Parent Teacher Conference

Today is the day of P's first ever Parent-Teacher Conference (PTC), yet another parenthood milestone achieved! Coincidentally, Clyde hits the 38-week mark today and I was afraid of going into labor, so I had asked hubby to take leave as well. The PTC was scheduled for 9.15am, and I had plans to leave at 8.30am for fear of the morning traffic at Marymount Road. However, the little one decided to sleep in and this is how she looked at 8.20am. This reinforces once again our decision to put her in the afternoon session, really can't bear to wake her up to go to school in the morning. We managed to rouse her and left at 8.40am.

The morning traffic was super smooth and we found ourselves reaching her school just before the clock strikes 9. There were chairs placed outside each classroom for parents who were waiting in line. Mind you, those were kiddy chairs and I was so worried I'll break one with my heavily pregnant frame. A huge board displaying some photos of the kids during lesson time was placed outside the classroom, and we spotted her in the following photos. How cute!

Her English teacher Ms Lyn was occupied with a parent, so we spoke to her chinese teacher 叶老师 first. Her first comment is "可盈很可爱" and goes on to tell us that she is quite engaged during class. In fact, she very enthusiastically helped to translate what 叶老师 was telling the rest of the class, e.g. 叶老师 would say 黄色 and she would proclaim "黄色 means yellow" to her classmates. LOL. 叶老师 did highlight that her attention span needs some working on. She tends to get distracted by what's happening outside the classroom (there's a playground outside the window) and if she sees squirrels, she will go running to the window to see, even if they are in the midst of class. Another thing that we need to work on is how she holds her writing instruments. Both 叶老师 and us have noticed she tends to hold pens/pencils/crayons with her fist, so I will need all her caregivers (mil's maid and my mom) to take note and correct her. 

The feedback session was pretty short and I had the chance to browse through her portfolio while waiting for her English teacher to be done. It was lucky I hadn't gone into labor, for the hubby didn't know we had to wait for the English teacher. After meeting 叶老师, he commented "That was short and I didn't understand what the teacher was saying. Shall we go now?" Sigh, I can't imagine what I could have gotten out of him had he gone for the PTC alone. During the entire feedback session with 叶老师, P also looked like she would prefer to be somewhere else. She was restless and kept glancing longingly at the playground outside. It was almost a relief for her when we finished up with 叶老师, haha.

Ms Lyn's feedback on P was quite interesting. She commented that P is doing well in school, and is one of the more popular child in class because of her friendliness. However, like what 叶老师 says, she needs to work on her attention span. Due to her "popularity", she is found to be talking to her classmates in the midst of the lesson. However, she can return quickly when her name is called to get her attention.

It appears she is a bit ahead in terms of numbers and alphabets (thanks to Leapfrog DVDs I guess). Ms Lyn told me they are learning numbers 1-5 this year, but P can go up to 10 already, although she mixes up 6 and 9 sometimes. As for alphabets, I've tested her with alphabet magnets on my fridge not too long ago, and she should be 80% there.

Hubby took the chance to check in with the teacher on potty training, one of the points I missed. Her class has 18 children, and about 4-5 of them are potty trained already. Ms Lyn told us that P is able to pull down her diaper and go if the entire class is brought to the restroom for toilet break. However, if she needs to go and toilet break time is not near, she will do it in her diaper. P told me 2 days ago during bedtime "If I need to go shh shh, must tell Ms Lyn (not mama or papa, but Ms Lyn)." I've been wondering why she said that, and Ms Lyn told us that's exactly what she told P, haha. Based on her previous batches of students, Ms Lyn told us that most kids in pre-nursery are fully potty trained by term 3 or term 4 as the parents help reinforce the concept during June holidays. Looks like I will be very busy cleaning up pee from both a newborn and a toddler come June...

While looking through her portfolio, I came across this entry that made me go "Awwwwww". In case you are wondering, she is holding a photoframe artwork of a family picture with hubby, me and herself. She actually remembered to mention Clyde during show and tell, even though there were no apparent signs of didi in that photo. 

Seeing and hearing about her progress in school makes me quite emotional. Within a span of 6 months, we've moved from "I don't want to go school" and hysteric episodes in school, to a "popular" toddler who is so fond of her teachers and school. Every night before bedtime, she will snuggle up to me in bed and go "I want to tell mama about school today" I bet she's having fun while learning and that's how I intend it to be. 

Ending off the post with a video of P. School was also closed yesterday because of the PTC and we found ourselves at The City @ Liang Court for 4 hours, where she acted as a doctor, nurse, fireman, supermarket shopper and cashier.