Most of us who send our children to private pre-schools are way too lucky. Why do I say so? Just bring yourselves back to the mornings when you send your child to school. All you have to do is just to follow the flow of the traffic in one direction (planned by the pre-school), drop your child (A teacher would be there to bring your child into the school building) and go for work or breakfast. The same applies during dismissal. The system seems so convenient and easy!
Now, when I send my child to primary school, I had to go earlier than others or I would be stuck in a jam. The traffic flow is terrible! You can see cars moving in every direction making it difficult to move around during peak hours. There are not enough car parks and I have to park my car far from school when I pick my child. So, the other alternative would be to pick my child later than others to avoid the jam and the crowd. Children have to walk in and out of the school gate themselves without a teacher bringing them to the car. They must even be alert enough to listen to the whistle which means “step aside, a car is coming!”
Parents waiting to pick their children
In pre-schools, everything is taken care of by the teachers. The children have to just request and the teacher would do everything for them. In primary school, everything has to be done by your child. There is no more pampering and no more assistance.
Look at those bags! The students each has a trolley school bag where they would drag in and out of school everyday. I tried to carry my son’s bag and it is really heavy! No joke! I wouldn’t want to carry that bag myself! My husband even suggested getting the Asus Eee notebook so that Karl can scan the pages of his books and just bring that notebook to school. Now, what do you think of his idea? I wonder whether it is what the western world practice.
To avoid inconvenience, some parents prefer to homeschool their children but for me, I still prefer sending my children to school.
33 comments:
my children are still in kindy where i just need to stop in front of the school gate and their teacher will get them out of the car and into the car.
as for primary school, i planned not to send them town school where there will be many student. they will attend primary in my kampung with only a class for each year and with less than 30 student a class.
ya, now kindy so easy, later primary..sigh..our kids very kesian one la, carry so many books, what i hate abt primary and secondary school is that it doesnt have the concept of picking up kids like kindy. cant the school to arrange kids to wait at the same spot as other children and parents just go pick up ther kids in the car, like kindy? i believe the traffic flow wld be better, only if there is enuff space for that and govt must enforce that
Whoa! those are some big, heavy looking backpacks. When I was in grade 1 in the U.S. (years ago)...we too had to fend for ourselves after school. I would walk out of class at the end of school, and I could literally go anywhere...teachers did not monitor where kids went, or if they had a way to get home. I'm assuming it's the same now.
In the US the backpacks are heavy and the kids are picked up from private schools. There is a substantial amount of car-pooling in my area. Public school has the same back packs and involved teachers, but there are buses. My kids are in public school and doing well (crossing fingers).
My son and little daughter go to elementary school and the school has about 650 students total - grades K-5. There are about 20-25 students per class. Now, my older daughters go to High School where there are 3000 students and a little larger classes - but not 50 students - those are big classes. Thanks for sharing this - it was so interesting and I love the pictures of all the cute little school kids. See you soon. Kellan
OMG!That'ssssss err a shock to me.They look like an army.The school system here is that all students are not allow to be at school before 8.45am(9.00am start)and all students have to leave the school compound at 3.00pm later than that they have to get into the receptionist to wait for their parents.Every housing areas has a school where those residents only go to their nearby school.MOst of the kids walk to school.Government avoid a classroom to have more than 23 students.Till now my daughers backpack only have a planner and snacks.
Wow! Trolleys?!!! Good grief! The schoolchildren looked like they were going on a flight! :-) I am trying to remember, but I cannot recall having to carry so much to school! Maybe that was a long time ago. You'd think with all the strides we've achieved in technology and miniaturization, the load would be smaller today.. Yikes! And as for traffic around schools, it is just totally hopeless. A total mess everyday. But could have been avoided with initial proper planning. Alas..
i pity the children now. my nieces goes to a chinese school here.they carry big bag and come home at almost 4pm..wow that is terrible. i just wonder if they enjoy school like i used to.
I live in New Brunswick Canada in a rural area. The school is only a 5 minute drive away and it goes from kindergarten to grade 8. It's a small school with two classes to each grade and about 25 to 30 kids per class.
Nowadays kids are quite stressful with schooling. So many books and activities. If my kids in primary I think I also will get stressed up leh.
Which shcool your son attending. Yu Hua, Kajang ah ?
This year would be my girl's LAST year in kindy. She will be in Pri 1next year.Yup, there are almost 50students in a class, really wonder how the teacher can cope with that many students. That's why I'm so worried.Wonder too how my girl can carry the HEAVY trolley schoolbag if her classroom is not on the ground flr.
wah... scring view....
no wonder my hubby ask me to a "driver" once they start school...
oh boy...that is so heavy to go to school :D like want travel or something.
my boys primary 1 will only begin in 2009 & i already started to worry sick now....i mean... they have been so pampered now!!
i might consider a totally new school in pch so that life won't be so stressful...couldn't care so much when ppl said the syst of d school is still not stable/matured !!
so heartache seeing the little kids with big bag!!
It's such a funny sight.. those kids with the trolley bags. As for the notebook idea, may not work if they need to scribble or make notes on the pages.
Even my son still got some years to ago but I also getting worried...hope things will be better...
Aiyoo. Dun frighten me la. Now my kids still in kindy....
Hi everyone,
I'm so glad to see all your comments. I think I have to just take myself out of the comfortable environment of pre-school and adapt to the new environment. I hope my fellow friends who would experience this soon would be prepared too.
Sue,
Not Yu Hua but Batu 11 in Balakong.
My smart alec nephew threw his school bag fr the 3rd floor so he could walk down w/o the burden when he first went into primary 1. I wouldn't blame him though, I might too. :-)
Hi Jo-n,
I am tagging you Big Bang World Record
This scenario is quite norm in Singapore. As for France, they don have much thing to bring and no homework to do as well.. ;p
When you tried Skittles what browser were you using? Internet Explorer doesn't work on some blogs. Try Firefox, it's what I use. Here is the url of Skittle Place. http://skittles0366.blogspot.com
Hope I helped, Tammy
here a Big Bang - World Record Tag for u. Have fun.happy weekend!
I suppose with all parents sending their kids to Chinese schools and no increase in the number of such schools, that's what you will end up with - 50 students per class. My sis sends her son to kebangsaan school and it's only about 30 students per class, I think.
Let's join in the fun to set a world record. :)
Initially, I plan to send Alycia to a Chinese school - Kuen Cheng but after reading and hearing about the horrendous traffic jam every single morning, I am having second thoughts now. Imagine having to wake Alycia up at 5:30am every morning and leaving the house at 6:15am, just so she can be in school by 7am. That will be too tiring both for her and me.
Now, I plan to send her to a Kebangsaan school in our neighborhood. I think kids need their sleep to be able to perform better in class.
Like going to the airport..the kids with those bags...ya..it's quite common in some schools to have many children in a class..
Wow, sounds like such a complicated procedure to get your kids to and from school! And I can't believe how big their book bags are!
I now home educate my kids, so thankfully I don't have to worry about the bussing and transporting of my kids to and from different schools.
eh dun bring laptop to sch, sure goes missing. I know those sch bags are just too big and heavy, look at them so Pity!
it must be hard for first year parents to accept this change :(
yea i agree ... i pity these kids. they had to carry so many books to school ... and they are only STD ONE!!!!
it is stressful in singapore... sigh.. the homeworks are so unbearable. sigh sigh sigh They school is in a competitive mode.. scoring 80s range means my girl has to stay back for remedial lessons. that started when she was in pri 1 last year!
Guess somebody is not doing the right things in our country?? Poor planning & not responsive to our voice??
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