Daddy and I waited anxiously for C's results. We knew that she didn't have to take any examinations this year so her report should not be the conventional one which reflected her marks but we hadn't a clue how it would look like.

Finally, I saw that she returned with her report book this afternoon.

She was given a grade for each subject and then each subject is further broken down into the major components relevant to each subject. C did well for Math, English, Chinese and her other subjects like Art, Music and Social Education.

Then in another file which had all her certificates she had obtained for this year, we saw this! She had scored Distinction for her music literacy test.

Daddy and I are very proud of her and her achievements for this year. She has adapted well and enjoyed her first year of formal education. When Daddy learned of her results, he told me that he owed her a new toy (we had promised to reward her when she did well.) So, it was a great way to round off 2012. :)

Last 2 weeks before the end of academic year 2012; Primary 1.

C's school informed us that now that PRIME ("Programme for Rebuilding and IMproving Existing Schools) has completed, there are enough classrooms to for all the levels in a single session. Hence all Primary 1 and 2 pupils will go to school from the morning like their older school mates.

Waking up at 5.40am, so far, has been effortless for C; quite unlike how Daddy described to me when she was in the afternoon session. She would wash herself up and sit down for breakfast, though getting through breakfast was a chore. She would try to wriggle her way out from that last mouthful of bread or Milo. But for everything else, she was alright.

We leave the house at 6.30am and Daddy would send me to work first before dropping her. Now I get to see each other in the mornings and she waves goodbye to me from her seat in the rear. :)

Finally, we can put faces to their names. :)

C has made several good friends and she talks about them all the time. 

We like this picture. 

Cheryl's first Children's Day celebration with her friends in school and like other celebrations, she had to go to school early. She insisted on being woken up earlier than her Daddy to get ready. It was also the Lower Primary Sports Day too. Daddy sent me to school as usual and then went on to drop C at hers.

She was done with celebrations and got back by 2 in the afternoon.

When I returned in the evening, she came up to me excitedly and said that she had won first prize. Hmmm.....

:) Not bad at all! I was pleasantly surprised but nevertheless, pleased that she did well for her Sports Day.

Then, she proudly exhibited her loot. Mrs Lim, her form teacher and Wang Lao Shi, her teacher for Mother Tongue, gave the children these gifts. Pencil case, name stickers, pencils and a pack of coloured pens from the School; all nicely packed into the cute and dainty carrier. :)

20 September 2012

C returned with some materials and excitedly told me that she needed to do it "immediately". I was wondering what was that important... then I saw this:

 

She has a Science project to embark on. :)

We thought it was a brilliant idea to expose these young children to Science even though they really only need to study the subject when they are in Primary 3. Anyone would find it interesting to know how plants grow or how our bodies function. When she was much younger, we also did other experiments like making a volcano and watching it erupt. The other one we did was to find out if egg floats in normal water and brine. 

C has to grow some kidney beans for this project. The objective for the project was to find out if sunlight was needed for the kidney beans to grow.

She was given 10 kidney beans and she had to soak them through the night before placing them on the wet cotton pads. There were 2 containers and one was labeled "Set A - with sun" while the other "Set B - without sun". That is right, she was to investigate if these kidney beans needed sunlight to grow.

23 September 2012

Container B (top): Not much activity could be seen after 3 days.

Container A (bottom): We saw that a sprout has grown.

24 September 2012

Container B (top): C was surprised to see that the kidney beans kept in the cupboard had grown. 

Container A (bottom): Another shoot has sprouted from yet another bean. 

Despite being kept in the dark cupboard, the kidney beans, young shoots sprouted.

25 September 2012

Container B (top): Now, all three of us were amazed at the speed of growth of these beans in the cupboard. They have grown rather large compared to those left out in the open exposed to the sun.
Container A (bottom): Growth of the beans seemed slow in comparison.

But C noticed that the ones exposed to the sun looked green and healthier compared to those kept in the cupboard which had a yellow tint and looked pale.

26 September 2012

Container A (top): They looked so plum and juicy. We also saw young shoots.

Container B (bottom): Wow! The tiny bean stalk was not tiny anymore but very tall. However, it looked so yellow and pale and definitely malnourished.  

27 September 2012

Container B (top): The bean stalk had grown even taller and it looked really terrible. 

Container A (bottom): Lovely green and the leaves were also beginning to grow. 

C recording her observations down. Well, an experiment is not complete until some investigation has taken place and not only that it is important to note down the findings. She has a week to complete her investigation and to prove her hypothesis right. :) 

Since she started on this project, she has been quite meticulous and will look at the plants first thing she returns from school. Now that she is all done, she will be able to hand her work in come Monday.

When I was in school, I was very proud of my books and took extreme care when handling them. The books were then handed down to my sisters at the end of the year. My mum would often comment that my books looked as good as new.

Then there is Cheryl...

... And these are her books.

I told her once that she needs to keep her books well because it shows that she values them. Each time I go through her bag and see the condition of her books which haven't even gone through the year, I will sigh loudly.

Once, I related my frustrations to Daddy about C not knowing how to take care of her things and his response was, 'This shows that she actually uses them.' before breaking up in laughter. I quickly added that it must be a trait she inherited from him. Haha.

Cheryl woke up early to get ready for school. She needed to be there by 7.20 am as the children would be celebrating National Day.



Decked out in our national colours of red and white, she also requested that her hair be tied in pony tails. :)

In the evening, I noticed that she had returned with a gift from school.



I had forgotten that we used to receive such tokens from school. I had initially thought it was a pencil case but upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a very thoughtful and useful gift that she could use. :)

C's Math check-point: Picture Graph

Check-point is just another name for formative assessment. As C doesn't have major examinations since she is in Primary One, the school has many of such little tests along the way that assess her. C has always enjoyed Math so we aren't surprised that she did well. 

This term, C has been solving problem sums using Heuristic. I attended a workshop that was conducted by her teachers earlier this year and saw how problem sums can be solved by using diagrams. As C was ill and had missed school for 4 days in a roll, she had to finish these sums as homework.

It's been several days since C's been with the Student Care. 

So how is she doing?

Well, let's just say, it got better every day. :) Daddy and I were pretty jittery the first day. He said it was a mad job trying to get her and himself ready in the morning and leave by 8am. In the evening, C was telling us about what she did during the day and who she met at the Centre. Apparently, she has 2 school mates there and they recognised her immediately. 

She loved the meals (lunches) she ate there and even had second helpings. (We were delighted to hear so because she is usually picky with the food she eats) After I picked her up from the bus stop in the evening, I noticed that she had with her the carrier which we had handed over to the Centre. C then told us that she had insisted on taking the carrier to school (with her towels, clothes and toiletries) because "Mummy needs to wash them." It was then we reminded her that it was alright to leave her things there as Daddy would pick them up from the Centre the next day.

In her carrier: her change of uniforms, body shampoo, towel, rubber bands for hair and a comb.

How much does she enjoy being there? "Can I still go there after this week is up?" That was her question to us last night. We figured she enjoys the company there and work gets done before she goes to school. I usually will prepare some work: revision for Spelling, Ting Xie, amongst others, for her to do and the best part, they are completed. We asked if she misses her television programmes and she nodded but she quickly replied that it didn't matter as she "has things to do and friends to play with." However, she does seem a little tired out and will hit the sack once her head touches her pillow in the evenings. 

Princess all dressed for Racial Harmony Day 2012 celebrations in school.

I bought this set of clothes 2 years back as I know that she will definitely have to wear ethnic clothes for such celebrations in school. Precious did an Indian dance in school and was awarded a badge for her good dancing. There were a total of 7 in her class who were given this badge. :)

Precious is at home today and she will be the next day as well because her school has scheduled these 2 days to be their Home-base Learning days.

These are the tasks she has to complete.

Update:
I called to check on her progress and learned that she has completed all her tasks at 10am. Haha! So she is happily enjoying her television programme and playing computer games. :)

I remember reading these books when I was in school and now Cheryl is reading them.



These were gifts from her aunts. Somehow they managed to get her different titles and these books will definitely last her a while. :)