The Bub in the Belly: preschool

Showing posts with label preschool. Show all posts

Monday, April 20, 2015

Updates on Rachel at preschool

Posted by Pinkie Pirate at 11:59 PM

Babydoll started going to preschool in January this year and, well, she took to it like a duck to water. No issues at all, no tears. She was so happy - finally she could have her piece of the action. She was quiet for the first week, observing what was going on around her, deciding who she wanted to be friends with, and learning the class routines. She was soon comfortable enough to speak her mind and it wasn't long before her teacher told me, highly amused, that they'd had an "argument" over sharing, which ended with babydoll giving her the stink-eye. Hahaha! Her teachers are pretty cool, I like them.

Babydoll is a late addition to her class, together with one other student. The rest of her classmates had all done at least one term (or more) of preschool when babydoll started. I actually think that this fact assisted in a smooth settling-in for babydoll as her classmates were familiar with the class routines, eg. sitting down for reading time, sitting down for snacktime and lunch and putting away the plates and utensils, keeping her stuff in her cubby, plus nobody was crying. This environment, I imagine, is far less confusing and far less scary compared to being in a chaotic classroom of children who are all clueless.

The other new student did cry on her first day and - bad timing - she was crying at the classroom door when we arrived with babydoll. I saw babydoll's expression - a little spooked and slightly panicked - which made me think that babydoll might burst into tears as well. She didn't, my brave fearless girl. She got a hold of herself and walked right into the classroom. Amazing.

We watched her through the window for a while. It was some time before a teacher could attend to her as they were occupied with welcoming the students. Babydoll stood in the middle of the room, alone, watching everyone and taking it all in. After a while a teacher approached her and invited her to join a group that was using playdough. Babydoll had been using playdough a lot at home so I was quite happy about that - it would be familiar and comforting for her. After a while, she moved on to try painting at the easel, also something she was familiar with. That's when we left. When I picked her up after school, she was all smiles and her teachers told me that she'd had a great first day. She also met her brother in the course of her day, which helped, I think. From there on, it just got better.

In her first term, I regularly received hilarious recaps of her day in school, from her own teachers as well as other teachers in her school. One of her teachers told me, again highly entertained, that babydoll would regularly "escape", meaning babydoll would wander off from the group to do her own thing, and it would happen at least once a day. One day, her teacher was searching high and low for babydoll in the canteen, and finally found her, still in the canteen, but crouched down next to a plant pot, carefully examining the plant leaves, her tiny size well camouflaged by the massive plant.

Babydoll would also join up with Ryan whenever she saw him on the school grounds (usually during outdoor playtime) and sometimes she'd "forget" to return to her own class. This habit provided the background to another funny story - one day, babydoll had to put on her shoes but her shoes were nowhere to be found. Her teacher asked her where she left her shoes and babydoll told her, "In class". Well, her shoes weren't in her classroom. Her teacher searched all over the school grounds and came up with nothing. Until her teacher realised that the shoes must be in Ryan's classroom - and they were. They were neatly placed in Ryan's cubby.

Babydoll would also often go to her brother's class to play with their stuff, and she even "borrowed" their stuff. Ryan's teacher told me that she saw babydoll walking towards the sandpit with their stuff and when babydoll saw her looking, babydoll actually turned her body to hide the "borrowed" stuff while making a run for the sandpit. Heh heh. She's a wily one.

Babydoll has just started her second term now and I don't hear as many stories about her escapades. She has made some good friends among her classmates so she has her own little gang now. That probably occupies her a little.

There's lots more to share about babydoll but I'll leave that for another time. Meanwhile, enjoy the photos. They were taken last week outside our house.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

To preschool or not to preschool

Posted by Pinkie Pirate at 11:59 PM

I mentioned in an earlier post that babydoll is raring to go to preschool. She has been bugging me almost everyday, and especially in the morning when her brother goes off to preschool. We are thinking of starting her off in January next year, in N1 (Nursery 1).

Is she ready for preschool? I recall our paediatrician advising us to keep the littles home until around 4 years old if possible because preschool is a prime avenue for children to fall sick. Certainly, with Ryan, our target was four years old and that was what happened - we enrolled him at N2 (Nursery 2) (he was 3.5 years old, to be exact). Our target for babydoll was the same - N2 - and, if truth be told, we have asked for a place to be reserved for her at N2. We did not ask for a place at N1 because we did not expect to enrol her in N1.

Last week, babydoll was with me when I picked Ryan up from preschool (this is not usually the case). We were a little early and, from outside the classroom door, I could see that all the students were still in class, enjoying a storytelling session. Babydoll wasted no time - she sat down outside the door and started taking off her shoes and, as she was taking them off, she waved at me and said, "Bye bye, mummy."

Hah!

This little patootie was so happy! She obviously thought that I was bringing her to join in the class. Finally! finally! she could go inside the classroom and be part of the fun! Well, what else could I do except to open the door for her? She trotted inside without hesitation and looked for a place to sit among the students. Her brother exclaimed, "Hey! That's my sister, Rachel!" He sat her down and put his arm around her while the class finished the storytelling session.

After that, the students dispersed to go home. Ryan was delighted to have babydoll in his classroom and showed her off to his friends and showed her around the classroom. The two of them ended up at the books corner where they grabbed some books and sat down. Ryan's Chinese teacher sat with them and read a Chinese book to the two of them. By this time, the classroom was empty but they didn't want to leave.

Babydoll didn't look at/for me at all. Of course, she was with her brother but, the way things were going, I suspect that she would have been fine on her own too. I waited for them to finish the book, had a short chat with the Chinese teacher and then I managed to get the kids to leave.

I ask babydoll (almost) everyday now if she wants to go to school. The answer is a firm yes. I even tell her that I won't be there, and the answer is still yes. I even video-recorded it. Heh heh.

So, what do you think? Is babydoll ready for preschool? I think she is - mentally and emotionally. Despite being less than 2.5 years old, she is conversing well, unafraid to voice her opinions and needs. She is socially curious, always joining in the play of other kids. She is intelligent and thirsty to learn. She is also quite independent - I don't think she'll have issues separating from me. There is still the concern about health of course. In that respect, experience offers great reassurance - Ryan has not fallen sick from school before. I think it's a combination of luck and strong genes, so hopefully babydoll has the same luck and the same strong genes?

I feel so bad disappointing babydoll every time she asks to "go class", but now that the decision is made to enrol her, I'm looking forward to seeing how happy she is when she puts on her uniform and runs off to join the other kids!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Married at the playground

Posted by Pinkie Pirate at 11:59 PM

Every day after preschool, I will ask Ryan about his day. Interestingly, he usually starts by telling me what he ate for lunch! After we talk about pasta and chicken and noodles and fruit, I make a point to ask him three things: whether he feels happy, what he did in class, and who he played with that day. At the moment, he seems to be hanging out regularly with two girls called Audrey and Ayana.

Richard says that, when he dropped Ryan off at preschool a few days ago, Ayana rushed up to Ryan and hugged and kissed him! Then Audrey appeared and did the same thing! It reminds me of when Ryan started preschool in 2012. Back then, he was the object of attention of two girls as well, Katie and Kriti, both kissing and hugging and tugging him east and west.

Anyway, a few days ago when I picked him up from preschool, Ryan told me that he played with Audrey and Ayana, which didn't surprise me. Until he said, "Audrey and I got married."

Me: "Audrey and you got married???"
Ryan: "Yes."
Me: "When did this happen?"
Ryan: "When we were in the playground."
Me: "Did Audrey ask you to marry her?"
Ryan: "Yes."
Me: "How did the two of you get married?"
Ryan: "We leaned on each other. That's how we get married. We lean on each other."
Me: "Oh. Err. Ok."

Of course, it's just the girls involving him in their pretend play and nothing to worry about. Isn't it endearingly innocent? For the next few days, when I asked him about his day, I also asked him, "So, did you marry anyone today?"

Married at the playground. Gotta love it.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Festival of Lights at preschool

Posted by Pinkie Pirate at 10:53 PM

Last week, Ryan's preschool held a carnival called the Festival of Lights, in celebration of Deepavali. The students made decorations and they set up stalls to sell food, handmade crafts and services like face-painting, henna and non-henna temporary tattoos. Some external vendors were invited to set up stalls as well. There were activities such as dress-up and arts and crafts. All proceeds went to charity.

Everyone came dressed appropriately and of course, babydoll came in her Indian princess get-up. You must be wondering whether she wears anything else nowadays, haha. Since we bought it, she has worn it about six times. She loves it!

Babydoll had a blast at the carnival! She's familiar with Ryan's preschool so she needed no warm-up time at all. Without waiting for an invitation, she joined the older children in the playground, climbing up and sliding down in her glamourous outfit, hanging off bars and jumping into tyres. She even inserted herself into a football game with boys more than twice her age and size, and managed to get a hold of the ball a couple of times (with a little help). She was also an expert at the arts and crafts station - cool and calm, deliberate in her choice of colours and patterns.

Here's Ryan in his Indian outfit, which he has also worn many times. After many years, at long last, he is finally outgrowing it, so this is (I promise!) the last time you'll see him in it.

There were beautiful decorations all over the preschool, including lots of rangoli, of course.

Prior to the carnival, in addition to planning what to sell at their stall (baked goods and face-painting), Ryan's class had a discussion about which charity they would like the fundraising proceeds to be donated to. I thought this was a wonderful project for the students! After the discussion, the students made a bar graph to represent the results (the winner was "the poor people"). The class also wrote a note to the school administration to let them know of their decision (I just adore how they sign off as "Love, K2A"). The letter was hand delivered by a group of children, led by Ryan. Ryan also acted as photographer and photographed their efforts.

All in all, the carnival was a fun evening for the littles. Babydoll probably now has the idea that going to preschool is super fun! For the past few weeks, she has been bugging me to send her to preschool with Ryan, so after the carnival, I think she will be even more determined to get started as soon as possible!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Birthday goodies in school

Posted by Pinkie Pirate at 11:29 AM

Ryan loves to pretend that he's a mouse. He will insist that I address him as a mouse, and he will squeak like a mouse to respond. It's been going on for some time now. Before this, he was a worm. I don't know why he doesn't choose more exciting animals, but there you have it. Anyway, a mouse is good. There's Mickey Mouse, Jerry the mouse (from Tom and Jerry), the mouse from the tale of The Gruffalo, etc. Plus Ryan was born in the year of the Rat, so he really is a mouse.

Anyway, one day in January, I told him that I'd make him a tail. I wasn't thinking of his mouse persona actually; I just thought that having a tail would be fun. He was very excited at the idea and so I started planning and researching on how to make it happen.

Around the same time, Richard and I were discussing how best to celebrate our little love's birthday. Initially we planned just to take the day off work/school and spend the day with him. The week before his birthday, however, his teachers asked us if we would have a celebration in school. They said that his birthday was the only one around that period and it would be lovely for the children to have a celebration together with some chocolate cake with sprinkles on top. Of course we said yes, which meant a little change to our plans was required - Ryan had to go to school after all and we had to get a big birthday cake!

We still wanted to spend the day with Ryan so we arranged with the teachers to have the celebration around noon after which Ryan would leave early with us. When I was discussing the party plans with Ryan's teacher, she told me that if I was planning on bringing goodie bags, I needed to make sure that they did not contain nuts. I told her that I had not decided to give out any goodies at all but, if I did give out any goodies, they wouldn't be sweets or nuts or anything like that. She was so grateful to hear that - so take that as a tip for parents: the school is not enthusiastic about parents distributing food, unless it's chocolate cake!

Actually I wanted to bring in the cake, do a quick song, blow out the candles, cut and eat, and get ourselves out of there to enjoy the rest of the day. I had no plans to give out any goodie bags. But our discussion got my creative juices flowing and, coupled with the tail discussion I was having with Ryan at the time, I decided to make tails for everyone!

Ryan's tail was the first one I made. It's actually the prototype but when I asked him to try it on, he absolutely loved it and refused to take it off the entire day. And of course, he calls it his "mouse tail", even though I don't know of any mouse with a tail like this.

The next few days yielded these; the last one was finished the morning of his birthday.

The children absolutely loved them! They all sat down and eagerly waited to be called upon to select a tail and, gosh, the smile on each child as his/her chosen tail was pinned on was just priceless. They even wore the tails to the canteen for lunch after the class party and I understand that some of them wore their tails for the rest of the school day. Even if the interest lasts for just one day, I'm happy at the thought of having brought one day's worth of happiness into each child's life.

Each child had one, plus I made one extra for one of the teachers (she has a young daughter). Each tail can either be clipped on with the attached clip or pinned on with the attached safety pin.

Here're some photos of the cake ceremony. Both the cake and the cupcakes were from Le Patissier. We bought the little party hats too.

After the cake was cut, the children all sat around in a circle (tails on) and ate their cake/cupcake while sending messages to Ryan. Each one would put their hand up and when called upon, would volunteer some words like "I love you Ryan" or "Happy Birthday Ryan!". Oh, it was just so sweet.

The cake was decorated with, what else, the alphabet. Richard asked them to put Ryan's name separately on different shapes and after the party, we left the shapes in the school office for the office staff and the principal, who do a wonderful job at the school.

Let me tell you, the tails raised Ryan's social standing a few notches - Ryan was an absolute rockstar that day. We wanted to get him out of school right after the party, but the children all gathered around him and shepherded him to lunch with them at the canteen, all of them marching there with their tails on, with the other classes looking on curiously. Richard and I had to wait till lunch was done, and even then, it was tough to get Ryan out because he had to do the movie-star exit - waving to everyone, giving out hugs and kisses for all. It was an amazing day for him at school.

While we are on the topic of tails, I wanted to also share this tail that I made for Ryan's friend, Brayden. Brayden loves dinosaurs and so I thought he'd get a kick out of a dinosaur tail (in this case, a stegosaurus tail). The dino tail is constructed differently from the tails that I made for Ryan's birthday. It is a lot bigger and a lot heavier, which is just the way a dinosaur tail should be.

We met up with Brayden and family shortly before Ryan's birthday. We went to Bishan Park and after that to dinner at Thomson Plaza. Here he is, walking around with his tail at Thomson Plaza.