Last nite while trying to put the brat to bed… Chloe said she wanted to do a puzzle. It was late .. i was tired.. and hungry.. and trying to chomp my food down.. and didn’t wanna fight with her.. so i said.. yes. So off she sprinted away to the computer room where PB was.. and looked for her puzzle to fix it onto the fridge. She came back after abit.. it was closed to 10.30pm. . and turned around and asked me.. “Mom, were you paying attention to me… when i asked you about the puzzle..??” in which i was shocked. .and i said “yes.. ! what do you mean??” in which she replied.. “well you always just say .. uh-huh, without really paying attention to me” *Slap forehead* See they know..what you are doing.. donch you think they donch know.. ! note to self : better give undivided attention to your brat.
Mommmmmmmmmmmm…!!!
Mommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…!!! Phil is ANNOYING me..!!!!
Yes.. !! she knows her big words.. when she wants too.. but yet.. she is not up to par..??!!!?? *roll eyes*
Learning The Fun Way
Chloe comes home with work sheets. .and songs she had learned in pre-school, this is one of her craft work she did at the pre-school. Unlike her other school, she really seems to enjoy it.. because she said .. it was so much more fun. So yes, learning the fun way should be the way to go .. in the very first place.
Please note that i’m writing my experience here .. so that you won’t make the same mistake we did with Chloe. We were very brave to had thrown her into school.. without giving her anything to bring along in terms of preparation and knowledge beyond the everyday stuff. She must really enjoy school now, since she puked this morning. .and still wanted to go to school. It is also a nice change to see .. both teachers eagerly greeting us first thing in the morning.. whereby .. it wasn’t the same in chloe’s old school. A talk with one of our customer tonight .. may see Chloe attending not her old school but another — but we’ll see.
New Teachers Said They Are More and More Confused Each Day
Chloe settled nicely into her new school this time. No crying goodbyes.. no waving till the classroom door is closed, no asking why i didn’t go pick her up from school and after just 1 hug each.. she didn’t even look back when we closed the door behind us.
On Monday, her new teachers handed out the worksheets that they worked on that day.. and told PB that they were more and more confused everyday. Confused about what..?? Confused that Chloe’s old teacher/s didn’t think that Chloe was ready or that she needed special help – with speech and other aspect. As far as her new teachers can see, they felt that Chloe could understand them.. and them her.
But having said that, I am really glad we pulled her out of grade primary because I was reading another blogger’s blog.. and her daughter is a few months older than Chloe.. yet she is still in Kindergarten .. but she can write full sentences already.. because she had been in a child care that nurtures the kids and prepares them for Primary School in North Carolina.
So for those in Canada, I just hope you take note that Pre-school does play a very important part in preparing your kid for real school. Even if your spouse did not go for pre-school when he was a kid.. nor his cousins or brothers and sisters.. please note that we are in a different time now. I wished i had done it differently but better late than never right.
Why Chloe Likes Her New School?
We’ve chatted with a few parents from different schools and chloe’s old school.. and all of them feels that we’ve made the right choice to pull Chloe outta school now and return this fall. But having said that.. and having heard from a parent from Chloe’s old school where they are encouraged to use only french for show and tell, we might not go back to the old school for French. And because of where we lived.. we just might have to send Chloe to the closest school which is what is expected if she was gonna be in just English.
I took Mandarin as my 2nd language .. and English is compulsory as first language back home but my teachers back home didn’t say we can’t speak in other languages when we were in school. Over the last week or so, we had spoken to several parents who have had kids in high school doing French too, and from what’ve heard.. the French classes were quite NAZIs . .if you know what i mean. That kinda scare me a little.. because .. hey..!! we spoke in English & Mandarin and dialects plus a little of Malay back home.. and we all coped.. and none whatsoever gave me the feeling while growing up.. that the schools or teachers were NAZIs about the language. And here i thought .. Singapore was a NAZI country.. muahhahahahaha!!!! I guess i was wrong eh.
Wo La La .. More Sambal..!!!
Barb is a truly good friend ..!! one cannot ask for more in a friend.. ! she knows how much i miss home and the food from home… and she thinks of me. .everytime she goes shopping .. and then her hubby, Andy is someone i really respect (reason/s I cannot tell here), he would go and send stuff out to me. She not only think of me. .but always thinks of Chloe and send encouragement to me .. and never ever intrude when i am busy. It’s hard to find someone who gives so much but never ask for anything.. and for that i’m truly blessed and grateful for her friendship. Even though we haven’t been friends as long as other bloggers, she truly has rise above the call of being a friend. Thank you .. Barb for your friendship .. bless your kind heart.
Thankful For More Sambal
I received this package last week … but because of the storm and more bad weather.. we didn’t get to the post office till this week. All the way from Malaysia.. from a blogging friend.. that I’ve known since I started blogging. Thank you so much Wang Tai Tai aka Bookworm.. yer the best..!! Thank you for making my Christmas wish come true. Now i can have some more Scallops with sambal. I sent PB to get me some more scallops tonite.. mmmmmmm… !!
A Very Hard Decision
It was a very hard decision to pull Chloe out of grade primary now and send her to a private pre-school for the next six months, then send her back to grade primary again in September this year. I know she likes school, she likes her teacher and she is learning really well. From singing Christmas carols to writing out our phone number this evening. But as parents we need to make sure she is adequate and is prepared for the school environment, instead of struggling with her lessons.
We already knew that she didn’t recognize all her ABCs and 123s, but we had thought that that was the whole point of Grade primary, a place to learn the early stuff. Alas, we were so ill-informed and for that I feel terribly sorry for my daughter. Had we known that they had expected so many things of the little ones, we would not have let her go to Grade Primary this year. See, due to her age she normally wouldn’t have been able to start regular school yet this year anyway. As much as Chloe wants to go back to her current teachers class on some days and speaks well of her, we feel that another 6 months in the class is not gonna do her well and in fact may scar her. Having a child stressed up about school is not a good thing and during the last few days, the closer we got to school going back in session after the holiday, the more she would complain of tummy aches, and make frequent trips to the bathroom.
So we hunted down some pre-schools and chose one which we felt comfy with, a woman with 23 yrs of experience under her belt, so we trust that Chloe will excel. The setting of this private pre-school is almost classroom like but in a more relaxed atmosphere, I can see how understanding this teacher is just from talking with her for a half hour. So I just want to let everyone know that this decision was a very hard one for us, and we only confirmed the placement at the pre-school today, so yes we have given it a lot of thought. We thank everyone for their support during this very trying time and appreciate everyones concern. I will update with Chloe’s progress in this new & private pre-school.
9 Yrs & First Ring
9 Yrs in Canada.. and this is the first ring PB bought for me from here. Why..?? all these years.. i never found anything i liked here. I love our Chinese gold.. and the diamonds are not of the best cuts here. For someone who had bought the Lazare diamonds for earrings.. i’m sure you can understand why i don’t think other diamonds.. are just not for me. Yes..! i’m fussy with my jewelry .. and i rather not buy things .. that are sub-standard. I’m not high class, just don’t feel a need to waste money on something i don’t really like… i’m sure you can understand it. Why I bought this..?? it was an unusual pattern here.. you don’t see many of this kind here.. so i bought it. A grocery trip.. ended up.. with PB a few hundred dollars poorer . .because we bought Keegan something too.. muahahahahahah!!!
PS : Chloe took this picture… because she wanted this ring as well.
Like Daughter, Like Mother
I was brought up in a different era .. and different culture. I came from a single parent family and i rarely saw my father and since my mother was not in good terms with my paternal grandparents .. nor her own.. I was not closed to any of my cousins nor aunts or uncles. Because of all the above, family is very important to me. I, therefore try to get Chloe’s grandparents involved in her growing up .. to build a special bond them. I also vowed not to bring up my kid up .. the way my mother brought me up ( for example : if she breaks something, I won’t scream nor beat her up).
If I look closely at Chloe, I see me in her.. and because of that.. i am very conscious .. not to get grumpy at her… because we don’t want her to grow up to be a grumpy kid. I’m careful with what I say in front of her.. because she follows my “that’s awesome!”, even when she is in school, encouraging a fellow classmate when they do their school work. So it is true.. that our kids reflect who and what we are and at the end of the day.. what kind of kid do you want your kid to be..?? when they grow up. Kids pick up everything you say and do.. without even trying. We said we were going to get New York Yankees tickets for Christmas present for a g/f’s family from the States.. and she was going on and on about it.. for days. And when my g/f called from USA to wish us Merry Christmas before Christmas .. chloe asked.. did you get your Yankee tickets..?? *slap forehead* . So moms .. does your kid reflect you ..?? talks like you ..?? laugh like you ..??? Are you checking yourself .. constantly..?? I sure am.. coz’ that brat of mine.. is too smart for her own good sometimes.