2005年學之園PN班

LydiaWong

Doris, ljsez,
I did not know there is a new PN class. I think the playground is already too crowded. I have a friend whose daughter is in PNC(pm class), she said there are only a few students in the playground. Did you see Preston, was he a good boy? I called Ms. Hung today and she said he was a bit shy aftere the CNY for a few days and now he enjoys school and starts to answer questions out loud in class now. It takes almost a year to speak in class (what a shame!)
Preston is already 3 years old and I think the biggest changes is that he talks a lot more. He now talks in whole sentence both in English and Cantonese. Also, he eats by himself and won't let us feed him. I think he's really a big boy!

DorisTSL

Lydia,

I was in LH from Mon to Wed and I saw Preston.  I tried to talk to him while he was approaching the toy that Brian was playing but his focus was on the toy.  Ha!

As Ms. Hung said, Preston was a bit shy on Mon and Tue.  He stood next to Ms. Angelika and didn't join much during the morning excerise.  However, his performance was much better on Wed.

Brian is now 2yr 9mos.  As he started talking late, he can now only speak very simple sentences.  However, he doesn't know how to ask questions, even why, who......  Yet, his vocabulary is growing.  I hope he will catch up with other kids very soon.

About feeding.  Brian can eat by himself for food which does not contain meat, like noodles, congee.  For the rest, we have to feed him.  By the way, may I know how much Preston can eat by himself in his meal?  Can he finish all you prepared?  

LydiaWong

Doris,
When they start to ask why questions, you'll be so busy. Sometimes Preston talks so much, I find him 'ho fan', but you still need to be patience to answer all his questions. Also, he is like the 'housekeeper', he will ask us to sit here, stand here, follow him, stuff like that, so we are very busy at night.
If he is in good condition and good appetite, basically he can finish almost one bowl by himeslf , maybe left a few spoonfuls for us to feed him. Like last night, he finished a bowl in 10 minutes. He likes meat so much, he can even eat another piece of porkchop or chicken wings after he finished one bowl. Recently, he starts to like shrimps.

DorisTSL

Lydia,

Preston's appetite is really very good.  

In the other way round, Brian loves vegetables and mushrooms.  I don't want to force him but I will still feed him some minced meat for nutritional balance.

BTW, will you join the 'Parent Story Time' activity?  It's hard for me to take one day off.  Yet, I still signed for it.  See whether my holidays match.

ljsze

Doris, my son was fine after CNY holiday.  As a matter of fact, during the holiday, he asked for going to school everyday.  For kids as young as ours, the liking toward going to school is important and rewarding.  That's one of the reasons I like the school.
Lydia, your son has really grown up.  At home, he will never feed himself because my in-laws always feeds him, especially if it's rice.  He sometimes insists in feeding himself if the food is pasta or macaroni.  Better dining outside - I guess food outside is more attractive to him.  Ha !  I just wonder when he will start feed all by himself.  Lydia, do you offer the whole chicken wing to your son ?  I know my niece (1 yr older than my son) eats chicken foot.  I'm fascinated by the way young kid like her eat this kind of food.
Doris, don't worry about the language development.  Your son will suddenly speaks a lot & shows you that he's in fact learnt much but not demonstrate his language skills.  Mine (2 yrs 8 mos old) is developing fairly good in both Cantonese & English.  Able to speak complete sentences.  Able to communicate with the others.  Not yet capable of asking why & answering my 'why' question.

LydiaWong

ljsze,
Actualy, Preston started to feed by himeslf at around 18 months and he could eat around 1/2 the meal. However, after he went to school at 2 yrs old, he got sick many times an dlost appetite becoz of medicine, so we started feeding him again. Recently, before 3 yrs old, he wants to eat by himself and we let him do that and he could finish more than half the meal. He likes meat, esp. chicken and beef.

Doris, I think I'll join story mother but I'm worry about the time too. Preston started a Heep Hong class yesterday (after finishing the individual training). It's a class of 6, aged 3-4, Preston is the youngest and out of expectation, he was going fine. Maybe coz I was not there, he followed the teacher and played for the whole hour by himself. I hope it will help his soical skills.

DorisTSL

ljsze,

Actually, I am satisfied with my son's progress in learning languages.  At the moment, I am not expecting him to speak in the same way as other kids of the same age.  It's always fun to hear him copying my words.

Lydia,

I am still waiting for Heep Hong.  However, Brian improved since X'mas holidays.  Ms. Hung said he cried less when his toys were being taken by others.  Yet, he still didin't know sharing and queuing.  Previously, I planned to let Brian join some Saturday playgroups.  However, I had to attend so many Saturday seminars and workshops recently, that I changed my plan.

ljsze

Lydia,

By all means, it's amazing that your son feeds himself.  You just save your effort to do so.  My son likes to eat meat as well, but he's allergic to many things - dust, shell fish, carrot, tomato, milk, egg, beef... so my in-law prepare fish, pork, chicken & vegetable for most of the time.

Why do you send your son to Heep Hong ?  Isn't it good enough to have 2-day school for your son now ?  Any reason behind ?

Doris

My son does copy words from the others at well.  I do agree it's very funny.  Do you also send your son to school other than LH ?  Any reason behind ?

DorisTSL

ljsze,

My son had an assessment months ago and it was found that his concentration span is too short.  He was also weak in emotional control.  

Heep Hong suggested him joining some training.  I am still waiting for their reply on available time slot.

LydiaWong

Ljsze,
Preston joined playgroup since he was 8 months. When he was little, he used to be very initiate and active and not afraid of anything at all. But when he's about 16 months, he started to be shy and not followed commands well, esp. in playgroups, he did not perform the activites or did what the teacher said. That lasted for a while. So we went to heep hong for an assessment, and they said he is very smart, but need to do some training for his attention and follow orders. He's still 慢熱 than other kids. When he goes to a new environment, he needs around 10-15 min. to get used to before he plays. Also, when he attended playgorup, he'll did the opposite (on purpose), the teacher said stand, he'll sit and the opposite. After almost 1 year of training, he is better, but still needs to improve his social skills, that's why he is attending a sat. class at heep hong on sat. Later on, if he's doing well, I hope he can join some other interest classes. It's a long story, hope doesn't bored you.

ljsze

Lydia & Doris

How does Miss Hung & Angelika comment about your kids ?  They have been going to school for a while & I thought & observed that kids have been improving in many aspects.

Is the problem serious ?  How does your kid behave at home ?  I mean are they better at home ?

LydiaWong

ljsze,
Preston acts differently at home. At home, he is very talkative, even non-stop talking. But at school, he's very shy and won't talk too much. The teacher said he's improving and now will talk and shout out answers. However, if you ask him something, he will still keep quiet.

DorisTSL

ljsze,

My son performed well at home.  At the beginning of the academic year, he couldn't cope with the school life.  He cried most of the time in school and he had nightmare at night.  The situation lasted for over two months that I decided to seek advice from professionals.

His performance improved a lot after X'mas holidays and he is now doing good in school.  Yet, he would only play on his own and he didn't know the art of sharing.  Still need time!

ljsze

Doris & Lydia

Thanks for sharing your case.  Everyone is an individual & I believe that when they grow up, things will get better.  So, you don't need to worry too much.  Of course, we have to do something to help them but we just don't have to be too nervous.

The reading scheme just started is great.  But I just wonder if the kids really pick up the book they like & borrow them home.

DorisTSL

ljsze,

My son loves the book very much.  He likes the pictures and the story.

I guess PN kids are too young to choose the book by themselves.  Anyway, it's good for them to read one book every week.  I can also save $ and time in buying the right books for my son.

LydiaWong

ljsze and Doris,
They know how to choose the book, they will see the cover and pick it, of course not all the time. Like this week, I think my son did not pick by himeself and he told me he wanted to read another one, so he lost interest in reading this one. As far as I know (from last year), some kids will pick their own favorite book. Don't underestimate them, you never know what they can do.

ljsze

Lydia, you're right, kids can do much more than what we think, especially during the first few years.  It's very true that we notice them growing everyday - you'll notice that they have picked up new things by the way they act, behave & talk...  For sure, my son learnt a lot (good stuff) from school.  Haven't noticed him picked up any bad things from school yet.  How about yours, Doris & Lydia ?

And, Lydia & Doris, I haven't brought many books for my son.  I choose to borrow books from the library.  The small library at home keeps an average of at least 10 books from the library all the time.

LydiaWong

ljsze,
Actually Preston learned some naughty things from school this year. He sometimes say '咬' if he doesn't like something, but he will not really bite but just say it, e.g.if he doesn't like to take a bath, he'll sometimes says '咬沖涼' and we need to correct him all the time. He learn the word 咬 at school which he never said last year. He knows it's not good but sometimes he does it on purpose.
It's good to borrow so many books from the library, which library do u usually go? I like to buy books too, esp during the book fair every year, I'll buy more and take out for him every few weeks, so he has some new books all the time. He like reading and always goes to his little bookshelf to read books, but most of the time, he asks us or my maid to read it for him. He has a set of World family of english (disney set) and I start reading to him since he was 3 months old. It's good to start their reading habit when they're young.
BTW, Preston is sick again, so he'll proably stay home for a couple days. Too abd, so difficult to gain a little bit weight and it's sick again. :-|

meowmeow

Dear all mums,

my son will have an interview on coming Saturday, he can't speak much, only a few vocab. such as car, bus, moon, boat, apple etc..

Can anyone tell me whether the interview needed to separate the mom and kid or only one parent attend the interview??  Will they only accept those kids who can speak well?

I am a bit worry now..

thank you!

ljsze

Lydia

I just think if we want to read many books, and kids always like new things, we'd better borrow most of them from the library.  I usually go to the library nearby my office.  Yet, I reserve books for most of the time. $2.50 service charge per book, and I think is reasonable.  At least, you don't have to search.  And, you can borrow books that are not located in your nearby library.

People get sick easily during this season.  I notice that the attendance rate of kids at school is lower these 2 weeks.

Does Preston get sick easily ?  How much does he weigh now ?