Motivation to Learn

My girl has always hated computer lessons. She has computer classes once a week in school. She always complains about the lessons and how afraid she is of it. She has been complaining since last  year. I thought that it was because of the teacher but this year she continued to complain even with a new and different teacher. The night before computer lessons she would complain that computer lessons will ruin her day etc etc.

Then yesterday she came home with a sheet of paper which said "Your child has been selected blah blah blah" to attend some computer course and exam. Enrollment fee or exam fee is RM40. I thought nothing of it. A lot of times, she comes home with brochures like this. "Your child has been selected....." Fees = ..........."

I told her that everyone probably got a brochure and she is not attending because she has no time for extra classes. Besides the exam is supposed to be in July and that may clash with her piano exam. So we will not pay any extra money to do something which we have no time for.

She was very disappointed. "But mummy, I was chosen. Only 5 of us were chosen." I called the teacher to get more information. The teacher said that the "course" will be done during computer lesson periods in school and she does not have to go anywhere to sit for the "exam". It will also be held during school computer lessons and if cannot complete can carry forward to the next week. Teacher said she selected her because she is one of the few who can usually manage to complete given work in class.

Since no extra time is required, we agreed to let her join. She was very happy. Last night she took out her computer book and read it as a bedtime story! This morning she was reading the book at breakfast. She brought the book to read after wearing shoes and waiting for daddy to get ready. Then she brought the book to school to read in between lessons when she has free time.

I think it is a rip off but hopefully the RM40 will make her overcome her fear and negative feelings towards computer classes.

Her Art

I keep most of the pictures and craft done by the kids. I love all of them because each one brings me back to a moment in time. Each one tells a different story. I store them in big folders and that reminds me, I should get some clear holders to keep some of the smaller ones.I also keep little things that they make and fold for me, little cards and messages. (Now you know where my little Ms Hoarder got her habit from). My girl is a hoarder. She keeps most things that she likes, stickers, little notebooks, etc etc. I have to get her to clear her drawers and files every now and then.

Here are a couple of drawings from Little Miss Hoarder. :)

The story behind this one: "Mummy, I saw my friend drawing the girl's eyes closed like this. It looks very nice, so I copied. Does this mean I can't be an artist because an artist has to be original?"

The story behind this one: This is her first black and white picture (because it hasn't been completed, not coloured in yet but I like it this way.) She sat and drew what she saw for this one. "Mummy, this is my first real scene drawing. Do you like my trees mummy, do you like my trees?"

Each drawing has its own special moment for us. I can't bear to throw any of them away. For the record, both of these were drawn at age 8+. I am sure I will not remember if I don't record this down. A brilliant idea just came to me. Next time, I will write the date and age behind each drawing and craft that I keep so that I can remember it and show it to them when they grow up.

The kids do not attend any art class because of lack of time and money resource. To make up for it, I try to do crafts with them whenever I can. I also encourage them to draw and send in their drawings for contests. When reading books and looking at pictures, I would point out to them how others colour, the shading, the shadows, the perspective and lo and behold, they do pay attention and would try to do it on their own when they draw and colour. "Look mummy, I did shading/shadows for this!" Sometimes I also show them YouTube videos on how to use oil pastels etc. That is the cheapest art lesson of all. Observation, Imagination and Exploration.

Linus Test for Standard 1 Students

Yesterday my boy sat for his Linus test under the Program Linus (Program Literasi dan Numerasi). Well, at least that is what I presume.

"Mummy, I had test today. Chinese and Malay test. My friends from other classes had two tests too."

His friends said it was Maths and Malay test. When I asked him about it, he said....

"No lah it is Chinese test."

When I pressed him about it, saying that it should be Maths test, he said.

"Oklah. Oklah. Its Maths and Malay test lah!"

Gulp! He doesn't even know what test he sat for. Lets hope he passes it.

I first learned about the Linus test when I went to the school to get his birth certificate stamped by the school. I was given 2 pages for my kid yet to enter school kid to study to sit for a test in February. February came and went and nothing happened.

My boy was quite sick and missed school for the whole of February. When I asked the teacher about it she said soon because they are attending a meeting about it. Later on, I received a notice from the school with some dates on it. I didn't quite understand it.

In it was written Saringan 1, 2 blah blah, Kohort 1, 2 whatever.. and some start and end dates. It looks something like this but less detailed. So now, he has sat for the test and I didn't even know about it and neither did he. I have been teaching him some Maths and BM on and off. Maths is not a problem. It is the Malay I am worried about. I have no idea what the syllabus is so how to prepare for it? I only heard some horrible tales about how hard it is for SJKC students etc.

With hindsight I was able to check the internet and discovered that the written examination for the Linus 2011 for Standard 1 is sometime from 1 April to 8 April whereas the oral test is around 28 Feb to 31 Mac. However when I asked my son whether he had to read to teacher, he has no idea.

Anyway, its over now. Lets see how he fares.

I am the leader, you are the follower

My girl being the older of the two is always telling my boy what to do and the boy will follow along happily.  Quite often when she suggests something while they are playing or drawing, he will follow along quite happily.

On the other hand, if he suggests something, usually she will start to complain to me that he is asking her to do something that she does not want to do. I guess it is also because of their age. She is interested in different things whereas he is keen to follow in her footsteps.

Anyway, the other day, she drew this........

and then she suggested that he draw this........

Sometimes I wonder if the first child make better leaders?

Of time tables and routines

The little one loves to play computer games. Each day he would pester me to let him play. The other day, tired of his pestering, I drew up a time table. In it, I listed down all the activities we had to do for the day, including meal times with a time for playing computer games clearly written down.

He was very pleased with his time table indeed. He did all the work that was required according to the time allocated on the time table. Next day, he requested for the time table again... just so he could see the time allotted for playing games. Haha.

I showed him the entire week's time table. Playing computer games is slotted for Thursdays. So he won't pester me every day. lol.

Here is the self portrait of the little boy who likes to play computer games. :) For the record, this picture is drawn on 30th March 2011, one month short of his 7th birthday. It was drawn 5 minutes before bedtime. :)