MOMMY CLUB - Yr 2007 P1's (Yr2000 Millennium & Dragon Babies)

Jess and Janet,

Like you've observed, adjunct teachers are mostly retired teachers. Bcos usually these teachers are also pensioners, so even if they don't work, they still have a steady stream of income from their pension. Unlike them, I need a stable income and if I go on adjunct, I will not be paid on the days that I don't work, and that means holidays are also not paid. Perhaps when my elder kid started working to support me, I can consider going adjunct.
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I've tried tuition full-time before and I realised that tuition payment can be very unstable.
 


Rains,
I suppose there is an opportunity cost to everything. You probably know best what is the best arrangement for yourself.

Anyway, the new school term has just started. Are your kids ready for school today? Mine was still rushing to do his last bit of homework last night. Sigh.... Btw, how many books have your kids read in a term? My son's school has a reading program - 50 books can earn a silver reading badge and 80 books a gold one and his form teacher wants them to achieve at least a silver in Term 1. I personally find it very difficult to achieve in 1 term for a P4 boy, considering that the books they read are much thicker.
 
Sigh, Jess,

This morning, then we (my kid and I) realised that she has forgotten to learn her Chinese spelling which will be tested today!

Talk about being ready for school!

My kid devours English storybooks without giving regards to time and day, so my concern is more to curb the reading than to encourage. But last week, she managed to finish what I assigned rather quickly, within a few hours, so I rewarded her with a trip to the library. She borrowed 4 books and finished reading them within a day. Some of them were thick so I suppose she read for content mainly.

Her school doesn't seem to have any reward program for reading though.
 
Rains,

I suppose reading is a good habit so long as she is able to manage her time and does not strain her eyes.

For my case, my boy has hardly much time to read except for an hour or so at night 2 or 3 times a week. The rest of the weekday time is spent on supplementary class or cca or Chinese enrichment class or doing school work . Plus 2 weekday nights are used up because we dine with the granny and cousins. My hubby is usually free only on weekends, so we often go out as a family on Saturdays and Sundays are reserved for sports. That's why it is quite a feat to complete 50 books in a term for him.
 
Jess,

Actually, I am quite skeptical about these reading badges. I remember when I was in primary school and we had to chalk up the number of books read, my friends and I went looking for the titles of the books and copied the 'review' at the back of the books down as evidence that we had read.

When my kid had this reading list to fill up in P1, I got her to write down the books she had read on our bookshelf.

Wen,
My kid has started her lesson with LL last week. She has homework to do, but she insists on doing it her way to let LL know her writing style. At first I was exasperated, but on the other hand, I also don't want to come down hard on her just because she wants to develop her own writing style.
 
Rains,

I think the school's intention is good. But the quota has to be realistic or else the kids will try to "cheat" in order to meet the quota.

What sort of books does your girl read? Her language must be very good since she reads a lot, so why do you need to send her to LL?
 
Rains, yes LL gives homework almost every week. if u look at their compo worksheet, they have a rather good way of guiding the kids so i think it's fine to let your child write on her own if she wants.

mommies, my boy's school has a meet the teacher session coming up. just curious what do you ask the teachers when you meet them? coz i'm the 'mild' type of mother and hardly ask questions since i more or less know the answer to generic ones. if i ask about my boy's academics, i'm sure i'll get a "he's ok but i know he can do better if he puts in effort." hope to get some ideas on more 'inspiring' questions ;p
 
Rains,
My son's tutor is an adjunct teacher bcos she is giving tuition. She is not retired or anywhere near retirement as her daughter is only in K2.

Your daughter reads so much, I guess her vocab should be good.
 
Jess and Janet,

She reads fiction books mostly. All sorts, although her favourite is adventures. Her English is alright in the vocab, grammar and compre sections, but her creative writing has rooms for improvement. She loves to be original and sometimes it's too much originality for her own good.

I can do little to help her. Firstly, she doesn't listen to me. Only her teachers are right. Secondly, I'm very afraid to kill off any interest or originality she has in writing, so I am constantly in a dilemma of whether I should tell her to change this and that.

She reminds me of the time when I was developing my writing style in Chinese compo. And nobody came to interfere in the way I wrote. So I don't want to nip her interest in the bud.

Thirdly and most importantly, I honestly think I'm not competent in English creative writing, or any creative writing now. I'm not able to get her to write bombastically and creatively for every sentence. I thought it's better to leave it to the experts and not be so stressed over it.

I heard that LL enriches kids with current affairs. I struggled, and still do, with current affairs and general knowledge when I was doing my GP, so I hope that by engaging her with current affairs now, she won't have too much of a problem with them later on in her life.

Wen,

I always ask the teachers,"Has she been talkative or unattentive in class?" "Has she been reading during lesson?" "Is she responsive in class?" Then the teachers will auto-pilot and go on and on.

If I have the chance, I might want to ask about her social life in school ie. whether she gets along well with friends and classmates.
 
Rains,
I know what you mean about writing creative compo...my son used to have far-fetched ideas and his teacher told him not to go over-board.
The unfortunate thing now is, teachers want bombastic sentences for both EL and CL compo - idioms, similes, proverbs etc etc.

I enrolled my son in Jan & Elly because his compre and compo esp need help. Will meet up with his teacher on Sunday to ask him about son's progress and how I can coach him at home.
 
Rains,
I know what you meant about "originality". My boy is also like that sometimes. We both look at the same picture compo and he can interpret it very differently from the norm. Like you, I also worry sometimes because his marks can vary widely - depending on the teacher who marks his paper.

Even for science, he tends to "think too much" and gives answer beyond what is expected. In the recent CA1, he gave an answer which is technically correct but was marked wrong because it is not in the teacher's model answer. So when I met his teacher in the recent Parent Meet Teacher session, I asked his science teacher about that question and guess what? His science teacher (who did not mark his paper) jokingly said that his answer is "too chim for his standard" but he should be marked right if this is a PSLE question.
 
Jess,

That's the first time I heard something so ridiculous for an answer marked wrong. The child should be awarded marks if he's able to perform beyond his age.

Every question set in Science paper would have an objective it wants to achieve ie. on what it wants to test. Sometimes, the question can give rise to ambiguity bcos of the different interpretation of terms or words. The teacher who answered your question probably didn't understand what the question was directed at asking. If it could be marked right at PSLE, it should be marked right at P4.

It's not true that answers will be marked wrong just becos they are not in the model answers. All markings I've come across allow for different derivations (Maths) and different ways of answering and even different answers (Scienc and English). We'll add in the 'new' answers or methods in the marking scheme.

It can be very problematic for Science becos there are really many different answers to a question if the question is not 'narrow' enough eg. List 1 similarity between a horse and a frog. Students can go 'Both can breathe', 'Both can eat' etc. We cannot accept everything that sounds right, even though they are right in common sense term. At the end of the day, we need to see if the students are listing features that have to do with Science concepts for that scenario.
 
Oh Jess,

Just want to assure you that it's very common for kids to think too much in Science when they just want a straightforward answer.

However, if they go in that 'think too much' direction, they sometimes, most of the time in fact, miss answering the straightforward answer which the question sets out to ask.
 
Rains,
Precisely. My husband commented that Science is a very diverse subject and new discoveries are made contantly. So it is not surprising when the kid knows more than the teacher who does not keep abreast of the latest facts... As usual, my husband told my boy - just give the best answer in exams, not the genius answer.
 
Rains,
My son is attending Eng class on Sun...have not met his teacher yet, so I want to ask him how my boy is doing in class and how I can help coach him at home.
 
oh Janet,

You must be talking about the enrichment class right? Wen was asking about meet-the-parent session in school I think.
 
Hah ha, Rains, both of us reading the same posts but made different interpretation. I thought Janet was talking about Jan and Elly but you thought she was talking about her son's primary school... I was scratching my head when you asked whether she knew the teacher personally.
 
yawn yawn,

My kid doesn't have special preference, but she loves the Harry Potter series, Geronimo Stilton, books by Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton - when we make purchases. But generally, when she goes to the library, any fiction book will do.
 
Rains/Jess,
I was wondering why you asked me if I know the teacher personally....hahaha, looks like it's case of misunderstanding but harmless.

Rains,
Son's school EL teacher told me that situational writing will only start in P5 but he received that piece of homework today. Teacher gave them several phrases to spice up compo...and I think she has explained it suffciently in class. So I've taken 'hands off' approach.
 
Janet,
True. Situational writing comes in at P5. It's just as well that your kid gets to be exposed to it early.

Mummies,
Any suggestion on where to celebrate birthday for kids? My kid would like to celebrate it with her friends. She has done it at Wild Wild Wet and does not want Mac Donalds - she said it's too childish.
 
Rains, my boy attended a birthday celeb at snow city before. You may also want to consider Lilliputt Singapore.
 
Thanks, Wen! Snow city is too cold for my kid and me and Lilliputt seems to be for smaller kids. The staying time is also very short.

Haha, I sound so picky!
 
Haha, like that i cannot help u liao coz I don't celebrate my boy's birthday in this manner. He doesn't have that many good friends plus I'm too lazy to invite...

Last weekend our meet teacher session was pretty exciting. I didn't know that my boy's class was behind in English lessons until some parents brought it up. No wonder my boy hardly has spelling and English homework. It was due to the first teacher not doing her job...she has since been replaced with a new one. However both have not attended NIE. We were all stunt when the current one says this is the first class she's taking since switching career. The form teacher doesn't teach them English.

Some parents complained they felt the class was being neglected by the school. They questioned if the top classes would be allowed to experience frequent changes of teachers. Quite pity the form teacher...
 
Oh, Wen, then how do you celebrate your boy's birthday huh? Doesn't he ask to go here or go there to celebrate?

Other mummies, share leh. How you all celebrate your kids' birthday?

Wen,
Ya lor, the parents shouldn't be asking the teacher cutting questions. It's not the teacher's fault that the class is changing teachers. They should go ask the principal.
 
Rains,
We do not really celebrate birthdays. My older one's birthday is in October, close to SA2 and the younger one is born in December school holidays. So we decided that we will not celebrate their birthdays in school. All we do is simply buy a cake and share it with everyone in the family.
 
Rains, we don't know enough kids to throw a kids' party for my boy. Aside from his best friend, he's not close to his classmates so no point inviting them. He doesn't ask to go anywhere to celebrate...is happy as long as we get him his gift. He doesn't like eating cakes unless it's "chocolate Lana cake" but we don't get it every year.

Once in a blue moon we'll throw him a birthday party at home and invite relatives and close friends. We did that this year since it's his BIG TEN. Birthdays are not a big thing in my family so it could be just like a regular day.
 
Wah, your boys are so guai.

I don't know the parents either. It's my kid who wants to invite this and that friend to her birthday party. I thought it's something done once a year, so let her indulge abit.
 
Rains, don't set precedent and they cannot say much lor. It is also lucky that their classmates don't have this habit of celebrating birthdays in school. Only their form teacher is kind enough to buy little presents for the birthday children every month...
 
Rains,
Since he's given situational writing, then I guess it's might as well. So now, I get him to read more model compositions of this kind.

Rains/Jess,
I didnt arrange for kids to celebrate birthdays in school...daughter's birthday in Nov during school hols and son doesn't ask for cake. All he wants is a present. The last time we celebrated son's birthday was last year, when it coincide with 1st day of CNY.
 
No lah, the celebration is not done in school. I only let her celebrate in school when she was in kindy.

She had been to her friends' birthday parties. I felt bad that she didn't have one - usually we celebrated it with my sisters, parents etc, so I organised one for her when she was in P2. But this year, she requested for it again. Recently, she kept asking me to celebrate it at Marina Barrage! I don't know how to celebrate it there lah. I'm more keen to celebrate it at a place where the kids can have fun tho. But honestly, celebrating at Marina Barrage will be cheaper, so I'm still thinking. Haha!

If you mummies got ideas on how to celebrate at Marina Barrage, share hor? I think children can only run on the grass there. And it's so hot in the afternoon, and night is so dark. Almost as good as 伸手不见五指. Someone hit you in the face also cannot catch him, much less take pics.
 
Rains,
How about having a picnic at about 5pm? Just bring some sandwiches, fruits, salad, drinks and of course the BD cake. The kids can run around and chit chat. The younger ones can play with bubbles and the adults make friends.
 
Rains,
How about this place called Buggies Hoggies (or something like that) ? My son's classmate had his party held there...prices are reasonable.
 
Thanks mummies, for all your suggestions!

Jess,
I am toying with the picnic suggestion and see if I can work out anything. The last thing I want is my guests to be bored.

Janet,
I can't find your Buggies Hoggies on google leh.
 
Rains,
I am not sure about girls but for my boys, just give them space to run, a ball or a frisbee or scooter, they will know how to amuse themselves....
 
Rains,
It's Buddy Hoaggies...sorry very blur.

Actually having boys are not that economical...although I do buy pretty stuff for my daughter, they are not as expensive as 1 Wii game of Nintendo game.
 
Jess,
My son doesnt ask for clothes, has outgrown toys but now moving on to Wii sports. Like what you mentioned, boys are not 'cheaper' to maintain...hahaha
 
Mummies,
The operational word in my last post is 'sound' - it doesn't mean 'reality' ok? Don't get angry lah? I hope I didn't stir up a hornet's nest by my last post. Boys have their own share of wants. Whether it's economical to raise a child or not depends more on the parents really. My sister has 3 kids but she and her husband don't indulge them by buying the unnecessary.

Janet,
I googled for Buddy Hoagies. The place has good reviews for food. It's a child-friendly restaurant. How did your son's classmate celebrate his birthday there? Are there activities to do? I'm looking at fun as well. Thanks for your recommendation! The food sounds good eg. 'juicy fish better than Fish & Co'.
 
Rains,
Honestly speaking, my son didn't attend his friend's party because hubby had an urgent operation at SGH for his eye that same day.

Mummies,
When are your kids' SA1 starting ? Son's exams starting earlier this year and this mth is really busy preparing for Orals and NAPFA test...don't know where and how to squeeze in revision
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haha, Janet,

Indeed! You only said your son's classmate held his party there. Never said your son attended it.

Re: SA1
My mantra is,"Don't come. Don't come. Don't come ..."
 
Rains,
Sorry forgot to include the part that my son didn't attend it...we bought his friend's birthday present and he was all excited...in the end didn't manage to go. Hope your daughter enjoys it.
 
My son's school usually does the language paper 1 & 2 on the same day except for oral which is held one week earlier after school hours. So the entire exam stretches only for about a week and a half. I prefer it this way because less "exam fatigue"....
 
JessChan,
My son's school used to have Orals 1 month b4 the compo...so exam stress is really stretched.
Starting from this year, Oral is held 1 week before Paper 1 and then Paper 2 is in mid May...back to back.
 
Aiyo.. Mommies.... sch just started n we need to prepare for SA1. Seems like CA1 just completed...

RE: Birthday Celebration.
My elder had her 6th BD celebrated at McDonalds. She was very happy. (Wen, u brought ur Xavier here too!)

On her 8th BD, she requested to celebrate at the same McDonald cos they will not hurry us even if we overshot in timing and they hv aircon. And the kids still love McDonald's food! How many children hv McDonald everyday? Mine dont! Cos not healthy mah!!

But, I made some changes. These were also surprises for her. I invited a Humourous Magician, Mr Funny. Cos my girl loves Magic shows. After the magic show, my girl's friends cant stop talking abt Mr Funny even in sch. Some even asked her to invite them to her next BD celebration!! We adults enjoyed the shows too!! And so many ppl crowded round our enclosed area to c the shows. $$ worth it!! Hahaha....

I ordered cupcakes n hv them individually packed instead of a whole cake cos i hate to cut the cake plus i m not good at it! So after singing HAPPY BIRTHDAY, the guests take the cupcakes n go home liao!!

Hopes my idea helps!
 
Wow, Thanks, VQ!

Really appreciate it for sharing so much.

My kid has been to a mc donalds party and it seems she didn't like it very much. She told me she doesn't want it for her birthday.

Actually, I'm not so sure if I want a party for her now becos she hasn't been very obedient lately. I have been scolding her just about every day for her laziness and lousy attitude.

In my anger, I told her I'm not going to celebrate her birthday for her this year bcos she's had enough fun every day, so on her birthday, she ought to be doing some work.

I'll see how it goes. I'm still sitting on the fence actually. Thanks for your help, mummies!
 


Morning Rains,

We choose McDonald, not bcos we love Mc. It's bcos the location is great for all our guest! And its aircon. in another words, we treat it as a "rental" of that place.

ur girl dont like to hold there, probably she saw the same events,eat n games! My girl's invited guest also asked my girl: Y McDonald again? before they came too. But after they saw the shows n cupcakes, they were so happy! Heehee....

So to punish her for not being obedient lately, u hold her party in McDonald!! WaHahaha.....
 
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