I really have to rethink the kids' bedtime routine. They're both reluctant to go to bed and it's a struggle every night. It takes at least an hour to finally get them settled in bed, and that doesn't mean they fall asleep immediately. No wonder H can't wake up in the morning (my poor boy has to wake up at 6:30am), and I swear he's getting eye bags from the lack of sleep (he won't nap in the afternoon).
Here's how it goes every night.
8pm: Mommy me will yell "OK enough, stop playing everyone goes upstairs!" which will be met with defiance "No, I still want to play!" I will then turn off the lights in the living room and start marching upstairs, "Mommy is going up, you can stay and play if you want but I'm going up!" That usually gets their attention. On a good day, they'll race each other up the stairs. On a bad day, one or both of them will start whining or throw a fit!
8.15pm-8.30pm: Depending on luck, I finally get them both upstairs, but getting them changed and brushing their teeth is another battle. Their favourite game is to chase each other along the corridor and from room to room, while I try to keep my patience checked. "Stop running dear, come here and brush your teeth..." I'll be repeating this over and over until my patience runs out then I'll resort to threatening him "That's it, I'm gonna ask kakak to come get you ready" or physically dragging him into the room. Since I can only handle one kid at a time (cos it's running late and H needs to go to bed), the nanny usually takes the other (L by default) which on most nights result in her throwing a fit "I don't want you, I want mommy!"
8:30pm: Gosh, already so late! "It's late already, time to sleep." which will be met by "I want a story first". "OK just one story then you have to sleep, promise?" But after one story, it'll be "I want another story!" or "I want to drink milo", or "I want to chit chat", etc.
9pm-9.30pm: Again depending on luck, the kids are finally settled.
So really, if I want H to sleep by 8:30pm (so that he gets 10 hours of sleep), I'll have to shoo them upstairs by 7:30pm latest. Sometimes I'm not even home by 7:30pm. How lah?!!!
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Dilemma
4 Reasons To Ditch Academic Preschools | Janet Lansbury
I like the above post. It captures exactly my thoughts. H is one of those preschoolers who has a knack for letters and numbers, and has, through his own interest and initiative 'thought' himself to read, spell and do math. He's coping well academically in his current school (which is overly academic) but I just feel that what he needs is not more academic learning but nurturing his self-esteem and confidence, learning how to socialise and self-regulate, etc.
Last night, I asked H if he likes his school. He gave me an affirmative no. When probed further this was his exact answer, "We only learn learn learn and don't play, so boring!". I can really feel for him. Classes run from 8am-2pm with 2 short breaks in between. That's a really long day for a kid if all they do is academic learning, with no play time in between. "I like SA (his previous preschool), we get to play and learn, not just learn learn learn!"
If H was older, I would probably tell him that well, life is not a bed of roses so deal with it. Maybe not in such words but you get my drift. Kids should not be over-protected nor overly-pampered. But H is only 4.5 years old. I'm not sure if the lack of sleep, or the overly academic school is taking a toll on his emotional wellbeing. My sis and mom seemed to have noticed that H's temper is getting from bad to worse. He seemed to have had it under control for a while but ever since he started schooling (in his new school), he's more short fused. Simple things get him agitated and he will burst out in anger. My sis has been nagging me about my decision to send H to such an academic school whereby kids are pushed to learn so much so young, about introducing unnecessary stress to him, etc. I always just brushed her off, "Where got stress? It's not like he's struggling, he is actually coping well!"
I don't agree to push a child beyond their developmental readiness, but I also don't agree to delay a child's learning. For H, he's a fast and keen learner so he's definitely ready to learn everything that's taught in school with ease. But now taking a step back to reconsider, I guess there's really no need to introduce more academic subjects into H's life. Instead we should focus on his weaknesses. But pulling him out of school after the first semester means forfeiting the hefty deposit we paid. The only way to get back the full refund is to put in a notice of withdrawal before June and only leave at the end of the year. Hub's ok either way, "Money you can earn, but you can't buy back childhood". Sometimes he does have spurts of wisdom, hahaha.
So what should I do? Put aside all these nagging feelings and stay the course (praying that all will trun out well in the end), or do something (which may not necesarily turn out to be right)?
I like the above post. It captures exactly my thoughts. H is one of those preschoolers who has a knack for letters and numbers, and has, through his own interest and initiative 'thought' himself to read, spell and do math. He's coping well academically in his current school (which is overly academic) but I just feel that what he needs is not more academic learning but nurturing his self-esteem and confidence, learning how to socialise and self-regulate, etc.
Last night, I asked H if he likes his school. He gave me an affirmative no. When probed further this was his exact answer, "We only learn learn learn and don't play, so boring!". I can really feel for him. Classes run from 8am-2pm with 2 short breaks in between. That's a really long day for a kid if all they do is academic learning, with no play time in between. "I like SA (his previous preschool), we get to play and learn, not just learn learn learn!"
If H was older, I would probably tell him that well, life is not a bed of roses so deal with it. Maybe not in such words but you get my drift. Kids should not be over-protected nor overly-pampered. But H is only 4.5 years old. I'm not sure if the lack of sleep, or the overly academic school is taking a toll on his emotional wellbeing. My sis and mom seemed to have noticed that H's temper is getting from bad to worse. He seemed to have had it under control for a while but ever since he started schooling (in his new school), he's more short fused. Simple things get him agitated and he will burst out in anger. My sis has been nagging me about my decision to send H to such an academic school whereby kids are pushed to learn so much so young, about introducing unnecessary stress to him, etc. I always just brushed her off, "Where got stress? It's not like he's struggling, he is actually coping well!"
I don't agree to push a child beyond their developmental readiness, but I also don't agree to delay a child's learning. For H, he's a fast and keen learner so he's definitely ready to learn everything that's taught in school with ease. But now taking a step back to reconsider, I guess there's really no need to introduce more academic subjects into H's life. Instead we should focus on his weaknesses. But pulling him out of school after the first semester means forfeiting the hefty deposit we paid. The only way to get back the full refund is to put in a notice of withdrawal before June and only leave at the end of the year. Hub's ok either way, "Money you can earn, but you can't buy back childhood". Sometimes he does have spurts of wisdom, hahaha.
So what should I do? Put aside all these nagging feelings and stay the course (praying that all will trun out well in the end), or do something (which may not necesarily turn out to be right)?
Monday, 4 March 2013
Have I made the wrong school choice?
H's classmate celebrated her birthday yesterday and it was a great opportunity for the mommies to get together while the kids played. H's school is one of very few private schools with no PTA so parents don't get a chance to 'gang up' and voice our concerns. Our topic of conversation was of course around kids and education. Everyone was asking about the March exams and wanted to know how the other mommies are approaching it. I told them frankly that I'm just going to let H sit for the exams. If he does well, good, if not, I'm not too bothered either. C'mon, the kids are only 4-5 years old. There must be better things for them to do at home (like play) than to study for exams.
The more I get to know about the school (from other parents and from my own observations), the more I have this nagging feeling that we have made the wrong choice. I can't help wishing that we had stuck to our original idea, i.e. to give H a year out. I feel so kesian that he has to wake up so early in the morning and that I have to rush him to bed every night (I know he wants to spend more time with mommy, I do too but there's no choice else he won't get sufficient sleep). I'm also beginning to wonder if he'll lose interest in learning. Too much academic work too early will definitely kill the joy of learning. Learning should be associated with fun rather than homework and exams! H used to proactively ask for worksheets (he thinks it's cool to be like the big kor kor /cheh cheh with homework to do) but these days he finds homework more a chore than something he enjoys doing for fun.
Anyway, I digressed. Back to school choices. We're almost quite certain now, after having experienced private (international) schooling that perhaps it's really just a hype. Are private schools really better? Is the international syllabus really better? Not necessarily. It all boils down to the quality of teachers and the school management (who determines the philosophy of teaching / learning the school adopts). Unfortunately this is something difficult to assess unless you experience it first hand as some schools are just really good at marketing. So not all private schools are good, and certainly not all public schools are bad. One of the mommies I spoke to at the party admitted that she actually regretted putting her daughter (who's in Year 2) in the international stream. As with all choices, there are the pros and cons. Thankfully H is only 4+ years old so we still have time to decide whether to continue with the international stream or put him in the SJK(C) stream. Meantime, we have to decide if we should let him continue with Reception, take him out of school, or put him in a play-based kindy.
Do parents these days think too much?
The more I get to know about the school (from other parents and from my own observations), the more I have this nagging feeling that we have made the wrong choice. I can't help wishing that we had stuck to our original idea, i.e. to give H a year out. I feel so kesian that he has to wake up so early in the morning and that I have to rush him to bed every night (I know he wants to spend more time with mommy, I do too but there's no choice else he won't get sufficient sleep). I'm also beginning to wonder if he'll lose interest in learning. Too much academic work too early will definitely kill the joy of learning. Learning should be associated with fun rather than homework and exams! H used to proactively ask for worksheets (he thinks it's cool to be like the big kor kor /cheh cheh with homework to do) but these days he finds homework more a chore than something he enjoys doing for fun.
Anyway, I digressed. Back to school choices. We're almost quite certain now, after having experienced private (international) schooling that perhaps it's really just a hype. Are private schools really better? Is the international syllabus really better? Not necessarily. It all boils down to the quality of teachers and the school management (who determines the philosophy of teaching / learning the school adopts). Unfortunately this is something difficult to assess unless you experience it first hand as some schools are just really good at marketing. So not all private schools are good, and certainly not all public schools are bad. One of the mommies I spoke to at the party admitted that she actually regretted putting her daughter (who's in Year 2) in the international stream. As with all choices, there are the pros and cons. Thankfully H is only 4+ years old so we still have time to decide whether to continue with the international stream or put him in the SJK(C) stream. Meantime, we have to decide if we should let him continue with Reception, take him out of school, or put him in a play-based kindy.
Do parents these days think too much?
Friday, 1 March 2013
March Exams
H's school first quarter (March) exam syllabus for Reception. Looks pretty intimidating, but I have full confidence in H. He seems to have a good grasp of all that is taught in school since he doesn't need guidance when doing his homework (I take that as he knows the subjects well). He only needs reminding to finish his homework and not dilly dally. So exams or not, I'm not going to succumb my little boy into studying. He's just too young to be spending time studying for exams.
Don't you agree this is too much for a 4.5-year old? I still think kids this young should not be tested!
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| Bahasa Malaysia. Not sure how strong his BM is but hopefully his good memory serves him well |
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| Math. H claims it's easy peasy... |
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| English. Shouldn't be a problem since he speaks English at home |
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| English Spelling. Good thing is H has a strong grasp in phonics so spelling is easy for him |
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| Science. Seems like a lot of topics but what is covered in each topic is actually quite basic |
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| Exam time-table |
Primary school online registration
Just completed the online registration for H's entry into a chinese primary school, easy peasy... in case you can't find the link on the MOE webpage (took me some time to look for the link), this is it http://apps.moe.gov.my/esppsel/
Now I'll have to go bug our tenant for the latest utility bills so that I can complete the registration process. I wonder if I should take H to the school when I hand in the documents. He did ask if he was going to the same big school as C cheh cheh (his cousin) when he's a big boy :-)
Now I'll have to go bug our tenant for the latest utility bills so that I can complete the registration process. I wonder if I should take H to the school when I hand in the documents. He did ask if he was going to the same big school as C cheh cheh (his cousin) when he's a big boy :-)
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