No disappointed or teary kids this year.
All I saw was elated faces, kids whose eyes lit up when they spotted their moms and dad (yes, there was 1) walked in to their classroom. It was a perfect turnout at Parent-child bonding day on Wed, unlike last year. See this post
It was a thoughtful effort that the school made to invite the parents to the environment where their children spend 3 hours daily on the weekdays. Parents sat in for a session of story-telling and reading, watched how their kids interacted with the teachers and their classmates, and did craft afterwards with their kids. During the session of group instruction by the teachers, you could easily tell which were the little ones who were more responsive, enthusiastically answering the questions posed by the teachers, or the distracted ones who were playing amongst themselves. Kyle was one of those who periodically drifted between the two.
Kyle and I got to fold and decorate a cardboard box together, after which when the box was completed, he went to his cubby hole to get a little something to be placed in the box and presented it to me. I opened it the box, unfolded the piece of paper and saw this. It didn’t matter that the word ‘jacket’ got randomly added to the note, what mattered was the "I love you, Mum" and the funny looking stick woman figure with strange looking boxes around her.
The session ended with a little song presentation from the children to their parents. The teachers actually bothered to teach the kids this song in appreciation of them being at the school with them. With such thoughful teachers, it is no wonder that Kyle hardly even complains about attending school.
We walked home that afternoon with one of his friends and his mom, who stayed near to us. Incidentally, this was the same boy whose parents did not attend last year. Our conversation went like this;
Me : I did not remember seeing you at last year’s bonding session…
Boy’s mom : Oh yes, but I realised that I have to attend this year. Last year, he was so upset about it, he was upset for 2 days, so difficult. These days, boys are so sensitive.
I know Kyle will be so upset too, if I did not make that effort to be there with him for Parent-bonding day. But really, Mummy will not miss it for the world. Times like these are just too precious.
This is such a heart warming post.
It reminds me that I should make a conscious effort to always be there whenever my son needs me, be it emotionally, educationally or physically. It’s hard enough being a working mother – I wouldn’t want to miss any of my son’s growing up years if I had a choice.
I wouldn’t say that girls are more ‘sensitive’ than boys are – I daresay that boys (regardless of age!) are actually more ‘needy’ than girls are… just that they hide it much better! 😉
Regina´s last blog post ..Let’s do the Hokey Pokey!
Rachel Reply:
March 13th, 2012 at 2:23 am
Yes, I understand how hard it is to be a working mom…but I am sure u try your utmost to spend some quality time with your son when u are home.
So true that boys tend to be more needy than girls at a young age, alot of my friends with girls always share how independent their girls are vs the sons.
Hi, May I know which school Kyle is studying now? thank you.
Rachel Reply:
March 20th, 2012 at 5:50 pm
Hi Lay Kean,
Kyle is schooling at Arise Kindergarten at Upp Bukit Timah. Do read this review on the school that I previously posted http://www.catch-fortywinks.com/2008/09/numero-uno-preschool-review-arise-kindergarten-2/
Hi chanced upon yr blog while searching more info on Arise. Is yr kid still in Arise?
Rachel Reply:
March 7th, 2013 at 11:05 pm
No, we left Arise after June 2012