GMW obliges us with an account of the time she spent at school with her kids because the school organised a program for parents to go into class and sit in and observe what their children do in a school day.
And the school and the teachers did a great job making the lessons interesting for everybody. :O) Maybe after programmes like that, kiasu parents will cut their teachers some slack and just let them do their jobs??? Hmmmnnnn.....
Hi Suwei
Recently, I had the opportunity to spend half a day, on two different days, with my children in school.
It was a pilot programme organised by their Primary School, called Parent-Child Day.
Parents were given the golden opportunity to spend half a day with their child, to experience what their daily routine was like. On both days, it started off at the hall with the pledge and then a welcome by the principal. Then, all parents followed their children back to their individual classes.
My (P1) daughter's Form Teacher had prepared a Math activity for the class and parents could help their children with it. It was very interactive. I found the P1s very cute and innocent. One boy even called me teacher while I was helping them with the activity! After 2 periods of that, it was off to their Mother Tongue classes. I enjoyed the MT class a lot because the teacher did not teach but rather, got the children to speak about their favourite food. I think I enjoyed it a lot because being P1 children, they gave innocently cute answers, often in a mix of English and MT.
As for my son who's in P4, his Form Teacher played a clip on Global Warming. It was very informative. I learnt many things from that clip.
Recess time was very special because it was the first time I had the chance to buy my children food and sit with them, having a decent conversation. Believe it or not, amidst all the noise in the canteen, it was like just the two of us. We managed to block out all the surrounding noise and concentrated only on us. Usually at home, all three of my children will want to say something about anything so individual time is rare for the two older ones. The youngest have a lot of attention from me when her siblings are in school. (BTW, my mum took care of the little one while I was at school).
When recess was over, all P1s and parents gathered at the hall to say good bye. The principal thanked the parents for coming especially the fathers who took time off work to attend. I think I spotted a tear in my girl's eye as she waved to me. As for my son, you know, boys will be boys but I think he sensed a little sadness in him.
I am grateful for this programme because of the special time I got to spend with them. I am certain that their typical routine was different from those days when parents were present. But I understand now, what they have to go through in terms of being seated in class for several periods, trying to focus on what is being taught, time constraints in completing their work, having to put up with disruptive classmates, being ignored by the teacher when they have something to say and the list goes on..................
More than anything else, this program has made me appreciate and lurrve my children even more.
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