Starting Primary One: It’s Term 4 Already!

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Ten months ago, Little Edison started Primary One. I still remember how his eyes were soaking in tears when he had to wake up at 6:15am. It wasn’t due to his reluctance to go to school; in fact, he was looking forward to the Big Day. It’s just that he couldn’t understand why he has to wake up so early.

Right up to this day, I still wake up at 5:30am, prepare breakfast, prepare myself for work, and prepare him for school. I still fetch him to school every morning. We leave our house at 6:45am and reach school before 7:10am. Then, there’s another 5 minutes walk from the car park to school. We walk there hand-in-hand.

I still carry his schoolbag until the last point where I’m denied access. And we take forever to hug, kiss, say goodbye and wave goodbye. Then, he walks up a flight of stairs to his classroom. Five seconds after he disappears from my sight, he will pop out again from behind the wall and wave goodbye again.

We wave goodbye again, I stood there for another few seconds before I finally leave the school. Yes, it’s silly like that, but I’m enjoying every moment of it.

I don’t know when he will say, “Hey, Mama! We should stop kissing. I’m a big boy already!” But before that day comes, he’s still very generous with his kisses and hugs.

I’ll continue to enjoy this morning routine. He’s my only son, and he’s always a baby in my heart.

I always remember how my mom would ride a bicycle to send me to school every morning (we didn’t have a car back then). She would assure me and comfort me that all would be well at school.

The journey to school was half an hour. But to her, she spent two hours on the road each day to send me to and from school. Every time I think of those moments, they really warm my heart.

That’s why I want to continue doing the same for my son. Hopefully when he grows up, he will always remember the mornings that we’ve shared during his early school days.

When he reaches home, he will first call me at my office. As usual, I’ll ask how his day is at school. Most of the time, he gives me his classic answer “Fine!” but occasionally, he will tell me interesting stories about his friends and teachers.

The school started having mini tests and various assessments since Term 3. At this point, I still find it difficult to leave him to learn on his own. So, I’ve to step-in to make sure that he’s on track and not lacking behind in school works.

It’s actually harder than I thought. Primary 1 curriculum is getting harder and harder each year. It’s really a far cry from what I’ve learnt in my Primary 1. It focuses on conceptual understanding, ability to recall and apply knowledge rapidly, and holistic development through various activities.

Today, I’ll talk about Maths. The school conducts speed and accuracy test routinely. Students are expected to read and spell mathematical vocabulary at a consistent level, and have mental fluency in doing addition and subtraction questions.

The test questions are not so straightforward like 67 + 13 = ?. They will make it a little tricky like 67 + 13 = ? – 10 or 67 + 13 ones = ? tens. So, the kids really need to read carefully before they write the answer.

Pictured above are some homework questions that I gave him to prepare him for his upcoming test on addition and subtraction within 100.

In two months’ time, he’ll be going for Primary 2. The year has absolutely flown by, and we look forward to the new challenges in P2.

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