Inspired Momx1

Thursday, January 27, 2011

His Class Teachers - Std 1 & Std 2



His Standard 1 Class Teacher

  • She would not let them do most of the work themselves and insists that they copy word to word from the blackboard, including making sentences in Chinese.  My boy and some of his classmates get ear squats for doing the assigned work on their own.  His BM teacher does the same too, let them copy their work but will not reprimand them.
  • She is very strict and reprimands her pupils for every single minor mistakes but she hardly raises her voice.
  • She is approachable and always wears a friendly smile and she still says Hi to me everytime she sees me, probably because I am one of those mommies who would ask the most questions and that's why her deep impressions on me. Hahaha..
  • The amount of homework given is reasonable, probably because they usually come home with copied answers and thus not so much homework that needed the mommy's full attention.
  • She can't accept being told of her own mistake.  At one time when I asked my boy to point out to her that she mistakenly gave a mark lesser to his Maths exam paper, my boy gets 20 times ear squats.  Reason? For not telling her earlier despite the fact that the paper was only returned the day before.

His Standard 2 Class Teacher

  • She is not as strict and hardly reprimands her pupils, only on occasions when the pupils did not pass up homework repeatedly.
  • She always looks stressed up, hardly see her wearing a smile, probably overworked as she is also involved in the school's administrative work.
  • She likes telling moral and motivational stories to her class.
  • She likes her pupils to be independent, (I love the word independent and would like to think so anyway though my patience is wearing thin, ultra thin), giving out pages and pages of homework that requires a fully committed home tutor (i.e. yours truly) to coach, guide and see him through the mountain pile of homework.  On any day, it can be 2 pages of writing, 2 pages of building sentences, 3 pages of activity book and another 2 pages from the monthly assessment workbook and all these are for only one Chinese subject.  To make things worse, his BM teacher is exactly the same same as the class teacher when it comes to giving out homework.
  • I hardly talk to her as being my boy's 2nd year in the school, I am fairly familiar with the school operations and  find no questions to approach her, not yet. 

Putting yourself in my shoes, if you had to choose, which teaching style would you go for? Std 1 class teacher's or Std 2's?


I am relieved that my boy is slowly adapting into his fairly tight schedule.  His one hour daily exercise in the morning has to be cancelled so that he can catch up on his sleep lost the night before.  He has to stay up till 11.30pm to finish his pile of homework on most evenings.  On evenings when he finishes his homework early and can call it a day by 10.30pm, I wake him up the next morning at 8am so that he can get some form of exercise.  It's a never ending amazing race as they have four exams in a year.  When you think you can breathe a sigh of relief after this exam, there's another one due to come in a blink of an eye. 

On a positive note, despite having to endure the homework part,  up to this point of time, I still think we have made a wise choice for sending our boy to a Chinese school.   Hard work and Perseverance Can Lead To Success, so I was told.  I am keeping my fingers crossed.  I hope you guys would not have to endure my multiple ranting post entries here about how regretful I was sending my boy to a Chinese school few months down the road. LOL...

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17 Comments:

Blogger Reanaclaire said...

Definitely the 2nd teacher.. the std one teacher made yr boy do ear squats for pointing out her mistake? gosh.. that is funny way of teaching the young. :)

January 26, 2011 at 10:20 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The first teacher is the old school traditional type of teacher.

The 2nd teacher gives tonnes of homework - does she mark? How does she correct them? Does she point out the mistakes very clearly to the pupils? No point giving so much homework if not marked properly and making sure the pupils understand what they have done wrong and try not to make the same mistake again.

January 27, 2011 at 6:34 AM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

Claire: Funny huh? He didn't criticise, just pointing out the mistake and yet get reprimanded. *shake head*

stp: Yes, she does mark all the homework given out.

January 27, 2011 at 7:01 AM  
Blogger Mumsgather said...

I prefer none of the above. :P

January 27, 2011 at 9:05 AM  
Blogger Yannie said...

I would prefer the 2nd one. Did the first one give Ian back the mark after doing 20 ear squats? By the way, my girl's school will not change the form teacher every year. This form teacher will continue teaching her class until standard 3. Standard 4 only will change class and form teacher. I have yet to find out how her form teacher is all about. Because I seldom go to her school, I only pick her back from school in the evening.

January 27, 2011 at 10:04 AM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

MG: ^_^

Yan: They do have the same class teacher, only that the class streaming landed him in a different class. :)

January 27, 2011 at 10:15 AM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

Yan: Yes, he got back his mark.

January 27, 2011 at 10:31 AM  
Blogger Unknown said...

teachers either motivate or suffocate. poor kids, can you imagine a 7yo or 8yo going thru the trauma of formal education, and all the daunting homework, new friends and new teachers? we need caring teachers, not abusive, closed minded, overly strict ones.

still having a small part of me wondering if i shud send vic to homeschooling...

January 27, 2011 at 11:08 AM  
Blogger Hayley said...

Hmmm, both teachers also got good and bad.. But if for me, I'll prefer the 2nd one ;)

January 27, 2011 at 11:14 AM  
Blogger Yee Ling said...

Seriously i dont know how to cope up with my girl when she enters primary school with lot of school work and coaching since i am FTWM..For now she is in Yr 2 of kindie, the work is more. i need more time to spend with her on guiding her, thus i have to pile all my housechores a side..

January 27, 2011 at 11:30 AM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

Irene: Sometimes when the amount of homework gets a bit out of hand, I have this thought too of homeschooling him. Kids these days.. haiz..

Hayely.. Hope I have 3rd, 4th... teacher to choose from.. Hmmm...

Mommy Ling: Most working moms send their kids to "an ching" classes and the teachers there take care of everything from homework, meal and transport. Life is tough with school going kids these days.. haiz..

January 27, 2011 at 11:35 AM  
Blogger yvonne said...

Can I have a combination of both? I would prefer a friendly but strict teacher who gives some coaching to her students and yet teaches them to be independent. Moderate homework, please....

So many criteria, hor?

January 27, 2011 at 11:56 AM  
Blogger michelle@mybabybay said...

I am also seeing my boy homework piling up, he got 7 pages of maths yesterday, not forgetting other subjects too. And he is in Kebangsaan school.

January 27, 2011 at 12:09 PM  
Blogger Mommy to Chumsy said...

i dunno which teacher is better...both have their good and bad points :D of course...the lesser homework the better. i'll be losing my hair next year.

January 27, 2011 at 2:31 PM  
Blogger Inspired Momx1 said...

Yvonne: How I wish I can mix and match, pick only the good qualities and throw away the bad ones. :)

Michelle: Kids these days.. no escape be it Chinese or kebangsaan school huh? Haiz..

Barb: I would say none of the two are perfect, just that we have no choice but to accept it. :(

January 27, 2011 at 3:23 PM  
Blogger Oliveoylz said...

Std 1 teacher is too rigid. I don't agree in spoonfeeding all the way either. Our kids should be given the chance to express themselves and be analytical...Just my two cents worth:)

January 28, 2011 at 7:50 AM  
Blogger Alice Law said...

Can I have a crosse of both kar?!! LOL! I'd prefer a friendly and stern teacher, loving and caring for his/ her pupils too! I don't think we have the choice right, unless we send our kids to international or private school!

p/s: The 1st teacher more like a old fashion Chinese school teacher!;p

January 28, 2011 at 10:39 AM  

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