I have been stuck forever at my 7th assignment.
The first time it came back, I was asked to resubmit Part C, the copyediting and proofreading exercise.
I ignored it the whole of the summer hols, started work on it when Beth went back to school, and received the result yesterday.
"Thank you for resubmitting Part C of your Assignment 7.
It pains me to ask you to resubmit this again rather than spell out the problems and give you a lower mark...
There is not a lot of work to do and I am sure it will not take you long to send me a super assignment."
The trouble with notching up Ds and High Ds from the start of the course is that it makes this latest setback particularly irksome. I thought I'd thrown in everything when I re-worked the assignment, but I guess I was wrong. I still have much to learn about the difference between copyediting marks and proofreading marks.
As the Jedi Masters constantly exhort their Padawans, I need to detach myself from my emotions and just focus on what needs doing.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Time to Stand and Stare
One of the privileges of my WAHM lifestyle is that I get to witness those tiny but often significant episodes as I go about my daily routine.
Let me share a couple of vignettes.
Episode One
Waiting outside the post office this morning, I saw a familiar face headed in my direction.
Rose and her family are long-time friends of ours; our shared history dates from when we were new migrants. Our girls went to the same Council kinder(3 years ago!), so for a whole year we saw each other almost everyday. These days, we hardly meet, as the children go to different schools, have different after-school activities etc. You might say our lives run in parallel, similar direction but rarely intersecting. The last time I ran into Rose (again at the Plaza), we had a lovely long chat that began with mutual cheek-touching and ended with affectionate goodbyes and regards to one another's families. That's the kind of friendship we have.
Today Rose asked what I was doing at the Plaza, and I waved the A4-sized envelope I was carrying.
"I'm enrolling Jordanne for kinder ... Can you believe it? She's not a baby anymore!"
This was followed by several minutes of marvelling over how quickly the kids have grown up.
Episode Two
Several persons ahead of me in the queue was a couple. They looked like they might have been in their late 50s or early 60s. The hubby was tall and burly, with a huge paunch hanging out over his belt. The wife was several heads shorter, slim, serene and beautiful as only a contented midlifer can be.
The wife had a huge smile on her face as she looked around her, and I thought to myself, what a lovely lady.
She leaned back against her hubby, whose belly met her upper back, and he started nudging and bouncing her with his belly the way a father would amuse a toddler. She turned around, laughing up at him and saying something audible only to both of them, and he looked down with affectionate amusement on his face.
In that moment, I thought to myself: How beautiful. I hope CA and I will still be enjoying each other like that when we reach their age.
Let me share a couple of vignettes.
Episode One
Waiting outside the post office this morning, I saw a familiar face headed in my direction.
Rose and her family are long-time friends of ours; our shared history dates from when we were new migrants. Our girls went to the same Council kinder(3 years ago!), so for a whole year we saw each other almost everyday. These days, we hardly meet, as the children go to different schools, have different after-school activities etc. You might say our lives run in parallel, similar direction but rarely intersecting. The last time I ran into Rose (again at the Plaza), we had a lovely long chat that began with mutual cheek-touching and ended with affectionate goodbyes and regards to one another's families. That's the kind of friendship we have.
Today Rose asked what I was doing at the Plaza, and I waved the A4-sized envelope I was carrying.
"I'm enrolling Jordanne for kinder ... Can you believe it? She's not a baby anymore!"
This was followed by several minutes of marvelling over how quickly the kids have grown up.
Episode Two
Several persons ahead of me in the queue was a couple. They looked like they might have been in their late 50s or early 60s. The hubby was tall and burly, with a huge paunch hanging out over his belt. The wife was several heads shorter, slim, serene and beautiful as only a contented midlifer can be.
The wife had a huge smile on her face as she looked around her, and I thought to myself, what a lovely lady.
She leaned back against her hubby, whose belly met her upper back, and he started nudging and bouncing her with his belly the way a father would amuse a toddler. She turned around, laughing up at him and saying something audible only to both of them, and he looked down with affectionate amusement on his face.
In that moment, I thought to myself: How beautiful. I hope CA and I will still be enjoying each other like that when we reach their age.
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Grade Two Already?
The start of the school year brings with it a certain sense of anticipation, of opportunity, of great things that could happen.
Beth and I have been preparing for this year, particularly in Jan, with lots of short random exposures to online general knowledge quizzes (she loves the history of Ancient Greece), assessment books and some hard thinking about what she can and should achieve.
For Math, the goal is to get her to memorize as much of the times table as she can manage. I know she probably compares dismally with her Sg peers, but I'm trying not to stress us both out. I just want to get her to a level where she can 'get it' and start to be more self-directed in her motivation and desire to learn.
For Chinese, we're continuing with the Werribee Chinese School, which this year has moved to Point Cook Community Centre, a much nicer learning environment than Glen Orden PS. I told Beth her Chinese school is located next to the new Point Cook library. She loves books, so a trip to the library will be one of the motivators for turning up to class every Sat and doing her homework, which from this year on will be required to be done daily.
I'm glad the WCS is starting to demand more of its students. There was a time when I was weighing up whether to continue with the school. Being a community language school, it caters to the middle (or even the lower spectrum, meaning those who come from non-Chinese backgrounds) and asks so little of its students, which of course translates into mediocre language outcomes. I even rang the Braybrook Xin Jin Shan Language School, but they don't have classes for Beth's age group. Pity. I might enrol Jordanne next year though, so that she gets a headstart in learning the language.
For music, Beth is starting her third year with Yamaha.
The old question of private-vs-group tuition is looming again, for a very practical reason. If she is to meet the entry requirements for a music scholarship, she must have at least a Grade 5 AMEB at Year 7. Working backwards, this is the year she should start on her AMEB. At the rate she is going, I'm not sure she is even equipped to sit an exam. She still struggles to sight-read and prefers to play from memory. When I try to teach her, she gets upset and I get exasperated and lose my temper. I keep thinking: why can't you focus? Why aren't you sitting up properly? What do you mean you can't read the music? A qualified, experienced teacher who loves working with kids would probably take a more positive approach.
Beth's after-school schedule is even more packed than 2009.
Wed - swimming
Thu - jujitsu
Sat - music and Chinese
Most of her classes are for an hour, except for swimming (30 mins) and Chinese (3 hrs!!). It's the driving back and forth that takes up so much time. But I shouldn't complain. I'm helping (I hope) to build my child's character, resilience, social and kinesthetic intelligence.
Beth and I have been preparing for this year, particularly in Jan, with lots of short random exposures to online general knowledge quizzes (she loves the history of Ancient Greece), assessment books and some hard thinking about what she can and should achieve.
For Math, the goal is to get her to memorize as much of the times table as she can manage. I know she probably compares dismally with her Sg peers, but I'm trying not to stress us both out. I just want to get her to a level where she can 'get it' and start to be more self-directed in her motivation and desire to learn.
For Chinese, we're continuing with the Werribee Chinese School, which this year has moved to Point Cook Community Centre, a much nicer learning environment than Glen Orden PS. I told Beth her Chinese school is located next to the new Point Cook library. She loves books, so a trip to the library will be one of the motivators for turning up to class every Sat and doing her homework, which from this year on will be required to be done daily.
I'm glad the WCS is starting to demand more of its students. There was a time when I was weighing up whether to continue with the school. Being a community language school, it caters to the middle (or even the lower spectrum, meaning those who come from non-Chinese backgrounds) and asks so little of its students, which of course translates into mediocre language outcomes. I even rang the Braybrook Xin Jin Shan Language School, but they don't have classes for Beth's age group. Pity. I might enrol Jordanne next year though, so that she gets a headstart in learning the language.
For music, Beth is starting her third year with Yamaha.
The old question of private-vs-group tuition is looming again, for a very practical reason. If she is to meet the entry requirements for a music scholarship, she must have at least a Grade 5 AMEB at Year 7. Working backwards, this is the year she should start on her AMEB. At the rate she is going, I'm not sure she is even equipped to sit an exam. She still struggles to sight-read and prefers to play from memory. When I try to teach her, she gets upset and I get exasperated and lose my temper. I keep thinking: why can't you focus? Why aren't you sitting up properly? What do you mean you can't read the music? A qualified, experienced teacher who loves working with kids would probably take a more positive approach.
Beth's after-school schedule is even more packed than 2009.
Wed - swimming
Thu - jujitsu
Sat - music and Chinese
Most of her classes are for an hour, except for swimming (30 mins) and Chinese (3 hrs!!). It's the driving back and forth that takes up so much time. But I shouldn't complain. I'm helping (I hope) to build my child's character, resilience, social and kinesthetic intelligence.
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