Whilst I plow through my 3000 US photos, I thought I shall just give some updates on my son. Well, Caleb has started going to half day school for a month already. Ever since he came back from the US, he has become more and more boisterous. Very vocal and opinionated and very energetic. We decided that he needed more social interaction (since he is a "social butterfly" like Daddy!) and going to school would provide him with that and help him to work off some excess energy. So after searching and visiting about 10 schools, we finally decided on a Montessori school for him. We weren't very insistent that he had to go to a Montessori school. We were more concerned that the school environment should be pleasant, teachers are loving and caring and he'll be able to enjoy learning at the school. Of the 10 schools which I visited, there was a school where I could hear the teacher screaming at the kids before I actually saw the teacher's face. Another school was geared towards preparing the children for Spore's education system and had english, maths, science, chinese, moral education all packed into the week. I couldn't bring myself to send Caleb there coz I wanted him to have FUN and not STRESS! There was a school really near our home where there were only girls in the class. I hope that Caleb would have more male interaction coz all his playmates now are GIRLS! So that was out too. And there was another school which was pleasant but the teachers spoke a lot of Mandarin. I didn't think Caleb would fit easily into a Mandarin speaking environment so that was out too.
So anyway, back to Caleb's school. I think he's fitting in quite well now. It took him about a month to settle into school and he had his first school excursion to the Jurong Bird Park yesterday. I wanted to go along but was discouraged from doing so as his teachers hoped to train him to be more independent. Well, but I think he enjoyed himself. He came home and told me that he didn't get to feed the birds but his teachers did. And throughout the day he'll offer bits and pieces of information about his trip to the bird park.
Well, after a month at school, I think the most significant change that I see in him is his manners. We remind him to say please and thank you most of the time but he started to be really consistent recently. And he'll ask for permission politely.
When I give him something, he'll say "Thanks Mummy."
When he wakes up in the morning, instead of saying his demanding "I Want Milk!", he surprised me by saying "Mummy, please help me to make milk." and then he'll say "Can I go out of the room Mummy?" I was really surprised when he first said that to me. I said yes to him and then he said "But I cannot open the door. Please help me Mummy."
And yesterday when we were driving in the car and he was listening to his songs, all of a sudden he said "Thanks Mummy" very softly. I didn't quite catch what he was saying at first and he repeated 3 times before he finally said "Thanks Mummy for the song." Made me really speechless. Of course in my mind I was going "Wah! My son is so polite nowadays!" Must give his school teacher some credit for this. Think she is doing a really good job!
