Precious loves books. One of her favourite hide out was the bookshops like Borders, before they closed down and Popular.

Each trip we made to the bookstore would see her coming out with a new book.

Earlier in the week, she returned with a book list. Bookaburra will be holding a book fair at her school and she had already picked some out. She had initially wanted as many as 5 titles because she said that she had read all the books that we had purchased but Daddy and I told her to choose only 3. 

C will be paying for these books herself: using the savings from her daily pocket money. :)

Not forgetting her Mandarin, she also reads 1 mandarin story book each week.

For Primary 1, there aren't major examinations but there are what the School calls "Mid Point Checks". They are really more like tests as the school term progresses.

C is on the Stellar Programme for English and this is the programme that all primary school children have to go through. 

For Math, there are more practices on Number Bonds and of course, simple problem solving sums. 

For Mandarin, C does her 好朋友. She traces characters and answers questions on 汉语拼音. There are a lot of matching exercises and she likes working on those exercises. Her teacher will note down several pages that she has to complete as homework but Precious has this habit of finishing all the writing exercises in the subscription. 

So far, we have been heartened that Precious enjoys school. She loves her classmates and her teachers. She has been able to make good friends. She has no issues with homework and for subjects like Math and Chinese, she has also been appointed the class representative. 

Last week I received an email from Mindy. In the email, Mindy hooked me up with this really cute and adorable website where parents, kids, teachers and even dentists can use.

With this personalised brushing chart, I am sure Precious will be very happy to brush her teeth every morning and evening. :)

Print a Tooth Brushing Chart for Your Child - Tooth Brushing Charts for Children

Parents, you can also get a widget for your blog.

Cheryl goes for her golf practice every Sunday. Her love for the game grew when she was given the green light by Coach Philip to venture out onto the green. She adores the monthly activity and despite each session on the green lasting a good 3 hours, she remains undaunted. 

This evening, she showed me her blistered palm.

Daddy commented that C had a fantastic run at the driving range and every shot was well executed. Then he revealed something that Coach Francis said. Apparently the manager of Executive Golf Course saw C in action once and he was impressed with her because she plays well for her age.

For her effort this evening, Coach Philip rewarded her with a bottle of sports drink. :) 

When we first laid eyes on C's latest art work, we went 'wow'. The next question was, 'How did you do this?'

You see, Cheryl had used chalk pastel for this piece and the blending of the colours were magnificent.

:) We were full of praises for Cheryl. Nice work, really.

This evening, we went for clay pot dinner as Cheryl's grand mother had a craving for the dark-soyed rice.

Tong Chiang is famous for their humble Hakka dishes and their clay pot cuisine.

The food was good and C had 2 bowls of it. :)

The institution that C is with plans their curriculum such that when there are any special occasions on the calendar, the students will be making or drawing a product that relates to the special days.

For this Valentine's Day, C came up with this:

We liked the use of colour and how different materials like aluminium foil is incorporated into the picture too.

14 February 2012. It's Valentine's Day and it is more special today because Daddy did something he doesn't usually do.

Daddy had this lovely bouquet delivered to my work place; something he has never done before. Hours before this, my colleague and I were talking about how our husbands aren't the sort who would give flowers so you can imagine the look on my face when I got back to my desk and saw this.

The first time he bought me flowers, we were dating. The second time, we were at the Registry of Marriage. Our customary marriage at the end of 2003 was the third. The fourth bouquet was when C was born and this is my fifth.

I wouldn't lie and say I don't like it... in fact, I love it! :) At first, the hub didn't want to admit that he was the one and the thing that made it more mysterious was, the bouquet didn't come with a card. I had to coaxed it out of him.

During the December holidays, Precious took her Swim Safer Examination and cleared it.

She completed her bronze level and was awarded a certificate which came with a collar pin and a tag. :) Cheryl was very pleased with herself.

We received several updates from Mrs Lim regarding Cheryl's progress in school.

Cheryl has been learning more about number bonds.

And for English, proper nouns.

These are more like reinforcement as Precious had been exposed to them when she was in Josiah. :)

Last Saturday, during the Parents' Meeting, some parents requested that the school let us know the price list of the food items sold in the canteen and she came back with this list.

Food is reasonably priced and it looks like the amount that C brings to school everyday is sufficient.

When Daddy saw Cheryl's latest art piece, he thought they were crystals.

Cheryl revealed that they were salt particles.

Nicely done and very apt indeed. :)

C loves nature, she adores animals and Geography and will be mesmerized with how volcanoes erupt and how clouds are formed.

Her first magazine we got her was at KLCC where we discovered a copy of National Geo. Today, she came back with this copy:

The edition in December had her learning about glaciers and polar bears and this time round, insects. :)

She could not be happier.

C gets pocket money everyday. We give her about $1.50 each day and her grand father often slips her another $2. Daddy told grand father not to do that as C would spend the extra at the bookshop. After repeated reminders, it seems to be working. :)

Daddy told C that she should start saving and only withdraw it from her piggy bank should she need to buy anything. Of course she would have to ask for permission first before she dug into her piggy bank.

This evening, I looked into her drawer and saw this... .

C managed to save a total of $30 in January. :)

We went out for dinner this evening. 

Aunt Di and Uncle Ben gave us a treat. :)

I forgot to take pictures of the yusheng we had but captured the crabs. 

A simple fare... :) but we were happy because we were together for our weekly dinner. 

Pictures were taken by Aunt Di and I conveniently borrowed. Hehe.

Seriously, we enjoy the company and more than anything, we appreciate the time that we get to spend with each other every Sunday. :)
"Thank you, Uncle Ben, for the lovely dinner and thank you everyone, for the evening well spent." 

Being parents of a primary 1 child, we are naturally anxious about everything concerning school. When the School informed us of a briefing some time in January, Daddy and I marked down our calendar to remind us that we had a session with C's teachers. The briefing was useful as it gave us more information on how lessons are conducted and what to expect in the coming months. We also learned how Math lessons were taught in school.

Break time just before part 2 of the session started:

Since the School was undergoing renovation, the make-shift canteen was in a container. Thankfully, the place was air conditioned and spacious. This was the first time I had a "tour" of the School as parents were not allowed in the School on the first day of school.

The lockers along the corridor where the children keep their stuff and then the classroom. I was surprised to see that the classroom was rather large but this was good news because this would mean that there was ample space in the classroom to conduct the different activities. 

Mrs Lim, C's teacher conducted the Math session on Heuristics. I found the lesson particularly useful because I learned how to solve problem sums using models and there were so many of them. On the whole, I had a fruitful experience and will look forward to attending more of such workshops.