P1 Preparation for parents of mutliples

[VVJJ]

Hi, I'm a newbie here.. found the site by chance and i must say it's a useful site!!


I've a twin boys too.. going to P1 next yr.. hyperactive and refuse to learn anything. Elder is smart but tends to forget fast too. Younger one is slow. I'm having problems coaching them given that they have short attention span. In addition, think they do not know the seriousness of \"study\". I'm also getting worried cos most kids by their age should be able to read/write..

Have enrolled them for english/chinese/maths extra classes. Now crossing my fingers that they will be able to at least grasp something fm these lessons...

[vividlaurel]

Imp75:

twins of 2.5 yrs old + 1 singleton of 4.5yrs old.

Wow Imp75, they must all be a handful! All boys?? :lol:

[vividlaurel]

VVJJ:

Hi, I'm a newbie here.. found the site by chance and i must say it's a useful site!!


I've a twin boys too.. going to P1 next yr.. hyperactive and refuse to learn anything. Elder is smart but tends to forget fast too. Younger one is slow. I'm having problems coaching them given that they have short attention span. In addition, think they do not know the seriousness of \"study\". I'm also getting worried cos most kids by their age should be able to read/write..

Have enrolled them for english/chinese/maths extra classes. Now crossing my fingers that they will be able to at least grasp something fm these lessons...

Hi VVJJ,

Welcome here! Guess there are quite a few twins who will be in P1 next year! Some of your problems are quite similar to me, maybe we should exchange notes!

Which school are you looking at?

[VVJJ]

Hi Vividlaurel,


dun be shocked!! I've 2 gals as well.. total 4 kids.. my eldest gal is sitting for PSLE this yr.. 2nd gal in P3

I'm still considering school for my boys.. wanted to put them to Maris Stella but i have rec'd many feedbacks fm my friends that since my boys can't really understand Chinese, i should reconsider another school..

What's ur view?

[Twins]

vividlaurel:

Imp75:

twins of 2.5 yrs old + 1 singleton of 4.5yrs old.

Wow Imp75, they must all be a handful! All boys?? :lol:

Hi vivialaurel

Haha, I should also add that I too have 3 kids - - the twins and a 3.5 yrs boy (they are 21 months apart!) \"Hard life\" for me when the youngest was born! But now all 3 boys having fun with each other.

However, I took a much thot-thru decision to be a SAHM for this year (actually on no pay leave and am thankful to my boss for supporting my decision) and so far, am enjoying the bonding time I have with them, plus the extra time I now have to read to the twins and guide them in Maths.

I realise with the last few weeks spent on them so far, the younger twin actually has improved in attention span and I can see him trying. He still takes a longer time to grasp but he does eventually \"get it\"! For me, I'm cultivating my Patience level (ha ha! - it can be trying sometimes).

VVJJ: My Little advice to you is that apart from the extra classes for your twins, you should consider giving some time to them each day, maybe for a start - reading to them - if you haven't already started. Just 15 mins sitting with them to read them a book every day, I assure you, you can see a difference after some weeks - this is great bonding time with them, and nothing beats reading, reading and reading. It also cultivates the children's interst in reading. After a while, my boys even start to take the books out and asks me to read or tries to read on their own. The ability to read is also important in that it helps the child to read the problem sums in Maths, which are now even found in P1 Maths - no longer just \"2+4= _\" or \"10-4=_\".

Above all, as parents, let's all remember to help our beloved children enjoy the journey of continuous learning!

[vividlaurel]

VVJJ:

Hi Vividlaurel,


dun be shocked!! I've 2 gals as well.. total 4 kids.. my eldest gal is sitting for PSLE this yr.. 2nd gal in P3

I'm still considering school for my boys.. wanted to put them to Maris Stella but i have rec'd many feedbacks fm my friends that since my boys can't really understand Chinese, i should reconsider another school..

What's ur view?

Wow VVJ!

How do you manage??? :? With just these two I am exhausted all the time. I just can't imagine 2 more kids - one in P6 too this year!

Ok, its confession time, I'm not a Singaporean and so I don't know the school system here. But if your boys are not that fluent in Chinese and if Maris Stella is a SAP School, then maybe you should reconsider putting them there. Isn't there any other good school nearby? Also do your girls go to a girls school?

Vividlaurel

[vividlaurel]

Twins:

Haha, I should also add that I too have 3 kids - - the twins and a 3.5 yrs boy (they are 21 months apart!) \"Hard life\" for me when the youngest was born! But now all 3 boys having fun with each other.

Above all, as parents, let's all remember to help our beloved children enjoy the journey of continuous learning!

Hi Twins,

I now know that there are many courageous moms out there! How you could take this decision I don't know....For me every month that I am late, I get the jitters! :oops:

I am a working mom now, but am seriously considering working either flexi hours or on a part time basis once the kids go to P1. I know that if I am around, it will be easier to teach them and yes, knowledge of English is very important as even Maths is English based.

Last I loved your last line - lets all together helps our lovely kiddos enjoy learning...

Thanks girls, I am really glad I found you all here... :celebrate:

[VVJJ]

Hi Vivi, Twins,


Thanks for the encouragement and feedback.. Yes , have been reading to the boys nightly.. I just hope to see miracle.. and hope they will be able to read back to me one day.. Now it seems that they memorise the sentence whenever they read the story back to me.. I wanted them to recognise, not memorise.. difficult task and need lots of patience..

My P6 gal has lots of homework daily. Local education is not easy. However, I'm spending more time on my younger gal instead.. She's a left handed, like me.. but mild dyslexic.. so coaching her is enough to drain my energy away. On the other hand, i'm actuali glad that i'm able to accomplish the task daily whenever i tuck them to sleep. A kinda of self satisfaction

[vividlaurel]

VVJJ:

She's a left handed, like me.. but mild dyslexic.. so coaching her is enough to drain my energy away. On the other hand, i'm actuali glad that i'm able to accomplish the task daily whenever i tuck them to sleep. A kinda of self satisfaction

Hi VVJJ,

I want to ask you something - you mention that your younger gal is left handed - my girl is also the same. When she or you were younger, did you and she write letters/numbers from left to right instead of right to left? My girl for example if she has to write the number 56 will write instead 65. She knows she has to write 5 first and then 6, but she starts from the right side of the box meaning will write 5 first and then put 6 before it. To her she is right, but when we read it it is wrong. Also she writes mirror images of words a lot. I had asked her K1 teacher about it and she said that many kids in her class used to do it. But now I am getting worried - if she is like this in P1, she'll lose a lot of marks in exams and also in class work. Do you think I should test her?

I'll be really grateful if you can answer my questions.

Vividlaurel

[VVJJ]

Hi Vivi,


When she's younger, she used to write the \"flip\" ways.. eg.. d to b, 65 can be 56. Capital letter can appear in the middle of a word. I thought she will outgrown by the time she's in P1. P1 and P2, she's still having problems.. and to make it worse, she can difficulty in spelling. Earlier this yr, I send her to Dylsexic Assocation for assessment. And now, she's confirmed a mild dyslexic and will need to attend their course on phonics.

Usually, kids will correct themselves by the time they are in P1. I had myself to blame for not noticing this earlier.

Vivi, you can refer to http://www.das.org.sg for more details.