Tim is having exams next week. Like every mother, I have to spend time revising with him. Actually both my hubby and I. Sometimes if he is in the mood, he will do everything correctly. However at times, he can drive me up the wall. When he does that, I will calm down and make some humor to release the tension. He will let out a shy smile.

For example, I asked him does pepper powder dissolved in water. He looked blank. I took him to the kitchen to show it to him. And he took it to test it out and he smelled it, which I asked him not to. He didn’t sneeze but his nose sure was itchy. He said the smell was yeaky. By the way, some Science questions were ambiguous.

The Science text book said that flour, pepper powder and curry powder don’t dissolve in water. Some of it actually does so it is not correct. Then they learned about seeds, asking the students which fruits have seeds. One of the questions asking does grape have seeds? My boy answered No but the book answer said yes. My boy told me what about seedless grape. You see what I mean???!!!

The other day I was told a child was cane because she is slow, her work is untidy, unable to finish her homework and others. This is just not only happening in her school but a lot of Chinese school. I really sympathize with the child as she is living in fear every day all because her development is not on par with the school’s expectation.

Please parents out there, if your child is in this category, do change him/her into another school. Don’t let your child suffer in such a manner. I am still very unsupportive of canning for petty things. It just takes out the fun in learning. Your child is going to school in fear. What character do you think she/he will grow up to be? It is really quite sad to hear this.

In addition if the child is lacking behind in the school syllabus, she/he will not magically turn into a bright student overnight. She will lose interest in her studies and maybe even drop out. If you see this red warning signal, it is better to let her/him go to a National school. I have seen parents do that and their children excel. Of course, they are happier too. Don’t allow your child to suffer silently over your expectations.

Back to square 1. I am really saddened by this news, not because they are switching back the language used for teaching Science and Maths. It is making a decision without any execution plan or how they want to implement it. In the news, it is stated that in 2011, student from year 1 and year 4, form 1 and form 4 will be going back to BM/mother tongue for Maths & Science.

Take Tim for example, he is in Std 1 and now he is doing Maths & Science in English.

2009 – Std 1: Maths & Science in English
2010 – Std 2: Maths & Science in English
2011 – Std 3: Maths & Science in English
2012 – Std 4: Maths & Science in BM. I am still wondering how they expect the child to switch especially on all the Science terms. Probably, he has to relearn all the Science terms in BM.
2013 – Std 5: Maths & Science in BM
2014 – UPSR in BM/English. Do you suppose student can answer half in BM and half in English?

It will be real difficult for any children and confusing for the teachers. It is like putting our children as guinea pigs. Oh, this decision doesn’t work, never mind we change it. Oh that doesn’t work, we switched back. Who suffers? The children and they are the leaders of the future.

Well at least for those in Chinese school, it will be 2 less subjects for them. However the disadvantage is they learn very little English.

The reason given by the minister is lack of English teachers. I bet if they pay the teachers well, there will be ample supply of English teachers. There are so many graduates who have no jobs, they can teach English to primary students. Is it that difficult?

Come to think of it, if they are taking away subjects in English, the future will be less and less English teachers. Soon, there will be no more English subjects because no competent English teachers.

I really do hope that they will do both Maths & Science in BM and English for those who have started it in English.

The important piece of paper from the ministry has arrived. Yeap this paper will determine where my child’s primary education will be. It is a little peculiar because the envelop noted the school address but the letter is from the Penang Education Minister. I believed that the minister must have send to the school for them to distribute. Therefore, if you don’t receive it next week, you can check with the school.

The letter is in Bahasa Malaysia, so I need dig up my BM from my old brain storage. Ooh, the BM is a little out or is it me? Hear this:

“Sehubungan dengan itu dimaklumkan anak tuan/puan yang telah menbuat permohonan penempatan ke Tahun Satu sesi persekolahan tahun 2009 di sekolah SEK ABC pada TAHUN 2009 adalah DILULUSKAN di sekolah SEK ABC”

Lots of repetitions of year, the school name and I think it should be “telah DILULUSKAN”

Anyway I have been instructed to go to the school to make a confirmation of the placement in the month of August. Add to next week’s chore.

By the way, it is good to tell your child about the new school so that he/she is prepared. I started telling Timothy and Emily wanted to join him. Hrmm….

I was rushing to finish up my work on Friday. Lately I had been overwhelmed with too many projects and I had a presentation at 11:30pm on Friday night. It seems work never ends. Anyway, back in the good old days, I was unhappy if I have to go to school on Saturday except if it is a sports day or non-study day. Malaysia has too many public holidays and teachers cannot finish the entire syllabus for the year which caused us to have additional classes on Saturday. It is a dragged.

Today was the first time after so many years I have to go to school on a Saturday. This time the role is different. It was an open day at Timothy’s school. Basically an open day is where the school invites parents to come visit the school. They will show all the crafts, school work and activities that the school children did. It is also a good time for me as a parent to get acquainted with the teachers.

Previously I wrote about Timothy refusing to talk in school because of anxiety. It is not that he does not want to speak but the word cannot get out of his mouth. I saw a documentary about selective mute that my BIL recorded for me. From the documentary I learn that there are ways to help Timothy overcome this problem.

I was glad that Timothy was reading out to me in school with a little help from Emily. Both were competing with one another to outsmart each other. It is a first step to help Timothy feel comfortable to speak in his school. I will do the sliding in method where by he will read with me in the presence of a teacher. Next week, the school principal that is also my church friend invited us for dinner. We will use that opportunity to help him feel comfortable with his school principal. I really praise God because he answers our prayer.

I am being pressured to teach my son how to read and spell but I made it fun for Tim to learn. I don’t remember learning spelling during my kindy. What to do, the schools are getting competitive. However the current kindy that Timothy is attending definitely has less homework and spelling. Anyway, I read many online good reviews on Leap Frog DVD and most of them were very positive.

I decided to get a set of 5 DVD for my children. Thanks to Vien who help me to get it and ship it to me. It arrived yesterday and I was really excited. :dance:

In the evening, I turn it on for my children to watch. They were learning how each alphabets sound. I must say that the animations were excellent and fun for children to watch. By the way, each DVD comes with a game too. I played with Tim and Emily and they got 80% correct. I am surprised that Tim made an effort to learn how to spell, maybe because I motivated him by praising him after he gets it correct. He likes it. I can see him competing with Emily. I am not sure whether Emily knows it or she is guessing but she got a few correct and ahead of Tim.

Basically it uses phonics and animation to help children remember how each alphabet sound. It also builds words from joining the same last 2 letters like CAT, BAT, HAT, MAT, FAT …etc. Using this method will help the child remember how to spell the words. Tim’s school is also using the same concept and he has just learned to spell DAM, HAM, YAM, JAM and RAM.