How much is too much?

I had a talk with Lynn in our Growing Paints session with regard to kids enrichment and misc classes. She said that I sent the kids to too many enrichment classes….. should review … Come to think of it, the kiddos have loads of enrichment to attend…..is it too much for them??? How much is too much???

On top of their 9am to 5.30pm school, they are attending the following enrichment and sports programme……

Sean
Mon and Wed: Kumom Math and English
Tue:-Art Class
Fri:- Tennis
Sat:-Montessori Twinkle star English and Math Enrichment
Sun: Sunday school ( good to build some religion, moral, social values in them when they are young.)

Art class:- will stop after 20 lessons... cos' I will try teach them myself. I studied three years of Fine Arts in the uni. Should be able to teach them some basic. Hope I have the discipline to.......Maybe daddy should teach them cos' he is really good in Art.

Shayne
Mon and Wed: Kumom Math and English
Tue:-Art Class
Sat:- My Gym and Montessori Twinkle star English Enrichment
Sun: Sunday school

Sara
For her, just My Gym playgroup on Wed and Friday and My Gym lessons on Sat.

Sean will be having swimming class with Faith from June onwards, lessons will be on Sat. He has been asking to go for Taekwondo classes. See that, he actually asked to go to for Tennis…Kumon… Taekwondo…. I assumed that must be peer pressure. Apparently, most of his K2 classmates are attending Taekwondo lessons. I had previously registered for his Taekwondo class and it is suppose to start this month. ???

Talking about Kumon, it was intended for Shayne only…. Cos’ to instill the “study” discipline in him. Sean does not really need that. But Sean said he wants to attend too. So - we thought, since we have to bring Shayne, it is ok to sign Sean up for the class too. And my mom has been nagging me for quite some time to sign both boys to Kumon.

Knew it… Kumon teachers told me that Sean is ok with his work but very slow. In class, he occupied three-quarter of the table that was meant for 4 students…. As for Shayne, teacher said that he is very enthusiastic in his work and kept going to the clocking machine to clock the time when he completed a page….the teachers commented that he cannot read and write. Shayne is able to write numbers 1-10 and his name only. The teacher got him a text book with CDs for me to teach him to read and write….

The other day, my dad waited for me…..late at night. He told me very seriously; that, in his opinion, I have to drop all of Sean’s enrichment and sports when he is in P1. Cos’ I am giving Sean too much stress. Then… hear this… a few days back, my mom came to the study room while I was coaching Sean in his spelling. She told me that she knew of an ex-school teacher turned Chinese tutor. TUTOR…. OH NO….Mom told me that she’ll get this tutor contact…. cos’ Sean requires tuition lessons soon. See, two different schools of thoughts in raising kids.

Since young, my dad does not involve much in our studies. But he makes sure we do not come home with failing grades. He is very strict, he will not sign his signature on red marks report card. So who sign… I forged his signature…..My dad does not want us to have any enrichment lessons cos they will sidetrack us from our mainstream studies. Whereas for my mom, it is tuition lessons almost everyday of the week! You will not believe the amount of assessments workbook we have gone thru’... But to think about it, we are glad she did put in effort in our studies.

It must be tough being my kids huh? But on the bright note, despite these hectic schedule for the kiddos, Sean and Shayne has a lot of time for games arcade, TV and computer games too….I can sense the wonder and question marks in some of you…. But it’s true…

See what are the boys up to these days…. Beast Quest books. Sean loves these titles…


Sean wanted this horse-man story. Shayne is finding the words he knew. ... unlikely to find many cos' he knew only a few words. He always find interest in his brother's book. Nowadays, whenever he spotted any words he knew in the shopping mall, he turns to me... " mommy I know this word..." he then pronouced the word loud and clear. Very interesting....



Sean is reading to Shayne. See how attentive Shayne is.....


While having lunch with Surfin and Claire yesterday, we mentioned about our kids. Our kids form a very major part of our conversations .... always centered around Owen, Nicole, Sean, Shayne, Sara..... Yesterday we talked about kids weight. Went home and took Shayne weight, he is 16.9 kg now. Since when he put on weight. I always thought that he is only 14.5kg. Ya, our lil' man is growing up real fast.