All About Preparing For Primary One

[buds]

radiantmum:

Haha I think it's more like BLINK BLINK my DS is a dad already (psst not the 12-yr old UK boy turn dad type huh)! I wanted to throw away his completed assessment paper yesterday and he shouted, NO! need to keep these for my son. :!:

csb:

Ha ha, my 7yo is keeping his unwanted toys for his children--we are not supposed to discard anything. All will go to the storeroom where his legacy will stay till his children are ready for inherit them :lol:

:rotflmao:

[buds]

radiantmum:

LOL ... confirmed aged old theory ... kids just can't wait to grow up!

Wait till they grow up!

Cannot U-turn! :lol:

[buds]

sssdarlings:

As I watched my lil ones get ready for school, I realise that beyond academics and other practical skills, they also need to have adequate motor skills. These include cutting properly with scissors, drawing lines with ruler and using staplers carefully and correctly. Actually, I was surprised to see stapler included in ds2's list for first day.

I thought all these fine motor skills are more than covered liao
in pre-school? It shouldn't be anythin' new to children in this
generation already right?

[sssdarlings]

buds:

sssdarlings:

As I watched my lil ones get ready for school, I realise that beyond academics and other practical skills, they also need to have adequate motor skills. These include cutting properly with scissors, drawing lines with ruler and using staplers carefully and correctly. Actually, I was surprised to see stapler included in ds2's list for first day.

I thought all these fine motor skills are more than covered liao
in pre-school? It shouldn't be anythin' new to children in this
generation already right?

Buds, it is surprising how many P1s still cannot cut with a pair of scissors correctly or draw lines with ruler (thank goodness, ex books nowadays come with margins pre-drawn ;))
I dont think staplers are used in pre-schools, are they?

[jedamum]

buds:

radiantmum:

Haha I think it's more like BLINK BLINK my DS is a dad already (psst not the 12-yr old UK boy turn dad type huh)! I wanted to throw away his completed assessment paper yesterday and he shouted, NO! need to keep these for my son. :!:

csb:

Ha ha, my 7yo is keeping his unwanted toys for his children--we are not supposed to discard anything. All will go to the storeroom where his legacy will stay till his children are ready for inherit them :lol:

:rotflmao:

this is not impossible hor.
ds1 inherited my dh's lego set and a few of my cars ('matchbox' type of cars, made in france and hongkong...where you find these now? nowadays are all made in china). he likes to go to my mum's place to dig my 'treasure' box in hope that i'll give him some stuff. he call these boxes 'time capsules'.
my MIL lamented that his son grew so fast and that she should have kept his childhood clothings for her grandsons.

[jedamum]

sssdarlings:

Buds, it is surprising how many P1s still cannot cut with a pair of scissors correctly or draw lines with ruler (thank goodness, ex books nowadays come with margins pre-drawn ;))

I dont think staplers are used in pre-schools, are they?

first 3 days of P1, can still see some parents feeding their kids during recess...

[kiasimom]

TOMORROW IS THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL :!: :!: :!:

[metz]

jedamum:

this is not impossible hor.

ds1 inherited my dh's lego set and a few of my cars ('matchbox' type of cars, made in france and hongkong...where you find these now? nowadays are all made in china). he likes to go to my mum's place to dig my 'treasure' box in hope that i'll give him some stuff. he call these boxes 'time capsules'.
my MIL lamented that his son grew so fast and that she should have kept his childhood clothings for her grandsons.

When my son saw me sell some of the children books and readers online, he told me not to. His children will need them in future. :shock:

Couple of months ago, I overheard him telling his younger sister about family relationship.

son : Do you know how our kids will be related to each other?
daughter : Er?
son : They will be cousins. Then they will have to call me Uncle and you Auntie. But they won't have too many cousins cos there's only you and me.

Hopefully, I won't be hearing anything about great grandchildren anytime soon.

Time really flies. I can hardly believe my son is finally going to primary school tomorrow. :love:

[buds]

sssdarlings:

Buds, it is surprising how many P1s still cannot cut with a pair of scissors correctly or draw lines with ruler (thank goodness, ex books nowadays come with margins pre-drawn ;)) I dont think staplers are used in pre-schools, are they?

Surprising indeed... :!:

P1s not being able to cut or draw margin lines.. :idea:

That's kinda overwhelming for me to hear sssdarlings.
Seriously... :shock:

What with our pre-schools now conducting all these
learning through play, having learning centres in class,
plenty of craft work activities of various kinds... all sure
contribute effectively to fine motor exercises, no?

And kids nowadays commence pre-school at such an
early stage/age too, ain't it? :idea: Margins shouldn't
be a problem cause by K1, kids are normally already
exposed to writing in pre-schools. By K2, already doing
grammar rules & simple creative writing on top of spelling..
so.... :idea: i should think margins are generally more than
quite covered before entering P1 ba. :oops: I dunno... just
find it really surprising reali..

As for staplers, my kiddies kindy get all children to compile
their notes into folders. Prior to that they are to staple a
couple of thematic worksheets/term worksheets together
before putting all the children's work into their individual
folders.

So, i suppose some pre-schools do not prepare children in
similar ways ba. Paiseh... :oops: With regards to children
having to bring staplers on 1st day P1, we dun have such
request from the kiddies' school. I only get the girls those
flat & foldable hole punchers since there will be many of
those loose sheets to be filed into the coloured folders
that the school has gotten us to purchase.

Do you teach P1 children, sssdarlings? Is that how you
know of such kids who cannot do those stuff? But guess,
they will just hafta conform once they enter P1 ba... Even
if they dunno upon entry to P1, they will get round to it
eventually.

Suppose it ain't so much a biggie...
Good if one already knows, doesn't matter if one doesn't... ya think?

[sssdarlings]

I think we parents/ and some teachers (esp those who have not taught P1s for long) take these skills for granted.


Even in pre-schools, do the teachers pre-cut/draw for children or are the children given enough time and opportunities to do so for themselves?
The pre-school where your children attended, seem to have them well-prepared if they were already stapling worksheets independantly.
Actually in K2, most children are able but then again that is a period where each child is progress at his/ her own pace.

My dd used to need only the coloured folders too; hence my surprise that ds2’s list of things to bring included a stapler. Mummy also panicked when the dear smart boy asked me how it is used. Quick crash course there ;D

I do not teach anymore. These are just my observations from my experience in pre-school enrichment and working with primary school children.

They may not be biggie- I agree but when a child is already struggling to understand concepts, complete work or corrections, these nitty gritty tasks can add on to the child ‘burden’ and stress.
The onus then will be on the class teacher not to make a big deal of the inadequacies and give the children opportunities to succeed.