hi,


we were in paris and london last winter with 2 young kids (5,7). For Paris, we stayed in an apt. It's good cos there is more room for the kids, plus we did some cooking and laundry. Go to tripadvisor.com and there are so many to choose from. For london, we stayed in Premier Inn near Kings Cross. Its good cos they provide free beds for kids and kids eat free breakfast when adults pay. Many locations to choose from. It's not your fancy 5 star, but we found it clean and if you book early, sometimes you can get rooms at 50% off, which is a bargain for london. If booking B&Bs, make sure its good, cos some cheap ones are quite dingy, if you read reviews on tripadvisor.

mfalcon:

given that this year london's hosting the Olympics, just wanted to get some thoughts if it is wise to visit uk in late may - early June? i m planning to visit london and Windsor. Windsor mainly for the castle n legoland.

ps: Olympics starts in later part of July

Vietnam is very tourist friendly. Using Hanoi as a base, you can visit Sapa or Halong Bay. There are many tour operators there, its easy to book. You can go there and choose. We did a one way from HCM to Hanoi, stopping by Nha Trang, Hue, Hoi An, Hanoi with trips to Sapa and Halong Bay. Enjoy !

seems like its quite common, sembawang primary also does it and the parents were also told they its not for streaming… Initially, we also found it hard to believe, but there is really no way to find out unless u have insider info…

hi babycutie71,


yes, my son did go through the test, and was okay for everything except handwriting…they mentioned that is not for streaming purposes…

i’m not so sure of the transfers…although i do know that some other school will pick weaker students out to put in smaller classes for more effective coaching…

Hi,


My son is in 1 observant this year. What about your child ?

Homework seems to vary from class to class. Generally,my son doesnt come back with loads of homework, but some parents from other classes seem to have lots of it. I think it really depends on the teacher’s style.

I didnt find it stressful, but i’m a very relaxed mom…would you believe if i said i didnt have any assessments books for my son during the first semester? I thought textbook and workbook is enough. But then i realized for maths, that’s not the case. Even for 2nd semester, i didnt buy the other school’s exam papers for him. I dont want to stress them out too early, but even then, i think i gave some stress during his 2nd semester exam.

For P2, though, i will try and be more "kiasu" cos they do streaming then…

Hi,

babycutie71,

My boy’s concentration span is not that great. Generally, he doesnt really like chinese but he is a avid english reader. 1st half of the year, they do mainly hanyu pinyin and some easy chinese words…2nd half,mainly chinese words, but not difficult ones… But i have to say that dh’s memory is pretty good and he is quite a fast learner…I didnt have any specific methods for him to memorise the words, i just make him read to me his chinese text. Even then, i dont do it very regularly and i only have 1 assessment book for him. My younger girl is 4 and cant really speak mandarin yet. I’m hoping it’ll get better when she enters K1. You have to watch out for mathematics, though. It’s pretty tough.

Hi,


just like to share my experience. My boy just finished his P1 this year. We are generally an english speaking family. My son attended only hanyu pinyin classes during his K2 and he speaks very minimal mandarin before entering P1. Eg, he wasnt able to speak in a complete sentence and had a very "ang moh" accent. I did the usual textbook revision with him, and for mid year, he scored 70+. Teacher commented he is generally weak cos he wasnt able to match chinese words together. 2nd half of the year, i tried reading to him in chinese, and also went through his text books. To my big surprise, he scored 92. I guess the paper wasnt that tough, cos the level mean was 90 marks… But i was still happy. So dont worry too much !

Hi


I’m moving to springside estate. Does anyone know where is the nearest PCF kindergarten ? Preferably with direct bus there. The buses i have are :

167, 169, 980.


Or any other nursery or K that you recommend near there ?

Thanks

When ds was about 2+ and couldnt really understand chinese, we told him

Wan an (good night in chinese) and he replied Two an… He thought we were counting with him :One An !

Hi,


newbie here… SAHM to 2 children, ds 6 years old, going to chongfu primary next year & dd 3 years old, attending pre-nursery…

Was FTWM till dd came along 3 years ago ! I do enjoy the time with them, though they do drive me crazy sometimes …haha

Am trying hard to improve myself as a SAHM…Would love to meet other SAHM or SAHD…