“Wow, Mommy, this bag makes me feels like an astronaut...” The son remarked excitedly as he unboxed the newly delivered GMT Light Ergonomic School Backpack. “Why do you say that Buddy?” I asked bemused. “Because it’s light and strong!” was his ‘matter-of-factly’ reply. The Rigours of School As Buddy enters Primary Two, the rigours of school life slowly creeps in. With that comes thicker and heavier textbooks, more stationeries and other items for his afternoons at the … [Read more...]
Choosing The Right School Bag For Primary School: Facts & Myths
As our son enters Primary School next year, we revisit the importance of a good school bag for our child. Fortunately, we have our elder daughter's experience to glean from. We debunk some myths about school bags so that you can make an informed choice for your school-going kids. Myth, Facts and Choices Here’s sharing some of the myths and facts about choosing a good school bag. Myth 1: All schoolbags are good school bags Fact: Nothing can be further from the truth. … [Read more...]
Raising a Future-ready Child (Plus an Exclusive TLL Giveaway)
"The mother's heart is the child's schoolroom." - Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887) It’s Mothers’ day this Sunday. While the world celebrates, I inevitably reflect upon my role as a mother. These questions come up again and again, year after year. “Am I a good mother?” “Have I done enough as a mother?” “What else can I do to be a better mother?” How do we define being a good mother? I’m sure we can all agree that giving birth alone does not even come close to one being defined as a … [Read more...]
Ask a TLL Teacher!
Dana's TLL English Folder, adorned with stickers from her TLL teacher each week! Towards the third quarter of Primary One last year, we realized Dana was under-performing in English. She couldn’t thread together a fluent, engaging piece of composition and was struggling with spelling. Tried as we could, we were not able to translate her voracity for reading into good writing. She was starting to lament that she was lousy (in English). We decided we had to do something to raise her morale … [Read more...]
The TLL Experience – Student Centered. Future Oriented.
“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.” ― Malcolm X How do we bring Singapore beyond the next fifty years? We all know the answer. As cliched as it may sound, our children are our future. In order to thrive, our children will not only have to acquire knowledge for acing exams. Beyond that, they have to attain wisdom and develop a set of core values and critical thinking skills which will help them make sense of this … [Read more...]
‘How to help your kids love Chinese’ – Reflections from a ‘Banana’ Dad
*Banana – a colloquial term to describe a Chinese who only appreciates Western customs thereby making him Yellow on the outside, white on the inside. “You don’t know Chinese? Why don’t you know Chinese? Aren’t you Chinese?” Ever have one of those statements haunt you for a long time? Well, mine is the question above which was hurled at my friends and I more than two decades ago when I was an undergraduate in Australia. You see, we were walking along one of the many beautifully tree-lined … [Read more...]
The strengths in our stars – helping your children discover themselves
"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name.” Isaiah 40:26 (NIV) Photo Credit “ Daddy, what’s special about me? Do I have talents?” the daughter asked. Now that the daughter has started Primary 1 proper, the entire family has made significant lifestyle changes to go to bed rather early. So imagine my surprise when I was asked the above question by the inquisitive daughter at bedtime … [Read more...]
Primary One Prep…From a Laissez-faire P1 Mom
Picture Credit Just when I thought we had survived the worst of all nightmares a P1-to-be parent might face (i.e. the balloting), I realised how naive it was of me to think that we could breeze through the start of P1 with our eyes shut. Part procrastination and part reluctance on my part to see our 6-year old start formal schooling system so soon, I practically did zero preparation for 'D-day'. All we did was to turn up for the Primary One Orientation in November, ordered her textbooks … [Read more...]
P1 School Balloting: A nerve-wrecking, ball of an experience
It’s kind of like seeing a ghost - you never quite believe what others go through until it happens to you. So here I am, sitting alone in my car, parked in the compound of what I hope would be my child’s future school. I said a quiet prayer, switched off the car engine, armed the alarm and walked towards the school office - conscious that I would return in less than an hour’s time with a reality that either my wife and I have hoped for or…otherwise. Yes, I am here to … [Read more...]