Goodbye, Grade 2

In the blink of an eye, I've completed another academic year here in Shanghai. Last Wednesday, 18th June, was my last day of Grade 2. A few days before that, there was a prize giving ceremony in school. Daddy and mummy were invited to attend this event because I was a recipient of an award...

My classmates and I were all gathered in the gym when mummy arrived at school....she took a peek and stole a shot from behind the door :p

Chatting and playing with my bestie, MY, while waiting for the event to start

There were performances from some of the Co-curriculum Activities (CCA) too. For the 2013/2014 academic year, I joined Junior Soccer, LEGO Club and Junior Choir. For being in the choir group, I got to perform on stage....

Singing "Sing" (from The Carpenters) with my choir friends

Traditional Chinese musical instruments performance... mummy was so mesmerised by the charm and gracefulness of the performance that she made me pick this for my CCA next year!

I won an i4C award.... for possessing and displaying the following core values: initiative, care, commitment, collaboration and communication. 

Proud moment with my class teacher, Ms Mary

Yay, school's out and I will be enjoying a very long holiday until the new academic year starts on 25th August. Looking forward to our hometrip next month!

When My Folks Ignore Me...

... I learn to do things on my own, for myself! 

There are days when daddy and mummy are too busy to entertain my request for something, like that day when I asked mummy to teach me to play a new piece on the piano. Mummy was busy cooking and I couldn't wait for her to finish so I learned to play it by myself... and I did it! I learn to play all new pieces on my own now... it is a good way to improve my sight-reading! 

When (I think) nobody is watching, I sit like this while playing the piano @-@

Recently, I had a shaky tooth again. I pleaded with daddy (my personal "dentist") many times to help me pull it out but he kept saying "later". He felt that the tooth was not loose enough for manual extraction (with his bare hands). Desperate to end the pain, discomfort and misery caused by the dangling tooth, I pulled it out on my own! *proud*

Shaky and painful tooth no more, thanks to... myself! :)

JMC 1 Mini Concert

Yesterday was a very busy Thursday for me. I woke up at 6:30am to participate in my kindergarten's 3rd field trip of the year. We went to a pizza restaurant where I made my very first pizza (coming up in another post).

Upon reaching home at 3pm, I was forced to take a nap so that I could be "re-charged" for another big event later in the evening.... it was my music class (Yamaha JMC Book 1) mini concert where I had to perform a solo singing presentation and play a repertoire piece on the piano.

I felt very confident and at ease (mummy was obviously more stressed than me!) and I wanted to be the last to perform when my teacher asked for volunteers...

Finally, it was my turn. I was really the last to perform...

Teacher S helped me with my self-introduction

A few of my classmates suffered from severe case of stage-fright where they cried and refused to perform. Mummy was worried that I would follow suit but I turned out to be all cool, calm and steady. Overall, I did quite well but I was very stiff during my solo singing presentation of The Whales' Sneezes. I did not do any actions and I couldn't remember some of the lyrics. My mind was quite blank although I have been practicing hard for this. I was very, very nervous and it was clearly written all over me...

...I clutched on to my skirt like this throughout my performance @_@ 

Playing A Cuckoo Clock on the piano

Phew!! I'm so glad it's all over now! *ran happily back to my seat*

My performance was not excellent but it was not too bad either. For an extremely shy and timid person like me, it was considered good already. My Cuckoo Clock performance on the piano was also mistake-free. Daddy and mummy were very proud of me! 

After the "concert", we had a party, sort of like a mini makan-makan session along one of the narrow corridors of the music studio. It was a pot-luck party and mummy and I contributed this...

J.pops... baby donuts from J.Co

In Deep Concentration...

Ssshhh... please do not disturb or distract me. One wrong move can result in a "bloody injury"...

In deep concentration...

 *tik tak tik tak* Guess what am I doing?

Cutting my toenails for the first time! 

Mummy feels that it's high time I learn to cut my own fingernails and toenails because they are growing too fast (and she's just too lazy to help me with this). She's also curious to know... at what age do most kids learn to do this on their own?

2nd Parents-Teacher Conference

First of all, Miss S (my class teacher) mentioned that my social skills have improved a bit. She noticed that although I do attempt to be friendly towards the teachers, I still make minimal conversation with them. However, I am okay with my peers. I appear to be very chatty and playful when I am with my friends. She even mentioned Aaron's name in my report card, saying that I get very "hyper" whenever I am playing with him! *mummy rolls eyes*

As for my studies, I am still above the rest in class (quoting Miss S's remark in my report card). I am able to do all my school work independently. I am quite advanced in Maths and Reading (English). I told one of my friends that our reading book (Book 2) is too simple and boring. I can read everything in it from cover to cover even before it is taught in class! Little did I know that this friend of mine actually "reported" my comment to Miss S haha.

Miss S also mentioned that I have improved a lot in my Bahasa Malaysia. I am able to read and understand simple sentences now. In the first semester, I was still struggling a bit with my sukukata (due to confusion between English phonics).

My statistics... I think my attendance is quite good... I was only absent for 7 days in the whole academic year (3 of the days were because I ponteng-ed to go to Cherating and Melbourne) 

Next year, I will be joining the K2 Mandarin where all the subjects (except for English and BM) will be taught in Mandarin. According to my Mandarin teacher, there will be a lot of reading and writing to do. I better brush up on my spoken Mandarin lest I get lost or left behind in class!

I Like Homework

I am probably one of the very few lucky kids who do not know how to enjoy the "privilege" of attending a homework-free kindergarten. Since I do not bring home any homework from school, I constantly ask mummy for homework because I LIKE doing it.

Quite often, I will complain "I'm bored, mummy... can you please give me homework?" Well, although I do have a big pile of workbooks, I sometimes "crave" for something different... like the ones that mummy "writes" for me.

Workbooks on my table...

More workbooks under my table...

Last week, when I asked for homework again, mummy wrote a few sums (addition) for me to which I completed within minutes and said "It's so easy. Give me something harder!" Very "action", eh?

Mummy then taught me addition with "carry-over to tens" (not taught in school yet). She cincai explained to me just ONCE and wrote some sums for me to solve. To her surprise, not only did I manage to grasp the concept, I completed all these sums in just under 10 minutes (albeit with a few careless mistakes here and there)...

Sometimes, mummy would give me ejaan too (this is also not given in school). The ejaan that she gives me are very impromptu and I am required to spell and write on the spot. No word list is given in advance. I've mastered my sukukata quite well in school so this is no problem for me too (except for the /ng/ and /ny/ sound which I've yet to learn)

My very first ejaan ;)

When it comes to my Mandarin lessons, mummy is happy to note that I am very self-motivated. Every now and then I will take out my vocabulary book, play the accompanying CD and recite the words happily without being told to do so. I am able to recognize the 200-odd characters in my 2 books now. Mummy recorded this video not because of my reading but because of the way I "sat"...

Amusing but at the same time also made her *shake head*

My Chinese writing... I write better in Chinese (compared to my alphabets). This is about the only homework that I have, given by my Mandarin teacher, Zhang Lao Shi

I like homework... that's what this "Homework Princess" said

Note: This is a brief record of my academic progress at 5 years old

My Latest Craze

A few months ago, I was hit by the UNO card game craze. For days, weeks and months, I was an addict high on UNO. Every night without fail, just before bedtime, I would drag daddy into a session of at least 10 games. On our fortnightly trips back to Seremban, I would "victimize" Gung-gung instead. With Gung-gung, we could play all day (from morning to night, no kidding!) and he was the only person patient enough to entertain my whims and fancies. I was declared the family's UNO champion after acing the game repeatedly and achieving numerous winning streaks.

Recently, I have moved on to another new card game... "fishing". Again, I am obsessed with this game.

"Fishing" after dinner...

"Fishing" before bedtime...

At the end of this game, some mental calculation (adding up the points) is required. Through this game, my addition has improved a lot. Counting in tens is easy-peasy for me now. I can also pair up numbers to form 10 rather quickly like 1 and 9, 2 and 8, 3 and 7 etc.

I'm also able to mentally add up 3-4 small numbers like 1+2+3, 2+2+4, 5+ 3+1 etc. Daddy doesn't mind playing this with me every night because it is good for polishing up my Maths.

Reading and Progress Report

Since the beginning of this year (at 4 years 3 months), mummy noticed that I could read independently. When given any children's books at random, I can read most of the words in it. I also have the ability to guess unfamiliar words by applying my knowledge in phonics.

Besides reading simple English-based story books, I can read Chinese too. Recently, I brought home all my school books together with my progress report. Among the books, mummy saw a small Chinese textbook and asked me to read to her. Mummy was quite surprised and impressed that I could read and recognize so many Chinese characters, page after page!

This is what I read (just in case my pronunciation isn't clear enough in the video)...

Just look at the number of repetitions (dates)... no wonder I could read haha!

Mummy has been doing a mini-spring cleaning at home too. She reorganized the bookshelf and threw out many of her own books to make way for mine. Over the years, daddy and mummy have bought hundreds of books for me! Here are some of them (not including those in the living room and my bedroom)...

Neatly sorted and arranged... all within my reach and easier for me to pick and read on my own :)

The young avid reader

Mummy also attended a Parents-Teachers Conference to discuss my progress in school. Although timid and quiet at most times, I have a bit of leadership quality too (esp in the absence of an adult/teacher). According to my class teacher Miss S, who made an observation and discovered that when she is not in sight (she observed from afar), she saw me instructing my peers to perform simple tasks like drink water, put things away, call for group forming etc.

Academically, I'm doing quite well. Miss S commented that I have very high retention power and can remember things very well after being taught just once. However, I tend to be careless when doing my workbooks. I sometimes have slight language confusion between English and BM too (phonics and sukukata).

Teacher's comment: Ruoyi is a very intelligent child and she is above the rest in class. She works fast but sometimes careless when doing her workbooks as a lot of mistakes shows. Although she has shown much improvement when socializing with her friends but sometimes is still reluctant to speak up when she has been called upon several times. All in all, she is a very helpful girl. Keep it up, Ruoyi!

Bye-Bye, Milk Bottle

Alright, first of all, mummy is quite ashamed to admit that she still gives me milk in a milk bottle although I am fast approaching 5 years old. While I am addicted to my milk bottle, mummy doesn't mind delaying the switch because drinking from a milk bottle is the very last baby trait in me that she enjoys looking at hahaha.

Well, it all started when mummy accidentally left my milk bottle in Ah Ma's house (in Seremban) three weekends ago. With a heavy heart, she decided to seize the opportunity to ditch the bottle.

That very first night without my milk bottle, mummy made my milk in a cute Mickey Mouse mug to encourage me to drink from a cup. I made a small fuss and told her I didn't want a mug with cartoon prints on it. I wanted the plain glass. "I want the plain glass. Give me the plain glass and DON'T give me the Mickey Mouse cup anymore..." I whined. What an unusual kid I am!

A big no-no to cups with cartoons (I later told mummy that I didn't like cups with handles... duh!)

Glug, glug, glug... mmmmmmm! I still love my milk in anything they come in :)

That's it. I did ask for my milk bottle after we brought it home recently but mummy continued to use the glass and I did not protest at all. It was THAT easy. So it's time to say bye-bye to my milk bottle for good and here's a collection of the bottles that I've used from birth until now...

One year one bottle (not counting the small one on the left, which was for water)... goodbye to them all :(

Attempting to hold the water bottle at 4 months old

Holding the bottle on my own at 8 months old

One of mummy's favourite macro shots of me drinking my milk (19 months old)

Look Ma, no hands... can barely open my eyes in the morning (on most days)

Very "tarn" (enjoy)... one of the last few pics of me drinking from the bottle

Note: I started drinking from milk bottles since I was a day old because I refused to latch on mummy. I drank EBM (expressed breast milk) until I was 5 months old (until the supply ran low).

Self-Praise is No Praise

"Mummy, I did it! I'm sooooo impressed!" Yes, I was impressed at myself for advancing to the next level of a mind-challenging game haha. Mummy told me this is called self-praise and I am not supposed to praise myself like that.

Well, we're talking about this Traffic Jam game again...

Traffic Jam (a ciplak version of the original Rush Hour) - the objective is to move the vehicle marked X to the Exit grid at the bottom.

After months (more than a year actually!) of being kept in a storage box, mummy took this out for me to play again. I started playing this game when I was barely 3 years old. I could only manage the Beginner's level then. There are four levels to this game...

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced and Expert

Mummy described the Intermediate level to me as "medium hard". I decided to try the "medium hard" cards today, after completing all the cards in the Beginner's level (Easy).

When I first told mummy about my achievement, she appeared to be very doubtful and even suspected that I might have cheated (bad, bad mummy). She then watched me play (another card) and I aced it without any difficulty. It was her turn to be impressed :)

The triumphant 3-year-old me

The in-deep-concentration current me :)

Sweet Valentine

Mummy, how do you spell "love"?... How do you spell "daddy"?... How do you spell "mummy"?

It was after being my spelling-assistant that mummy realized I was making something special for her and daddy...

A Valentine's Day card... 100% self-made (except for the help in spelling)

Mummy was rather surprised that I knew what Valentine's Day was. I must have learned about it in school. She was even more surprised that I made the card all by myself. The heart shape was drawn on another piece of paper, coloured, cut out and pasted on the white "card" using four strips of cellophane tape.

Although the card looked very plain and simple, both daddy and mummy cherished it like it was a piece of precious stone. Daddy even slipped it into his work bag and brought it to his office haha!

I have been doing a lot of paper-cutting lately. Unfortunately, mummy has been too busy to supervise me (or even notice me) until a few days ago. What she saw shocked her and also tickled her at the same time...

This is how I hold the scissors!

Like this also can cut?

Yes, it's funny but true... I can cut very well like this. When changed into the correct and proper way, I just can't do it! I hope it's not too late to change now...

Self-Assigned Homework

My first year in school is ending soon. Being in Nursery Class (in a Montessori kindergarten), I have never brought home any homework at all. Lazy mummy almost never bothers to teach me anything at home. Most of the time, I entertain myself by playing on my own or watching tv. Sometimes, I will read on my own or practice writing without being told to do so. Mummy is most impressed whenever she sees me doing this!

Mummy's favourite sight... peeking from the kitchen to see me keeping myself occupied at my study table...

Writing

I write very much better on my own initiative than when I'm being told to. The reason is obvious. When I write at my own initiative, I'm in the mood to do it! Mummy wasn't aware that I have been writing on my own until she browsed through my books and found these...

Needless to say, she was overjoyed! (and proud too hehe)

Another sample of my self-initiated work (some are good, some are really bad haha)

Colouring

I am not very fond of colouring. I have piles and piles of colouring books at home but hardly touch them at all. Look what happens when I am "forced" to do colouring... ("forced" as in being told to do it when I am not in the mood)

No, this was not done when I was 1 year old. I did this just last week (clearly to show my protest!)

When I'm in the right mood, once again on my own initiative, I can come up with something like this...

It took me a few days to finish colouring this picture (art block sized)

Reading

My reading skill is improving. It's not very good but I am progressing well. I am currently reading the Ladybird's Peter and Jane reading series. I can read books 1a, 1b and 2a independently but still need guidance with some of the words in 3a. When reading other books, I can identify simple words such as in, is, it, this, and, the, of, to, if, that, he, she, we etc. and read only those words while skipping the rest haha.

Reading one of my favourite pages in book 2a