As we have heard on many occasions, kids in the 21st century are not similar to what we were. Kids now are more out-spoken; they know what they want and they do as they like. No more are the kids who never question their parents or answer their parents back when reprimanded. We never demand. We merely accept.
For instance, Jesslyn is one of those who expects her wishes to be fulfilled or you will be condemned. She does not accept "No" for an answer. She always have her reasons for doing whatever it was. For example, "Jesslyn please share with your sister." Her answer could be "But I want to play with it." To her, that reason is good enough to get it her way. When something goes wrong, it is always not her fault. Anyone but her. For example, why didn't she do her homework? Her answer could be "Cause you did not ask me to." She uses threats if she did not get the attn she required. "Mummy, if you don't teach me I will simply do the work." She demands equal rights. "Mummy, why didn't you give me an angpow like Jie2? This is not fair."
Jerilyn, on the other hand, is a straight-forward person who doesn't play tricks. She is more understanding and tolerant of others. She doesn't demand unreasonably. She doesn't blame. She emphatises. Her only problem is she doesn't speak her mind enough. She is not expressive as Jesslyn. This results in me not knowing what is on her mind sometimes.
I sometimes wonder why do I have such different kids. Do you feel the same?
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Schooling Girls (Jerilyn)
It's unbelievable that this day has arrived - the day for me to write about the girls (both) going to school. The past 6 years have been a dream. Year after year past by without pausing to actually watch how they have grown from a baby into young ladies. So, back to the topic. In terms of attitude, both are very excited about school.
Jerilyn was more disciplined and serious about studying. In fact, she takes everything seriously. Listens attentively in class, follows instructions closely, never misses any homework. There were a couple of times she freaked out because she misplaced her books. She would start bawling over her missing books even before she searched for them. Her exaggerated anxiety annoyed me and it was useless explaining to her. She just simply concluded that her book was lost and she would be punished. In the whole year, she was punished once at the beginning of the school term. The teacher punished those who did not wrap their books. Four from her class were caned on the palm. That was her first experience of punishment and the last that year.
Teachers have regards of her. I have spoken to some of her teachers and all of them praised her for being responsible and pro-activeness. Her English teacher, Mdm Wong complimented her as she alerted the teacher about a mistake in the activity book. Her class teacher, Ms Khor commented that she concerns about what happens around the class. If other students misbehave, Jerilyn would alert the teacher. I was wondering if that was a compliment or otherwise. I mean, if I were her classmate, I would not want a friend who reports me to the teacher if I misbehave.
Academically, she had done very well considering she did not attend any extra classes a.k.a tuition classes. Out of 210 Std 1 students, she ranked 30 on average. Her average marks were between 93 and 95. I found that Mandarin determines one's ranking if two or more students obtain the same accumulated marks.
She joined two competitions last year. 1) English Recitation 2) Maths Competition. She did not get any prize in the English competition which I believe was due to her uninteresting voice. Jerilyn has quite a flat voice. However, she came in 1st in the Maths competition among her classmates of 30 students. She was proud to receive her first trophy which came with a cert. I also notice that nowadays, schools are very generous with trophies and many competitions.
Jerilyn was more disciplined and serious about studying. In fact, she takes everything seriously. Listens attentively in class, follows instructions closely, never misses any homework. There were a couple of times she freaked out because she misplaced her books. She would start bawling over her missing books even before she searched for them. Her exaggerated anxiety annoyed me and it was useless explaining to her. She just simply concluded that her book was lost and she would be punished. In the whole year, she was punished once at the beginning of the school term. The teacher punished those who did not wrap their books. Four from her class were caned on the palm. That was her first experience of punishment and the last that year.
Teachers have regards of her. I have spoken to some of her teachers and all of them praised her for being responsible and pro-activeness. Her English teacher, Mdm Wong complimented her as she alerted the teacher about a mistake in the activity book. Her class teacher, Ms Khor commented that she concerns about what happens around the class. If other students misbehave, Jerilyn would alert the teacher. I was wondering if that was a compliment or otherwise. I mean, if I were her classmate, I would not want a friend who reports me to the teacher if I misbehave.
Academically, she had done very well considering she did not attend any extra classes a.k.a tuition classes. Out of 210 Std 1 students, she ranked 30 on average. Her average marks were between 93 and 95. I found that Mandarin determines one's ranking if two or more students obtain the same accumulated marks.
She joined two competitions last year. 1) English Recitation 2) Maths Competition. She did not get any prize in the English competition which I believe was due to her uninteresting voice. Jerilyn has quite a flat voice. However, she came in 1st in the Maths competition among her classmates of 30 students. She was proud to receive her first trophy which came with a cert. I also notice that nowadays, schools are very generous with trophies and many competitions.
This is the summary of Jerilyn's first year in school. I may include more details when memory strikes.
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
2 years Break
After 2 long years, here I am, figuring what to write and where to start. Let's start with what have I been doing during the past two years? Well, to summarise, I was stuck with postgraduate studies and thank God, I completed the course within the time-frame without any glitches. Officially graduated with Master in Education in August. Fortunately, the ceremony coincides with my dad's birthday so it was a double celebration.
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So, what is next? PhD? Despite pressures from the management, I simply do not have the motivation to go on another step. During the past two years, I have lost some precious time to be with the kids and definitely lost lots of hair from the late nights to meet datelines. I am not going to spend another few years dropping more hair and sacrificing my girls until they are ready as well as I am.
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