Is tuition critical for students to excel today?

Did you have tuition when you were younger? I had tuition when I was in Pri 3 to Pri4. Coz my mom took care of a pair of sisters attending the same school as me, I joined in the tuition class for free. To me, it was fun coz we did Maths sums in workbooks which I considered extra reading materials. and the tuition teacher was a very nice lady.

Fast forward to today. Yahoo users who answered the above question have the following responses in an article "Beware the education arms race" in Yahoo News:
- an ”education arms race” fuelled by anxious parents
- such classes were a “necessity” in today’s highly competitive school system

"Roughly half of the respondents believed private tuition was indispensable in getting an edge over other students."

From the article, I could see that most of the people who took the survey are parents. How do STUDENTS themselves feel about tuition?

Look back at the question again...the operative word is "Excel". Not "survive".

My friends in Singapore have these on their minds:
- Getting the kids to their school of choice (but closer friends are careful not to stress their younger kids too much, but to let them have fun)
- exposing their kids to Chinese coz they seldom speak Chinese at home
- sending kids for classes they like (like violin, piano, fencing, swimming, etc).

Kids like a lot of things, but do they have to go for all these extra classes. I have seen friends shouting at their son coz he didn't want to practice his piano violin for 10mins each instrument. Not stressful, just 10mins. Do all these extra classes allow the kids to have play time?

Why must children excel?

How about a survey for schooling children "What changes would you like so that you can ENJOY school?"

HFMD

Came back on Tue evening and found out that Jon had a fever on Mon and a couple of mouth ulcers on Tue. He didn't drink much coz his ulcers hurt. He also cried a little that night, coz his mouth hurt and was dry from not drinking water. By midnight, Jon had a slight fever. Thankfully by then, he was in deep sleep and took a bottle of milk laced with paracetamol. That brought his fever down almost immediately.

On Wed, we stayed home and I played with him. After praying for him, I tired to give him water by the syringe. He was agreeable! He managed to drink two bottles of 200ml, one syringe of 5ml at a time! For lunch, he only managed a few grains of rice, and a bowl of soup.

After his nap, I saw rashes on his hands! Oh no, could it be Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease? By evening, some rash also appeared on his legs. But he wasn't running a fever and thankfully, he took liquids. At one time, I gave him so much water on an empty stomach that Jon felt like throwing up. I quickly gave him some sweetened Milo and he felt better.

Thursday. Brought him to the doc and confirmed it was HFMD. Doc said it was strange that the rash appeared so late. Jon has to skip school for 5 days. And it was the tail end of the disease. Jon was already smiling, and chatting. I think it's coz he had his mommy back by his side *wink*.

I am thankful that his ulcers don't cause him so much pain anymore. and he could also take half his usual intake of rice, with lots of soup. and I am also grateful that most of the pain were on the first two days, and I only had to contend with one night of interrupted sleep. Aiyo, when Jon cried, Jill also cried coz she was disturbed. Had to quickly comfort one then the other.

I pray that Jill and Mabel will not get it, as they are staying in under one roof. Mabel had fever, but this is from her teething and her gums hurt her so much until there's mouth ulcers too. We have to vigilant that Jill doesn't touch Jon's stuff and when he does take her stuff, we have to clean them before Jill gets her hands on them. And the adults have to be careful too least they get HFMD too. Heard that a family we know, all contacted the disease.

was in SG for a few days

We were back in Singapore last weekend for a quick 3-day trip to do a couple of things and brought only Jillian with us. We would have to leave Jill with my mom when we do our stuff. My mom is quite old and frail and we know she would not have been able to take care of two kids, especially a highly spirited Jon. So we had to snuck out on Sat night coz Jon would surely want to follow, since Jill was coming with us.

He was having his dinner of noodles and watching Tom & Jerry with grandma. Then he turned to grandma and laughed at the cartoon, and caught sight of me sneaking away! He cried so loudly and wanted to follow me out of the door. Grandpa quickly picked him up. I couldn't near to hear his cries and had to go back in to kiss him on his arm before making a quick get-away. I cried in the car on the way to the airport. Have you left your child for an overseas trip or even snuck out to the supermarket? You would understand my feelings right?

Jillian is so very different from Jon. Jon is a very easy traveller and would knock out after drinking his milk on the plane. But Jillian! She was super alert and looked around everywhere. I had to entertain her at the airport and thank goodness something caught her eye.

On the aircraft, Jill would look at passengers in front and behind...and I had to walk up and down the aisles otherwise she will disturb the people near us! Thankfully she slept in the car after we crossed the Singapore customs, so when we reached my parents' place, she was fast asleep and I needn't worry about how to make her sleep in a new environment.

We managed to shop a little (by that, I mean Mothercare @ Centrepoint and a sports shop at Northpoint after dinner) and meet a couple of friends after running our errands. Li Yen and Ying happened to be Singapore too and we managed to catch up, albeit for a short while after lunch and before the kids' nap time. Ying and Jill are the only girls in the small group, there are 4 other toddler boys. How fast our girls have grown!

I also managed to catch up with Chwee, who brought her #4, Daniel (yes, she has 4 children!). We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant at Chip Bee Garden before checking out the baking shops there. Goodness, there's Phoon Huat, Pantry Magic, Shermay's Cooking School and another chic chic place. Wish I was a tai tai with more days and moolah in SG! On the other hand, as I am attracted to many things colourful and sparkly, I am thankful I am based in Miri.

Jillian was such a Koala Bear. super clingy! She will hold onto us for her dear life, and woe unto us should we want to put her down! She will hold onto us tightly, well for my case, she will pull on my hair and will not let go. Sometimes, she will even climb higher and higher as if that will prevent us from lowering her down. Quite a funny sight, when I think back. But when I am trying to change her after her bath, or get ready to go out or even pack my luggage....not funny at all.

Because we had only 3 days in SG, I did some pre-shopping, online! Bought more SB supplies from Two Peas (took advantage of a 25% discount) and had them shipped over to my parents' place. From Amazon, I purchased books on raising toddlers (esp spirited Jon), Spider-man and Disney car bed sheets, and 7 Gypsies trays from Scrapaholics (offered 20% discount for pre-orders).

And then I got these from Lia. She's one super talented scrapper from Singapore who's on the Design Team of Maya Road, amongst others. I love her works, especially her mini albums. She's can turn chipboards into wonderful works of art and she ties the most gorgeous ribbons. How I wish to attend one lesson with her.

I was very happy when Lia added these tags to her Etsy shop and quickly snapped them up. She had these huge bottle caps on ATCs and I love the new Medallion flowers from Maya Road. And I just had to get this cute little framed ATC too.

The postman managed to get them to me 10mins before we left my parents' place for the airport. I was wondering what's in the package...mind was in a flurry coz Jillian woke up half an hour before the car arrived to bring us to the Senai Airport in Johor. Only when we're in the car did I peeked into the package. I was grinning so much, happy that I have something so beautifully made. Now, where do I put this that the kids will not touch (how to resist something so beautiful)?

Jillian's pennant

I used Sassafras Las Me Likey collection to make a simple pennant of Jillian's name. It's my first pennant.

I think I will make more after this. And I will make one for Jonathan when we have our new house (yes, talk about long term plans, coz that will happen only a year later. and that is without delays).

Jillian's birthday celebrations

Here're some photos and captions of Jillian's birthday.

Booked a small restaurant for Jillian's first birthday celebrations with some of our closest friends and family members. Wondering what's the thing on her head?
Our smiley baby Jillian with her cousin, Qiqi, who's two months younger than her

Bought a centrepiece cake and baked about 50 cupakes with my friend, Jennifer. I tried a yoghurt and cream cheese frosting. Not too sweet and a tinge of sourness. Thanks to Chwee, I had cute pink cupcakel iners with princes crowns for decor. Jon, who enjoys birthday celebrations at nursery, just loves cakes and singing the "Happy Birthday" song. Doesn't it look like it's his birthday here?
Checking out her cake. Thankfully she wasn't grabbing them like she grabbed grandma's cake during grandma's birthday!Cutting her cake like a pro

Catherine, a talented friend who recently started baking, did this cute cake for Jillian. It had a cow on the centrepiece, and cupakes with cows, #1 and red eggs! All made with love!

Some of the mommies and the kiddosLove how happy Jillian was despite the heat. It was a super hot day and I didn't think the air-conditioners were coping well. That's Jennifer at the back with Cavan's who's turning two on 10.10.10
Just a novel way of trying to see what a child will be when she is older. Put a few things on a tray for her to pick. Egg (loves food); pencil (good literary skills/boss type); ruler: good with sums and merticulous (jobs related to numbers); book (scholarly type).

Jill picked the egg first. Well, usually kids like like anything bright and round. In the end, she selected the ruler.

It seemed coincidental that all Jillian's pressies are all musical. The biggest pressie was this musical activity table from Lawrence and Mabel, and their sons Mason and Bradley. Jill loves it, and so does Jon. And Jon kept taking it away from Jill like it was his. Sigh...

There're 3 story books (with picture buttons that make sounds), a musial nusery rhymes book, a pre-school learning board (to learn her alphabets and words), and a toy that plays music and songs complete with a flower that dances.

I am a little tired from planning two birthdays in a week. Think I can do this for a couple more years before I combine Jon and Jill's birthday celebrations together!

No lah, they should have their own parties. I'll just be a tired mommy.

Grinning away...

...coz I collected this from the post office today! A lovely handmade mini book by Pooi!

Pooi made this mini with so much love and my fave Sassafras Las papers, for me to record Jonathan's and Jillian's birthday.

This is the back, and the U will stand for US.

These are two of the inside pages. (Hey, Pooi, what brand of paper is the one on the left, the one wuth all the vehicles?) I can't with to fill this with photos of their birthdays.

We will celebrate Jill's birthday this Sun. I am a little stuck with her pennant banner of her name. But the decor banners are done and so are the cupcake decors. Going to bake a storm at Jennifer's this Sat again.

And tom, we're going to bring Jill for her JE jab. She may feel cranky for a couple of days, but doc said should be OK by Sun. Hope she'll be cooperative, so I can finish up her banner.

More pressies

Grandparents gave Jon a bicycle. We brought him on Sat to choose one suitable for him. I could see that he was very excited as he went through the aisles of bicyles and remarked at a few of them.

I chose one larger one for Jon is more than a metre tall already. We could always adjust the height of the seat for him. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the bicycle would last a few years at least till he is kindergarten!

Despite my well intentions, Jon kept going for the kiddy bikes and riding them in the shop. Perhaps they were within his reach, whereas the bigger bicycles were interlinked in a row and only an adult can lift the bike up.

Simon helped Jonathan to cycle down the five-foot way to check if the height of the bicycle was alright. And boys being boys, I thought we had better get a helmet. Guess what? The only kids' helmet that was sold at the shop was a Spider-man one! Didn't need to convince Jon that he should wear it!

Here's a Bob the Builder activity book and story book sent from Yin Wen from Singapore. Thanks Yin! Jon was so excited that he exclaimed, "Stickers!" I didn't even know that Jon knew the word! We stuck the stickers on one of the pages and did the activities on a few of the pages.

Along the same line, Uncle Stanley, Auntie Grace and Qiqi gave Jon this huge 42-piece tool set. Jon was so happy to put on the helmet (which kept slipping off, so we had to give him his real one) and belt with the tools. As I unpack each tool from the packaging, Jon oohed and ahhed. As he played happily and noisily, one of the tool loops on the belt came undone. I was mainly to be blamed coz I helped Jon put in the drill into the loop. It didn't fit and when Jon tugged at it to get it out, the loop snapped. Will see how to fix it.

There're still a few more presents from Auntie Catherine and family, and from my parents. But these shall be given to Jonathan over the next few months. Otherwise, he may:

1) destroy it

2) not appreciate the toys, with all of them given at one time

Birthday celebrations began for Jonathan

Jon's birthday is on Tue but we decided to celebrate it early starting today.I went to a friend, Jennifer's place yesterday afternoon to bake Spider-man cupcakes. Thankfully she started earlier, so when I got to her place, we just had to bake two more batches before starting on the icing decor. The cup cake is of a vanilla flavour whilst the icing is made of cream cheese and a little fresh orange juice.

Why Spider-man? It's his fav character at the moment, altho he hasn't seen the cartoon or comic. It was just that I made a big deal of the Spidey PJs a friend gave, and from then on, it was Spider-man for him.

After worshipping and dropping Jon off at Sunday School class, Simon and I went to buy some fireworks candles, before going home to bring the cupcakes to Sunday School. And along the way, I saw some nice bag tags that I decided to buy to put into Jon's goody bags for his friends at nursery.
When we got to church, some of the older kids saw the cute Spidey figurine and wanted the cupcakes. I quickly made my way to Jon's class before the session ended. The kids were all so excited by the Spidey figurines. After lighting the candles, most of them were riveted to the short fireworks of 10secs, but two girls had to be carried coz they were so afraid. Jon, on the other hand, was so enthralled by the candles, he was beaming away!

After the celebration at Sunday School, we went home to pick Jill up before proceeding to a small restaurant for lunch. Jon's uncles and aunties came with their kids in tow, and it was a quick bite before the the kids didn't want to stay in their seats for long. Then out came cake #2, Spidey of course! But it's baked by a local bakery ya, not baked by me.


Here's Jon's first present from a friend, a fishing game from Aunty Jennifer. See how focused Jon was on the birthday cake, while the girls were checking out Jon's fishing game.

We decided to have the cake at home (so other people could take our seats for lunch and before the younger kids/baby have to take their afternoon nap). But Jon just couldn't wait. He dug right in!

A give-away by the Chip Chop SHop

If you like quirky chipboard and acrylic embellishments like

colourful clouds, handmade goodies from lots of different materials like buttons, blooms, dyed doilies/trims, check out the Chip Chop Shop by Leeann Pearce.

She also has crepe paper rosettes, and

the cutest little birdy pins in with the hot air balloons!

Do also visit her blog for a fantastic give-away of her hand made goodies!