The first school term is coming to an end!
Things have much settled down, not without some sorting out though. Matthew has been 'bullied' by some classmates from time to time, and his form teacher often helped to resolve them. One day, he declared that 'it is better to be alone' than to have friends after being disappointed by what a friend did. What a cliche! I have heard this from pupils whom I have counselled who found it hard to relate to others. It sounded sad that my son made that conclusion at such a tender age, and I am not going to encourage to think like this. I told him to try talking to classmates who are friendly and try to make some friends. Much to my relief, he came home the next day to share with me that he made a friend, and they had their recess together. Then another friend joined, and he has 2 friends he can talk to. They share same interest in reading. I know one of the boys' mother too, and I judged that she is a good parent.
Through the influence of this boy, Matthew started to read a series of story books on a rodent by the name of Geronimo Stilton. He said that his classmate has the entire collection. We happened to have a few copies at home, passed down by his cousins. I also tried to get some copies for him by purchasing from an online used bookstore.
The first month was not easy. Matthew has to get used to a new culture of witnessing teachers scolding children frequently. Homework was also plentiful. It got rather stressful for me having to ensure that all the homework is completed. Once, I discovered that a piece of work was not done when we were about to leave for school. Then we have to quickly get back into the flat again to complete it.
Feeling that school is overwhelming the children, I sent an email to the principal to highlight concerns of teachers' constant scolding and homework load. He asked to see me. At the same time, I communicated subtlely to the form teacher about the homework load and the scoldings. Fortunately, she responded positively, and by the time I met the Principal, things are much sorted out. Matthew is also much happier by the 2nd month.
He enjoys has Chinese classes, music and PE lessons. He finds gymnastic class (half an hour each week) challenging, but gallantly and courageously took up the challenge. He had shown a lot of maturity now and has never mentioned that he does not want to go to school despite the problems that he faces. He looks forward to meeting me and his brother after school everyday, and we eagerly wait for him to finish class each day.
He takes pride to be the group leader which he has been assigned the role for this month (the children get to do it for the whole month before the next one takes over). Today, he came home with his Chinese assessment result. 38/40. Not bad for someone with little foundation in the language.... I was happy. However, upon hearing that some of his classmates got full marks, I felt disappointed. The feeling is real but I did not show it. Instead, I told him not to compare his results with others and that what is important is that he tries his best. I told him that I am proud of him. It is so easy to be sucked into the vicious cycle of comparing our child with others and to push him to be the best. I need to resist that compelling force.
As for the youngest, he loves his new school, friends and teachers. He enjoys his Chinese lessons and is often rewarded by his teacher for volunteering right answers. He was however complained by his English teacher for playing around too much sometimes but was described as a natural leader. He went for a school outing with school 2 weeks ago, without his parents, but he truly enjoyed it.
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