H's first day in Year 1

Today marks H's first day in Year 1. I think I'm just excited as he is. He seems to like his brand new school, being all smiley in the morning despite having to wake up at 6:30am. The school set up is definitely way better than his previous school. I especially like the classroom - very spacious and cheery, with full height windows overlooking the garden outside.

Let's hope everything works out well and that he enjoys going to school :-)

View from the canteen. H's classroom is the one on the right (ground floor)

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?

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.

Bahasa Malaysia. Not sure how strong his BM is but hopefully his good memory serves him well

Math. H claims it's easy peasy...

English. Shouldn't be a problem since he speaks English at home

English Spelling. Good thing is H has a strong grasp in phonics so spelling is easy for him

Science. Seems like a lot of topics but what is covered in each topic is actually quite basic

Exam time-table

Don't you agree this is too much for a 4.5-year old? I still think kids this young should not be tested!

Kindergartener and exams

I've never really thought much about kids' exams. What do kids get tested on anyway, especially kindergarten kids? I just feel it's so wrong for kids this young to be tested. They probably don't even know the concept of exams or have the stamina to sit through the exam papers (how many 4-5 year olds can concentrate for 1.5 hours on a single paper?!!!). I know in H's school calendar, it has been clearly marked out that 12-14 March are exam days for Reception kids. Yeah yeah exams, no big deal, until I saw in the Parents' Handbook last night that I realise this school takes the whole exam business really seriously.

3 days of exams, 4 subjects will be tested (BM + Ejaan, English + Spelling, Math and Science). There's even a list of topics / areas in which they will be tested on for each subject, and the list is long (I kid you not)!

Should I revise with H to prepare him for the exam, or should I just let him be? I really don't think kindergarteners should be given exams. The teachers should be able to assess how much they've learnt by observing their class work, no? Research shows that formal academic testing in young kids is inconclusive anyway since most kids this age can't even read instructions, nor have the attention span. I know H probably doesn't, given how he likes to dilly dally when doing his homework, but it doesn't mean that he does not know his work. So to me, exams are counter-productive and introduce unnecessary stress on kids. I dread having to tell H that he will be having exams and that he has to finish the exam papers and finish them fast. I can just foresee him asking me tonnes of questions like What is exam? Why must have exam? Why must finish? Why must do fast? Why this why that...

As far as I remember, I've never studied for exams throughout my primary school years, nor do I remember my mom ever revising with us. So I think I shall just let H be. He'll just need to learn from this coming exams - if he does well hopefully it'll motivate him; if he does badly hopefully he'll learn to buck up. What I wish to instil in my little big boy is for him to be an independent learner. That way mommy can relax knowing that he can take full responsibility for his own learning. *A long way to go I know, but I should really start by teaching him to take responsibility for his own homework*

H's first day in school

H is finally in a big school. I'm still not sure if we made the right decision, he's still such a baby and we're putting him through the stress of a big school.

Woke him up at 6:30am to beat the morning traffic. Left the house at 7am. The traffic was clear, not sure if this is normal or everyone's still having their break. Will try leaving a little later tomorrow. Since the traffic was clear, we arrived at 7:30am. H was the first one to arrive in class. As we walked towards the school from the parking area, I made it a point to show him where he'll be dropped off (mommy can't be walking him into class every morning, he has to learn his way), where he'll be picked up (you need to wait for po-po here after class, don't run around everywhere), and how to get to his classroom from the drop off area (remember yah this is the way to your classroom).

Amidst his calm appearance, I could sense that he was still a little terrified of being in the big school. I could almost sense him holding back tears although he didn't cry. As soon as one of his other classmates arrived, I told him I'll be waiting around in the canteen (oh here's your friend, mommy will be waiting in the canteen, you stay here and play with your friend ok). He seemed fine with the idea. Sat with another parent in the canteen till about 8am, then I went to check on him. He was doing colouring while waiting for his other friends to arrive. I went in and told him I had to go and that po-po will take him from school later. I then gave him a hug and left.

I hope he's coping ok. Unfortunately I have a lunch meeting today so can't pop by to check on him during lunch. Hopefully once the lessons start, he'll feel much better since he loves learning. It must be hard for him to be in class and not knowing anyone especially since he's not the proactive type in making friends. My poor little boy is forced to grow up. There's so much (living skills) he needs to learn, like eating and going to the toilet by himself, changing, etc. During orientation on Monday, he did not go to the toilet cos he didn't know how to take off his pants. He's so used to wearing pants with elastic band which he can just pull up and down that he doesn't know how to unbuckle his pants. Poor thing. I had to give him a crash course on buckling and unbuckling his pants. Then of course there's PE and swimming lessons, so he'll also need to know how to change into and out of his PE shirt/pants and swimsuit. Sigh... I guess we'll just have to take it one step at a time.   

Entrance assessment

It seems like I'm busier than ever when I don't go to work. The kids have been all over me I don't even have time to blog.

Last Wednesday, we took H for the school entrance assessment. It was the last assessment for the year to make it into Jan 2013 intake. I really don't know why they had to start the assessment so early (at 9am), and we had to travel all the way to Cheras. Since both hubs and I weren't familiar with the place, we thought we'd better leave early. H was really well prepped. There was an unusual sense of maturity in him that morning. He was up and having breakfast all by himself by the time I got out of the room (and ready to wake him up). Then he got into the car without any fuss, knowing we were going to the big school. We didn't tell him he was going for an entrance assessment, rather he was required to do some worksheets with some other children so that the teachers know how much he's learnt and can teach him new things. He seemed ok with the idea.

We arrived about 15 minutes early and there were some children training in the pool. H was fascinated to watch them swim laps. I told him that he'll be also taught how to swim just like those big kor kor and cheh cheh.  Swimming is compulsory and is part of the core curriculum. When it was time to go into the room, he happily sat down on the table labelled with his name. I was rather surprised he didn't insist that we stayed in the room with him.

First was the Math paper. I think it must be rather easy. I sneaked a glance and saw a few questions, e.g. colouring the bigger of 2 numbers in the squares, filling in the missing number in the sequence, etc. I wasn't sure if there were any equations (i.e. additions and subtractions) but when I asked H at the end of the assessment how was the Math paper, he said there was no Math paper. I guess he associates Math with equations, so no equation means no Math.

When we went in to sneak a peek at him after 10 minutes, he's finished his Math paper and was given the English paper. That was really quick. Other kids were still working on their Math paper. Great, that means we can head home early! So I thought. After about half an hour, I told hubs to go check on him. Hubs came back laughing, H was busy 'decorating' his name with different colours, and he's not started on his paper. The thing about H, he sometimes needs to be given instructions. I guess the teacher just handed him the paper and he didn't know what to do.. hehehe. So he just sat there and wrote his name, then got bored and started 'decorating' his name. One of the teachers then came and gave him instructions (I guess she finally noticed him sitting there bored). Hubs said the paper was quite difficult. Obviously you can't expect a 4 year old to know grammar. They are also tested on their reading ability. Hubs didn't stay long to watch so we don't really know what other questions were in the paper.

The last paper was supposed to be the Science paper. What would a 4 year old know about science I really am not sure. But after about 15 minutes from when he actually started doing his English paper H came out. We asked if he was done he said yes. Hmmm... we asked if he did the Science paper he said he didn't know. Alamak <slaps forehead>! That's also another thing with H, you really can't get any proper answers from him. We asked him what was in his Science paper he said he doesn't know, it's a secret. So we asked the teacher if we can go, she said yes, he's done. So I guess he was really done.

On the way back I asked H why didn't he start doing the English paper. He said he didn't know what to do. I guess you can't expect kids that age to be able to read instructions. I asked him why didn't he ask the teacher. He said they were busy with other kids. Aiyoh this H really should learn how to be more assertive. I then told him next time he should put up his hand otherwise the teacher won't know he needs help.

Anyway we are glad it's over and really proud of H for being so independent :-)

It's now final, H is going to Reception

We've finally made up our minds. Payment's been issued, so there's no turning back. Our little big boy will be going to Reception next year. Have we made the right choice? We'd never know. But we'd like to believe that we've made the best choice we can based on our circumstances.

When I went to pick H from Po-Po's house yesterday, I told her we've registered H in the international school. Po-Po's really supportive of our decision, but Gong-Gong thinks otherwise. His exact words, "Why are you wasting money? He's a smart boy. Just send him to a chinese school and save the money for university". There's really no point arguing with my dad, so I just let him nag on, "All of you went to a chinese school and you all turned out alright...." blah blah blah...

There are of course pros and cons for the different education routes you can take. There's not one perfect option. Different people have different experiences and hence different perspectives, but one should never generalise. Some kids will thrive in any environment, others won't. You just have to pay attention to and really understand your child - his personality and his learning style. Will H cope well in a chinese school? He probably would since he's a fast learner so I don't think he'd struggle academically. But will it bring out the best in him, maybe not.

So I'm really happy with the decision, except that I have to now bid farewell to my early retirement plan *sob sob*

International school search (part 2)

While attending a birthday party yesterday, we were told that Sri KDU has recently introduced its international primary school. We were really excited. We went to its Open Day a while back (for the private school - national curriculum) and were rather impressed. In fact, hubs wanted to register H there and then but I stopped him cos it was way to early to make a decision on H's education. That must have been 2 years back. After that, we've kind of decided to put him in a chinese school (thank god we did not pay the registration fee) until a week or so back.

So we had to go check the school out today. For similar fees, Sri KDU definitely has better facilities. We had rather high expectations when we went to the school, but was rather disappointed. No doubt the facilities are top notched, but somehow we did not get the same assurance we got from the other school, i.e. we're not too convinced about the academic side of things and the teachers' quality. Perhaps it's to do with the marketing lady we spoke to, who does not seem to know much (yes, they don't have an admission department, only a marketing department). Perhaps it's also to do with it being very new (only started in Sept 2012 with 3 classes - Year 1, Year 2/3 combined, Year 4/5 combined).

I guess our choice of school is clear then.

Our search begins...

Today we visited the school we're planning to send H to. It's not like we have many choices, since there are only a handful of schools befitting our criteria. Our requirements are quite simple, really :p

1. Location - must be conveniently located, i.e. either near our house or near our workplace. We're not about to sit through rush hour traffic in the morning just to get H to school. I'm already dreading the ungodly hour we have to get up. Waking H up will also be a problem
2. Compulsory Mandarin subject - we still want H to learn Mandarin. He may not end up to be as proficient as those kids attending chinese schools, but I guess knowing the basics is better than knowing none
3. Emphasis on Asian values - while we want H to be exposed to an international curriculum and the 'international' way of teaching/learning, we still want him to be grounded in the Asian values, e.g. having discipline, respect for others, etc.

So back to the school. We're pretty happy with what we've learnt, we felt that the school provides a good balance between being international yet somewhat still rooted in the local values. Teachers are a mixed of locals and expatriates. We were assured that they do not compromise on teacher quality, we were also assured that there's no drilling - we want our kids to be active learners and not just memorise, memorise, memorise! We looked at the books and the curriculum seems interesting (way more interesting than what we used to learn in school). Although there is a strong focus on the academic-side, there is equal emphasis on the non-academic side (whew!).

However, the school building is rather old and the facilities aren't as swanky as some of the other international schools. They should really do something about this, but I guess they're good enough for reception/primary years so we aren't too fuss at the moment.

Now I have to prep H for the admission assessment next week. Since parents are not allowed to be in the room with the kid, I'm not sure how he will take it. He may start crying and decide he doesn't want to do the assessment. Stress... stresss... stress... I'm still not sure how to prep him.

international school

It's been decided (I hope this time it's final) that H will be going to an international school. Despite our preference for him to have a solid foundation in Mandarin and a solid grounding in Asian values, i.e. to attend a public chinese primary school, we've decided on the next best option due for the following reasons:

1. A chinese school may not be conducive for a child like H. He's very inquisitive, he loves learning and is full of imagination (strengths) but he's also very shy and passive (weaknesses). We need an environment that will not stifle his strengths while developing his weaknesses.
2. We do not want to stagnate his learning. If we were to send him to a public school, it will be another 2 years (year 2015) before he enters primary one, just to start learning the things he already knows. He'll either be bored to death or lose interest in learning. The school we're considering implements Year 1 british curriculum for their reception year. This will be great for H since he won't have to repeat learning what he's already mastered.

Next step is to take H on a tour of the school and have him sit for the admission assessment. It's really really a last minute decision. Apparently the kids who've registered are already collecting their books, uniforms, etc this week and orientation is scheduled on the last day of December. Here we are still researching for schools. But just to prep H, we've told him that he will be going to a big boy school next year. He's pretty excited and asked if he can see the school, so that's a good sign. But I can't seem to stop worrying if it will be too much a culture shock for H to be in a big school. For starters, he has to start waking up early (much much earlier) as school starts at 8am and he can't be late (he used to be always late for school since we're not too bothered, it's only a preschool). Then he has to adapt to the long school hours since school only finishes at 2pm (he sometimes still naps after lunch so that has to change). Then of course he has to get used to the large school environment, being picked up and dropped off at the school entrance and making his own way to the classroom, etc.

Alternatively, we can just keep him at home as initially planned, and let him start Year 1 in Spetember 2013 instead of Reception in January 2013.