Nature

I am such an ironical hypocrite who can't make up her mind at most times. Part of me is always about close to nature, catching some sun, catching fresh air amid greens. However I do not always practice what I preach simply because I am so not an outdoor person, prefer to stay out of the dark for fear of tan skin and perspiring is not my cup of tea. In theory of course it's good to have but in reality, it hardly happen.

The last walk we took in the park was ages ago and it is not even in the morning, evening walk that it. Honestly I do prefer evening walk as there will not be glaring sun, blasting heat and purely we are not very morning people thus evening translate to no rush and much more do-able. But hey we do need Vit D right, to build up our immunity a little and it does them no harm to perspire at times.

And so one of the sunday morning few weeks back, we try our very best to be up slightly earlier than usual, try to settle breakfast fast and try to get out of the house fast. We did it! BUT it was not that early after all, arriving at the park close to 11am. This time round we decide to explore the other side of Bishan-Ang Mo Kio park instead. From the carpark entrance, we were only greeted by a group of foreign workers playing baseball. Nonetheless we went on to unloading the stroller, bicycle and us included. 

The sight of a water park brighten us up immediately but we thought to explore the park a little first before settling for water play, maybe yes maybe not as there is no spare change of clothes. We took a long walk around the whole park with Zethan in his tricycle and Zelyn bravely walking along, well she rejected the stroller. Tried to take some photos of her but it is so frustrating to have a model who looked everywhere else but my phone. We managed to coax her into her stroller before completing the other half of the park back to the water play.

Did not appear to be a good idea for some water play as the sun is really bright and the heat is getting unbearable. Still I allowed them, how could I bear to disappoint them being shown the water park yet exclaiming we will come another day again. It's as cruel as offering candy to the kids and taking it away at once. Despite melting under the hot sun (refering to me), both kids who are water babies was giggling non stop so the priceless innocent smiles they wear is more than worthwhile. We had about 30 minutes of fun at the water park before it get too scorching hot and unwise to stay under the sun. Had to nag and nag non-stop not to wet themselves but in vain, Zelyn is still all wet. 

Exactly it is just a very simple water park with some meandering little canals for children to waddle in and a mini jacuzzi water feature which the meanders branch out from. One interesting feature is a little metal gate at certain juncture of the meander that act like a dam offering some science education for the older children to understand how does a dam works. You can catch a glimpse at part of the dam at the photo of Zelyn attached below.

We would definitely come back again, hopefully soon. Oh just a word of caution, the water park only operate over the weekend and certain timing only.

Farewell

The boy had been asking anxiously everyday without fail if anyone of us would be attending his school's farewell party. In order not to offer empty promise, I had to disappoint him with the same reply over and over again that I am not sure but would try my very best to attend. And so the next day he would attempt again and entice us with their performance after the party, smart move huh.

I had no idea what food would be good to contribute to the party and there are a few consideration bearing in mind it could not be too bulky and heavy since most probably he would have to bring himself on the school bus. Sound really pathetic finally the choice is some Pocky and Korean baked prawn crackers which he insisted on. Even as we were packing his bag the night before, I was not certain that I could be present tomorrow.

The next day was a terribly mad rush for me. Rushed through my appointment and last minute preparation of sausages. Yes I know it's junk food and do not wish to advocate but that's the quickest dish to be prepared in the shortest time possible. In the end, we reached just in time or rather a little too late since the children have started their meal or snacks. I had to offer the sausages to Miss. Yang and she was very polite to thank me in front of the children and specifically for 'decorating' the sausages which by no means is any form of decoration anyway. 

Zelyn was so excited to be with so many children in class. The little girl simply try going around the table hoping to find a seat but in vain. When she see a vacant seat at the table, her eyes light up and rushed to make herself comfortable. I am quite sure this girl will settle in very well next year then again who knows. Quite poor thing when the owner of the seat return and we had to bring her away. Anyway she feel so at ease in the classroom and roam around observing photos and identifying lion dance in one of the photo.

So after the children are done with the snacks / junk and reminder to drink a lot of water followed by toilet break, the whole class proceed to the music area (assembly area) for their performance. It was a pity I did not manage to video down the performance. All my fault for keeping so many photos in the hp taking up the memory space that photos taking are even rejected. It did not occur to me to use my Ipad instead until the mid of their second song performance.

Chinese performance is carried out in the classroom and the children are divided into half for each performance. After the performance when Guo Laoshi urge the children to massage their parents, my young man had to make sure I was seated in his seat for the massage! The last 10 minutes were basically for parents to bring their children around the compound to take some photos if need be. No prize for guessing right where the boy head straight for immediately. Did not take many photos since we had done so during PTC and today is too crowded to photo taking anyhow. 

A check with Miss Yang indicates that most of the children are staying behind till end of school and they will be walking around the compound once again and taking some photos together. Of course Zethan would definitely opt to stay behind instead of following us back. Well I do not mind frankly as it will really really be the last time and last moments they have to spend in this compound. Come new school term they will be in the new school compound which by the way he love it so much. The children have been to the new site and he excitedly came home to orientate us that K1 and K2 will be on level 2 while the babies class will be on level 1. 

The difference between children and adults, anything new excite them loads and the old will be forgotten and replaced while for us, we were missing the old stuff!

PTC 2014

The first Parent Teacher Conference in K1 with a new form teacher while the chinese teacher remained as per last year. The current form teacher Ms. Rissa Yang is really good and she really keep us posted and reminded via HP for upcoming events. She is or rather they are very prompt in reply to comments in the communication book, usually by the next day. 

From the few occasions I interact with her, she won me over with her bubbly liveliness, positive reinforcements approach with children and the ability to engage with children in a good way. Honestly I am glad for Zethan to have her as form teacher, not that I have much experiences with the other teachers though.

Upon arriving exactly at our scheduled timing, we were greeted and handed Zethan's portfolio to look through. No surprise as always, I am the only one to go through, never the daddy has seen through previously or now. I took the chance to snap some photos of his assessment since the folder will be collected back only to be returned end of the year. So typical and kiasu of this mummy huh. It was quite a wait and I guess the overly excited parents in front of us over run and took longer than supposed to be.

By and large his Chinese teacher was full of praises for him on the tremendous improvement she had observed in him apparently much better than last year. Well that's the beautiful aspect, the not so glamourous aspect is that he would need to work hard on writing his name in chinese characters especially Qian and she would love to see Zethan read more books and improved on his words recognition. We had to joke about it that this shall be his term break assignment.

Next we discuss with Miss. Yang on her observation of Zethan for the past year. He is very helpful in class and always try to volunteer his help whenever possible but does get upset if he is not selected to help. Participate very actively in class though can get overly excited at times thus need a little reminder to calm him down. Generally he can get along with his peers very well. Surprisingly we were being told that he is bullied by a girl in class who picked on him for some reasons or another and pushes him on various occasions, once caught by the teacher. Zethan did not attempt to fight back and walked away was what she noted. Now I do recall this once when Zethan returned home and complain that he was pushed by someone but unsure who it is thus the small bruise on his knee. Shared this with Miss. Yang and assure her that we do understand fights can be rather common among the children but would love to have her attention if matters do get out of hand.

Besides that he tend to give up pretty easily and need some encouragements to assure him that he can do it e.g. when it comes to attempting to blend 3 letters words and pronouncing it. He is merely trying to find an easy way out, not that he is not able to do it. He might just need more assurance to build up his self confidence. For that I shared with her that he does the same at home as well thinking that we will spoon feed him but I will usually nudge him a little, request that he think about it, give it some thoughts before providing the answer.

Assignment for the term break - as they are developing play corners and their class have been assigned with Singapore Zoo, children will have to make their favorite animals utilizing recycled materials. They will then be required to perform a show & tell session with the craft work once the new term start. At the same time, they are also creating a food court environment for role play in class thus 2nd assignment will be to create their favorite food in the food court. Parents' involvement and assistance will be greatly appreciated and reminded not to buy finished products for assignments! OMG, that is such a tall order for me since arts & crafts have always been a challenge for me! Time to turn to Google for help.

We were also invited once again to join the farewell party on the last day of the school term before they shifted to the new compound once new school term commence. It was nice of her to suggest that we could take a walk around the school compound later to take some photos as it will be really crowded on the party day. She then shared that the school compound is 50 years old, sharing the same age as Mediacorp basically. I express regret that the school need to relocate as the current site is so nature inclined with vast space for children to run around, close to nature. We will absolutely missed the current compound for that!

We went on to take a walk as well as to snap some photos to capture the short but fond memories we have of this place. 

I will always remember walking through the main gate and strolling down the long passageway sending him to his nursery classroom located right at the far end of the compound. Hiding away and peeping at him out of his sight around the assembly area and outside classroom during the 1st and 2nd day of school to be assured he is settling down just fine. My concerns were totally uncalled for as despite being overwhelmed and feeling abit lost with the buzzing and crying among a huge crowd and new environment, he overcome it with ease very quickly armed with great passion of loving school. I could still remember the guilt and heartache I felt for switching him to this school when he sat at the assembly area with a huge LOST look plastered across his face but bravely sat through without even attempting to search for my familiar face for comfort.

Honestly which kindergarten can offer such vast space for swimming pool, playground and even various fruit trees. The new compound would be closer to that of concrete jungle despite the presence of new facilities and amenities, the close to nature component would be greatly compromised. So sad right, everywhere and everything giving way to new developments, new infrastructures, taller buildings, lesser greeneries!

Bye Bye lovely swimming pool for I recalled being really excited for my water baby that he is able to have swimming in the school when we came for site visit. Indeed he is always very excited over his fortnightly swimming and would be very sad if it rained.

Bye Bye big children playground or so he fondly labelled it as the babies are not allowed to utilize this playground. The first thing he wanted us to walk through was this playground. Despite being old and paint are peeling badly, this would be what he would missed most. Of course not to forget the big field he could run freely around without fearing that they would bump into each other that easily. I mean with such a vast field, what are the odds it will happen, not that it is totally impossible but this is perfect running ground for 30 children. Even injuries are very much minimize, come on falling on grass would not be that bad afterall.

Bye Bye rambutan, jackfruit, mango trees which Zethan proudly introduced us to. All the trees are bearing fruits in abundance during our walk and it was a pleasant sight observing the numerous fruits handing by the branches. From flowerings to fruit bearings to ripening, all the precious education values might diminish from actual observation in the nature to mere pictures in the books. Honestly how many children these days have the opportunity to see fruits growing on the trees and that fruits comes from trees and not fruits comes from supermarket theory. The likelihood of these trees appearing in the new compound should be close to zero but I certainly hope they looked into relocating the existing trees or even replanting them. Hope they will be preserved, too valuable to abandon them.

Farewell and goodbye Marymount Kindergarten beautiful compound, you will be greatly missed!