It's time to enroll your kids in Primary again

I have been busy and forgetful. I received this notification from my boys' school to start enrolling kids born in 2007 and 2008 for primary schools. I kept forgetting to enroll for Rachel. How slack! When I just got down to it, I realized I need to check out some details - so postpone again. I will do it tomorrow!

Just so you know, the application for registering kids to Standard 1 is open for this month from 1 till 31 March. Expecting a crowd in school, better hurry. If you are unaware, log on to MOE website to check out the requirements. For Selangor, we do online first before we go to the school to submit docs and have the birth cert stamped.

The website is http://apps.moe.gov.my/eppsel/
This website is only for Selangor schools.

Fill up the online application and then print it out.
Bring this along to the school together with:
1.  Original and copy of the child's birth cert
2.  Parents' NRIC - original and copy
3.  Marriage Cert (or Divorce cert) - original and copy
4.   Proof of address with name of parents on it. Original and copy. Eg. electric bill, water bill, Land assessment, SPA
5.  A white envelope 4" x 9" with RM0.60 stamp affixed

Let's do this!!

Does Enopi/Eye Level work for my kids? Let's talk about this again.

Let's talk about Enopi, now known as Eye Level, again...

I knew I raved about its effectiveness a long while back when my boys were still young and in kindy. I'm  stillnot saying that it is not good but... yes, it has some 'Buts' now.

In my earlier post, I have quite a few comments from my readers about their opinion on Enopi and their recommendation of some other. Thanks so much :) !

Now that my boys are now older, I have to review some points here. At the start, Enopi for very young kids like 4 years and kindy has certainly helped them. My kids are still going there but Im having second thoughts for my eldest, Ryan now in Standard 3... and perhaps at later stage for Raymund who is now at Standard 1. Ryan is still practicing some additions and substractions but his school has gone much advance. The worse part is the method is not aligned to his school's. Children at this stage, if they can recognize that there are more ways to work out the Maths, it's good but I seriously think that it is expecting too much of them.

I'm planning to pull Ryan out of Enopi soon but Im leaving Rachel and Raymund there still. Enopi still gives them a good foundation. The practical skills in critical thinking and problem solving are also very useful and makes future comprehension of Maths easier. However, when the child moves to primary schools, there are obvious distinction in the teaching methods. I find my boys esp Ryan going on 2 different routes in learning Maths - in school and at Enopi. To say the least, Enopi is not helping with his everyday Maths needs for his school. And worse, I am beginning to notice that both his interest and performance in Maths is sliding. Is that what we want at this stage? Yes, if my child is super intelligent. At his point Ryan is really struggling. My experience when I was coaching his school work and Enopi is that the methods for each are trully not aligned and teachers in school are very adamant to use THEIR method. So, why stress my boy to learn 2 varying methods??

To point it out further, kids nowadays are already stress as it is with high level of difficulty in school (compared to my time really!) and time is not enough as it is. I for one have no intention of adding unnecessary stress to them.

Having said that, I am NOT degrading the importance of Enopi. Specifically for my kids, I feel that they have truly benefited at younger age and I'm still sending my youngest there to build her foundation. I still have no regrets over my decision to enroll them at Enopi at the younger age. But, I feel that I can put my older boy's time to better use and align it with his school's studies. Mathematics is a very important subject. At least, I'd want to reinforce his school studies instead of taking him to a different route. Moreover, he is still a banana going thru big challenges of a SJKC, both academically and emotionally.. sigh! That's another story.


Joanne

PLECO helped my son study for his Chinese Spelling

Ryan was pestering over the weekend to get his tuition teacher to come over and help him with his Chinese Spelling ('ting seah' or direct translation: 'listen then write'). Actually, I'm not correctly saying this as there is no such thing as Chinese spelling since it is character learning. Basically, it really means listening to the character and writing it out again. I didn't want to call in the teacher this round. And I also felt that Ryan is too reliant on the tuition teacher.

I decided to try out PLECO. I talked about this application earlier. I was playing the demo version which didn't get me that far. Here is what I thought. It is cheaper than having an electronic dictionary and will definitely teach my kid to be more independent. So, why not? Then, it got me the next question. Should I buy the basic version which is for Chinese beginners, or the 'professional' version which caters for intermediate students? The catch is that I can't upgrade from basic to professional later but to buy add-ons by add-ons which may turn out more expensive. The cost for basic is US39.99 and professional is US69.99. I'm thinking that my son could be progressing to intermediate quite soon ... so what the heck.. just get the professional version. After all, shopping for a dress might cost me more than that. I decided not to get the OCR add on -- the one that you can hover the phone/iPad over the character and it will search for a match. Cool add-pn but more for 'syiok sendiri'. I feel. The package comes with handwriting which is good enough. Handwriting means you can draw the character on the iPad and a match will appear. Then you can get the meaning and even have the application pronounce the character for you. I just felt that OCR is just good to have but not necessary.

So, I tried it out with my son for his revision on 'ting seah'. I used the Flashcard function to save all the characters for his exam so that he can practice over and again. I was also able to check whether his strokes are correct. And then, emphasizing the meaning of the characters. Cool! Ryan was excited with this new 'toy' and he actually learned quite well from it.

Money well spent! And then, my husband had to say that we could have jail broken the iPad before I got the application. Grrrrr....

My son's exam - my stress or his stress?!

Finally my son's exams are over. Phew! It does sound like I'm having exam too, isn't it? Anyways, those 3-4 weeks of review were quite tiring. In fact, it was definitely harder on my son, Ryan who had to go thru 2 to 3 rounds of tuition plus school everyday. In fact, he was asking for the tuition teacher to come in the morning session before he went to school and right after school. After that, it was followed by my session with him. You see, the tuition teacher and I split work. She took up all subjects in Chinese and I took English and Bahasa Malaysia. I focused quite a bit on BM - going very slow, word by word making sure he understood each word. I wasn't expecting him to remember all but at least 80%... that's quite demanding too, I guess. Towards the last week and exam week, I did a lot of practice with him using KSSR workbooks and UPSR workbooks. I thought like what I used to do in SPM, practice makes perfect and hopefully, the teachers would use some of those questions from the published workbooks. I know that in my days, my teachers used to copy questions from different workbooks to make up an exam paper.

A word of warning though. Don't rely on workbooks that mention on covers that they are on KSSR syllabus. Some publishers just used KBSR books and put a cover saying that they are KSSR books. The syllabuses between KSSR and KBSR are very different. You know what I did? I used my iPhone and snapped my son's text book's content page and then, went to the bookstore and check the workbooks book by book before I bought them. 

So, what I did was, after reviewing a few topics on text books, I gave him practice the same topics on a few workbooks. I aim for repetitive learning. Within reach was a dictionary which I train my son to use. So, it was a very slow and painful progress. When exam came, I found that Ryan had quite some confidence. I'm very happy. I'm not expecting 100% but an above average grade will do so that at least some subjects will help to pull up his overall grading. 

On the last day of his exam, I rewarded Ryan with 2 sets of encyclopedia which he loves. This time, I bought him encyclopedia in Malay language. I found it by chance in Sogo. I'll take some pictures and show you next time. Too comfortable now in bed, blogging. 

Actually, I was pretty much in dilemma just before his exam. I knew I pushed him very hard and he has been a good boy trying to please me by studying hard even though he was very tired. I felt very heartsick to push my 7+ year old like that but I asked myself if I had a choice. Two days before exam started, Ryan said to me just before bedtime that he was very worried. Worried what if he couldn't do well in his exam. Worried what if he didn't know how to do. I told him to try his best and try not to make careless mistakes. He told me that he wanted to be a good boy and he wanted to do well. My sister in law also just told me that Ryan told her that he was stressed a few days back. I felt really bad. Have I pushed him too hard? I told him that he has improved a lot already. Even if his results are not as good, he has already improved. He can always try to do better in the next exam. My husband told me to relax a bit. On the extreme, we don't want him to get depress like those children we hear in the news who went into extreme actions like committing suicide. That got me real worried. Straight away, I sms-ed the tuition teacher telling her not to push too hard. I relaxed a bit on my coaching method as well. And I prepared a reward on the last day of exam to boost up his spirit. Actually, it wasn't so bad. He was pretty confident with BM and English. So, let's see... the results.

I don't know I was lucky or not that I don't need to coach Raymund and Rachel. At last minute, about a 2-3 weeks back, there was a notice that MOE abolished exams for preschoolers. I'm not very sure I'm that happy about that. I feel that these children will get quite a shock when they move to primary school. My son Ryan has gone thru both environments - kindy with exam and without exam. I feel that kindy with exam is preparing preschoolers better for primary school. They will have enough shock going to a new school .. much bigger.. stricter ...and definitely, with teachers with less personal touch and care.

My Kids' Exam is coming...who is panicking??

My kids' exam is drawing near... in May. Yes, its another month's time but it is really not that far away. Now that all 3 kids are schooling, I don't know who to concentrate on first and whether I can cope for all at the same time. And I only have weekends to do so. My work is going crazy now too. Ryan is still my main focus since he is in Std 2 but Raymund is in his last year of kindy.

I was asking their tuition teacher about Ryan's progress. No doubt better but she thinks Ryan is still going to struggle in Chinese esp Science and Math where the questions are going to be in narrated. Ryan's school teacher also fed back the same. I have established a communication method with Ryan's school teacher. The same what I have done when my kids are in the kindy. It's thru the Message Book. It is worse in Primary school and especially so in Chinese school where the access to teachers is so very restricted. Practically little or no opportunity to talk to teachers. Yep, I may be a bit anal but I want to know my kid's progress. So, I tested to see if the teacher is receptive to notes to her thru the Message Book ('tung kau pu') and I got Ryan to pass it to the teacher to see. She is ok and in fact, my tuition teacher has also been communicating to her on Ryan's studies. Works well. And I recommend for mummies to try. During Std 1 days, I used to write notes on a paper and get Ryan to pass to his teacher but the Message Book is lots better so that there is a trail and consistent place to look out for messaging. Once even, his teacher initiated a note to me telling me that Ryan had not been studying for his spelling and was the only one with zero in the class. Since then, I was able to push for interest and good results from him. This 2 way communication proves to help either party to know where are the weaknesses that we can concentrate on for Ryan.

Because exam is round the corner, I dropped another note to the teacher to ask her where are areas that we should concentrate on. She advised to get Ryan to read more Chinese books to improve his vocab. She also mentioned that she has moved Ryan to front roll to 'watch out for him' knowing that he is not a 'Chinese based' boy. Cool or what :)

With Raymund, he is still in kindy. I'm less worried as he has been quite consistent with his exam results. That is 100% in all subjects. His teachers have been pretty responsive and when there is a problem, they will call me instead. The one piece that I have to concentrate for Raymund is reading. He is almost hopeless with Phonics blending. I noticed that this is a common problem in a lot of children. My colleagues' kids are having the same problem. His other problem is obviously Chinese!!!! Am I surprised??

Looks like I need to set aside time to guide my kids. The good thing about this is all my kids love it when I guide them ... even though I can be quite fierce when they are not concentrating :). I guess they want Mummy's attention.

I'm just worried I'll fail. Sigh!

Teacher Yap Creative Learning Centre for Chinese & Bahasa Malaysia Enrichment

I have discussed at length on Bao Bei a while ago. You can check out this post 'Just Checked Out BAO BEI Reading Wonderland (Chinese Enrichment for Age 3-10)' for details. 


My friend told me that a comparable and perhaps better Chinese enrichment is this centre called Teacher Yap Creative Learning Centre or 葉老師創意教學中心. I decided to check it out today.







Teacher Yap Creative Learning Centre is not operating a franchise. This was one of the 1st questions I asked when I got there with Raymund and Rachel. I prefer that it is not a franchise. At least there will be more consistency in standards and offerings. 


The selling point for Teacher Yap CLC is that the teaching focuses on full attention 1 to 1 learning for children aged 3 to 12. They stresses that the learning levels depends on the child's capability. For the very basic level, they will start with big flash cards with simple to hard chinese characters. They will use interesting interactive ways to teach the child to absorb and remember the characters. The basic level also includes reading the Odonato 'red dragonfly' series. I have written about these Odonata book series which comes in series of 100, 200... all the way up to 1200 characters recognition. According to the facilitator, the founder Teacher Yap had put together various compilation of chinese characters initially for her own 3 kids. When she found that it worked on her kids, she proceeded to set up the Centre to get young children ready for Primary and thereafter. The Odonata is the reading series supporting the flash cards piece. The centre does not believe in teaching children long sentences and pushing them to go for difficult reading. Like Kumon and Enopi, children will know and familiarize before moving from level to level. The methods, they say, are very simple and easy to understand and fun to increase absorption. The teaching comes with some fun activities like drawing and such. At the beginning, the kids will be given 'homework' which they will need to complete in class. The focus is yet again on 1 to 1 teaching. The facilitator also stresses that it is important for us parents to talk to our children, particularly in the language that they are learning. Coupled with what they learn at the centre, it would be easier for the kids to apply, understand and speak. 

Interestingly, the Centre also provides Bahasa Malaysia enrichment. Parents get to choose to go for either 1 language or both. The teaching remains 1 to 1 as is their focal point. For BM, the basic level starts of with sounds and suku kata and so on. The aim is to get the kids ready for Primary KSSR. BM and Chinese syllabus for Standard 1 today is not what it used to be. In my time, what they are studying now in Standard 1 was our Standard 3 syllabus. Poor kids! It is no wonder that us parents are frantically starting our kids young. The stress on the young children! And a great investment opportunity for those who pursue their career in offering enrichment for children. 


Teacher Yap Creative Learning Centre has centres in Sri Petailing, OUG, Bandar Kinrara, Bandar Puteri, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Kota Damansara, Taman Segar and Taman Equine. The first centre was in Sri Petaling started in 2007. The contact is:


Sri Petaling: 26-1,Jalan 14/149L, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-9059 5991 / 016-2155 377




The minimum number of lessons per week is 3 and up to 5. Each lesson is 1 and half hours. Depending on whether you pick Chinese or both languages, it will still be 1 and half hour each lesson. 


Their fees structure for now looks like this:


  Registration fees = RM100
  Material fees  =  RM50 for 1 subject   or RM100 for 2 subjects


  For One Program, One Teacher  (ie. 1 language)
     3days/week  12 lessons/mth   = RM300 per month
     4days/week  16 lessons/mth   = RM350 per month
     5days/week  20 lessons/mth   = RM400 per month


  For 2 Program, 2 Teacher  (ie. both Chinese and BM)
     3days/week  12 lessons/mth   = RM350 per month
     4days/week  16 lessons/mth   = RM400 per month
     5days/week  20 lessons/mth   = RM450 per month




If you are interested in this, hope this info helps.


I have yet to decide as I have a main problem since I'm not a SAHM. Timing and Transport!! Sigh!

Sending a English-based Kid to a Chinese School - Is it a good move??

Kinda strange. When I resumed blogging, what is top most in mind is not just my children but their education. No, I'm not saying that this is not in my mind but the focus wasn't really there. Hence, I have somewhat slacked in that area. Now that I'm back, this piece is coming back in sharper focus. The guilt of slacking naturally comes with it.

I was having this conversation today with a friend. Her daughter will be starting school in 3 years time and darn, she is already wondering which school to send her to. She was asking my opinion on SJK(C) versus a private school. Is there a hard and fast rule to it?

A few months back, when my husband was coaching Ryan on his BM, he was real upset to see that Ryan's Malay literacy was and still is below par. In fact, his Chinese now is a lot better than his Malay. We started to question.. have we done the wrong thing by sending Ryan, an obviously non-Chinese speaking and pretty much a banana boy, to a Chinese Primary school. He went thru a very tough time during Standard 1.. to the extend that he dreaded going to school. His results other than English and Math, weren't encouraging then. His spirit was really low. Now that we realized that with this approach, we could be doing it at the expense of Malay literacy. Is it worth while? After all, we are living in Malaysia and Malay is definitely very important. Now, I'm not saying that Chinese is not important but should it be Chinese in all subjects? Our earlier decision to put him in a Chinese school was also because we wanted the strict disciplinary training that usually comes with the teaching culture. But what's my cost here?

In fact, at this stage, I'm kind of stuck. Ryan can't go to a Kebangsaan school. He will be soooo lost especially with his weakness in BM. But can he strive thru all the way to Standard 6 in a Chinese school? I'm not confident about his grades. And I don't want also a Grade 2 if he does badly in BM next time. That leaves us with the consideration of a private school. Of course, the cost is real $$$. I have many friends in similar situation who ended up pulling their children out of SJK(C) and into private schools.

I was given so many opinions of private schools. Not all are favourable. There have been sweeping remarks that children from private schools tend to be spoiled and kinda self centred. And there have been some that said that it really depends on the school. I have yet to check out the different private schools. I felt that what's important when it comes to that is the parents' testimonial and the course structure/syllabus of the school. I'm in fact quite weary of the over-commercialized private school. Ryan was in such similar over-commercialized private kindy and guess what? I have get him out and raced against time to get him ready for Standard 1.

Frankly, I don't know where to start searching. At this point, I will be most happy for any recommendation to me :)

I'm not going to pull him out of SJK(C) just yet. Ryan is showing good signs of improvement especially now that he takes pride in his results and achievements. But it is still a long way to go. My husband and I agreed to wait for his term exam and see how he fares. The decision will come after that.

Sometimes, I feel really bad for Ryan. Whatever and whichever moves/decisions we make for him have always been a trial and error. And definitely, there have been glaring mistakes and he has to do quite a bit of catch up. Raymund and Rachel are more fortunate. That is probably why I focus a lot of attention on Ryan. Nevertheless, I'm pretty worried over my younger kids as well and whether they can survive SJK(C). My kids are all banana kids. My hope is that different kids have different pick up and learning capabilities. I still maintain that SJK(C) is still the 1st step. But I can always ram up their base first.... and therein lies yet another headache especially when I'm not a SAHM... coming up next...

Registering for Primary School Admission in 2012

It has been bothering me... how come there is no notice for me to go to Ryan's school to register for Raymund. I remembered that I have to get his birth certificate stamped by the school as part of the procedure of applying for a place in the SJK(C) school for him. I asked my colleague some time back and she said that she was also waiting for the same.

I knew I had done the online application via MOE for Raymund. I had also filled up a form brought back by Ryan that asked for Ryan's sibling who will be attending the school come next year. What I didn't remember was going to the school to submit the relevant documents, get his birth cert stamped and fill up some stacks of forms. 

March has gone and now April. I remember that during Ryan's time, the cut off date was March to do all this. I was definitely panicking. I had finally managed to get thru to the school and speak to the school admin. I had a moment of panic when she said she couldn't find Raymund's record despite my online application thru MOE. She told me she had to search thru 700+ records of application to search for his record and told me to call back. When I called back, she told me that she found Raymund's record and that I had already went thru all the procedures including getting his birth certificate stamped. Gosh! Must be old age! I seriously thought I didn't do it and I was so certain that I didn't even check his birth certificate. Whatever it is, thank God I did it!

I quickly then called my colleague. Her situation is different as her son is the eldest and going to Primary on his own. Raymund's situation is better as he is tagging in after Ryan. When I told her about the deadline being end of this month (that's what the school admin told me), she dropped everything and went straight to the school to get everything done. 

So, to all mothers out there. Please check that your children's admission into Standard 1 next year is in order. The deadline is THIS MONTH APRIL. I was also told of another situation. Having an older child in the school DOES NOT GUARANTEE a place for the younger. So, let's be prepared.

First thing first, I reckon that calling the school to check for your child's record may be a good step. Be prepared with your child's IC number as they will search by IC. You have to ensure that if you have children born in 2006 and 2007, the procedures for school application should be in order by now. Children born in the year 2008 will start registering next year - that's for my Rachel.

Lastly, for children's admission to Standard 1 next year, we can check the result online in Aug. Good luck to all of us!

Challenging My Sons... I'm still testing

It's 3am and I'm still blogging!

I haven't been as attentive and as close to my sons' studies as in the earlier days. I'm relying on my tuition teacher quite a bit here as my work has been pretty demanding lately.

So, it came as no surprise that my son, especially the eldest, came back with bad results for exam as well as for his regular spelling, ejaan and Chinese listen and write (direct translation for 'ting seah'). It was most upsetting when his Standard 2 class teacher wrote me a note in his message book that Ryan was the only one in his class who got 0 for his spelling and that he was most unattentive in class. As a parent, I don't like to hear this. And Ryan wasn't (at that time) worried too much about having 0 result. He was too playful. My husband and I tried scolding and lecturing him. Didn't quite work. He was only bothered that I didn't sign on his book as he was worried that his teacher would scold. His school requires parents to sign on all their ejaan, spelling and 'ting seah' results. Later, I went to the extend of going a bit on reverse psychology saying that he upsets his mummy went he does very badly. Ryan is very sensitive about my feelings and he tries hard to make me happy. For this, I love my son very much. Even Raymund is the same. Both boys will always try to make me happy to the extend of 'satay-ing' me when I cook for them or something. The reverse psychology worked a bit. He came back with reasonable marks for his spelling, ejaan and 'ting seah'.

With this observation, I went further by challenging him to get 100% for all his spelling, ejaan and 'ting seah'. And that he is very clever and his parents will be very proud of him. Ryan loves to know that he is clever and he puts double effort to show this. I suppose this is because he had a hard time adjusting his Standard 1 in a chinese school in the year before. Since then, his record for all his 3 languages spelling equivalent has been 100% and graded A. He was very very proud. Once he came back with 1 wrong and he promised vehemently that he would get 100% next and he did!

Just this week, his tuition teacher couldn't make it to guide him with his Chinese 'ting seah'. Obviously, I can't either. He was most upset indeed as he was aiming high at 100% marks. He was pestering me the whole night to get someone to help him the next morning before he went to school. You see, at last minute on the day before, his school teacher had changed some characters for the 'ting seah'. Luckily, my neighbour was able to assist him. According to my neighbour, they didn't manage to finish practicing all. So, I didn't pressure for 100%. Today, when he came back, he was waiting for me to get in the house. In his hand, he was ready with the result of his Chinese 'ting seah'. It was 100%. I can still remember his face. He was proud and very happy. Naturally, my husband and I are very proud too. We fanned this spirit for perfection. We exaggerated our praise to him and even let him choose the venue for dinner. (Ryan loves to eat!!)

There is another observation. While he was putting in effort to achieve a consistent 100% in these various spelling for the 3 languages, I have also noticed that his memory power has also improved. Turns out very well indeed :)

While these were going on, my 2nd second, Raymund noticed the attention that his kor kor is having. Of course, he doesn't want to lose out. Raymund also started telling us that he has been getting 'all correct' for his spelling, ejaan and ting seah. Again, we exaggerated our praise. It became a friendly competition of who will bring back 100% for us. In fact, Raymund is kinda cute. A week back, I received a call from Raymund while I was at work. He sounded very upset. I was thinking perhaps he was sick or something. He then told me that 'Mummy, I got all correct for my ejaan...except one wrong'. He was most upset! I was trying not to laugh. Instead I asked him why not all correct and made him promised to give me 'all correct' the next round. He did! Later, his tuition teacher told me that she was in the house when Raymund called me. It was like this. When Raymund woke up from his nap, his tuition teacher asked him how he did for his ejaan. He didn't answer and looking very upset, he went straight to the phone and called me. Poor boy!

My colleague called me a 'Tiger Mum'. She told me that Tiger Mums are mums who wants and pressures her kids to get 100% perfection. Am I really? I seriously don't think so... though.. though I will be most happy if my kids are like that. In my situation, my boys are very playful and attention span is very short. Studies has not been something which is foremost in their minds. That's why the bad results on Ryan's part initially. Raymund is blessed with good memory - so, his situation is not that bad. Hence, this called for a bit more drastic action. A little strive for perfection and a friendly competition. Actually, I was really trying to stimulate interest and pride in their work. As for my girl, she is still a baby in the family :)


I am a proud mum!

How to Register Your Child for Standard 1 - for Selangor areas

Answering Alice who posted this question on my blog. Here's a set of instructions to help you. Actually I have friends asking me the same thing too. It is actually not easy for first timers as you have to find your way around. I was bumping around for Ryan's registration last year and I know what to do for Raymund now. Even so, I couldn't find the MOE site initially. For Selangor schools, you must apply online first before you go to the schools. They were less strict, I think, last year coz I went direct to Ryan's school and the school registered online for us. For Raymund, Ryan came back with a set of instructions from the school asking us to register online first before bringing in the documents to them. So, for you who are interested, here goes.

Registration for Standard 1 entry in the year 2012 an 2013 has started since 1 Mar. Registration past 30 April is considered late. This is applicable for BOTH 2012 and 2013 admission. See this little note from MOE below.

What you need to do is this:

1. Go to http://apps.moe.gov.my/esppsel/. It may take a very long time to load. Don't worry your computer is not hanging. Just have to wait very long. I had to wait a good 10-15 minutes when I was doing mine.
   
   
2. Once in, you will see an online form that looks like this. Start filling in. Get your child's IC or birth cert handy.
   
   
3. Follow the online form till the end. You will be asked to fill in your child's info and yours too. Pick the school from the drop down list that you want your child to be enrolled in. There is only 1 choice! Also do know which 'Daerah' the school is located. Pick from Klang, Kuala Langat, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Langat, Hulu Selangor, Sabak Bernam, Gombak, Sepang, Petaling Perdana or Petaling Utama. If you don't know, please google up the school for their contact number and ask first before your register.
4. Once you have successfully registered, you will be given a PIN. This is for you to login again to your registration to amend or check for status.
5. Remember to print out the form after registration. Just click on 'Cetak' at the bottom. You will need this for your registration at the school.

Yes. Registering online is only the 1st step. You have to bring this online registration form together with the following documents to the school that you picked for your child. Go during week days. Again, this registration is opened from 1-30 Mar.

• Birth certificate/Sijil Anak Angkat (original & photocopy)
• Parents'/Guardians' MyKad (original & photocopy)
• Marriage/Divorce certificate of parents (original & photocopy)
• Surat Hak Penjagaan/Perintah Mahkamah, where applicable (original & copy)
• Utility bill with your address (TNB/water/telephone) (original & copy)
• Self-addressed envelop of 4"x9" with 60 sen postage stamp
• Doctor's report & Kad Oku, where applicable (for special children) (original & copy)
• Printed online registration that you have just done

For 2013 admission, the results of registration will only be out around August 2012. For 2012, this year. Successful registration does not mean successful admission to the school that you want. My son Ryan didn't get the 1st or 2nd choice. We had to go through appeal to place him where he is.

When the time comes, go back online. Select the 4th option (See above). Key in your child's IC and the PIN number. Wait and wait and wait. You will be able to see updates where they are ready. IF you need to appeal, go to the school which your child has been allocated and you will be told another painful process.

Good luck to you.

Cheers

Joanne

Standard 1 Admission for 2012 & 2013

Yep yep ... I'm on blogging spree. Making up for lost time :) Been madly busy and I decided to take break this weekend.

This post is just a prompter to any parent out there who does not already know that you must register your child now for Standard 1 in 2012 and 2013. The registration was opened on 1 Mar and for people to register within the month. I read in the MOE website that registration on 30 Apr is considered a late submission!

Check up the site. Figure out what you need to do. Most importantly which school you'd like your child to attend. Hopefully you are not too late for popular schools. I know that for some very popular Chinese schools, especially when there is only 1 or 2 in that area, parents queue in those schools as early as 6am in the morning on the 1st day.

Make sure that you identify the 1st choice properly as that is the one that is going down. Choice 2 is not in the consideration even if you have stated it. That was my experience.

Basically, prepare the following. If you are lost, just go to the school that you want to enrol your child in and ask. Bring these:

1. Your child's birth certificate - original and copy
2. The parents' IC - original and copy
3. Marriage Certificate / Divorce Certificate - original and copy
4. Proof of address that you reside in - latest original and copy of electric bil/water bill/cukai pintu/S&P with your name and residing address on it.
5. A white envelope size 4" x 9" with 60sen stamp affixed.

Double check first with the school on these docs before you go.

Good Luck!

Cheers

Joanne

Standard 1 Examination just Round the Corner!

Coming week is school holidays. Right after, Ryan has 2 weeks of examination.

Trying to get him to understand the seriousness of examination is not simple. This is the first real exam. In kindy, they were merely assessments. Half the time, the kindy was telling us parents not to pressure the kids and let it be stress free. Just easy revisions and let them go through them easy.

Now the real thing. How do I even explain the seriousness. That he has to study. That exam is important. You might say that it is only Standard 1. Then it will be 'only Standard 1'. It will have to start somewhere.

A few weeks back, I just tried telling him the examination is important. He has to study with his tuition teacher. I don't have much time as my work is very demanding, what with a new boss. I tried to explain that if he wants to be a doctor, he has to study and get all correct. My boy told me that he wants to become a doctor to take care of his Daddy and Mummy. So sweet :)

Actually, I'm not asking for top of class or really all correct. I just don't want him to fall behind and having stress picking up. That's all I ask. A good average and I'm satisfied.

With the exam, I gave him an incentive. I told him that if he gets all correct (figuratively), I will by him his much desired Nerf Gun - one of those in things for young kids today. Earlier I refused to get him because it just don't like him playing with guns and shooting at people. But he just so loved the toy. So I just told him, if you do well and all correct, that is his reward. Work for it! He said 'But Mummy I thought you say cannot?'. I just said 'I promise that I will give you Nerf Gun if you get all correct. I promise. And you promise you cannot shoot at people. But if you get 1 wrong, you get a smaller present. 2 wrongs even smaller present.' Actually my intend is to reward a present anyway. Just for studying and trying. I don't think he will get the Nerf Gun anyway ie all correct but a good incentive. So bad of me :)

I have taken some days off next week to coach him on English and BM. I have not been a good Mummy. I used to be so closed in coaching. Now I just don't have the time and I'm usually too tired. I rely on the tuition teacher a lot. I felt that the exam require my attention and so I make some time. Not enough but better than none.

The reward piece actually works. Before, Ryan used to get all wrong or few correct in his Spelling, Ejaan and 'ting seah'. Since the time I told him that if he gets all Spelling, Ejaan and ting seah correct, all 3 everytime, I will get him a present. Now he has shown me 100% for Spelling and Ejaan. He told me he has 100% for Chinese and ask me for the reward. I told him to show me. Along the way, when he showed me each, my husband and I 'drama' a bit on our praises. Works and he was very proud.

Standard 1 Blues! And worse, Chinese Primary school!

Yep! Primary Standard One blues! My son's or mine?! Both!!

If you have been following me, you will know that my children are pretty much bananas. Yellow on the outside and white on the inside. They speak English as their mother tongue. And guess what! I have enrolled my eldest Ryan into a Chinese school. I mentioned this before but the reality and the result of that reality hits now.

While I was deciding back then whether choosing a Chinese school for Ryan was a good decision.

Many advised me 'Aiya! Children are flexible and they pick up fast. Don't worry la!'

Taking a closer look, the ones who said that are often the older aunties or have no children or have children in Kebangsaan schools or that they speak Chinese at home.

Then I asked the moms who did just that. Those moms like me who can't read and write Chinese and whose kids are plain bananas. A different stories. Quite a few told me that after a year, they just pulled their kids out and put them in private schools. It was absolute misery for their children. They just couldn't follow. Others who took it through just said bite the bullet, it was tough but just continue. Very few did that.

Weighing and deciding was tough. We decided to put him to Chinese schools for 2 main reasons:

1. An additional language - Chinese - of course. And we speak English at home. I'm not gonna be worried that my son would one day say 'jilo' instead of 'zero'. I'll make sure of that!
2. The main reason. The system. The discipline. At least till Standard 6. I have simply no faith in the kebangsaan schools!

My mom was warning me. Watch out for signs. Signs of being bullied. Signs of depression. Anything. Manage it. And be really prepared that if it doesn't work, to pull him out later. We decided to rough it out with him for now.

The signs came. It was subtle. The signs of misery! Ryan started worrying. Telling things like he was worried that when his little brother Raymund joins him, he might get lost. The school is very big. I told to just ask the teachers if he gets lost. And when its Raymund's turn, he can take care of him. He told me he can't. He gets lost too. Ask the teachers, I said. 'The teachers speak a lot of Chinese. I speak a bit Chinese only'. Initially I thought he was just fooling around. When Monday came, he was crying very hard, sobbing in fact. He refused to get down the bus. Crying so hard that the driver had to call me and we had to get him back home. He kept saying that the school is very big and that he is scared of getting lost.

Boy, how could I concentrate on my work. The next day, I took my lunch hour and when to meet my son at the school's drop off area. He was happier. My purpose really was to speak to his teacher. Reading between the lines. I understand that he felt like he didn't belong in a big school and people are not speaking in his lingo. He told me he had no friends and no one to speak to. And he only understood little what his teachers were saying. Imagine! No friends. Can't speak! Big alien area! I felt very sad for my son! My husband was upset as well. But what choice do we have. Pull him out now? I decided to speak to his teacher.

I got his teacher to understand his fear. I asked his teacher's help to place him and sit with someone who can speak both English and Chinese so they can converse and he can also pick up Chinese. His teacher was good! Phew! Thought that settled. Ryan came back happier and better.

You see, if you know my son, he always tries to make me happy and always tries to please me. Has the matter settled? No. A week later, he kept asking me every day how many more days he needed to attend school before holidays or weekend breaks. He was doing a count down. I noticed that. I started using encouragement and praises that his Chinese was getting better. Clever boy, la di da! Then the blues again! Just this Monday. He started saying that he had no friends. Only 1 friend. And his teacher scolds him. Asked further. It was because he was not listening to instructions. Asked even further, 'Did you understand your teacher's instructions?' No!'. All these over the phone on Monday morning. I was working and freaking busy. Can't get away. But worried for my son. Told my mom about it and she decided to go to his school. Again!

This time, my mom spoke to the headmistress and the teacher. She got them to understand Ryan's fears. Got Ryan to speak to them as well in front of the teacher and headmistress. We then realized that his so called partner is not his friend, for whatever the reason. Kids!! They decided to help and told Ryan to choose his own partner. Then the teacher 'helped' him to make some friends. He came back happy saying that he has ten friends. My guess is that he has more than 1 and not really 10.

Gosh! Trauma! Mine!

It was hard to take your kid's suffering. My husband and I felt helpless.

My husband was asking me what to do. I just said what else. We still have to rough it through this first year and decide after that. He has to learn independence sooner or later. It is just that the language is not helping and there is this culture shock of being in a big school.

We just have to be cruel to be kind! Very Hard!

The headmistress mentioned that she had calls from many parents as well that their kids are 'scared' of the big school. Normal, since this kids just came from small kindies. The demand for Chinese school is so great nowadays. It is from all races... not just Chinese. Bottom line, the same reasons I have mentioned. There are over 100 Standard 1 students in my son's school. Imagine the sheer number. No wonder they get scared.

I keep a very close watch on Ryan still. He is still counting down to weekends. He still tells me that the school is big and that he is scared of getting lost. I told him that he is brave and a good boy. I know that it is tough but you can do it. Make a new friend everyday. Make a new friend today and tell me tonight. He tried. Lotsa praises and encouragement. Good boy!

Don't think the situation ends here. But hopefully, it gets better faster.

Next topic - exams! Coming right up ...

Cheers

Joanne

Odonata series ... Chinese version of Peter and Jane

I just bought the 5th series of Odonata series and to my sons, they call them the Ming Ming and Li Li books. I talked about this before. That was when I first started Ryan on these books. It was the boy's tuition teacher who first introduced the books to them. I found them good and useful. Thanks to her :).

Since Ryan started on them not too long ago, he is still at the pre-school series... which tells simple stories around two kids by the name of 眀眀 (Ming Ming) and 丽丽(Li Li). Actually according to the books, this 1st series of 8 books is suitable for kids aged as young as 2-4 years. In my case, it's never too late. Very visual with lots of colors. My boys love them. They have CDs to teach kids how to pronounce as well as workbook for practice but I didn't get them since I have our tuition teacher to help them.

Ryan is on the 2nd series already. Raymund is almost half way through the 1st. Each series promises that the child will know and recognise 100 characters once he is through with it. I hope so. At least my sons can read more than they can talk in Chinese. Definitely better than not at all. It is another matter when it comes to oral. That's for Ryan to rough it out in his primary school now. They are so banana! Sigh!

Here are the rest of pre-school series.

200 words

500-800 words

900-1200 words

I have gotten till the 500 words series. The books aren't thick else I would think they will scare of kids. Mine would! But the repetitive learning is sufficient to encourage word recognition. Most of all, it ain't expensive. I got mine from the Popular bookstore. I'm a member of Popular since I get a lot of my kids' books and stationery supplies there. With 10% for members, each book is only RM5! Cheap and good! I intend to get them all but I noticed that Popular does not have the complete set.... perhaps they are replenishing?

I like collecting books. Even children's. I notice that Ryan takes after me. His precious ones are the children encyclopedia series published by Parragon Books Ltd. Again I got them at Popular too :). Only RM29.90 each. He calls them his Science books. He loves telling people that he knows Science and that ... he knows a lot of things. I encourage him definitely. He has 4 of these already. He is pestering me to get the one about Body now. Told me he wants to become a doctor when he grows up :) Phew!

I collect children books also as I said. The intend is to pass from boy to boy and then my girl. Of course, I also like to see our mini library grow :). No regrets really.. and I would say the investment is worth it. I just forgot to mention... I just found the Odonata official website and they offer online sales. That was when I notice that they carry a lot more .. from primary up till secondary. Along the way, there are also varieties like comics and literatures. If I can't find them at Popular, I just might go online.

http://www.odonatabooks.com/index.asp

If any mom out there who has banana kids like I do and like me, who is Chinese illiterate, hope this helps :). My boys are taking baby steps forward with Chinese ... and look at it this way, they are going forward :)

Happy Chinese New Year!

My Sons First Days in School, My Eldest in Standard 1

I had a very nice 2 and a half week break but it's never long enough. My husband was also having a break at the same time. It was good. We had some quality family time, fixed up what needed to be fixed in the house. I felt it was a very fruitful break at least where my family is concerned. I extended my leave to cover the 1st week of Jan... naturally, it was because it was the 1st week of school.

Ryan is in Standard One this year and Raymund for the 1st time will be attending kindy alone. Quite a change and my husband and I were pretty worried, particularly with Ryan. You see, my kids are really 'bananas' or what the chinese will call banana people / 'siang jiau ren' which basically refers to people who are yellow on the outside (Chinese) and white on the inside (amoh). I speak excellent cantonese, but I'm totally hopeless in Chinese. But my husband is a Baba so his Chinese is also 'koyak'. Hence, home language is purely English. Why am I worried about Ryan? We sent him to Chinese school... there is no way I can help... and what's more his school is very strict and obviously very Chinese. Yak Chee has proven record and I was also told by some that if the kids do wrong, they will get caned. Sigh! Biting the bullet and looking on the bright side, he will get disciplined.

We attended Ryan's orientation on Fri 31Dec. Everything was in Chinese! Briefing and even between students and teachers. Ryan got scared and worried. I supposed it was also my fault. My worries had channeled to him. He lost confidence in his communication as everyone were speaking chinese and he wasn't familiar with money, how to buy food from canteen. He kept telling me over the weekend that he didn't want to go to the school. I realized then that we were giving him alerts on areas of his weakness rather than encouragement. Big mistake! We changed tacts. We started assuring him that we will accompany him on his 1st day and that his friend (neighbour's daughter) is his classmate. So, nothing to worry.

In the morning, we checked out Raymund at his kindy Year 5. He went to school in his school van and we went later. He was real steady. Playing with the toys and so forth. More so because his friends from Year 4 moved with him to Year 5. Gave him some hugs and assurance. We told him we will wait for him at home. Cool as cucumber!

Then we rushed back and took Ryan to school. The school is very strict. They let us stay till the students got to the classroom and then ask us to leave to come back during recess. And then leave again to come back later and fetch them back. Us parents ran about like monkeys on a rainy day (of all days!) but frankly, I'm very assured. Assured that the school knows what they are doing and the facilities are ok. Still worried coz all his classmates are fluent in Chinese. Not him.

My husband and I decided to watch by the side and guide in on his 1st day. He paid for his food. He went to find his seat. Washed hands after eating. All by himself. In fact, he was half ignoring us - very proud that he knew what he was doing. Ryan actually feels embarrass when his daddy and mummy goes to his school even when he was in kindy. Cute really. We let him try for himself and pointed out when he was not sure during recess. At the moment, I was quite pissed with other parents. They cut queue and elbowed their way through the Standard One kids and bought stuff for their kids. No doubt that they are worried but is that the way? My husband and I were then quite appreciative that the school was strict enough to shoo parents out. We were only allowed to accompany our kids on the 1st day, with so much restrictions. We decided not to fetch him back from school but to take his school van instead. The van was familiar to him as it was the same one he took to his kindy. Now guess who was worried after that :) My husband and I were out of the house waiting for the school van at 6:15pm till he arrived at 7:20pm.

He came home proud. Declared that he can now speak Chinese - flashed a few simple sentences in Chinese though it sounded like amoh. We played up that confidence and saying 'Wah, Ryan is big boy now and in Standard One'. Works :)

The next 2 days, we watched for depression and signs of unhappiness. So far, steady. People advised me to talk to him after school. We did, asking what he did, what his teacher did with him and if he made new friends ... again played up that being Standard One is something that he can be proud of. He was proud and said he likes his new school and he knows how to speak Chinese and English now. Not bad.

I know I have to continue to monitor him as 1st week is very light and easy. His usual tuition teacher is also on standby to help him. Chinese school is well known for homework and homework and homework. And they are all in Chinese. Sigh!

I'm not the only going thru this. I felt that the Indian and Malay parents I met in Yak Chee are very brave to put their kids in a Chinese school. Takes guts, plenty of it. I met a Malay father in school with his Standard 2 daughter who proudly told me that his daughter had 80% for his Chinese assessment last year. Gave me hope :) even though Ryan is not a very fast learner unless it is something that he is very interested in like science :) Talk about this later.

Going on next post and next topic now :)

Joanne

The Pain of Getting Into The Right Primary School

Somehow, my parenting stories have been focusing on Ryan, my eldest. Simple, he is my first and my trial and errors begin with him. Raymund's is a lot easier as I learn from what I have gone through for Ryan. Rachel... phew...I still have time to buy. She is my precious 2 year old princess :)

A couple of months back, when the results of primary school allocation was out, I was very upset. You see when we registered for schools earlier, we were given 2 options to fill up. What really happened was, only 1 school, the 1st choice was keyed into the system. So when the 1st choice was not available, the system basically placed him in the school which is closest to the suburb ... mind you, not the address ya. We are in Puchong area and the school given to him is SRJK Chen Moh near Jln Othman, PJ!! Moreover, it will be afternoon session. Can you imagine the nightmare of transporting him and the time arrangement for his journey, homework (that's another nightmare!) and such? We still have to report at the allocated school, Chen Moh. But we went for appeal. Even so, that is no guarantee. It depends on availability and again, there is only 1 option though you are asked to fill up 2 options on paper. Can't figure that out! At the end of the day, if the appeal fails, he will still have to go to this school. I heard that this school is not bad but that is not really the point here. The school admin advised to apply for transfer then.

Let's hope my wait for the appeal is fruitful.

Cheers

Register 4Year Olds to Primary Schools NOW??!

I have been hearing that 4 years olds today will enter into primary schools one year earlier - when they are in Year 6. AND I have also recently heard that 4 year old kids have to register in primary schools NOW! Is it true???

I've tried searching the net and Star online for more information on this but can't find any info. Raymund is in Year 4 kindy. If he needs to register, then I have to figure out which school Ryan is going to. Till now, there is no news about whether Ryan's registration to the chinese school that we have chosen for him is successful or not. I was told that we will know only in August this year. Talk about coordination!! By the way, Ryan is in Year 6 kindy now.

A friend told us that he has already registered his 4 year old in primary a couple of weeks back. Told us that the registration is now! Where and when was this announcement made? I've yet to call the primary schools to check out. Meanwhile, if anyone knows anything, I'd really appreciate more info.

Again...here is another example of getting the young children stressed up even earlier. Sigh!

Chain Post #2.. Then Comes The Panic!!

Fingers were depressing the panic button... and still not letting go. When do mothers normally freak out like that??... I would say it's usually something that involves her beloved precious children.

It started off on Friday... a lovely day, had a great lunch and some satisfaction in my work areas. Then the phone rang at 3pm!!

"Good afternoon, this is Teacher A from SFL kindergarten. I'm calling with regard to Ryan. He has brought home the new set of text books and exercise books, 13 in all. Pls help him write his name and wrap it all up in plastic .. and then bring them back to school on Monday..."

I was thinking... either that was a very good 1 to 1 teacher-parent service ... or that is NOT the reason for calling. Here comes...

"At the same time, can I request for your help to assist Ryan with his alphabets and numbers? He doesn't seem to know the sequence about what comes after what. Not too much about numbers but more so the alphabets. We need your assistance as our syllabus will go very fast starting next week and your son may have a lot of difficulty otherwise."

Puzzled. "What do you mean that he does not know alphabets? Can you pls give me a good example?"

"I asked him to tell me the missing alphabets in a sequence and he couldn't do it."

"Could it be that he was nervous?" I said... heart beating faster already.

Immediately after this call, I placed a call to Ryan's tuition teacher. I told her to check him out. She was his Eduland class teacher last year and she was pretty surprise when I told her that. She assured that it could be that Ryan was nervous at that time.

6+pm. I was on the way home, hoping to catch the tuition teacher before she left. I called her to make sure. She told me that Ryan REALLY does not know the sequence of alphabets! WHAT!! I have never focused on alphabets when I was guiding Ryan in the past years. All these time thinking that his kindy Eduland would have taken of that well. Imagine my horror! What has his kindy been doing? How come no one there picked this up? And it has to take a new teacher in a new kindergarten to pick it up within the 1st 5 days of school? What happened??? I have some insights alright... coming up later.

Then came Panic #2. I saw the new books! The syllabus are so advanced.. for all 3 languages. The English and Chinese are into short stories. English going into grammar. Math in double language - English and Chinese. My worry was mounting. I showed it to the teacher and she too was surprised. Ryan was just into a little bit more in sound blending in Eduland/Beaconhouse. As for Malay, Eduland/Beaconhouse was only introducing basic Suku Kata which all students were still wishy washy at the end of the year. Do you know that the books are already into narrations/stories and the respective language's basic peculiarities?? If I have to guess, it looks like Ryan is at least 1 year behind!! Who wouldn't panic!

I did some desperate moves. My husband and I agreed that he needs some intensives to pump up his foundation. Did these...

• Got his Tuition teacher to follow the new kindy's syllabus instead. And to reinforce his kindy's teaching and help him with his daily homework. Forget about the leisurely pace of revisiting Year 5 Eduland/ Beaconhouse work! The Tuition Teacher asked for more $$. We agreed but until Ryan stabilizes. Can't take the cost and I'm open for other options later.
• Signed Ryan up for Cambridge English For Life today. Joined the 3rd term JE1 class, instead of JE2 to brush up the foundation
• Stopped temporarily his GlobalArt classes since Cambridge is also on Saturday. It's heavy enough for him
• Tell myself to make time for Ryan every day, at worst every other day, to reinforce his alphabets and numbers

Panic #3. Did the alphabets with him after dinner today. He was really upset. He was not confident with the alphabet sequence or even able to say the name of the alphabets smoothly. Poor boy. I hugged him good after the lesson and explained to him that he has to put in a bit more effort.. otherwise, he would have trouble in class. I had a discovery. He had absolutely no problem reading out the sounds of the alphabets but not the name of the alphabets. Thinking back, I remembered that Eduland insisted that they teach and concentrate on the sound of the alphabets instead of the name of the alphabets in Year 4. I remembered that this was one of the contention I had when I was considering whether or not to let my son continue for Year 5 in Eduland/Beaconhouse. The kindy convinced me that they are different from other kindies who goes A ..(a sound) , apple....and that their method is much better so as not to 'confuse' the children. See what happened?!! Probably I would not have spotted this if I had not decided to change kindy for Ryan. I'm just thankful that I'm still able to do something about it before he goes to Primary school.

I do not want my boy to suffer at this very young age. Truly upset and hoping for a miracle.

Personal Tuition for Ryan.. Ain't Cheap!

I have always thought of getting someone to give Ryan personal tuition to help him with his tough areas... particularly Chinese. This is one subject that I really really cannot teach. Even at his 5 year old level, it has already gone beyond me. I can do it the very tough way by getting someone to teach me so that I can teach him but it wouldn't do. Hence, I thought of personal tuition. I didn't work on it last time simply because I couldn't find a tutor and I didn't want to stress Ryan up with too many classes while he was schooling. Now that school holidays have started, I'm thinking of getting him to go to Cosmotots and find some help for Chinese. Math is well taken care by E.nopi and I can still handle the Malay portion. More than enough for his holidays. I'll just reshuffle them when school reopens.

Finally, I got someone who is willing to give home tuition. His class teacher! I asked her during the Parents Teachers Meeting if she is interested. I thought since Ryan likes his class teacher, the lessons will be quite good for him. Ryan loves the idea. In fact, when I told him, he was asking if the teacher was coming that day to teach him. Excited or what!

But then, I was totally ignorant about the price. I used to think - how expensive can tuition for kindy kids be. In my days, my tuition centres used to charge

What choice do I have? I may try out a few lessons to see how effective. Then I will decide whether to continue...unless a better option pops up. Kids are so lucky nowadays. Parents like me are getting broke. I daren't imagine when all 3 kids of mine are schooling!

New Kindergarten for Ryan and Raymund

Ryan has been attending Tadika Eduland, now called Beaconhouse, for 2 years already. I'm not going to continue with Beaconhouse for him for his 6-year old classes. Not because I have a huge dissatisfaction with the kindie but it's more because of logistic issues. I have been fetching him to school every morning. On a good day, it takes about 20 min to reach the kindie. On a bad day, anything goes. When I'm not working like now, I have to a make a trip all the way there and back. It wouldn't do.

Ryan likes his current class teacher. But since the change in management, I just feel that the kindie is not efficient as it used to be. But then again, I don't have any major complaint. I just want Ryan to go to a more academic based kindie (to activity based) in his last preschool year.

Next year, Raymund will be starting his 1st year in kindie. With 2 boys, I have to find a more affordable kindie... and closer to home. I was choosing between Q-dees and Superfun Learners which adopts the Fungates System. Both have their own merits. Q-dees goes on an established computerised system (for whatever the reason, I'm not dazzled by it :) ) and has long line of testimonial. Again it depends on which franchisee. Fungates is no different since it is also a system adopted by kindergartens. But SuperFun Learners has been established for >10 years and was originally located in Sri Petaling. From what I heard, some students followed them with the relocation to Bdr Kinrara. Well, I finally registered both my sons to SuperFun Learners. The deciding points are:

1. My sons' playmates - my neighbours' kids - go to the SuperFun Learners and they are the same ages ****
2. They have just shifted to the new premise - all new and clean
3. Location is quiet, with easy parking - looks safe too - away from traffic. Actually the same with Qdees
4. My neighbours gave good feedback about the school ****
5. Close to home - save travelling time so that my kids can do more things, like attending Cosmotots iqd (still contemplating)
6. $$$ cheaper

Ryan's classmate's mom :) was also thinking of transferring her daughter but worried about 'rocking' her daughter's confidence since she has to make new friends and get use to new environment. She asked me the same. I told her that I share her worry but it will be no difference when our kids go to the primary school. I feel that it should be ok since kindergartens give more personal attention than primary schools. It shouldn't be too tough. Just let them rough it out A BIT now in preparation for the bigger one.