Tuition: A 7 year old’s perspective in line with MOE’s?

The recent hullabaloo about parents, tuition & school teachers has reached our family! I was sending Nicole to school & we were listening to 938 & the DJ said, “Coming up next, should parents send their children to tuition classes?”

I took the opportunity to ask Ms. Nicole, 7. She answered close to immediately, “OF COURSE!!!!”

Imagine my shock! I repeated the question, “should children go for tuition classes?” And the answer was still an emphatic YES!

I rephrased it, “should mummy tell all my friends to send their children to tuition classes? And yes, the answer was still the same. (by now, she was close to rolling her eyes!)

I was really curious. Something is wrong, ya? I’ve a child who says yes to tuition?

Is there something sadistic in her? Is it because I’m sending her, so she wants to ensure all children have to go through this same ‘pain’, such that no one can escape the clutches of tuition?

This is her explanation:

When you go for tuition, you learn what the school teacher is going to teach the next day. So when the school teacher teaches in class, you already know what she is teaching, and it becomes a re-vi-sion.

Woah!! I’m grateful for a sensible daughter. (Daddy says boys would never think that way!!) I’m thank God she’s making my primary school experience more of a breeze (ok, never mind those shouting matches we had while going through Ting Xie)

So that’s our take on tuition. We will still continue with sending her for such classes. Come one, after all, she enjoys the re-vi-sion!  

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Technorati Tags: tuition for primary school,teachers getting students tuition,syllabus not taught in primary school,MOE tuition

Why Moms Blog: When Daddy has his own blog too

As of tomorrow, I’ll be a one-month old blogger! Woohoohoo!

I looked at my posts and realised I covered quite a range of topics from Toilet Squats to Sex Talks to Living in the 80s. I’ve 12 posts in 30 days, does that make me a prolific blogger, an irregular blogger, or a moderate one? 

Well, it ain’t important. Honestly, the real objective of starting a blog has barely been met. Now that I’ve my own platform to voice my thoughts, I’ve not gotten down to really talking about IT.

Let me give you a brief background first. I’ve a wonderful husband, Edmund, who is, in his own rights, an avid blogger at Edunloaded.com. Since he started blogging, I’ve guest blogged once in a while, when I have an opinion about something, or when our family goes through some situations. It was good to give a mummy’s voice.

But as I continue on this parenting journey, I found out I had a lot to say, too much to say, my own emotions involved which doesn’t make sense if they were all recorded in someone else’s diary/blog. I should have my own blog, my own perspective.

So I started toying with this idea of blogging. For months, I thought about it. I didn’t want to start a blog that ended up with one post a month, nor did I want to start something that is a duplicate of Edmund’s. So what got me to click on blogger, create a template and start blogging?

Nadine. My little 4 year old princess.

In July 2012, we found out she has low muscle tone, which affected her speech, her physical motor skills and her learning abilities. We thank God daily that we found out early enough for the various therapies that she has to go through, and that we can do many many more activities with her that would intervene and improve the development.

This is why I am blogging. I wanted to share the experience, the improvements, the tears and the joy of seeing Nadine grow up. Along the way, I’ll throw in all the other experiences I have with my children. I wanna be able to rant & whine when things don’t go right, but most of all, I want to give thanks when there are victories.

So why haven’t I started blogging about her? Cos it ain’t that easy!!! We are still finding out and reading up more. Daddy freaked out when the therapist said she may have to go _{Special School}, SPECIAL SCHOOL, ^{special school}, special school.

The draft for that inaugural post has been brewing since Day 1. And I think with just a few bit more tweaks, I’ll post it. I can’t wait as I’m quite sure after that first post, the rest would just flow much easier! (with that one paragraph up above, it definitely should be much easier!)

Well, since I started blogging, I’ve met some really nice mummies who also blog. There’s a cool community of us Singapore Mom Bloggers who rally around each other—we’ve laughed at each other, offered virtual hugs, gave tips about parenting, shared little snippets about our little ones. That does boost my confidence to blog, knowing that it’s not a secret journal for my eyes only, but there are mummies out there who readily identify with what I go through, or are simply just around to cheer me on.

There you go… signing off as a half-newbie now on Why Moms Blog?

This is part of a blog train, hosted by Rachel from Catch Forty Winks, that would bring us to the lives of 15 Singapore Mom Bloggers.

 

Tomorrow, we visit Chrystal Lee who runs a blog at MotherofKids where she shares her experiences with her 3 children. She works from home and hopes to use her blog to help more moms do it too. She is going to tell us why she thinks dads like her husband will make bad bloggers!

Things on my work desk

You can’t miss my cubicle if you step into the office. Besides the regular calendar & important Post-its, I have a gallery of the children’s photos & artwork. There are many reasons why I put them up.

1. I can’t bear an empty cubicle that is work oriented, with nothing that’s personal from my life
2. I’m so proud of my three gorgeous kids. Surely pictures of them would light up all my colleagues’ day too? hehehe…
3. Some of the photos are really very well taken. I’ve to showcase his handiwork too ya? (that’s for you, Baby!)

One of my favourite piece is Nathan’s Artwork. It was a Mother’s Day card he made in school last year, and till now, he still remembers every word in that card.

First conscious steps taken to melt mummy’s heart!

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Technorati Tags: working mother,work desk pictures,working mummy

Darwin: The somewhat-different Getaway

Looking for a quick getaway? And you wanna go somewhere really quite different from the usual cities in Southeast Asia? And you wanna experience non city living? Are you game enough to try out a place where most people would go, “WHAT? Huh?”

One of the best trips we had as a couple was to Darwin, Australia. Yes yes, Darwin. And yes, it is still the very pale cousin to Perth, and an even paler one to the Sydney/Melbourne. But it was so fun and good because we didn’t stay in Darwin city! hahaha… We went to explore just 2 hours outside the city and it was GREAT!

Darwin is the capital city of Northern Territory, Australia. It’s about 4.5hrs away from Singapore. The time difference is 1.5hrs ahead and it is a really really small city but serves us tourists well as a stopover to a really beautiful National Parks. We went in March, which was just when the rainy season was ending. (Alas, the best time to go was in May/Jun)

First stop: Jumping Crocodile Cruise

I’m not a big fan of crocodiles, actually not a fan at all. But it was a scheduled trip, so we had to go. We boarded the cruise boat, and I was seriously thinking, I can catch a quick nap, it’s probably just seeing some old croc swimming around the river, and moving slowing up the slope. Haha I was wrong! So wrong that I would strongly strongly recommend every tourist in Darwin to check out this cruise!

Well, that was till they swam up CLOSE to the boat. (they do need a lot of help with their teeth!)

And the hunger games began. The guys started using Buffalo meat as bait. The crocs swam closer and closer. And … now you know why this is called the Jumping Crocodiles Cruise!

We left the cruise with a newfound respect for crocs.  Certainly no love lost, but respect for these reptiles’ ability to survive through the centuries with little change! Do you know they can grow up to a 7m length and can weigh up to 1,200 kg!

Second stop: Wildman Wilderness Lodge

This is a most amazing experience staying literally in the wilderness. (haha that’s why the name!). It’s a Hyatt in the wilderness… (It won the Australian Tourism Award in 2011!) See the wilderness:

 

The Cabins:

It’s a beautiful cabin with NO television. We are meant to lie there in bed, open the blinds, look out and check out the nature, the wallabies hopping around, the wetland birds and just pure nature. Either that, or you just relive your honeymoon nights!

(As an aside, if you bring your family, there are Family cabins that are like Safari Tents. You’d find a Large King size bed, and two additional single beds)

You are forced to put away your phone & laptop, cos there’s no network. It was definitely a very enjoyable break we had! During the nights, you can hear the insects, and you know there are animals just outside the cabins.

The accommodation at the lodge includes a hearty breakfast and a full 3-course dinner. We had the chance to sit in the open and watch a most spectacular sunset over the wilderness. It was so so beautiful, even my pathetic Blackberry phone could capture this:

We were to meet at 6 a.m. in the morning to go for a bush hike and ride the rafts, but the floods hadn’t subsided, so we had to miss it. sigh… that was one big big downer. I surprised myself when I realised how disappointed I was, as I’m not a hiking person, definitely not one to wake up so early to sweat it out type. But the fact was, it was so tremendous to be so near to nature, and to think that we could have been closer, but we missed it sigh… So if you go, do it in May/June. Guaranteed you would LURRRRRVE it!

Here’s a peek at how close we were to nature:

Third stop: Litchfield National Park

When we checked out, we went to the popular Litchfield National Park nearby. It has so many many waterfalls in the park. Some are accessible by 2-wheel drives and others only by 4-wheel drives. The signages are very clear as you enter the park, and trust me, you can turn off at any waterfall, and the sight would take your breath away!

This is Wangi Falls… 

And this is Florence Falls. We took a swim there, and it was really refreshing!

So for those adventure buffs (or even if you aren’t, like me) and for those looking for non-cookie cutter travel experience, go to Darwin. (They are very tourist friendly, roads are a breeze to drive, and everyone speaks English!) We LOVED IT! You won’t believe it, but we saw all the above in two days one night! (that explains my same top!)

There you go, a quick getaway from the city, right into the heart of nature. If you plan to go, let me know. I would love to share more stories with you!

 

Today is Day 6 of a Blog Train going round the world hosted by Madeline at MadPsychMum. Check out the rest of the world through the eyes of Singapore Mom Bloggers!

Tomorrow, we’re going New York with Delphine from Life in the Wee Hours!

Life in the Wee Hours is the story of the Wee family. It is about faith, family, friends, and very importantly, food.

Delphine is a working mum who does not believe in sitting still. She enjoys dragging her two kids, Anya (3.5 years old) and Adam (1 year old), all around Singapore.

         

Technorati Tags: darwin getaway,darwin nature,darwin romantic,wildman wilderness,darwin crocodile

 

Do you know what I’m talking about?

Over the weekend, I had some soul time to think about how old I have become, my life’s experiences. I thought it would be fun to list out these random thoughts that contributed to defining me. If you identify with them, I can guess how old you are and you me!

#1: The place to be seen for sales: The Esprit Store, 270 Orchard Road

This was the IN place at Crown Prince Hotel. This was where the first queues for sales started from 7 a.m. in the morning!

Tried hard to find a picture, this is the best I could get!

#2: The wallet to own, & if you can, the pencil case and pencils too

ixi:z … i think it’s promounced ee-zeks ?

I remember it cost a bomb—$29 for one wallet! It was then *universally* cool to own anything from ixi:z!

#3: Possibly the most successful French brand to infiltrate S’pore market–Sonia Rykiel

I never did own one, but who can forget the black/red/navy blue bags with Gold Embossed words?

I tried to look for the picture, sadly Sonia doesn’t make such bags anymore.

#4: The first ever Chinese Drama serial I ENJOYED… It wasn’t the Awakening 雾锁南洋 (too serious), Flying Fish 小飞鱼 (swimming didn’t interest a kid then). It was:

The Happy Trio–Full Song! Plus a bit of Episode 4

Now that was a really catchy song, and I got my kids to sing it along too! haha!

So, do you know what I’m referring to above? Or are you absolutely horrified at the retro-ness I’ve shown?

 

Technorati Tags: The Happy Trio,ixi:z,Esprit,Singapore Retro,eighties Singapore