In between lessons

It is the time of the semester that is otherwise known as the peak period. Tests, assignments and other tasks due are piling up. Not to mention the upcoming exams that will be the highlight of the semester.

In the midst of all these tasks, I also have my final so-called test for IDT. All the 2 years of discipling will end next friday but the journey continues. Easier said than done I must confess. Getting started is already difficult but maintain the benchmark is another uphill ball game which requires a lot more work and self discipline. All that leaves for me to conclude is that I know I am inadequate without Him.

A big reminder

I was lunching with Kwan, a fellow course mate of mine who is a father-of-two boys. We share many common traits and 1 thing that we always use to poke fun at each other are mathematics related jokes.

That aside, yesterday's lunch was rather different. We talked about the tragic incident of a P5 boy who jumped from a building. Many questions surfaced of which 1 of them is: What made him do such a thing? Pressure, we speculated. But who is the one giving him the pressure? Parents, teachers, peers, society as a whole, the education system?

Whatever the reason is immaterial. We concluded that as young parents who will soon advance to parents with school going kids. I asked if we will fall into the category of pushing our students or our own children to the limit or worse still, over the edge. True enough, we want the best and expect the best out of our charges and sons/daughters. However, we should be aware that they too have their limitations. While we should give them the affirmation or praise when it is due, we should also be alert to signs of them being stressed or getting upset over that difficult task.

More often than not, many teachers will push their charges to achieve things that might not be within their cognitive level. As shared with me by Angela, she told me that some of her student's elder siblings in lower primary level are given projects that end up being completed by parents as it is way too hard for the poor kids to complete on their own. Is this a case of letting students discover new information? I think it is more a case of the teacher wanting to have something to put in their annual EPMS so that they can get the desired pay increment or bonus or simply just to avoid getting the dreaded D grade. Since the EPMS is so competitive, us teachers cannot merely do classroom teaching and other 'bare-minimum' duties in order to get a good score. In fact, doing just the bare minimum gets one the bare minimum grade of D which means, no increment, no promotion in grade and no performance related bonus for 3 years.

I am worried that I might end up pushing my students beyond their limit. Worse still, I may even exert too much pressure on Esther to not just be on par but above her peers especially in the academic aspect. However, Kwan told me that as a parent, I can control it and I should. Besides, with the Lord's help and wisdom, I should let Him take control of how He has planned out Esther's journey.

On my way home, I kept asking the Lord to constantly keep me in check as far as my temperaments is concerned. I also prayed that He will give me wisdom and patience on how to parent my daughter. Let her have a happy and memorable childhood. I desire that she will look back years from now having fond memories of her younger days when she could explore many things aesthetically, academically, socially and most important of all, being a person of good character.

An interesting article...

I stumbled across this article and I find it quite interesting....

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Flaw in Singapore's education system

I refer to Miss Jane Chan's letter, "Why we can't speak English - or Mandarin - well", as well as Miss Jessica Walker's letter, "Teachers can't do it alone".
While I agree with Miss Chan and Miss Walker that it's a combination of societal influence, family, and educators that make up the language abilities of a child, I also think that we're missing something huge in this picture.For years I have been bemoaning the fact that the Ministry of Education has a huge flaw in its language education system. What many don't know is how teachers are trained.

Firstly, some background information: Recent studies by Patricia A. Duff from the University of British Columbia have shown that it is important to develop a child's first language literacy, before introducing a second. The optimal age for a child to develop its first language skills are between the age of 1 to 13.Granted, in Singapore, both languages (English and a 'mother tongue') should ideally be developed as first languages, the important point to take away here is that the optimal age for first language acquisition, which is between age 1-13.

Secondly, as we all know, Singapore's primary school teachers are known to teach at least two out of the three core subjects, that is, English, Mathematics, and Science (EMS).What most people don't know is that teachers who undergo training to be a primary school educator enter the National Institute of Education and major in only one subject - either English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Physics/Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, History, Geography, Music, Art, or Physical Education.With the exception of Mother Tongue, Music and Art teachers, all other trainee teachers are also expected to take some modules of other subjects, which really barely skim the surface of those subjects, and from there, they are then expected to be able to teach those other subjects well, too.While that is highly disturbing, let's focus a bit here on trainee teachers who major in English. In order to seek admission to NIE, the minimum requirement is a pass in English Language at O Levels.In order to major in English, the requirement is to obtain a good pass the English Proficiency Test (which is honestly a piece of cake). From here, we already know that there are little or no pre-requisites at all, for one to major in English at NIE.

Of course, teachers who score higher on the EPT will be of a better position to apply for a major in English. However, upon graduation from NIE with a BA (Education) or BSc (Education), all newly installed teachers are sent to schools and assigned to teach at least 2 subjects, with 1 being a subject of their university major, and the other, any of the other remaining 2 subjects of the EMS group.Which means teachers who barely scraped a pass in English at O Levels, could now be teaching your children English - and mind you, some of them really have no grasp of grammar rules at all.These teachers are then going to be passing on their lack of understanding of the English Language and its rules, to students aged between 6-13, during the typical primary school years of an average child, whereby language acquisition is at its optimum.Isn't this something MOE should look into, first, if it is now becoming an irrefutable fact that Singaporeans are growing up with an incorrigible command of the English Language (and add to that equation, their Mandarin is no where near first language mastery either)?

I say, don't blame the teachers, don't blame the families, and don't blame society. Blame the ones who crafted our language education and general education policies.

Buzzing cashier stalls

After watching the last episode of this variety show on Ch 8, we decided to go and give it a try. Chose the chicken rice stall located at Blk 704 Bedok Reservior Rd but it was undergoing renovations. So we headed to another one located at Blk 16 Bedok South Rd which is opposite TJC. Stall 197 sells Japanese food and we ordered their signature dish which was the chicken katsu don. It is tasty and the meat is quite tender unlike some others which are overcooked thereby making it very tough. The miso soup impressed me the most because it was concentrated and tasty with no MSG. I am very sensitive to MSG because I will get very thirsty which means I need to consume lots of water. But this soup did not disappoint. Would I recommend it? You bet I will.

How can a nice meal not be topped up with some nice dessert? It was the Commonwealth Link Food centre next. Obviously it was not possible for us to try all of the 4 types featured on TV but we chose the 2 cold ones. I personally prefer cold to hot dessert. That chilled durian pagant (cant remb how to spell this word) was out of this world. So was the iced mango with pomelo. It is a kind of dessert that you will want to eat on a warm day because it is so refreshing. The million dollar question: Highly recommended? A big yes!