Since 08.08.2008 8.08pm
Educating our children
Kendrick was under the care of his nanny until he was two years old. While his nanny was reluctant to continue taking care of him, Kenneth was of the opinion that it is time for Kendrick to attend child care. Some of the courses that we considered for Kendirck and Karis are:
j) Compulsory reading
The following books are compulsory reading for our children which we would highly recommend to parents:
Amazon
Kinokuniya
Borders
Chinese Book City
North America Online Chinese Bookstore
Dymocks
Kindergarten graduation
The day finally came in December 2007 where Kendrick graduated from kindergarten. Because of the sheer size of the child care organization, the graduation ceremony was a professionally organized concert for a few thousand kids and parents. Kendrick actually spent about 3 months preparing for this concert. This concert really exposed Kendrick to the professional world of performing arts.
On the day of the concert, we were very proud of our son. It was not because he has done well but more importantly, we had given him a very happy childhood. Especially for Kenneth, who grew up in poverty, he was glad that Kendrick had a happy childhood which he did not have and will never have. Primary school education
Selecting a primary school in Singapore is a serious matter. We started talking about Kendrick's primary school when he was about three years old. Mind you, he was due for primary school only at the age of seven. As our home was located next to a primary school we did not think much about going somewhere else since the primary school next door has been around for many years, quite reputable and put great emphasis in Chinese values.
It was by coincidence that Eileen discovered a mission school 800m away from our house that kept us thinking and arguing for the next few years.
Eileen actually visited the school and found a whole new world of difference from the school next door. Now, we are caught between these two schools: one which teaches Chinese values while the other one teaches wholesome Christian values. At the end, we decided to register Kendrick at the mission school.Home schooling
We have never thought of home schooling because we want our children to grow up in the midst of society and be exposed to the good, the bad and the ugly. Our role would then to help them to differentiate the differences and make wise choices.
For those who believed in home schooling, the following are options you can consider:
WES Homeschooling
Homeschool World
Regional and World Wide Homeschooling
Home education in the UK
Home Education Magazine
Home Education UK
Primary school registration
First of all, both schools are hot favorites in our neighborhood. The Singapore rules allow us to register Kendrick in a priority list if our home is within 1 kilometer from the school. However, as both schools are hot favorites, staying within one kilometer is no more priority to us. Instead, we now need to register as parent volunteers in order to put ourselves in the priority list. Therefore, we registered ourselves as parent volunteers one year prior to registration.
Being parent volunteers
A few months later, we received a letter from the mission school that we were shortlisted as parent volunteers for the school and the principal would like us to attend a briefing session. The other school did not reply us.
The day finally came where about 200 parents turned up for briefing. After the meeting, some parents decided to fall out from the registration while we found out that doing parent volunteer work would not guarantee us a position in the priority list! We also found that the various parent volunteer activities take place at odd hours like six or ten o'clock in the morning, twelve or three o'clock in the afternoon and six o'clock in the evening.
A few months later, we did not hear from the school and Kenneth decided to call the school to find out. Kenneth was lucky that day when he called because the school was organizing an excursion to the Singapore River and they needed parent volunteers. Kenneth signed up immediately. The excursion required one parent volunteer in the morning for the whole week. That was miraculous news as we would be able to take half day leave to fulfill our duties.
We were glad that we completed the forty hours parent volunteer work and waited anxiously for registration day to come.
One month before registration, the other school called us for parent volunteer work which we politely declined.School registration day
In July 2007, we were glad that because of our parent volunteer work, Kendrick got into the priority list and finally registered successfully in the school.
St. Hilda's Primary SchoolParents Reference
Kendrick was under the care of his nanny until he was two years old. While his nanny was reluctant to continue taking care of him, Kenneth was of the opinion that it is time for Kendrick to attend child care. Some of the courses that we considered for Kendirck and Karis are:
|
a) Toddler play school
Wee Care Learning Centre Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning Act 3 International Kumon Montessori Preschool Planner b) Water confidence APS Swim School Swim Fast Aquatic Club Family Play and Learn c) Music appreciation Yamaha Polonsky Piano School Suzuki Violin School |
d) Fine arts Neo Art School Arkansas Art Center Children's Arts Theatre School e) Child care center Learning Vision TLC Child Care Resources Kids Health f) English enrichment The I Can Read System Morris Allen Study Centres Lorna Whiston Study Centre |
g) Chinese enrichment Berries World of Learning School Singapore Motherhood Portal forum Kiasu Parents listing h) Speech and drama Learning Horizon Center for Speech and Drama i3 Education Lab i) Dance appreciation Coastal Dance Centre Chicago Learning Guide listing Dance Pointe |
j) Compulsory reading
The following books are compulsory reading for our children which we would highly recommend to parents:
Amazon
Kinokuniya
Borders
Chinese Book City
North America Online Chinese Bookstore
Dymocks
Kindergarten graduation
The day finally came in December 2007 where Kendrick graduated from kindergarten. Because of the sheer size of the child care organization, the graduation ceremony was a professionally organized concert for a few thousand kids and parents. Kendrick actually spent about 3 months preparing for this concert. This concert really exposed Kendrick to the professional world of performing arts.
On the day of the concert, we were very proud of our son. It was not because he has done well but more importantly, we had given him a very happy childhood. Especially for Kenneth, who grew up in poverty, he was glad that Kendrick had a happy childhood which he did not have and will never have. Primary school education
Selecting a primary school in Singapore is a serious matter. We started talking about Kendrick's primary school when he was about three years old. Mind you, he was due for primary school only at the age of seven. As our home was located next to a primary school we did not think much about going somewhere else since the primary school next door has been around for many years, quite reputable and put great emphasis in Chinese values.
It was by coincidence that Eileen discovered a mission school 800m away from our house that kept us thinking and arguing for the next few years.
Eileen actually visited the school and found a whole new world of difference from the school next door. Now, we are caught between these two schools: one which teaches Chinese values while the other one teaches wholesome Christian values. At the end, we decided to register Kendrick at the mission school.Home schooling
We have never thought of home schooling because we want our children to grow up in the midst of society and be exposed to the good, the bad and the ugly. Our role would then to help them to differentiate the differences and make wise choices.
For those who believed in home schooling, the following are options you can consider:
WES Homeschooling
Homeschool World
Regional and World Wide Homeschooling
Home education in the UK
Home Education Magazine
Home Education UK
Primary school registration
First of all, both schools are hot favorites in our neighborhood. The Singapore rules allow us to register Kendrick in a priority list if our home is within 1 kilometer from the school. However, as both schools are hot favorites, staying within one kilometer is no more priority to us. Instead, we now need to register as parent volunteers in order to put ourselves in the priority list. Therefore, we registered ourselves as parent volunteers one year prior to registration.
A few months later, we received a letter from the mission school that we were shortlisted as parent volunteers for the school and the principal would like us to attend a briefing session. The other school did not reply us.
The day finally came where about 200 parents turned up for briefing. After the meeting, some parents decided to fall out from the registration while we found out that doing parent volunteer work would not guarantee us a position in the priority list! We also found that the various parent volunteer activities take place at odd hours like six or ten o'clock in the morning, twelve or three o'clock in the afternoon and six o'clock in the evening.
A few months later, we did not hear from the school and Kenneth decided to call the school to find out. Kenneth was lucky that day when he called because the school was organizing an excursion to the Singapore River and they needed parent volunteers. Kenneth signed up immediately. The excursion required one parent volunteer in the morning for the whole week. That was miraculous news as we would be able to take half day leave to fulfill our duties.
We were glad that we completed the forty hours parent volunteer work and waited anxiously for registration day to come.
One month before registration, the other school called us for parent volunteer work which we politely declined.School registration day
In July 2007, we were glad that because of our parent volunteer work, Kendrick got into the priority list and finally registered successfully in the school.
St. Hilda's Primary SchoolParents Reference
