This does not seem to have anything to do with Christmas - I just put it in since they were really still in that joyous mood and it's in the same folder.
Saturday, 27 November 2010
Counting Down to... Christmas!
In anticipation of a busy December, we put up the Christmas Tree quite early - in mid November. The boys were excited.
This does not seem to have anything to do with Christmas - I just put it in since they were really still in that joyous mood and it's in the same folder.
This does not seem to have anything to do with Christmas - I just put it in since they were really still in that joyous mood and it's in the same folder.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Auld Lang Syne
Staying in Scotland taught me the literal meaning of 'Auld Lang Syne' - 'Old Long Since'. So I hesitated to use the phrase when I was leaving Scotland, since I didn't really stay that long. Yet, it comes again, when now Ethan's last day in his current child care centre is tomorrow.
Of this child care centre, I have mixed feelings, like most parents do with their kids' child care centres I am sure. But I admit that I do feel rather sad at its closing.
Having had no work for the first half of the year, I was privy to some of the inner activities of the school through my daily sending and fetching of Ethan. Somehow or other, it just happened - Jethro would spend sometime at the outdoor playground, playing with the outdoor toys, especially the car, after seeing Ethan to his classroom. The timing coincided with the nursery play time and the head teacher would welcome Jethro with a cheerful greeting. They did not mind that he play on the car, and might pose some hazard to the bigger kids running around. He was even invited to participate in their water play when they had that. At times like this, my headache was how to keep him from making trouble, and how to deal with the older kids who would sometimes gather around him threateningly. Every time, I had to cajole and drag him out of the child care centre so that I could get on with my grocery shopping and other routines. After I started work, a few of the teachers would still ask after Jethro and be delighted at seeing him at the few times when I was on leave.
It was thus that I came to know most of the teachers pretty well: how the English teachers had been changed 2 times - I saw all three of them; how for the afternoon session during Chinese week, it was originally handled by a K2 teacher but later they got a new one so the K2 teacher could be fully involved with the K2 classes. I also know that their meals are catered and not the healthiest around - they do serve fried stuff at times and nothing organic or wholemeal. Still, Ethan is in K1 and should eat like a kid I suppose. (Of course, all these are in the letters to parents and menus - but seeing them first hand is quite different.) And the kids seem to be given quite a lot of personal space to develop - not as disciplinary as some of the child care centres I have looked at - yet are a happy, rather well-behaved lot.
When the news of the school closure was announced in September, it created a big hoo-hah, especially when the initial closure date was end October. Nobody had any notion of its coming, not even the teachers. Forms had even been sent out in July or August asking the parents to confirm if their children were staying on for next year. Angry parents complained to the school management and the Ministry. Some results came out of all these self-righteous complaints - the school managed to get the closure date extended to end November, so that at least the K2 students could have a proper finish to their pre-school education, and the management waived off two months of school fees in October and November for all children who continued to stay. The last did not manage to attract most non-K2 parents, however, and it was sad to see the number of children in the centre dwindle to a handful as the weeks went by. The Children's Day celebration was brought forward to the last day in September because it was the last day for many of them. Now, Ethan does not go upstairs to his original classroom, but uses the classroom at the ground floor originally occupied by the nursery kids. The number of full-day K1 kids has reduced to a mere 3, that for half-day slightly more.
So tomorrow is the last day, and school is only half a day so the teachers can pack up in the afternoon. The building will no longer hear the laughter of little kids and bear with the rowdiness. No more tears and mess, and yet, no more happy chatter and little feet running about. No more children's art hanging on its walls and windows. The little tables and chairs will be gone, the stationery will be gone, the toys will be packed away, the playground will go to ruin. I wonder if the building will be torn down. In any case, it will be such an empty place next time we pass by it on our way home. Well, it's had its grand old days and fun, and we all move on - to primary schools or to other child care centres, where our kids' actions will add to the clamour and liveliness of other buildings.
So long, old yellow building. So long, the dedicated and respected teachers. So long, boys and girls, who have given my son the enriching experience of their friendships.
Of this child care centre, I have mixed feelings, like most parents do with their kids' child care centres I am sure. But I admit that I do feel rather sad at its closing.
Having had no work for the first half of the year, I was privy to some of the inner activities of the school through my daily sending and fetching of Ethan. Somehow or other, it just happened - Jethro would spend sometime at the outdoor playground, playing with the outdoor toys, especially the car, after seeing Ethan to his classroom. The timing coincided with the nursery play time and the head teacher would welcome Jethro with a cheerful greeting. They did not mind that he play on the car, and might pose some hazard to the bigger kids running around. He was even invited to participate in their water play when they had that. At times like this, my headache was how to keep him from making trouble, and how to deal with the older kids who would sometimes gather around him threateningly. Every time, I had to cajole and drag him out of the child care centre so that I could get on with my grocery shopping and other routines. After I started work, a few of the teachers would still ask after Jethro and be delighted at seeing him at the few times when I was on leave.
It was thus that I came to know most of the teachers pretty well: how the English teachers had been changed 2 times - I saw all three of them; how for the afternoon session during Chinese week, it was originally handled by a K2 teacher but later they got a new one so the K2 teacher could be fully involved with the K2 classes. I also know that their meals are catered and not the healthiest around - they do serve fried stuff at times and nothing organic or wholemeal. Still, Ethan is in K1 and should eat like a kid I suppose. (Of course, all these are in the letters to parents and menus - but seeing them first hand is quite different.) And the kids seem to be given quite a lot of personal space to develop - not as disciplinary as some of the child care centres I have looked at - yet are a happy, rather well-behaved lot.
When the news of the school closure was announced in September, it created a big hoo-hah, especially when the initial closure date was end October. Nobody had any notion of its coming, not even the teachers. Forms had even been sent out in July or August asking the parents to confirm if their children were staying on for next year. Angry parents complained to the school management and the Ministry. Some results came out of all these self-righteous complaints - the school managed to get the closure date extended to end November, so that at least the K2 students could have a proper finish to their pre-school education, and the management waived off two months of school fees in October and November for all children who continued to stay. The last did not manage to attract most non-K2 parents, however, and it was sad to see the number of children in the centre dwindle to a handful as the weeks went by. The Children's Day celebration was brought forward to the last day in September because it was the last day for many of them. Now, Ethan does not go upstairs to his original classroom, but uses the classroom at the ground floor originally occupied by the nursery kids. The number of full-day K1 kids has reduced to a mere 3, that for half-day slightly more.
So tomorrow is the last day, and school is only half a day so the teachers can pack up in the afternoon. The building will no longer hear the laughter of little kids and bear with the rowdiness. No more tears and mess, and yet, no more happy chatter and little feet running about. No more children's art hanging on its walls and windows. The little tables and chairs will be gone, the stationery will be gone, the toys will be packed away, the playground will go to ruin. I wonder if the building will be torn down. In any case, it will be such an empty place next time we pass by it on our way home. Well, it's had its grand old days and fun, and we all move on - to primary schools or to other child care centres, where our kids' actions will add to the clamour and liveliness of other buildings.
So long, old yellow building. So long, the dedicated and respected teachers. So long, boys and girls, who have given my son the enriching experience of their friendships.
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