New School Year Resolutions

In another 3 days, school will be over for 2014. Time flies. Next year will be full of changes for us with one going to secondary school in the afternoon session and another promoted to a higher class in Std 5 which translates to more work and pressure from teachers.

Just as we make resolutions for the new year, I think it is a good idea to make new resolutions for the new school year. So for next year 2015, my new school year resolutions are...

For the girl:

1. To encourage her to continue to do well in her studies. It makes her feel proud of herself which increases her confidence
2. To help her foster meaningful friendships. She has been unfortunate to be the subject of bullying and being shun by peers for most of her primary school years from Std 3 to Std 6. This has damaging effects on her self esteem and self worth. She feels sad most of the time, says sorry and hopes everyone will forgive her and be friends with her again even though she did not do anything wrong. Being shun by a few who encourage others to avoid her made her into a loner which then makes her an even easier target for bullying. It pains me to see her affected like that. I will try my best to get her out of this. I don't know why they started to pick on her in the first place but it has an escalating effect with everyone joining in the "fun" of socially excluding her from everything. Despite several attempts by the teacher to stop this, it only stops for a while and then they are back at it again.
3. Help her improve her English now that she is out of Chinese school and less focused on Chinese subject. 
4. Teach her to be more well mannered at home.
5. Encourage her to smile more.
6. Allow her to develop in other areas eg, her piano etc

For the boy:

1. Help him improve his Chinese so he can catch up with all his subjects
2. Remind him not to be sloppy in everything that he does
3. Teach him to be more mindful and less forgetful
4. Remind him to eat well and choose nutritious food over junk food
5. Make sure he stays happy always like he is

I hope our New School Resolutions come true. Will come back in a year to see if there has been improvement in these areas.

These are my New School Resolutions for my children. What are yours? If you haven't made any before, now is a good time to take stock and think about what you would like for them in the coming school year.