Tag Archives: School

Parenting: Importance of Breakfast

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We all know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We’ve also heard the adage “Breakfast like a king, Lunch like a common man and Dine like a pauper”. Breakfast which literally means breaking the fast between dinner and the morning is one meal which should not be missed.

 

There are reports from the Healthy Child website which say there are around 20 – 30% of teens who do not eat breakfast before going to school.

 

The first meal of the day is very important in providing energy to your teen for their activities in school. School work takes up a lot of mental energy and those who don’t fill up adequately before going to school may find their energy dwindling down before recess and a chance to eat food.

 

I am very particular that BB & GG eat something to fuel up before school and so far they’ve not disappointed me here. But somehow since school started this year, they both on different days would decide that they are full from the previous night’s dinner and so don’t want breakfast. Nothing I say would make them change their mind. It’s not because they sleep on and wake up late and so there’s time for breakfast. They are ready much earlier than S but would prefer to use their phones to eating, though on days when they do eat breakfast, they do both simultaneously.

I usually give BB & GG the analogy of a car with no fuel which can’t run for long on reserve fuel when they don’t want to eat breakfast before going to school. I also believe that without a healthy and hearty breakfast you will not be able to concentrate in class which will hamper performance in school. This is because those who miss breakfast lack the glucose which is needed for neurotransmitters to function properly in the body.

I sometimes suspect most teens (and BB & GG) skip breakfast as a way to reduce or control their weight. This tactic actually backfires on them as a study found that teens who ate breakfast daily had a lower Body Mass Index or BMI and gained less weight compared to those who skipped breakfast.

 

So this, in essence, is why breakfast is the most important meal in a day, not just for teens, but for everyone. Does your teen skip breakfast? What do you do to make him/her eat a good breakfast before school?

 

Secondary 2 Week 4 Update

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This was a slightly shorter school week due to the Lunar New Year celebrations in school on Friday which meant they did not have any lessons that day.

I was really mad at BB this week. Twice in the week, I’ve had to speak to his teachers regarding him – the first was his English teacher who complained that he did not complete some work and had also forgotten to bring his file and a book. The second time was his Maths teacher who told me he had not brought back some homework. I am happy that both teachers reached out to speak to me, because, this more than anything else shows they care about him, especially since this is an important year for him, his streaming year. I told both teachers to punish him as appropriate as he needs to know the consequences of his work. Also I have banned him from using his phone in the morning before school.

As for BB, she had a fairly mundane week, her biggest excitement coming from the Chinese New Year performance in her school on Friday where she was one of the soloists. She also wanted to sign up for the SYF Showcase performance which her teacher asked if she and her choir friends were interested in. I gave her permission on the condition that it does not distract from her studies.

Gong Xi Fa Cai or Happy Lunar New Year of the Rooster to all….

 

2017 Secondary 2 Week 3

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It was a fairly boring school week for GG & BB this week.

GG’s school honoured all students who won the Edusave awards over the past few weeks. GG was one of them and they school also posted photos of the children on their school Facebook page. GG felt quite embarrassed by all the attention she was getting in school!

BB came home from school to announce he has been selected for his school’s math olympiad team again. They will be tutored for around 5 sessions with a test at the end of this which will be some time just before they close for the half-yearly holidays. I was actually surprised that he got selected as his math marks were nothing to shout at. Apparently, the top 17 math students for the level were selected. It was not enough to be just the top 17, you also had to get a recommendation from your class math teacher.

For the past few weeks, when GG has CCA, she has not been eating the lunch we send with her in the morning. Her excuse every time has been that there was no time to eat, sometimes the difference between the class ending and CCA starting only 5 minutes. I got quite angry about this and texted a school leader, the parent-school liaison person who promised to speak to the teachers. I am also going to raise this question at the tea session with her school principal next month if things do not get better by then.

Have a good Sunday!

2017 Secondary 2 Week 2 Update

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School has started in earnest now and both BB and GG have a full school week. On days when they have CCA, they are home only after 6 pm.

Later today, GG will receive her Edusave scholarship. According to her, she saw some document in school which shows that she came in third in the level,  missing the second position by a small percentage (actually a point percentage). So this has made her even more determined to do better her Sec 1 grades this year.

GG has her Singapore Youth Festival competition sometime in April this year and her CCA is going all out to practice. They will be wearing some kind of an ombre dress this year and GG says they will also be wearing formal court shoes with heels as part of the costume. Excited for them and hopefully, they get a Gold this year too….

BB did something new this year. On Friday when he came back from school, he told me he had to go back to school to present some dance as part of the environmental club he was in for he Sec 1 Orientation day. Since S was going to be working late, I decided to let him go to school and come back alone. This is a huge thing since they’ve not gone out alone after sunset before. He left around 6:15 pm and came back around 8:30 pm. I was worried and was relieved when he finally came home. Now GG is asking that she also be allowed to do the same thing. I’ve told her when the next opportunity comes, we’ll do it….All part of letting my chicks spread their wings and take tentative steps outside the nest….

All part of letting my chicks spread their wings and take tentative steps outside the nest….

Have a great Sunday folks!!

2017 Secondary 2 Week 1 Update

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School started on 3rd January for children across Singapore. GG was super excited to start school, while BB was ambivalent about it. This year is a difficult year for them as this year they have to choose their subjects they want to specialise in for their O levels. So getting good marks, especially if you want to choose popular subjects is a must.

GG’s school timing has extended by almost an hour most days while BB’s remains the same. Secondary schools in Singapore end around 12:30 – 12:45 pm on Fridays to allow the Muslim teachers and students to go for their Friday prayers. If they have any activity on Friday, it will usually start around 2:30 – 3 pm. This allows the Muslims to go for prayers and also eat lunch.

School work has started for both and so have homework too. I’ve told BB that he should not be scolded by his teachers for anything this year and also do well in school. GG is already mature for her age, it’s just BB I need to focus on this year to make sure he does well enough to get the subjects of his choice for next year. I know he will be completely miserable if he does not get Science as he is set on becoming an aeronautical engineer.