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05.03.2011 – Seeing that wordpress.com has been down for the past 12 hours, I’ll be posting on my Tumblr account until they resolve the issue.
My bro, Musli, was one of the many who had waited anxiously for the ‘A’ level results to be out yesterday afternoon (04.03.2011). According to my mom, he had received a call from his school sometime around mid-day informing him that Radio Warna 94.2FM would like to conduct an interview with him at 3pm. Mom was super excited and badly wanted me to record his interview when it gets aired.
I wasn’t sure if they were going to air him live so I tuned in and waited from 3pm (having quickly fixed my laptop speakers) but NOTHING! So I sms’ed him asking what the interview was about, and he said to tune in much later that day to Berita (news) at 5pm and 7.30pm.
HAHA!!
To those who missed Berita on Radio Warna 94.2FM at 5pm and 7.30pm yesterday, here’s a recording I took at the latter time, thanks to a last-minute installation of FreeCorder4.
Click on Audio file link here: http://chirb.it/m4JsFN
To Musli: Despite the fact that your penjodoh bilangan CMI* :p, we are still very proud of you! <3 Love, Your family.
(*CMI = Cannot Make It)
It has been a while since I last update on Mika’s progress at school. I went through his communication book today, reading through pages from the start of the semester this year to date. Indeed it is gratifying to know of his daily improvements. His teacher claimed that he not only improve on his speech but also his attention span, It is learnt that he has been engaging eye contact with his teachers and peers when communicating. I know this may not be a big deal to some – yeah some toddlers can already speak five-word sentences (or more) at the age of two – but it IS a big deal to me, because he is one of those few who was identified with delayed speech and had a few times been asked to undergo speech therapy (I did consider signing him up for one but later forgo that decision).
Anyway, last week his class was focusing on the colour orange. They read a book about “Chumpkin” – the pumpkin who showed sad and happy emotions. They also had to go through an “obstacle” in search of orange objects in a tray of flour.
During Waterplay, he and his friends explored orange objects from a water trough. They had their activity indoors due to the drizzle. Here are a few photos taken (courtesy of his form teacher).
The children were asked to explore orange items such as cups, balloons and plastic balls.
And here, Mika decided to, erm, BE the orange object himself! – thanks to his mummy who coincidentally packed an orange swimwear for him to put on :p (I was later told that he did not want to come out, haha!)
How fun! Can I go back to being in kindergarten? ^_^
It has been a month since Misha transferred to her new kindergarten. She’s no longer in full daycare at LV @ Pasir Ris. Her last day there was on Friday, 26th Feb 2010. She’s now at Muhammadiyah Kindergarten (MK) @ Kembangan with effect from 1st March.
I took a week off from work just to observe how she fared during the first week. Verdict: Not quite as smooth-sailing as what I’d expected. But I’m certain in due time, she’ll blend in just fine.
She’s used to having to wake up early in the morning (as early as 7am) and as part of her childcare routine, nap time has always been between 1pm to 3pm. She’s accustomed to this, hence when she started her new school in the afternoon shift, she became very sleepy when lessons were conducted. That led her to being cranky and cried herself to sleep. Yes, during lessons. :-\
Nowadays, according to my helper who sends and fetches Misha to/from school, she doesn’t show any resistance at all. The moment she steps into her school compound, she socializes with her new friends almost immediately, just before assembly starts.
Misha during assembly on her first day…
I’m amazed at how these young children can even memorize their Surah very well at their age. One boy, I think from Nursery class, can even recite Surah Al-Iqra without any assistance. Misha, of course, has lots to catch up on. When she just started, the only verse that she can recite well was her Basmallah.
Recently, she showed that she can memorize the first three lines of Surah Al-fateha *beams*. (Don’t worry dear, practice makes perfect! And you’ll ace it in no time, insyallah. 
)
Misha queuing up for her P.E. lessons
Doing warm-ups with her classmates
More photos on my Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aprima/sets/72157623628238797/
Looks like these kids are being forced to smile here. See how Misha turned from all demure-looking in her class photo last year, to all gangsta-looking in this year’s.
And….can you spot the-one-who-cannot-stand-still? >_<
I’ve discovered that Misha has grown to love acting ever since I enrolled her in a Speech and Drama program in Nursery 1. Last month, Misha participated in a play where she portrayed a little ‘Yellow Fish’, a character from ‘Rainbow Fish and the Big Blue Whale’ by Marcus Pfister Herbert.
The story is about Rainbow Fish and a group of friends living in their shoal happily until a big blue whale comes to live close by which makes them unhappy and hungry.
Even though her lines were short and only a few, I was pretty impressed that she could memorize them and know her cue to speak.
Yellow Fish in action.
03.08.2009 – The start of an enriching journey for my second-born, Mika’il Rusydi. It was his first day at childcare and itturned out to be a fun and interesting one. We arrived slightly after breakfast and headed straight to the music room. The music room was in the same ground unit as Toddler (Dewey) class, but in a totally different section from Nursery 2 (Eriksson) class. Therefore even though his sister, Misha, is in the same childcare centre, they are logistically separated.
So what did he do on his first day in an alienated place? Lots of exploring! He didn’t join some of the class activities conducted as he was busily helping himself to the vast number of toys there (especially huge lego blocks). By ‘helping himself’ I mean attempting to *eat* those toys!
The music room was spacious enough for the little tods to play ball and explore battery-operated bicycles (which was the theme lesson of that week). It appeals to me that Mika found great interest in these.
Just before lunch, his form teacher did some class reading, to which he consciously ignored (he’s still engaged with lego blocks). The children then headed back to Toddler (Dewey) class for some bottle-cap and finger painting. Again, I was amazed at his interest at this activity as this was his first attempt at handling paint as an art medium. What I totally wasn’t amazed at was his refusal to wear any bibs over his brand new uniform, that resulted in splashing (acrylic) paint on the fabric that cannot be removed! Bummer.
During lunch, he ate what looked like fried rice with mushroom (the teacher later confirmed that it’s rice with stewed chicken). He wanted to eat by himself and didn’t want anybody else (me included) to feed him. Which is great, of couse, to show his independent self, but ultimately things got a little messy when most of his food ended up on the table and floor instead. Once lunch is over, the children took their shower, and Mika was the last one to bathe. Normally the teacher-in-charge shower two children at a time, but since it was Mika’s first day, he was set to bathe alone (probably to see how easy or difficult it was to handle him, I suppose. Because he *loves* to play with water!).
Half a day gone, and he’s ready to take his 2-hour nap, with a bottle of milk to lull him to sleep. Seeing that he’s adapting well thus far, I left him in the good hands of his teachers.
April 30th is officially Misha’s last day at her current day-care centre, so a farewell party was arranged by the centre on its final weekend of its closure (April 25th). The event was a memorable one, especially for us parents and teachers. I doubt the children even understood that it was meant to be the last few days they’ll get to be with their close friends and teachers. I’m sure Misha wouldn’t have understood (yet). To her, it may simply be just a party.
Nonetheless, she did enjoy herself that day. We had great food, some fun games, video presentation of the centre’s memories, and also speeches and thanks from parents. Misha was very excited at seeing her form teacher, who had been away for maternity leave, and badly wanted to cling on to her. I guess her beaming smile showed it all.
Misha with Teacher Izz.
Misha with Teacher Naz and Teacher Fila
Thank you, teachers, for all the things you’ve done in educating, mentoring and caring for Misha all these while.
I was unpacking Misha’s schoolbag on Tuesday night when I receive an unexpected surprise. Tucked between the pages of her communication notebook was a printed letter from her childcare centre. It read, "Change of Operator of Childcare Centre". Reading it had me, to a certain extent, filled with a mixed feeling of emotion – sad, confused, angry – all mingled into one.
A fragment of the letter read, "We regret to inform you that our centre [centre name] will cease to operate with effect 30 April 2009 Thursday. The centre, however, will continue to provide early childhood services under a new childcare operator with effect from 1 May 2009. We wish to iterate that the children are our outmost priority. Our curriculum and programme will continue as normal until the end of April 09."
April? April! That’s like in two months time!
I had spent more than 5 months in 2007 to read up and look around for *the* childcare centre to enrol Misha in, factoring the centre’s credibility and their teachers, its distance from home (somewhere convenient for us to send and fetch her), and of course, cost. Now, it’s back to square one all over again.
When P fetched Misha that same day, he had asked one of her teachers what is to become of them all after the shutdown, to which she replied that some of them will be posted to different centres with the same company. Others may consider other alternatives.
On Friday, 27th Feb, the centre held a briefing session to explain the drive behind its decision to cease operation (according to the operations manager who conducted the briefing, the centre is currently running at a loss), and provide options for us parents. He, whom I thought could have done much much better at answering our questions and doubts, and tackled unhappy parents’ feedback, mentioned that we can either (a) continue to let our children stay under the new childcare operator for a no-fee transfer, (b) transfer our children to their other centres at other location (provided there is vacancy), or (c) enrol our children at different childcare centres altogether.
Many parents were obviously not happy (one unhappy parent even mentioned she had already been twice bitten – stating that the previous centre she enrolled her children in with the same company also shut down for the same reasons, and was told that this one will not be shutting down anytime soon). Some were not happy due to the lack of compensation from the company (this I have to agree). Some were not happy because the company couldn’t provide concrete solution to our problems, but instead reiterated *their* problem.
I, for one, was sad for the fact that the children will lose that bond they have built with their peers and teachers over these years. The teachers there have been really great at guiding and teaching our children, and I cannot deny that they have made a positive impact on our children.
The few reasons which made me (and P) upset were that:
- we had just purchased brand new sets of uniforms for Misha a few weeks ago, and they don’t come cheap. If we decide with (a), the uniforms will eventually go to waste (we can always donate them, but that’s a different thing altogether).
- why tell us only now, when the centre’s company have been "studying" the centre’s operations for three years (as what the operations manager claimed). Why the short notice, with lack of compensation? Why not (at least) tell us at the beginning of the year so that we won’t even act on the point above?
- if we choose (a), the monthly feeswill be more expensive (this I came to know not from the current centre, but the new operator through their registration forms and brochure). It is known that the new operators will be renovating the place, and installing air-condition. This again will lead to frequent closure days for renovation works, but ultimately monthly fees will still need to be paid.
- if we choose (a), we have to enrol by 6th March, with a $850 cheque payment deposit, to enjoy $100 rebate on monthly fees. (who the heck can get that kind of money in one week, when we’re only informed just a few days ago?)
- the centre’s company can help to provide transportation for one year if we choose (b), but only if we choose either Pasir Ris, Changi Airport or Changi Business Park (provided there are vacancies). However they cannot even confirm whether transportation can be made free of charge. (the operations manager even asked us whether we would consider (b), if they provide free transportation. If they cannot even confirm, how can we decide? And what more, we have to make a decision before 6th March to apply for the point above).
- what if all parents decided on (b), and move to, let say, Pasir Ris (that being a void deck childcare centre). Is there any guarantee that it will also not going to shut down (as like the fate of other void deck centres)? If we choose Changi Airport or Changi Business Park, monthly fees would be between $1000-$1500 a month before subsidy, and who the heck can afford that? (the operations manager did mentioned that school fees will still remain the same as what we’re paying now though but only for one year).
- if we choose (a) or (c), we would need to study the background and curriculum of these centres, which mean we may need to take additional leave to go to the centre and speak to their principal, and we only have less than 2 months to go. In the case of (a), that would be 1 week.
- we did not buy the fact that the current centre is running at a loss which the company claim it is. If it does, why would the company invest on opening more childcare centres elsewhere, including Cecil which opens last year, and Changi Business Park which just open in January this year?
There are much more to deliberate with so little time. And it doesn’t help that there are many things happening at work to think about (I’m not going to get into those details now). I hope both P and I can arrive at a decision soon.
This morning I was at Mom’s to drop off Mika.My brother was lazing around in bed seemingly not looking the least bit eager for his O’level results due later in the afternoon (or at least he didn’t show it). I had asked him to text me as soon as his results were out, and then I was off to work.
Slightly after (late) lunch, I had a series of meetings and hadn’t realized I have received 2 text messages on my cellphone (one from bro and one from dad) and a missed call from dad’s cellphone.
Dad’s msg: "Musli got 10 pt for O level"
Bro’s msg: "10 points."
I couldn’t help but feel excited, and replied a word of congrats to both! I began to realize that even though these two messages meant the same, but somehow I came to think that my bro wasn’t too happy about it (not sure why, maybe it’s the 2-worded text msg). He did mentioned that if he were to get 10 points and above, he’d go to polytechnic, and anything less than that, to JC. But the only interest he long-aimed for is Medicine at NUS, if not, he’d rather pursue the same course overseas. And the only chance of him (probably) getting that is if he enters JC, because the probability of going down that route is much higher.
True enough, when I reached at Mom’s after work (to fetch Mika), he didn’t look too happy, as opposed to Mom and Dad who were pretty estatic. "First one in the family to break the record", Dad said "5 As and 3 Bs out of 9 subjects". I’ve gotten 16 points for L1R4 during my time, and I can’t remember how much my sisters got. My bro, on he other hand, got 10 points for L1R5 (for JC intake) and 7 points for L1R4 (for Poly intake). It was because of his humanities subject that had pulled down his marks as this is compulsory for JC intake. We (my sisters and I) tried to convinve him to take up poly, but his interest shows otherwise. So who are we to decide, right?
We eventually gave him a word of encouragement because even though he earned those 10pts, he still hasn’t factored his cca point deduction (based on specific criteria which i’m totally clueless about). Ultimately, he would be scoring 6 points, and that would definitely earn him an option to a JC of his choice.
To Musli, Congratulations! And pls do persevere in studying hard and aim for the best always. Wish you all the success for your future. I hope my kids will grow up to be as smart as you.
Dear Mummy,
My teacher says I have made a lot of improvement in school. I learn new words and speak up more, I participate in all the class activities, and enjoy getting along with teachers and friends. She also says I like to sing in class, erm, loudly! *grins*
Oh, and I think I’m not the only one learning new things. My brother is also picking up a few tricks of his own. I think he’s able to stand by himself now, just as long as he has something to hold onto. He likes playing with me, I think…
I will update you again with my progress. Until then, here’s some photos I’d like to share. Take care, Mummy.
Lots of love,
Misha
