wow, that's a wonderful activity to do. Keep it up!

Personally, I wud not send my child to an all-girl or all-boy primary sch.


I was from a mixed pri sch, and then went on to an all-girl sec sch, and then mixed JC. Had no problem interacting with the boys in JC.

But I had a female classmate from the same all-girl sec sch (we were classmates there for 4 yrs), who went to same JC with me and we were in the same class too in JC. But she behaved very oddly from the first day in JC, so diff from the girl I knew in sec sch. She was painfully shy and quiet, extremely self-conscious.

After a few days during orientation, I cud not stand it any more and asked her what was wrong - why she was like that. She said she did not know how to behave in front of the boys - turned out that she went to an all-girl pri sch as well.

I thank my parents that I was in a mixed pri sch becos it took all the mystery out of boys - you know how naughty they are in pri sch. But I do think that pri sch is the best period to be in a mixed sch becos girl-boy relationship has not started yet (for most average pri pupils, that is. But there are always exceptions).

If you do send her to all-girl pri sch, hopefully not all-girl sec sch as well. May have to think a little further than the current pri level, and envisage future impact on yr child.

But of cos, not everyone may turn out to have the problem that my friend had.

Good luck!

Hi Luanee


I’d be alarmed too if my daughter said that to me.

First, perhaps examine how she gets such ideas in her innocent mind. Has the child been exposed to TV programs unsuitable for the kids… and I dun mean R21 ones… nowadays they have unsuitable themes in the prime time TV slots as well.

The latest Juhua (Korean TV drama at 7pm, channel U) K-wave show had the lead actor play up his anticipation of the wedding night with a lot of suggestive remarks and wink wink stuff.

When I tape new Jap anime cartoons for the kids (such as DGrayman), I will vet the shows for adult themes (such as Burst Angels) and not tape the ones unsuitable for kids.

When we tape movies such as 2 Fast 2 Furious (my boys like cars) off the TV, we watch it with the kids with a remote in our hands. When you can anticipate the kissy kissy scenes and when the actor/actress will start undressing and jump into bed is going to happen next… fast forward, ha, ha! That’s what we do lah.

Perhaps you cud just ignore her comments and take a wait n see approach. Sometimes, kids say certain things to get extra attention e.g. swear words. I doubt she will seriously really do such a thing. Maybe it was just said in jest.

But I have been teaching my 5-yr-old girl that some parts of our body is private, and to shut the door when changing (becos she has 3 older brothers), which she does remember to do so all the time. So she is already not inclined to want to appear undressed.

Hope it turns out alright for you.

Here is the link

http://valtay.blogspot.com/2008/09/jul-2007-just-sit-read-and-learn.html

yes, the drawings were done by my kids. Thank you!

Find my story at http://www.valtay.blogspot.com - under \"Just sit, read and learn.\"

I shared my experience of broaching the subject with my boys at http://www.valtay.blogspot.com - under \"Tackling the birds and the bees\"

Thanks Smiley, hope that helps

Have thought of writing a story on that some time ago - but never got round to it. For the long, detailed answer - look out on my blog (one day, I’d get round to write the long story and post on blog).


Short answer for now (which still seem long by forum standard): Basically, what I cud do and did do when I was in primary sch, I’m sure my kids wud be able to do as well. Since it was my job as a child to wash the bathroom once a week, and help with the dishes sometimes, wash my own sch shoes, iron my own sch uniform (that was in upper primary - when I was in lower primary, my elder sis helped me iron).

So my 2 elder boys started out to help wash the dishes, and later, my third son as well. They also wash their own sch shoes now. And the two older boys (in upper pri) help their younger bro (in P2) iron his uniform when they do theirs.

Be it washing the bathroom, sch shoes, dishes, ironing - u have to teach slowly and patiently. First, they watch you do it. Then they try - give lots of praise and encouragement. Do not scold when they make mistake. Keep repeating and correcting over several weeks and even months.

We have a system where I check their work - be it washing or ironing. If not gd enuf, they have to do it again. I don’t scold them - I jus point out which part no good and ask them to pls redo those parts. Till now, even for the bathroom - one of them tend to past the inspection (like army barrack style) with flying colours and the other fail. When they fail - I point out the dirty spots missed and they redo.

I have no hard and fast rule re age: as my third son takes after my MIL (he inherited her genes for height) - he is small for his age compared to his siblings. So he started doing the dishes once a week only when he was in P2 - as b4 that he was not tall enuf at the sink. His two older bros started in P1 - and they each wash 3 days a week now. Hence, between the 3 of them, we have got 7 days a week of dish washing covered.

It's challenging but not as difficult as it may seem.


I wrote about how I juggle 4 kids in \"Breezing through a handful of kids\" on http://www.valtay.blogspot.com . Instead of giving u a short answer here, that wud answer yr question in greater detail.

I’m not absolutely sure, but if you try clicking on the drawing, some of them u might find the file name - some of them indicate their age or level, such as K1 or P2, etc. That shd give u an idea of their age when they did the drawing.