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13 Aug 2010 by

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Category: Isabelle, Justin, School Matters  Comments off

Schooling Issues

11 Jun 2010 by

I thought I can rest my mind after the kids started school, manatau, in less than a month since the school started, I have to deal with a couple of issues already.

Firstly, Isabelle complained that she’s been hit by a gal and 2 boys keep asking to fight with her at school. For those who’s in my FB might already know about this. I went to school to “settle” it, talked to the teachers and the kids involved. The issue rested for a few days, but yesterday, she came home telling me that she’s been hit by the same girl again. This girl is like a bully in the class, ganged up with the other 2 bigger boys and go against Isabelle. Wah lau leh, 4 years old only mah, why so “gangsters” in class? Isabelle said the teachers did ask her to apologize, but I think the girl is not getting the message!!! Bullying is bad. She told Isabelle not to go to school. D*mn.

Thank god I have a strong headed girl who knows how to “handle” this issue. She didn’t fight back, but she did shout at them. LOL! Hubby went to school to talk about this issue today, and I will talk to the teachers again after school. Frankly, if the girl persists to be like this, I will request to talk to her mom. Hitting is something kids learn from home, mostly. I’m not running into conclusion, but if her don’t listen to the teachers, I hope that the mom can help.

Next is, I hate the junk food stall located at the school. Most kids buy junks after school, so I know that my kids are tempted as well. I only allow them to bring some pocket money on Fridays, while the rest of the days, I will pack them bentos. Not that I totally against junks, but I feel that kids that young can’t differentiate good food from bad, and they don’t understand much about the value of money.

But then, there is this boy, a good friend of Justin, who brings A LOT of money to school everyday. He is so generous, he BUYS JUNKS for every kid, as long as he can pay for them. Sigh…Justin is good, he refuses his offer. But my Isabelle, sigh….she is totally lured by the temptation. Luckily, she tells me that she eats if she does, so I’m still in progress of “brainwashing” her.

Another issue is, Justin’s teachers said he’s quite good in class, and they suggested that he may skip K3. That means if he passes the Primary 1 assessment, he can go straight to Primary 1. I’ve never known that his Thai is par or even stronger than most Thai kids. I thought he is slow in Thai language. :P

But after talking to him, he’s reluctant to leave his friends in his class. After almost a month in K3, he has 2 best buddies there, and he is quite close to them. There is this boy called Pan Pan who cried a lot during the first few days at school, but the teacher told me Justin “took good care” of him, and they always sit together. I heard a lot about the boy from Justin after school. I know that schooling is not only about academic, the kids are learning social skills too.

So, I don’t think I will let him sit for the assessment, which the teachers are confident that he can make it. Sorry ya boy? Next time, please don’t blame mommy for not “pushing you harder” in school. :P

Let him be in another year in Kindergarten. I can’t see the need of him finishing school faster, if he chose to stay with his friends now.

On the other hand, I have been pretty busy, and some times, I almost forgot to pick up the kids. I reached school quite late, but luckily the teachers watch them for me. There was a day when Isabelle just totally knocked out in the car because she’s too exhausted. :P

Yesterday, both kids fell asleep when I was cooking, one on the floor and another one on the sofa. Aiyo…really pity them. The good point is, they don’t have a lot of homework, so they can still relax in the evening, and we will do some homeschooling at night. I think the school hour is too long for kids, and they are not allowed to take nap. But what to do? That’s school life here. :P

Can’t wait for the next school holiday, and if hubby is able to take a few days off, I will bring them for a trip. All of us deserve to have one. It’s been a while since our last atv racing, beach fun, rotting in the hotel room and etc. We shall do all in October!

Category: School Matters  4 Comments

Back to School

17 May 2010 by

It’s the first day at the new school for the new school year.

We woke the kids up at 6.30am but only Justin managed to get up. I must say that he’s a very good boy, when he’s not driving me nuts with his stubbornness some times. :P He went downstairs for breakfast and TV!!!

Previously, TV was not allowed on school day, and the kids only watched TV on Friday night until Sunday afternoon. But this time, hubby let them watch TV. When I asked about this change of plan, he said, “So, you think you can handle them without TV?” Wah seh, like he’s putting the blame on me for letting our kids watch TV! But I do agree that the TV is the only babysitter I have, so I really NEED it. :P

Isabelle only woke up at 7am, and she was so blur with the new routine. LOL! Thank god she didn’t throw her usual morning tantrum, and the kids still managed to leave home before 8am. The school is only a stone throw away, so they shouldn’t be late, even if it starts earlier than the old school. Hubby dropped the kids at school first to settle some payment, and I dropped by shortly after. I thought the kids might be feeling awkward with the new friends and teachers, but what to you know, they were so surprised to see me and even asked me what am I doing there?

Ok la…they don’t need mommy to be there anymore, I might as well leave and go to work….Gee…that kind of feeling was like slowly letting go of the kites…reluctantly, but so proud of my kids at the same time. :)

School ends at 2.30pm this week, thus I left work during lunch hour to do some grocery and pick them up. When I was there, I saw Justin playing with the other kids, and he’s always good at making friends. His Filipino teacher told me that he’s good at phonic (only the first sound, I think), and doing his work well.

As for Isabelle, I saw her munching on the snack and a big plate of guava, which was meant to be shared among some kids. No one was eating but only my gal. Everyone was preparing to go home. She even told me to wait for her to FINISH the guava. O.o That’s how much she loves fruits!

Other than that, I have just found out that the school serves fresh milk twice per day, so I may not need to pack UHT milk for the kids anymore. But then, I will still pack some for them this week, just in case Isabelle is picky with the taste of fresh milk.

Oh ya, I thought I’ve done all my back to school shopping, but who knows, I haven’t bought them toothbrushes, mugs and toothpastes! Isabelle needs a new swimsuit too, I can’t just let her wear bikinis at swimming class. :P After this week, hubby will pay for intensive English program, which is carried out after school. That should give me another hour at work and school ends at 3.30pm. I think I will skip the homework coaching session first, if not, it will drag for another hour and it’s too tiring for the kids.

Back to school means p*kkai to parents.

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School Orientation

08 May 2010 by

We brought the kids to their school orientation this morning, but we didn’t finish the whole session. Hubby left before it’s started because he had to go to the office. He doesn’t need cell phone signal booster for his 2 phones which kept buzzing him the whole morning. :P Forever so busy…

I left early too because the kids had started monkeying around and getting bored with the session. It’s not really an orientation but more like briefing about the school’s new programs and activities. I’ve bought the school uniform, so our kids didn’t have to stay back to try them out. As for books, I’ll get them on the first day of school. No point getting them now as being a lazy mom, I won’t let the kids start “reading” the books either. :P Oh ya, I wonder if I should wrap them? Or just leave them like this? LOL!

At the previous school, they hardly had to bring the books home except for homework or exam revision. So, if this school practices the same system with individual locker for the kids, I don’t see the point of wrapping the books. Trust me, the books will look quite new after a year, and I always dumped them to my cleaner after the last term. I don’t keep the books. :P

I think my kids will really enjoy this new school, considering that it has both Montessori and satit systems here. Too bad the school booklet is written in Thai, so I can’t really understand the contents. If I’m not wrong, the school starts at 8am, so hubby will drop the kids off on the way to work. That will give me lots of free time to get myself ready to work in the morning, instead of rushing like h*ll. School hour ends at 2.30pm, but we will pay for extra English classes and drag for another hour. So, I’ll pick them up at 3.30pm and go home straight. It should be better than bringing them back to the office as the kids can have some play time in the evening.

Ok, let’s see how things go when school starts after next week.

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