There and Back Again

The school term is ending and my son has received all his test results. You might have noticed that I said test and not examinations. Primary One students sit for tests that are spread out over the entire semester, and I guess this is the school's way of not stressing these young kids.  Overall, I cannot complain too much about his results. They are quite alright. I have to emphasise (especially to my dear wife) that having a great Primary One result does not mean anything. No teacher will ask for his Primary One results and no employer will ask for his Primary One progress card. My wife is in contact with some mothers who are ridiculously "kiasu". They will discretely ask around for test results. One of them was even checking if her son scored well for a health and physical fitness MCQ test in comparison with other students! Seriously. Anyway, back to my son's results. I am happy with his results, but I think he lacks basic examination skills. He is very car...

It's been a long time since I posted anything: it has really been very busy for me. But, I did take out some time to try to help my son with his composition. He has a test this week, and we have been writing. Anyway, I think it is crazy that Catholic High thinks that writing a full composition with details is something that Primary One students can do. But I try my best to guide him; here are some of the essays he has written. There are still some grammar and spelling mistakes, but I think it is pretty impressive that he can write such long essays. I swear I could not do it until I was at least Primary Two. Still pretty crazy expectations! This is a story about food poisoning. This is a story about a disruption in class. I think he should know this topic quite well. The very first one he wrote. Did you see improvements? He has issues with dialogue and keeps on forgetting to end his sentences with full stops. Not to mention past tense. But I will get him ready....

This looks like a comprehension passage he set about a Ryan Gowith and Caleb Xia. Please don't ask me who they are. Last night, my son decided to write some stuff. He proceeded to write all these pages, which I guess was based on what he did in school. I am not sure if these are considered good or bad; I have never seen samples of Primary One writing that has not gone through the eyes of an adult. Nevertheless, these are totally unedited and without any intervention. The only reason I am sharing these is that it amusing that he writes such things. It is something he did unexpectedly, and I think will never do again.  "Today we are learning math. This answers are easy. Try them. Good luck." Looks like he needs to brush up on his continuous tense and 'this' vs 'these'. And stop being so arrogant about his math. They are easy because he is only in Primary One! According to him, there are science lessons. The school never requested u...