kynan has learned a few things of late...

-this week he came home with a fact that was very surprising to him... that muslims fast! ie, that his little muslim friends cant eat or drink anything the WHOLE day at school...not even water. he saw his one little mate 'suffering' for want of water in the middle of a hot day...and thought over the sense of that. he also became aware of a few other things...

*like why they dont do p.e. during this fasting month,

*and he observed that the teacher is kind enough not to require them to talk too much, (else they'd become thirsty.)

it's a real eye-opener to him... and i'm glad that he's actually outward-looking enough, to be aware of such.

-he has a new malay teacher, and he's finally getting some constructive help in constructing sentences... albeit only once a week... at least we're making progress :)

-the end of term is coming near... they have no exams this term, so we're taking it easy.  to top it off, homework has been almost non-existant of late.

i've used this time to become totally hands-off with his spelling. (at the end of last term, he'd still come to me to be tested once the night before. the rest of the week, i'd advised him to revise daily for the best results.

of course he didnt always follow...but i left him to it. he had 2 terms to learn to become totally independent.

there was once he didnt even come to me the nite b4. i didnt ask or remind.... (but i knew he'd not even written any of the words a single time.)  i let him be. he came back with 2/10 :) cruel me, ya! 

but thereafter he saw the sense in daily revision, and has been fine since. these last few weeks i've not seen the spelling lists, nor been asked to quiz him. his teachers havent been sending the books home to be signed either, so i have no idea how things are going... but the positive change i see in kynan is that he sits down now, each morning and night, and  revises them quietly without even a word from me. it makes me feel happy not to be burdened by this aspect of his upbringing... and in total contrast to many other parenst around us. 

but this style of fostering independent study techniques from a young age, is not unique. in fact i see that it's quite common amongst larger families here. but those with only 1 or 2 kids imply that they're too 'kiasu' not to be involved each step of the way. or they say their kids are too lazy. so they dont trust them. but if we never let go...then will they ever be willing to stand on their own 2 feet?... we will always be their safety net....stepping in b4 they fall, as we dont want them to mess up. cos if they mess up, then it may look bad on us as parents, ya? :)

i really think we do need to step back and little by little, let our kids learn to live their lives for themselves. cos when we do things for our own reasons, then suddenly what was previously someone else's burden, actually becomes our own responsibility... and we literally 'grow up ' overnight. 

this is how we worked when we were kids. we did our homework and revision all on or own. our results were for our benefit alone. my mum never blinked an eye whether we brought home an A or a C...so long as we never failed. consequently, we never worked to get recognition from her. instead, for the subjects we enjoyed, we worked to do the best we cd...for ourselves. (for that is where our strengths lay)... and the book prizes were an attractive carrot from the school! :))

i'm hoping that gradually kynan will be able to do the same for himself... learn how to revise independently for exams, so that he too can be totally responsible for his own personal fulfilment. but this is just the beginning... i hv to provide him with the tools and give him plenty of practice with me... b4 he goes off to use them on his own. mb by P3... i'm hopeful!