before i begin...happy besday to my eldest bro..hehe...i think besday dia semalam lah...hahahha...kak long..apa ayahnyer b'day gift?..hee hee! anyway, bideo from the girls to pak long..apparently pak long nyer b'day dedekat dengan uncle MM :)
alamak..ni lah yang boring kalau pc rosak. dah kena tepon tech support..but i think kita kena tukar motherboard lah. there is a bios error and we couldn't even shut the pc down..terus suruh put in recovery cd...alamak...but i think, kalau tukar motherboard jer pun okay jugaklah. that way, tak yah nak kena beli hardrive baru and all that. sib baik ada laptop yang on and off tak berguna sangat..sebab selalu rosak. but i think it is us that is the problem. we did not handle this thing properly..as in, i think it overheated a lot of times, sebab we put in on the pillow lah..on the bed lah..hahahahhahaha.
anyway, laptop ni pun nak kena hantar masuk workshop sebab after reinstalling (yep, we lost all the data that is on here..pictures and all) the ethernet card pulak buat hal..have to get new one. sib baik ada 3 years warranty...ni pun i will probably have to install the software for the camera and all that lah..so we'll see kalau i rajin eh.
we are all getting better..cuma tekak jer sometimes rasa perit sikit. sarah dah sembuh habis..i think lah...hehehe..on ajer i nengok dia. semalam masak lauk kari daging..dah lama tak masak lauk tu..sedap sehhh..if i do say so myself. niari pulak..ada belen tu will be our dinner.
sekarang kat sana budak sene ada CA kan...good luck to all the students eh..also to the mak bapak budak..jangan stress2 sangat lah..hahaha. sarina kat sini pun tengah ada test. i think they call it the iowa test..or some state test. yesterday, she had her reading and comprehension test..and come april will be her maths test.
so i spoke to the teacher about her not being challenged enough. and whether she could be tested for gifted..okay okay..i mengaku that i am so kiasu..hahaha. can't blame me for growing up in singapore. it took me 2 years before i finally decided that i should approach her teacher. background on sarina..her reading level is that of 5th grade level..reading and comprehension..alhamdulillah..no problem there..math she can d0 4th grade work and is more advanced than her current syllabus...her results for last sememster is very encouraging..alhamdullilah. the only thing that i see, where she could have a problem is due to her rushing through her work. i saw this is second grade and i am seeing it again. she does her working in her mind..and that's it. her answers are always close..but it is still wrong kan..and when we try to tell her that she needs to do working..she gets upset..sebab in her mind it is wasting time..ni yang buat my blood go upstairs..hahaaha
anyway, i spoke to the teacher and she said that sarina is smart for her age..but she does not see her as gifted. i told the teacher, i understand..but i did tell her that sarina is not the type to be asking for more work..if she could be given more challenging questions, she can do it..imagine coming home with a homework and be done with it in 2 mins and telling me that i don't have to check it because it is easy and she got everything right..hmmmmm...i understand what the teacher is saying..i can see where she is going..but at the same time..i would like her to be challenged and not just stagnate..she is happy no matter where she is at..but i think she is driven and now she said that she wants to be in the gifted class. so we'll see..told her that she has to make sure that her works are excellent..no more careless mistakes. well, the teacher said that why don't we just wait and see after these tests..and also she would speak to the principal about having her take a different test.
see, i ni mmg kiasu..but then again..i am not. apparently 2 of her friends back in hiawatha are in GT ( gifted) because the parents requested for the girls to be tested. now, what's with the funding from the govt being lacking..a lot of schools are not willing to conduct tests. sean said that he was in GT when he was in school. he said that if it weren't for him bringing his legos to school, he would not be identified and tested. of course lah..that time he said that he couldn't bring his toys..but he did and it was a different teacher, not his class teacher that discovered his talent...hehehhe. he was constructing all these complicated structures with his legos and that's where this teacher got interested in him. and so it seems with the case for sarina. so parents, just because your kids are doing okay..does not mean that he does not have the potential to be more. their gifted quality can be seen in other areas..in art work..in the stories they tell.
i think my point is this..sarina may not be gifted..but at the same time..she is not challenged enough. she is not exercising her mind..i am telling you..the pri.3 math work in singapore..is almost equivalent to that of 4th and 5th grade maths here. and that is what i have been using to teach sarina. 2 step problems are non existent in their syllabus for now.
footnote: i am not trying to blow sarina's horn here..hehe..far from it..i treat it as added info for parents who have kids schooling here in US. with the stupid no child left behind programme...a lot of kids are suffering in terms of the kind of education that they should be receiving. tests are not being run, because of added expenditure. just like the case of one of my friends here...her son is in 1st grade and he is suffering. he should skip a grade or two actually..he taught himself to read at 4..able to do complicated sums in his head and yeah he has a bit of social issues..a bit autstic i would say. the current school that he is in, refused to have him tested. and the boy now is showing signs of boredom in class...hiding his friends papers, to just try and amuse himself. the person in charge of it said that he will not allow it because of lack of funding. next time i see my friend i will ask her what's the outcome. like me, she is considering homeschooling if her son is denied the testing.
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6 comments:
Hmmmm no wonder lah my mil,(dan's stepmom) was complaining to me that they(the goverment) would rather spend money on war than on education.She is an ex teacher and is nw a freelance trainer and was telling me that alot of kids here can't read and had to retrained...sad right!
zee, it is so true..they skimp on education and would rather spend money on highways and all that stuff. by stuff i mean sports..can you imagine..they would cut funding on music and arts programme...but kalau sports kan..they can raise money for a lot of things...so frustrating you know..sarina is into sports..but time wise it is not woring for her lah..maybe when she is older perhaps..but now every saturdays are precious..hahaha. we only concentrate on music lessons for now. :) nak hantar sekolah prebet kat sini takder lah..but then i always liked the public eductaion system more though. i believe socially, they are more rounded if they were to be in the public schools.
Kalau you betul2 nak Sarina to be in Gifted classes, you must make sure she is given the opportunity. Get tested. Dont care what the teacher is saying sebab some teachers (i am taking teachers in my neighbourhood) kat sini pun ada issues. They have that "tidak apa" attitude, even mental problems. I've seen many kat sini tau. Its scary. Kalau teacher tak kasi peluang, you go and see principal. Sometimes we have to fight lah Rosma. Kalau kita ikut rentak orang lain, apa yang kita nak semua tak jadi sebab orang lain yang jadi penghalang. All the best to you and Sarina. I know she can do it. Even John pun cakap she's very intelligent. You see laa...I sendiri pun tak interested dengan John's stone collection but this girl of yours so interested gitu..she kept asking question. Dia nanti besar boleh jadi Scientist macam Uncle John!
From this entry, roughly i faham macam mana system sana works, the teachers n all...
quite laidback n pressure/stress free than what spore kids are having...
Try that test anyways rosma..kalau tak,sampai bila2 you fikir pasal ni..asik wondering..
Kalau ada chance, mana tau eh..ada rezeki,sekolah kan sarina pat spore ni...ehee..she is intelligent in many aspects kan..all the best in her coming tests...n hope she gets to do the different test after that n move her potentials at a new level...insya'llah..hugs*
Rosma, i so can understand what u went thru..
Hannan experienced the same 'boredom' last year when he was there. He said, 2nd grade maths macam K2 kat Singapore.. reading lagik boring.. half his classmates still cd not read. Spelling only 3 letter.. itu yg bikin teacher kat sana terbeliak bijik mata.. dorang ingat kiter cinone bukit dari 3rd world country when we first came.
Kesian u..kesian ur kids... i think when their potential are not reaped to its fullest..memang wasted lah. Kalau bole homeschool lagi bagus. U see the principal la kalau the teacher doesnt do anything..
all d best, and take care !!
sori for the late reply all :)
kak za...mmg betul tu. apa2 yang kite nak kan..have to fight for it lah..sometimes kan boring jugak tau. yeah..some teachers kan bila kena face with this new programme..diorang macam switch off..then ada pulak selalu sarina bilang i that substitute yang datang ..and not the teacher. well, i think even if she is not kan..at least they test her and see where she falls lah. sebab really, her class work is too easy for her..hehhe..mmg dia kata dia nak jadi scientist..the nak main musik nak jadi artist..alamak..i said..scientist boleh..the rest to you can take up as hobbies..hahaha
sri..it is rather stress free..but when you look at it closely kan...the kids are not getting the full benefits lah..the more advanced students of course. insyallah, kalau rezeki dia kat GT nyer class..hahaha..kalau tak..i will just do what i had done lah..teach her the more advanced stuff at home :)
nora..i know...that is so unfair to hanan...the boy must have been very bored in class..kesian hanan. he should have been able to skip a grade at least tau..next time..you kena fight..insist on him being tested....but in your area..kalau ada private schooling maybe it is best to send him there..kat sini mmg takder..kalau kat bigger cities tu a few private schools adalah :) but all in all i think public schools are still the best..cuma ni lah..they are tied down with budget..
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