(2008/01) Jan 2008 MTBs

kitsune, my mil says she will come over n cook for me, plus now maid come liao, will wan maid to help hsework. hopefully manageable
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as for the property sale, i met an agent who said he can charge as 10k for buying a unit and selling a unit n he will do all paperwrk n marketing. not sure how true it is, coz 10k all in is definitely cheaper than paying 2%.
 


kitsune
word world activity books ($11), not the jumbo activity books though
only this one have stickers; but they are "reward stickers" so the book is not a sticker book hor
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Aqua, I see, is it the smaller companies? Some of them may need to compete on price because they dun have a big internal network to fall back on. Make sure no hidden costs though. If you like him and trust him, it's good.
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Pixie, word world is for how old? RaeAnne's std quite low. kekeke. :p
 
kitsune, errm,i dun rem wat co he is fr. def not ERA, coz he was the seller's agent and he was convincing us to sell our unit first b4 we buy so tht we can take 80% loan.
nw is seventh mth, my parents pantang, told me not to shop for housing coz i am due soon. so juz concentrate n rest well
 
Pixie,
Well, we are at their mercy in fact. Coz our only worries are what harm will they bring to our family, especially our young children. So of course we won't want to take that type of chance.

Hopefully you can work things out with her. Like you proposed, she can go out with you once a month or something. Or if you don't want her to tag along, she can stay at home and rest awhile but definitely cannot go out w/o your permission (call and spot check. :p)

But after they have off day, it is really very hard to control or know what they do outside... Just only can keep fingers crossed that they don't do anything funny...

Qns:
Have you started on your 3 year old kid on worksheets? The workbook I bought from Pixie that time still under utilised coz I am so lazy to start... Now see Pixie opens new BP, abit tempted leh... Are our kids ready for worksheets???
 
Tried to do postings yesterday but there's error so gave up after losing all i typed.

Kitsune,
how was your 1st night of viewing? OJT now?

Re: Pri sch
so scary when i heard from some friends that they have to ballot for neighbourhood schs during phase 1! now really don't know if i can get for phase 2A.

Re: maids
i think i'm a very lenient employer? my maid has HP and Off days, i think now she has 3 HPs..haha but my bottomline is not to use them when she's working. So far so good, she does tried to use when my girls are napping though. So far her attitude before going for off and after going for off still the same. Her contract is finishing in Jan and she's interested to renew, request for 2 off days per month now cos she wants to take course, now i'm still considering the terms i'm going to offer.
 
hi mommies, does anyone have private driving instructor at eunos/ubi to recommend me?

the schools charge a lot while those my friends recommended aren't free on the weekends.

If not convenient to publish here, can pm me?

tq very much.
 
kitsune
wah, my son 2yo oredi watching wordworld...but wordworld appeals if RA got watch their cartoons lar...i expose my son to media too young
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Kam,
Did you friend manage to sneak past her son for Lion King show??

Luvv,
I also thought the same like you. As long as the maid does not use phone during working hours, I am fine with it.
But how come your maid needs so many HP??? What big business is she doing?? Hahaha.
My maid has 1 off day per month. Her contract is ending in Feb 2012 but I doubt she wants to renew lah.. And I don't think will renew too coz prefer to send my kids to CC...
2 days off mean alot to me... Norm is only 1 day even if working for the same employer for years...
 
pixie,
ur maid doesnt go out at all besides gg to ur mil place? like abit 可怜leh, sometimes we need to go out to 透透气, let alone maids who has to work all d time, she want off oso 情有可原,so can like wat u say bring her along when u go out. while we all think Mai treat them so nice, but dis I think ok ba :p
 
krystle,
Oh, ya hor, forgot to update. Yes, she sneaked in her 3.5yo without any problem! But she carried him in lah, no one stopped to probe. Not strict at all, she said, for the session she went (Sat matinee).

So meaning we are going to watch Lion King!!! Think around end Aug/early Sep.
 
Luvv, thanks for asking. Yup, I tagged along to see how my senior did viewing. It was a nice Indian family who is migrating to Melbourne, Australia to join their sons. 21st floor, city view, can see fireworks n sea view from utility room. Too bad the couple who came not so keen. :p
 
Kam,
So you are going for the $400/4pax promotion?
Hmm, I am still not so prepared to pay $100/tix. :p
Will let you know if I want to join in.
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krystle,
Yes, sharing with a fellow mum for the $400/4pax, if we can work out an agreed date.

But hor, it's only $50/person for us, cos $200 is for the 4 of us! Cheaper than the Mickey mouse show (for the B Reserve tix), kekeke.
 
Kam,
Hahaha, I am not planning to bring my kids along for Lion King show. So meaning for me, $100/pax leh... And I cannot imagine 4 adults + 4 children sharing 4 seats!!! I wonder if the MBS staff will chase us away... :p
 
Hello mummies,

So coincidentally to see the topic on spelling cos my boy suddenly ask me how to spell "MONDAY" on monday. I ask him to write out "monday" 10times. Juz for fun, i giv him this word for spelling after that. Surprisingly he could spell & write whole word out. And we con't tuesday yez & today is wednesday which is the most challenging one. Still unable to spell out the whole word & manage to spell "wednday" instead. Haha, told him never mind, we will try it next week. ;)

Personally feel that there is no RIGHT time to start spelling. If they have interest, why not juz start with a simple word a day? Mummies, u can try "word" flashcard too. Categorise it & flash the words only. I rem last yr my boy could spell simple transport words like car, jet, van etc. Of cos, he can only rem words that he like, haha. U may want to find your kid fav activities or toys for a good start ;p

Do you know how many hours of sleep shld our kids need now? 11or 12 hours, is it too little?
Wonder I shld stop him for afternoon nap & let him sleep from 8pm - 8am instead? Cos he takes 1-2 hrs to fall asleep for both nap & nite. Really waste time "tossing" on bed, i rather let him play his toys or do some meaningful activities. Any kid skip nap here, is it ok?
 
Kam,
Read that you looking for private music teacher? Is it meant for HR? Feel that they are too young to have 1-1 music coaching at home. Juz to share, seimpi & yamaha have interesting ways & method/materials for our young kids. Think 1-1 is for older kids like 5 or 6yo?. You may want to go for a trial & know what i mean ;)
 
JanBB,
Yes, it's for HR. He loves musical instrument, pinao in particular, he told me many times, consistently. He has attended 1 term of music class when he was about 2yo. I called the same music school (Staccato), and in fact, they said it's not too young to start him on 1-1 lesson, they mentioned 4yo, but if the kid really has interest, can let him try out. We might let him go for a trial and see how. They quoted $35 for 30min, pretty ex hor.

HR has skipped nap during weekends (and whenever he is at home) for more than 1 year already! Though he still guai guai takes nap when he is at cc lah. My two darlings only clocks a total of 9-11 hours of slepeing (nap + night). It would be good if they can sleep more, but I finally decided to focus on making sure they sleep before 11pm, going for quality and not quantity.

I browsed through a few websites, generally the "standard" says 12-14 hours for 1-3yo, and 10-12 for 3-6yo. It's the total hours that counts. So yes, if they can sleep earlier at night, you can consider getting rid of the nap.
 
luca
my maid got go out! we bring her to malls, meals, if we have trips to parks or to some fun activity, we will ask her if she wants to go. sometimes she say lots of housework havent clear, not this time round. sometimes she say, ok, she go with us...
we still give her choices lor
 
kam
my #1 is learning 1-1 piano with cristofori. Per term we pay $270 excld gst. once a week lesson 30mins each. per term is about 10-12 weeks it depends. If u take 12 lessons as per term it's equavalent to $22.50 per 30mins.
 
oic hehe I thought dat time when ur maid just came, u mentioned abt leaving her at home if u go out. anyway, ur maid looks "smart", hope u can psycho her to not take her off.
btw, when can collect d makeup frm ur sis, I liase with her?
 
Kam,
Thanks for sharing the link.
I saw Maha Bodhi! Haiz... expected lah... And somemore cannot do PV there, where does all the places before phrase 2C went to ah???

But it is the ugly truth loh. Like Aqua said to me, even if within 1km, can confirm get in?? The answer is NO! SG education system seriously need to change. I think there are lots of debates recently... Many were saying should abolish PV or Grassroot leaders priority.

Haiz, I think I can say hello to Telok Kurau or Damai Pri liao...
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Kam,
Thanks for welcoming me back. My edd is on my boy's birthday, 9 Jan 2012. But most prob will be early like end Dec.
 
Think mummies here asked mE about the cc my colleagues 's son goes to, it's spring brainy kids at sembawang focusing on left right brains . That's why laaa
 
Kam, thanks for posting the link. Haha, I'm lucky, both Poi Ching and Ngee Ann Primary no need to ballot for 1 km.
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JanBB, my gal no interest in spelling, but she likes story books and colouring. :p
 
luca
oredi with my sis liao lor, you can email her or sms her?

janbb
my son dunno how to spell yet leh. right now im teaching him how to identify diff colours - in chinese. his chinese very sux; dunno the chinese equivalent of the main colours

piano teacher
i know a piano teacher who lives opp sengkang mrt, she is one of my soka member/friend. if anyone looking, i can link her up with u.
she teaches piano lessons at home de
 
wah my dream pri school mee toh school oso need to ballot, and the school im keen in now, fairfield methodist oso need to ballot...
the neighbourhood school 5 mins away dun need...hmmmmm
 
Pixie
The 2 neighborhood schs within 1pm of my house oso need to ballot ah!!

Janbb
Elliot can spell and write his own name since beginning of the year... Maybe his name easy to spell!! Hee...
 
Mom2nat,
Aiyo...My boy is only beginning to recognise some alphabets and can't hold pencil properly yet lei. Looks like I must do more with him liao.

Pixie,
I thought u moved already. Why are u still eyeing Mee Toh? Most schools in SK and Punggol must ballot even within 1 km. Cos of high concentration of young families. Even stay next door is no guarantee that u can get a place. Only citizens get 2 votes (or ballot), PRs will only get 1 chance. It will be interesting to see the ballot process on Friday. Some schools even have 3 person competing for 1 place. You will see a lot of grouses in the ST forum and KS parents forum.
 
last nite I scolded my #1 for giving us attitude. Every time when we teach her school work she tend to argue and challenge. Haiz, she's only p2 leh. I cannot imagine what will happen when she's p5 or p6. Dare not even think what will she become when she's in her teens. I almost lost my voice after scolding her so loudly. Angry leh. She cried but still like those buay song kind. Still like no repent de. Made her write 20x "I do not show bad attitude again".

I really hate to scold her this way u know. I'm like a monster mum everytime when I get into rage.
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Chaye

I read from someone’s blog, this is how she approached this issue.

When the kid is in P1, P2, she gave both kids a free hand. The kids were in-charge of daily packing of school bag according to the timetable, learning their spelling and doing their homework. When they forget to bring books, learn spelling etc, the kids had to bear the consequences. When the kids came home to tell her what happened in school ie got scolded by their teachers, she refrained from saying “I told you so”, instead, she encouraged the kids by saying “its ok, just remember to do it the next time”. This is to teach independence & give the kids ownership of their studies. By the end of P2, her kids were auto, self-driven & no longer forgetful.

She had a minimum benchmark of 70marks. Although she tries not ‘help’ the kids & insists that they take the initiative for their studies & results, she will not allow their marks to drop below 70 marks. She views it as more important to instill the right attitude in lower primary & play catch-up in academic content later. Results do not matter as much as attitude in primary school.

Anyone also read her blog? I think her approach is good & I will try adopting it when my gal reaches K1/K2.
 
prata queen
thanks for sharing. It's ideal if I can do that. My gal is quite auto. She will do her homework and pack her bags. But I will run thru her homework when I'm home. Out of 8 qns she got 4 wrong and are those obvious mistakes that she didnt pay attention in reading the question correctly. So when I got to run thru with her together. Maybe I should just ask her to check your work again make sure it's correct and dont care. Let her realise her mistakes when teacher mark it. But will she realise it ?
 
mom2nat,
Haha, HR also can spell and write his name, cos it's soooo easy - he writes and spells his name as H.R. :)


Chaye,
Thank you so much for the info RE pinao lesson!

Re your #1, if it's me, I would find out why she didn't read the questions correctly/carefully - is it because she is rushing to do homework? Is it because there are a few words that confused her or that she doesn't fully understand? Is it because she purposely does it to get your attention (**evil grin**)? Is those repeated mistakes? Has the teacher taught her how to avoid those mistakes? How critical is it to avoid these mistakes? etc etc. Go through the whole process and not just the outcome. Good luck!!!


RE: P1 registration
Kistune, don't be too happy cos the statistic changed every year :p

I think the system is sooooo wrong! Out of all things, I think those live within 1km should be given the highest priority, phase 1, rather than in phase 2C, now have to queue after those old boys/girls, grassroot people, PV, etc. It's totally nonsense for me that you couldn't send your kid to the nearest school but have to make them travel at the age of 7. So damn sick of this system!!! Like what, telling all parents to be KIASU. Or does it mean that Sg doesn't have enough school now? Just.don't.understand. :-(((
 
Verene,
How nice if your #2 would also be a Jan baby :) Take care ya, how's your pregnancy so far?


Blackbatz,
Thanks for reminding me PR has 1 less chance in balloting :-(
 
Remember to keep the statistics cos MOE cleans out the statistics every year.

Verene,
Congratulations too!

Chaye,
Honestly speaking, children cannot see their mistakes like adult. We are able to spot it immediately because our cognitive level and theirs are different. It takes years of accumulative "mistakes" whereby they learn from their experience.

At their age, they just want to complete their homework cos teacher says must do homework. Teacher never says must be 100% correct, then can hand in homework.

If you know those are her weaknesses, work on it and help her to overcome it.

Why is she arguing and challenging you when you teach her? Is it because you methods are different from what teachers are teaching in school? Certain things which we learnt in school previously have been deemed obsolete in today's education, especially Mathematics syllabus. Those taught in the 80s have changed completely and no longer used in the classrooms.
 
Kam,
Well, Singaporeans are KS in nature (or maybe due to past years "grooming" by our govt, we became this way). And the thinking is so deep in that we pass it on to our next generations.

I can't deny I am KS too. We want the best for our kids. But unfortunately, our philosophy of the "best" is academic, not the quality of learning and whether if our kids love/enjoy learning. I would love to see my kids love learning but deep inside me, I wonder if I give that type of luxury, can they catch up with the current academic system? I have no answer too... So just go with the flow (there is a saying, if you can't beat them, join them).

Of course, it would be nice if my kids can get into a good school... but can't I can only leave it to fate... Anyway, I am from a normal neighbourhood school too.

BTW, it is not SG does not have enough schools. I saw there are schools which have 100 over vacancies not filled at all!! Damai is one of them loh. But it is a very true fact that SG parents only want to put their kids in top schools.

This situation will continue unless there is a total revamp of the system... But judging from our govt, I can only say very difficult...
 
BTW, I think giving priority to old boys/girls or siblings are fine. But grassroots and PV are bullshit requirements to me. Should scrap it totally.
 
blackbatz
she argue with me and hubby also. We showed her some alternative ways to get solution. And sometimes we try to explain further what is the teacher trying to say. Sometimes she locked in her own way and that's it. I guess she's also like me no patience de
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Like mother like daughter leh.

Kam
How's the Malaysia's system like for P1 registration har ? Curious to know.
 
Kam,
Priority is given to those within 1km for Phase 2B as well. So it does not mean you automatically get in even if you do volunter work. As long as the applicants exceed the no. of vacancies, the distance factor will come in eg. if you do 40hrs volunter work and stay outside 2km from desired school, if applicants exceed no. of vacancies, those within 1km will get in followed by 1-2km and lastly outside 2km. If suay suay only have enough for those within 1km then balance will have to ballot for the those within 1-2km. Those outside 2km will not even have chance to ballot even if you completed the volunter work. So there's no guarantee.

For the schools in my area, the good ones all need balloting for within 1km or 1-2km. But 2 of the not so good schools have dozens of vacanies but no applicants. Why? Parents die die also don't want the lousy schools and still choose to take their chances to ballot for the better schools.
 
alumini is under which phase? do we need to join as alumini or we juz show old report book? my gosh, dun even know wher my pri sch report is? anyway, my alumin pri school is at bedok, far fr wher i stay now. if our kid dun get into 1km pri sch, so sian! so young mus wake up early morn to take schbus to sch.
 
Yvonne,
Thanks for the additional info there.
I thought was PV will have a better priority be it they stay within 1km or 2km... Then any vacancies after that selection will go to those within 1km (no PV)...

Aqua,
Alumini is Phrase 2A(1). For this, you need to join alumini.
If just alma mater, that will be phrase 2A(2). No need to join alumini, just produce old report book. So start digging your old report book now. Hahaha. My report book no use even I kept till now. Coz the school closed down liao.

I agree with you loh, so sianz to make our kids wake up so early to take sch bus...
 
Kam, should be ok cos my neighbours whose kids are studying there, tell me for the last few yrs, Poi Ching did not need to ballot for within 1 km because it's a Cheena school, only Chinese offered as mother tongue. So, that eliminates 30% of the population. But once the BTO flats near my place are built up then the demographics of the town will change, more young couples = more kids but should not affect me bah since registration for us is in 3 yrs time. :p For Ngee Ann, hubby is old boy, so can join in 2A2, but I think I'll ask him to join alumni lar to qualify for 2A1, just in case.

Kam/krystle, agree that we should not make primary school kids travel too far. But if purely by distance to school, then seems not very fair also. Eg. if there's a good school in bukit timah area, only the super rich's kids can afford to go into the school liao. At least if through alumni/PV/ballotting, the kids of less well off folks still have a slim chance?
 
I heard lots of thoughts that pv should be discontinued, hopefully by the time our kids register in 2014, it will be scrapped? Btw, I saw for some Pri sch, pv registration for our kids starts as early as next yr! Hmm on second thots, even if they decided to scrap it, it wont't b in time for us then.

Anyway how do u know if a Pri school is good or not huh? Do they all have open house, and entertain parents' questions abt the school? A lot is just depending on word of mouth, read comments on forums...
 
krystle,
What's the best for the kids? What to judge? Academic?


Chaye,
Remember I am a kampung girl. Everyone goes to the same school, end of story. I don't really know what's the system now is for those in the big cities, esp the capital which is at least as competitive as SG, if not more. One thing I don't worry in Malaysia is, if we were to enroll the kids in Chinese stream school, surely their chinese going to be okay. I have heard a lot from my friends, it's pretty stress in the big cities. During my generation, parents usually don't care much about primary school, but they would want to enroll the kids to the top secondary schools.


Yvonne,
Thanks for the info. Yes, I know about the distance priority for PV. If I were the policy maker, which will never happen by the way, I will say those within 1km has the highest priority, with or without PV. Then to those we have affliliation to the school (be it the religion, alumni, clan, etc). Then whatever left opened for balloting to those we are interested, and PV and grassroot can come in at this stage.
 
krystle,
No problem cos alot of people also have that misconception - thought parent volunter will guarantee a space.

My niece got into St Nicholas Girls last year. My sister's family is catholic so they are in Phase 2B and they live within 1km too. She heard other parents complaining cos they completed 40 hrs but didn't even get a chance to ballot cos too many applicants and balloting is only for those living within 1km. So 白做了!

Pauline,
I'm considering Poi Ching too cos I'm a member of the futsing association (my dialect clan). That puts me in Phase 2B and confirmed get in cos no balloting for past few years. But downside is B gotta take school bus and wake up early
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I stay within 1km to 2 schools - one of them is Holy Innocents which we're very keen but balloting for within 1km cos very popular in my area. The other school got tons of vacancies but no takers cos really lousy leh. You see the students there you also don't want to enrol your kid there kind of school. So how? We also don't want to put B in top school but that does not mean we want to put him in a lousy school and mix with bad company right?

Everybody also headache hor...
 
Blackbatz,

Re: P1 registration
Can u advise more on this, can we produce PSLE cert to proof we are old boys/girls? I also dunno where i put my PSLE cert & can't check whether is the school name in the cert?? Anyone aware? Thanks.

Re: Alumini
Heard from my fnd, you will need to pay a 1 time fee abt $200+ to be alumini. And you must be their Alumini 1yr before the P1 registration. Meaning even u join when your kids are in K2 which is supposed to register P1, this is not counted at all, remain as phrase 2A(2) ~ alma mater.

I'm not sure whether we need to be so KS to be in pahse 2A(1)? Can u imagine if u can't even get a seat at phase 2A(2), what happen to the rest??? Hubby is from Henry Park, quite a HOT school too, not sure whether to join or not.

Kam,
Thks for the info on sleeping hrs. Intend to change his sleep hours when i return back to work ;) At least, can spend time with him in the noon & spend time with #2 at nite ^.^ Come to think, I can't afford to have #3, wahaha, not enough time to divide... like that i dun need to sleep, heehee ;p

Mom2nat, kam, pauline, pixie
Yes correct, spelling out their names is also spelling ;) My boy learnt to spell his name from his school since early this year when he is in nursary. Think you all still have many mths ahead to make them spell their name, get ready for next yr nursary class ^.^ No stress, my boy is going K1 next yr, so no choice, everything must be faster than your kid.
 


Kitsune,
I also think Poi Ching should be ok.
My hubby's nephew and niece go to Poi Ching and they are not even within 1KM (I think).
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Precious moments,
Yes it is true that we have to start PV when our kid turns 4, which is next year.

Whether a school is good or not, we will only know based on general comments and word of mouth. Schools here can't publicise how good they are... also another way is from PSLE results, like the avg score, top scorers from where etc...

Kam,
I can't answer your question leh... Very subjective. Hahahaha. I can't deny academic is important too.

Times have changed. During my time, my parents don't bother too. Maybe because they are not as educated as we are now. Just sent us to the nearest pri school. My neighbours were my classmates too. But I think in US or European countries, all grade schools (pri schools) are the same... They don't have to ballot or what...
 

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