Bespectacled Adrielle?

Results of eye check conducted by health team.

Is Adri going to be like myopic Mummy?

I PRAY NOT, not when she's this young! =(

My Bump...

Oh gosh! What's happening to me?
The weighing scale showed a dif of 2kg just within the week! =O

Adri's Takeaway from Sunday School

''God made everything and it was very good.'' - Gen 1:31

Ashlynn @ School

Adri's Masterpiece

This is what Adri learnt in Art class today. Can you make out what she drew?

Enrichment Classes

These are the enrichment classes Adri goes for on a weekly basis:
Mon: -
Tue : -
Wed: Art
Thu : -
Fri   : Swimming, CL @ Berries
Sat   : Music, Phonics

 

In additional to the above, Adri is on Kumon EL and Math homework programme. She does a set of their learning sheets on a daily basis.

 

Too many, too much?
Mummy is worried that Adri would find it  overwhelming. Adri, however, finds much joy in attending her classes. Phew! Fun aside, Adri finds  it important to constantly acquire new knowledge and she finds great satisfaction each time she conquers a little mountain.

 

A little snippet of what she's doing for her kumon Math:

 

 

How did all these classes start?

Believe it or not, Adri was assessed by her school teachers during last year's midyear PTM (Parent-teacher-meeting) to be slightly below average! All three teachers (EL, Math and MT) commented that Adri lacked focus and concentration in class and in the academic aspect, there was much gap to be closed. I probbed further and found out that to Adri, her friends took a very important place. In class, she was observed to be constantly busying herself with caring for her friends, helping her friends and of course, chatting with her friends! As a result, she probably absorbed little of what was being taught.

 

I have to admit that that comment shocked me. As an educator who took great pride in helping my charges achieve beyond what they thought they could, I was shaken that my own daughter was termed as "below average". Anxious, I reacted to the comment and started enrolling Adri for Phonics class, Kumon Math and Berries in July 2012. Both the phonics and Math assessments prior to the commencement of the classes further confirmed that there was much to be worked on with Adri. Adri did not know most of the letter sounds and there were letters that she could not recognise! For Math, she had difficulty recognising numbers beyond 20, especially when she was tested at random. Some concerned colleagues (as well as bosses) whom I shared with were quick to ask me to dismiss Adri's teachers' comments and used my professional judgement to discern if Adri was okay. I would definitely love to believe that my Adri was okay but it was not all about will power and belief. The problem I had was, I had no inkling in assessing children this young! I did not know what the benchmark was! For me, my primary concern was to make sure Adri would be ready for Primary 1.

 

I am proud of Adri. It has been a good 9 months since she started on her enrichment classes. She persevered through and never once whined about working hard or wanting to give up. Today, She's able to attempt word problems like the above on her own and she's able to read fluently. As an educator, it is my personal belief that pupils, when given enough opportunities in experiencing success, will be instrinsically motivated to learn. As a mother, the joy I am experiencing does not stem from her academic achievements but from the increased level of confidence that she's exhibiting day by day. I'm glad she's experiencing success for herself and is not afraid to try conquer mountains that exist along her learning pathway. I want Adri to be H-A-P-P-Y and I strongly believe that self-confidence is one main key.

 

What about the non-academic enrichment classes? Those were simply for pure fun and exposure. Undenibly though, I'm hoping that Adri would sustain her interest in playing the piano and move towards achieving at least a Grade 5 or 6. To be able to play the piano is Mummy's childhood dream! Ha!

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Innate ability to fight?

~04.03.13~

For the umpteenth time within the short 1 hr of play, an exasperated Adri screamed,''Mummmmmy!!! Ashlynn snatched my toy! She crushed my building (referring to the structure she had painstakening built with building blocks) too!!!''

I lost count of the number of times I had tried to coax, correct as well as 'coerce' Ashlynn into making right her wrongs.

I hv no idea why I said the following but I actually did:

Me: Ok, Adri, Mummy gives you the permission to snatch back your toy.

Adri stares at me, dumbfounded...

Me: Go on, go ahead and get what belongs to you

Adri makes her way to her lil' sis apprehensively...

Adri: But I don't know how...

Me: Just take it from mei mei's hands!

It was of course easy for Adri to retrieve the toy from her little sis who was a head shorter than she.

Shocking truth for the day: Unlike her fiesty little sister, snatching and fighting isnt innate in Adri!
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