself. The daily 30 mins is a very very good gauge. Talk about spending quality time with kids. These 30 mins of teaching can be quality time too!

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Right now, the doctor that is handling Miloboy’s case need to get feedback from the school as well, and the next appointment will take place late next month.

But yesterday, something drastic happened that I am still having chills from it.

My boy is the last one to come out of school…. and he is in tears, shouting back at his teacher. The crying part is “normal” to me. As he is a crybaby. But the shouting part…. this is NOT NORMAL.

I listened through the whole event which lasted 5 minutes till the teacher talked to me, finally, as I was waiting for her. She has previously given me a hand signal to wait, so I thought it will be better to remain silent till she is ready.

She demanded from Miloboy (conversation between miloboy and teacher) that he have to complete the worksheet and hand in tomorrow in school. Miloboy was shouting back that he is not going to hand in tomorrow but on friday instead. He clearly shows his deviant nature here.

Then he ran out of the school gate, crying, while I quickly talked to the teacher and got my girl to help keep watch of miloboy.

What teacher complained is pretty normal, Daydreaming in class, Not Attentive in Class etc. From what she had told me, she is displeased at the fact that she thinks Miloboy is capable of doing and completing the Maths worksheet in time, but he was actually daydreaming in class, and that he got one of the questions wrong.

Conversation ended when my girl ran back to tell me miloboy had went further away and threw down his school bag. I chased after him but he is actually waiting for me, so he is not that far away afterall. He told me he is throwing tantrums and he is Like That, he will cry first, then throw tantrums, and he wanted to go home alone.

He stopped at a nearby playground, which is good to me, as he still have not stopped his tantrums. I had to activate his dad, who was on the way home, to help talk to him.

When his dad arrived at the playground, and told Miloboy that he should not be daydreaming in class, but instead, try to complete the maths, whether or not he had done it right, as long as he tried his best, then the shocking part came.

“It does matter if I did not do it Right!!”

“I cannot get a C!”

“I will get punished if I get a C!”

Both of us are pretty shocked. We never stress the kids to get good grades, cos we both know that good grades do not get you anywhere nor give you a good start when you come out to work. More importantly, its on how you handle people, its the social skills….

But of course we had to comfort him first, the harsh reality can wait. What is more important now is that he got to know, Good Grades Ain’t Everything.

In my heart, I was thinking does getting an “A” earn me more money? Unfortunately, the answer is a No!

From yesterday’s episode, we can easily tell that Miloboy’s ego is badly bruised. He hates people shouting at him, and this is the first time that he retailates by shouting back…. and that he knew his teachers ain’t pleased if he does not get everything question Right….

I know the teachers must have been pretty stressed as well. I used to read a blog from a teacher but it was shut down due to “unknown” reasons…. I know they are really stressed.

So this is that the Education System we are giving our kids? Stressed teachers and stressed kids.

Is there a Need to stress a Primary One, 7 year old kid to this extent?

And he has to answer all questions correctly?

Just when did my Miloboy become a Genius ?

Pretty Crazy I would say…..

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Checklist (Note: I will not talk about academic stuff)

1. Your child should know how to buy food if you want to be worry free

2. Your child should be able to finish his/her food in at most 20 mins (recess is 25 mins)

3. Your child knows how to ask for permission from teachers to go to the washroom.

4. Your child is briefed on the school rules, what they can do, cannot do in school.

5. What is expected of your child’s behaviour in school.

On school rules, the Primary One Orientation upon successful enrollment held usually around month of November will give all parents a booklet on that aspect, do read it.

1. On Buying Food From School Canteen

I teach him by showing him how to buy food from the hawkers, he refused to try it himself, saying he knows. But he tells me sometime later after school starts that he does not know how to buy food.

However, he knows how to buy drinks from the drinks stall…….well, parents are not allowed to buy food for the kids for the school I enrolled him in, so, I can’t do much. Now, I will start to bring food over instead, asking my boy to wait for me in the waiting area. I tried giving him packed food but he forgot about them….and brought back to me untouched…..

2. Toilet/Washroom

Its perfectly normal to worry about going to toilet by themselves, able to wipe/wash, and not pee on their pants… And also know how to ask for permission from teachers to go to the toilet.

Something funny happened to Miloboy and since he only told me about it, thought I will hold this little secret between us. :p

3. On buying School Uniforms

I heard the uniform vendor making remarks every now and then that lots of sizes are taken up and that parents should come earlier…. well, in the list that the schools gave us, there are dedicated days for parents of Primary One, Primary Two and so on. And it was the 3nd day for buying uniforms for Primary One…. (but 3rd weeks has passed since Orientation for Primary One). Well, the size my boy need is out of stock too, and luckily, 2 weeks before school starts, the stocks came in.

Now I need to buy my boy’s shorts again as he has much lost weight. He was sick for the whole of last week.

4. On buying School Bags

We parents worry about the kids so much that we forgot one aspect of the kid – their Individuality. I admit I was affected by the hype of ergonomic schoolbags that I nearly bought one (as written on my post about the booklist)…….not that they ain’t good, but I subsequently remembered that I did not ask my boy what he liked.

I asked him if he would like it when lots of schoolmates were to carry the same bag, maybe different colors, as him. (This is because the booklist has stated the prices of the ergonomic schoolbags, they really make it very convenient for parents…..that somehow, we are homogenised if we follow it) He does not like the idea….  So we just got him a haversack that he likes.

And not to worry too much on the school books load. The schools will actually collect some books from the kids that their load will not be that exaggerated. Yes they may carry a big bag but its really not that heavy.

5. On buying School Books

I had a post on buying books according to the booklist. So that’s it.

REGISTRATION FOR PRIMARY ONE

Lastly, I will talk a bit on registration for Primary One. You will be given a queue number when you reach the school. Its on a first come first served basis but you need not be too overly concerned as once the quota hits, enrollment will be on ballot anyway. No preferential treatment of any kind will be given.

Its mostly filling up an application form, besides both parents’ identification documents, you will also need to bring your child’s health booklet along that shows his/her Immunisation Records. It will be very fast if the school’s well prepared. All these information are available at Ministry Of Education’s website.

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Not that that someone asked me to write, but what had happened to the family member caused me thinking.

She has been working for approximately 17 hours a day…. for about 2 weeks continuously.

She is so tired that she met 2 cab drivers that tried to do something funny.

One hid her NETS Card (a payment card but not a credit card) and insisted that he had returned it. Despite her tiredness, she insisted to search for it. It was finally found slotted on the coin placer that’s located in the middle of the cab.

Another cab driver returned the change for the cab fare less by $5. Luckily that she was still able to tell that something is wrong by looking at the change. Thought for a bit and told the driver the amount was wrong. She got back the $5.

Subsequently, she told me about the nasty emails that her boss was not pleased with her on failure to perform certain simple tasks e.g. swiping the time card… She was on the verge of breaking down.

From the looks, she was definitely tired out from work. One couldn’t help but show concern and ask her not to work so hard. She was practically working her life away….. Her hand was trembling by itself badly last week. And she was suffering from dizziness.

How many of us have heard such cases from our friends and relatives? I bet this is rather common.

Subsequently, when she told me that her colleagues had text messaged her that the office is like “dead fish” without her around, and that how her boss had to close the door when it gets too rowdy. And on several occasions at late midnight, the whole gang of them went out for supper. Maybe that explains why her boss was not happy and sent out nasty email that they have to remember to swipe the time card.

She may have been too “comfortable” at work and incurs the wrath of her boss.

But its a fact that she’s working very hard too. We know that she’s not an irresponsible person.

We presuaded her to quit her work if this goes on, as its not good to always to work late to rush to meet the project timeline. But she told us she really liked this job.

If so, there’s really nothing else we can do, except to remind her she got to take care of her health.

Personally, I would rather work for myself, my family, than for someone else who in the end, might not appreciate what I have done. If I ever work to death, my boss will only send me a condolence wreath to my funeral. If I ever work to death, I would rather die for myself, and my family.

Then again, who in the right mind will want work to death? Definitely not me.

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Beginning of last week, he asked me if I will come to see him in school, I thought he was referring to his lunch break so I said no, as parents ain’t allowed to help, only can see the kids from afar.

Subsequently, he asked me why he never see me at school. I then realised that he has not yet understand what is happening around him. And I had a good talk with him on being a Primary student. (We did prep him but apparently I think he just shuts off when there are too many mouths saying the same thing.)

He also asked why his sister is not studying in the primary school (my girl is still in Kindergarten Two) and that he wants his sister to be in the same as school as him. Then he rattled on that he wants to be younger than his sister. Its a sign of insecurity???

I felt closer to Miloboy now that I am taking care of him, and we frequently chatted with each other. I just hope he tells me more about his school life, so that I can know how he is actually coping in school.

Well, finally the teachers started their curriculum for my boy’s class today. One parent told me that the other classes have already started. So?

Well, most important thing is the kids are able to adapt to the new school life. At least, that’s what it matters now.

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As usual, he’s nonchalant and does not care much what is happening around him. He can pretty much adapt to the new environment, I guess. Just before he went to bed just now, he was telling his sister that he had learned NOTHING so far….

This is just the 2nd day, what can you expect? The actual learning has not started. Well, I can safely say that I will not be surprised that every other single student in his class has attended or are attending enrichment courses, but my boy does not.

Maybe I am depriving him of a so called “additional edge” but I am also giving him in return, a less stressful and happier childhood, enjoy more time with the family, and grow up to a kind and happy person.

My boy’s teacher also give out a letter on her expectations and what is required for school. Guess I will be busy doing some shopping then.

Oh yeah, I was actually VERY pissed with the over-zealous parents…. in Singapore, we call such parents “Kiasu”. I am unable to understand why most parents cannot tolerate a bit of waiting.

Warning:

Before you proceed, note that I am going to be VERY SARCASTIC below.

You see, the gate of the dismissal of the kids are not very wide, quite narrow in fact. On the first day of school dismissal, practically 95% of the parents jammed packed the school gate, making it very very slow, as in order to get in and get out, you need to squeeze through the CROWD… The school has already told us that dismissal are by classes, so it is actually more efficient if parents wait with a distance and only go forward to pick their kids when a class of kids comes out to be fetched home…..

but apparently, the majority of parents “CANNOT UNDERSTAND INSTRUCTIONS”, despite being fully educated.

On the second day, which is today, the situation does not improve BUT the school made adjustments in attempt to counter such Kiasu parents by placing barriers to avoid swarming of parents to pick up their kids. Such ungraceful behaviour of the parents puts me off.

Ok, that’s enough of my rant, and thanks for reading this.

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Its just a few more days to 2009, many of us will look back to summarise the events and move on.Why not make a list of your very own event for 2008? It will be very special as everyone’s list will be pretty different.

In short, this year is a major year of change for me.

Jan-Mar:

• Received a booklet on Primary Registration given by the Kindergarten teachers to all pupils going to Primary One the following year.
• A good video on Why We Keep On Buying.
• My boy’s first school trip – To the Airport & Clarke Quay. (Finally!! I will not explain why, should not wash dirty linen in public.)
• Celebrated my boy’s birthday with his favorite double chocolate cake.

Controversial: On Going Green

• My first effort to bring my own mug to buy homemade drinks at my office canteen was slapped with having to pay more, but my mug really contains the same amount with the disposable CFC cup that they use….

Apr-Jun:

• I opt for a no birthday cake for my birthday this year.
• My first experience in buying dresses from an online shop.
• My girl’s first school trip to Tanjong Pagar Railway Station. (Yay!)

Jul-Sep:

• Resigned and become a full time mum at home.
• Sold my mobile phone on ebay for some cash on hand.
• Set up my very own blog on the internet.
• Celebrated my baby girl’s one year old birthday.
• Bought a raincoat via ebay for my girl for her school trip to the zoo.
• My boy’s second school trip to a Primary School – to understand how primary school is different from kindergarten.

Oct-Dec:

• 2 occasions of lunch with my ex-colleagues.
• Bought sweet looking mini-cupcakes for my girl as birthday cake.
• My dear Grandpa passed away.
• My brother came back for the funeral from England.It has been 3 long years since I last seen him.
• Attended the primary one orientation with my boy, and am impressed with the school.
• Bought school books, uniforms for my boy.
• I noticed that the Recycle Bins gets filled up Very Very Fast, Its a Good Sign that more people are going green!!
• My baby girl was walking by herself at times! but still prefers a holding hand.

Coming up will the first day of primary school for my boy. Hopefully everything goes well.

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One of the words read as,

“menstrual women not transferred”

I was like, “What the … ?” and flip over to the chinese side, I found the original text to be “妇女月经不调”.

The correct translation to english should be

“irregular menses”…

Seriously, try not to save on translation costs, it only does more harm than good.

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She would always go to a store that sells softwares, buys them, and reads them at home. The software at that time is contained in squarish soft plastic, inside, is a round flim that is about the size of our CD media now.

One blogger blogged about how he is “bombarded” with support calls from his mum on using the computer.

As far as I can recall, my mum has NEVER stopped learning. She never received any form of encouragement either. But I do know she likes to ask me english words that she do not know.

Neither does she give up on how to use the computer, seeing how technology develops so fast, she still tries to keep up with times, dealing with the whole new world of the Internet, trying to figure out how to surf the internet for information, although she is not good with her english. (My mum’s chinese edcuated)

She even found a website that publishes romance stories for free reads. And she loved it so much that I worry she doesn’t have enough sleep. Fortunately & Unfortunately, (mum, not that I am gloating over it) that site is infested with viruses, so she has to keep away from it. She visits a variety of websites for her daily reads, some I do not even know of. I really am amazed with my mum.

Another blogger I found on the internet says his mum is an expert with new gadgets.

She tries her best not to call me up on problems she encountered with her computer by reading up lots of materials that she can self-help on. It really touches me. Recently, I installed MSN for her so that we can keep in contact easier. Well, I just went on MSN not too long ago too, so it couldn’t be a better time now. And I feel closer to her than ever, although I am physically not by her side.

Hmm, when’s the last time you had dinner with your mum?

Or when’s the last time you had a chat with her?

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