2014 P3 Prize Giving Ceremony

Today marked the end of Primary 3 and Jared's official last day in PCPS. He had been talking about saying bye bye to all his friends excitedly.  I guessed I definitely felt more sad than him.  We are gonna leave our comfort zone, where top 3 had been a norm for these 3 yrs.

I had been telling him, after he joined the GE program, his marks will drop from 90-100 to 50-60, and all I want him is to prevent being the bottom 3.

But he insisted that he wanted to try the program, so we will certainly support him all the way..I salute his courage and certainly hope it will lead him to a new high since  he had always said he knew all the stuff in the mainstream as I already taught him.

Jia you baby!



Madam Ler PCPS Principal


Awaiting for his turn




Jared was in high mood..certainly it was his hard work!




The top 3s from 3D, Jared, Marx, Tze Kai




Every kid queued to take pic with principal










Next will be we looking forward to Kaylen embarking in primary journey






March in -video

GEP P4 ERP Reading List

GIFTED EDUCATION PROGRAMME
EXTENSIVE READING PROGRAMME
PRIMARY 4
1. Allan Ahlberg, The Better Brown Stories	AHL (BISHAN LIB ONLY)
2. Andrew Clements, Frindle	CLE (JURONG LIB ONLY)
3. Anna Myers, Spotting the Leopard
4. Anne Fine, Step by Wicked Step	822.914 FIN (young adult)
5. Arthur Ransome, Pigeon Post	RAN(Yishun only)
6. Betsy Byars, Keeper of Doves	BYA(Geylang, Jurong, Tamp)
7. Betsy Byars, Pinballs	BYA (Yishun)
8. Betty Byars, The Midnight Fox
9. Beverly Cleary, Dear Mr. Henshaw	CLE
10. Bruce Brooks, Everywhere
11. Cynthia Kadohata, Kira-Kira
12. Cynthia Rylant, The Van Gogh Cafe
13. Dodie Smith, The Hundred and One Dalmatians
14. Doris Buchanan Smith, A Taste of Blackberries
15. E.L. Konigsburg, The View from Saturday
16. Edward Osmond, A Valley Grows Up
17. Elizabeth Coatsworth, The Cat Who Went To Heaven	COA
18. Emily Neville, It's Like This, Cat
19. Eric P. Kelly, The Trumpeter of Krakow
20. Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden
21. Fred Gipson, Old Yeller
22. Gail Gauthier, A Year with Butch and Spike
23. Garry Kilworth, The Electric Kid
24. Gary Paulsen, Hatchet
25. George MacDonald, The Princess and the Goblin	MAC
26. Hans Stolp, The Golden Bird
27. Hendrik Willem van Loon, The Story of Mankind
28. Hilary McKay, Saffy’s Angel
29. Jean Webster, Daddy Long Legs
30. Joan Aiken, Is Underground
31. Joan Aiken, The Wolves of Willoughby Chase
32. Johanna Spyri, Heidi
33. Judith Benet Richardson, First Came the Owl
34. Judy Blume, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing	BLU (Yishun, Woodlands)
Updated 9 Feb 09
35. K. M. Peyton, Poor Badger
36. Karen Cushman, The Ballad of Lucy Whipple
37. Kate Dicamillo, The Tale of Despereaux : Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
38. Katherine Paterson, Bridge to Terabithia
39. Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows
40. Lois Lenski, Strawberry Girl
41. Lois Lowry, See You Around, Sam
42. Lucy M. Boston, The Sea Egg
43. Maia Wojciechowska, Shadow of a Bull
44. Margaret Mahy, The door in the air and other stories
45. Natalie Babbitt, Eyes of the Amaryllis	BAB (Yishun, Woodlands)
46. Nina Bawden, A Handful of Thieves
47. Nina Bawden, Granny the Pag
48. Norton Jester, The Phantom Tollbooth
49. Paul Goble, Beyond the Ridge (Picture Book)
50. Roald Dahl, Danny, The Champion of the World
51. Roald Dahl, The BFG
52. Robert C. O' Brien, Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
53. Robert Lawson, Rabbit Hill	LAW(Youth Adult)
54. Russell Hoban, The Mouse and his Child	HOB
55. Stephanie Tolan, Pride of the Peacock
56. Stephanie Tolan, Sophie and the Sidewalk Man
57. Susan Cooper, The Dark is Rising
58. Sylvia Cassedy, Behind the Attic Wall	CAS (young adult)
59. Todd Strasser, Help! I’m trapped in my teacher’s body
60. Zilpha Keatley Synder, The Witches of Worm	SNY(TPY)

Good Chinese Books

Publisher: 红蜻蜓
郑小强	YLD
神奇的望远镜	YLD
大哥头 与小妹头	DXY
小铁盒	LHH
羽毛 /	YLD
男孩与海龟 / 许友彬.	XYB
木屋 / 永乐多斯.	YLD

The 2014 invitation worth waiting for...

PCPS P3-P5 Prize Giving Day 2014

Such a heavy event to attend, it might just be Jared's last school day in PCPS, and its the last time we get invited..

Nevertheless I'm really proud of the hard work from him!

The road ahead (GEP) will be much tougher..and we will certainly overcome it with our hardwork!

Post Exam Fun: Ice Skating!

It's the 1st fun activity planned for post exam! We had a gathering with June, Mary & Chen Ling's family..

It's also the 1st time Kaylen joined in the skating with the penguin aid. By the end of the session, she can already skate on her own even without inline skating experience












That's the special ice cream

He 's in...GEP!

As much as it is such a mystery, no preparations too..I even saved up the $300 prep class from TLL..But I do have my gut feelings that he may get it..as I went to pick him up on 2nd day, he was in super high mood, claiming the test was easy..That's the thing about GEP selection test, some kids who had what it takes, will say  its easy..but those who don't have it, will see it so tough.

So I had been reading up a lot and totally understand the expectation and workload from the program.  It is gonna be tough for us, as he is not an independent kid..I had to put him by myside all the time to make sure he do stuff..

If he can do well..I don't mind GEP..but if we give up the chance now..I'm so worry we may regret it later, since SG competition is so stiff especially in PSLE. This GEP prog might be able to give him advantage to go secondary school via DSA.

Despite my worries if he can make it into top 3 this year, I still have to worry about this GEP thingee..*headache*



This is the legendary big yellow envelope (children who don't get it, will get a piece of thank you letter)..he was so happy that he was hugging it when coming home from school. And he was so eager to open the envelope to study the materials inside even before I got home..

1-Nov-14
Found this note from Mrs Sabrina, Jared's tutor at TLL:

Yes, I do remember . However Jared don't show off his stuff to just anybody, when he is in
school, i think the teachers all hated him for being so quiet and never talk.  I wonder  if all GE teachers are like Mrs Sabrina can make him open up?

Primary 3 Reading list Updated

To Read Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book RUS Seven Wonders Book 3 The Tomb of Shadows Peter Lerangis LER The 39 clues.  HIR/RIO/LER Ophelia and the marvelous boy / Karen Foxlee. FOX Big Change for Stuart Lissa Evans  EVA Wonder R.J. Palacio PAL Mysterious Benedict Society Trenton Lee Stewart.  STE The mysterious Benedict Society and the prisoner's dilemma The extraordinary education of Nicholas Benedict Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket SNI Codename Zero/ Chris Rylander RYL A tangle of Knots/ Lisa Graff GRA (only in Jurong.Tamp lib) Emily Neville, It's Like This, Cat The sea of monsters RIO Percy Jackson’s Greek Rick Riordan RIO Small Change for Stuart Lissa Evans not in library The Boundless Kenneth Oppel (OPP) Garry Kilworth, The Electric Kid Zilpha Keatley Synder, The Witches of Worm Natalie Babbitt, Eyes of the Amaryllis A Wrinkle in Time (A Wrinkle In Time Quintet #1) by Madeleine L'Engle  LEN (Young adult ) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll CAR Brainwashed (Crime Travelers #1) by Paul Aertker Brian Luster (Editor) –Not in library yet Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger Not in library yet The field guide / Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black. (DIT)- Spiderwick chronicles Anthony Horowitz - Alex Rider Series HOR (Youth Adult reading) Sophie McKenzie - Blood Ties MAC (Youth Adult) To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 813.54 TO Adult Lending The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) by Suzanne Collins 813.6 HUN Everything for a Dog Ann M Martin Not in library yet Jared P3 READ-DONE Liar&Spy Rebecca Stead WOOF Allan AHLBERG The desperate Adventures of Zeno&Alya Jane Kelley Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Ian Flemming The Mysterious Misadventures of Clemency Wrigglesworth Julia LEE The book of lost things Cynthia Voight Pi In the Sky Wendy Mass Walls within Walls Maureen Sherry Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #1) by Shannon Messenger  Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #2) by Shannon Messenger  Seven Wonders Book I The Collosus Rises Peter Lerangis LER Seven Wonders Book 2 Lost in Babylon Peter Lerangis LER The Eighth Day (Eighth Day, #1) Dianne K. Salerni  SAL The cricket in Times Square / George Selden SEL Jared Read-Done P1-P2 Magic School BUS  Switch Series Zack Series (GRE) Ellie Belly Roald Dahl Geranimo Stilton Enyd blyton -adventures The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne KAYLEN Read-Done (K2) Ellie Belly Bk 1-6 Billy B Brown Hey Jack The Magic Finger-Roald Dahl Princess Posey

Jared's P3 SA2 Result

This is an amazing work from Jared for P3 SA2.

Before the exams started, I told him, hey Jared, its been a while you brought back a full mark paper..so this term we shall work towards that OK?

And true enough he has finally learnt to be exam smart, be meticulous, followed my advise to check the paper, circled/underline the hints..

So he top the class in English Paper2, and Math Paper which he himself was really surprised, and promised to give this same kind of concentration, good habits for future exams!

And becos of SA1 teacher mentioned English compo was awarded highest 17.5..so we also work hard for the goal..Achieving 17/20 for the SA2 Paper1 is his Best compo of the year!!

For Chinese, we see improvement of compo from 16/20 to 17/20..its quite a good result, though I have set him 18/20 target.

Overall, we had work hard for the papers..and am so glad that we are harvesting the fruits now!

	ACTUAL	SA2
ENGLISH	ORAL 15/16. COMPO 17/20 PAPER 50/50 LISTENING 14/14	96
MATH	PAPER 79/80	98.75
CHI	PAPER 44.5/50.COMPO 17/20. ORAL 16/16 LISTENING 14/14	91.5
SCIENCE	PAPER  75.5/80	94.38
		95.16

On tuesday night 28-Oct, when all the papers were completed..

His new hobby, the chinese chess. So into it that he wanna play all day all night..such that I had to give summon..and said he need to balance his time well and catch up on the story book too!

GEP Selection Test Round 2

So Jared went for his selection test round 2 held in Macpherson Primary School. Daddy sent him there for both days as need to reach by 8.15am..I tagged along on 2nd day..and pick him up after the test.



He happily told me 2nd day is much easier than day 1. (GA2 and Math)

It is extremely hard to know what is GEP selection test like..these are the few eg. discussed on net & confirmed with Jared

If bottles are hangars, and docks are boats. What are bottles?
(A) Aeroplane
(B) Sheep
(C) Clothes(D) Harbour

ANS: aeroplane

If supposedly chilies are candies, peppers is lemonies, what is chilly?

a.       Sweet

b.      Spicy

If field is 180m, Gal can run 4x faster than boy, they started running from opposite direction. They stop when they meet each other. At what distance they will meet?

TRBK 2014 Concert and Graduation Videos

TRBK 2014-Concert and Graduation Day

It was a rainy day..Daddy and Jared arrived after learning lab from United Square. As for me and Kaylen, we dashed the rain and came by bus..





Daddy doing the march in with Kaylen




Very cheerful Kaylen despite woke up early morning for her usual ballet class, and such long wait for concert.


















With her Chinese Teacher Zhang Lao Shi


With Ms Esther

TRBK Concert 2014-Full dress rehearsal

Some pics take with my Redmi1S...






With her ballet mate..


the last 4 smaller kids in the AM cohort..and luckily Kaylen is 2nd last after Issac




With Luke Ng and Luke Chee

TRBK Concert 2014-Full dress rehearsal

TRBK Concert 2014-Full dress rehearsal video

Receiving scroll


Graduation song


Brazillian Dance


Finale chinese song


Finale English song

Kids development

Kaylen @ 6year old

Physical: An extra scar on the eye which she got it from TRBK when she fall down

2 extra mole on the face, which I need to endure till the day she is 18yrs old before we can remove it.

Ms Lee from TRBK sent me this watsapp pic from school.. 

Violin: Completed Suzuki book 1(skip hunter chorus), preparing her grade2 exam for next year Mar

Completed Violin star Book1&2

English reading:

She has completed all Billie B brown series, and finally I managed to encourage her to read Eliza Teoh’s series, which Jared did at the end of P1.

We got 4 of the books now, I hope when she finished the 4 books, we can proceed to buy the 2 new series

Swimming

Together with koko, she just been promoted to intermediate class. And she can swim freestyle & breathstroke with board much faster than koko. But if without board, she get breathless when asked to swim 25m, while koko don’t

Weight
Hoovering 18.3-18.6kg..

Jared @1 mth to 9 yr old

Reading: 

I am most pleased with Jared’s ability to read story books. He can complete a 500 page book in a week if he wants with such limited time to read, after sch at waipo hse.

Sport

He still lagging of sport gene, which he declared he was not allow to take part in sch skipping rope competition. But he is good in certain things we don’t know, like ice skating.

When I told him, I would like my kids to be good in studies n sports at the same time, he’s feedback was, keep giving birth till you get the perfect kid..

*gosh*

GEP

Today 7-Oct-2014, he had cleared round1 of GEP test. That is 4000 -10% selected from 40000 P3 kids.

That’s already a great achievement!. In round 2 GEP Test, it is to select 500 kids from 4000, the top 1% in SG.

I strongly think without proper training, his chance is 0. So getting into round1 is good enough for me.

ICAS

Improved from P2 1Distinction and 1Credit to All 3 subjects Distinction, with English among top 4% in SG, and Math/Science top 9%.

Playtime

Still enjoyed silly play with Kaylen, and doing lots of lego.

Weight
29.0-30.0kg
He was 24-25kg at last year end.
I believed year 2014 must be the year he had the most increased on weight coming to 4kg this year. This had to be he started packing food from home for recess, have proper breakfast before going to school, and came home early for a good lunch, followed at dinner at 5pm..and supper..compared to during PM shift milk for breakfast, lunch at 10am, and dinner at 7pm.

Kaylen's 6th Birthday Video..TRBK