Hmm, still cried when I said I was leaving.. But same, stopped crying within 15 minutes of me leaving the room.. When I returned 10 minutes before class ended, I peeped at him from outside and saw that he was not participating in the singing and dancing, just sitting quietly while the other kids were dancing around. At that moment, I really felt so bad, thinking to myself 'he's not happy..' : (
Though I was there early, I was a bit late to enter the room at the end of the class cos Didi was creating a mess outside so I had to keep the toys. Saw that Jiale was crying when I went in.. The teacher said that he got upset when he saw the other parents going in but not me.. Thanks ah, Didi! SABO!! (reminder to self: NEVER be late to fetch Jiale!)
The teacher said that Jiale did not cry much during the class though he got teary a few times. She said that he did play with the toys with the other kids, and that it was normal for him to be watching & observing for now before he joined in properly. Hmm, we shall see.
Showing posts with label Playdays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Playdays. Show all posts
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Playing Days
I am so looking forward to Thursday when Jiale goes to school for 3 hours!
How it has already made a difference to our lives:
In the past when we did grocery shopping during the weekend, I would be like a headless chicken dashing around the mall or neighbourhood shops, trying to get as much shopping or errands done as possible, so as to minimize any additional shopping trips during the week. But the previous weekend, while Hubby shopped for his shoes at PP, I could bring the boys to the playground outside and sit there and relax, watching them play.. for almost two hours! Because I knew that I could do my things while Jiale is in school : )
Still feeling some guilt la, mainly because I am a sahm and does not actually need to send him to school.. as opposed to a full-time working mother who has to arrange some sort of childcare anyway. So, I have made a very brave decision, and even more bravely communicated this to my hubby - if Jiale is still crying when I leave him at the school at the end of the term (gasp, just 6 more weeks!), I shall stop his lessons. And resign myself to lugging both boys around for my shopping & errands. I reason, at least he won't be crying when he goes shopping with me.. at most tantrums.. bad-tempered.. grouchy.. cranky.. Yucks. Oh well, if he has to be unhappy, at least be unhappy with mummy around.
Best is he is happy at Playdays. *hope hope hope*
How it has already made a difference to our lives:
In the past when we did grocery shopping during the weekend, I would be like a headless chicken dashing around the mall or neighbourhood shops, trying to get as much shopping or errands done as possible, so as to minimize any additional shopping trips during the week. But the previous weekend, while Hubby shopped for his shoes at PP, I could bring the boys to the playground outside and sit there and relax, watching them play.. for almost two hours! Because I knew that I could do my things while Jiale is in school : )
Still feeling some guilt la, mainly because I am a sahm and does not actually need to send him to school.. as opposed to a full-time working mother who has to arrange some sort of childcare anyway. So, I have made a very brave decision, and even more bravely communicated this to my hubby - if Jiale is still crying when I leave him at the school at the end of the term (gasp, just 6 more weeks!), I shall stop his lessons. And resign myself to lugging both boys around for my shopping & errands. I reason, at least he won't be crying when he goes shopping with me.. at most tantrums.. bad-tempered.. grouchy.. cranky.. Yucks. Oh well, if he has to be unhappy, at least be unhappy with mummy around.
Best is he is happy at Playdays. *hope hope hope*
Thursday, April 5, 2012
So Happy!
I am so happy over a conversation with Jiale that I must blog about it immediately!
Not long ago, I mentioned on FB that Jiale would get upset and go 'no no no' whenever I mentioned school. But just now..
Me: 宝贝，你今天去学校好玩吗？Play and play right?
Jiale: 玩玩玩
Me: 你喜欢吗？
Jiale: Yes.
Me: 那我们再去学校，好吗？
Jiale: 好!
YIPPEE! : )
Not long ago, I mentioned on FB that Jiale would get upset and go 'no no no' whenever I mentioned school. But just now..
Me: 宝贝，你今天去学校好玩吗？Play and play right?
Jiale: 玩玩玩
Me: 你喜欢吗？
Jiale: Yes.
Me: 那我们再去学校，好吗？
Jiale: 好!
YIPPEE! : )
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
First Play Day
First proper day at Playdays. The plan was for Daddy to drop us off near the school so that we could have breakfast first, as it would be too early. Since we had to leave the house with Daddy, it was soooo rushed that I started regretting sending Jiale to school! Cos we would usually be nua-ing around slowly having breakfast and playing and taking our own sweet time.. AND then realised the eatery near the school wasn't open yet.. Sigh.. nowhere to eat.. so we ended up going to the school 30 minutes early. Luckily we could go into the classroom early too! :D
I had already decided I would be leaving Jiale alone in the class today. So after bringing him in, I only stayed for 5 minutes. Anyway the moment he entered the room, he saw a Thomas floor puzzle and promptly started to do the puzzle. When I said bye-bye, he started crying and asking for 'wo wo' (his nickname for Thomas, I have no idea why). I gave his trains to him and said bye-bye again, and he immediately said bye-bye and went back to his puzzle!! So it wasn't me that he missed.. it was the trains..???! In disbelief, I told him 'mummy is leaving' and he started crying again. Urmm, but I had hardly stepped out of the room when he stopped crying! When I peeped in from the window, he was engrossed in the puzzle again. Oh... well... Haha :P
With a heavy heart, feeling like I had abandoned my son, I left the school, not sure where to go. (Didi was with me, of course.) Ended up at Suntec City as it was just 3 stops away by MRT. Still feeling guilty. BUT when I opened the menu at Old Town White Coffee to see what I wanted to eat, I finally realised I AM FREE!! I could order anything that I wanted to eat! Cos when Jiale is around, I can't order anything spicy in case he wants to share my food.. and soupy stuff too hot and difficult to feed him... and this.. and that.... so usually only can eat things like toast or fried rice. WOOOOO HOOOOOO..! At that moment, ahem, all guilt flew out of the window. Oops :P (This sounds terrible hor?)
Did some shopping after having breakfast.. Wow.. so peaceful to shop without a toddler around.. and no sense of guilt about lugging him around to buy things.. Ahhhh... : ) I had thought that 3 hours was quite a short time for me to finish my errands as it included traveling time, but yuan lai it's more than enough when I could focus on what I needed to do and be efficient & productive. Hmm I might bring along a book or laptop in future. (Used to feel bad about leaving Jiale in high chair for too long, eg when I met up with my friends. But now I don't feel bad about Didi, because I know it won't be long before he refuses to sit for long! So I shall just enjoy it while I can!)
Back at the school half an hour before class ended. Peeped in again, saw Jiale sitting with his classmates listening to the teacher read a storybook. When he saw me, he gave me a big smile and came over for a while, before returning to the activity with the class. YAY!
After the class, the three teachers all gave good feedback about Jiale. They said he did not cry at all after I left, and shared his trains with his classmates, and was participative in the activities. Double YAY!!
Looks like my boy has grown up, and I did the right thing by choosing to wait to enrol him in school. I am so looking forward to next Thursday! : )
(not that it's not right to send the child to school earlier. It depends on the child's temperament. I just mean that it's right for MY child.)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Trial at Playdays
Brought Jiale for his trial class at Playdays at Mountbatten Centre this morning. And yes, we have signed up for a term!
This is a drop-off class for 1.5-year-olds to 2.5-year-olds. 10 students in the class, 3 teachers. While I was chatting with one of the teachers at the start of the class, she warned me that as this was the 2nd week of the new term, there were still quite a few newbies, and thus, to be prepared for quite a lot of crying. She also told me it's ok for me to stay for the entire class or to leave anytime. The class started with free play, with wooden toy furniture and a playhouse, a magnetic 'fishing' car set, and some painting with Dot-A-Dot pens. As more kids came in and the parents gradually left the room, I realised the teacher was not kidding. The crying was sooooo loud and sooooo whiny..! I really admired the teachers for being able to tolerate it! So, the 3 teachers ended up with one crying baby at their hip each, while they played with the other kids. Jiale was not very happy when we entered the classroom, I guess he recognized it as a 'school setting' and realised mummy might be abandoning him soon. But he soon calmed down as I promised him I would be with him. He soon started exploring the room and the toys, also playing on and off with the other kids, especially one boy who was one month older than him, often glancing at me (to check I was still there, I think!)
Gosh, though it was just a few hours ago, I realised I can't recall much about the class! Faintz.. my memory is getting from bad to worse.. OK, I THINK after the free play (about 30 minutes), there was music and dance for a short while.. Then the kids went out to the playground, where there were quite a few tricycles, cars (Little Tikes type), skate scooters etc, and a big enclosed (with net) trampoline, and a simple play structure (again, Little Tikes type). Jiale was playing quite ok for a while, then he decided to be unhappy.. dunno why!! He was ok again when the class went back to the classroom.
Then.. I THINK it was snack time.. (really can't recall!! Urgh!) The kids were given a bowl of plain white rice with some seaweed, followed by dried strawberries (like raisins) and fresh grapes. Oh ya, since they first came in, cheese crackers were available almost all the time, and greedy Jiale ate 3.5 pieces! (the 0.5 came from a classmate who offered it to Jiale)
Towards the end of snack time, one of the teachers started changing the diapers for the kids one by one. I changed for Jiale since I was there.
After snack time, it was art time. The kids were given a cut-out of the number two and rollers with trays of paint. It was about 11.30am when they finished with the painting, and then a Chinese teacher came in for Chinese time. The Chinese segment of the class was conducted in the format of a game, just like the rest of the class. The lao shi brought with her 2 big containers and some plastic duckies, filled the containers with some water, and let the kids catch the duckies with scoops & nets. (Just like what we do at home! haha!) Then she sang Chinese songs with kids and they danced in a group. But I think Jiale was quite exhausted by then, and he didn't join in the singing or dancing, just lay on the floor with his head in my lap. Though it was still early for his nap, I think 2+ hours of class was too siong for him, especially since he wasn't used to school at all.
At the end of the class, the parents joined in for a short segment of songs and the kids also played with bubbles.
So, why did I decide to sign up despite Jiale's still obvious reluctance to join in the activities and to let mummy leave the room? Hmm, I am glad I stayed on for the entire class, cos I saw how patient the teachers were with the 3 other kids who cried for almost 2 hours..! I know Jiale would definitely cry when I first leave the class, but I am quite sure he will not cry for so long. Furthermore, the type of activities are exactly the things that will be able to distract him, haha. I think with me around today, he was not able to participate fully cos he had to keep coming back to me to make sure I wasn't going to disappear. Quite a few times, I saw him looking with great interest at what the teachers & other kids were doing while he was standing next to me. Having stayed on for the whole class with him today, I hope he won't be so scared the next time since he will be able to know roughly what's coming next, and the place isn't completely new by then.
Frankly speaking, while I like the teachers and the play-based ideology, I was not impressed by the activities. For example, while they were doing art, it seemed a bit too rushed.. Understandable, cos other than the activities, the teachers also had to do the cleaning up and prepare for the next activity. Even with a ratio of 3 teachers to 10 students, it's still like that. Can't possibly expect a better ratio right?? Whereas when we do artwork at home, Jiale could take his time and paint to his heart's content, and add water if he likes.. or add some balls.. or add water beads.. or so many possibilities! I think at the school, there would be no way he could get his whole body 'painted' :P It was just... not so... relaxed.. Oh well, I guess he can learn to be neat & tidy while at school, and create messes to his heart's content at home : )
Anyway, since it's just for 3 hours a week, I think there's no need to worry too much about what the school is doing. I don't need the school to teach any academic stuff, in fact, I would prefer the school not to teach ANY academic stuff. I'm happy as long as they don't undo the relaxed and happy learning attitude which I am trying to inculcate in Jiale - no structure, no timetable, no lectures, no worksheets, no homework please! Homelearning is still the main course. If I were sending Jiale to daily classes, there would be sooooo many more criteria I would expect the school to fulfil! Only 3 hours.. chin chye la.. On the other hand, Playdays is already not cheap.. and I still find it lacking.. I wonder how much it will cost for a school that really satisfies me... >.<
In fact, I'm seriously considering homeschooling him.. *think think think* Just for the preschool years la, I don't dare to NOT send him to government primary schools! Anyway I love our education system and MOE syllabus and government schools... exam stress, PSLE, homework are all good, part & parcel of life la, since he's already grand old age of 7 by then. Just as long as his afternoons are still free for him to play!
At the moment though, he's still 'untamable' and I have no idea how to do 'seat work' with him, cos he can't sit still la. No point me planning lessons and he's not happy. Shall see how it goes as he gets older. Will it be too much if we are still doing play-based ONLY when he is 6 years old??? Gotta read up! For now, I only know play-based is definitely good for a 2.5-year-old monkey : )
This is a drop-off class for 1.5-year-olds to 2.5-year-olds. 10 students in the class, 3 teachers. While I was chatting with one of the teachers at the start of the class, she warned me that as this was the 2nd week of the new term, there were still quite a few newbies, and thus, to be prepared for quite a lot of crying. She also told me it's ok for me to stay for the entire class or to leave anytime. The class started with free play, with wooden toy furniture and a playhouse, a magnetic 'fishing' car set, and some painting with Dot-A-Dot pens. As more kids came in and the parents gradually left the room, I realised the teacher was not kidding. The crying was sooooo loud and sooooo whiny..! I really admired the teachers for being able to tolerate it! So, the 3 teachers ended up with one crying baby at their hip each, while they played with the other kids. Jiale was not very happy when we entered the classroom, I guess he recognized it as a 'school setting' and realised mummy might be abandoning him soon. But he soon calmed down as I promised him I would be with him. He soon started exploring the room and the toys, also playing on and off with the other kids, especially one boy who was one month older than him, often glancing at me (to check I was still there, I think!)
Gosh, though it was just a few hours ago, I realised I can't recall much about the class! Faintz.. my memory is getting from bad to worse.. OK, I THINK after the free play (about 30 minutes), there was music and dance for a short while.. Then the kids went out to the playground, where there were quite a few tricycles, cars (Little Tikes type), skate scooters etc, and a big enclosed (with net) trampoline, and a simple play structure (again, Little Tikes type). Jiale was playing quite ok for a while, then he decided to be unhappy.. dunno why!! He was ok again when the class went back to the classroom.
Then.. I THINK it was snack time.. (really can't recall!! Urgh!) The kids were given a bowl of plain white rice with some seaweed, followed by dried strawberries (like raisins) and fresh grapes. Oh ya, since they first came in, cheese crackers were available almost all the time, and greedy Jiale ate 3.5 pieces! (the 0.5 came from a classmate who offered it to Jiale)
Towards the end of snack time, one of the teachers started changing the diapers for the kids one by one. I changed for Jiale since I was there.
After snack time, it was art time. The kids were given a cut-out of the number two and rollers with trays of paint. It was about 11.30am when they finished with the painting, and then a Chinese teacher came in for Chinese time. The Chinese segment of the class was conducted in the format of a game, just like the rest of the class. The lao shi brought with her 2 big containers and some plastic duckies, filled the containers with some water, and let the kids catch the duckies with scoops & nets. (Just like what we do at home! haha!) Then she sang Chinese songs with kids and they danced in a group. But I think Jiale was quite exhausted by then, and he didn't join in the singing or dancing, just lay on the floor with his head in my lap. Though it was still early for his nap, I think 2+ hours of class was too siong for him, especially since he wasn't used to school at all.
At the end of the class, the parents joined in for a short segment of songs and the kids also played with bubbles.
So, why did I decide to sign up despite Jiale's still obvious reluctance to join in the activities and to let mummy leave the room? Hmm, I am glad I stayed on for the entire class, cos I saw how patient the teachers were with the 3 other kids who cried for almost 2 hours..! I know Jiale would definitely cry when I first leave the class, but I am quite sure he will not cry for so long. Furthermore, the type of activities are exactly the things that will be able to distract him, haha. I think with me around today, he was not able to participate fully cos he had to keep coming back to me to make sure I wasn't going to disappear. Quite a few times, I saw him looking with great interest at what the teachers & other kids were doing while he was standing next to me. Having stayed on for the whole class with him today, I hope he won't be so scared the next time since he will be able to know roughly what's coming next, and the place isn't completely new by then.
Frankly speaking, while I like the teachers and the play-based ideology, I was not impressed by the activities. For example, while they were doing art, it seemed a bit too rushed.. Understandable, cos other than the activities, the teachers also had to do the cleaning up and prepare for the next activity. Even with a ratio of 3 teachers to 10 students, it's still like that. Can't possibly expect a better ratio right?? Whereas when we do artwork at home, Jiale could take his time and paint to his heart's content, and add water if he likes.. or add some balls.. or add water beads.. or so many possibilities! I think at the school, there would be no way he could get his whole body 'painted' :P It was just... not so... relaxed.. Oh well, I guess he can learn to be neat & tidy while at school, and create messes to his heart's content at home : )
Anyway, since it's just for 3 hours a week, I think there's no need to worry too much about what the school is doing. I don't need the school to teach any academic stuff, in fact, I would prefer the school not to teach ANY academic stuff. I'm happy as long as they don't undo the relaxed and happy learning attitude which I am trying to inculcate in Jiale - no structure, no timetable, no lectures, no worksheets, no homework please! Homelearning is still the main course. If I were sending Jiale to daily classes, there would be sooooo many more criteria I would expect the school to fulfil! Only 3 hours.. chin chye la.. On the other hand, Playdays is already not cheap.. and I still find it lacking.. I wonder how much it will cost for a school that really satisfies me... >.<
In fact, I'm seriously considering homeschooling him.. *think think think* Just for the preschool years la, I don't dare to NOT send him to government primary schools! Anyway I love our education system and MOE syllabus and government schools... exam stress, PSLE, homework are all good, part & parcel of life la, since he's already grand old age of 7 by then. Just as long as his afternoons are still free for him to play!
At the moment though, he's still 'untamable' and I have no idea how to do 'seat work' with him, cos he can't sit still la. No point me planning lessons and he's not happy. Shall see how it goes as he gets older. Will it be too much if we are still doing play-based ONLY when he is 6 years old??? Gotta read up! For now, I only know play-based is definitely good for a 2.5-year-old monkey : )
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