End of Term 3 at JG

After 3 terms in JG Bilingual Playclub, it's finally time to call it a day.  Sometime during the middle of Term 3, a couple of the teachers even came forward to feedback to me that it's time to move Ashley up to the next level, she's more than ready.  I wasn't keen to move her up.  It could be a prejudiced decision on my part but I felt she will not enjoy Edudrama.  And the sole reason I kept Ashley on for the 3rd term was because I could see she was enjoying the class.  Almost every week, she will ask me "Tomorrow go school?".

In my opinion, Ashley really benefited from the classes.  Starting from the intial resistance to singing/dancing and doing craft activities, she had progressed to enjoying these activities ( unless it involves getting the hand/feet in paint - tt's still a no-no to her :-p ).  Needless to say, her favourite activity was still the outdoor playtime, where she hogs the slide.  She's still not keen on playing sand or water (although she will "give me some face" n play awhile in the sandpit, but u can tell her eyes r always fixated on the slide :-) )

Among all the 4 teachers in class, it's weird that both she n i hv the same favourite teacher - Teacher Pix.  Whenever class ends, most of the kids will hug the teachers in turn n bid them farewell.  For Ashley, she's only willing to hug Teacher Pix (who is also my favourite teacher among the 4 of them).

I felt that 1 of the teachers there don't really put in effort to coax and try to engage Ashley in class.  I get this naggy feeling that she's favouring some kids over others (my Ashley being 1 of the kids in the latter group).  It bothered me a little n it may seem small of me, but I do ignore her as well in my own way... :-p  Needless to say, Teacher Pix was the one who put in the most efforts to break the ice with Ashley.

As usual, the last lesson of the term is party time and we had lots of fun as usual.

33 mths' milestones

Ashley is definitely developing into her own little person. What's my darling like?

Ashley is sweet. A couple of times, she quietly came up behind me and massage my shoulders and ask "Mommi, got pain pain?" ( i gather tt's bcos she's seen me asking Alan to massage my shoulders.)

Ashley is patient. Even the teachers at JG praised her for it. She waits patiently for her turns at doing craft activities, washing hands, playing at playground. And she sometimes even halts me when i tell her to go ahead. :-)

Ashley is cautious, but willing to try given lots of encouragement. I noticed this whenever she's faced with challenges that she's not confident of doing, such as climbing boards, obstacles activities. Initially, she needs me to guide her, but subsequently she grows confident enough to do it on her own. (P/S: I like that my Ashley isn't reckless to plunge headlong into new activities, but instead observes, n reacts with caution.)

Ashley is asserting her own independence. There are just so many incidents to cite - dressing/undressing herself, choosing which videos she want to watch, which clothes/shoes to wear, what activities she wants to do.

Ashley is obedient (to a certain extent :-P). Most times, she's cooperative enough and listens to me, especially when i raise my voice and let her know i m serious. This is clearly evident during mealtimes when i tell her she must eat all the different types of food i place on her plate, be it fish, meat, veggies, rice, noodles, etc... Alan and my mil both tell me Ashley doesn't eat wat they tell her to eat... hmmm... this leads me to the next characteristic.

Ashley is a smart little cookie. Like most kids, she knows how and to whom to play out her cards. She knows i don't accept nonsense with her and so, she doesn't really try out her luck with me. But when it's Alan or my mil or other pple, she can be rather naughty too.

Ashley is more sensible and independent. I still remember abt 4-5mths back when i started on my new job. There was a time when i had a conference call at 9pm, which is her bedtime. I told her daddi will sleep with her first while mommi work and when mommi's work is done, i'll go in n be with her. She made a real fuss and cried so badly until Alan got real upset too. In the end, i couldn't join in the teleconference call and had to pacify her. 5 mths later, now, when i tell her i need to work, she will nod her head and tell me "Mommi work work done come sleep with Ashley, ok?"

Hmmm... it sounds like my Ashley is an absolute angel all the time, doesn't it? Of course not, she's still very much a little child, with her tantrums, her playfulness, her cheekiness, her naivete. She still makes me angry at times, especially when she whines (and Alan told me i m really really fierce when i scold her). But that's the beauty of it, isn't it - raising a child, moulding a person's character. There will be good times and there will be bad times. I love it. I love my Ashley.

Ashley's favourite playground

The vid was taken during her graduation class at JG too. She likes the slide alot, but through this vid, you can also see how overly courteous she is. Even after she's begun climbing up the steps, she will still climb down, intending to let other kids go first. :-) Did i teach her well? Or maybe too well?

End of Term 2 at JG

Ashley getting her graduatiing cert from Teacher Pix. She had fun with the activities and thoroughly enjoyed herself!

Flamingo it is!

This is by far the craft activity that Ashley was most interested in. Even when Teacher Pix was showing the class how to do it, Ashley was already nodding her head to me n indicating that she want to do it.

She's so proud of her flamingo.

Brat!

During playtime in class yesterday, Ashley was hvg fun playing on 1 of the mini slides. Then, one kid suddenly shot his hand out and grabbed a fistful of Ashley's hair n PULLED. I m not toking abt slight tugging here, but serious PULLING! Of cos, i immediately grabbed his hand n held it tightly to prevent him from pulling further. Shit! If not for his mommi who was carrying him n his daddi standing next to the mommi, goodness knows wat i wld hv done, maybe hit his hand hard or bite his hand liao! Hummpfff!!!

What a brat! And the stupid daddi just murmured a perfunctory "sorry" to me, while the mommi just carried her son away n lectured him for less than 10sec.. WTH!

Later, i asked the Ashley whether got pain-pain, n the poor little gal murmured to me yes... Awww... my poor darling!

29 mths' milestones

Missed this one bcos i was so tied up wif my new job...

I'm just gonna mention a couple :

Language skill
- Ashley surprised me by asking me "What you want?". It happened like this. I was in the bedroom and called out to her to drink water. Ashley was in the living room then. She ran to the bedroom and blurted out "What you want?". I was pleasantly surprised and told her "Mommy wants you to drink water." She then parroted my words "Drink water ah." I nodded my head n she ran off. I walked out to see what she was doing and true enough, she was drinking water... :-)

I am now trying to introduce Mandarin to her. Trying to speak to her in Mandarin. Funny tho, i realise i inadvertently switch back to English... haiz... must persevere, dun wan her to reject Mandarin.

Motor skill
There's a step-climbing board in JG playground. A few weeks back, Ashley was climbing steps on this board. She was doing it rather slowly and vv carefully. A mommi in JG's class was rather surprised and asked me how old Ashley was. Later I saw her dd playing on the same board, but was vv adept in climbing up and down the steps. Her dd shd be a few months younger than Ashley. When i saw this, i then realised y she asked me that qn earlier. Blame it on us, the parents. We seldom let Ashley climb up and down the stairs when she was younger. Partly afraid she'll fall, partly worried she's block the people behind and lastly because we seem to be always in a rush. Since then, i've decided no more. Gotta let Ashley learn. It's ok if she's slow... we will match her pace... :-)

JG

Haiyah!

Tt's the only word i can say for the mess tt was sorta created by me :-p

I had earlier thot that the JG class Ashley is attending has only 9am class in Forum, which was why i switched her there. Today, i found out tt Evans has the same class as well. Sooooo..... i had to call the centre again to switch Ashley back to Evans.

Isn't it Haiyah!

Lucky, they still have vacancy for the Evans 9am class. Probably not many kids are early risers like Ashley. o_O

I'm biased towards Evans... hehehe... Like the environment n teachers there better. Yep, it's gonna be Teacher Pix.

2nd term at JG

Ashley started her 2nd term at JG in Forum. Good thing we got a place in the morning class. It's really better timing for all of us. I can still go home n whip up a simple lunch for Ashley. And more importantly, Ashley is not too tired to finish the 2hr class (in the previous term, Ashley is almost always worn out n fussy in the last 30mins of class bcos she's tired).

She likes the slide so much that she'd forgo her beloved car-car for the slide. Went up and down the slide umpteenth time during the 15min break at playground. :-)

And she keep telling me "wana go school"... LOLz...

End of Term 1 in JG

Ashley has completed her 1st term in JG. I am so proud of her. We had a mini party on the last lesson to celebrate their "graduation". The theme was occupation and we were supposed to dress our lil ones in such occupation we chose - such as doctor, nurse, chef, etc... In the end, no one did. :-P However, we did bring snacks along and everyone had a great time.

Motor skills

Undeniably, i m most amazed by the leaps n bounds Ashley makes in her development. Last Sunday during class, the craft activity was to make a neckace. Teacher Farah gave Ashley a gold string and cut pieces of straw ( yellow n red colour). After guiding Ashley to string the first two pieces, alternating the 2 colours, Ashley was able to string 4 more pieces of straw. She could even pick up the alternating colours to string. Fantastic! Even Teacher Farah praised her for capabilities!

JG updates

The most significant change that i have noticed in Ashley these last couple of months is that she's now singing/humming to alot of kiddy songs, especially when sitting in the car and we play the CD. Even at home, she'll sing these songs out of the blue n forbid us from joining in. LOLz...

She also been enjoying herself at JG classes, even tho she does put up a token protest n tell me she does not want to go school. Particularly likes going to the outdoor playground n ride the cars there.

And I've also discovered that the saying "walk the talk" works! JG classes has sand play and water play on different weeks. And with me showing her how fun it is to play wif sand and water, she does join in n had a great time playing wif sand and water.

Also, she's improved leaps n bounds in listening n obeying to instructions. Now, after she's had her snacks, she will clear her own cup and saucer and bring it to the teacher. Also, she knows how to turn on/off the tap, wash/rub her hands, dry her hands wif tissue/hand towel.

Ashley's 1st day at JG

Big day today!

It’s Ashley’s 1st day at school (ok, ok, it’s only a once-a-week 2hr session comprising learning thru fun n play).

Needless to say, it's a MUST to capture all these on film (technically it should be memory stick. no?).

Ashley was all eager to go to school (think she doesn’t yet understand wat it really means). Anyway, tt’s good bcos I was afraid of any nasty (think wailing/fussing/running away/rolling on the floor/koala bear) scene whereby I’d need to forcefully (haha! Just kidding) pull her into class.

See her all smiley on the way to school...

In school, there was a little girl called Megan was doing just that (minus the running away/rolling on the floor). She was sticking to her mommi like a koala bear, n her face was all red n puffy from the crying. Had a brief chat wif her mommi n found out little Megan was 19mths’ old. Turns out my Ashley is one of the older and bigger babies in the class. Hah! At least I dun hv to worry she’ll b bullied in class! :-p

Ashley passed her 1st lesson with flying colours – no crying or koala bear, participated in all activities including playing toys, actions-accompanied singing, dancing, art-n-craft (ok, she wouldn’t touch the paint/glue, but she pasted the number pad on), story-telling, muppet-of-e-day, outdoor play (her favourite!) and snacks (except I didn’t let her eat the mini sausage).

Ashley impressed me by being confident enough to be alone while I need to go out of the classroom, twice – once to wash my hands of the paint, once to visit the washroom. Both times I told her vv clearly where I was going n tt I will be back later. Both times, she nodded her head n continued with her activities. And both times, I came back seeing her enjoying herself.

Teacher gave her tiny stickers n she was happily playing wif it (this was the 1st scene tt greeted me when i came back from washing my hands). See the kids n parents at the background, they were still busy wif the art-n-craft.

Enjoying her snacks of cornflakes, mini sausage, papaya (even tho she only ate the cornflakes).

Ashley having fun at the outdoor playground.

Ashley's 1st piece of craft. Ok, i helped her paint the purple glue on since she was adamant abt not getting her fingers dirty. She helped to paste the number pad on (even tho it's way crooked). Errmmm... can u all make out wat this craft is? It's a telephone ( Rring-Rringggg... ).

I had a scare just when lesson ended. Wat happened? I told Ashley to wait at a corner of the classroom for me while i went to the other corner to get her crafts from the drying rack. When i had gotten her crafts, i turned back and couldn't find Ashley at the corner where she was supposed to wait for me. It was rather chaotic then bcos alot of parents n kids were getting ready to leave the classroom. I looked 360 degrees but couldn't find her. Getting a bit frantic, i even walked to the door to peer out into the walkway to see if Ashley had wandered out. No sign of her. As i was getting desperate and wanted to ask a teacher to help me find her, i did a U-turn n saw my little darling just standing behind me. Guess she had followed me closely behind whererever i went. And being the little toddler, she wasn't in my line of vision at such close range, thus i couldn't see her until i did a U-turn n almost bumped into her. What a fright i had!

For Ashley's class, i noticed that both parents attended the lesson wif their child. Bcos it was the 1st session, the teachers gave special permission to allow both parents into the class (rule is 1 parent-1 child ratio). Hah! I told Alan to stay home n cook lunch for us, so there was piping hot fried rice waiting for Ashley n me when we got home. We were famished (at least i was! maybe shd suggest tt parents get a light snack too since the 2hr session is quite energy-sapping for us too! yeah rite! n then the sky-high fees will likely increase another $50???)

Julia Gabriel

Hip Hip Hooray! (x3)

Ashley is given a place at Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning. This is a big step - Ashley's 1st introduction to a proper learning environment (with teacher, classroom, classmates, etc), even though i will be there together with her.

She will be starting school next year. Looking forward to it... :-D