PCF/PAP Kindergartens

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


You're lucky to have a good school to send your kids to
that helps prepare them well. From your posts and blog,
lessons at the centre seems interesting! Good for them.
Good for you!

Btw, my kiddie's use the 3-liner kinda exercise book to
assist them in neat handwriting in K1. She can start
journal writing if she likes. Can be as simple as, what she
does in school daily and what she ate for snack... As she
loves drawing, she can draw the snacks she ate or even
the activities she did in school. If a child does not understand
what a journal or diary is, you can tell them that its like a
story book of their lives.. And when they grow older and read
them, it will be lotsa fun. Decorate the book with drawings,
glitters, diamante or colourful confetti... with her name on it.

I shared with my girl that when she gets married and has her
own children, she can read to them about her life stories. This
way she'll never forget. And her children can know/learn what
were the goings-on in her life as a kid.. At that my kiddies smiled
and both has been writing journals eversince. When they get older
you can purchase those hardcover pieces with lock and key...
Girls especially love it! Its like a secret diary... that..... only she
and mummy can both read ( cos i help her with the spelling and
grammar mah - bo pian! ) and she likes the idea. Like girlfriends
keeping secrets together.

Then, one day.... she asked me.

Mum, can i read your diary?

Errrmmm...
I dunno where mine is, sweetie...
See... thats why we must learn to keep all our things properly.

[ChiefKiasu]

buds:

...Errrmmm...

I dunno where mine is, sweetie...
See... thats why we must learn to keep all our things properly.

Nope. You've not lost it. Childhood memories are forever etched in our minds. They are the basis of what we are, what we have become. We are all living diaries of our past. That's why it is so important that we give our children great memories to live on.

[tamarind]

buds,

I have also asked my girl to write her daily journal. She writes a few sentences every day, sometimes only one sentence a day if she is tired. I am happy that she is improving very fast. I have to remind her to write everyday. She is not self motivated to write her journal, she prefers to draw (fairies, princesses etc) and write words to describe what she drew. I told her that her future children will be interested to read what she did when she was a child. That did not work on her leh. She still need nagging from me

Here's a page of what she wrote. Some sentences are not grammatically correct, I did not ask her to rewrite in case she gets discouraged.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/tamarind/DSCF5494.jpg\">

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


Fantastic effort done by a K1 girl ( noticed it was dated Nov 08 ).

Oh, for me... i correct the grammar and any other spelling which
she may have done on her own (that is incorrect). Cause i do not
want her to continue the same mistake over and over.

Yes, there are displays of an attitude at times (when she's not so
motivated - ie. uneventful days... no fun days...) but i insist. Plus,
she has also been recording the amount she spends and saves
(from her school pocket money) on a daily basis. It indirectly helps
her with the addition and subtraction concept (with and without carry
over).

How to include picture in our posts huh, teach me, can?
I'll post up an example for sharing.

[buds]

Heyya Chief,


I did not lose it.
Still have them, but think not so
appropriate for small children to
read. Extremely detailed events
of my life!

I can be very descriptive!
Heheh..

[tamarind]

buds,

Some experts wrote in the forum that we should not correct the child's spelling. But I cannot help it, I do correct her spelling. When she has completed writing an entire sentence, and it is not grammatically correct, I don't make her erase it and write all over again. When she is halfway through and only small corrections are needed, I will correct her

To post the photos, I signed up an account with http://photobucket.com/. It is free. After uploading the photo, copy the IMG code paste it in your message.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b324/tamarind/photobucket.jpg\">

Besides photobucket.com, you can also use other photo sharing websites like http://www.flickr.com.

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


Yeah, the experts can say a lotta things but in eventuality
we have to gauge what is applicable to us, ourselves and
our family... correct? Hence, its called a forum. Its a place
of public discussion... here we brainstorm, share, help one
another out with useful information (like the recent braces
thread) and even trash things out sometimes... but it does
not necessarily mean we go by everything.

Even if i don't correct her, in school when she does her work,
her teacher obviously will. So, in my case i wanted to prepare
her for the big red circle and the big red sentences that the
teacher will make in her pages, should she make mistakes..
which she surely will.

The learning school of thought where i'm used to, highly dis-
courages discouraging children in any way... heheh, but after
being a parent, learning to be kiasu and eventually become
officially kiasu, with own children its different lah. A bit more
of that nudge won't reali hurt...

When i first observed her, she tends not to ask questions for
stuff she doesn't know. She seriously doesn't and its not doing
her that much good. To the extent, even when she is lost... she
won't ask a soul to save her life. Sooo shy.. Or maybe so \"atas\"
hahahaaa! (arrogant) - i'm not that sure, but probably huh.. :lol:

Via gradual correction of her work, she has now developed the
\"i-will-ask-when-unsure\" attitude to ensure she understands and
can get the work right, hopefully not coming back to her to do
corrections.

She has now improved nicely.. not making the usual grammatical
and spelling mistakes. At times, she writes everything so beautifully
no corrections are required and she'll be very satisfied with her effort.

Side track a bit..
She is no longer shy to ask for help, ask for directions, convey my
messages to the teacher, etc... which is a BIG thing to her and
ourselves as parents. Cos in school, she has been dubbed the
quietest girl in class.. (At home? NO!) Her latest stint for the school's
Chinese New Year performance was a voluntary effort which helped
boost her esteem, confidendence and courage. Why voluntary? Cos
she says the teacher asked for raise of hands, who were interested to
participate, and she said it sounded exciting, so she raised up her hand
and was in shrills and shrieks with other classmates who wanted to be
a part of the performance too.

Okay, back to the topic...
Usually when my kiddies sit round the table to do their daily
journal, school homework or my assessments, i sit with them.
This way, i'm available for question and answer from both and
it will mean they don't have to erase and redo their work a
hundred times to perfection. I also encourage them to use
the dictionary. On the occasions where i cannot sit with them,
i'm a shout away. After staying home for awhile, i was able to
master the art of multi-tasking. Hehee. So, if hubs is on the way
back and i need to be in the kitchen to heat up dinner, they know
my eyes and ears are at the back of my head, hahahaa! On other
situations, where i cannot physically be there to coach them, i
have noticed they can complete their work independently and
without supervision and still come back nicely done. So, i suppose
practising good sense of discipline will help children be independent.
They now understand routine, that if work is not complete their free
time will not come. The faster and the less corrections made, the
more free time they have for their favourite craft moments together.
They are more careful with their work now and much neater.

Some friends i have who're FTWP, will always ask their children
to either do work in their own room even at a young age and the
child cannot accomplish this without supervision, that when the
parents come in to check their work, the children either already
fell asleep, were playing, or didn't know how to do the work and
just did all of them anyhow... If they were on a same table together,
the same friends wud have the TV on, flip magazines or in between
the coaching with work period - wud be answering phone calls on
their mobile.. One of them confided that she just cannot help it. She
and her husband comes home so late that all they want is to put
their feet up and take a break, catching up with some TV time, small
talk and chill out reading magazines. There's also the internet and
replying to the bulk of mails.

When i was at their home, and the children quickly asked my kiddies to
play together so i asked if they had finished homework and assessments,
and they confided that mummy and daddy never reali checks, so its ok.
Worse come to worse, the next day can do it as well... Quick one said the
son to me. And before going off to school too. How horrified i was, so i
offered to sit with him and wait till he's done then we all play together.

After seeing how it worked, she and the hubs ensure they have at least
30 minutes minimum to spend with their children (3 of them) equally, to
catch up and has not looked back. Her children appreciates the fact that
tho' mummy and daddy are back from work all tired out, they still make
the effort to catch up with them... before they fall asleep. :love:

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


Happy Niu Year to you and your family!
Hoping that it'll be a blast of a celebration
surrounded by all the people you love.. :love:

It's been nice knowing you via this forum.
Your posts provide great sincerity and great effort
of trying to do the best as a parent. I salute you for that.
:salute:

Have a great time!
:celebrate:

PS : Tks for the photo sharing guide, much appreciated!

[tamarind]

buds,

Happy Chinese New Year to you and your family too !

I am also very happy to know you. You are a very sincere person who really makes an effort to read and understand other people's messages, and you always write encouraging and nice messages that make others, especially me, feel good. I salute you for that !
[quote]Yeah, the experts can say a lotta things but in eventuality
we have to gauge what is applicable to us, ourselves and
our family... correct?[/quote]Absolutely correct !

Your kids are very good to be able to complete their work independently and still come back nicely done. This year both my kids are in the morning class, my mother asks my girl to do her work independently in the afternoon. When I return home from work, I only have have about 2 hours to spend with them before they go to bed. I will check my girl's work, which is usually fine, and then guide my younger boy who still needs help. I try to make good use of the short time I have with them every night. I only do other things after they go to bed after 9 pm.

As full time working parents, we really need to make an effort to spend quality time with our children. Since we brought them to this world, we should give them the best. The best things that we can give to our children is our love and attention.

[buds]

Heyya tamarind,


Yup! Very right…
Shouldn’t give less than the best!
That’s a parent’s responsibility bringing children into this world.