Done with K1
Last week was Sean's final week in K1. This year has really flown us by!
On his last day, Sean had a small party in school to celebrate with his teachers and friends and we packed a few boxes of chocolates for his teachers to thank them for everything.
On a separate day, Foops and I also caught up with his teachers to see how Sean has been progressing in school.
2014 has been a very eventful year for Sean.
He became a big brother once again with Jordan's arrival in January. He learned how to read independently (yay!). His school moved campuses in June. Then he was diagnosed with severe long-sightedness and lazy eye and had to don spectacles and wear an eye patch for a few hours a day.
The changes have not been easy for him, I think, but he has been taking things in stride.
Overall, he is doing alright in school.
His teachers say he is quite a bright and intellectual child. He has beautiful penmanship and writes confidently. He can read on his own and even aced an impromptu spelling test his teacher gave to assess their readiness for K2 ('other children got smaller numbers than me, Mama'). He has a natural inclination for maths and science - but then again, the K1 syllabus is really very basic!
It was nice seeing all the activities he got up to with his classmates this year. They went to the National Museum for an excursion. They did not have a Sports Day this year but they did turn their classroom into a Bird Park and put up a Show and Tell for parents. They worked in groups and made impressive bird models. They explored musical instruments and played lots of games. They learned how to use a weighing scale and estimate how much something weighed. They looked after a rabbit and fed it hay.
All his teachers had one main grouse about him: he is a very dreamy child. He takes his own sweet time to eat, to unpack his bag, to move from one place to another and always needs a lot of cajoling to finish whatever he is doing.
I am well-aware of this and I have been reminding him to pay attention to his teachers and not lose his focus in whatever he is doing. I don't know what else to do except encourage him. Think this will become more of a problem as he progresses to K2 :\
One other thing I have noticed, he has grown a lot more pensive and introverted this year. His teachers mentioned the same - he never speaks unless he is spoken to and he would never volunteer for anything in class. (He is definitely chattier at home!)
Maybe it is part and parcel of growing up. Maybe he is still adjusting to all the changes this year - I think the glasses and eye patch had a big part to do with it (he gets extremely self-conscious when he goes out). Maybe it is very easy to get lost in a big class of 32. Or a combination of all the above.
Whatever it is, I must remember he is still very much a sweet, curious and thoughtful boy who is trying to figure out his place in our world. My heart breaks a little for him when I see him struggle sometimes but I know I can't protect him forever (as much as I want to).
I guess all we can do is LOVE him and give him all the assurance he needs to face the big world out there.
And just like that, Sean is done with K1 and moving on to K2, the crucial year before the madness of primary school begins. Ah we will cross the bridge when we get there.
For now, we are just going to sit back and enjoy the school hols :)
On his last day, Sean had a small party in school to celebrate with his teachers and friends and we packed a few boxes of chocolates for his teachers to thank them for everything.
On a separate day, Foops and I also caught up with his teachers to see how Sean has been progressing in school.
2014 has been a very eventful year for Sean.
He became a big brother once again with Jordan's arrival in January. He learned how to read independently (yay!). His school moved campuses in June. Then he was diagnosed with severe long-sightedness and lazy eye and had to don spectacles and wear an eye patch for a few hours a day.
The changes have not been easy for him, I think, but he has been taking things in stride.
Overall, he is doing alright in school.
His teachers say he is quite a bright and intellectual child. He has beautiful penmanship and writes confidently. He can read on his own and even aced an impromptu spelling test his teacher gave to assess their readiness for K2 ('other children got smaller numbers than me, Mama'). He has a natural inclination for maths and science - but then again, the K1 syllabus is really very basic!
It was nice seeing all the activities he got up to with his classmates this year. They went to the National Museum for an excursion. They did not have a Sports Day this year but they did turn their classroom into a Bird Park and put up a Show and Tell for parents. They worked in groups and made impressive bird models. They explored musical instruments and played lots of games. They learned how to use a weighing scale and estimate how much something weighed. They looked after a rabbit and fed it hay.
All his teachers had one main grouse about him: he is a very dreamy child. He takes his own sweet time to eat, to unpack his bag, to move from one place to another and always needs a lot of cajoling to finish whatever he is doing.
I am well-aware of this and I have been reminding him to pay attention to his teachers and not lose his focus in whatever he is doing. I don't know what else to do except encourage him. Think this will become more of a problem as he progresses to K2 :\
One other thing I have noticed, he has grown a lot more pensive and introverted this year. His teachers mentioned the same - he never speaks unless he is spoken to and he would never volunteer for anything in class. (He is definitely chattier at home!)
Maybe it is part and parcel of growing up. Maybe he is still adjusting to all the changes this year - I think the glasses and eye patch had a big part to do with it (he gets extremely self-conscious when he goes out). Maybe it is very easy to get lost in a big class of 32. Or a combination of all the above.
Whatever it is, I must remember he is still very much a sweet, curious and thoughtful boy who is trying to figure out his place in our world. My heart breaks a little for him when I see him struggle sometimes but I know I can't protect him forever (as much as I want to).
I guess all we can do is LOVE him and give him all the assurance he needs to face the big world out there.
And just like that, Sean is done with K1 and moving on to K2, the crucial year before the madness of primary school begins. Ah we will cross the bridge when we get there.
For now, we are just going to sit back and enjoy the school hols :)