myasiababy

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Sunday, February 20, 2011

The PTA and Me, Multculturalism and Maling

The PTA and Me

The children's parent-teacher meetings were on Saturday afternoon. They are both doing well in school. Their school is trying to develop their program to be more progressive. That means more opportunities for children to learn more things outside the basic curriculum. I'm quite excited by that possibility, as children do need to know more about life than what is in their language textbook, and as the principal said, elementary school is the best time to broaden children's horizons. Kyle's teacher is going to teach her class watercolor painting and music. She is also starting them on writing Chinese stories in the proper format. She posted a few pictures the children had drawn outside her classroom. This one of Kyle's brought such happiness to me.

Hannah is a very happy little student, too. We had a funny incident in class regarding the Flora Expo. I didn't realise how much she wanted to go, and kept telling her we are waiting until a bit later to visit. Her class is going on a field trip there. She piped up, "Mummy won't let me go to the Expo!" The teacher had to double-check with me.

Both children are well-known for their love of reading. Teachers were asking me how I got them to read so much. I explained how I read to them every night before bed. This is not something Taiwan families do. Of course, I also love books and reading. My big mouth then got me into trouble of sorts. I have been put in charge of upgrading the school library, to make it "more like a Western school library." Part of me is going to love this, and another part is thinking, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING??" Afterall, half the library is in Chinese...

And then we move on to languages. I have been working as a volunteer mother a morning a week, teaching children English while the teachers have their meeting. This semester, I have been hired to teach extra afternoon classes. These classes, and the others offered at school like Taichi and calligraphy, are mostly free for students. So, if you would like your children to learn these things but don't want to go to afterschool classes, consider moving to our school. Friday is my first day to teach the afternoon sessions. I was looking at the textbook last night and the realisation that I am reentering education hit me. Now I am a little nervous. But, it's also exciting to be helping these students, many of whom are very different from the wealthy kids I taught back in cram school before I got married. I even made my first poster to hang up at school!

So, now one of my projects when I go back home is to dig around my old school library and see what I can adapt to put into the library here. Wouldn't it be great to have a fun, dynamic library in the school, where children can really actively learn how to research and be passionate about literature? Oh, me and my ideas. When I told Richard about this, he just laughed and said, well, you do love the library.

Multiculturalism and Maling

When we put the kids into this school, I didn't realise how multicultural it is. Kyle's class has six students. Three mothers are not from Taiwan. Hannah's preschool is also half-filled with mixed-culture children. There are also a number who are being raised by grandparents or who are in single-parent families. As a result, teachers try not to send too much homework home, as many children just don't have support to finish it. And, as one teacher said, the aim of homework is not learn anything or test how much you know, but just to give the average student a little more practice. Very capable students don't need it unless it is special extension work, and students who need help need to get extra tuition and support at school. So, there is a homework support system for students who really need it. Then, there are extra-curricular classes for other students. I am keenly awaiting that list to see what Kyle can do.

Hannah's teacher is doing a study on multicultural families and how they handle education of their children. She has asked us to take part in her study. This could be quite interesting, to see how she interprets our views and experiences.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Chinese New Year Cottage Style

It's been quite a week at the cottage. Today is the last day of the Chinese New Year break. And the only day we don't have plans for people to come over to the cottage. Including children, we have had around 100 people come and enjoy a break here over the past five days. Richard's parents have stayed over, we've been to two dinners, and visited Richard's uncle in hospital. I think this is the first time I have sat down in a farily relaxed state, and my legs have started to shake. I enjoy having people over, but I could not be a professional caterer. My hat goes off to my mum and my sister for the work they have done in that area.

I sat down with great intentions of tales of the week, but now I am here, my mind is blank. I guess I will put up a few recent photos instead.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Quick Quotes

Just a couple of gems from the past week.

Hannah's weekly school report:
We have been timing Hannah and how long it takes her to unpack her schoolbag. In the past it has been 20 to 30 minutes. The last two days, we are down to 15. Well done!
...contents of a four-year-old's schoolbag? Three bowls...

Hannah and Lady Gaga - minds alike:
Lady Gaga: He ate my heart and he ate my brain
Hannah (brandishing plastic sword): So I took my sword and cut his head right off!

Kyle on the challenges of science:
I need a sperm donor.
(me): Whatever for?
So I can put sperm under the microscope and watch them move. I can't see them in my wee-wee, so I need a man to give me some.
...any takers?

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Our Retaining Wall

Here are a few pictures of the retaining wall Richard has been working on this month. It looked pretty rough at first, but it's coming together. Richard paid a guy who has been building these, and doing up old buildings around the island, to teach him how to build the wall.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

A new year, a new post

I am so happy to report I got what I wanted today. We had a wonderful day with friends and their children, at our cottage. The men sat outside cooking on the barbecue and having man-talk, and the women sat inside enjoying good company and drinks. The eight children ran around the house, through the house, around the garden, and through the garden. We even got to play some card games, reminding me how much fun it is to play games with children. It was a very successful start to 2011.

I've also had a few things happen the last month or so that I should write about. The first one is, I started teaching at Kyle's school, as a volunteer mother. It's just one class once a week. It's really a lot of fun. The children seem to enjoy learning English . And now, I will be teaching two classes a week, paid, at the school. I'm really looking forward to it. It should be a bit of a challenge after so many years away, but it is something I love to do.

Ok, next is, I have been trying my hand at gardening (again). I was planning on having an organic garden, but after the incident a few days ago, I really don't know if it is possible in this environment. At 10:30am, I was looking at my beautiful row of brocolli, about break out from the leaf-state it was in. I told myself I should take a picture of it to send to my dad. I had a shower and did a little work. When I came out at noon to get the kids from school, I had to rub my eyes and look again. Every piece of leaf on my broccoli plants were gone. I imagined a giant praying mantis coming in for the attack. Gone, all gone. I had tears in my eyes on the way to school, but on the way home I felt a little anger. How DARE anything eat my hard work? I was tempted to make up a spray and wait for the next bug that came along. After a few days, I am now considering a Net Against Nature. We have an old mosquito net from the four-poster-bed Richard made us a few years ago that I may well cut up in an attempt to protect my future projects.

Kyle is doing very well in school. He consistently gets 100% in his tests, and really enjoys all his classes. He volunteered us for the Christmas show, resulting in the two of us singing a song on stage and then performing four magic tricks. The teachers constantly tell me how great he is, as if I don't know already. Kyle is still determined to move to an English-speaking country, as his true love is reading English (although today he told me he loves rollerblading even more - Uncle Neil will not be impressed!)

Hannah is also a star in her preschool. She loves all her classmates and they all look after each other very well. Hannah is always preparing things from our house to take to school to share with everyone. I think the low student numbers in the school really help the children to settle in and make themselves a social group more easily than the larger numbers in other schools.

Seeing as I haven't posted anything for a long time, I have a lot of pictures to choose from. Here are a few: