First School Assessment

I had my first ever parent-teacher’s meeting last 18 May 2012. I was scheduled in the 12:10 slot to meet Hendrik’s form teacher, Mrs Sabrina Lim and Hendrik’s Chinese teacher, Mdm Ong or Wang Lao Shi as Hendrik calls her. Joseph was supposed to tag along with me, but was caught up in a training.

I had a lovely chat with Mrs Lim as well as Mdm Ong. I don’t need to write in details what we had discussed, but suffice it to say that I was happy stepping out of the school’s gate after hearing Hendrik’s 1^st semester assessment.

The following are snapshots from Hendrik’s folder (which I hope Sunbeam Kindergarten wouldn’t mind). I am just a proud Mommy, you know…  =)

"Hendrik is a pleasant and shy boy. He loves to read and enjoys listening to stories."

" Hendrik has shown improvement in his work and he takes pride in it. He has also learnt to be sociable and can now relate better with his peers and teachers."

"Hendrik responds to rhythm and sings spontaneously. He enjoys painting / craftwork, and is able to use simple tools and materials to construct."

"Hendrik has a desire to learn. He enjoys doing actions while reciting rhymes. He loves to write."

Now, isn't this a good reason to be happy? Indeed!

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Art Works from Sem 1

It’s been 5 months since Hendrik started schooling. I only get to know what he does in school when I ask him of his activities on a particular day. When he is in the mood, he would eagerly answer me and share what he did. But when he is not, it would be frustrating to expect answers from him especially when he says that he doesn’t remember or he forgets.

- chinese new year project -

- happy valentine's day -

- mother's day artwork -

- the twirl / lollipop -

But, as persistent as I am, I would ask him questions that he only gets to answer with a yes or no like if he listened to his teachers, played with his classmates, ate the snacks given to them by Aunty Lee Hoon, participated during his music and gym classes. As expected, he would say yes to all.

- vegetable printing -

- the mouse and the cat -

I would be glad to find some take-aways from school when I open his bag when I come home from work. I know that aside from those mentioned above, my son is also doing something else that would spark his interest into other areas of learning, specifically the arts.

- finger printing -

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First School Family Day

We celebrated Labor Day - May 1 at the Singapore Botanic Gardens for Sunbeam Kindergarten cum Sunday School Family Day. It was Hendrik's 2nd school outing. Since it was a holiday, both Daddy and Mommy were available and were able to come. We also tagged along Hendrik's cousin, Ate Bek-bek, who just arrived in Singapore and who willingly volunteered to look after Hendrik while on school vacation for 2 months.

We were grouped in the yellow team, thus the yellow shirts we were donning the whole day.

Our yellow name tags according to our team color.

We arrived at the Botanic Gardens around 8:30am and were provided with light breakfast before we began the games proper.

We gathered smack dab in the middle of the unshaded part of the garden where Mr Sun was showing his mighty powers while we played various games.

Mommy, Hendrik and Ate Bek-bek busy trying to connect the yellow straws.

Then, we tested our yellow straws (connected together) if it was strong enough not to break when we lifted it. And yes, we made it...  =)  Well, all of the teams made it, so we all earned the same points.

Each group made paper planes, and the objective was to make them fly over the line about 3 meters away. Daddy contributed 1 point out of the 3 points our group made in this game.  =)

 We also bumped into one of Hendrik's classmates, Arinjay.

It was just about 9:30am and Mr Sun was already draining our energy, so we rested for a bit and and sat down on a shaded part of the garden and had Hendrik drink a lot of water to keep him hydrated.

Then, it was time for the 'Amazing Race'...

During the 'Amazing Race', we went to Jacob Ballas Children's Garden (JBCG) and came across this mini-mountain. Hendrik enjoyed this spot so much that he and I climbed up and down this mini-mountain for several times until our teammates had to call on us for us to move on with the race.

The Tree House and the slide were under renovation when we visited JBCG last year and Hendrik was not able to try it. And so, Hendrik did not miss the opportunity to try this highlight of JBCG. He sure had a lot of fun as he also tried it countless times...  =)

Then, we all crossed the mini log-bridge...

And bumped into Hendrik's nursery teacher, Mrs Lim.

We also stop now and then for a photo-op whenever we can - this time with Daddy...  =)

Even under the roasting heat of the sun, Hendrik still managed to make faces...

We must be very slow as our teammates were way ahead of us and we were walking alongside the blue team.

At last! about an hour and a half of roaming around the Botanic Gardens, we were back at base and having our so-called closing exercises. Here, Mrs. Lim was leading the music.

This Family Day wouldn't be complete without the students' doing an act together for parents, family members, teachers and friends to see. Here, the students at Sunbeam Kindergarten were singing a Chinese song. And yes, Hendrik participated and sang in Chinese. Surprise - surprise for us...  =)

All along, Ate Bek-bek was beside us, taking pictures and helping us carry things. We hoped she had fun as well. Don't worry Ate Bek-bek, we share your sentiment about the blazing heat of Mr Sun and we were also dripping wet with sweat. We just made it look like we are cool with it.  =)

While waiting for lunch to arrive, we played with Ka-Can's mommy.

After waiting for about an hour for lunch delivery, we were able to have packed fried rice and bee-hon for lunch. 

After spending half-day out, we were all ready to go home and rest...

Overall, we had a good time bonding with each other despite the scorching heat of the sun. We were able to chitchat with the other parents and meet some of the teachers at Bethesda Sunbeam Kindergarten.

We arrived home at around 2:30pm fully exhausted. We then had our much needed nap for a birthday party to attend in the evening.

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