Preparing for Primary school

The transition from Kindergarten to Primary one is a huge leap. The environment and expectations from the former is far different from the latter. Most parents would inevitably feel anxious and worried about how their children cope with the drastic changeover. Typically, most parents would be scurrying to make preparations to help ease the cross over.

I have done my own share of preparing Sonshine for Primary one. Some of which, I've prepared him earlier, some I am just starting. Here are some of the things in no particular order:

 

Some of which are:

 

1) Teaching him to clean up after a visit to the loo.

This was a useful tip I took away while reading one of Ingspiration's blog post (sorry I lost the exact page). She is a former primary school teacher & was sharing from a teacher's perspective. She shared on some of the things most parents would overlook.  I would have completely miss this point if I hadn't read her blog!
 

2) Telling time.

Sonshine could tell the time at earlier  age even the analog clocks. Lately, he has been over reliant on the digital clock and became rusty in reading non-digital ones. So, I gave him a quick refresher revision & bought him an analog watch. He's to put on the watch when we go out & I'd randomly get him to tell me the time. This is to get him used to telling time & wearing a watch (he's not used to it yet). Fortunately, Sonshine reads both type of clocks with ease, right down to the minutes. I am very strict with him, as in, he has to tell me the exact minutes ie. 3:19 vs giving me an estimate of 3:20. Hence, he takes a longer time to tell me the time because he is busy reading the minutes! LOL!

3) Carrying wallet.

I also bought him a cheap $2 wallet from Daiso and like the watch, he's to carry it out with him. I'd stuff $2 into the wallet and he's at liberty to buy anything he wishes with that money. This is to build he's independence. At the same time, I want him to take ownership of his belongings.

4) Counting money.

Like telling time, i started this way earlier. Sonshine was able to count money and calculate the change when he was 4- i think? He's able to calculate the change right down to the cents! Frankly, I am not worried about this aspect at all. I am sure he will do just fine in this department. I am just concern that he doesn't have the guts to tell the vendor when he gets the wrong change. Sonshine is introverted and sometimes too timid to speak up. Abit like me, actually. I'd rather walk away then to confront- if the amount is small. :P

5) Using a pay phone to call home

Sonshine remembers both our mobile phone numbers. However, he's not used to using the phone to dial out, much less a public phone. I have plans to teach him how to use those public phones in case he wants to contact us while at school. I am also planning to teach him to describe his exact location; I mean what is the point if he knows to call us but he doesn't know how to tell us where he is (if he is lost)?

6) Saying no to strangers & staying in the school premise

One of my concerns about primary school is security. I don't know, I may be paranoid but i think it is rather easy for any kid to run out of the school compound without anyone's knowledge. I have visited the primary school during recess and man, it is CHAOTIC. It is rather easy for any kid to simply run out of the school gate. Moreover, any strangers can walk into the school. Sure, there are security guards but uh, it does not guarantee full proof security still. So, I am going to nag at Sonshine at no end about the dangers of following strangers and leaving the school compound. I may even use fear tactics- yes I am desperate.

7) Taking public transport home

This is the least urgent on my list but one of the MUST do. I feel secure knowing that Sonshine knows how to make his way home on his own i.e take which bus number to where, take MRT to which station, which bus stop to go. My mom leaves nearby the school, so I'll, at the very least, teach him how to take the public bus to her house.

8) Seek God for help

I cannot be with him 24/7. So I am inculcating in him that whenever he feels sad or  troubled, one of the things he can do is cry out for help to Jesus. I've been reading bible stories and pointing out to him how those characters fell deep into trouble only to be rescued & protected by God. I told him God can do the same for him. Well, I really don't know how much went in his head- but at least i tried *shrug*.

I could go on and make myself even more paraniod than ever. I don't know how some moms can breeze through this phase! I have so many worries, questions and the 'what-ifs' and probably scaring myself silly. But, I know that this is the time to let him go. This is where he will truly gain his independence and take a step further away from mummy. :( I can only take a step back and leave the rest to God.

 

Number recognition game

 

Here is a simple Number recognition game you can play with your toddler.

 

 

Write the numbers on a paper.

 

If you own a Dot-a-dot marker, let the little champ 'dot' the numbers as you call them out.

 

I have seen other bloggers using this same activity for word recognition games too. If you don't have the markers, you can always use stickers instead or paints or stamps- plenty of other stuff you can use!

 

Have fun!

Obviously, I took the easiest way out in choosing a school for my children- my former school. I say its the easy way because I do not need to put in hours of volunteer work at the school just so i can have a chance to ballot for a place. Choosing this route means, I am more or less guaranteed a spot for my children; no uncertainty no stress.

 

I used to tell my friends that even if my school is the worst in Singapore, I would still choose this path just to avoid the undue stress. However, I am fortunate that I came from a relatively good school- not 'branded', not top of the tops.

 

Parents who have gone before me, that is, already have kids attending this school, are all raving about this school. Not because it guarantees supreme academic results. In fact, the principal have told them academics is secondary, character building comes first. This school is good because it is holistic, it does not over emphasis on grades alone but considers non-academics and character building as equally important. And i have seen my niece's report book. 95% of the report was on her character & behaviour while a tiny 5% of it was on her grades. That shows me this school, truly place grades at the bottom. I like that. I am so happy that this is my school, the same school my children are going. Phew. What a relief.

 

To be honest, if my Alma mater was one of those highly sought after schools, I would reconsider sending my kids there. I would much rather take a chance at balloting other schools than to send my kids to 'branded' school. As I have shared with other moms, my number one criteria in choosing a school is: It mustn't be too academic focus. The more it is, the further I would run away from it. Even if it is just 10 steps away from my house, I would rather my child travel the distance to a less academic focus school.

 

Why? If my kids go to any of these schools, i foresee 6 years of academic stress. Mind you, that is just for ONE child. Two children? You do the math. Even if I go in with a mind that I would not be bothered by their lousy grades, I suspect along the way I would be sucked into the rat race at one point in time. If it's not because other kids are doing way better than mine (causing mine to feel lousy about themselves) than it would be due to the teachers constant reminders that my kids need to buck up. I don't want that kind of life for my children and me for the next 6 years- thank you. I am sorry but there is no way a parent would be undeterred by the rat race. You choose a school that is competitive, you have no say in opting out of the race. N.O S.A.Y.

 

But well, there are parents who think otherwise.

 

Anyway, my definition of a good school is

 

1) Not overly focus on academics. The school's learning journey must not be stressful but must be at an acceptable pace.

 

2) Distance. The school must not be ridiculously far from my place. When i mean far, i mean anything more than 30-40 minutes of journey.

 

3) Demographics of the students in the school. As much as this may make me sound like an elitist, i feel this is important. I do not want my children to spend their 6 years with other kids who come from families with different values as ours. I know it is hard to control who joins the school but certain schools do attract certain types of families.

 

Fortunately, the school of our choice meets all of my requirements (or maybe the school has pre-set my criteria). I am happy and thank the heavens that my mother enrolled me into this school because now i can enrol mine! Actually, my own mom (and aunt) were from the same school too! This makes sonshine & doll the third generation in my family to attend this school. Wow, that's surreal! Hopefully, we can make a forth generation! :P

Primary school registration jitters

So it is the parents of children born in 2007 turn to hit the panic button. Registration for primary school has started this week and will go on till the end of the month. It is a time where many parents go through anxiety, apprehension and stress.

 

And I thought I was spared being able to register under former student phase. Until I checked the latest update today and I was horrified to discover about 50% of the place has been taken up by the first phase! I truly didn't expect this because i never thought my school was a popular choice. The school's intake after the first phase is even higher than some 'top' schools. I was stumped, really, truly stumped! I hyper ventilated for a moment after realising my turn was not until another week. What if another 50% or worse, more than 50% of the place be snapped up by the second phase (I belong to the third)? O.M.G! Horror! Panic!

 

I always assume I will have the safe chance to get a place in my old school and hence didn't even consider a second choice. I will be at a total lost if Sonshine fails to enter into this school. Now I am scrambling, checking out the other schools around my area- just in case!

 

Oh wait, for my overseas readers. Let me explain. Registration to primary school here in Singapore is very complicated. It goes by phases. Priority is first given to children who already have an older sibling studying in the same school- that is phase 1. Second phase, belongs to children whose parents are former students of the school AND are alumni members. The third, which is me, are for parents who are former students but not alumni of the school. And there are a couple more phases after that..if you want to know more, it is here.

I was pretty relax, calm & maybe even laughing at other parents for being anxious until now. Okay, this is not fun at all, NOT FUN, NO NOT AT ALL! I know, I know. I still have a high chance of getting Sonshine in the school. But still, the result after the first phase has triggered the worry warrior in me and won't be shaking my legs until I get the all clear that he is officially in! Till then, I think I am going to breathe alot more harder!

To all fellow 2007 parents, I wish you all the very best. I am sorry I even sniggered at you for being stressed out over this. Now that I have tasted a bit of that anxiety, I can truly understand why you go through what you go through. Big pat on your back & mine! :I All the best!

*Breathe, breathe*

 

Math Assesment books for Sonshine (6 Yo)

 

This is a (boring) post on what Math assessment books I used. I never thought this was of any interest to anyone until someone asked me. I was also quite surprise that this topic (on what assessment books to use)  was even posted on a parenting forum!

 

 

Kumon books are probably a common choice among parents. I don't know why! But i first chose Kumon for its word problem sum series. It offers exactly what i wanted- lots of practice. Also, i like that the sums are similar; it gets repeated but in different storyline, because it gives the child lots of repetitive practise. Subsequently, i also bought their Addition and subtraction series.

 

If you are looking for a confident booster for Primary 1 Math, this is it.

 

It is relative easy and won't kill your child's interest. If I didn't remember wrongly, I got this for him when he was 5 years and he was able to do this with much ease.

 

I find it useful that it is topical. This means that after the child learns one topic, you can follow up by getting him to do one chapter as some sort of revision.

Subsequently, I decided to up his challenge and got him this book. I knew he was good at operations (addition, subtraction) but i wanted to know how well he can apply it. I deliberately got him a slightly challenging book because i knew the basic ones were too easy for him.

 



 

I can't say this is a very difficult book. But it does pepper its chapters with some questions that need a little more thinking versus those straight forward ones.

 

The Topical practice book was too easy for Sonshine (and he has completed it) so I went on to find him something more difficult. Well, who can set challenging questions better than our local 'TOP' primary schools? :D

 

Again, I wouldn't describe this as difficult. Rather, I would say some or maybe most questions are pretty tricky. I was quite shock to see a division question appear on a Primary 1 paper. Not just any division question, but division involving 2 digits question. From what I understand only simple division (maybe up to division by to 3 or 4?) is in the Primary 1 math syllabus. But Sonshine got the answer correct. I watched him read the question, stare at the illustration for a moment without scribbling on the page and then wrote '12'. I think the illustration gave him the visual to work on the problem.

Heh heh.

 

Edit: Okay, thanks to a reader, i just realised the above answer is wrong. :P Ah see I told you this book is tricky!

I shall return and correct his (and my) error! :)

 

 Oh well, I still am grateful for my error. It led me to discover that Sonshine can do division beyond 10, mentally. After he cracked 36/3, I went on to ask him what 45/15 is and 42/14 is. Without any pen & paper, he thought the questions for a moment and gave me the right answers. But obviously, he still needs some help in deciphering division word problems. :)

Color Play

 

 

Materials:

Food coloring (I used yellow, red & blue)

Tissue

Dropper

Tissue papers

 

 

 

And fire away!

 

Let the child drop colors on the tissue paper and watch the transformation!

 

The primary objective of this activity was meant for doll to practise her pincer grasp while using the dropper.

 

For older kids, you can use this activity to teach them about primary colors and the results of color mixing.

 

Doll absolutely loved this activity! She was smiling and squealing away with each drop. She keeps telling me 'I Like Colors!'. I love how she talks and talks while working on this activity, she would describe the colors, tell me which color she will be using i.e. 'I want yellow'. At one point, one of the color in the cup turned purple and she even declared 'Purple!'. Absolutely love watching her do this activity. :)

Homemade Printables

This week, doll had some fun with  math printable made by mama.

 

 

 

Matching colored symbols.

 

For each symbol, I made two of each but in different colors. I wanted to her to exercise her observational skills i.e it may be the same shape but is it the same color?

 

Matching numbers from 11-20.

 

This was intended for her to learn counting beyond 10. She is at this moment comfortable in counting from 1-12 and then it gets fuzzy in between but picks up again from 18-20. Hee Hee!

 

A montessori inspired number board. Instead of the 100 board, i made a 20 board for doll to arrange the numbers in order. 

 

 

Another printable to help her in counting.

 

Each tree has a number indicated on it and she has to put the corresponding number(s) of apple(s) on them. The permanent Velcro stuck on each tree acts as a control of error for her. It guides her on the exact number of apples she should put.

 

Tong-ing cotton balls.

 

I thought she didn't have the ability to use tongs which was why i put this activity off for a long time. I have under estimated her. She took this like a professional! She even knows how to angle the tongs such that she can clip the balls into place. Lesson learnt from this mama!