Secondary 2 Week 11 Update

Although this was the term break week, it didn’t feel like that at all. And we didn’t do anything that I wanted them to do – namely getting BB & GG to clean their cupboards.

GG had school every single day with the exception of Tuesday. On Monday they had to go to the venue of their SYF competition performance at the School of the Arts for a practice session. This was a late evening session from 5 – 10 pm and she was exhausted by the time she got home. Luckily S was able to pick her up from the venue itself, otherwise, it would be even later when she got home. Then a couple of days more for choir practice, including a choir exchange programme with another secondary school and then on Friday, the school took the entire secondary 2 cohort to see an exhibition titled, ‘Make the Future Singapore’ which was by Shell (the oil giant).  This exhibition celebrates scientific and engineering innovations and is something that is in line with their applied learning programme of clean energy. GG said they had lots of fun there.

As for BB, he went out with his best friends to see the Lego Batman movie and then spent the day with them at the beginning of the week. Well, that’s all he did the whole week. The rest of the time, he enjoyed his holidays by reading and playing games and then when he was bored of that, he did some holiday homework and when nagged by me, studied a bit!

That was the children’s no school week. They’ll be back in school for term 2 tomorrow and this is a shorter term with more intense work.

2017 Week 10 Update

Nothing really to update this week. It was the usual week and I can’t think of anything that really stood out for me.

I’ve been eating well as well as walking a lot, as much as 2 hours daily, over the day and consistently blowing my daily step targets out of the water! I hope this translates soon into not only some serious weight loss but also a significant improvement in my HbA1C numbers. We will know that only over time!

A cousin of mine announced her third pregnancy on our Whatsapp group and this was a surprise to all of us. She said it was not planned, but all of them are happy with this news. The kids, of course, are ecstatic and the moment I mentioned it to BB & GG, each said they hoped it was the same sex as them as they wanted to play with the new baby! I’m glad for her and her husband!

That’s all from my side now. This week is a school term break week so the kids will be home most days, let’s see if I can do some stuff with them. There’s a museum I want to explore with them, so I am hoping we can go there sometime this week.

Have a great week!

2017 Secondary 2 Week 10 Update

Before I start updating this week’s school update, a shoutout to WordPress – I like this new format, slightly different, but lovely. This was the last week of school before they break for a one week holiday and then start term 2.

This was the last week of school before they break for a one week holiday and then start term 2. So in both schools, it was a time for them to do stuff other than regular school curriculum.

GG’s school had a camp for all Sec 2 students. Unfortunately, they didn’t go out anywhere but just stayed in school. On the first day, they stayed in school and did some leadership and other life skills study and on the second day, they went to Sentosa Island (for non-Singapore readers, Sentosa is an island off the mainland, which was developed as a pleasure island and can be reached by a small bridge/causeway) and did some trekking and other outdoor stuff. Then they ended the week with a Cross country run at the Marina Barrage. This is super far from both home and school and though the school had arranged for transport going there, the students had to make their own way coming back. I was a bit worried actually for GG as this was the first time she was going to downtown Singapore and had to make her own way home. The school did arrange for guides along the way to show the students the way to the train stations, so that was useful and she came home safely. I was happy for her that she managed to be independent here!

BB’s school was also supposed to have an overseas learning camp in Malaysia, which got cancelled this year due to logistics reasons. The students were disappointed, but that happens right? Instead, they did a History Investigation by going to a new museum which was set up and which showcased the Japanese occupation of Singapore (which incidentally they are learning in History this year) and a Geography Investigation where they walked around the neighbourhood of the school to learn about the different rocks found there. They also did a Maths trail where they went to a mall and tried to apply maths to real-life concepts (like car park charges, store receipts etc). They also had cohort days where they worked on some Lifelong learning modules. Their school uses art and music as their lifelong learning module and BB has signed up for acapella music and video photography.

This week is a holiday, but GG  has to still go back to school for choir practice since SYF is round the corner. We also need to start working on the mid-year exams and I need to get both to clean their rooms and most importantly, their book shelves!

2017 Secondary 2 Week 9 Update

February just flew past like a wind, I felt!

School is on for the two of them and this coming week will be the last week for this term. Next week is their term break and then on to term 2. Both will be busy with camps this week, so that should also go past fairly.

Yesterday we went to GG’s school for a Parent Teacher meeting as well as a talk from the school about the Secondary 3 streaming. It basically just reinforced to me that this is a really crucial year, especially to someone like BB who only has Science in his head. The other day when I asked him what was his Plan B if he could not get double or triple science as he wants, his response was a blank stare! He just has not thought of a life beyond science and engineering. So for someone like him, this is a super crucial year!

That’s all for the week from my side. Have a happy Sunday folks!

 

2017 Week 8 Weekly Update

They say when it rains, it pours! As if the stress of looking for a job is not enough, I also have additional health issues to deal with. A couple of weeks back, I did an eye and foot check-up as part of a primary care package. When the reports came out, they want me to go for additional tests as the results from one eye is slightly out of whack for one disease. According to my doctor, it could be nothing, but it could also be something. I went to get a referral to the hospital’s ophthalmic department and it has been fixed for next month.

S’ mum also was sick this week, so since neither S nor his sister could manage to take her to the doctor, I did it. This meant I was out of the house almost all the days of the week, which also brought my daily steps up significantly. I still haven’t touched the 10,000 I planned for any day yet, but baby steps!

I took the children out yesterday since we’ve not been out in ages. The original plan was to see a Bollywood film, but the movie I wanted to see was rated NC16 here. This means that only those who are 16 and older can see the film and they check IDs before you enter the theatre. So that plan dropped and then we decided to go to a regional library since we hadn’t been to a library since November when our local library was closed for renovation and followed that up with a spot of shopping. Retail therapy is great – haven’t shopped in ages and it felt so good…

Have a great week people!