hi chilipadi, ya, dun worry so much...

hi Addoil, think chilipadi's 5yr old a gal ya? what abt your 4mth-old?
i've a 6mth-old. Very noisy ah... cry superloud. Quite unlike his elder siblings.

Hi insider,


Thanks very much for your thoughtful sharing. It belies the experience you have with young children and familiarity with their developmental milestones. I think many a times, parents can be victims of anxiety, like you said, especially when they think ahead of the kind of education system that their children would be going through.

This may sound obvious - but I'm learning that the one of the most responsible thing a parent could do is to strive (it really takes effort) to understand and love the child the way he/she is, then start working with him/her. In that way, the child experiences respect and love (being respected and loved for the way he/she is). The ability to learn and the gungho 'I can do it' spirit is then slowly strengthened from there.

Hi chilipadi, haha - maybe with boys around, your dd will learn to be more demure!? Looks like you've got your P1 schooling business quite planned out already.


My area is CCK, so that's across the island from yours...

Hi csc, thanks much for your encouragement and suggestion. Copying short rhyme / poem is a good idea - will try that out. He’s just started writing a sentence (e.g. I am a boy.)


Hi insider, thanks for the website - it’s most informative! I see your point about the size of the handwriting - his is rather large now. Will take note not to decrease the size. But I notice recently that he wants to write in smaller size, don’t know why.

westmom:

If you suspect it is fine motor skill that causes bad handwriting, buy those \"stress balls\". They are ones that are specifically made to improve fine motor skills

Thanks westmum for the suggestion - will check that out. My ds (5-yr-old) has rather poor fine motor skills and his handwriting was bad. He would write out of proportion (esp. for chinese characters), out of line... I used to get really upset when I did writing with him.

Like what jedamum mentioned earlier, I decided that pracice is key. So we sit down almost every night to write simple words repeatedly. He chooses the words to write. The practice helped. His teacher in CC commented recently that his handwriting has improved.

Praises help. The moment the words are well-written, he is praised and that increased his motivation. And now, we tell him that his writing has improved - and he is very proud of himself. I am glad because he focuses better during writing tasks as well.

To better reinforce his improving handwriting, we establish a reward system with stickers/stamps to keep him going.

Now that he's gotten his handwriting in better shape (literally), I am trying to work on his writing speed. So that he completes his writing tasks faster and yet neat...wish me luck!!!

Hello chilipadi, welcome to KSP!


I'm quite a newbie myself - also has a 5-yr-old, and also looking for school! Which area are you staying?

Hi Pandafam, I've heard good things about South View and their results have been good. Perhaps you may like to check the listings on KSP on the school:

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/school/south-view-primary-school

Thanks Luanee and Jedamum for the info and advice. Will keep that in mind.

Haha, Jedamum, you're funny! And hey, I like the part about being your husband's only princess...! I never thought it that way...


All the best har, let's hope that the 1% is big enough to squeeze through!! ;))

Sorry Jedamum - was trying to ‘quote’ your passage, but how come it didn’t come out in little white boxes like yours har?!