(2005/04) Apr/May/June 2005 MTB

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Thanks Mummies. She is doing well and will be discharged tomorrow. Phew! Breastfed her 1st time at the NICU in the evening, she is taking the milk well too.</font>
 


<font color="aa00aa">mummies! good morning!! haha..

have a good weekend ahead.
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hi poshies,
so sorry tat din able to meet u up at milkaton as my elder boy was making so much noise due to the hot weather... n he's also a very impatient boy, once hungry mean must go n eat one... really paiseh ler! but tat day really hot laa... we dun really like outdoor as cannot take the heat :p

mummies,
since our kids will be registering P1 next year, so any of u has started doing somethin like PV? I applied PV with 2 schools but both also dun wan me... sianz nia... i dun like the primary school near my house ler :'(
 
dewdrops,

your confinement juz started and cl left ah... hope u are coping well.. actually i didn't have cl till 2 weeks later and she left 4 days later..lucky my mom and aunties are around to help.
 
Hi Stephy,

No lah, my CL still with me. Did I mislead you in facebook? This CL is the same one that has done for Xavier and Iden.
 
Dewdrops, congrats to your little new addition. Hope you are recovering well. take care and rest more yeah.

Meow,
nope, is Kumon good? Justyn's weekdays are packed with activities daily except thurs. Wanted to keep his weekends free. yet, we wanted to put him thru swimming classes. any kids started swimming class?
 
tsp,
no idea but want her do some maths as cant rely on school's teaching now. I cant force my kids go swimming wait they will have phobia, i will do that slowly
 
hi tsp,
my kids love swimming... but hor this mummy not do well taking care of them, as my gal is in the mid of recovering from her mid ear infection, base on the last checkup still got some water in the ear, then my boy also got plenty of wax in the ear... now using olive oil to soften it... .plus he is down with cold again.... so no more swimming till all okie...
 
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morning mummies!!
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tsp: swim class is good... good exercise also.. haha..

meow: i learned that kumon gives homework ... a friend who sent her child there commented that a lot of rote learning. but after a while, isn't math that way? once you know the concept, its daily practise... and isn't that also rote learning? good to do daily practices else will forget.

poshies: got to be careful with middle ear infection.
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c gave me a scare once... she said she couldnt hear and the hearing test i brought her to, revealed that she had lost over 40% of hearing in her left ear. i also fainted there i tell you... thought c was going deaf. but she has since recovered..
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<font color="aa00aa">hey dewdrops:

c was brought into a sound proof room and she had to put on ear phones and they will play a sound of different pitches and at different volume both on the right and left.

each time c heard a sound, she was supposed to signal that she heard it. otherwise the machine would register that there was no indication of any sounds heard.

at the end of it, a graph of sorts will be produced. and from the graph, can tell how much hearing loss was experienced.

the middle ear infection was quite bad... initial test showed that 40% loss in left ear, 20% in the right... at 5 yrs old, the person who did the test was worried and said that it was not normal. of course it wasnt!! i was terrified and for more than 2 weeks, was in fear and praying constantly. thankfully, another hearing test done at kkh cleared her.

otherwise, c would have to wear a hearing aid.

yeah, i was really relieved that she was okay.</font>
 
<font color="0077aa">Krazy,

The hearing test is exactly the same for adults. I was wondering if the kid anyhow press or don't know when to press, will the results be not accurate. For example when Xavier took his first eye test, don't know he on purpose read the alphabet wrongly or he really can't see.

Ya, if I were you, I will be terrified too. So young need hearing aid. Actually I took hearing test (due to the nature of my work) quite a few times, even simple flu can affect our hearing.</font>
 
hi krazy,
yup lor... i read... it is pretty scare... she is still under monthly review... the last check up i was oversea (biz trip), my in law feedback the hearing test show that at that moment she can't hear too loud thing... normally talking is okie... sound funny right..... this month going for review again.....

ya i recently saw a couple of kids at young age... wearing glass or hearing aid... i think there are a couple in gerald' cc.... but i was told those mainly is in-born.... but it since there are increase of the children at k1 start wearing glasses..... gerald fail his eye test at 4 year old... luckily the polyclinic doc ask me to monitor.... coz that day he might be noti.... true... he pass his eye test when he is in cc...
 
<font color="aa00aa">dewdrops, poshies:
that's the thing.. they are so young and not sure if they really understood the severity of the situation and to really tell / or not tell that they could hear or not hear.

as for the eye test, received a note that there will be an eye test that her sch will conduct too... hope she passes.. </font>
 
Meow,
Justyn was afraid of water initially. Get the kids to enjoy playing with water first rather than have them pick up swimming before they are confident in water. got bath tub at homE?
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poshies,
yeah, better keep Gerald away from water till they are recovered with flu.

krazy,
Don't know how to slot swimming class leh. Hesitated to do it on weekend.
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Glad that C is ok. perhaps there was too much wax in her ear?

I am also worried for Symone. She squints her eyes a lot. Brought her to 2 specialist. One says her degree is normal for her age. The other suggests starting her with specs now to give her more visual. BIL says not nec. Different eye specialists gave diff suggestions so we are also stuck
 
<font color="aa00aa">tsp:
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morning.. it wasn't wax.. doc in the end concluded that it was infection.

swim class... c's is during the weekends. no choice cuz weekdays, we usually come back late..so.. the only other day, is sat. hahahah..

c also squints her eyes... thats when i will take her away from the tv.. and keep her busy with all sorts of activities.. so that she doesnt have any chance to sit by the tv. i dont want her to be wearing glasses at this age.
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well, your bil could be right... unless the tests have similar results, then perhaps it is cause for concern. meanwhile, if possible, let her stay away from tv. </font>
 
krazy,
wat is rote playing?? I went to Kumon already. Will send her for a trial and sign her up for a month. Am surprise by the results the kids work there and hope it will help my gal. They're giving away trial for 2weeks, tat's 4 lessons. Weekly there's 2 lesson. Parents have to go thru briefing as well before sending their kids over. Their method is like working with speed and practise.

tsp,
D is afraid of water, bath tub is ok but not pool. Maybe he fell in the pool once and remembers, well that happens when he's 1-2yrs old. Recently brought him to my friend's place for a swim. First round have to force him to change and get in water, then the next trip there he happily change and play with water and float backwards with my help.
 
<font color="aa00aa">meow:
drilling lor..once they know the concept, its just practice. but math is of such nature, i feel. its daily practise..

wow!! thats a lot of free lessons. go for it then.
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2 lessons.. like a lot right? an hour each? do share with us after you have attended the briefing, educate us on what kind of speed working they do.
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Krazy,
sign up S liao. Free 4 lesson but out of 4 we already miss 1 lesson cos its closed on a saturday. S took their test today to see where she stand. She will skip 1 stage and carry on to another assessment. Meaning it start from 7a then 6a, 5a etc. She will skip 7a and maybe 5a and straight to 4a. As for briefing, i think the way they use are good. Even for me maybe i'm slow or maybe i didn't realise so i think its good for the kids. If you're keen, maybe you wan check it out and enjoy the free trial?
 
krazy,
Symone does not watch tv leh. She has no interest on whatever is on the tv.
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Meow,
D will get used to it soon. Perhaps if you can try organise swimming playdate, she might join in the fun. 'peer pressure from friends'
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Shall we have a gathering soon? can do it at my place. is sat or sun better?
 
krazy,

is it ok to share with me C's swim coach contact? I would like to find my kids a new swim coach as I felt the current one is not moving beyond water familiarization after 6 months
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<font color="aa00aa">tsp:
how i wish i can say the same for c. she loves her disney playhouse, and then now, she has progressed to watching drama with my mil... (roll eyes) i dont like it at all... cuz of the themes in these adult shows.

poohy:
speediswim aquatic centre. their no.:67655668 its a swim school. you need to call them to make an appt.. they will assess the child before assigning the child to the level they feel the kids should be at and they will also assign you a coach depending on when you choose your swimming sessions to be.

they are quite strict..but do note that a coach can take up to 4 kids.. not a good thing if you ask me, cuz coach may not be able to handle so many at one time.. and each session is like 30 min only.

but usually swim sessions will exceed the 30 min lah..
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another coach will assess the child before allowing him to move up..
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need to buy "uniform", designated swim suit from the sch. </font>
 
Tsp,
i'm fine with saturday or sunday. You set a date lor.

Krazy,
my gal jus did her homework. She enjoy working the work sheets. She completed 20 questions in 7mins with no mistakes. Not bad for a start
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Of course the worksheets are very easy. Its only counting dots and writing the answers in. They're learning patterns i guess.
 
krazy,

thanks!

meow,

kumon sounds good
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My kids dun like the CMA abacus
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So I may stop them soon since they dun like it... no point doing something they dun really enjoy. I am considering between trying kumon maths or MPM.
 
hi poohy,
if u check on kumon, do let me know also... might want to try but gerald had not completed his lesson with focus family.
 
Poohy,
maybe you can consider switching him and the earlier the better. Cos each method are diff as in abacus or even mental calculation. You will need to attend the briefing before signing up. When she took the test,i think its meant for k2, she even ask for more thou the test was over. She wants to go back to class too, but we told her the lesson has ended. Even yesterday, she ask for more to do as well.
 
<font color="aa00aa">poohy:
no problem.
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meow:
thats good to hear. most importantly, they must find accomplished doing something... even though it is easy. small successes build confidence and eventually they will develop this mentality that they can do it.
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reg: abacus
is abacus still taught in pri schs? when i was teaching at rgps, i had to teach abacus. not sure if it is still taught in pri sch now. i dont think it is useful in schs esp in pri and sec level because working is required for math sums.. and one of the common problems with children who are good at abacus and mental calculation is that they can easily derive at the answers without workings and still teachers mark them wrong because they cant show the working.

meow:
yeah.. they must enjoy what they are doing, else its a waste of time and money and worse, they will lose interest completely and interest is very difficult to reignite. </font>
 
Krazy,
Today she took 6mins to finish but talk to me for some seconds. So far she's still ok and asking me why havent change color of dots? At each stage, the dots are of diff colors but they need to work the same set 3 times then to next set.

Yeah agree working is needed to get the marks. Pri sch use abacus or because its famous school?
 
krazy,

My friend's boy is 2 years old and is glued to taiwan's drama 'Love' because her mother is an avid fan. He speaks fluent mandarin, only good reason and console to her.
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Meow,
Ok, will email all. I have to clear exam this friday. We'll do in one of the weekend in august.
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krazy,
heard from my sis whom is a pri sch maths teacher now, Abacus no longer needed in pri sch. she also advise me not to let Ashley learn abacus, same reason as urs too. + i think we got other enrichments for them, so since this is not necessary, may as well let my pocket ease abit. keke.
 
Meow,
Which Kumon ctr u send S to?
Did u chk out the chinese class at kumon?
Im keen to send A but J miss the parent orientation.
And he hvn arrange another one.

Mummies,
Any of u send yr kids to chinese enrichment class?
Any recommendations?

TIA
 
Zu,
S went to Tien Xia for chinese. Only maths she goes to Kumon to learn. So far so good, no complaints from her and she enjoys. I send her to Blk 202, jus across the field mah. I wonder how they teach chinese. I think the parent orientation is very important. They tell you what to expect from the child. I'm not sure for languages will that be the same. Understand the english needs to listen to CD to learn. I've got a colleague sending her 5yr old to english class. She's a korean, so english is very very weak.
 
meow,
s is still at tien xia? dats quite long.
adam is not so good in his chinese, so am looking for extra enrichmt for him.
i dun tink his sch is doing enough also cos their curriculum is learn thru play.

ive called tat same place to enquire abt the trial also.
but till now they din gt back to me.
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hows the instructor there? are they helpful?
 
Zu,
Yes S is still at Tien Xia. I have not think of switching her to anywhere leh. Why they took so long to get back to you leh? You jus book a slot to attend the briefing can liao ah. They will tell you their history and also their way of teaching. I'm not sure how they teach chinese. For maths they do homework. The child is suppose to do the problem on their own. When they face problems, then they are suppose to ask the teacher. Their expert is Mrs Goh but for my gal i think she's with those young big sisters. As for english, they are suppose to listen to CD and recongise the words by reading it without the CD later. For chinese i have no clue.

What is your query regards to their trial? Their trial is 4 lessons additional to what you should pay $120 for 8 lessons lor. Meaning to say you save $60 hee. But i got one free lesson falls on a day they're close, so they give her home work to do instead. When they're close, there will not be any replacement class. Also if they are sick, parents should go to the centre to collect the homework for the child to do, not replacement as well.

I think kumon specialise more for maths, second is english. Chinese....i dunno liao
 
zu,
you decide where to put A? We tried PV at SVPS but was rejected. Now i decide to send her to Unity but tat school not very good wor...
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meow,
i read tt its the same for chinese.
so i really dunno if its good for the kids.
i ask j go book a slot then on the day itself, he forgotten!!
till now he hvn reshedulse lor.
even if i go, i also dunno wat if what they r gonna teach will be relevant.

wrt to primary sch, i mite put adam in cckps.
wat do u mean u reg for pv but gt rejected?
dat means if gt chosen, yr plc is confirmed is it?
i know last yr, gt some parents pv w svps also could nt get in.
so i decided to go straight to cckps.
hopefully can get in.
 
Zu,
i think you can jus go and listen lah. Of course if both parents there to listen will be good too. I think not the same for chinese and english lah, i did overhear he say go strokes lor. As in some strokes cant be too long or short. That day of the orientation i went, out of 5/6 families, only we went lor. So he jus focus on what we want to know. By right the session was like an hour thing but we sat there for close to 1.5hrs

SV have 40 slots for PV but 100 applicants. Even by doing PV wont give you a slot too. This figure i suspect is projected only. Cos i believe they didn't consider those under old gal old boy(students who graduate twenty years ago and want their kids to study the same school)
 
meow,
how to go together? haha... the kids no one look after lei
tink its best j go la, he need to know where his money is going to.
hahaa... a is very lazy. at hm ask him do work always gt excuses
his sch not like pcf, v academic, dats y he also a bit lax

I tot the pv u reg then confirmed gt place.
if s goes to unity, who gg to fetch and send?
last time I heard unity not bad, now standard drop uh?
I tink still better then twps bah.
 
Zu,
i saw J. He like not really bother leh. Dunno why..maybe too busy with work so he think edu is you settle instead. So A's sch academic then you should be glad mah, no need go for any enrichment class le wor.

Not true once do PV then can get a confirm place in their stand. Their demand is too high le and the number of intake reduce every year. That time unity good cos a mum resign to focus on her child study and got very good grades. I cant do tat lah, personally i'm not that good, how to teach? Yeah i think i will never put her in TWPS. She will be going to aft school care services or to take sch bus back to my parents lor. But sch bus i also worry with the recent case of molest etc...
 
meow,
no la. I meant a's sch not academic like pcf.
only play play, dats y he like.
he and stella gal, velda same class.
but his sch make up w interesting theme.
they learnt tgs tt I dun even know lei!

yah, j today got go bk office.
u still working there? not switching?
he wants A to tk mandarin but he also nvr ard to tch.
I bot assessment bk for A he also bo chap.
I wonder how A gg to survive nxt time. haiz....

yr D go sch le mah?
my gal still at home. maybe nxt yr then go sch.
most prolly not gg same sch w A
 
<font color="aa00aa">meow:
thanks..
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been up to the neck with work... never ending one.

tsp:
tell me about it! c is also watching it religiously. i dont like it lah.. too adult and what values do they learn? sigh... </font>
 
Zu,
S school also the same. They following the MOE standard that's learning thru play as well. Oh Velda and A study same school? Vel and S are both in Tien Xia.

Yes i'm still there. Not so bad thou pay not too high. On and off have some incentives lah. As in free tickets for concert etc and of course many more...He says you take care of the kids whereas he take care of cash flow. So i guess, you have to put in more effort and not to rely on him on chinese. Jus go base on your understanding how are they teaching, dump the kids to J for that hour lor.

Yes D in pre-N at PCF as well lor. His pretty poor in language.

Krazy,
nowadays S getting lazy. Dunno if its environment or me...sigh...but still she will attend her lesson and do her homework but timing jus longer
 
<font color="aa00aa">meow:
I know what u mean. Seems like it is not really true tt it gets easier when they are older. Ha ha. Now it's like if we dun supervise them when they do work, they will take forever. Or worse, not done completely.

On e nights where I need to work at home, c will be on e tv.
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glued to whatever is shown. </font>
 
meow,
ya lah dats wat he always say...
he say if need to send any class, just go and let him know
faint rite? totally bochap.

yah both v and a same sch and same class
i know v also in tien hsia
stella said its not bad. but adam refused to go bk
dunno y he dun like tat plc.
v also w tien hsia for v long liao.
last time they did perform together in tien hsia.

tink dat company nt bad la.
heard j said they gonna axed sm ppl
very performance'based lei dat co
 
Krazy,
yeah they're like coach potatoes glue to the tv. That's why wee suggest to send her to day care if she's not studying near my parents.

Zu,
can understand how you feel. Tell him off lah. He must understand the child are both of you and both of you are responsible for their future. Cant rely on you too much. Unless you understand how chinese is then i think its ok for you to go attend the talk
 


hihi....

how is everyone... it seem no one post since meow post...

my boy is the same... tv is only for him only.... everything either ok or cd...

btw next week... be flying again.... but now feeling sick.... haiz...
 

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