Lynn has the same form teacher for the 2 years of P3 and P4 - Ms Chua, like she did for P1 and P2 (Mdm Ong). I know Mdm Ong well because I was much more involved in her class activities during those 2 years. It was different with Ms Chua. She is a young teacher, so she uses Whatsapp to communicate with us (parents) more often. She seems friendly, and the kids seems to like her.
We waited a long time outside the classroom for our turn. Ms Chua really took her time with each set of parents. When I walked in, she said out loud ".. and you are...". Then she saw WK walking behind me, and she said ".. ahh... Lynnette's parents..". Ha! Proves that Lynn looks like Daddy more.
It was an impressive session. I was so surprised that the teachers, as in Ms Chua and Ms Kalpana (Lynn's English teacher) are really spot on in understanding their class of 40 children. Ms Chua explains that Lynn's results are really ok, as we can see all are quite good, but.. hmm but... Then she explained, that the teachers just felt that she can do better, that she is not giving her best. We laughed, because we understand what she means. Lynn just gives the minimum effort in most things that she does. For example, when she writes her composition, instead of using interesting sentences and expanding the details, she would just write it plainly and quickly to just hand in the job. I told Ms Chua that we will continue to encourage her; we don't want to be too pushy either, so it's going to be tricky to find the right balance to motivate her to do better.
And she told us that Lynn cried the day or the week before, because Ms Chua asked her to play captain ball, but she didn't want to. Again, I will take a "watch and see" approach. I do not want to be too demanding in this aspect too. I do not know if Lynn's a softie by nature or not, or if she will grow out of it eventually or not. I learn, through my own experience, that we cannot change a person's inner character. On one hand I want her to be more resilient, on the other hand I do not want to impose my expectation (model) on her. But I did talk to her to encourage her to speak up more to solve problem.
Soon she will be at starting her PSLE journey, because I was told that it all starts at P5. Every year is a blessing and a milestone :)
Finally MOE announced that the new PSLE grading system will take effect from 2021. It had been a long wait for most of us who are already entered the Primary school journey a few years back (It was first announced by LHL in 2013, when Lynn was only P1, that there will be a new system). It was with mixed feelings that it is finally confirmed that Lynn will not be part of the new system, as the new system will take effect only for those in P1 currently. So it is a lengthy 8 years from first announcement to full implementation. That gives the parents and students affected plenty of time to get to know the new system.
The reactions of parents are per expected. All changes are greeted with suspicions by detractors. And the media likes to blow up a negative comment to be that of the view of "many parents". If a parent commented that now the child needs more tuition than in the past for a weak subject so that it doesn't drag down the overall grading, the media will report that parents feel more stressed out and consider more tuition under the new system. So a Kiasu parent will still be a Kiasu one, and will try to beat the system, or cry foul about the system. That's why the message has always been a mind set change is needed.
Well, I will refrain from giving too much comment on the new system, since Lynn is not in the batches affected. My next task is to start assessing the different secondary schools that she may be eligible for. As a "not-too-extreme-but-should-be-considered-kiasu", i.e. concerned and well-informed, parent, I want to ensure that we pick the most suitable environment for her to grow and flourish. I am quite dishearten to see friends' kids who went to top notch schools that are really pressure cookers. They do their homework up to and past midnight. I wonder if it's doing them good or harm. It is better to expose them to the reality of intense competition, or to let them enjoy learning for another few more years? Still the good schools also come with branding and prestige that is tangible; until today, I still get a lot of positive comments of me coming from the very branded Hwa Chong JC. It was in HCJC that I first experienced doing homework up to midnight.. There's a price to pay, and a trade off for everything in life. See, the worries of being a parent..
That Friday afternoon, we went hover-boarding!
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