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Kindergarten Year End Party

Tomorrow is the party for the kids at Grace Kindergarten and we seized the chance to go shopping today (being a holiday - Hari Raya Haji). Just as before (Teacher's Day) Nic wanted to get gifts for most of the teachers - she counted nine of them. Mum also got some mini tarts (pic) from a quaint little bakery called Thyme Bakery & Cafe

Preschool Concert

Today was the day the children had been waiting for. All the effort by the teachers and kids culminates today. Nic was so excited that she had trouble getting to sleep last night. She woke up bright-eyed and all ready for the concert.

Nicole participated in four items namely, the opening singing of the national anthem (above), a Mandarin dance number, an English song and for me the highlight an Indian Bhangra uptempo dance, "Tunuk Tunuk Tun".

above; Nic and teacher Chong

above; Nic and Addison (both attending same year one school next year)

above; L-R - Adina, Nic, Charis and Hexiba

Nic will still be attending daycare but for the kids who are solely kindergarten, it's goodbye. Grace Kindergarten has been a wonderful experience for Nic and us. We are extremely privileged to have had such a dedicated and caring group of teachers. Thank you very much!

And lastly here is a snippet of the Bhangra dance "Tunuk Tunuk Tun" presented by the daycare children under the tutelage of teacher Jennifer.

Preschool Science - Save The Planet

Nic has been talking about recycling and how we can save the planet lately. I think it is great that six year olds are taught about the environment and how we can all do our bit. Recycling was not even on our vocabulary back when I was in school - the ozone was quite intact then.

I also teach her stuff like common courtesy while driving (as well as in general) - something very absent amongst Malaysian drivers. Now only if I can stop cussing at the disgusting motorists cutting queue.

World Cup Fever

Kids are something else these days. Whereas I only took notice of the World Cup when I was about eight, Nic came home and said everybody at kindy were talking about the World Cup. I asked her which team she was supporting and she said she didn't have a team. Next I showed her a few pics of players and she said she liked the Argentine shirt and she will support them. That only lasted a minute as she changed her mind and went with my selection - Brazil!

I always had a thing for USA and I really enjoyed the USA vs Algeria match - it was end-to-end stuff and I was happy when Landon Donovan scored late in time added on. That win put them above England and thus avoided a meeting with fancied Germany.

Stray Cats

This is Edmund and he is one cheeky boy. He likes to pout his lips a lot (pic).

And here is Nicole playing with a stray cat near the Sea Park market. This cat seems to live around there as we see her week in week out.

Teacher's Day Party

Nic wanted to get presents - yes presents for most of the teachers. This giving trait is definitely after mummy's heart. Yeah even the ones who do not teach her. And the honor list is as follows - teachers Nava, Jennifer, Mala, Hera, Teresa, Victoria and Anita. So we asked why she left out teacher Lee, her Mandarin tuition teacher. And she answered that she always pulled her ears. Anyhow we persuaded Nic to give teacher Lee a gift too.

She had a fun time gorging on lots of junk food.

Meet the Teacher Day

We met Nicole's class teacher Theresa this morning in what is a typical end-of-semester tete-a-tete. Overall she said Nic is intelligent but very playful. Her grades are better than the previous year's but Mandarin (75/100) is still her weakest subject. She was thrilled to score 100 for her English - we're glad too.

Nic Goes Camping

Nicole was adamant that we allowed her to join the one night indoor 'camp' within the kindergarten premise. Mom was not for it but I thought it would be a good experience for her. So what did Nic do? She asked the principal to phoned mom on Wednesday to ask for permission. The camp is actually meant for the older home school kids (aged 7 to 13) but Nic insisted on going as she always could socialize freely with older kids.

Friday began with their excursion to an ice-cream and chocolate factory in Serdang. They got back to kindergarten around 2pm and the camp started from 3pm until about 1pm on Saturday.

We learned from the principal that there were only four 6-year olds (Addison, Ee Hern, Charis and Nic) and they got along fine throughout the camp participating in all the activities.

Creatures of The Sea

- Nicole's art & craft project -

This clay is way better than Play-Doh which is kinda greasy. The polymer clay hardens as it dries out in 24 hours but they are lightweight. Obviously you cannot 'reuse' the clay whereas the plasticine type can be reused over and over again.

Training For School

Homework at preschool is much heavier this year as the teachers are conditioning the kids for Year One next year. Nicole has to complete her assignments during daycare as she is unlikely to do any at home. Here's a pic of some of her pals busy with homework!

 

That is Hong Ling Ji looking a bit exhausted!

Pre-School Begins

Monday being day one of the new school year was as expected - crowded with moms and dads at the kindy. I saw a couple of young ones (about 3 years of age) wailing uncontrollably with daddy and teacher trying their best to pacify them.

Nicole was placed into Pre-School 1 under the tutelage of teacher Theresa and the name list at the classroom door showed a total of 19 kids. Well, I recall that 2009 began with 16 kids but ended with 11. Kids come and kids go! She had a pleasant surprise as Lim Swan (buddy) is also in her class.

Looking back we are so fortunate that Nicole loves to socialize and never had the 'First Day Blues' - Long May It Continue!

Readiness 3 Class Photograph

School's Out!

Today is the final school day for Nicole. She will be in teacher Lee's pre-school next year. As with the 1st semester I was given her report card plus some work assignments by teacher Sue. Study-wise Nic has done much worse than the 1st term - she flunked her BM. Even her best subject English dropped to a B. I have to spend more time with her working on homework.

We got the DVD of the recent concert and I'll post it on You Tube soon!

More Kindy Concert Pics

Pics of Nic's teacher and her day care pals.

Nic with teacher Sue

Sarah Khor (right)

Charis (center) and Nicholas (extreme right)

Shebby, Nic and Ariel

Tadika Grace - 15th Annual Concert & Graduation Ceremony

Today is the day! After a month of rehearsals the day belongs to the kids. The morning began with a light drizzle as we arrived but it did not dampen our spirits one bit.

Some final adjustments by teacher Sue.

(Above) The liveliest lads of R3 and possibly the whole kindy, Addison and Ryan.

What joy seeing all the excited children in their costumes. Nic's class (Readiness 3) were in their frilly red dresses for the gals and black vest/white shirt and red bow ties for the boys.

Readiness 3 - Huan Ran Qu Shui

Nic and partner Ryan (hey what is he looking at?)

The highlight of the concert was definitely the Hindi song and dance by Preschool 2 where a little big fella named Brandan Gabriel stole the show. He gave the teachers and us a fright as he collapsed from fatique towards the end of the song. Boy, this boy can move!

PS. Sorry for the 30 sec vids as that's the best I can do with a teeny camera. I'll wait for the official DVD once it becomes available. Cheers!

Showing Her Hamster to Friends

I brought Midnite (hamster) to daycare yesterday as Nic wanted to show the critter to her pals. The kids were thrilled. Always great to see the kids so full of joy!

Goodbye Teacher Mani

I just found out today that teacher Mani has left the kindy. Aw, and we did not get a chance to say bye. The junior teachers now have a tough time with the daycare kids especially those in Nicole's age group.

Back to Kindy

(Back row; Jing Li (tiny), Ryan, You Jun and Addison. Front; Nicholas and Nicole)

Nic was neither excited nor disappointed about going back to kindy this morning. Most of the kids were already in the music room for the usual Monday morning assembly. The children would spend about a half hour singing songs. Nic did not want to join her mates and chose instead to wait by the entrance. It was only as the kids were lining up to exit the hall for their classrooms that she tagged along. It took her about five seconds before she was playing with Addison and Ryan (the hyperactive boys).

A bit further down the corridor I noticed a familiar face. It was Aida! Nicole's buddy who we thought had moved to another kindy. I learned from her mother that she was struck by dengue and hence was absent for the past two months. Glad she is back and well. The poor girl was crying at the door. Guess she has been away too long. Oh well, she'll be back to her fun self soon.

Progress Report from Kindergarten

I met Nic's teacher Sue at midday to go through her first semester report. I bumped into her Mandarin tuition teacher Ms Lee in the corridor and enquired about her progress to which we were pleasantly surprised to hear that she is coping well.

Teacher Sue handed us Nic's report card and here's how she did for the recently concluded assessment test; Bahasa Melayu 78% (B), English 92% (A), Maths 86% (A) and Mandarin 87% (A). We'll have to look into ways to improve her BM.