弟弟's JMC progress

Class party for 弟弟's JMC Book 1 coming up soon in Sept. He is getting better behaved in class, not giving in to his inner urge to press every single button on the electone now. If we're early I will let him try out some of the sounds and he gets so happy if can do that. He also interacts with teacher more confidently. He now plays some simple songs at home for the combination of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So, both right hand and left hand. He practises almost every day like 姐姐 now. The only worry is he likes to play other songs which are not taught too, like the pop song he learnt from us (right hand, "Still" from He's Beautiful... see, apa la this boy...), or the songs 姐姐 play and teach him bits and pieces, not his pieces. Belum walk wanna fly, sigh...

He practises more frequently nowadays, his fingers now have become stronger unlike a few months ago. I'd still remember 姐姐's touch had been firmer in comparison at JMC Book 1 but she was more tense. He also sings some of the songs to himself, yet 姐姐 didn't sing as much as him. Or perhaps that time they were at full daycare and I didn't accompany them so much.

As much as I wanted to think every child is different, unique and special, however I still make mental or obvious comparisons between these 2 precious ones :P Can't help it as they are so similar yet so different in their own ways.

A little incentive goes a long way..

These are the little gifts that 姐姐 got from her teacher for English spelling. The sharpener is for getting 5 stars and pencil with purple eraser cap is for getting 10 stars. She is very happy with these kind of incentives and she put in efforts for her school work. Just worried that she is too serious, but seems like she has some fun with her friends during recess times. Even without gifts like this, hope she still have the drive to do her best.

KSSR is new syllabus for this year's standard one students. There are more coloring, cut-and-paste and mini-project type of work from what I heard. 姐姐 still enjoy coloring and wasn't too concerned by the work. Different school, class and teacher will have slightly different approach, so her school is still ok. But heard from some other moms that their children are tired of keep having to do coloring. I used to have tonnes of coloring homework from chinese school in standard 1 under KBSR. So I understand the frustration. I was in the first year under KBSR, my girl in the first year under KSSR, aih.....fate.

Rambutan and ethics

What has rambutan fruits got to do with ethics? There are 2 incidence that I witness which came to this post. One day, after picking up 弟弟 from kindy, I saw a familiar looking auntie. She is one of the 婆婆's that came to 姐姐's school to pickup her grandchild. She parked her car by the roadside and she was fiddling with a pickaxe at a tree, and she was standing over the little drain outside. When she crossed the road, I just realized she was picking rambutan from that house. She had a bunch of rambutans in one of her hands, and some of her grandchildren are waiting in the car for her. I do not think she has the permission from the houseowner for picking the rambutans, otherwise why is she being so sneaky about it, had to hover over the drain and went back to her car in a hurry.

I just thought it might be just a one-off incident. While waiting for 姐姐 outside her school, we saw the same thing with another mom doing it too. This mom used a long tree branch to get a bunch of rambutan from the house. If the houseowner knows about her intention, usually the houseowner would just pass the fruit to her right? But she was jumping about and finally went back to her car with a bunch of fruits. Besides we had been there before she came and didn't even see her talking to anyone from the house. Sigh.... why do they take things without permission in front of the children? What are they trying to teach the younger generation, is it ok to take without asking when you see some other people having lots of things? I'm sure if they had the courtesy to just ask, they would also get the fruits from the owners.

Since 弟弟 witness both incidents and he is bound to tell 姐姐, I have to explain to him that perhaps they might have already asked the owner and if they did not, it is not good behaviour. I have to tell them again and again it is not right at all to take other people's things without asking and getting the other person's permission. Same thing with throwing rubbish out of car's windows or into drains, it is not tolerated in our household. It's a tough environment trying to instill good values in children when there are folks who could not care less about it.

Bumble bee craft

This bee came back with 弟弟 on Tuesday. Teacher Annie Tang made this for the children for Beamind Mandarin class. He say he colored the black stripes for the bee. The others are done by teacher. I think teacher is trying to make the lesson more fun for the preschoolers as they are learning about farm, zoo and animals now.

And do you see the mint plant at the background? Not the botak one :) the one with more leaves. 姐姐 had been taking the leaves to school for her maths and art lesson. Why they need leaves for maths, I also have no idea. She told us many children in her class forgot that teacher ask to bring leaves, and since we give her extra pieces she shared with her friends.

Seafood noodles/porridge Sungai Tiram, Penang

爸爸 and I used to frequent this place when we didn't have children for something light and soupy in the evening. Now that we seldom eat out, hardly frequent the place anymore. But for dinner tonight, we are going for seafood noodles with the children in tow. They liked it, and 弟弟 like the satay. 姐姐 like the one with maggi noodles, and 弟弟 like the one with mee sua. Of course, it is quite pricey but the fish is fresh. There are other places which serve about the same thing, but since we're in the area we go to this one.

How did children get so messy after school?

At the end of the day, when we pick her up from school, she will have messy hair. She say I didn't bun her hair tight enough, but when I use the tight band she say pain. There will be smudges on her face, smudges on her white shirt. If she's wearing the sports t-shirt it will have smudges or pencil marks on it. Her shoes will have black spots here and there. Her pinafore is wide (she's wearing size 26 from Kimnovak) but short, already above her knees. So her knees will be black as well from all the sitting and kneeling in the school hall before school starts. Usually one side of her pinafore will drop off her shoulders as she has small shoulders. This is the description of our little princess when she comes home from school. No photos as she didn't like us taking photos of her when she is not "ready" :D

Transformers mask from ToysRUs

**Chuckles**... posing with Bee poster finally at ToysRUs with masks. It's funny how Bumble Bee is swanking new as a yellow sports car while his robot mode is sometimes covered with dirt.

Just wondering, wondering.... will Bee be arrested here, since he is all of yellow :) hahaha...

When we queue up to buy the Bumble Bee that comes with KFC chicky meal last week, we saw one of the moms fr music class. I showed her we're here to get Bee and she was quite shocked as she said this is for boys to play. In this day and age of globalisation and equality... when girls play with robots also kena comment is boys' toy. I wouldn't have a problem with it if she plays ... but she just collect and keep, now it's missing 'd.