Completely unimaginative title, I know.
1. H is about to start primary school now and I hope I've made the right decision putting her in this school. The only viable alternative is to put her in the school I'm teaching in and the reason why she's not here is because I was planning to get pregnant and did get pregnant at the time when registration was in session and so I thought I was going to leave forever. But now that the pregnancy was a short-lived one, it seems like I'll be with the school til forever (or at least, until I leave the service). I'm trying not to fret about the decision. I must convince myself that there is a reason behind everything and so I must be at peace with this. I MUST. (Saying that slightly louder to quell that noise at the back of my head that goes "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.")
2.We just had the P1 Orientation and the P said that there are no exams in P1 to ease the pupils into school life and to let them enjoy learning. We also had the final Parent-Teachers' Conference with H's teacher the same afternoon during which she said that Huda can read, write and do her Math well. Alhamdulillah. The teacher said that we had nothing to worry about. No. I think not. A parent's job involves a whole lot of worrying and it's somewhat unnatural not to worry. Huda is, thankfully, like me, (and confirmed by the teacher to which we pretended to be somewhat concerned but we really are not) not at all blessed in the performance arts. So, with that, she can't join any of the time-consuming things like dance ensembles (have you seen how much time they spend preparing for SYF?). That leaves her with academic pursuits like reading, writing and arithmetic. Hur hur hur. All nerdy pursuits given stamps of approval by both parents.
3. I am thoroughly upset about the student care that we had picked for her. Initially it was owned and managed by AMP but AMP decided to sell it off to focus on the school-based student care which presumably are more profitable than under-the-block type of student care centres. With this, I am in doubt about my own working future. I know for a fact that I'll be working for the entire of 2013. But, I am really not too keen on using this student care service for more than a year so one good alternative is to transfer H over to my school by 2014, go on half load so that I can finish all my work by dismissal time and then go home with her. See? This is the "Transfer. Transfer. Transfer.'" noise that's going on in my head since today's P1 Orientation.
4. ME & Kindle
I bought a Kindle last month and have been obsessed about it since. I've downloaded USD130 worth of books in it so far. Some - I'll never read. Like, J.K. Rowling's Casual Vacancy. I don't read to get depressed and I couldn't get past the first page. But, because the book costs quite a bit of money, I won't delete it from my Kindle. Serves me right for buying based on the author's reputation alone. I thoroughly regretted it after I read reviews and synopsis of the book.
One good read is One Day by David Nicholls. It was good until I hit Chapter 18 and that's when I used up one entire box of tissue paper and caused some kind of flooding in Woodlands. I don't read to get depressed and I hated, hated, hated David Nicholls for a good 2 days before I (and another box of tissue paper) went back to the book anyway and continued reading.
Now, I thought I would love to go back to a physical book but Kindle has spoiled it for me. I used to think of myself as a book snob (not in that way) but in a way that physical book is superior to any form of technology. I've always felt that way when I read from the iPad. But, Kindle has changed that for me. Have you seen a Kindle in action? It looks just like a real book and for the old fogeys like me - it DOES NOT STRAIN your eyes!
And then, there's the dictionary function. I was aware of this function when I saw my friend's husband using a Kindle and he showed me the dictionary function. You just have to touch the word whose meaning you want to know for 1-2 seconds and the dictionary will pop up with the meaning of the word there. To go back to the book, you just press one button and there you are, back to your story. It's just too easy!
And of course, nothing can beat the convenience of having all the books you want in one device. I am in between at least 5 books now. I go back and forth between books depending on what I feel like reading. It's such joy. Just make sure you are the only one using the Kindle cos if you are sharing the Kindle with someone and the other person is reading the same book you are, the Kindle will open up the book to the last page you read. That's a bit annoying so I'm grateful that I'm the sole user of Kindle at home.
H sometimes uses my Kindle to read Fantastic Mr Fox but that's the only book she reads from my Kindle. I downloaded some picture books for her (Harold's Purple Crayon etc) but picture books are best viewed in the physical form. Besides, the Kindle is a black/grey and white/off-white device so children's books and Kindle don't go well together. Unless you get the Kindle Fire. Which is not really as great because it is not a dedicated reading device. If you get a Kindle to read, then you should just get the e-ink readers. This will prevent you from doing something else instead of reading.
Back to children and Kindle. No, I won't recommend it for young readers. Some still need to point at the words while reading and if you get the Kindle Touch or Paperwhite, the device will go to the next page. So, no go.
Let me wax more lyrical about the Kindle, okay? The battery life - it lasts! And lasts! Energy is consumed only when you turn the page so can you imagine how long the battery lasts? If you take this with you on a one-week holiday, you don't have to worry about charging it! I had to charge it quite frequently in the first few days because I was used to charging my toys the moment I see a less-than-full battery bar. And also because I was toggling between a lot of books in the first few days of ownership. But now that I have overcome the early euphoria, I cannot even remember the last time I charged the Kindle.
5. On the topic of reading. There's F's reading. H started off reading on a diet of Baby Can Read. It works as long as that is the only moving images your child sees. No other TV shows or videos. With F, I started her off on Baby Can Read and Baby Signing Times. Baby Signing Times were a whole lot more exciting than Baby Can Read so very quickly she developed a preference for Signing Times. Naturally, I killed off both. Now that she's almost 4 and in my warped world, at a rather late age to start reading, I'm starting with sight words for her. And I spell out the words. So she knows how to spell the/is/you/my etc and can recognise these words but there's not enough recognition on her part for the words to form a coherent meaning. Lesson learnt: Do not show any other videos other than Baby Can Read. In any case, F is read to often enough and I hope she picks up some words there.
6. F is also not using the Iqra' books to learn how to read the Quran. She got started on Iqra but I switched to the Tilawati series. There are only Tilawati Books 1 & 2. So far, F is halfway through Book 1. It's challenging teaching her, just as it was with H. But, I've learnt my lesson here. Stop before the child wants to stop and do not make it miserable for both mother and child. So, I go at her pace. Thankfully (and for this, I thank God each time this happens), she's self-motivated. She'll take her book, place it in front of me saying "Nak ngaji." Then, I must stop everything I'm doing and teach her. Each page takes about 5-10 minutes to cover. And then, that's it. I don't try to fore her to do more than she wants to do lest she gets sick of it (and me).
It's 12.18am now. I'm going to sleep. Good night, all.
