Tag Archives: Update

Secondary 1 Week 43 Update

Posted on by
Reply

The penultimate school week for the children, this was a pretty ho-hum week. 

Both BB & GG got back their year-end exam results and while GG could have done better, BB’s results were awful! He just scrapped through most of his subjects and even in his strong subjects, he didn’t do as well as expected. 

GG came second in class overall, but this was not enough for her to get promoted to the better stream. She has been however, asked to take Maths at a higher level. She needs to take a test tomorrow and if she does well in that (which I think she will be able to), then its a done deal!

So that was our almost last school week update. Have a great Sunday!!

2016 Week 42 Update

Posted on by
Reply

For some reason, this week turned out to be a super hectic one! In the middle of the week, I went to a DHL franchise point to send some poonal invites to my parents in India so that they can send them to relatives and friends across the country. The DHL call centre person quoted me a rate which was for 1/10th the weight of my package, which neither me nor the person who took the cash at the franchise knew. Once I reached home, I was told I had to go back to top-up the balance cash, so another trip down to the franchise to pay the difference. This took up almost half a day going back and forth!

Other than that, I have so much to do between now and the end of the month that I think I should plan on starting my Diwali prep work before my father-in-law’s shradh. I usually don’t like to do this before that, but I think if I don’t do that, I’ll be in serious trouble the day before the festival.

Have a great week folks. There’s a lot happening in my life now, but as things stand, I don’t want to spill the beans yet. Keep watching the space, some good news is on the anvil…

 

Secondary 1 Week 42 Update

Posted on by
Reply

Exams ended for both children and BB even got back some marks. He got back marks for Maths, Science and English Literature and did well only for Maths. We’ll know what went wrong only when we see the papers next week.

Friday was a holiday for both of them and in the morning, we went to the bank and got them their very own savings accounts. Since they are under 16, the account comes with many restrictions and has to be a joint account with an adult (aka me). But as a start, it’s a good way to get them into a savings habit well before they start working and earning.

Later in the day, a whole bunch of BB’s friends came home and the boys (plus one girl) had a blast playing games, chatting and generally having fun.

Next week is results week plus some after exam activity. GG has a School Councillors camp which is compulsary for those who want to become confirmed as Councillors next year. This camp is a stay-in camp where she will have to stay in school overnight. BB has a glider fest in one of the polytechnics here which is an almost 12 hour activity the week after next. Plus GG has some choir practice as they are planning for the Singapore Youth Festival next year.

That’s all the updates for this week. I’ll probably do another couple of weeks more (till the end of the month) and then that will be the end of the Secondary 1 updates for this year.

2016 Week 41 Update

Posted on by
Reply

As mentioned last week, I went for another interview earlier in the week. It was quite promising and the main person on the panel (there were 3) spoke of what I would do and what I should focus on. I am supposed to send them some writing work done (they needed some help in some marketing collaterals and so asked me to do one as a sample), but I have to still hear from them on what I need to do as well as meet the top person, which will happen towards the last days of the month as that person is still travelling. So let’s see. The job seems interesting, the people nice. If I get it, it will be good, but otherwise, I am feeling quite zen….

The last two Sundays have been busy with going to S’ relatives places to invite them for BB’s thread ceremony. We decided to only go to his close uncles and aunts (parent’s siblings) and sister’s place to invite. The others, we will post the invites. The time for us to leave for the ceremony is nearing and there’s so much to do!

We also need to prepare for my father-in-law’s annual death anniversary (called shradh in Hinduism) which we perform each year to keep his soul as well as the soul of his ancestors happy for the rest of the year. He passed away just before Diwali and so I usually will wait for this to finish before I start working on my Diwali preparations. So it’s a busy month for us here….

Over the weekend, GG & BB had their annual music class concert at the nearby temple where their group again sang a devotional song in their group in honour of the various goddesses.

raja_ravi_varma_goddess_saraswati

Today is the ninth day of the Navratri, which we South Indian’s celebrate as Saraswati Pooja. Today is the day we honour the Goddess of Learning and so I have put a few of GG & BB’s school books plus a laptop in front of a photo of Goddess Saraswati. This honors and celebrates anything that you use to learn and work.

Have an amazing week filled with positivity!

 

Secondary 1 Week 41 Update

Posted on by
Reply

We’re in the midst of exam season for both BB & GG. BB’s exams get over one day before GG’s next week and then till the end of the month they will still go to school but have non-studies components until the end of the month when holidays start.

Both of them say ‘OK’ when asked how the exams went until today, but I guess the proof in the pudding is when we get the marks back. That’s when we’ll actually know how well they have done.

Next week, when they have a holiday for marking day (luckily the same day for both), I will be taking them to the bank’s local branch to open a savings account for both of them. This will be kept separate from the trust accounts I opened for them when they were around a month old. The money there (in the trust account) is meant for their tertiary studies and can’t be touched by them under any circumstances (I’ve indoctrinated them about this from the time they were babies and so they do know they can’t touch this account). However, to operate a savings account independently, they need to be 16 years old, but between the ages of 12 and 16, they can operate this account under parental supervision and consent.

The main reason for opening a bank account at such a young age is to get them familiar with this process now and also make them financially literate before they start working and earning serious money. I’ve also told them that by the time they finish school, they should have more than 80% of the total money they get over this period of time saved up. GG is good at saving and even now she’s managed save double that of BB, so I need to work on him for this now. Let’s see how this pans out.