Category: School

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Pencil Holding

And here we go again … ! *sigh* .. same old .. same old .. with chloe’s new but old school. I think they need help to weigh the more important things that they need to concentrate on. I know where they are coming from – and I know Chloe does have an odd way of holding her pencil – but why stress the kid out when she had already informed them that she was comfortable with the way she was writing. Encouragement is the key to good teaching not? But the school haven’t approached us personally – it was just Chloe coming home all stressed up during the weekend about how one of her teachers wanted her to hold the pencil the way they want and she didn’t get to write nicely. She was pretty upset about it because this kid of mine – aims for perfection. And yes, we are aware of it – it’s painful to look at the way she holds her pencil – we are not slacker parents – we just want her to learn at her own pace.

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Chloe’s Special Friend

So we went to school early today and we even managed to go on our treadmill before leaving for school. We saw one of Chloe’s classmate and I had asked Chloe to say “hi” but instead of doing so – she was very upset about it and told us defiantly that her friend would not understand her. We were shocked and tried to reason with Chloe but she would not take our explanation that even if her classmate understands differently from her – it’s ok to say “hi” to her. Chloe didn’t let it go and insisted that her special friend was being bad – because she ran outta class one day and made the teachers panic. We didn’t pursue it then because it was time to get into class – but we had to make it a point to explain to her about this special friend and that she needs to be more tolerant and that what she said can hurt her friend’s feelings and those of her parents who were right behind us. So when she came back from school today – we sat her down and explain that she had to be kind to her all her friends and even if she has a friend who is different – it makes no different and she needs to learn to be kind – because it’s not nice to call a fat person fat. How much did she understand it? we don’t know but we will keep monitoring and making sure she knows she needs to be kind.

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Speech Therapy

So we were at school early today and I chatted with Chloe’s home room teacher about how she was coping in school. She said Chloe was doing well – but there were some words that Chloe don’t seems to be able to pronounce and recommended that we let Chloe see a speech therapist in the school. It’s free – all we have to do is to sign the consent form. I agree that there are some words that Chloe don’t pronounce properly – but she is only 6 and technically – this is the first year she is in real school. When she was in pre-school – Miss Tish had said she understood Chloe perfectly and that we didn’t have to worry.

Frankly speaking, we really don’t mind – if Chloe do get extra help right? but it’s Chloe we are worried about – because remember her French teacher ? who put her in special class for everything? I’m afraid that it might evoke some unpleasant memories for Chloe thus making her fear going to school again – that’s our only concern. So as much as we wanna get that extra help – we are gonna sit it out this year and wait for next year – before we do anything. What are you thoughts?

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A Kid Who Is Nervous About School

So March break is over and school started on Monday – unfortunately, Chloe didn’t go back to school because she had a fever on Sunday and we kept her in on Monday and Tuesday as well – just so she doesn’t pass anything to her school friends. How you wished all parents are like that eh..?? yes, we are thankful we work for ourselves that way we can always schedule our time and take care of Chloe whenever we can. But having said that we are so busy – we don’t even have time for zit remedies and sometimes a shower – why? because the kid is full of nerves going to her new school.

Seriously, we do not know why she is nervous about her new school – which actually isn’t new because she started out in this school in French immersion. Anyhow – what do you do with a nervous kid ? We have to stay calm and tell her that if she still doesn’t feel well – when she arrives at school grounds we will take her home. But as soon as she got to school, she didn’t complain no more about a painful tummy. I am keeping my fingers cross here – i know chloe is a very sensitive kid – and i feel she does remember what happened during her first year in this school. I keep telling myself .. 3 more months.. 3 more months.

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March Report Card

So we received Chloe March report card by mail today and she did mostly good except for 2 things – that the teachers/school feels that she only demonstrates with encouragement or prompts. One is accepting responsibility for her actions and the 2nd was resolving conflict appropriately. I think I am gonna take it with a pinch of salt because afterall, the kid is only 6 yrs old – how do you expect her to resolve conflict appropriately? I mean – I as an adult sometimes have a hard time choosing stocks for the store and about accepting responsibility – I’m afraid i don’t agree with the teachers – Chloe is so afraid of everything in that school that she refuses to drink water – so she doesn’t need to use the washroom because her relieve teacher told her that she would be punished if she took too long. So pray tell – how can a child want to accept any kind of responsibility?

Other than that.. she did pretty good in everything else .. from interacting positively with others to working independently, uses time effectively follows rules and routines, completes her work in class and homework and take pride in quality of her work. Chloe likes her school – she also likes her classmates – except the kid who was disturbing her – and I truly cannot understand why the teachers didn’t do enough to help Chloe feel safe. It’s very sad – because of this incident and her french teacher’s I am not going to be doing much for either school from now on.

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Different Kids Different Pace

Chloe had been in her new school for 2 days now – so far so good – crossed our fingers. She claimed that there were no orange cards nor red cards like her previous school – I think this is making Chloe a lot happier because there is no stress there. Before, she is afraid of everything in her old school. We asked her – what about the naughty kids in class? what does the teacher do? Chloe claimed that there were no naughty kids thus far and we were not the least bit surprised because Chloe’s old school did have a reputation for naughty kids (kids comes from different background and brought up differently – we guessed).

This year – we also noticed how Chloe loves to write – previously – she just wouldn’t wanna recognized words nor attempt to do anything with them. This year – she writes a lot better – even better than I .. hahhaha!! so yes – different kids have different pace and as parents we need to know that and not get pushed into something the school wants of our kids when they are not ready.

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Choosing The Right School For Your Kid

As parents we all want to give our kids the best – back home – we search for a school as soon as our kid turns 2. During my time, my mom had to sleep overnight at the school grounds just to make sure we get a place in a good school. I used to go to a Convent school back home and yes – that school had high standards – while the rest of Singapore had to score 50% to pass – this convent school requires that we score 60% to pass. Choosing the right school is not as easy as choosing mens ties, as parents – don’t make the same mistake as we did.

We wanted to have faith in the teachers and principal at Chloe’s school and even though the school has a reputation, we were very gung-ho about putting Chloe in the school. Hell! we even donated an LCD projector to the school – that was how much faith we had. But as you all know – there was a little boy who keeps bugging Chloe and even though he moved away in December – he returned last week and of course – the teachers didn’t see it such a big deal to keep Chloe and him apart. The kid was still lining up behind Chloe and Chloe was really frightened.

And like any good parents – we didn’t see a need to traumatize our kid any longer – and since the school/teachers didn’t see it as such a big deal – we saw to it to see the teachers/principal’s boss instead. A meeting with the school board was set up immediately and after a brief meeting the Superintendent offered a transfer right away. We can only keep our fingers crossed this time and hope that this new school is the right choice. It’s not easy being parents but we all do try and do the right thing. So moral of the story – if the school has a history – don’t be as gung – ho as us.

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School Rules

Chloe came home from school today and apologized for not drinking her apple juice but she also mentioned that she did finish her water though. So i asked her – how come she didn’t drink her apple juice during lunch – in which she replied that her teacher asked her to choose between the water bottle or the juice bottle. I tell yer – this school certainly makes me wonder what is going on – if this nonsense carries on – i would be needing a hair loss cure. Why? because i cannot understand why my daughter cannot bring the apple juice and water into her cafeteria..?? Anyhow, i’m keeping my cool and wait to see what happens within the next few days – in the meantime, I told Chloe that i can put her juice box into her lunch bag – but she said she didn’t wanna upset her teacher *slap forehead*. So you tell me lah.. how come the teacher can upset my daughter .. and my daughter is still so thoughtful and don’t wanna upset the teacher? where got meaning right? “steam rising from my head”

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Learning Words

Chloe came home with a list of words she had to learn weekly – we had known about it for a few weeks now. And a look at her list – we realized that we didn’t get Week’s 1 list – and since some of Chloe’s classmates parents shop at our store – I of course, quickly called and asked them for the List 1’s words. But one of them couldn’t remember where her list was and another didn’t call back. And another one who happened to be at our store in the evening – didn’t even know that her kid had words to learn *slap forehead*. Anyhow, that evening – I lay away my auto insurance quotes and started to teach Chloe her words – 2 at a time – I figured for the weekend.. and 1 each for the weekdays.

So lets get back to these other parents – well, as you can see – how challenging it is for Chloe’s teacher with this kinda attitude *shake head*. As for us – I hope we can be diligent parents and help Chloe move ahead with every standard she is promoted to.

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School System

Chloe hasn’t gone to school for 3 days now – well the first day – was in -service (meaning – the teachers had meeting or some self help class) – then it was a snow day but the snow wasn’t so bad – but that’s alright because she was quite stuffed up in the morning she woke up. Today – same thing we woke up at 7am – and the radio announced no school again. Boy!! these ppl are real wuss – the snow wasn’t bad at all – i mean for chloe she wasn’t feeling the greatest – so we would have made her stay home – but what about those other kids – whose parents had to work..??? I tell you .. the school or the school board needs some testosterone booster – no wonder the “ang moh” kids are so lazy…!!!