The short, one-week school holidays are over! Little Guy has to wake up at six in the morning again, and so do we. One week of sleeping-in a little later is sure not enough!
Sigh! But that’s life isn’t it?
I haven’t been taking well to primary school… yes, and I’m not even the one who’s attending school, Little Guy is!
Going to primary school is serious business, you know. Attending to a pre-schooler is so much easier – there were no pressures (well, at least for me) about what they were doing in school, how well they were doing, etc, etc. It was all done in less proper, official ways. Pre-schools are all fun, colourful and merciful (hmm… can’t find a better word). Kids were not penalized outright (treated gently) and they are rather sheltered and coddled.
Primary school has been rather stressful (yes, for me again) so far, although Little Guy claims he enjoys it. But it’s a place where there are lots of rules, from the stuffy uniforms, to the seating arrangement in the classrooms. Then there are the tests every week – Chinese test on Mondays, English Spelling test on Thursdays, and a surprise test now and then.
So what if the school does not have examinations for the Primary Ones and Twos? These weekly tests are enough to stress out the kids and neurotic parents (more on this in my next post!) like me!
No room for mistakes here…
Somehow I feel that Little Guy and his other little friends are now ‘thrown’ into the open, to struggle and fend for themselves. Yes, I know that is how they’ll grow and build character. But I’m sure many mummies out there feel the same ‘heart pain’ as I do for their ‘babies’.
So far, Little Guy has not really complained about his school work. The problem lies with me. I have been away from the school system from so long. Teaching methods have changed, so have the things that they have included in the same subjects that I used to learn, namely, English, Mathematics and Chinese.
I suppose one thing that has not changed much is those teachers who were there since the ‘old system’. They are as stuffy as ever, and Little Guy has the ‘good fortune’ to land one as his form teacher L. No ‘new age’ sensitivity from his teacher, let’s call her Mrs S. She’s the tigress type that most students dread to have as a teacher. I suppose I’ll have more to say about her in entries to come.
Now back to primary school… It has been difficult for me so far, as watching Little Guy learn everything from scratch is a painful experience. Grammar, spelling, reading and writing (especially in Chinese) – all from scratch… Urgh! Painful, for people like me, who have been taking all these for granted, for decades!
And I have to plod along with him too… makes me wish that he remained a pre-schooler forever!
Gone are the days when he has no homework; and we can just zip off for holidays anytime we want. Now it’s a routine of checking if he has any homework, chatting about school (if he wants to say anything at all!), checking his worksheets (extra work assigned by me, to keep him occupied at the after-school care centre) and then it’s early to bed.
The time I get to spend with him is so much shorter these days, worse, when I have to cook dinner as well…
I used to think that it’s only Little Guy who will be affected by his going to a new school and starting on the next level of his education. But now, while he seems to be lapping it all up, I, the neurotic one, am the one who hate school!
I need to snap out of this!
But I miss the school holidays already!
Sob!
