What School Bag To Buy For Children Starting School In 2019

Every  year without fail we have parents talking about school bags! What brand of bag to buy? What type of bag to buy? When to buy a school bag? Trolley bag vs backpack. Size of school bag, weight of school bags. How many school bags. You name it. We talk about everything. The discussion usually starts around October to December.

However, this year I noticed the discussion has started much earlier ie in August! Perhaps it is because we will have a huge intake next year with dragon babies starting school in 2019! Due to the high demand for discussion, we are starting our 2019 school bag discussion thread earlier this year.

It is our dream to see happy kids with light loads like this. We even did a day to day measurement of our children's loads to compare weights and many parents even came up with novel ideas to lighten the load including "dissecting" the textbook into many parts.

Hopefully, in 2019, we will no longer see scenes like this. Subject periods have been reduced to no more than 3 a day in an attempt to reduce the load.

Hopefully, kids will also not be required to carry so many bags to school next year. This is something many children had to do to distribute the weight. Sometimes, when they have to carry extra co-curricular uniforms, projects, artwork etc to school along with their few bags, they look like they are going to an outstation trip!

Anyway, though we always have lots to say about bags, we will stop here and let the parents take over on the school bags 2019 discussion thread. Feel free to join us. If you are not a member of our group, apply now to join and network with 28000 parents.

10 Reasons Why Your Should Hug Your Baby And Older Children Daily

A Hug A Day Makes Your Stress Go Away.

Hugs make you happy. It is warm and sweet and chases our daily stress away. You should practice giving one minute hugs everyday. Not a quick hug and let go but hug and then count for one minute and just enjoy the warm, wonderful feeling. Do this for every member of your family especially the baby. Baby and you will both benefit from this precious and joyful moment.

Here Are 10 Reasons Why Your Should Hug Your Baby And Older Children Daily

1. Children Grow Up Too Quickly

In the blink of an eye, your newborn is a toddler, then a preschooler, a primary school child, secondary school student and before you know it, they have left the nest so cherish every moment you have with them now.... with a one minute hug!

2. Hugs Promote Bonding

Hugs promote bonding. Any form of touch, in particularly hugs promote bonding. What better way to communicate with our babies and children than through hugs which promote bonding without even a need to say a single word. That is the power of a hug. Next time you feel like shouting at the baby or  kids, give them a hug instead.

3. Hugs Make Babies And Kids Feel Secure

"It's okay. Mummy is here." That's what you are saying when you give your baby and kids a hug. Hugs make babies and kids feel safe and secure. It gives them a sense of peace and security, a knowledge of knowing that you are close and always there to support them. In fact, it makes you feel secure too.

4. Hugs Help Your Baby Sleep Better

What better way to sleep than to be snuggled and patted to sleep. That's what babies love the most. Don't be in too much of a hurry to let them cry it out and learn to sleep on their own. They need you. You can't spoil a baby or child with too much love.

5. Hugs Are Calming

You have had a difficult day. You struggle with lack of sleep. Your baby or kid is acting up again. What do you do? Why not give them a hug. It will help calm you down and give you a minute to recollect and calm yourself down from the situation. Not only that, hugs work the other way around too. They calm the little person being hugged too.

6. Hugs Is A Way Of Expressing Love

Hugs is a universal way of expressing love. How do you feel when you are hugged? Do you feel tensed and annoyed or do you feel happy and loved? You will feel loved without a doubt and when you hug your loved one, you are telling them that you love them and they will feel it too.

7. Hugs Are Nurturing And Natural

Hugs are something instinctive and natural to us. We hug because we are nurturers. To "hold back a hug" because you are too angry or to "forget to hug" because you are too busy is not natural. Next time, you are angry or busy, stop what you are doing or the anger you are feeling by doing the one minute hug. Count up to 60 to hug for a minute.

8. Hugs Help You Relax

Hugs help you relax so give your kids a hug after a hard day's work. You will feel happy and relaxed immediately. They will feel happy to be hugged by you and look forward to that daily after work hug. So will you!

9. Hugs Reduces Anxiety

When sending your babies to babysitters or toddlers to daycare, a hug before you leave and a hug as soon as you see them again helps reduce their anxiety about being apart from you. It tells them that you will always be there for them and dispel their fears and separation anxieties.

10. Hugs Is About Giving And Receiving

When you hug you are giving and receiving at the same time. It is the same for the person being hugged and hugging you back. The act of hugging is like a gift. You give a little piece of  yourself and your warmth to the little person you are hugging and you receive a gift in return. A gift of warmth as the person welcomes you into their arms and hugs you back. Hugs makes you both feel closer.

FAQ on Std 1 2019 Intake Application Results and Appeal

Do you have a dragon baby going to standard one in 2019? If so, you must be feeling excited and maybe a little bit anxious about the results of your standard one application for the 2019 intake.

The results come out today 1st August 2018 and as always, discussion start from 12 am as parents start congratulating each other, finding and making new friends who will be going to the same schools. There are also some who seem totally confused on how to check for the Std 1 2019 application results or how to make an appeal if their choice of school is rejected. This post is for you.

Below are some of the issues parents face when checking results. We compiled it here to make it easier to refer to. This post is work in progress and we will update it as we go along and receive more information from parent.

FAQ by parents checking for Std 1 2019 Intake Application Results

1. Where to check for the results? 
Go here to check for the results of your application online. https://public.moe.gov.my/

2. I applied for 2020 intake. Are my results out now? 
If you have applied for 2020 intake, relax, your results will be out in August 2019.

3. The online portal is not working.
This is probably due to heavy traffic at the time you were checking. Try again later.

4. No school is listed under the "Sekolah Ditempatkan". What should I do?

Try different browsers, try mobile instead of desktop etc. If all else fails, contact the e-daftar officers or  call up the school you applied for, inform them that you have a blank page and ask the school to check whether your child has been placed in the school and advice on what to do next.

5. If the school of your choice is listed, what's next?

The online process is incomplete until you go to the school for confirmation of your placement.

Click "Semakan", then click "Pengesahan Penempatan" followed by "Cetak Surat".  You will then see the message shown in the picture below.

Print out the document and bring to the school along with your child's birth certificate for verification. Some schools may require you to bring other documents not listed below (eg. your child's vaccination records)  so please check with the school first to avoid having to run back and forth due to incomplete documents. (Also see 6 below)



6. I got the school we applied for. What documents do I need to bring to school?

Note that some schools appear to require you to bring different documents. Best thing to do is to call up the school or check the school's website or Facebook pages. For example, we checked the SJKC Kuen Cheng 2 Facebook page and found the following which is useful as a reference.



Below is the letter of instruction from SJKC Puay Chai as found on their website.

6. I need to appeal, what should I do?

The online appeal process is incomplete until you go to the school to confirm your appeal.

Read the "Manual proses Permohonan Rayuan Sekolah" (See the link in blue in the picture below. Click on it when you are in the portal to view the latest manual proses permohonan rayuan sekolah. The link above we provided was shared by parents from previous years, so do go to the link provided in the portal for the latest one)
Click on "Pengesahan Penempatan", then you will see a red link for "Rayuan".
Click on the red "Rayuan" button and complete the form.
Finally, print out the document and bring to the school which you have been placed to confirm your appeal.
The period of appeal is between 1st August 2018 to 30 September 2018.

7. When will the results of my appeal be out?
You can expect the results of your appeal around November 2018.

8. I got the school we applied for but I wish to cancel. What should I do?
If you changed your mind, for example, you wish to cancel because you are now sending your child to private school, there have been cases where parents just ignore and proceed to the private school. However, the responsible thing to do is to print out your approval documents, go to the school to do verification and then inform the school of your cancellation so that the school can now allot your place to another child in the waiting list.

If you wish to change to another school not within the same state, you will not be able to appeal online because the school will not appear in your appeal list. You may have to go to the school that you have been placed to do verification and then inform them that you wish to do a transfer then check with the school for the procedure.

9. Others 

If you have other questions not answered in this FAQ, go to this thread on our Facebook group to ask your questions. Parents going currently going through the results and appeal process will be able to assist if they have completed any of the process required for verification, appeal and cancellation.

Good Luck to all parents. Hope that you are placed in the school of your choice!

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