~ Gladys - Creative Play & Learn Performance ~

Gladys has been joining the Creative Play & Learn class with the community centre for about 6 months now. She stopped her drawing lessons and had 2 performances to date. Every Saturday, she will pack her bag and look forward to meeting her teacher and friends in class.

Our princess always have loads of fun and is a very active and vocal girl. She has a pretty strong character and does not seems to display any signs of stage fright - which might be good for her to do stage acts.

1st Performance - 28 May 2011

2nd Performance - 20 Aug 2011

She is continuing her new lesson next week and there will be more performances to showcase. ^_^

~ Easter celebration @ Nativity Church ~

This is an outdated post as we have been sick all week. It was Easter last Sunday and there was a mini-carnival at Nativity Church. We went down for a quick peek and got to enjoy our free breakfast. Denver & Gladys had loads of fun with the free games (fishing, shooting, throwing) and they were rewarded with chocolates, sweets and packets of cheese balls. That really brightens up the Sunday morning. :)

~ Back to School ~

School holidays are officially over and Denver will be back to school tomorrow while Gladys will start hers in another 2 days.

The children will be back to their once familiar environment, greeting their teachers and old/new friends, unlike last year where they were newbies when they just started out in Nursery and Primary 1. Books, uniform, wallet, water bottle, shoes are all ready and it's time to go back to our hectic schedule once again. Anticipating heavier traffic, rushing between schools, work, extra lessons, meetings and going through their homework.

With Chinese New Year only one month away, Mommy may only find time to blog on weekends moving forward. Have a happy school term 2011!

~ Nativity Open House cum Art & Craft Exhibition ~

It is Open House Day in Nativity Church Kindergarten and the school also take this opportunity to show case the students' art exhibits. Parents are invited to come to give their support as well as rapport with the teachers and understand how their children are learning in school. Gladys is very happy that Daddy & Mommy are going to school with her and she gets to see her friends.

Every classroom has been beautifully decorated with all kinds of art works made by the students. It is so vibrant, cheery and innovative. Really appreciate the teachers' effort in putting this up. The children have did so well!

Among all the different artworks, we have to go 'hunt' for Gladys' masterpieces. :) It's not too hard to look for her name. We are so proud and glad that she is learning happily in school.

Gladys loves her friends as well as her teachers. ^_^

There was also a mini music lesson where parents are encouraged to participate with their children. We get to pick a different instrument and played with the music. This is what the children do during their music class. A lot of sounds, happiness, fun and enjoyment. ^_^

~ Gladys' first art lesson ~

Gladys has been telling almost everyone that she is going for an art class. She has been counting down the days since Sunday and is SO looking forward to it. Denver never had that kind of reaction when he goes for his Creative Play & Learn class 2 years back. I believe the difference is Gladys specifically wanted to go for the class versus we suggested the class for Denver.

There were already many children waiting outside of the classroom when we reached. Today is the start of a new class but it seems to me many children continued from their previous lessons. Most of them knew what to do and Gladys is probably the only new student (who seems lost) joining. Nevertheless, I'm glad that Gladys is brave and not shy at all as she sits through.

First lesson has been chaotic (at least in my perspective). I guess there was too much anticipation and I ended a little disappointed. I would appreciate if the teacher could orientate the parents with the children who just joined the class. Gladys was waiting at her seat not knowing what to do and poor Mommy (who was tired after a long day at work and feeling lost) tries to approach the busy teacher on what to do. The entire class was noisy but I managed to compose myself and observe what the other children are doing to follow suit.

For a start, the children are queuing up with a piece of paper in their hands. (It is half the size of a drawing block). I quickly asked Gladys to join in the queue too. The teacher will draw sketches of simple lines and shapes (faintly) on each paper and tells the child to trace over it when they get back to their seats.

There are basically 2 levels of students here. (A) for Advance and (B) for Beginner. The teacher will based on the child's level to determine which group they belong to and what they will draw. He will then goes to the white board and divide into A and B portion. The (A) drawings are much more complicated and the children in the Advance category will follow the (A) drawing and vice versa for the (B) group.

This is really a test of concentration and following instructions because there is simply no time to lose! Gladys was pretty lost and worse of all she sat too far away from the board to catch up with what the teacher is drawing!

After following through the first lesson with Gladys, this is pretty much how the lesson is run.

1) Children will trace the simple sketches drew by the teacher at the start of the lesson.
2) Following the teacher's step by step instruction on drawing from the basic sketch.
When the teacher says "Pencil", hold your pencil up and gets ready to draw. They will need to follow exactly what is drawn on the board. Whenever the child is unable to follow/draw a certain part, he/she can goes up and approach the teacher for assistance.
3) Following the teacher's step by step instruction on what colours to use.
The teacher will ask what colours he is using to colour the fish and the children will participate by answering. (Light green, Orange, Beige, dark yellow... etc). Luckily Gladys knows her colours very well to catch up.
4) Getting ready for water colours and painting.
Children needs to fill their little containers with water and follows instructions on what colours to paint.
5) In between the lesson, there is one toilet break. This is the time the children go to relief themselves. I saw Gladys following suit as she ran to the toilet, pee and ran back to class again by herself.

I won't be able to sit in for the following lessons as the teacher is only allowing parents to join in for the first class. It may take Gladys a few more lessons before she catches up. I'm not sure how confident she will feel as she did mention after her lesson that she is worried about not being able to follow up with the teacher. I hope this will not discourages her from enjoying her future lessons.

In fact, I think she did really good today on her first art lesson. She traced nicely and tried her best to see and follow what the teacher is drawing on the board. Gladys also displays a lot of effort to colour and paint her picture nicely. (I only feel it may be better if the teacher has been more encouraging. At times, he will comment that the child is drawing/colouring too slow and needs to speed up. This really sounds a bit pressing.)

Still, it is not all that bad. Through this lesson, apart from learning the basic drawing techniques, colouring skills, knowing more about colours, shapes and sizes, children also learns to be discipline, independent, pay attention to details and follow instructions. This might be a good training for Gladys in a certain sense and we will just have to see how it goes for the next few lessons.

~ Art class registration for Gladys ~

Gladys has turned 4 officially and as promised, we registered her to an art class from Sengkang community centre today. Gladys displays more interest in art and she has been asking us to send her for drawing/colouring lessons for months!

Earlier, Hubby & I had a look at the program schedules from the CC and we managed to choose a suitable date/time among our working schedule for her to go. Gladys is so happy that she even thought that her class starts tomorrow! We bought some art materials and packed them nicely in a bag all ready and set for her first arty lesson.

In the past, Gladys always tag along whenever we send Denver for lessons. She will linger around in the classroom and seems reluctant to leave the room at times. Soon, it will be her turn attending the lessons and Gladys even told us that she'll say "Goodbye" to us. :) We'll see what happens on her first day in class at the CC.

~ Gladys' Lunar Birthday + Goodie Bags ~

Today is Gladys' lunar birthday (八月初四). As per Chinese tradition, hubby made longevity noodles (长寿面) and 2 hard boiled eggs for our little princess. Well, she won't be able to finish them all but it is just symbolic for her to just have a bite in each egg.

Gladys will be celebrating her 4th Birthday in another 2 weeks time. We bought some lollipops, biscuits, jelly and balloons earlier and got Denver & Gladys to help pack the items into each bags. These goodie bags will be distributed to Gladys' classmates in school as well as to her friends. The kids had fun packing the goodies and even packed one for themselves too.

~ Gladys' Nursery Class Photo ~

Gladys is finally back to school again after Nativity has been closed for the past 10 days for dis-infection due to HFMD. It is never easy to take pictures for the young children as you need to get their full attention. Some are shy, some are restless, some are active and cannot sit still and there are those who are just natural in front of the cameras.

Gladys looked a bit funny in her individual photo. A worried? scared? or trying to force a smile look? The little toys she's holding can't seem to bring a smile on her face. ^_^ But that's fine. Gladys still looks pretty and cute in my eyes.

~ School closed due to HFMD ~

I just received a call from Mrs Wee, Gladys' teacher that Nativity Church Kindergarten will be closed for the next 10 days due to Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD)! Classes to resume on 23rd August. The other time only Gladys' class was affected and her class was dismissed from school for a few days. This time it is the entire school that is closed! Oh my! That means there may be many cases reported already. I certainly appreciate the fact that the school has taken measures and initiative to prevent HFMD from spreading among the young children even though many parents may be affected and have to take leave to look after their children.

The other time Denver and Gladys caught the virus was 2 years ago. We stayed home for 10 days and it was tough to take care pf 2 ill young children. Spending the entire day and night looking after and playing with them. Eventually I caught the HFMD virus too. Hence it is extremely important to be responsible and isolate ourselves from the public since HFMD can spread from person to person by direct contact with nasal discharge, saliva, faeces etc.

More health advisory is available at http://www.hpb.gov.sg/health_articles/hfmd/

At the same time, Denver's fever came back again. He was already feeling much better yesterday, running and playing at home. Unfortunately, he felt cold in the middle of the night and his temperature rises. My colleague's daughters are also having fever and it seems there are many flu/fever cases around recently. Do take care and may everyone stay healthy!

~ Gladys' Nursery - Meet the Parents Day ~

It's Meet-the-Parents Day to review Gladys' performance in Nursery school. Earlier, we already received her progress report book and Mrs Wee and 林老师 are full of praise for her.


Mrs Wee commented that Gladys is a very helpful girl who is always willing to help her friends and teachers. (e.g. Keep the toys, books etc). There are no concerns with regards to her learning progress and she is a happy girl.

Other comments include Gladys has a loud voice and a bit boyish. ^_^ Hubby & I explained that she tends to be 'rough' and 'tough' being the only girl as the other children in the family are all BOYS (which explains her behaviour). 林老师 commented that at times she tends to have shorter attention span and curious at what her friends are doing but Gladys knows how to 察言观色 and will pay attention when she sees the teacher is staring firmly at her. hahaha..

Overall, Gladys' teachers are happy with her progress and we as parents are definitely glad and relief that she has been a good helper and being nice to her peers and teachers. 继续加油哦！

~ Gladys in Uniform ~

It's almost half a year since Gladys attended Nursery. :) She is enjoying school, loves to sing the songs she learns from her teachers and getting to know more of her friends' name. She looks taller now too... The length of her school uniform used to be longer.. now it seems to be slightly above knee length. hahaha.. My little girl is growing up. ^_^

Gladys has been showing interest in drawing and colouring. Whenever she passed by Children art centres with beautiful and colourful drawings hanging outside, she wants to go in. Even at home, she has been tearing the papers from the drawing block to scribble, draw and colour on. Hubby and I are thinking of enrolling her to attend an art class with the Community centre since she is so keen. Maybe she will be artistic like her Mommy. Hahahahaha :p

~ End of Term 1 + Ramsey ~

It's March School Holidays! The children will be having their 1 week vacation break and they are delighted. Denver is still in his 'honeymoon' period where he doesn't seems to have a lot of homework to do. I asked him if he has any work to complete during his holiday? He said: "Nope, I finished them all in school. Teacher said I should spend a few hours a day studying at home." "Ah, I have an English Test on Tuesday after school reopens." Well, nothing was written in his pupil companion book on what/how he would be tested. So it will fall back on his usual daily practice on Mommy's assessment books instead. :)

Gladys also got back her Term 1 worksheets from Nursery. Various papers on English and Chinese writings, colourings and 3 story books. Gladys love to show it to her Gor Gor while Denver enjoys looking through her worksheets and comment on her work.

Denver: "Wa. Only 1 star. Must work harder and write nicer ah. Teacher will give you more stars."
Denver: "Mei Mei, how to read this word?" ^_^

Gladys can't really read or write as well as Denver. Probably it's because I did not spend as much time teaching her compared to her Gor Gor. But she seems to be better with drawings and colouring. Her character is stronger (which also means stubborn and harder to tame.) and never fails to give me surprises.
After lunch, Hubby went to his uncle's house to help him fix up his new Samsung Television. I had a great time taking photos today as I think I got a couple of nice shots of them together. :) Gladys has been copying all the actions Denver is doing while posing. So funny!

The siblings love to visit Uncle's house partly because Ramsey is there. ^_^ Ramsey (Uncle's Dog) has been part of the family for many years now. She is a very timid and tame doggy. Hence, you can imagine how scared Ramsey was when the kiddos got too excited and swamp towards her. Everytime the children try to get near to Ramsey, she will quickly scampered off to seek shelter from Uncle. :p Eventually Ramsey has to hide herself under the table or bed. Actually the kids will just need to sit still and Ramsey will find herself comfortably seated too without too much attention given. :)

So, the children are back to keeping themselves entertained and it was another round of photo taking with the kids making funny actions and faces. :)

~ Day 2 - Settling Down ~

Day 2 of school and I hope the kids have settled down already. Denver has to get up early every morning to have his breakfast, bath, change into his uniform and gets ready to go to school with his cousins.

All P1 and P2 students will assemble at the parade square while P3 to P6 in the school hall. They will have the "Whole School Reading Program" at 730am.

Denver is seated according to his class.

Gladys on the other hand seems to be doing ok. 阿公 brought her down to wait for her school bus and she started going to school on her own. The only thing is she is even more STICKY to me when I'm back home. I can sense that both Denver & Gladys needed my attention more now. Every night I'll have to go through Denver's school work and check his bag. On top of that have to spend time with the children for storybooks and squeeze in a bit of play time if possible. I think I have to start planning my own timetable too to make time for both of them.

Side notes: It's so kind and thoughtful of my neighbour to give Denver a present to congratulate him on his new milestone in Primary school. Thank you!

~ First Day in Nursery - Gladys ~

While Mommy is with Denver in his primary school, it's also Gladys' first day of school in Nativity Church Kindergarten! She looks really cute in a dress and taking a photo with her friend. ^_^

Here we go! Daddy accompanied Gladys to take the school bus together on Day 1. Mrs Wee and the other teachers were definitely busy attending to the children (Some crying) and anxious parents. Gladys was seated down and started to warm up.

Making a line to proceed to the school's hall. Gladys happens to stand right in front which makes photo-taking so much easier. :p

Seated according to class.

Time to Sing & Dance! A good way to de-stress the children and let them enjoy School Life and have FUN!

The children are being led back to their classroom where they are seated down once again. Mrs Wee called their names individually and the child goes up to collect his/her name and pin in on the board.

Time to go to the Toilet to wash our hands before we break for our "Morning Tea".

The children had porridge for lunch. Luckily Gladys is able to feed on her own and is more independent now. (Don't need Daddy or Mommy to help)

10:00am - Time to go home. Yeah!!! Great Job Gladys!