First Day of School for Kieran and Caitlin

2 January 2018 was an exciting and nerve-wrecking first day of school for Kieran and Caitlin - exciting for the children and nerve-wrecking for me. The night before, I could not sleep and it was very cold. In the morning, I snoozed the alarm clock and guess what, the next moment I opened my eyes, the sky was bright and I remembered lying in bed and wondering... "is the sky supposed to be so blue and bright?" Then I eyes wandered to the wall clock which read 7.25am... they lingered on for awhile before the word "Late!" screamed and resonated in every cells of my body. Yeah, it sounded rather dramatic but yes, that was exactly how I felt. So I jumped up, woke hubby who looked equally shocked, grabbed my groggy little Kieran, brushed his teeth, gave him milk, and hubby and Kieran were out the door in 5 minutes. Then I went to prepare Caitlin and called hubby to help send her to school after he sent Kieran. Fortunately, Kieran's Primary school is just across the road from our home and Caitlin's school is a short walk away. Phew... With some positive vibes and quick actions, the day went on pretty well. We even managed to gather lots of nice pictures of them!

Here's one of them together before they go into the school gate on the second day of school (because first day of school morning was too rush for a picture of them together).

On the second day of school, we received invitation to download the Class messenger and a welcome letter from his Form Teacher and Co-Form Teacher with their email addresses. We are glad that there are now more modes of communication between home and school compared to when I was a Primary school student. I also joined the parent chat group in Whatsapp and we shared lots of feedback to keep each other updated. Our wish for Kieran who has now entered formal schooling, is that he will enjoy going to school, develop strong friendship with his friends and teachers, and continue to hone his keenness and joy for learning and exploring new ideas. He has come so far from that reserved little creature hiding within his shells. My wish for myself is to be more chill, learn to relax and not get over-stressed about the children's well-being, always leave work on time so that I can reach home early and guide the children in their homework and have heart to heart chats with them, and of course to wake up in time for EVERY school morning.

Kieran has a no-tear beginning in his Kindergarten, and he did not cry at all in Primary school. Caitlin has a relatively tearless beginning as well. I believe starting the children late for school helps a lot. They both begin school when they are five years old. At this age, they are ready for healthy separation from caregivers and they have formed strong attachment with us and their day time caregivers, my parents. They are ready to explore beyond that safe home environment, curious about their surroundings, and eager to forge friendships and bonds with teachers and classmates. Against all odds, we made the decision to start education late for our children. Pretty unusual for Singaporeans. Academic is not the most important in our minds although I know my children will most likely be ardent readers and academically strong as their characters seem very close to my hubby and mine. Kieran, especially, if I'm not wrong, because he seems to have an unusual thinking process, very good memory, and he reads rather proficiently at this age. I remembered I brought the children to my friend's house for a playdate. The children were at the void deck, playing with a Roller Racer (ride on toy car) but he's more interested in the striking red, round fruits at the bottom of several wayside trees. He told me he wanted to step on one, squash it and see how it's like inside, and he's wondering whether it's edible, poisonous or whether the birds eat it (I told him that if birds eat the fruits, most likely humans can too). Then the children went up and all the girls took shower together. My girl squealed with delight at showering (and playing water) with the other girls. He stood at a corner, refused to take off his clothes, insisted to shower alone. Later, I asked Caitlin if it was fun and Kieran commented on the silliness of it all.

One problem I find myself having is I love my children so much that I tend to tell others we met about them without realising it. Today, I rambled on about Kieran to a friend and he was sitting beside me. I stopped myself in time and then I looked at Kieran, wondering if he's upset. It seemed like he's ok but I don't think I should do that at all. Somethings are meant to be between the child and mother and as parents, we do need to respect their privacy and share with others only what they agree should be shared. I shall be more mindful of that in future.

The first week of school has ended. Let's look forward to the second week, where formal lesson begins. Oh gosh... Where is that timetable? We need to start packing the bag according to timetable now...

Exciting field trip for Kieran

Today, Kieran's kindergarten arranged for the K2 children to go for an excursion to Little India. A few days prior to this, Kieran was very excited and told me that his teacher gave him some questions to ask the shopkeeper at the shops in Little India and there is going to be some activity. He asked me repeatedly when I said I'm going to the school to sign the consent form, whether I'll choose "yes" or "no". He's very concerned because he really wanted to go!

This morning, I gave him his breakfast, a cupcake to eat while he walked to school. He asked whether he can eat that after the trip because he was afraid that he might be late if he spent time eating breakfast. I assured him that we won't be late. He wore his water bottle strap, his small bag and Ninja turtle cap and looked very ready for the trip. When I said goodbye to him, he was smiling and he bounced happily up the stairs to his classroom.

When I walked away from the school and headed to work, I felt a sense of pride in my heart. Kieran has grown up. He was excited about a school trip, away from home and family, and together with his teacher and friends. He had not been so excited before. During the previous school excursions, he seemed to be more worried and anxious than excited.

I called home at 12.30pm today and Kieran told me very proudly and happily that he had a secret to tell me. His secret was that he finally was brave enough to use the school toilet. Last night, he told me he was concerned that he might pee in his pants during the trip because he's so excited. Today he made a wise choice to go to the toilet before he got on the bus! He told me he drank a packet of strawberry milk too. He had not wanted to touch school food before that. Recently, he has accepted some school provided snacks like butter sugar buns and cereal.

In the past, he refused to use school toilet and refused to eat school food... I could not put a foot down on why too. I guessed some children have their own weird habits and beliefs and my boy, being a HSC, may require longer time than usual to warm up to some activities.

Kieran in K2

This year, Kieran begin Kindergarten 2. We will be balloting for a space in Primary school this year. Kindergarten 2 is a preparatory stage for Primary One. I hope to prepare Kieran in the social aspects of Primary school. He has to know what is expected of him in Primary One – following rules, following timetable, buying drinks and food from the canteen, making friends, using the toilet by himself and raising his concerns to teachers. He has to learn to be brave and independent.

Academic is important but I think it isn’t the main issue in Primary One. I do not believe that giving children a “head start” by making them go through preparatory lessons to learn everything that they are supposed to learn in Primary One makes much of a difference in academic performance later on in their school life. In fact, that might make them bored in the beginning of Primary school and would erroneously give them an impression that they are gifted, only to feel disappointed when the rest of the students catch up with them by the later part of Primary school. I hope that Kieran can at least learn to read basic sentences and common words by the end of Kindergarten 2. I hope that he can learn and internalise all the good moral virtues we teach him as he develops social relationships with the people he meets in school.

The first question I ask Kieran when I call him is “Are you happy today at school?” and he asked me the same thing, “Is today a happy day, mummy?” Happiness, mental wellness and peace are more important than performances and achievements. I seldom ask him what he learnt in school. These are easily tested in word games that we play and when we read books together. If he knows the words and numbers, he must have learnt them in school. I asked him what he ate in school, whether he was brave enough to play with his friends, use the toilet, help the teacher, etc and which teacher taught him, which friends play with him, and whether he went outdoor to play. Basically, I want to know how his day went and what made him happy or sad or angry.

CNY 2015

Chinese New Year 2015 had been a busy and fun period for us. Thankfully, the kids did not get sick. We were very strict on their new year goodies quota for every house visit, and we keep those goodies out of their sight at home. Also, lots of water everyday. Regular home cooked healthy food everyday, no slacking off even during festive season. We would bring home cooked porridge in tumbler to restaurants if we need to eat out.

The kids on CNY Day 1

Family photo!

Now is the busy time for Kindergarten registration. I am hoping to enrol Kieran in PCF and MOE Kindergarten near by but unfortunately, the vacancies are limited. I'm looking at a new My First Skool Kindergarten at Compassvale, PCF at 303A, PCF at Punggol Plaza, and MOE Kindergarten at Punggol View. If he couldn't get into any of these, we might have to look at private kindergartens that are much more expensive and located further away which might be inconvenient.