disappointment wif kids

[sean wife]

I try to teach a bit at home each day, but can be quite time-consuming and also blood-boiling to try to teach a pair of 3-yr old twins who like to disturb each other, thus for many activities, need to do one-to-one. Even if there is someone else around to look after the other one, somehow one likes to barge in when I am trying to focus to teach the other one…it’s a constant struggle, even worse when they are grouchy and not co-operating. But to console ourselves, there are some good days and some bad days…bad days do less, good days try to do more to make up lor. But one funny thing is that their teachers (school and enrichment) have the same comments that they can complete their work quite fast and independently in school, even when teacher not looking…but at home, somehow things do not go quite so smoothly…any tips to share on effectively teaching 2 or more kids of close age??


Nonetheless, they still attend some academic enrichments, maybe more for my own sanity…on those bad days, I can tell myself ‘it’s ok, they will learn that in their school/enrichment class someday too…’ Else, everyone in the family, from caregivers, to parents, to maids, to kids will have added stress.

[tamarind]

mummy of 2:

tamarind:

The only thing that I am disappointed with, is that my boy do not like maths.

I know this is OT but my DS1 has just started a Maths enrichment programme, which is very hands-on, and fun. If you are interested to know more, you can PM me

I have been following your thread and blog on teaching English and Chinese, and have learnt a lot from you. Just hoping to share some info which I think may be of benefit.

Thanks mummy of 2. But my boy refuses to attend any enrichment class, and I am too tired to bring him anywhere now. His is actually well prepared for P1 maths, it is just that he is not going to like some kids who can score near perfect marks effortlessly. He prefers me to teach him.

[tamarind]

KC,

I used to outsource Chinese to Berries class too. I totally understand parents who need to send their kids to enrichment classes.

But for those parents who complain that even after attending enrichment class, their kids are still doing poorly, then they should definitely try to learn more about effective teaching methods. This is better than just feeling disappointed with their kids. When in China, I saw this big slogan in a primary school :
没有不好的孩子
只有不好的教育

Rough translation : There are no bad(lazy) children. There is only bad education.

This is something that I firmly believe in.

[peterch]

tamarind:

........There are no bad(lazy) children. There is only bad education.


This is something that I firmly believe in.

Strongly agree with this....

[tinkfirst]

Yes, I agree with 3boys that we don’t have an option to give up on them, despite their rudeness, disobedience. At times they are so angelic, other times making me ‘wanting to vomit blood’. Nevertheless, our love for them are unconditional and pure.

[janet88]

tinkfirst:

Yes, I agree with 3boys that we don't have an option to give up on them, despite their rudeness, disobedience. At times they are so angelic, other times making me 'wanting to vomit blood'. Nevertheless, our love for them are unconditional and pure.

We cannot give up on our own kids...we gave birth to them. My kids drive me up the wall too...but they can be angels, obedient and absolutely adorable too.

[markfch]

Whenever ds does something that disappoints me, I'll take it that he's just taking revenge for his grandpa cos for every mistake that he made, I would have made them thrice during my time.


Despite this, my parents never gave up on me :love: .

[INNOVATE]

During their pre-school yrs, both my kids had not attend any enrichment programme at all. All they had were one yr of play group in Apple and 3 yrs of nursely-K2 in a Pap Kindegarden.Only believe in play and discovery at such young formative yrs.


As they moved on to primary school, enrolled them in one of the HHK’s schools even rejected a popular methodist school in an attempt to solve the learning of chinese once and for all. Except for HCL enrichment no other tuition was given. At that time, there were atttending the sunday school. From pri 1-5, results for both kids were rather discouraging vs-a-vs their cohort. Both their level positions at end of P5 were around 180/330. Alarm bells rang, close monitoring, daily talks, additional assesments from me, english and maths pratices. By their prelim 1 of P6, surprisingly, their level positions moved up very significantly to within the top 100/330. In 2005, had accompanied my ds to receive his PSLE results. Cautiously confident, i took a seat at he 7th row, dare not went near as i expected many kids would outperformed him. The principal then annouced the performance of his cohort and was ready to call the names of top performers on stage. Never did i ever dare to expect my ds name was called up. My dd also performed relatively well in her PSLE the following year. Both studied in v good schools of their choices. Never expected it when they first started pri 1.

In their secondary yrs/yr 1-4, they were left entirely on their own without even taking HCL tuition as my kids rejected it. They enjoyed their school years as not much pressure from their parents. Just plaintly refused to force them to receive special tuitions against their wishes.

My ds did well in his jc-1 promos this yr and is a student leader. My dd will be taking her IB(yr 5) 2011 and is an olympia maths medallist in the senior category. Apparently, hubby and i are still rather disappointed in two areas- lazy and unmotivated.

Both are currently not receiving any tuition or enrichment classes. Had decided long ago to place them in the hands of the LORD.

[INNOVATE]

LKVM:

INNOVATE:

Both are currently not receiving any tuition or enrichment classes. Had decided long ago to place them in the hands of the LORD.

I wish all the kids can be like yours

Many tks! Have opted long ago for my kids to cultivate self-starter quality with a can do spirit. This i believe argurs well when they are in varisity and working world. All along, prepare to sacrifice short term results for long term gains just like in my financial investment.

Anw, the most accurate assessment to determine a kid's academic ability is the performance in jc-1 promos administer by a top 2 tier jc.

[3Boys]

sean wife:

I try to teach a bit at home each day, but can be quite time-consuming and also blood-boiling to try to teach a pair of 3-yr old twins who like to disturb each other, thus for many activities, need to do one-to-one. Even if there is someone else around to look after the other one, somehow one likes to barge in when I am trying to focus to teach the other one....it's a constant struggle, even worse when they are grouchy and not co-operating. But to console ourselves, there are some good days and some bad days...bad days do less, good days try to do more to make up lor. But one funny thing is that their teachers (school and enrichment) have the same comments that they can complete their work quite fast and independently in school, even when teacher not looking...but at home, somehow things do not go quite so smoothly...any tips to share on effectively teaching 2 or more kids of close age??


Nonetheless, they still attend some academic enrichments, maybe more for my own sanity...on those bad days, I can tell myself 'it's ok, they will learn that in their school/enrichment class someday too...' Else, everyone in the family, from caregivers, to parents, to maids, to kids will have added stress.

Hey, they are 3 years old! Are you really expecting them to sit down quietly and listen to formal teaching? Academic enrichment??