There and Back Again

Lucas and his seldom worn Liverpool FC football jersey One day, my mum spoke to me about my son and his adventures in the field just below my mother's house. Usually after my son finishes with his student care, he goes to my mother's house. He started to 'play' football with the kids downstairs. In reality, he is really more of a cheerleader who happens to stand in the field. I am also glad the older boys tolerate the presence of the young ones (there is another younger boy whose 'position' is similar to his). According to my mum, there was one incident when an older boy got angry with the younger boy. Apparently, he was running towards him, and looked like he was going to hit the younger boy. My son, who was nearby, apparently reacted to this by saying something to the older boy. That drew the ire of the older boy who went after my son instead. Fortunately my mum reacted quick enough with a shout and the older boy only shoved my son lightly. However, my...

How nice of Mr Lee to write back to my father! This is just a short note about Mr Lee Kuan Yew, founding father of Singapore. I am writing about him not because I want to pay tribute to him - better writers have done so with much better aplomb. So I leave the tributes to these people.  I am writing this because of the profound influence he has over my family, not in the nation building sense, but in how my son ended up in Catholic High School. This story starts with my father. He has always been an admirer of Mr Lee. I would say that he admired him so much that when Mr Lee decided to send his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong to Catholic High, my father decided to send me there. While I am not entirely sure, I think that my father was in the Ministry of Education at that time, so it was not too difficult.  There was absolutely no reason for him to do so. We did not live near town (Catholic High was still at Queen Street). We were not Catholics. And Cath...

My parents on the ferry to Bintan. This is a late post - we visited Bintan on the first Sunday of the March school holidays, came back and school has reopened. Yet I am only writing the post today! It has been a tiring March holidays for me. As you know, my son was hospitalised for the most part of the last week of Term 1. We had booked a holiday to Bintan way in advance and we held our breaths as we waited for the antibiotics to take effect. Fortunately, the antibiotics won and he was discharged on Friday. He had one day of additional rest and off it was to Bintan. There was only one problem. He enjoys swimming... but can he swim? I specifically asked the doctor what sort of water stuff he could do. I was told specifically that there was to be no swimming, but wading around was fine. Actually my mother was even not keen for him to go into water, but relented when I told her about the doctor's instructions. Actually, based on my own research, there is a lot of evidence th...

We probably mentioned before that my son was interested in learning the violin. We sent him to the trial class and he seemed to enjoy it. He was quite undecided though when we asked him if he wanted to continue learning. But it was clear that he was not against it. So I decided that we should go ahead and let him continue, at least till the end of the year. Sometimes, we need time to develop our interest. I was quite interested in music when I was young and I still enjoy music (though I admit it is more of the singing inside my car then actually performing). So why not let him try it out. It also helps develops the brain because the brain is picking up a new skill. Best of luck! His brand new violin. That's an instrument I have no idea how to play.

Keeping my son company in Mt. Alvernia As I am writing this post, my son is lying beside me with a needle stuck in his left hand and a breathing apparatus over his mouth. He has been attacked by pneumonia and it looks like it is a serious case. The entire thing started innocently enough. A fever was started on Tuesday night, resulting in a two day medical leave from school. On Friday, his fever subsided and we sent him back to school thinking that everything was alright. When he came back from school, a fever had developed again. We went to see a paediatrician and he was given antibiotics. We also started using Young Living essential oils as alternate medication. By Monday afternoon, it seemed promising. The fever had subsided. By Monday evening, it started peaking again and we decided that it was too crazy and went to to the 24 clinic in Mt. Alvernia hospital.  The doctor in the hospital has decided that since oral antibiotics were not working well, then antibiotics n...

Cover Page of STELLAR Unit 6. STELLAR stands for Strategies for English Language Learning and Reading. The programme is designed specifically for Singapore children by Singapore teachers. It was rolled out in 2006 and after nine years, all the primary schools use for all levels. STELLAR is an instructional programme and not a syllabus, and therefore it offers materials and strategies rather than an outline of teaching outcomes. As a result, some parents complain that it seems unstructured. However, from what I can see, there is a certainly a pattern that only an experienced teacher can detect. There are elements of explicit grammar instruction (like the lessons taught traditionally). But wrapped around these basics are stories that interest the kids instead of the boring old textbooks during our time. How does STELLAR work? I will focus on STELLAR at the lower primary levels since that is where my son is studying. There are three stages - Shared Book Approach (SBA), Modi...