An Eventful Month

Never thought that we could be this busy in November. Somehow or rather, we had scheduled event week after week.

First it was Charlotte's 6th birthday! We first had a small celebration among family members. It is always the case, that Charlotte will celebrate her birthday at least 2x, sometimes 3x. The highlight was the birthday party we did for her and her friends. It was kind of tricky to plan for her birthday party this year. We wanted an outdoor play but it was raining season. Pat and I hesitated for quite a bit and we only sent out birthday party invitation at the very last minute.

We organized a park-&-pool session at our new home, only few friends are invited, they are obviously the special someone named by Charlotte. The kids enjoyed themselves in the water before we adjourned to a restaurant nearby. Let the pictures speak for itself...

Follow up by Charlotte's Graduation Ceremony. The ceremony was a very organized and solemn event that I ever seen of any children's event. The message sent out from this ceremony wasn't much about concert and performance but it carried a very meaningful reminder to all, to be grateful and respectful to parents. I hope Charlotte builds her foundation with these good values and carries them with her through her growing.    

Then it was school holidays! Since Abby is still too young to travel with us, we had to leave her behind and we just embarked on the nearest adventure - Universal Studio Singapore!

Our First Letter Exchange

About a month ago, I received a notice from Charlotte’s school that they are introducing post office, stamps, letter and etc in the coming week and we were asked to write a letter to our child and mail it the conventional way to the school address. I was excited as I think the kids will be excited too when they received the letter from their parents this way.

We were asked to keep the letter short, but take this opportunity to express our feelings, expectations, hopes and wishes through this letter. I think this is good as being an Asian, we are not as open and direct when confronting with our feelings and emotion with our loved ones. And I needed this opportunity share my feelings with Charlotte and how things have changed with Abigail’s arrival.

My letter to Charlotte:

亲爱的宣宥,

你知道吗 你是妈妈最宝贝的宝贝? 你是一个很乖, 也很贴心的孩子. 妈妈很欣慰, 也很疼你. 我都会把最好的给你, 用的, 吃的, 穿的, 包括时间和精神. 希望你能健康和快乐的成长.

妹妹出世之后, 家里大大小小的事多了不少. 妈妈也因为要照顾妹妹而很可能有多少忽略了你. 对不起! 但是妈妈还是很爱你的, 希望你会懂事. 你和妹妹都是妈妈的宝贝, 妈妈两个都爱, 两个都疼.

你今年六岁了! 明年你就要升上小学一年纪了. 妈妈最担心的是在学校功课, 饮食, 样样都必须自己负责. 妈妈希望你能学得更自立, 至少在家里能开始学习吃饭和喝奶都不需要再喂就好了! 宣宥 要加油哦!

妈妈爱你!  

Few weeks later, they have an expedition, going to the post office! And I knew what’s coming although nothing was announced by the school. However, Charlotte was very cute and she can’t keep the secret (or maybe she was not told that it suppose to be a secret). She told me that I should expect her letter, in green color envelope J .

One day, I was late from work and she called. She said “Mommy, can you please quickly come home? My letter is here!” J Of course I made my way home at the soonest and she eagerly passed me the letter and asked me to read it!

She wrote:

亲爱的爸爸妈妈
我爱你们
我也爱可宥
可宥是我的好可宥
宣宥上

There was no punctuation on each sentence, and I don't know why the paper was so broken. I think she must be trying to decorate it using a shaped scissors (see the edge of the paper) and that's how it turned out. 可宥 is Abigail's chinese name but she wrote it wrongly (oops!) and the characters on the letter were she and Abigail. The envolope was nicely decorated (I didn't know that it is allowed, haha!), Mr Postman must be amuzed when he delivered it.

Little Kids, Big Heart

Last year Charlotte's school organized a "charity restaurant" which the children cooked and served lunch for parents and friends. They did the same thing this year and the theme was to love the earth, "大手小手爱地球" and the money collected will be donated as the Pakistan flood aid.

This event lasted for 3 days, each day for the respective grade (4yrs old, 5yrs old and 6 yrs old) to have a chance to be a waiter/waitress to serve while be in the kitchen as little chef for the other 2 days. Last year didn't know what to expect I attended the event myself. I felt it was very meaningful after the event and hence I invited both side of Charlotte's grandparents this year to join me, except daddy as daddy is away in Europe.

Before the arrival of guests, the kids line up in front of the porch awaiting for their love ones. They were all very excited and very well prepared (they had a week of intensive training).

The event started with an introduction by a 6 years old, sharing the Pakistan flood tragedy and how much pollution human being had created to the earth. It was a very simple narrative but yet very real and touching. I had a hard time controlling my tears from dropping down. Maybe preggers are more emotional anyway...

It was then followed by a song presentation.

We were then being seated at the "restaurant" and the kids started their role and showed us what they have learn from the past week.

First, it was a cold towel presentation.

Then it was order taking and making recommendation. (Charlotte did a good job in recommending, in fact, we didn't have enough and went back for the 2nd round the next day!)

Preparing the table...

Start serving... 

I went back the next day noon knowing that it will be Charlotte's turn to be in the kitchen as chef and took some pictures. I am really impressed once again by the commitment, passion, patience, love and care of the Tzu Chi organization and all the teachers and helpers at the school to train and manage the little one in the kitchen. I know I don't have the patience when Charlotte asked to help out in my kitchen. To me, she will only make the matter worse, make my kitchen dirtier, take longer time to complete what I want to complete and etc. I really respect the dedications that all the school personnel and volunteers had shown.

The school prepared smaller and lower desks and individual stove for the little chef to cook. The "restaurant" has Western, Chinese and Japanese menus, hence their workstations were divided into the respective theme and the little chef were positioned at their respective station and get busy!

The kids were well taught, aside from having fun they too fully understand the message that they want to send through this event. We were told to do 5 simple things in life to help save the earth:
1. 省电 (don't waste electricity)
2, 省水 (don't waste water)
3. 吃素 (be a vegetarian, don't slaughter)
4. 少用交通工具 (cut down usage on transportation, walk if possible)
5. 多用环保餐具 (use recyclable container)
 
Although this school is not as acedemically advance compared to most of the kindergarten in town, we appreciate that our children are properly taught with the right value in life. We believe this will bring them a long way.

 

Food

I blogged about how picky Charlotte was as a young eater, it took a lot of creativity and patience to make her eat and drink (milk). Good food, healthy food, junk food, snacks, deserts almost nothing attracted her back then. I know many parents have to stop or restrain their kids when comes to the famous McD french fries, but Charlotte would just stop after couple of bites. Same goes for ice-cream, what do you think when you talk about vege, protein and bla bla bla...?

But, she is a much much better eater now. Her school serves vegetarian food everyday, and she is eating like a pro but of course she still tells me "I don't want vege" at home sometimes. Well, I think that's normal for kids. Her school is campaigning vegetarian month for the month of May. The idea is to educate people about "no meat, no slaughtering". They are having various program teaching the students about vegetarian food, bringing to them to the wet market, show & tell, and offering food packs. We were told to feel free to order dinner packs for our family for the entire month of May, and it is FOC! They are also offering lunch packs for weekends. This is the extra miles they go to encourage people to believe in no meat, no slaughtering.

I order 2 dinner packs for weekdays (I don't have to cook dinner for the entire month, yay!). It has been 2+ weeks and I have to say the dinner packs are very good. Everyone in the family loves it!

Without us realizing it, we have been doing something quite routinely lately. When Pat is home early and I don't have night meeting we usually head out to Baskin Robbins for some sweet treats. Last night we did it again. Charlotte and I usually share a 2-scoop sundae and Pat has one to himself. Last night, Charlotte chose Orange Sherbet and I chose Manga Tango. She told me "Mommy, you eat yours and I eat mine". I didn't quite understand what she was trying to say and so she went on "you cannot eat mine la!" *LOL*

Self Entertained...

I was very busy with work related stuff this evening and I did not have time to keep Charlotte companied. So I gave her a piece of paper and she started to "work" on it. It was a rather long and quiet moment. When I finally finished with my work I walked over to her desk and saw this...




She did the spelling on her own, I corrected her on "abang" which she wrote "BANG". I recognize the flowers that she drew but I asked her what is that little mountain thingy, she said those are crowns, and the 2 objects right on top of her name are "birds" (LOL)!

Farewell!

Back dated post.

Last Friday marked the last day of school year 09, Charlotte's school organized a farewell party for the children and some of us were invited. I didn't plan to attend initially as the party will start at 3.3opm but it was a rather busy workweek for me. However, my laptop started to playing tricks on me around 3.00pm, the virus scan and patch update had required me to restart my machine repeatedly. What made it worst was I had "blue screen" every time I restart my machine. I gave up after the 4th time and I decided to join the farewell party at Charlotte's school instead. It was 3.50pm when I left office.

When I arrived at the school, I saw the children were all wearing balloon hats and gathered at the hall. There were food ready to be served as well and I was told that the children will have performance too! I ran towards my house and grabbed my camera and headed to the school again just in time for the opening.

There were song presentations, with sign language and appreciation token presentation to the volunteers and parents whom contributed to the school, participated in the activities and helped out throughout the year. No discrimination, no playing favorites, everybody gets to participate, give and receive.

I received a token of appreciation too, and a nice warm hug from this boy! (I think he was a bit shy to hug a stranger )

Then it was food! Those were all from the volunteers and parents contributed (I went empty handed, shame on me). Some older kids were asked to help serving, the younger ones gets to eat first. Teachers, parents, and volunteers were all there assisting the children as necessarily without being asked. I was really impressed and pleased to see everyone practise the values that they taught, it was shown in action!

I was just talking to some friends a couple weeks back about what a pity that Charlotte's school don't organize year end concert like all the other kindergartens or daycare centers do. (They don't encourage birthday party at school either) After this event, I found what the school did was rather meaningful, in just a short 1.5hour session, no fancy costumes, no adult make-ups, no additional cost incurred and yet all of us gained some kind of values and learning from that session. Simple, yet successful!

Lastly, the school had a set of "graduation souvenir" for all the 6 years old children. It was all handmade, paperscrap, with pictures and diary inside this box! It was made with heart and love!

Education + Charity

This is a back dated post but it is so memorable that I want to make sure that it is recorded.

I had a lunch invitation by Charlotte's school on the 18th Sept (all parents were invited). It was not a free meal but the money earned was donated to help the victims from the recent typhoon disaster in Taiwan. The response is always good anything for charity purpose, more so when we were told that we will be served by our kid.

I had no idea what that was about until we reached the school. I went with Ann and we were greeted by warm welcoming song from the 4yr old and our child welcomed us and lead us to the hall where the transformation was miracle!

Immediately, I was presented with a menu and Charlotte asked politely "妈妈，我可以帮你点餐吗?" (mama, may I take your order?) and she took out the order sheet and started to mark my order. She even helped to explain what's on the menu. I could tell that they had been through a very good training and were so ready to play the role.

The menu prepared was very professional (and the actual serving looked as presented on the menu picture!)

Then she left to the kitchen and prepare the food. I cannot imagine how the teachers managed to plan, organize, train, and execute all the details with young children like them. There must be a lot of patience and love throughout the whole preparation period.

Shortly after, I saw Charlotte came out from the kitchen, holding a tray full of food and she was very careful when bringing me my order. (By the way, she never bring me even a cup of water at home and I was definitely impressed seeing her delivery with a full tray of food).

But we (Ann and I) presented with different delivery from what we ordered, and we were served more than what we ordered! (Ha!) But we happily accepted everything placed on our table. We had Italian (spaghetti), Japanese (sushi set), scramble egg and mushroom soup, rojak!

This was the Japanese set I got, with tempura, miso soup, and sushi rolls. Prety impressive huh?

Then I was sharing this special moment with almost everyone in the family, MIL was practically amazed and regretted the she wasn't there.

I really can't imagine the amount of preparation, training, explanation, love and passion from the teachers to pull off this event and I honestly very thankful and appreciate all those effort.

Recently, I received an email in my mailbox with hyperlinks to some of those videos that they took, during the preparation, and during the event. That answered all the question marks I had on how they managed to get 4-6 yr old children to do all that. Hope you'll find it interesting too...

Video clip #1:

http://www.daai.com.my/movie/player.php?movie=mnews/up_20090918_BL_AiXinCanTing&news=mnews

Video clip #2

http://www.daai.com.my/movie/player.php?movie=mnews/up_20090918_BL_HeartyRestaurant2&news=mnews

Celebrating Merdeka

Two weeks ago Charlotte's school sent out a notice that they were going to have a week of Merdeka celebration and we were told to let the kids wear the traditional attire to school on the 17th-19th, Indian theme on Monday, Malay theme on Tuesday and Chinese theme on Wednesday. And on the 21st (Friday) we get to choose either one theme and let the kids wear to school before school holiday starts. That means, shopping! Yes, we had to shop for the Indian and Malay costumes and rest assured that we have already several to choose from for Chinese costume.

I had no idea where to get Indian costume until one find day I suddenly thought of Little India in Penang! So I told Pat to bring us there on Saturday morning and I shopped from one shop to many other just to look for an appropriate costume for children. I originally wanted the a Punjabi suit, with pants for bottom but Charlotte is quite petite and it was difficult to get a suit which the top and bottom fits just nice. So I bought a suit with a skirt as matching bottom and what do you know? It looked pretty nice on Charlotte!

It was not as challenging to find a Malay costume as getting the Indian's. I just went to a nearby mall and got her a sweet pink Baju Kurung. I was surprised to see that Charlotte looked just like a sweet next door Malay girl after putting on this suit.

This is my little girl in 3 different costumes...I think she looks really stunning and cute! *bias comment*

I didn't have a chance to peek at the school of what was going on with all the children dressed up (all the teachers were also in the same theme everyday!!!) as my new job was just picking up and need a lot of time to settle down. However, I was lucky to spot them when I was on my way to work on Friday morning. I had a morning teleconference on Friday morning and when I was leaving for office was about 10+am. As I was driving out from my house, I saw all of them were coming out from the school ready for the Merdeka "parade" around the residential area. Being a kiasu mother, I turned back and took my camera just to put up on this post :p

(I knew they were going to have the parade as I observed this exact same routine last year. I was working from home back then and I was thrilled to see the "parade" when I found out what were all those noise came from. Charlotte was with another school back then)

Charlotte was very happy and excited when she saw me. She was partnering with her best friend Chloe.

Oh, if you are wondering why were they celebrating Merdeka in advance is because school holiday falls on 24-30th Aug.

Good job to all the teachers and helpers for making this happened!

Another Bit More

Yeah, I posted the last post a little too soon. When I went to pick up Charlotte from school last Friday, I saw every kid was holding on a white color box in their hand. Charlotte had one too and it was a coin box given by the fire department!

Charlotte's teacher ran out to me and said she went to the fire department and presented the scrapbook pictures to them and in return they gave a coin box to every students in that school. She also said that they got several big size posters as well as other souvenirs like apron and stuff :)

A Little Bit More About The Fire Drill...

Remember the fire drill post? I am very glad that I had a chance to keep the memory more real rather than just post about it without having to show any pictures.

The school took some pictures on that event (it was blogged here) and the pictures were posted on the notice board at the school. Early this week, I was asked to do a simple paper scrap as they would like to give it to the fire department as a token of appreciation. (Actually, I have been doing paper scrap for the school for quite some time already. I volunteered myself to the teachers that I can help out in this area (not that I am especially good at doing it) as I do keep quite a lot of scrapbooking tools and accessories).

Hope you get a better picture of how was the fire drill event from these pictures too...

My little shorty gets to enjoy a real close view...

You'll Be Amused

Chloe, Charlotte's classmate, our neighbour, Ann's daughter. Don't know since when, Chloe has gotten very comfortable with me (which I am very glad) and decided to have me walk her home sometimes. We live just diagonally opposite each other, about 4 units away. Charlotte and Chloe have become good friends, they walk home together everyday, they go to ballet class together every Saturday, they visited each other's house once in awhile and they went for movie too!

One very interesting thing that they do every evening walking home is the way they say goodbye to each other. We will arrive at Chloe house first when we walk from school. Chloe and Charlotte always say goodbye to each as we hand over Chloe to her grandma and Charlotte and I will walk home. Chloe and Charlotte will then "shout" goodbye REPEATEDLY as we walk towards our house :) Sometimes Chloe's grandma walks her home and if she reaches home first she will then stands at the front porch, waiting for Charlotte. They will then say the goodbye in a proper manner before the game starts :)

It has been going on like this for quite some time now and I didn't think much of that. Sometime last week, daddy was home early and he heard the shouting goodbye way before Charlotte reaches home. He was very amused and asked me why they did that. I thought it was fun and I thought it was nothing harmful as the 2 of them found a fun game for themselves, which is also unique for their friendship.

Now that daddy brought it up, me too find it amusing as I listen to them, watching them play this game almost everyday. You'll be amused too if you hear them :)

It's good to have friends around, isn't it?

Fire Drill

Back dated post...

As usual. we get updates and news on coming activity notice every Friday. A few weeks back, I read that they will be conducting a fire drill exercise for the kids, mainly to share with them what to expect, what needs to be done, who to call and etc. I didn't think much of this activity so I signed the notice and totally forgot about it.

One morning, I came back from morning market and saw a fire engine parked right out side of the school. My heart sunk for a moment and very fast all the bad thoughts flashed in my mind. Then I remembered they mentioned about fire drill training! That was it! They actually called the fire department! I slowed down a little as I passing by the school and I saw there was at least 6 pairs of firefighter boots at the front porch. I couldn't wait to listen to the story when Charlotte came home that day.

The school did a very good introduction and fire drill training for the kids that day. There was a real action where a firefighter showing the children how they put off the fire at the back of the school, how the firefighter rescuing the children (I saw pictures where a firefighter was carrying a student down from the room upstairs), the introduction of the fire engine and etc.

As I was talking to Charlotte about that fire drill, I referred to the fire engine as "救火车" but Charlotte corrected me and said "it's not 救火车 la mommy, it's 消防车!". I knew she did pay attention then :)

Thanks For Sharing

I started blogging in year 2006 when I met a group of dedicated mothers at work and we decided to start a play group for our little ones as they are all about the same age. Most of them have started blog for their child and I learnt from them how to start one, and here I am! I am thankful to the people I met as I learn directly or indirectly from all of you and I am even more thankful to the blogging world that the sharing of experiences, knowledge and encounters seem never end. Of course, one will have to be able to differentiate and choose what is right from wrong as there are also many junks out in the worldwide web (www).

Recently I picked up baking again, and it seems therapeutic although I am already multi-tasking to a great extend! Thanks to Angie sharing this very interesting cookies recipe and lead me to another new site that I will never missed it again!

This was my 2nd time baking it. I did the first time a week before and both Charlotte and I were all excited. She helped me making the doggie dough and surprisingly she helped through the entire portion! She even sat in front of the oven waiting for it to be ready! Got too excited and I forgot to snap a picture. Last week, we did it again. Charlotte’s 姐姐 gave her a card last Friday and she held it so dearly to her. I asked her what did she wants to give to her 姐姐 and she said the “doggie cookies”! So here we did it again!

I put them in 2 small airtight containers, one for her 姐姐 and another for her 哥哥. I put a princess sticker on her 姐姐’s container and Charlotte chose a tigger sticker for her哥哥. Off she went to school with one container on each hand. I can see and even feel her excitement that day!

Charlotte dear, you are such a darling! Thanks for sharing!

Buddy System

Charlotte's school started the "buddy system" about one month back, they call it "小天使家族" where the elder student will be the younger student's buddy.

This is the picture of Charlotte's buddy. I'm not sure about the boy in the picture, but the big 姐姐 in the picture is someone Charlotte mentioned frequently ever since the buddy system started. Sometimes she told me her 姐姐 feed her lunch, sometimes she told me her 姐姐 helped her with the afternoon wash-up and stuff like that.

Several occasions recently, I found this 姐姐 really takes good care of Charlotte. Once I was waiting at the front porch waiting to pick up Charlotte. I saw Charlotte walking out from her class and when she saw her 姐姐 they both stopped and chat a little. Her 姐姐 also gave her a big hug after that. It happened so naturally, and I could tell they bond so well. The school has done a good job in teaching them to love one another, and I'm sure the girl's family had taught her well too.

That day I found this drawing in Charlotte's school bag...

I asked her who gave her this and she said "my cheh cheh (姐姐) la!". Charlotte also ask me to make a quick bento fix for her 姐姐 and I promised her that I will do that in the coming Monday.

I took this picture during the 2nd Field Trip they had last week. The 6year old had different program and agenda then the 4year old, they first met during lunch. I saw her 姐姐 running towards Charlotte when she saw her and gave her a big hug, then they talked a little bit before they were sitted at different table. This picture was taken during another agenda and they bumped to each other again and again the 姐姐 quickly came towards Charlotte when she saw her and guided her to sit down. They were with another 4years old girl which was about to broke into tears. When Charlotte saw her 姐姐 comforting the little girl, she (her back facing camera)also "kei poh" (busy body) and do the same. I had a warm feeling seeing it and I quickly took out my camera, that's why the picture was taken from a bad angle.

Charlotte told me after coming back from the field trip that she slept in the bus on the way back to school. She said she slept on her 姐姐's shoulder! Isn't that sweet?

Conincidentally, 靖雅姐姐's mother was my buddy when I started my first job :)

A Visit To 静思堂

Charlotte's school organized another field trip last Wednesday. It was to visit to a place called 静思堂. Not really a temple, well maybe part of it. The intention was to introduce the history of this building, how it was build and the meaning of each structures of the building, appreciations, and some the history of Master Cheng Yen and etc.

At first I didn't think I want to participate even though I was off from work that day but then a friend of mine (also our neighbor), her daughter is in the same class as Charlotte mentioned that she will be joining the trip but only for the first half as she needed to be back at work after lunch. So I changed my mind and joined her instead.

It was a great morning and everybody gotten ready speedily however, it started to rain when we were just about 1km away from the destination. It was a heavy down pour but luckily there were quite many volunteers (mostly parents) participating that event, all taking umbrellas and helping the children to get off from the bus without getting wet. For once, I felt like I was back at the youth fellowship at the church again. That kind of sharing and volunteering without self interest and distinguishing each other was always warm and nice.

The children then settled down and gathered at the hall before the first introduction started.

They were then separated in different groups, according to the individual class and the trip agenda began. Charlotte' s class was first introduced to the hand washed pebbles that are found one section's floor and wall. The children were told to trace the pebbles onto the set of activity worksheet the form teacher had prepared.

I managed to take the class picture while they were listening to the teacher's instruction. See, the stairs, the pillars are all build with those pebbles?

Then they explored the tiles, the recycling station before they were called for lunch. I left soon after lunch so I do not have further update what happened after that.

I do not deny that there was quite a lot of Buddhism elements during the trip. Of course, they were visiting to a temple (sort of) right? I was a little disturbed to see Charlotte did all those praying gestures although I knew she learn that from school as she did show some of those actions to me sometimes. I told Pat that night, he wasn't really concern about it because he said as long as we don't practise all those she will forget about it eventually (when she graduated from this school eventually).

Oh, did I forget to mention that the school is not moving anymore? Well, at least for another year. So, yes Auntie Angie, Charlotte's prayer is answered!

Beautiful Teeth Baby

Remember Charlotte's first field trip to the dentist clinic? The school organized a mini event after that as a continuation of what the children learn from that field trip. It was a 3 weeks competition and the school will crown one boy and one girl from each class (4yr old, 5yr old and 6yr old) as "漂亮牙齿宝宝" (Beatiful Teeth Baby).

The criteria are:
1. You must not have cavity from the dental's record
2. Brush teeth the correct way
3. Always smile and with good manners, greeted elderly and teachers all the time

Charlotte was crowned as the first's week winner from the 4yr old class. Although she had teeth filling before and the dentist was aware of it when he did the check-up, she still won the title as she is always such an angel in school *bleah* and she is already a pro in teeth brushing since we started her early.

A Meaningful Event

Charlotte's school sent out an invitation to all parents of the 4yr old to attend a short 1.5hr event last Saturday. We were told to bring the child and they were asked to be in their uniform with tidy hair and clean socks. I was wondering why when I read the invitation because it was on a non-school day but then some parents told me that they will be presenting a little performance, that's why. Luckily it was a holiday replacement for her ballet class, otherwise I will be struggling which event should I send her to.

So everybody woke up on Saturday morning just like any other weekday morning instead of the usual lay back, sleep-in Saturday. Charlotte was very excited about the performance and was happily getting ready for school. We were greeted with warm welcome and respect when we arrived and once we got ourselves seated we read the agenda of the event projected on the screen, and yes the first agenda was a performance by the 4yr old! Then a series of updates by the teachers and principal. I thought I was "kiasu" as I made sure my camera was charged and memory card was not fully loaded before I left the house, but when I was at the school I noticed that almost all parents were prepared with cameras and even video cam! Of course, we were talking about our kids! So I guess no "kiasu" is too "kiasu" anyway :)

They presented a very nice song named "感谢" (Grateful) with sign language:

感谢亲爱的爸妈，给我挡风遮雨的家，
为我做香喷喷饭菜，陪伴我长大。
感谢亲爱的老师，教导我无穷尽知识，
指引人生迷惘方向，陪伴我长大。

感谢亲爱的朋友，分享生活苦辣酸甜，
一起探索这浩瀚世界，陪伴我长大。
感谢路边的小花小草，妆点风景诗篇，
感谢经过的大风大雨，增加我勇气。
感谢流动的水，伟大的高山，
感谢上天和大地，
我们拥有平安的每一天。

After the song, the children returned to their classroom while the parents received a full update from the school principal and teachers about their daily activities in the school since the semester started in Jan. There were video clips of what the children did in the school from the moment they arrived in the morning, the classroom activity, lunch, afternoon nap, lessons and other fun activities. I was very pleased with this type of update as we usually don't get to know or see what happened to them once we said goodbye at the gate. Although the teachers were always very kind to answer us when we have any concern or question about our children's well-being at school, nothing compared to a short video clip that you get see for yourself!

We were then presented with another surprise when we told that the children were going to serve us (parents) with snacks that they prepared. The kids were lining up with a tray on their little hands and they walked very gracefully towards their parents and served with great pride! It was not about showing off how well they present the food, it was all about gratefulness. They were taught to give thanks and appreciate the effort of people who helped them. I tell you, so many of us had tears of happiness in our eyes that moment!

Oh ya, the children had their snacks before they serve us. I didn't know it until we were home and was asking Charlotte if she was hungry. She told me "I eat triangle bread (sandwich) already in the school". Thank you very much to the teachers for being so thoughtful!

One thing that I am most pleased with the teaching is the values, the disciplines and the character building that they coach, and everyone in the school lives the teaching including the teachers, principal, and even helpers. The children are the reflection of ourselves and it is very important to live as example for the little ones. I am also not objecting the basic independent skills of life that the school is including it as part of the teaching. Things such as they are encouraged to make their bed themselves (for the afternoon nap), fold their laundry (the dirty uniform after lunch), clean up their own utensils after meals and etc. To me, these are important discipline in life besides academic achievements. Some may think "Doesn't matter! We have maid at home, why should my children do all this thing?" or "Why the school is wasting time teaching that while they are suppose to teach all the ABC and 123?". This was why the school took the effort to visit the new students before the academic year started, to ensure the parents understood the difference between this school and those commercial kindies and the expectations are calibrated. They do have academic focus and the teaching syllabus are according to the government's requirements, it's just that the balance is different. We appreciate the basic discipline, values and independent skills very much and we are committed to reemphasize the school's teaching at home too. We think that these are some of the very important "human" values that money cannot buy.

Towards the end of the session, there was a video clip sharing by the Master Cheng Yen and one of the many elements shared which I couldn't agree more was when she mentioned that it will be a waste if the smartness of someone is not guided with wisdom and goodness. We saw many high tech and highly sophisticated crime cases at this century, aren't they all smart people? A fundamental of goodness and wisdom is an important seed to plant in young children.

Some of you know that I am a Christian and you probably are surprised by my description in this post. I am still a Christian, but I am not against Buddhism and I am not against good elements of living for sure. Religion is something that someone realized for themselves but it is not something that encourages you to go against the others.

Moving

No, no, I'm not talking about us moving to new house. It's Charlotte's school, sadly to say.

The school is just within the walking distance from our house currently and it is VERY convenient for us. Charlotte loves to walk to school every morning. In fact, she prefers to walk to school instead of us driving her when we are also living for work. Unfortunately, bad news came last few weeks that the school is considering of moving. One of the many reasons behind this decision is that they are unable to get the license from government as one of the requirement is that the nursery has to been either a semidetached house or a corner unit of terrace houses. They are occupying 2 intermediate terrace units at the moment and this is the 6th years they have yet to obtain the license. There are many other reasons too.

The new location is very far and it is out of the way for both my husband and I. Although we are trying very hard to influence the decision, it is pretty much confirmed that they are going to move. My biggest headache now is how to get Charlotte to and from the school. Luckily the school recommended someone who is willing to fetch the children from the area that I am staying and she is also currently helping a few other parents to send the children to this school. Although I have secured a place for Charlotte, I am still trying if there are other options to consider.

Preferably not to change school. I am very happy with this school and the teachers. I expected the worst when Charlotte was starting full day school here but it turned out to be the best ever experience. I also try not to have someone to send Charlotte, considering safety issues and such. I will have to workout the work schedules with my manger if necessary.

We are also thinking that if the arrangement didn't workout somehow, we will need to send Charlotte to the one we considered before. Both Pat and I think she is ready now and this is definitely one of our options to consider.

Last night, Charlotte said a prayer before bed. She said "Jesus, please help me don't move my school!". I knew what she meant but I just couldn't help laugh out loud when I heard it.

Well, we'll see how it turns out.

First Field Trip

Charlotte's first dental visit was in Oct last year, and we have been making dental appointment for her every 3 months for regular check-up since then. You can imagine how pro she is by now when comes to dentist.

Her school sent out a notice just before the holiday started saying that they will be bringing the children to visit a dental clinic as well as getting their teeth checked during the 1st week of the new term and asking for parents agreement. Why not? It is free, and it is almost time for Charlotte's dental check-up anyway. So I signed the agreement and submitted.

I agreed to the school teachers that I will help to drive some of the children that day but I did not tell Charlotte that I will be there. So, she was VERY happy to see me when I showed up in her school! Her teacher arranged 3 of her best friends to go with her and she had the biggest smile ever! She kept asking with a big grin on her face "mommy, why my friend friend all go with me?"

They had a short briefing on proper ways of taking care of their teeth and proper way of brushing. Everyone was so well behaved and focused on the briefing.

One of the many things that I am very pleased with the school's teaching is they really teach and remind the children of good manners at ALL time! Each one of them was asked to greet the dentist before they proceed with the check-up, and to say "thank you" when it is done. Every little one did exactly as told. The teachers didn't forget the children's drinking bottles even for that short 1.5 hour event. The teachers brought all the bottles in a basket to the clinic.

After the briefing, they moved into the dentist work area and introduced all the tools and equipments used by a dentist to the children. I think it was a very good strategy to let the children know what those are and how it is used to minimize the anxiety one may feels.

Then the examination started, the children were called one by one for the check-up while a teacher prepared with a story telling to keep the rest occupied.

One small observation I made was, see the gloves the dentist wore and the paper towel on the kid? The dentist changed to a new pair of gloves and new set of tools after each child's checking (yes, he should right?), no big deal but he also changes new paper towel for each child even though the checking was a VERY "dry" process. There were about 16 of them, I bet the nurses had the most to throw away and clean up/sterilize (the tools) that day.

That was not all, before they left the clinic gave each of them a small pack of present. It contains a Oral-B kid's tooth brush, a pack of drink and biscuits. Can you imagine that it was all FREE? I think the dentist has done a very good contribution back to the society. I appreciated his effort and willingness to do that and very thankful to the school for making such a meaningful event for the children.

p/s: The clinic is located at Sunway Tunas, "We Care Dental Clinic".