How to tie hair bun for primary school girls with long hair

Are girls allowed to keep long hair in school? Depends on the school. Most schools do but require you to tie up the hair. If your child is attending SJKC, then you not only have to tie up the hair, you have to secure the hair into a bun. So how do you do this? If your child has been attending ballet classes, you may have done it before but otherwise, this is something new you have to learn to do daily till you become an expert.  Note that some schools may require you to write in to school for a reason if you wish your child to keep long hair. eg religious reasons or attending ballet classes for example. However, most primary schools allow it.

If your daughter who has long hair is starting school soon, you may have to consider one of these options it you do not wish to cut off her pretty long hair. 

1. Style 1. - Securing the hair with a hair clip hair bun

This is quite easy. All you need to do is tie the hair into a pony tail, then clip the hair clip slightly above your hair tie and gather the pony tail into the hair clip hair bun with net.

2. Style 2 - Making a hair bun with a hair styling sponge or foam 

This strip of foam surprisingly twists the hair into a bun with little effort. The foam is straight with a slit in the middle. You need to tie a pony tale, then push your hair through the slit, roll up all the way to the top and twist the hair all around into a bun. Watch the video from this seller here to see how it's done.

3. Style 3 - Using a hair net bun cover

For this style, you need to make a bun the traditional way first. To do that, you need to tie the hair into a pony tail, twist it into a bun and secure with hairpins and then keep the bun neat by using a hair net bun cover. 

4. Making a hair bun with a donut bun hair shaper

This involves tying your child's hair into a pony tail and using the donut bun hair shaper to shape the bun by pushing the donut shaper right to the top of the pony tail, pushing the hair all around it and securing it with hair pins. This seller has a video to show how this is done.

After looking at the pictures and videos, what do you think? Do you think you will be able to do this everyday or do you prefer girls just starting primary school to keep short hair?

Whichever method you select to tie a bun, when buying your clips and hair nets, make sure you select plain black. Some schools allow dark blue and the ribbons must not be too fancy. 

My thoughts on PT3, DLP, KSSM and Form 4 streaming

I have received a lot of private messages from parents as well as questions raised in the comments sections on our Malaysia Secondary School Parents Group on Facebook. Though I try my best to, sometimes I may miss out replying to some of these messages so I shall attempt to address some of the issues or questions raised in this post.
Firstly, the picture shows the Form 4 books for 2020 for a Science stream student. Well, there isn't supposed to be anymore streaming, but rather one can select "packages" to decide on the subjects one would like to take in Form 4. Reading into some of the comments in our group, it would seem that the packages are not easy to implement. Implementation is never easy. There's the problem of logistics and availability of teachers and classrooms and scheduling and all that. We won't go into that because that is not the purpose of this post. Anyway, we decided to take the safest route by selecting pure sciences to have more options for tertiary studies later on. Now back to the textbooks. Here are some things one can note just by looking at the textbooks. 1. DLP - Dual Language Programme

If you are doing DLP and in science stream. Most of what you will be sitting for in SPM is in English (see the top half of books, they are all in English, Math, Add Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English with the literature components (the four little books at the top right corner). This is good for those who is more comfortable speaking in English. It really helps. If your child is one of those, you should try your best to get into a DLP school. Note that not all schools run DLP school wide. Some open one or two classes, so you have to make sure you ask about the criteria of getting into those classes. Just because the school you are applying to is a DLP approved school does not necessarily mean your child will automatically get to do Math and Science in English unless the school is running it school wide. Note that, Arts stream students will be doing less subjects in English. The bottom half are those in BM including BM and the BM literature books (KOMSAS or Komponent Sastera), Sejarah, Moral and PJPK. PJPK is not tested in SPM. We also have Chinese but those not doing Chinese won't need that.

2. KSSM subjects: Asas Sains Komputer (ASK) and Rekabentuk dan Teknologi (RBT) This is another frequently asked question mainly by parents with children going into Form 1 in secondary school. The two subjects ASK and RBT are new subjects under the KSSM syllabus. Note that some schools offer students a choice to select either one of the two whereas some offer only one choice so you need to check with your school. Whichever it may be, once you start in Form 1, you carry on learning the subject till Form 3. It looks like ASK or RBT subjects are learned from Form 1 to Form 3 since there is no textbook for this in Form 4 as shown above. 3. PT3 This is another frequently asked question. Students from last year, 2019 will tell you that they are the first and final batch for PT3 changes. They are the first batch to do PT3 with a new structure and they are the last batch to do PT3 as a centralised exam. To answer some of the questions from parents, there will still be PT3 in 2020. However, it is no longer a centralised exam like UPSR or SPM. It will be a fully school based exam just like the mid term or year end examinations. There have been some sharing on social media on PT3 exam dates. Do not let that confuse you. Even if the dates were set to be the same for all schools, the exams is not a centralized one going forth starting from this year 2020. I also received some questions on how to study for PT3. Well, here are a few quick tips. Quick Tips for PT3 - Consistent study is necessary so instill a study habit in students early - When it comes to Science, one must be very specific, if you write off point, the mistakes you make will cancel off the parts which you got correct (within the same question) so memorize your keywords well - There will be essay like question in Sejarah. For these types of questions, especially KBAT (Kemahiran Berfikir Aras Tinggi) or HOTS (High Order Thinking Skills) questions, unlike Science, you can write as much as you know and your mistakes won't cancel out the right answer as long as you touched on it in your overall answer. - For the languages, English, BM and Chinese, one needs to practice reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. BM writing and BM Lisan are counted as two separate papers wheres the speaking and listening parts of English and Chinese are counted and included as one paper together with the writing test. There is no short cut for languages. One just has to read a lot to build vocabulary and practice consistently to improve writing skills. - For papers with projects, Geografi, Sejarah, ASK or RBT, just follow teacher's instructions and do them well. It will help as they are included in the overall subject marks. - Finally, practice makes perfect in Mathematics so get workbooks to do frequent practice.
I hope this answers some of the questions raised by parents by pm or in our FB group. Sorry I am unable to reply to each one individually.

Books for students to Revise, Practice, Assess and Reinforce Learning

As we wind down for the year 2019, some parents are starting to plan for the new academic year 2020 by buying  reference texts and even workbooks. There are so many options in the physical as well as online bookshops that while this means that we are fortunate to be so spoilt for choice, we can also be a little bit confused.

Which books to buy? There are revision books, topical practice books (according to textbooks topics), model test papers based on past year papers, memory cards etc.

This is where Oxford Fajar's Complete Study Solution come in handy. It is essential for students to practice repetitive revision by using various materials and study methods. You can use it as a buying guide to decide what types of books to buy at which stage.

The Oxford Fajar's Complete Study Solution

1. Revise Topics Learned at School.
It is recommended that at the start of school, you first select revision guides to help students REVISE. Revision guides help students to understand what they are learning at school with comprehensive notes. You can use this as a daily revision book to supplement or compliment school textbooks.

2. Practice, practice, practice!
Next, workbooks that help students go more in depth into each topic for further PRACTICE is useful to reinforce learning. These books come with exercises to help students explore each topic they have learned more thoroughly.

3. Assessment is necessary to prepare for exams
After revision and practices, it is time for assessment. Model test papers focusing on past year test papers are useful to prepare students for the next step in learning ie examinations. While Tahap 1 students ie P1 to P3 students are no longer tested at schools with exams to move away from an exam-oriented environment, it is still useful to have some sort of informal assessment at home to gauge if your child has understood what they have learned at school. Parents can get these mid-year and end of year assessments to ASSESS their knowledge at home in a safe, no exam pressure environment.

4. Reinforce with study notes
Oxford Fajar has study tools like memory booster cards to help students recall key topics of importance quickly at a glance. This is the last stage of workbooks required to REINFORCE learning before students sit for their school exams. They can be bought together with the Past Year papers or assessment workbooks to prepare for examinations.

Dear readers, we hope this post has helped you to see how workbooks are published with certain intent and purpose. Knowing this will help us to select the right kinds of books for every stage of learning from start of school to exam season.

This post was brought to you by Oxford Fajar Malaysia.

As before, we will be doing giveaways for lucky winners. This week 5 lucky winners will win a set each of revision books tailored for their child's level from Standard One to Form 5.

Join giveaway here. 

Back To School 2020 Promotions

Have you started your back to school shopping for 2020 yet? The school holidays may have just started but its not too early to start now as many retailers have started their back to school promotions.

Here's a quick look at some of the back to school shopping promotions from local retailers.

1. Back to School promo from Aeon Big (8 Nov - 31 Dec 2019)

There's a 20% discount for school uniforms from unform brands like Canggie, U-Cemerlang, MNK, Unggul and WHH School Classic Attire at Aeon Big. Note also that white shoes are now going cheap with just one more year to go before it is totally phased out in 2021. You can buy 2 pairs of white shoes for RM20 whereas a black pair starts from RM27 per pair. School bags are colourful and there is a big range from RM10.90 to RM188!

Download full Catalogue here: AEON Big Back To School National Catalogue

2. Back to School at Aeon until 5 Jan 2020

Aeon Retail sells Alpha Kids and Canggih brands of uniforms. You can find just about anything including short sleeve shirts, long sleeve blue shirts, long pants, short pants, pinafores, baju melayu at various prices. You can also find J-Kids brand of inner clothing for boys and girls. Bags selection are around RM39 to RM169 and mostly black shoes sold.

Besides uniforms, shoes and bags, you will need stationery, food containers, water tumblers. Do view the catalogue before you go shopping and circle some items that you have in mind to make shopping more organized and faster.

Download the full catalogue here: AEON Back To School Buying Guide

3. Parkson Back To School Exclusives

 

Uniform brands at parkson include Parkson School Shop and Canggih. Shoe brands include Bata, Pallas, Barbie and Hot Wheels. There are plenty of gift ideas for the little ones with coordinated bags and school stationery with famous cartoon characters.

Download the full catalogue here: Parkson Back To School Exclusives

4. Tesco School Shop (14 Nov - 4 Dec 2019)

A Star and Canggih uniform brands can be found at Tesco. Bag prices range from RM20 to RM200. As with the others, white shoes are going cheap. Note that the back to school promotion at Tesco ends on 4 December 2019.

Download the full catalogue here: Tesco School Shop - Beli Terus Senyum

Hope this compilation helps readers. Always be prepared with a list before you go shopping. Downloading the catalogue to compare prices is a quick way to do research before you spend. Circling the items you would like to get makes your back to school shopping more efficient without too much browsing and lingering around. The cashier lines can get rather long around this time of the year with holiday shopping as well.

Happy Shopping!

What Dictionary To Buy For My Child?

"What Dictionary To Buy For My Child" is one of the most frequently asked question in our Facebook group for parents with school going children.

Other FAQs on Dictionary include

• Which is better? e-dictionary or traditional dictionary?
• What dictionary to buy for SJKC kid?
• Can you recommend a good dictionary for Std 1, Std 2 and so on
• Do schools require a print dictionary? If so, what do you recommend?
• Can you recommend a good Chinese/BM/bilingual/trilingual dictionary?

There are many more FAQs like that in our group. It's a good thing too because parents realize that it is important to build up their children's vocabulary when learning languages. The best way to do that is with a dictionary.

Things you should note when looking for a dictionary and comparing between electronic or traditional dictionary.

1. Most schools currently do not allow children to bring e-dictionaries to school. It is expensive and may be stolen. It sometimes is loaded with some mini games which can be distracting to a student
2. Some teachers will recommend parents to buy traditional book dictionaries. The reason why teachers prefer traditional dictionaries is because they want children to have the skill to learn how to look up words in a dictionary. When you use a book dictionary to look up words, it will improve your spelling and lead you to learn more new words.

Traditional Dictionaries vs Electronic Dictionaries

While online digital dictionaries are gaining traction, a good print dictionary is still important in many classrooms and homes. Finding words in an alphabetical order helps with a child’s spelling. In addition, print dictionaries do not have ads! A child will be more focused and engaged in his learning when using print dictionaries

Children Dictionaries Vs Adult Dictionaries

Here's a tip! When buying dictionaries for students, you should look for children's dictionaries. For example, the Oxford dictionaries for children are compiled specially for children. They have age-appropriate entries that are not just abridge versions of adult dictionaries.

Children will benefit most from a dictionary that is specially written with an understanding of where they are in their development, and entries in the dictionary include the kind of language they will understand and can relate to. It will include terms they encounter at school that adults rarely have to use. 

Parents are doing the right thing in asking questions before buying dictionaries because the importance of choosing the right dictionary cannot be overstated.

This post was brought to you by Oxford Fajar Malaysia.

Special Giveaway for 5 Lucky Readers

Tell us the age of your child and Oxford Fajar will giveaway an age appropriate dictionary for your child.

Join Giveaway Here

Malaysia School Days and Holidays Calendar 2020

The Official "Takwim Persekolahan 2020" is out! Every year without fail, the  most anticipated and long awaited document as well as frequently asked question in our Facebook group is regarding school holidays. This year is no different.

When is the first day of school 2020?

When is the Chinese New Year holiday?

When is the school term holidays?

This is because parents plan way ahead for their vacation to save on costs. It is much cheaper to book flight tickets etc in advance.

Note that the School Calendar is normally released in two parts. Below is the first part.

Quick Summary of the School Days and Holidays Calendar 2020

First day of school for 2020 is 1st January 2020 (Wednesday) for Kumpulan A schools and 2nd January 2020 (Thursday) for Kumpulan B Schools.

Kids go back to school for 2 days and then  break for the weekend. That's nice because it gives them time to slowly get into or back into the routine of school.

Kumpulan A schools are schools which observe Friday and Saturday as the weekend. They are states of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

Kumpulan B schools are schools in Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka, Pahang, Sabah, Sarawak, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya

The term holidays are the same as before with a mid year break of 2 weeks in May/June 2020 and two shorter semester breaks  of approximately 1 week each in March 2020 and July 2020.

Below is the School Calendar 2020 from the Ministry of Education. You can download the "Takwim Persekolahan 2020" from here.

Here is the second part which is the Cuti Perayaan 2020 or Festive Holidays 2020. This is separate from the term holidays and are holidays during the major Festivals periods in Malaysia. You need to view both together for all the school holidays in Malaysia for 2020.

To answer the other frequently asked questions "When is the Chinese New Year Holidays?" which happens to be the first festive holiday, you can view the listing and summary below.

Summary of the first festive holiday in 2020 ie Chinese New Year school holidays

22 - 26 Jan 2020 (Kumpulan A) - Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu
23 - 27 Jan 2020 (Kumpulan B) - All other states including the Federal Territories

Back To School Shopping 2019

It's that time of the year again for back to school shopping! Our Facebook group: The Malaysia Primary School Parents Group is very active now discussing about school uniform brands, what type of school bags to buy, what colour shoes to purchase. We're all gearing up for Back To School 2019.

As with previous years, we noticed that most retailers will start their back to school promotion in mid November, carrying on end December or the first few days of January. We bring to you a summary of some of where you can download some of these back to school shopping brochures. We suggest that you view the brochures or download them so you can make a price comparison and shop smartly.  Links to the catalogues are provided for your easy reference.

Image Credit: Aeon Big, Parkson, Tesco, Mydin Catalogues with links as shown below.

Here you go, in no particular order.

1. Aeon Big - Keep Calm Back To School Promotion from 16 Nov to 31 Dec 2018

Here is the link to the 16 page AEON Big Back To School Brochure on everything back to school including school uniforms, school bags, school shoes, stationery, undergarments, and storage essentials for your home study area. There are no pdf downloadable brochure but you can view this online.

School uniform brands sold include Canggih, Unggul and U-Cemerlang with a 20% discount for Unggul and U-Cemerlang. Shoes include Asadi and Diadora Campus brands.

2. Parkson Malaysia Back To School Promotion 15 November 2018 to 1 January 2019

Parkson's Back To School Promotion runs from 15 November 2018 to 1st January 2019. According to the brochure, you will get 3X bonuslink points for all merchandise at Parkson's One Stop School Shop. You can view the brochure here. Parkson's Back To School Promotion Brochure

Below is an excerpt of the brochure which has many other items including school bags and stationery. There is quite a lot of shoe brands available from what I can see in the brochure.

3. Tesco Back To School Promo 15 Nov - 5 Dec 2018

We're surprised that the Tesco promotion ends on 5 December this year. The Tesco School Shop Catalogue has 24 pages in all. You can either choose to view it online or download the pdf version.

Uniform brands include Canggih, APlus, U-Cemerlang and Adam Hawa. What we like about the catalogue is the pricing is stated very clearly for each brand and the discounts available. Shoe brands include Pallas, Asadi and Diadora.

4. Mydin Back To School 15 Nov to 9 Dec 2018

Just like Tesco, the Back to School promo at Mydin ends in early December. You can either view the back to school brochure online or download the pdf version. Look for Back To School (Edisi Hypermarket Semenanjung) to view or download.

5. Aeon Retail Back To School Promo On Uniforms

We couldn't find any catalogue on Aeon Retail's site possibly because they are still winding up their early bird 15% off all school uniform deal which ends on 18 November 2018. The image below is taken from Aeon Retail's Facebook Page here.