Dear Lord,
Thank you for watching over my family over the past year. We could not have gone through the year without You.
Thank you for sending trials and seeing us through them. Thank you for not giving us challenges that are more than we can bear. Thank you for showing us how to get around them and how through these challenges, we have learnt more about you and have had the chance to experience Your grace.
I commend our 2011 into Your hands. Father, continue to watch over our family and provide for us. I ask that your mercy be extended to every aspect of our lives and that you continue to draw us close to your side.
I love you Lord and am so thankful that you are my Lord and my Father.
Amen.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The Shanghai grade school hunt: Interview at Ai Ju
Ai Ju Grade School 爱菊小学
Website: ajxx.xhedu.sh.cn
What I like about this school: A private local school that isn't too large and is strong in the arts faculty whilst maintaining a rigour in the academics. Performance arts such as ballet, er hu, gu zhen, piano to name a few, and the various forms of drawing are offered as part of the curriculum
My concerns about the school: Not a very strong English curriculum, squat toilets for girls (!!! rather lame I know), not very palatable canteen food, not enough outdoor space and track facilities
We, and when I say we, I literally mean R and I, had our first Shanghai school interview 7th December.
The interview was on a Tuesday at 3pm. The admissions coordinator who also doubles as the interviewer only confirmed her availability for the interview 45 minutes before the session - while I was in the middle of a nice lunch at Mi Thai. Needless to say it was a real challenge to remain composed during the rest of the lunch while adrenaline was coursing through my veins.
Being aware that this was a one-on-one interview, I had R's teacher pass us an artwork that she's been working on in class, together with her Chinese rhyme book. I rang ahead and informed her teacher that I will be swinging by shortly to pick her up for the interview and to please help prepare her.
I must say that her teachers did a great job: They had her hair fixed properly, grimy mouth wet-wiped and gave both R and I a much needed psychological boost. You can really tell I was really jittery about this process. We both said a quick prayer en route in the car and I held R on my lap the entire 10 minute journey.
We made our way to Ai Ju in good time and approached the interviewer in her office. She immediately took R to a desk in her room and engaged her in a very chatty conversation, trying to put her at ease. I wasn't given any direction on what I should do, so I made myself scarce by planting myself at a desk about 2 meters away so I was able to observe the process while being out of sight from R.
The interviewer noted that R had an envelope of materials with her and asked to see what she brought. R pulled them out and proceeded to talk through her art work - saying that she made these from colored paper, markers and color pencils. She talked about what she was trying to compose and how fun it was - all in Chinese.
She then proceeded to show a second piece which was a photo of all 11 kids in their class. The interviewer asked who were her friends and asked to her to read the 2 sentences she had written in English below the photo. This she did with great gusto.
They then proceeded to the Chinese Rhyme book which contains rhymes that she learns each week at school which also makes up part of her portfolio of homework she brings home each Friday. The rhymes at her level are now about 6 to 8 sentences long and probably anywhere from 30 to 40 characters in all, with pinyin. The interviewer picked a rhyme that she had learnt in the first week of term 2 and as I head my breathe, R recited through the rhyme in a very clear voice.
The interviewer then picked another and asked her to read through it while she pointed each word. R managed to do it again. I managed to relax a little only to hear the little one proudly announcing as she flipped through the book "Look, this is what my teacher taught today!". I almost buried my head in my hands as I cringed at the thought of my daughter offering to share the gems of her newly gained knowledge. To my surprise, she did pretty well, though she had to be helped along with a handful of new characters. The interviewer asked if her school teacher taught her Chinese in characters or pinyin. R responded that she was taught both and this got a nod of approval.
They then moved on to Math. R was asked to recite her numbers from 1 to 20 - in Chinese and then given simple math sums to solve. Now, I am fully aware that Math is taught in English at Chiltern House, and so far, the children have been solving sums on paper i.e. the numerals are written. This, however, was Math in Chinese and verbal arithmetic and totally caught me by surprise.
She was first asked what 2 and 2 was and quickly responded 4. The next sum was adding 5 to 4, and here she stopped for about a minute. I had to fight the temptation to let the interviewer know that R hasn't learn Math in this form and language. 10, she replied and I frowned. The interviewer sweetly asked R to count again and after a few moments, R said 9. I could breathe again.
This followed by an easy 5 + 5 which R answered easy peasy. She was then asked to solve 3 minus 3, which to my knowledge she hasn't covered yet in K2. She paused for a moment and replied 0. I nearly stood up to applaud. The interviewer then asked R to think hard for the next one: 20 - 2, and to my total surprise, R gave the right answer.
The interview then concluded when R was asked to write both her Chinese and English name, and not a moment too soon in my opinion. The interviewer then proceed to debrief me - the school loves her and thought she interviewed far better than many other children of the 'right' age - and talk me through the next steps.
I am so thankful that the interview went well and now we await for the call in May. Due to reasons pertaining to her cut off age and a clamp down by the local education authorities, R is unable to confirm a place here till all seats are allocated to applicants in the 'right' cut off age, unlike our friends' experiences from the previous year.
We continue to have faith that God will provide the right school for her and our family as we continue to search for a grade school here in Shanghai.
Note: I am aware that the content of the interview would have been considered very easy in an education system like Singapore - I've seen the work that my friends' kids are doing. However, since R hasn't really been pushed in that academic direction in her current environment, at least not to the extent in Singapore, I am so thankful that she seems to be thriving well and seems to be prepared for Grade School.
I recall my anxiety in K1 during a parent-teacher meet where I had voiced my concerns over this. It doesn't help that R doesn't like to flex her academic prowess in my presence, leaving me almost no clue to her reading and math ability. I can only say that I continue to live by faith when in comes to parenting her.
Website: ajxx.xhedu.sh.cn
What I like about this school: A private local school that isn't too large and is strong in the arts faculty whilst maintaining a rigour in the academics. Performance arts such as ballet, er hu, gu zhen, piano to name a few, and the various forms of drawing are offered as part of the curriculum
My concerns about the school: Not a very strong English curriculum, squat toilets for girls (!!! rather lame I know), not very palatable canteen food, not enough outdoor space and track facilities
We, and when I say we, I literally mean R and I, had our first Shanghai school interview 7th December.
The interview was on a Tuesday at 3pm. The admissions coordinator who also doubles as the interviewer only confirmed her availability for the interview 45 minutes before the session - while I was in the middle of a nice lunch at Mi Thai. Needless to say it was a real challenge to remain composed during the rest of the lunch while adrenaline was coursing through my veins.
Being aware that this was a one-on-one interview, I had R's teacher pass us an artwork that she's been working on in class, together with her Chinese rhyme book. I rang ahead and informed her teacher that I will be swinging by shortly to pick her up for the interview and to please help prepare her.
I must say that her teachers did a great job: They had her hair fixed properly, grimy mouth wet-wiped and gave both R and I a much needed psychological boost. You can really tell I was really jittery about this process. We both said a quick prayer en route in the car and I held R on my lap the entire 10 minute journey.
We made our way to Ai Ju in good time and approached the interviewer in her office. She immediately took R to a desk in her room and engaged her in a very chatty conversation, trying to put her at ease. I wasn't given any direction on what I should do, so I made myself scarce by planting myself at a desk about 2 meters away so I was able to observe the process while being out of sight from R.
The interviewer noted that R had an envelope of materials with her and asked to see what she brought. R pulled them out and proceeded to talk through her art work - saying that she made these from colored paper, markers and color pencils. She talked about what she was trying to compose and how fun it was - all in Chinese.
She then proceeded to show a second piece which was a photo of all 11 kids in their class. The interviewer asked who were her friends and asked to her to read the 2 sentences she had written in English below the photo. This she did with great gusto.
They then proceeded to the Chinese Rhyme book which contains rhymes that she learns each week at school which also makes up part of her portfolio of homework she brings home each Friday. The rhymes at her level are now about 6 to 8 sentences long and probably anywhere from 30 to 40 characters in all, with pinyin. The interviewer picked a rhyme that she had learnt in the first week of term 2 and as I head my breathe, R recited through the rhyme in a very clear voice.
The interviewer then picked another and asked her to read through it while she pointed each word. R managed to do it again. I managed to relax a little only to hear the little one proudly announcing as she flipped through the book "Look, this is what my teacher taught today!". I almost buried my head in my hands as I cringed at the thought of my daughter offering to share the gems of her newly gained knowledge. To my surprise, she did pretty well, though she had to be helped along with a handful of new characters. The interviewer asked if her school teacher taught her Chinese in characters or pinyin. R responded that she was taught both and this got a nod of approval.
They then moved on to Math. R was asked to recite her numbers from 1 to 20 - in Chinese and then given simple math sums to solve. Now, I am fully aware that Math is taught in English at Chiltern House, and so far, the children have been solving sums on paper i.e. the numerals are written. This, however, was Math in Chinese and verbal arithmetic and totally caught me by surprise.
She was first asked what 2 and 2 was and quickly responded 4. The next sum was adding 5 to 4, and here she stopped for about a minute. I had to fight the temptation to let the interviewer know that R hasn't learn Math in this form and language. 10, she replied and I frowned. The interviewer sweetly asked R to count again and after a few moments, R said 9. I could breathe again.
This followed by an easy 5 + 5 which R answered easy peasy. She was then asked to solve 3 minus 3, which to my knowledge she hasn't covered yet in K2. She paused for a moment and replied 0. I nearly stood up to applaud. The interviewer then asked R to think hard for the next one: 20 - 2, and to my total surprise, R gave the right answer.
The interview then concluded when R was asked to write both her Chinese and English name, and not a moment too soon in my opinion. The interviewer then proceed to debrief me - the school loves her and thought she interviewed far better than many other children of the 'right' age - and talk me through the next steps.
I am so thankful that the interview went well and now we await for the call in May. Due to reasons pertaining to her cut off age and a clamp down by the local education authorities, R is unable to confirm a place here till all seats are allocated to applicants in the 'right' cut off age, unlike our friends' experiences from the previous year.
We continue to have faith that God will provide the right school for her and our family as we continue to search for a grade school here in Shanghai.
Note: I am aware that the content of the interview would have been considered very easy in an education system like Singapore - I've seen the work that my friends' kids are doing. However, since R hasn't really been pushed in that academic direction in her current environment, at least not to the extent in Singapore, I am so thankful that she seems to be thriving well and seems to be prepared for Grade School.
I recall my anxiety in K1 during a parent-teacher meet where I had voiced my concerns over this. It doesn't help that R doesn't like to flex her academic prowess in my presence, leaving me almost no clue to her reading and math ability. I can only say that I continue to live by faith when in comes to parenting her.
Promoting tourism awareness
Look what I spotted when we were waiting for my in laws to arrive from their flight into Hangzhou International Airport - a Malaysian flag proudly stuck to a luggage trolley!
I thought it was so adorable and such a show of patriotism. It also got many comments from the local Chinese who went "Oh, that's the Malaysian flag" and many other random comments about Malaysia. I thought this will make a very cool advertising campaign to raise awareness about a country.
Ought to submit this idea to a tourism bureau.
I thought it was so adorable and such a show of patriotism. It also got many comments from the local Chinese who went "Oh, that's the Malaysian flag" and many other random comments about Malaysia. I thought this will make a very cool advertising campaign to raise awareness about a country.Ought to submit this idea to a tourism bureau.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Rubber band star
Sometimes the best joys in life are derived from the simplest things.
We were on a train ride from Shanghai to Nanjing and I was too lazy to pull out the DVD player for the little one and decided to show her what I could remember from my childhood - making a start out of a rubber band.
She was estatic and thought I was THE GIRL! We then practiced a few times and viola, she got it! Here she is with the star she made.
I did a quick search on the net and found tutorials on how to make rubber band stars with one hand only, progressing in difficulty to 3 star rubber bands. Wow. Something to master and make her oogle even more.
We were on a train ride from Shanghai to Nanjing and I was too lazy to pull out the DVD player for the little one and decided to show her what I could remember from my childhood - making a start out of a rubber band.
She was estatic and thought I was THE GIRL! We then practiced a few times and viola, she got it! Here she is with the star she made.
I did a quick search on the net and found tutorials on how to make rubber band stars with one hand only, progressing in difficulty to 3 star rubber bands. Wow. Something to master and make her oogle even more.
Friday, December 24, 2010
VPN - finally
Yup, I finally got a VPN and now have access to the wider world out there. It has been a mixture of lazy bones + lack of time that held me up and due to a variety of reasons - I am now a proud owner of one of these new-fangled technology VPN thinggies.
Technology is not my strong suit - but then it is one of the things I either yell for help for , or figure it out thinking it can't be that bad can it?
Apparently this one wasn't as bad.
Technology is not my strong suit - but then it is one of the things I either yell for help for , or figure it out thinking it can't be that bad can it?
Apparently this one wasn't as bad.
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