Looking Forward

I am an excited mum :D

Next year, my little big Kuya will already be going to the big school! Yes, there is no stopping them from growing up!

Anyways, as of this writing we have two choices.

One: Barnier Public School.  I got the application form yesterday and submitted it today.

According to the school secretary, he is already accepted, officially enrolled, since we are within the area of the school. Yipee!

Hubby and I are considering this school as our top choice.  Barnier Public School  is a Technology school. It is only a few blocks away from our place. It's beside the present pre-school of Liam. It is the same school where his Kuya Lance and Ate Anika go to. In other words, it will be very convenient.

We think that technology is really here for good. It is the thing of the present and the future. There is no way we can stop technology from being a part of our daily lives. So I guess, it will benefit him to be familiar and to learn thru technology.

I am more at peace knowing that he has older cousins attending the same school.

What about his RE classes? They have Scripture classes every Tuesday :D

Now, option 2: Quakers Hill Public School.

Kuya Lance will be taking the placement test for Opportunity classes for Year 5. If he passes, he will transfer to Quakers Hill Public School. We are not in the local area so I think we will be in the waiting list.

Why are we considering this school? We also plan to have Liam try out in the Opportunity classes when he reaches Year 5. But we are considering the social implications if he starts in Barnier and transfer him later on in Quakers Hill Public School (if he gets accepted in the OC Programme). By that time, I'm pretty sure he has already established his friends in Barnier. Hubby and I are thinking, if accepted, we will push thru with Liam's enrollment in QHPS as well. Might as well let him start in QHPS than transfer him later in Year 5. That way we have addressed the social implications of him establishing a new set of friends and adjusting to the school all over.

I am still not familiar with QHPS. It is not a technology school but from the feedback and the school ranking, it is performing really well. It will not be very convenient for though because it is still a ten-minute drive from our place. And I have to study the other details like OOSH or Day Care Centres available near the school.

The school-choosing thing is the serious part. Now for the fun part!


Now, what am I looking forward to? Why all the excitement?

As you very well now, I am a primary school teacher here. Working on a casual basis, I was given the chance to handle different year levels, from Kindy to Year 6, in different schools. Just last week, I handled a Kindy class. And I just can't help but ask myself and imagine what kind of student Liam will be.

Will he be like me? I am no nerd and I don't consider myself bright. I am just diligent and hardworking. I plan and organize things ahead of time. I follow the teacher and I do not like breaking the rules. No fun, huh? hehehehe Hindi ako kalat at makupad, medyo OA nga lang sa aga mag-prepare at mag-aral lalo na pag may exams. I am one chatterbox. I panic when I miss deadlines! Ehem, I am an academic achiever from elementary up until college (okay, even in my Masters :p)

Will he be like his Papa? He is not a nerd as well, but he is naturally intelligent. He is the type na hindi mag-aaral kahit ang dami-dami ng dapat aralin. He will just start studying the day before the exams and still manage to get good grades. He is Mr. Cool, not worrying even if he misses a deadline. He has problems in planning and organizing stuff. Medyo kalat, sorry Papa :D He is the silent achiever.

Will he be like some of the students that I have met over the year? Madaldal pero nakakagawa at may natatapos. Mr. Tulala or Mr. Dead-ma?, "Mr. I Can't Do This!" (I hope not!)? Tahimik, makupad at walang natatapos? Makupad? Kalat? Kalimotero? Maayos at mabilis?

Exciting, huh? :D

I promised myself that I will not be a stage mum, but it doesn't mean that I will not get involved in my son's studies.

Like in my previous post, I will still continue to give him his fare share of stress (ooops) when it comes to studying. I plan to establish his study habits as early as now so we will not be having any troubles when he gets older. I will continue to give him supplementary exercises so he is always one step ahead. (So he will not have a hard time adjusting when he gets to Secondary School where all students start to get stressed because of HSC!)

But secondary school will be a totally different story.

One step at a time.

I still have to wait though for the official letter from the school in the post (probably next term) informing us of his acceptance and the next steps that we need to do.

I can see that Liam is excited as well. He just doesn't know that I am more excited!

Can't wait :D

Decisions

Last night, I attended the parent's meeting set by Liam's teachers at Goddard Crescent. It was a first for me. I don't remember them calling for one last year :)

I was actually starting to feel lazy and I wanted to back out the last minute. Not to mention that I was running late since I had to wait for Alvin to get home before I can leave. It was an adult-only event so no kids allowed.

The meeting went smoothly. I was just at the receiving end. Explanations on practices were given until one mum shared a story about his nephew and that caught my attention. A little background, the education system here is a bit laid back (a bit? who are you kidding?! for me, it's way too laid back hehehe). See here in Australia, the primary schooling of kids are set in such a way that the kids are not stressed in school. It is quite laid-back as compared to Manila. I just can't help but compare the system here and in Ateneo (or in most schools in Manila). If in Manila, the whole process of getting and being educated is stressful and tedious here, it is not.

Imagine, kids in pre-school are not taught how to read and write. Formal learning starts when they go to Kindy, in the big school. It was explained this evening that play is actually teaching the kids a lot. We might think that they are just playing, but they are actually learning. The one that was shared which bothered me a bit was that we have to be careful of teaching our kids too much ahead of time because in the case of her nephew who went to Kindy, it was a major issue. The kid got so bored because he already knew how to read and write, as compared to majority of the class that were just starting to learn. He got isolated. (Note: I wasn't able to ask the mum what the school did. Not that I think my son is gifted or anything, but I just wanted to know how the school addressed the concern. Why? In Ateneo, if we see an exceptional or a "fast" kid, there are procedures that we can do to have the kid formally assessed --of course when the kid is assessed to be gifted, passes all the requirements, goes up one or two levels higher it will also have social implications and parents should be ready for that).

Reading the biography of Steve Jobs now is no help as well. There was one part in the book that shared the reasons why Steve kept on doing pranks in school. They were triggered by his boredom. He already knew those things and he wasn't challenged! (Again, I am not assumming that my son is gifted).

It caught my attention because I have been teaching Liam every now and then at home. Not formal and strict teaching ok. Supplemental teaching. I let him practice writing his letters (They have a NSW Foundation Font here). I let him do some maths, because I felt he was interested in it! I am just nurturing his interests. After reading the book "Raising Boys" my whole idea of how to raise my son changed. I got to know how it is with young boys and where they are coming from. I teach him when I feel he is up for it. I can sense when the "teachable moment" is for him. Walang pilitan in other words. It is paying off because rarely do we argue now when I teach him. It is an enjoyable time for both Liam and myself. Sometimes while we play we count from 1-100. Sometimes when he wants a hug, he asks me for a thousand hugs, so we get to practice skip counting by hundreds till we reach 1000. I am just supporting him in his interests. When I ask him to do some worksheets and he says can I just finish one page, I let him just do a page. What am I driving at? I am just grabbing those opportunities, rare and golden "teachable moments," because I feel it's sayang when I don't do something.I am not forcing him. But still, he might end up being advanced with the rest of his classmates when he starts with Kindy.

Now I am scared! Hubby and I actually talked about it last night. I asked hubby about me giving supplemental lessons to Liam. Well, hubby did make sense. Liam is not really advanced. He still needs a lot of practice in his writing and his reading. We can sense that he is good with numbers and we decided to just continue to give those relaxed supplemental lessons every now and then. Observing him as well, we can see that he has this positive attitude towards school so I guess we're on the right track here.

Hay, whoever said parenting was easy?

With these daily decisions, we just have to pray for wisdom and hope that everything turns up okay for our kids and their future!

kIdS' Schools

I remember not really being happy with the "schools" that were emerging a couple of years ago offering programmes to kids as young as, what, 6 months old? I remember telling my friend that I felt it was not really advisable that kids who are still not in the formal schooling age, start attending these so-called "play schools." The reason I mentioned was that when kids start too young, they tend to get tired and experience burn out even before they finish Year 6.

Well, I ate my words when I had Liam. I was actually surprised to find myself looking and checking out a number of schools when we moved here in Sydney. I felt that as an educator, I needed to maximize the time I have with my son. I felt that it was not healthy just staying at home almost the entire day. Another thing that made me eat my words is the fact that I learned and found out that these schools are really not the formal and traditional schools I grew up with. These schools make use of play as their main form of "instruction". And lastly, another big difference is that when I enrolled Liam to one of these schools, I was with him. I and my son bonded as he tried out the gym equipment, the musical instrument or when he sang songs. Maybe it would have been different if we stayed in Manila. Maybe, it would be the yaya or the Lolos or Lolas joining him in the sessions. But that is another story.

To make everything short and simple, I am thankful that these schools are here to give parents an asssitance to develop the skills of these little boys and girls without putting too much pressure on the kids. I am thankful that my son got to enjoy his Gymbaroo classes for two terms and hopefully he will also enjoy his Kindermusik sessions again with me or his Papa. I can only hope that all these opportunities to play, sing and learn along the way, will aid him as he prepares to face what is in store for him in the future.