Alexis’prep for primary 1.

In a blink of an eye, both my girls are now in primary school.  Alexis has been looking forward to this day for the longest time. Everyone knows how much she adores her sister and to be able to walk to school hand in hand was one of her greatest milestones.

2020 had been a tough year not just for us but for many around the world. The Covid-19 pandemic serves as a reminder of how vulnerable we are and one could fall from Hero to Zero in a matter of short time when such an unexpected event occured. While hubby and I were working from home, the time spent with the girls was lesser compared to pre-Covid. We are frantically fighting fire at work thus we lost the focus for them.  I had a difficult time penning my 2021 resolutions, partly because I have huge plans for Glowfully yet I realised 2021 is the year when Lauren will be taking her PSLE and Alexis entering primary school.  Of course, priority has to be with the family! 

We started Alexis on enrichment classes last year to boost her confidence. Do not be deceived by her chatty nature, Alexis is very jittery about her ability to handle primary school exams. One part of her is excited about going to school with her sister yet she is also mindful how hard her sister had been studying for her examinations and this frightens her.  One of the classes Alexis attended was The Preparation Course at the British Council. The K2 course was meant to help the little ones get ready for P1. In fact, we were briefed that the British Council’s enrichment courses for Nursery 1 up to Junior College are student-centred and are also aligned to the syllabus set up by the Ministry of Education.  The lessons Alexis attended at the British Council were engaging. The courses are designed to incorporate active learning and hands-on exploration to develop the child’s speaking confidence and socialisation skills. These are very important skill sets as a strong foundation in English would boost the child’s love for learning in school. She will be able to read the questions, and make better presentations during the show and tell. During the orientation program the principal mentioned about the new direction of MOE and that there would no longer be examinations for P1 and P2. They want to encourage a holistic learning environment for our children and I am glad the enrichment classes that we have selected for them believed in the same values.

If you are keen to find out more about the British Council Pre-School and Primary programes, I have attached some information for your reference. If you have questions about the curriculum or operation matters, please do not hesitate to reach out to the centres.

Hope your children have a wonderful 2021. Last but not least, whatever school or courses our child attends, we have a huge role to play in their learning journey. 

“Be the parent today that you want your kids to remember tomorrow.”

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Alexis’ progress at the British Council.

We are going 3 months into Alexis’ course. I promised an update so here we go.

Alexis is definitely enjoying her time at the British Council, so much that I overheard her conversation with Lauren asking her sister to join her at the British Council as well.  She has been taught well and her vocabulary has improved leaps and bound.  Her writing, as compared to 3 months ago, is also neater and she is able to read 90% on her own now.  I like how the centre encourages the child to use their creativity; Alexis told me that her teacher would ask her to doodle on her file. She absolutely loved this idea! Other than having her creativity unleashed, the doodling on the file gave it an identity – her identity, and she named it the Galaxy Folder.  Her worksheets are filled with her ideas of rainbows and unicorns. I read her latest writing and it immediately brought a smile. Her sentences sounded ridiculous but her teachers are so encouraging with her writing. I am not sure if the occurrences are totally related but ever since attending the British Council, Alexis has been writing a lot at home. You know I always remember this quote that my secondary school teacher shared with me – “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited; imagination encircles the world” – Albert Einstein.

Besides encouraging the child to use their imagination, the teachers at the British Council also requested the children to bring their toys! Wow! Can you imagine Alexis jumping into the car delightfully planning about the toys to bring for her lessons? The reason for bringing the toys was for a show and tell.  Each child was supposed to hide the toy in a bag and describe the toy that they brought to their classmates. 

Everyone in class would ask questions pertaining to the toy and try to uncover what it was.  How I wish I could be there to witness all these but the British Council is rather strict with photo-taking in the class. This is to protect the privacy and safety of the students and staff. I am happy to share that despite me seeking their permission of a photo to share on my blog, the school politely rejected. This shows that they valued the safety and wellbeing of everyone in the centre more than just wanting to gain publicity. Kudos to the management of British Council for that!

We are in the last term of 2020 and since I am preparing Lauren for PSLE next year, I tried to get a little ambitious with Alexis. I bought some P1 assessment books and I am truly surprised that she was able to understand most of the questions in the assessment book! Reading the comprehension was a breeze for her too.  

We have slightly more than a month to go before we complete the year for K2. I shall be back with another round of review and then I will share on the British Council’s course for Primary 1. Before we go, have a look at what Alexis’ Student Report. 😊

For more information about the British Council’s English enrichment courses, visit www.britishcouncil.sg/ylcharlenesim

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Getting Alexis Ready for Primary 1- British Council Edition

Alexis is a few months away from clocking the milestone of starting her education journey in a primary school. A recent review of her work sparked a concern that she might not be as well prepared as I thought. Alexis has always been able to read without much guidance so most of you might say that that may be sufficient for Primary 1. Her reading ability is indeed not too bad but her grammar, her speech and her writing would definitely need coaching to improve.

We contemplated on a few enrichment centers before deciding on the British Council. We have done our research and read many reviews that the British Council has a fun and nurturing environment which would cultivate the learning interests of young children. We were also pleasantly surprised that the curriculum at the British Council is also tailored closely for our local syllabus.

I wanted to show more of how the class ambience in the classroom would look like but was informed that such leisure photography at the center was not allowed to protect the privacy of students and staff. Thus, I could only seek permission to take some photos of the empty classroom. If you are concerned about the safety measures that are put in place at the British Council,   you can be assured that your child is in good hands. I accompanied Alexis into the British Council since it was her first lesson thus I had the opportunity to have a short walk around. Besides the enforcement of safe entry practice and sanitising of hands, we noticed that the books and toys were temporary sealed to prevent cross contamination. There was also a sanitiser in the classroom and I saw the assistant teacher disinfecting the room regularly.

Here you can see some of the homework that Alexis brought back. Did I say I actually did the puzzle on the back of the recycled paper. Oh boy, I thought their learning material is really interesting indeed. As it was only the first lesson, I can only show how Alexis is fairing currently. I will be sharing another update post sometime in September or October to document her progress.

In the meantime, do drop me any questions you have and I will be more than happy to share the information. You may also read up about their courses here

 

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