Venn and Graphs

What I like about the school is that they welcome parents with open arms. In fact, the principal, class teacher, parent and child signed a "contract" in which the signed individuals agree on the responsibilities each has and will work closely towards the mission statement of the school. Their newsletter encourages parents to come and visit the school, have lunch with their child and volunteer in the class or at school. So I have signed up to volunteer myself.

I visited Afzal for lunch last Friday and stayed in the class after that. Mrs Smith told me that she will be teaching them graphs... that will be interesting. I saw the pocket chart containing a square, circle and triangle. The children were asked to choose their favorite shape. Mrs Smith flashed cards that contain the children's names to see whether the children can identify their names ... a bit too simple if based on the Singapore system but for some children, this is their first time in a school environment. The children made their choices by putting their namecard on the pocket slot under their favorite shape. After everyone had done it, Mrs Smith went on to explain most and least, and how you can see it from the graphs. Then she moved on with their favorite letters A, B and C and went through the same routine.

I heard Mrs Smith explaining to the children that yesterday they learned about the Venn... that's marvellous I thought and so when we reached home, I asked Afzal to explain what was the Venn that he learned yesterday. I drew two overlapping circles but Afzal said no. He drew a circle and told me that all those who takes the car to and from school goes into that circle. Those who takes bus and other modes of going home are outside the circle. So he told me that he is outside the circle cos he takes the school bus. Asked him to explain more, and that is all he could tell me for now. But I liked what he is doing in school. They even have a review or reflective session in which the children are encouraged to 'write' something in their journal. Some children draw something, others doodle all over their book. I saw Afzal's journal. It was the first page and it contained some words that he already knew how to write by memory... words like boy, box, go, see etc...I didn't get to see all that he wrote but I'll get to take a peek at it one day.

Each of the kindergarten teachers has their own style and each of them does something a bit different for their own classes. I saw what another class did. The teachers pasted their works on the wall outside their classroom based on the book "If you take a mouse to school". There was a chart divided into two parts. On the left side "what mouse brought to school", and on the right side, "what we brought to school". The teacher circled the same things that mouse and the children brought to school and write the word "same". Besides language, the teachers were teaching a very basic maths concept, and I am impressed cos it looks fun and just the sort of things we should be doing.

In Farzana's grade 1 class, her teacher was teaching rhymes, but it's more so to get the children understand ending sounds. Farzana's mom, Sarina, was pleased too because she felt that the school goes a bit more in depth as compared to the "touch and go" situation back home. I'm sure there are pros and cons, but it's good to expose our children to their way of teaching as well. I also see a lot of language experience approach in the kindergarten and grade 1 classes. For Farzana's class, they read "The purple cow" and the children are encouraged to write about a purple animal that they have never seen before. Farzana wrote, "I never saw a purple cat."

Bcos the school is emphasising manuscript handwriting, Afzal's "l" and "u" have a little curved tail at the end now. After 5 days in school, I felt that he is writing much better, in terms of having all his letters on the line and the lowercase letters not going beyond the middle dotted line. I have never forced Afzal to write properly bcos I just want him to enjoy writing first. He seemed to be enjoying writing now and at home, we have been doing language experience approach rather than writing in workbooks. Afzal loves it because he wants to write stories as he plans to publish his books and open a bookstore in Australia. Yup his ambition now is to be a police officer, an author and a bookstore owner and mum is the cashier. Yeah...we've got things planned out, didn't we? While it's still burning hot, I am encouraging every single bit of writing experience that he wants to do :)

Books used in the K classes in the first week.

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready For Kindergarten Author: Joseph Slate Illustrator: Asley Wolff

If You Take A Mouse To School
Author: Laura Numeroff
Illustrator: Felicia Bond

Organised Chaos

Organised chaos is how I would describe the early morning situation at school. Everyone enters by the side door that leads to the gym and cafeteria. Those who do not wish to eat breakfast or already had theirs at home head to the gym and those who are having breakfast will head to the cafeteria. The gym and cafeteria is just side by side and the entrance is nearest to the gym. The queue for breakfast is long and will continue pass the gym and through the door to the outside. At least, there is no flag-raising ceremony or anthem singing. Those in the gym had to sit quietly according to grade level and when they have enough students I suppose (because some of the teachers of the class have other duty to do and they don't take attendance at the gym), the staff in charge in the gym will get the students in line and one teacher or staff will lead the students to their grade classes crossing paths with the breakfast queue and that's when a lot of 'chaos' occurs. The 5 kindergarten classes are clustered together, so one teacher will bring all the kindergarten kids to their classes. And if their class teacher is there, they will go to their classroom. If not, they either wait outside their classroom and for those students who seemed clueless, they were all put into one class. The weird thing is the teachers do not make the students wear name tags. If the kids have name tags, at least, whoever is with them is able to identify their names or the class that they are supposed to be in. If the child is unsure, the staff brings him to each classroom and asked, "Is he yours?" So teacher will say "Oh yes" or "Ah, ah, no" and move on to the next class. So that's totally inefficient I thought. What if the teacher forgets the face? Especially when it was only like the second day of school. Sometimes a kid gets out of his line and gets lost, that's when there's more chaos. Once he or she starts crying, you don't get anything out from the child and he or she probably wants only his mommy and daddy. And there's no name tag to know which class the child is in.

The going home time...what I like which I think is great and Singapore can adopt. Walkers leave at 3.10 pm and go out through the front door. Aftercare and school bus will leave to the left exit of the school building and car pick up is on the right side. There are two lanes for the car pick up and when the car moves in, they will pass through a roundabout and wait by the side in two lanes. Each car will put the name of their child on a paperplate (they should also put the grade level) and put it on their windscreen. If it's a young child, the teacher herself will escort the child to the car. Parents are not allowed to leave their car (unless it's a rainy day and they need to bring the umbrella for their child). Once the child is loaded, the car moves off and the next car waits. The reason for the two lanes so that there is no bottle neck in case a child is not out yet. So at least one line can still keep moving. I think this is great because so often in Singapore, there are no car lanes and inconsiderate parents simply jammed up the roads and it can be very dangerous, not only for the children but for other road users.

For those leaving by bus, my son's teacher stick a yellow post-it with the bus no and paste a clear cellophane across the post-it on his t-shirt. One teacher will take all the kids who are going home by school bus and move to the exit for the bus. There are three buses, so there would be someone to ensure these kids take the right bus. The only thing is the number on the bus is too long...like 2000-83, 2004-35 etc. Thank goodness, there are only three schoolbuses and hopefully Afzal will not hop onto the wrong one.

The Yellow School Bus

That's Afzal's school bus and we were tailing it from behind after school. We missed the bus in the morning and we were not even late. The bus was supposed to be at the designated pick up point at 7.19 am and we were there at 7.15 am and yet the bus was early and didn't wait. But since we were ready to follow the bus to school so Tahir drove both Afzal and Farzana.

When we tailed the bus on the way home, the bus went through some bumpy route and it got my heart shaken a little as the bus tipped left and right when it went through a tiny lane. As a mother, I think if my husband is not working, he should definitely send and pick our son up. That looked quite precarious. But both Farzana and Afzal enjoyed the bus ride because I think it was a new and different experience for them. Afzal admitted that he enjoyed school better here than in Singapore...too much fun and no work...hmmm I don't know, but I'm glad he is happy. In fact, I think I missed him at home.

First Day At School!

It was the first day of the new school term. Both Afzal and Farzana are looking great in their white and beige uniform. Another milestone in the history of these kids. For Afzal, at least, while I was still lingering in his class, he actually told me,"Why are you still here, mummy?" That's a change from the usual whiny "I want my mummy in class" when I sent him to childcare in Singapore a few months back. Maybe it's the coming of age, maybe it's more fun here. At least, he is more independent now and is looking forward to school.

A new friend was made. I was surprised at the friendliness of the White girl. She actually mistook Farzana for her friend Helen and was embarrassed after the phototaking that Farzana was not Helen. But we made them friends. Farzana is one of Tahir's colleague daughter, and she is in grade 1 while Afzal is in kindergarten. That girl, I think her name is Casey or something, is from Grade 4. By the way, that cute little girl in blue is Sabrina, Farzana's little sis.

We came back during Afzal's lunchtime at 12.45pm. Afzal and a petite little girl named Hope were Mrs Smith's little helpers today. Hope was the first to stand in line and Afzal was made to stand by the door to let the other kids out. A lot of disciplining was going on as Mrs Smith mentioned that they have to get the students used to the routine. We headed to the cafeteria and though Afzal had brought his lunch pack, he still wanted to queue for the food. Since I've already informed Mrs Smith about his dietary limitations, we were there just to see what was the situation like. It may be tough but I think we just needed to educate the teachers and staff a little about our religious obligation and I expect that constant gentle reminders maybe needed.

We started by writing a letter to Mrs Smith, as if it was written by Afzal to introduce himself. It was more so to explain about how we write our names - I mean sometimes it's hard to explain that we don't have a first, middle and last name. Also, the fact that we have certain dietary limitations. We have taught Afzal about halal and non-halal food but just in case.

After getting their trayful of food, the children move to the designated tables and the serving was in fact quite large for these little kids. The works would include taco with meat sauce, some kind of colored rice, corn, cake, chips, choice of salad, peach, apple, juice and milk. After their meal, they were expected to put all thrash on the tray, wait for instructions, before they moved in one line to put their tray away, separating the fork into a "chute". Being kids, they were noisy, some eat, while some doesn't. Then it was loo time before they headed back to class. By the way, the Americans call toilets, restroom.

When the kids came in the morning, we had to fill up a form of how they were going home - by car, school bus, walk or aftercare. Today it was by car but we will get him on the school bus from tomorrow. And it's free. We do not have any school fees to pay as well except for a $5 registration and whatever amount we want to spend on school uniforms and materials. You can buy your uniforms from any departmental stores that sell them. So you can compare prices as well as the designs. Though the color is the same, the girls' uniforms have different styles. Some girls may prefer to wear skirts, others may prefer skorts, pants, jumper, pinafore etc or it's up to you if you want everything. There's not much choices for boys though.

Each grade level has a different material list that includes scissors, crayon, washable markers, composition books, hand sanitizer, disinfectant spray, paper towels, tissue box etc and so far we have spent about $75 on materials and uniforms. We think it's a decent amount bearing in mind that there are no school or transport fees. Lunch is $1.50 unless you are given discount because of your family situation which we doubt we will get that. Also, you don't have to buy lunch if you bring lunch or you can pay 35 cents for a packet of milk or something else that you want. Breakfast... yes breakfast is provided unless you come to school by 7.40am and it's a flat rate of 0.60cents unless you are under financial aid. Formal school starts at 8.20 am until 3.20pm. So that's the gist of my little kid's life in a public school here...

Barnacle Part 2

Me : You are going to school tomorrow.

Son : Is there a lot of work?

Me : This week, just play. Next week, there is work.

Son: Oh Barnacle!

Me : What did you say?

Son : Oh Barnacle!

Me : What does it mean?

Son : It means I don't want to do that.

Barnacle!

Scenario 1
Me : "Afzal, make sure you put your books on the table!"
Son: "Oh Barnacle!"

Scenario 2
Me: "Afzal, go and bathe."
Son: "What a Barnacle!"


Oh what the thing is this Barnacle! It sounded like some bad word, and I knew where the son got it from. Spongebob Squarepants! That yellowish mustard sponge from Bikini Bottom. And I really doubt that Afzal knew what it meant but he used the expression quite convincingly. And here's the meaning of Barnacle from Merriam-Webster:

also called Cirripede , any of a majority of the 1,000 species of marine crustaceans of the subclass Cirripedia. Adults of cirripedes other than barnacles are internal parasites of crabs, jellyfish, starfish, and some other marine invertebrates. They have no popular name. As adults, typical barnacles are covered with calcareous plates and are cemented, head down, to rocks, pilings, ships' hulls, …

Hmm, by saying that, it means "What a parasite!", thus associating me with the Adult Cirripede - an internal parasite. Personally, it's does not sound too harmful but I think he should be made known of what it could mean or lead to. Should I wait till he is slightly older to explain...any comments?

A Hot Summer

We went to the swimming pool yesterday, only the second time since we came. All the kids were enjoying themselves... and all 9 kids in the pool were Singaporean. No one else except us. The summer can be really hot and though we were there at 5.30 pm, the heat was really eating into my skin. Maghrib is only at 7.38 pm meaning it's long daylight, but it's getting shorter... I guess it will be good for us if it's shorter daylight when Ramadan comes, especially being a first timer in a foreign land. I can't imagine how soon Ramadan and Idilfitri will be... and before I know it, it will be time for us to pack and head home...

Looking for that holistic word or words...

Before I rattle about the above, congratulations to my dearest friend Seri and of course Greg who just had their first bouncy baby boy, Dayan Tay. She called me all the way from Singapore to tell me that it was one of the biggest challenges of her life. It's amazing how some women have easy pregnancy tales to tell while others like me and Seri, doesn't. And I'm sure it's just the start of a long road ahead albeit an exciting and nerve-wrecking ones for the new trio.

That's what been getting me these days... for the lack of an all-encompassing word or holistic word that best describes what we, as parents, are doing for our child(ren).

When we talk about homeschooling our child, that's like being a real teacher and creating a classroom-like atmosphere in the home with your only student and teaching all the subjects (and more) that are taught in school at home . But when your child goes to school and you still do some activities with him at home, what do you call that? I mean I don't supervise any homework for now cos there's none but I do activities that I created myself or in which I feel Afzal should be learning. And even when we are doing the home activities, there's lots of disciplining going on as well. Besides "teaching" or "playing" with him, I'm constantly "nagging", "making him conscious of the consequences of his actions", "giving alternative views and opinions", "telling him what's right and wrong", "inculcate in him what's morally right"...blah, blah, blah and then there is the religious aspect that I'm trying to instil in him, "before you eat, let's say this doa", "before you read your book, let's read this doa", "what do you say when you are full?" etc etc and of course I also would like him to be able to speak, read and write Malay, and if he could also dabble with Mandarin and yadda, yadda, yadda.......so what is the "holistic term" that describes what I am doing with my child?

Guess that's the whole crux of the matter. We are parents and we are parenting our child the best we know how and the best we could...including teaching him his abcs, phonics, maths, general knowledge, his mother-tongue and his culture, his religion, what's right, what's wrong, say thank you and please, asking for orders over the counter, paying money and getting the right change, sleeping in his own bed in his own room etc etc and for new mommies, things that may seem simple like breastfeeding is a whole new learning experience for both mother and child which may turn out great or totally screwed (like mine), and for toddlers even peeing right or not peeing in their pants is a great deal of learning, educating, parenting... aren't these all part of home educating and parenting and schooling? ... so what's the fuss am I kicking? Perhaps Greg, yes that's Seri's hubby, described it best when he said, "I'm from the University of Life". Wouldn't that be something you want to give your child as well? The University of Life. Think about it.

Me and my new school uniform

What can I say? Don't I just look cool in this?