Don’t worry too much, I believe your girl can catch up soon, remember that kids can adapt very fast.

Yes, I am confident that she will pick up the language in no time. She can speak quite fluent malay now practising with kakak daily. What I am worried about is her fear of school. She is so afraid of the teachers and afraid of making mistakes and being punished. It is preventing her from enjoying school. I wonder why it has to be this way. Why can’t the environment be such that school and learning be made fun instead of instilling fear and dread in the children.

How is she this week?

For that, you’ve got to read my blow by blow account on my Parenting Times blog which is really a blog for my kids.

Aha! Henny, you didn’t read my other post properly. Hehe. I wrote that her kindy teacher is coming in to help her through the transition by conversing to her in Mandarin. We’re not sending her to the school Mandaring courses because the hours in school are long enough without having to stay back.

I have loads of reservations of the Chinese school and we have no intention of sending our kids there - it has a lot to do with their character and personality also, and not just the zero Chinese language at home.

Anyway, all the best to ou and your girl.

Hope she will adjust and enjoy school in spite of it all, and that you can sleep well at night.

We give ourselves until the first term to see how things goes. If the girl remains miserable then we’ll just have to do something about it.

My girl school so far ok. No lesson for the first week yet, don’t even have a single book, in fact she’s a little bored (What till the homeworks come!!) and they have not given list of activities yet, though I prefer they have so I don’t have to drive her around for taekwando or art (which she requested)

Not intending to sent her for any tuition, I have promised her that. The students in her school also 70% speak English, they are still conversing in English as I was told by my girl. So no problem for her making friends. She can speak little Mandarin in an English grammar way. , that’s one area she has to improve.

For me, Chinese school or not, the most important is the role we parents play, how we strike the balance, how we counter the rote learning process at home, how we encourage and help them to think out of the box. I believe if we involve ourself enough, this can be achieved.

I read all your posts too. Only too busy to comment. Hehe. I will update on the first week of school on my Parenting Times blog next week. Theres no homework yet as well. We’ve been told that homework will be minimal for the first 3 weeks. We haven’t got any time table or books yet as well. They’ve been singing, coloring, doing origami etc. Yah. Just wait till the homework comes.

I think whatever school system will work best with a good, loving, supportive family environment (which you already have). It’s all about balance! (Boy, don’t I sound like Oprah here lol). We will trip, sometimes fall and stumble along but half the battle is won as we love and support our kids (even though they drive us nuts at times haha).

It’s prob just bewilderment (is that a word?) right now, give it a little while. Immersion is supposed to help Heck, I learnt to speak bahasa despite not speaking it at home at first.

Hello Oprah (hehe), do I sound very gancheong to you? Well, lets see if that gancheongness goes away after a month or increases shall we? lol.

Yes, our education system is in a sorry state.

Eh, you never learn Thai also ah? I think your kids learn faster than you hor? Haha.

But I think it you are an english speaking home, then whatever maybe, you can build up her english at home and she will be equally good at it.

I want to say, don’t be anxious….but I can understand that your anxiousness will also take time to quell down once yo usee things actually settling.

And it will settle in time. Take care.

Yes, hopefully we’ll be more settled next week. My girl happens to have a class teacher that looks unapproachable, impatient and fierce. Hopefully looks are deceptive and she won’t live up to her looks. Haha.

Will try to do as you suggest the shower her with love, patience and guidance part. However part of the problem lies in the fact that my husband and I do not believe in the Chinese school system, I guess.