So we went for Clarissa’s PTM the past Saturday to have a chat with her teachers about her progress in school.
Happy to learn that she’s doing well!
- Pays attention in class
- Always keen to learn and participate, both English and Chinese lessons alike
- While she’s not the one taking the lead, she makes friends easily. Her teacher was worried about her initially, because most of her ‘long-time’ closer friends changed school. But she was able to adapt and make new friends
- Able to come up with amicable solutions instead of snatching / fighting etc
- Able to communicate very clearly. Erm apparently she was upset about the seating arrangement once, and she told her English teacher (whom she absolutely adores) that she was upset with her. π π She was ok once her teacher explained that it was a misunderstanding lol
- In fact she’s sometimes like the class monitress, informing her teachers when someone is up to some mischief or when something goes wrong ππ
- I asked her teachers if there is some competition going on during meal times. π Since she’s so adamant about being number one at home. They said no? Lol. But in general Clarissa and some of the kids would seek affirmation and praise if they finish their food
- Very brave – went out of her comfort zone to climb up the obstacle course at ECP
- Learning and literacy wise, she’s on track. (Even though I find that she has problems writing certain letters like “R”, it’s not a requirement at her current age / learning stage. #asianparents π π)
- She can’t always answer her Chinese teacher’s questions (She will say ζδΈη₯ι) but it’s probably a matter of building up her vocabulary. She understands what her Chinese teacher says. And her teacher told us that her Chinese pronunciation is actually very good!
So I’ve started including a bit of conversation in Chinese during her bedtime stories. Her teacher said it’d be helpful to start by asking her to describe in Chinese, what she sees in the pictures. πͺ
Her progress report at N2 is even more detailed as compared to that of N1.
There are more categories, including Literacy, Math mind, Curiosity, Art and Creativity, Social skills, Motor skills.
Some of the ones I’m particularly proud of!
Oh and every term the school would get the kids to draw a picture of themselves.
Hehe I must say that her drawing of people is looking less like cockroaches? ππ€£
I’ve learned (and am still learning) that it’s more important to focus on what she can do, rather than what she can’t. It’s a better way of building her confidence and motivating her to learn.
I also cherish the way she shares things with me, like who her best friend (for the day, lol) is, who cried during lunch, who sat in a corner instead of participating in class, who pushed a friend, who said her hair looked funny. As a result, I know who her friends are and what they do together. I try not to judge or pass any comment or label on their actions. Instead I’ll ask her what she thinks and feels about the situation and how she manages it.
I hope I’ll never lose this bond with her even as I return to work.
Snack shopping!
After the PTM we went shopping for snacks for her Taiwan trip!
On way to the carpark, she was holding on to the pack of Pocky and said to me:
“Mummy, can I try the taste first?”
Lol good try.
Oh I was actually trying to tie the Elsa hair for her, but she was sweaty and her hair was too sticky so I did a not-here-not-there Elsa hair instead. π π
Weaning Allie, Day 3: Feed and fed
We’ve kinda established a routine now to feed Allie in the evening.
As usual, Clarissa wanted to feed her so I let her do the first 5.
It was also dinner time for Clarissa so the hubs was preparing her dinner while the helper and I attended to Allie.
Clarissa was saying something along the lines of “Meimei likes to be feed!”
So as usual I had to correct her grammar. π
“It should be ‘Meimei likes to be fed‘,” I explained to her. “You feed Meimei, and Meimei likes to be fed.”
She frowned and looked a little confused.
“Fed? Like my Daddy?”
My helper and I burst out laughing as I whispered to her, “No, it’s ‘fed’, not ‘fat’!” While the hubs kept asking us what the commotion was about.
(I think our helper nearly burst a vessel trying not to laugh too hard. ππ€£)
Chill Sunday
Helper took her day off so we took it easy by just chilling at home.
Yep and this is Daddy trying to stick the elephant trunk into Meimei’s nose and Meimei wondering what is going on. ππ€£
Sometimes I have 2 kids, sometimes I have 3. π
And then Meimei kept wanting to stand.
So I asked Jiejie, who was playing on her bed, to stand beside her to compare their heights while I snapped away.
What I didn’t realise, was that Meimei had grabbed hold of Jiejie’s shorts very swiftly, and as I snapped away, she was also trying to pull her Jiejie’s pants off while Jiejie remained oblivious to it. π π
Looking at their facial expressions on hindsight, this looked really funny (and fun)!
Sisters
Their interactions are getting more and more interesting.
Meimei pulls everything! Including Jiejie’s hair.
But surprisingly, Clarissa doesn’t get angry. Instead she’d wait patiently for me / helper to pry Allie’s grubby hand off her hair. π
She’s also very encouraging? Whenever she sees Allie flipping over and flipping back (Oh yes she can finally do both now), she’d say “Good job!” to her.
When Allie is fussing because she’s tired or hungry, Clarissa would tell her, “It’s ok Meimei, Mummy/Yaya is coming soon!”
But she also has her bossy moments.
When she got home from swimming yesterday, I’d just made milk for Meimei and left the bottle on the bed because I was changing her diaper.
She thought Meimei had refused to drink her milk again so she said to her, “Meimei, I’m so upset with you. Why you never drink your milk again?”
She bao-tou her sister when Daddy came into the room, “Daddy! You see! Meimei never drink her milk!”
And then she wanted to drink her milk on the same bed to challenge her little sister (knowing every well she’d finish much faster lol)!
Just like that, March the horrible month is almost over.
I still feel like I’ve wasted the entire month away getting sick, feeling sick and doing nothing in particular.
Thankful for moments like these, which remind me that it isn’t all bad.
weeirdism 