PSLE Week 39 Update

This is it! The exams started end of last week and we are halfway through it now. We’re done with English and Maths, but have Mother Tongue aka Hindi and Science left.

The haze situation is still bad, fluctuating between 150 to over 200. My only worry last week was that the PSI should not be high during the exams.

So far of the papers they’ve done, both said English was very easy. BB said he didn’t feel any different than writing a school exam.My concern now is that if the paper is so easy, then maybe the marking will be difficult with the cohort average high and so the standard deviation also low….What this means for marking I don’t know! Hopefully both get an A*(praying for that) or atleast an A for English.

During the Maths exam, at one of groups on Facebook that I belong to, someone posted that Paper 1 was a killer! I immediately got scared and started praying to all the Gods and Goddesses I know as I was very worried about GG as Maths is her weakest subject. It was agony till they came home and then an anti-climax when they announced it was tricky, but moderately difficult….

People posted questions on Facebook and based on the answers there and confirming with BB, I think he can score a good mark…Now need to hope the bell curve is in their favour…

Ok, two more to go and then we are home free… and can start worrying about the results!

PSLE Week 38 Update

The PSLE exams start next week!!

The Haze situation in Singapore is getting real bad. Last week, on Thursday, it was spiking the whole day, finally peaking at over 300, which is the Hazardous range. Parents in all the groups were fretting over how the children will cope with this in the run-up to the exam when the Ministry of Education declared Friday a holiday for Primary and Secondary schools in the light of the situation. Friday morning was bad, but cleared up quite a bit mid morning. BB & GG’s school also cancelled the Mid Autumn Festival and Family Day the school had planned!

Now praying hard that the haze remains in below 100 (the preference) or in the 100-150 range till all exams are over. We were told this situation will go on till early November due to the El Nino effect here!

Praying hard both GG & BB do well in the exams so that they can choose their school, and the school does not choose them!

Please pray for us!!

PSLE Week 37 Update

We had the Listening Comprehension exam on Friday and while GG said both languages were easy, BB said they were tricky. Aiyoh!! I don’t know whom to believe now…Hopefully they do well in the exams and get into the schools they want to get in.

I have been coming home at lunch and continuing working from home this week. Actually just 3 days as Thursday and Friday I was working from home the whole day. I will do this the next week also and then the week after that which is PSLE week, I will be at home till the end of the exams!

Both the children are stressed over the exams. GG vents it out and says she gets weird dreams, but BB is more close-mouthed. I think he has started sleepwalking. We found him in our bedroom the other day, trying to remove one of S’ pillows. Then yesterday, he woke up and found his jacket on the table – when he went to bed wearing it!

Hopefully they will do well in the exams – please pray for us as we reach the cresendo in this journey!

Happy Birthday to you….

GG & BB turn 12 today. Happy Birthday my darlings! May you be always happy….

This year’s birthday is a very low-key one, what with the PSLE looming over us. We’ll probably do a nice celebration after the exams.

I still remember the day they were born. They were born at 36 weeks and 3 days, which is considered full term for twins, but were still a month away from their Expected Due Date. I was very reluctant to have the c-section my gynae had recommended and wanted to wait till they were ready to be born. But, my gynae was a bit concerned for GG as he felt she was smaller and hence may not be able to survive the trauma of birth. When put this way, how could I refuse, right?

I was also told that babies who are below 2 kg will be kept in the NICU and there was a possibility that GG or even BB may not weigh as much as we thought, so the first thing I asked around when I opened my eyes after surgery was how much the babies weighed and I was so elated when I heard both were healthy and above the 2 kg NICU limit. Due to their early birth, both had to spend time under the photo lights for jaundice, GG more than BB and so they got discharged a day later than me. I was able to go home before them, but I refused saying I will go home with my babies.

They’ve both grown into amazing almost teens, articulate and determined. GG, who is older than BB by 2 minutes is a determined and gutsy girl who loves reading, music and drawing! I have a feeling she is developing into a fashionista, but we’re a way to go there. She has her faults, the major one being her temper and stubbonness, but she is also a very loving girl with a big heart and one who makes friends very easily. She is a very people person and can relate to most of them all the time. She doesn’t like Maths but loves languages and hasn’t yet decided what she wants to do in life. I’ve often told her she would make a good lawyer, but GG is still not convinced. She has a great, powerful voice, and is very good in singing, but likes to ruin her voice by shouting at her brother.


BB on the other hand, is more of an introvert, who is most content using his electronic toys (laptops, tablets etc) playing his games. He has steadily been in love with planes since he was 2 and shows no signs of abandoning this love. His major criteria for choosing a secondary school next year is if they offer the Singapore Flying Club as a CCA. He wants to become a pilot, but is also majorly interested in Science, especially Physics. If he can do both – become an engineer and a Pilot, he will do it, until then he will I guess decide on his future somewhere between these two. He also reads, but not much of fiction. His preferred reading is books on science, which are mostly non-fiction. He loves reading books on planes and playing flight simulation games on his laptop. He is the more easygoing twin compared to GG, but he also has his times of stubbornness. His most hated subject is Hindi and when it’s time to study the subject, he comes up with so many inventive excuses why he should not study it. Other than this, he is quite good in studies, and if he overcomes his latent laziness, he can really be top in his class.

So a very happy birthday to both of you as you come to the end of your childhood and enter a new phase in life, both in terms of age as well as school. Be happy and always strive to do your best. Make us all proud of you! God bless you always….

PSLE Week 36 Update

With increasing trepidation, we are staring at the countdown to the PSLE! It’s now just about 3 weeks to the big exams!

The Listening Comprehension exams are next week and then after 10 days, the written exams! I am seriously stressed now….I can also see BB & GG start stressing, more GG than BB (he’s the don’t have any worries boy). GG is stressed over her results, especially Maths…

I will be speaking to my boss tomorrow to discuss a shorter working hours (at work) so that I can come home when GG & BB are home from school and continue working from home till the exams are done.

Then it’s time to look forward to our short getaway! Please pray for us folks…