Get Involve In Your Children's School Work

Last week was K's first time sitting for school exam. No sweat! No worries! No stress! It was just like any other day for her. Guess she doesn't quite know what "exam" is yet. In a way, that's good. But in some ways, it is also bad.

• Good - Doesn't have the "kiasu" attitude whereby she stresses herself out to get all 'A's. She's studying not for the sole purpose of passing exams but to gain knowledge. An exam is just an indicator of how much you've understood what you've been learning.
• Bad - Didn't bother to review past lessons.

I also didn't want to pressure her but did encourage her to go through her books with me. Actually, I go through her work quite regularly. First, I don't want her to think that studying is just for exams. Second, teachers do make mistakes you know.

For example, the first few days of school, K was asked to copy the "Rukun Negara" (Pledge of Allegiance). One of the principles is "Kedaulatan undang-undang" (The Rule of Law). Instead she wrote "Kedaulatan udang-udang" (The Rule of Prawns). The teacher gave her a check mark and a star too.

Another example is from her Moral class workbook. They were learning about the different religions and had to match the religions to the place of worship. She wrote "Kristians" go to "tokong" (temple) and buddhist go to "gereja" (church) and teacher marked it right. When I corrected my daughter, she was skeptical and hesitated to make the correction. Understandable because little kids always think teachers are smarter than their own parents.

And then there is another incident where she was correct and the teacher marked her wrong.

Anyway, the point is for parents to actively involve themselves in their child's learning. Don't just leave it to teachers or tuition teachers. No matter what, YOU ARE STILL THEIR FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANT TEACHER.

That's my tip for today.