Improved!!

It didn’t feel like it was that long ago when the Mrs and I were still wondering which school to send Isaac for his enrichment class. By now Isaac has already finished half the term already.

Last Sunday marked the fifth week that he was at this class and he has certainly made a lot of progress since. Although he has not really spoken yet but he is certainly enjoying the songs and story telling and his vocabulary has also increased. However I believe the area that he has most improved on is his sociability.

I remembered our Isaac was all teary-eyed when we were there for the first time for the trial class. He was so afraid that he would cling on to either of us tightly and wherever we went he would follow. He would not sit on the mat but instead on our laps. When the teachers tried to engage him he would turn to face us immediately and cry a little.

We went for another couple of trial classes before committing on this current one. When we officially started his first lesson with this school, although a little more experienced with the concept of attending a class for songs and games, he was still a little weary. He still required a little time to get used to the environment before settling down. Luckily for us we noticed that he likes a particular toy amongst all the others that were laid out before each class starts. He has always like wheels. Be it on an actual bicycle or toy cars, he likes to spin them. So happened that there is a toy truck at this school and it acted like a comfort toy for him. He will sit on our laps and spin the wheels while quietly observe the going-ons in the classroom.

I remembered he was always going for the door during the first two lessons. He would try and open it to let himself out of the class. It is with good reason why there is a little device on the door knob that will prevent any child from opening the door. The fact that it is in place probably means Isaac is not the first child that had wanted to escape and skip class. During the first two classes, Isaac will always aim for the door while waiting for the other kids to arrive.

By the 3rd class Isaac is participating more already and he smiles at the teachers more often too although he still sat pretty much close to us. He also helped with putting all the toys in the box before each class starts and when the teachers start singing “Toys away. Toys away. Time to put the toys away.”

On the 4th lesson he has decided that he is a big boy now and is probably the Master of the room for he will get up and walk to the middle of the class and smile cheekily at the teachers. When he got restless he will get up and round behind all the kids and parents in circles. Sometimes he will make the center of the mat his official resting place too for he will just lie down there and watch the teachers.

Last Sunday, his fifth class, he starts to warm up to his classmates for he will voluntarily wave at them when they arrive. In the past he always gets up to head for the exit and we have to run after him to sit him back down. These days we still have to run after him and get him to sit down but for a different reason altogether. I did not want him to be too disruptive in class by standing right in front and blocking the other kids from seeing the story books.

When the class ends while he used to be one of the first to head for the door, these days he prefers to stay behind and give his teachers the hugs, the high-fives and the blowing of kisses. He seems to really enjoy himself for he even headed back to the classrooms after I put on his shoes for him.

We are glad that he is enjoying himself so much that even though the classes are held during his usual morning nap time he has never been cranky. Oh, in case you are wondering the arrangement we have is the Mrs and I will take turn (alternate week) to be with him in class. We figured this is the best because it will allow us time to play and bond with him.

Isaac's first master piece. Opening bid at S$1,000.00. Anyone?

This piece of art was painted with real jam. Opening bid at S$500.00.

At the time of posting I only have pictures of these 2 pieces of work by Isaac. I'll be posting a couple more once I find the photos so do come back to place your bids.

Paranoid??

So last Friday was an interesting one for the Mrs and I. Both of us took leave to enjoy a long weekend. She was clearing her leave while her boss was out of town but mainly it was to allow us the time to run a very important errand.

The very important errand was to visit Isaac’s nursery again for I am still not convinced that he is suitable to join them in January next year. For those of you that are new to this blog I touched on this months ago when we were deciding on which nursery to send Isaac to comes January (click here to read). Basically because Isaac is a December baby I feel that he is too young to join nursery when he supposedly turned 3 in January. Then there is also the issue of him going home in a school bus. I cannot imagine my young Isaac at the tender age of 2 having to board the school bus and come home without any known family members with him. Honestly the thought still scares me a little now. I imagine him being helpless and lost as I am typing here.

So a call was made to the school in advance to arrange just in case we miss the bus. After speaking to the person-in-charge I began to see myself as a big time paranoid parent. She actually told me that she has never had such a request from a parent before. To go down and observe how the kids finish their classes and how they will be gathered and led to the school bus. I find that hard to believe honestly. Surely I cannot be the only parent on the entire island that is not comfortable with the idea of having his 2 year old go home in the school bus without a parent around right? When told of this the Mrs naturally had a good laugh.

Upon arriving on Friday we had a little conversation with the person-in-charge again since the classes were still going on. She tried reassuring me that even if Isaac is a December baby, not potty trained and plus the fact that he is not really speaking yet he is still going to be fine in class. In fact a few of the teachers even commented that Isaac seems a little tall for his age. Although this was not the first time I have heard this remark but I still see Isaac as being about the same height as those his age.

Anyway we were told that there will be an orientation come November where the Principal will address all the new parents and we will also get to meet all the teachers. We also learned that one of us is allowed to attend the first 3 days of the class with Isaac. I guess this is to help introduce him to the new environment. Guess it will be a little like the enrichment class that we are attending with Isaac each Sunday. I will touch on that in my next post.

Not long after the kids were all dismissed from class and based on my observation I have to say they are very organized but I couldn’t help but to wonder if any child had gone “missing” before because they are all about the same size and all of them in the same uniform. These kids were led by their teachers from the classrooms holding hands all the way to the area where the parents waited patiently. No child was running around on his / her own. They were all walking along hands in hands. Naturally the Kindergarden kids were a lot noisier for they have a lot to say to their classmates before they next meet on Monday.

For those that were going home by the school buses, they were led to a room where there will be 6 queues for the 6 different buses. The teachers will accompany them there until the number is right and both the bus driver and his assistant are there to collect them. What happen next is there will be a rope with rubber rings in the middle and these kids are to hold onto the rubber rings and led out with the bus driver in front and the assistant at the other end. They will then be led down the stairs to the bus bay at the carpark where they will be helped up the bus. The assistant will make sure that they will put on their seat belts before moving off.

While everything seems to be in order and well organized I have to say the parent in me is still a little worried. I actually have this plan to secretly hide and observe how Isaac will fair being led by complete strangers to the bus on the fourth day of school. I’m sure he will cry his eyes out on the first day he has to go home on his own and I know for a fact I will be there waiting to receive him when the school bus pulls up at my dad’s place.

Having said the above I must admit that when we asked the teachers to point out the nursery 1 babies to us, all of them looked confident and independent. It seems a few of them are only 2 weeks new in the school environment. I guess it will not be as bad as I had imagine but one thing’s for sure and that is January will be more unnerving for me than Isaac I’m sure.