Hello all!
It’s been a while since I posted and it’s because I have been busy moving house last November/December and getting my kids settled into their new Primary school and new childcare centre. I’m not going to go into a blow-by-blow account of what happened but for memory’s sake here are some highlights of this hectic, transitional period:
- My oldest son initially hated Primary school because he was bullied by his buddy who called him a “naughty boy” who always goes “talky talky” and kept asking his other friends if they would take him instead. After that my boy clamped up and became stony-faced and talked only when spoken to. Primary school is also a shock to his system because he went from a rather activity and play-based curriculum taught to a class of 4 kids where he is a best buds with a boy (yes his class was exceptionally small) to a lot of sitting down, a lot of rules and a class with close to 30 students. He didn’t know where to start making friends and being bullied right from the start didn’t help. I never felt so helpless, as I firmly believed that having a few good friends is key to having a happy time in school (just think Harry Potter, not that he will be fighting Voldemort or anything like that). My strong conviction also stems from my experience at work, where I found myself able to get through mountainloads of work, increasingly complex tasks and shortening timelines, quite breezily as long as I have good bosses, good relationships with peers and colleagues with whom we can joke and commiserate with and whom we are also good friends. Friends just help a lot in getting through anything life throws at you.
- On the issue of a good boss, he also had the (mis)fortune of getting a form teacher who is rather experienced (another word for aged), cynical, suffer-no-fools and fierce. When I looked around, I couldn’t help noticing other form Teachers looked younger, more enthusiastic and friendly. However as time went on. I think it is good that he gets a fierce form teacher whom he fears so much that he does his homework.
- Later on, after lots of fervent prayers, after 3 weeks that seemed like an eternity to me, he started making friends. It started with the girls sitting next to him in class, and then some boys in other classes whom he meets at the playground during recess (most of his class sits at their class table and eats together but since he doesn’t feel hungry a lot of the times at recess and just eats my packed food without needing to queue up, he uses all his free time doing what he likes best - running around some track at the playground). He also slowly started telling me funny Hangs a certain so-and-so said or did in school. And now, he is able to rattle off some other boys’ names and this girl whom he seems to talk a lot about - Eva. At one poijnt he even sheepishly said he likes school! Hallelujah! But he did say it’s because he likes PE haha.
- I also found the parents’ whatsapp chat to be a real lifesaver. So much homework and dates and tasks to keep track of! I conclude that Primary One (at least a Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary where he’s at) is really a challenge of the organisational skills of a parent. But thanks to technology and the social networking, I am saved time and again by the questions of some clueless parent, answers from other wise, knowledgeable and helpful parents posted in the parents’ whatsapp chat. However I must confess I quite like the fact that he does have homework and spelling tests quite frequently. I Guess deep down I would rather he do some practice worksheets in English, Maths or Chinese than to play LEGO all the tome at home. And little kids are really sponges - when you drill them, they absorb and learn very fast.
- I am also realising more traits about my boy - if he has multiple homework, he will ask to do maths first and he likes his math homework and being able to do the hard sums. I also found a science diagram drawn on my whiteboard the other day called “parts of a NASA rocket” with a tiny very messy drawing and lots of parts labelled. On another day he drew another picture and wrote “26 January 1986, launch of Space shuttle” to it. I was most amused at ththe scientific, factual nature of his drawings. I’ll attach a picture of it later.
