Category Archives: Children

2016 Sec 1 Week 12 Update

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This week was the school holiday week and which is essentially a term break here for primary and secondary students.

Both GG & BB were home some days and had to go to other places for workshops etc. GG went back to school one day to practice with her choir for their performance next month and then had to go to a public library far away in the east for a workshop conducted by the National Library Board. BB on the same day that GG went to the library workshop had to go to the opposite side of the country for an environment workshop.

Speaking of BB, I was super upset at him this week. The workshop he was to go was because he is the Environment rep in his class, a responsibility he took up willingly. But for some reason, he didn’t want to attend the day-long workshop and so he lied to me that he was given the consent form in error. Initially I accepted his statement, but then on thinking it over, it didn’t feel right. If the form was given in error, why was his name and class on the form? So I asked again and this time, I told him I knew he was lying and I will call the school to check. I also told him to tell the truth. He confessed. I was so mad at him!! But ultimately on the day of the workshop, he developed stomach pain and decided not to go for it after all, such an anti-climax!

GG had a wonderful time at the camp and I am really glad she enjoyed it. The camp is a prelude to a book and reading competition and the best part is that GG was nominated as the best participant of the camp and got a book prize for it. According to the teacher who nominated her, she displayed leadership skills, and this is something I’ve known for a while. I absolutely hate when schools choose leaders and prefects based on grades – and it’s a documented fact that good grades do not equal to someone being a good leader!

Anyways, school starts tomorrow and both BB & GG now have to start preparing for their first semester or mid-year exams….

2016 Week 11 Update

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A very slow week, with really nothing much happening. 

GG had her cross-country this week at the Chinese and Japanese Garden and went with her friends whom she met on the way. That day was a long one for her as she had CCA after the run. They are rehearsing for the concert which now we realise is the day before their Hindi Mid-year exams!!

BB got his papers and marks and also a good scolding from everyone. Hopefully he buckles up and gets his act together soon for the mid-year exams. His school went on a learning journey to Changi Airport and that was the highlight of the week for him!

School’s out for the term break this week though both have to go back to school on different days for workshops and practice. 

My Greatest Fears as a Parent

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over-protective-parenting-cartoon

I’m not this bad…yet!

Every parent in the world has fears about their children. The world we live in, which is more enabled and intrusive than ever before, has so much negativity and evil, that I know for sure as a parent, I fear every time my children leave the house.

I think my greatest fear, as with that of any other parent, would be losing my children. I can’t even imagine such a scenario and honestly, when such a thought comes to my mind, I usually shy away from it and push it away. It is such a scary thought to me that I can’t even imagine it!

Now that we’ve set aside any parent’s greatest fear, I do have other fears for BB & GG.

One of my biggest fears is that they do not fulfill their potential in life. Both are very smart and intelligent people and have a lot to offer others, but and a huge but, is getting them to understand this. With the proliferation of electronic equipment and smartphones, it is so easy to get sucked up in playing games that you tend to lose focus of what is important and when. At this point in their lives, they need to get a good education which will stand them in good stead and help them reach their potential in life. Today’s world is much more competitive than it was before, especially given how easy it is find out information. What took me a couple of weeks of research to find out can be found out with a couple of clicks today and so you are not just competing (for seats in educational institutions or even jobs) with people in your district, state or even country, but with the millions outside about whom you know nothing about! Irrespective of what that is, I will stand by them, but I just wish I had some way of reaching out to them about not wasting time today about game playing!

funny

Another cartoon which sums up us parents perhaps?

GG is today in a vulnerable age where I sometimes really fear for her. With half-baked information about many things that she learns from her peers, sometimes it becomes difficult to know exactly what she knows which is right and what is wrong. I fear that she will get sucked into peer pressure and start relationships. Both are not interested right now, but who knows when this changes. I read in one of the parenting groups I belong on Facebook, that in one of the class whatsapp groups, someone sent a link to a pornographic site which was clicked by others who liked the link! This may be quite strange to western readers, but I guess Asian parents may see my point. Actually this is true, irrespective of the gender of the child. Adolescence is a time when hormones are in full bloom and this is definitely not the time to be thinking of relationships, sexual or otherwise. I have time and again told BB & GG that they should wait till they are more mature about this. My hope for both is to wait till university when they have their heads firmly in their shoulders, but failing that, to be more mature when dealing with relationships. School, with its pressure may not be the right age to have this in the mix. At the end of the day, I hope if they do get into a relationship, I hope they consider me a friend and are willing to confide in me.

I don’t want them to grow up entitled, behaving like jerks. They are growing up in a a country which is fairly affluent as compared to its neighbors and I have seen first-hand behavior of my countrymen behaving with a huge sense of arrogance entitlement when they travel abroad. I want GG & BB to learn to appreciate the beauty and culture everywhere and know that everywhere in the world there’s a huge opportunity to learn.
These are my top three worries as a parent. I actually have more, but thought, I’ll keep that for another day. What about you? Do you have any worries for your child? I’d be happy to read them….

2016 Sec 1 Week 9 Update

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This was exams week for BB. His first Secondary school exams in the form of his Common Test. The Sec 1 children were tested on English, Mother Tongue (not for BB), Maths, Science and English Literature. BB’s target scores was to get an A1 (above 75% marks) in all the subjects and he says he will definitely get that for Maths, but not sure about the other subjects. We’ll know starting tomorrow exactly how he has done as the teachers would have finished marking the papers by then and will work out the answers with the whole class then. Normally in primary schools, the children will know their marks when the teachers passes out the papers to be solved in class and then once they’ve worked through the whole paper, they send it home to be signed. I am guessing that secondary schools, especially for the lower secondary will be similar.

BB’s school also had the annual cross country running at the West Coast park, which was a bit far..Boys had to run almost 4 km and girls slightly less. There was also a competitive run portion and interested parents and all teachers ran with the students. BB, along with his bestie left home at 6 am…I became a worried mum and kept texting him to track him till he reached the station where the school had provided shuttle buses.

GG’s school is celebrating 30 years and so they are commemorating the occasion with a dance and drama show at a nearby auditorium. Since GG is in the choir, she gets to participate and we decided to show our support for the school by purchasing six tickets! That the three of us, plus S’ mum and aunt and my helper R!! I need to go with GG out one of these days to buy some clothes for her which she can use for the show. Since her school is transitioning to a show choir, the girls (and 2 boys) will be performing a song and dance routine and GG says she’s front and centre for the routine! Super excited for this….

Other than that, nothing really happened!! So that’s the school update for the week….

 

Chica and Chiki are Brave

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Chica and Chiki woke up with a sense of anticipation. They, along with their friends from the Jungle school were going to be going on a picnic to the new waterpark which had recently opened. They had never been there and so were very excited to go there with their friends and play.

Both quickly woke up and got ready for school, much to the astonishment of their mama, who normally had to prod them to get ready. They quickly got the essentials ready – swimming costumes, towels, soap to clean up later, clean clothes, some food and water and went outside to wait for the bus to pick them up. The bus came with scores of happy children and kissing their mama good-bye Chica and Chiki got in to have the best day of their lives.

They reached the water park and teachers grouped them so that everyone could play in the various areas of the park without creating havoc and so everyone got a chance to play in each of the rides. Chica was initially upset that she was not with her best friend Rumi, but she quickly got over her snit and started enjoying herself.

Lunch time came and the teachers herded the children to have lunch. They also strictly told the children to have a nap after lunch as it was not good to play in the water immediately after eating. The children all obediently closed their eyes and went to sleep. Chiki was not sleepy and so started to slowly open his eyes to see what was happening around him. He found Chica also doing the same thing and both looked at each other started laughing, silently because they didn’t want to wake up the other children and get in trouble with the teachers.

Suddenly both of them heard faint shrieks. It looked like it was coming from the giant water slide. They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. The teachers were still asleep and so Chiki and Chica decided to investigate. They quickly ran towards where the noise was coming from and found Rumi struggling in the water. There were no life guards around as everyone was resting after lunch. Chica tried to enter the water to help her friend, but the water was too deep for her. She quickly made a decision, “Chiki, quickly run and get help and I will wait here with Rumi”. Rumi was scared and crying and her stomach was also paining from drinking all the water.

Chika ran as fast as his little legs would carry him and went back to where the teachers and other children were resting. He ran to his favourite teacher, Mrs. Cat and shook her awake and cried, “Mrs. Cat, please come quickly….Rumi is in the water at the giant slide and her stomach is paining” Mrs. Cat was initially disconcerted and woke up with a start. She started scolding Chiki for being awake when all the other children were sleeping. But then the importance of his words penetrated and she soon woke up the other teachers. Two of the teachers ran to get help and Mrs. Cat and Mr. Hare ran with Chiki to the giant slide.

At the slide, Chica was frantic, Rumi’s cries were becoming fainter and she could see that something was wrong, but she didn’t know what to do. She thought hard, probably the hardest she had ever done, harder than when she thought for exams and suddenly had a brainwave. She tried to grab some of the umbrellas which were strewn outside the slide to help shield people from the harsh sun and tried to throw them to Rumi. “Rumi” she shouted, “Open the umbrella and try to use it as a boat”. Rumi was tired but tried her best to grab atleast one of the umbrellas. She tried hard and just when she wanted to give up, she finally caught one and opened it upside down. She hopped on and soon was floating on it.

By this time, the teachers, with Chiki in their wake, along with lifeguards were at the slide and the lifeguards swam to Rumi and brought her safely to ground. On the ground, Rumi put her down in shame as the teachers started scolding her. With tears streaming down her eyes, she apologized to them, “I am so sorry” she said “I know I was told not to get in the water immediately after eating, but I so wanted to play in the giant slide” She looked at Chica and Chiki and continued “Thank you Chica and Chiki for helping me”.
The teachers also praised Chiki and Chica for helping out Rumi, but they also got scolded for not resting when told to. However, since their misdemeanor meant that they could save their friends’ life, they did not get scolded much.

On the way home, all the children were tired and quiet. Mrs. Cat took the opportunity to teach some life lessons to them and said, “Children today was an important day and we all learnt something. Can anyone tell me what it was”. For a few minutes there was complete silence and then a small voice piped out, “We should listen when our elders tell us something”. “Correct, replied Mrs. Cat. Older people know what they talking about, so when they tell you to do or not to do something like today, they say it from experience. What else?” Noone spoke up, so she continued, “Chica and Chiki also showed bravery when they tried to save Rumi and got help, so if you find yourselves in a situation you can’t handle, get a responsible adult to help you”. All the children nodded their heads as they started to leave the bus, happy with a day well spent!