First week of school

I must say mommy's really proud. H settled in rather well, and he seems happy going to school. Here's an account of how the week went.

Monday 31/1: This was Orientation Day. The kids were asked to go to school in their uniform and they had to bring along all their books (for safekeeping in the classroom). There was no lesson, the session was meant to introduce the kids to their class, teachers and friends, as well as to familiarise them to the school environment, i.e. where the toilets are located, the canteen, etc. I felt that the session was rather badly conducted (i.e. not very organised), in fact, I think H's previous preschool did a better job at running orientation. We also left feeling a wee bit concern over H's class teachers. But perhaps it was too early to judge, so we shall give it some time. H did cry a little during the orientation, and stuck to me during the morning tea break. So I had to give him lots of pep talk. Towards the end of the session, he was ok but I continued to pep talk him even into the next day.

Tuesday 1/1: Holiday, yay!!

Wednesday 2/1: First day of school. H was pretty good. I took him to class, he took out his stuff, put them into his desk drawer, placed his bag in the allocated area in the room, and took his seat (he already knows the routine). He also gave the teacher a hug. Since we were early I took him to the canteen for breakfast. Then came the poo-poo incident which reminded me I have to toilet train him. When we got back to class, I gave him a hug and told him mommy has to go to work. He said ok, and went into the class and took his seat without any fuss. Good boy!

Thursday 2/1: Second day of school. Again we were early so I took H to the canteen for breakfast. After that, I took him back to his class and said goodbye. Met a few other moms in the next class and we stood outside talking. When I was on my way out, I looked into H's class and noticed that they have rearranged the seating arrangement. H was seating all by himself. I thought to myself, this is no good since H is a shy kid and I was afraid that if he sits on his own, he may not make friends as quickly or easily. Must have a word with the teacher the next morning (since the class has already started I did not want to interrupt). So being a kiasu mom, I listed down all the things I wanted to discuss with the teacher... haha. Tomorrow is the last day parents are allowed in the school grounds so I'd better make sure I make full use of it. Hey, have to make sure we get our money worth right, since we're paying such hefty fees :-p

I wanted to know how H was in class, i.e. is he participating? Is he eating during the breakfast and lunch breaks? Is he socialising with the other kids? etc. etc. I also wanted to highlight to the teachers what we felt were important, e.g. to encourage him to participate and speak up, to help build his confidence, etc., as well as to highlight to them what H's strengths and weaknesses, etc. so they can understand and deal with him appropriately.

Friday 3/1: Today we left a little later so we were not quite as early (so no breakfast in the school canteen). H went about his usual routine of 'setting himself up' while I spoke to the class teacher. I was glad to hear that H does participate in class, and he's interacting with his classmates. And I was wrong, H is not sitting alone, he's seated with another boy Eugene who's a very active and talkative little boy. Good! That will help H get out of his shy shell. Sometimes all it takes is a little 'motivation' from someone else. The teacher also commented that they do notice that H is a very smart boy, but shy.

Saturday 4/1:  Crash course on toilet training (since I didn't manage to do it on Thurs and Fri) and swimming. Luckily Friday's swimming lesson was postponed, will only start this coming Friday so I had time to get H's fear of the big pool out of him. Took H and L to the pool. L as usual refused to go into the baby pool while H refused to get into the big pool. After some coercion, he finally came to the big pool. I must say this is indeed a really big step for him to finally agreed to go into the big pool. He was grabbing on to me so tightly there was no way I could teach him how to use his hands and legs to paddle and kick. The saving grace was the ring floatie we got. Half way through the session, we remembered we bought a ring floatie and told kakak to go get it. H initially refused to use it, still holding on to be really tightly, so we gave it to L. She was a natural. H saw her swimming so effortlessly with the floatie that he decided he also wanted to try. And that was it, he finally let go and was really happy that he didn't need us to hold him.  He was proud to be able to swim on his own, and we were happy that at least he's gotten the fear of the big pool out of him.

Sunday 5/1: I registered H in a Sunday school - Dhamma for Kids. Classes are held every alternate Sundays (twice a month). I thought it would be good for him to start learning about Buddhism or at least learn about good behaviour and values. It'll also be good for him to learn how to be more independent and confident. So how was the first class? The class was really good, but H, sigh, very disappointing. He refused to participate! Must pep talk him again. That evening, H wanted to go swimming again in the big pool. At least one of my crash courses worked, the toilet training bit still need some work :-)