Sean starting school: Week 2
Sean is faring well in school so far.
We have more or less settled into a schedule. He is in bed by 830pm every night and wakes up at 7.15am in the morning.
It is still a struggle convincing him to wear his uniform and he can be a complete grouch if he doesn't get enough sleep so we are very strict about his bedtime.
The bus comes to pick him up at 8am and he is in school by 815am.
The novelty of riding the school bus wore off around the third day or so. He gets major separation anxiety in the mornings so we decided to let his Yeye put him on the school bus instead of us.
He still cries in protest when he gets on the bus but I think he is slowly getting less resistant to the morning routine. He talks about taking the bus with a certain 'Jiejie' - I am still not sure if he is referring to the bus aunty or another kid.
He is doing much better in school. When we ask if he cried in school, he would tell us quite confidently, 'Mee-you!' (Never). Haha!
I know from his timetable he gets to do a lot of fun activities like Music and Movement, Hands-on Activities, Math, Chinese, etcetera. He has been singing and talking to himself a lot more. He is also slowly picking up many new English phrases.
He has learnt to apologise graciously - he says 'Sorry, Mummy' readily and actually means it when I tell him I am not happy with his behaviour. Amazing!
He has been very fascinated with fake coins/money recently and goes around the house randomly shouting, 'ONE DAH-LARS (dollar)! TWO DAH-LARS! FIVE DAH-LARS!'. Very funny.
Then, as we were getting ready for bed last night, he yawned and told me 'I'm tired!', something I've never taught him before!
He has a small Communication Book in his bag where his teacher would include short reminders/notes/updates for parents everyday. I love the idea!
Last week, I wrote to ask his teacher how he is doing and she reassured me that he is settling in well and hasn't been crying in school. His favourite activities are playground and snack time. She did add though he still asks for Mummy a lot. (Probably something he picked up from the other kids in class!)
In fact, we have noticed that he doesn't like it when Foops or I am out of sight. He gets very upset and would demand (even in the middle of the night): 'Mummy, zhao Papa' (Mummy, go find Papa) and if we don't comply, he would start howling.
He is also extremely anxious about everyone's whereabouts. He would ask over and over again: Where is Mama? Papa? Yeye? Nainai? Gugu? Ah Po? Kong Kong? Biao Yi? Jiu Jiu? Yiyi? Xiao Yi? Rinse and repeat fifty times.
All of this is probably a manifestation of his separation anxiety so we just try to be very patient and answer all his questions, even though it drives us a bit nuts!
Learning to be independent is a HUGE step for him so we are trying to be as supportive and encouraging as we can. After all, he is only two!
I am glad things have fallen into place nicely. He is doing wonderfully so far - I am very proud of my little boy :)
We have more or less settled into a schedule. He is in bed by 830pm every night and wakes up at 7.15am in the morning.
It is still a struggle convincing him to wear his uniform and he can be a complete grouch if he doesn't get enough sleep so we are very strict about his bedtime.
The bus comes to pick him up at 8am and he is in school by 815am.
The novelty of riding the school bus wore off around the third day or so. He gets major separation anxiety in the mornings so we decided to let his Yeye put him on the school bus instead of us.
He still cries in protest when he gets on the bus but I think he is slowly getting less resistant to the morning routine. He talks about taking the bus with a certain 'Jiejie' - I am still not sure if he is referring to the bus aunty or another kid.
He is doing much better in school. When we ask if he cried in school, he would tell us quite confidently, 'Mee-you!' (Never). Haha!
I know from his timetable he gets to do a lot of fun activities like Music and Movement, Hands-on Activities, Math, Chinese, etcetera. He has been singing and talking to himself a lot more. He is also slowly picking up many new English phrases.
He has learnt to apologise graciously - he says 'Sorry, Mummy' readily and actually means it when I tell him I am not happy with his behaviour. Amazing!
He has been very fascinated with fake coins/money recently and goes around the house randomly shouting, 'ONE DAH-LARS (dollar)! TWO DAH-LARS! FIVE DAH-LARS!'. Very funny.
Then, as we were getting ready for bed last night, he yawned and told me 'I'm tired!', something I've never taught him before!
He has a small Communication Book in his bag where his teacher would include short reminders/notes/updates for parents everyday. I love the idea!
Last week, I wrote to ask his teacher how he is doing and she reassured me that he is settling in well and hasn't been crying in school. His favourite activities are playground and snack time. She did add though he still asks for Mummy a lot. (Probably something he picked up from the other kids in class!)
In fact, we have noticed that he doesn't like it when Foops or I am out of sight. He gets very upset and would demand (even in the middle of the night): 'Mummy, zhao Papa' (Mummy, go find Papa) and if we don't comply, he would start howling.
He is also extremely anxious about everyone's whereabouts. He would ask over and over again: Where is Mama? Papa? Yeye? Nainai? Gugu? Ah Po? Kong Kong? Biao Yi? Jiu Jiu? Yiyi? Xiao Yi? Rinse and repeat fifty times.
All of this is probably a manifestation of his separation anxiety so we just try to be very patient and answer all his questions, even though it drives us a bit nuts!
Learning to be independent is a HUGE step for him so we are trying to be as supportive and encouraging as we can. After all, he is only two!
I am glad things have fallen into place nicely. He is doing wonderfully so far - I am very proud of my little boy :)