The Gals' Piano exams

Today, Raelynn finally went for her repeat Grade 1 piano exam. It took her another 5 months but I am glad history did not repeat itself. She was cheery and happy. She even made jokes to make RaeAnne laugh as RA was going for her Grade 3 Piano exam before RL and feeling butterflies in her stomach. RL also gave Cheh Cheh big crushing hugs. RA complained a bit and I think their squabbling did help ease the tension and stress a bit.

What made it work the second round?
Think the major factor was that RL got to do the exams together with RA. She had someone to 壮胆。
We booked 2 practice slots at Award Music studio so they were quite familiar with the place.
Raelynn has matured and grown more confident after 2 terms of Pri school.
Brought along little bribes and let them open the pressies once they come out of the exam room.

RA's heart was thumping fast before and after the exam. And RL made it through without any tears. In fact, RL she came out. She said she wanted to do the exam again. And asked if she can have the same examiner for her Grade 3 exam. She said the examiner was smiley even when she made mistakes. Long way to go, Honey. But I hope you can get your wish. Not sure how the gals will do as both admitted that they made mistakes for nearly all the pieces but I am happy with just a pass. Anything extra will be a bonus. Jia you gals!!!

Raelynn's Grade 1 piano exam

Today is Raelynn's Grade 1 piano exam. She has been learning the songs for more than 1 year now. Teacher said she was ready and registered her for exam last Sept. The exam was at East gate at Katong. Not a familiar place to us. So I booked her 1-hr practice session 3 weeks ago so that she will be familiar with the room set up.

Last night, she started to cry that she doesn't want to do the exam. She wants me in the room with her. This coming from my usual fearless daredevil gal who has at least 3 times more bumps and cuts than RaeAnne because of the gravity defying acts. The same girl who jumped up on stage to answer questions whenever there is a mall show because she wants a prize or a sweet. My garang gal suddenly becoming shy and scared.

I tried to reassure her by promising a toy once she comes out of the exam hall. Even her teacher, who was busy, turned up to give moral support. Even gave her a cute soft toy pillow to hug. But she started whining and crying before her turn. The exam admin asst was nice enough to let us postpone and let other candidates go first. But she kept crying and crying and refuse to calm down. 1 sweet from the receptionist, 1 pep talk later, she finally went in holding my hands. But even when the examiner made extra concession for me to stay in the room for 1 min so that she can play a scale which he will not grade. She still refused to touch the keyboard. So exasperating and embarrassing.

The examiner said he has no choice but to mark her absent. I understood as they have done all they could to help. I apologised and brought her home. Never knew that after her lessons, nagging her to practise, all the sightreading homework she had to do, prepping her on the exam venue, her biggest hurdle end up to be getting her to walk into the room and well, just play the piano.

$277 poorer and a lesson learnt. While the teacher and I were focusing on ensuring that she will not fail the exam, we failed to prep her and convince to take the exam. So ya, you can choose what you want your child to learn, guide that learning, book the exam, pay for the exam fees and ferry her there. But if 牛不要喝水，nobody can force her. Hiaz...

But I will not give up. So far, she seems guilty and repentant. I will show her youtube videos of how the exam takes place. And I will time her next exam with RaeAnne in July/Aug so that both of them can go for the exam on the same day. Hope that will lessen her anxiety.

RaeAnne is 8!!!

We had a celebration for RaeAnne with a few of her classmates last Sunday. Our house is too small to have a big party so we only invited kids and mummies from our 2C closed WhatsApp group. It was a cosy get together for the mummies as well as we have been chatting for more than 1 year since we attended the P1 Orientation together.

RaeAnne had fun with Valerie (her no. 1 BFF), Jiaxin, Wanyee and Gerrard. THe house was so noisy with just 6 kids that I half expected the neighbours to come knocking on our door to complain. Lol.

Today is her actual birthday. They are not allowed to bring goodie bags to distribute to classmates anymore but I did tell her to distribute some of the Aji no san waffle snacks to her classmates during recess. I woke up at 5 am with a terrible tummyache, bad stomach spasms so I went to the doctor and got MC. Rested at home until 3+pm as I promised to bring her to Toys r us to buy a toy.

We were supposed to have Swensons but RA changed her mind. She said she doesn't want Swensons anymore since Mummy cannot eat ice cream. We ended up at Din Tai Fung. Just a simple meal of mushroom noodles before she went for her usual Art class. I went home to rest as simply could not take it anymore.

At bedtime, we sang a birthday song for her again. Daddy sang in Mandarin, I sang in English while RL sang in Korean. It was a funny sight and RA laughed. I told her my wishes for her is to be kind, wise and healthy. I forgot my most important wish. And that is she will be happy. Love you darling!!! Whether you are a smiley baby with cute dimples or an eight year old fast maturing primary school kid. :)

Raelynn's first day of Primary School

Mei Mei has finally started Primary school. It was good that we had a 3.5 days long weekend over New Year to relax before both kids start school. Yesterday, both she and I can't sleep. For me, because of the cappucino in the afternoon. She had many mosquito bites suddenly so it was itchy for her. She's probably excited about school too. Anyway, all of us woke up today sleepily. Got to school exactly at 730am. Good thing of staying near the school.

I was worried about Raelynn cos her best friend from cc didn't get into Poi Ching School. They would have been in the same class because they were both Dec babies. But her parents didn't dare to ballot so she went to Temasek Pri instead. Turns out there were 4 other cc classmates in her class. At least she will have many familiar faces. Haha.

This year, parents are allowed into the school for 2 days. But day 1, we can only observe the kids from the sides at the canteen. Everything went quite smoothly except poor gal was feeling the effects of the all the mosquito bites (even a big one on her face) and can't stop scratching. During recess, a gal from her class went to sit at the wrong table and took RL's waterbottle, slinged it around her neck and started drinking. RL didn't even realise her water bottle was missing. I had to tell the little girl gently that she took the wrong water bottle and washed it for RL before giving it back to her. Haha.

Tomorrow we will be allowed to meet their form teachers and go into their classrooms so hope it will be more exciting day for me. Hb and I almost fell asleep today after hearing so many talks from 730am to 1215pm. Haha.

Last day of Pri 1...

Today is the last day of school and RaeAnne's school prize giving ceremony. Surprised that she did well enough to be among the Top 10 in the level. Top 2 in fact. Actually, she didn't do well for her Term 4 tests. Didn't get full marks for Eng and Maths, only Chinese.

So I was surprised that she ended up being No. 2 in class and level. Maybe her Term 2 and Term 3 results were ok so it helped improve her aggregate score. I really didn't expect it so I took leave for Mufti yesterday so could only take a few hours time off today. Lol.

She also won Artist of the Class and was given a trophy on Tuesday. Drawing is her interest but she has little time to do it since entering Primary 1 except the weekly art class and her art enrichment. In CC, she used to doodle all the time and pass me her drawings.

Happy and proud of you RaeAnne. Work hard next year for Pri 2! :)

Proud of you, RaeAnne!

RA has always been a quiet and reserved gal. From CC to Primary school, her teachers have commented that she should speak up more, and be more active in class discussions. She has never performed on stage alone so far.

Last week, her FT msg me and her Bestie's mummy if both of them will like to participate in Fashion Channel, a dress up costume show and this year's theme is on Inventions and Inventors. Both gals were a bit reluctant but both mummies thought it was a good experience and exposure so we managed to convince them.

So I researched and thought of the Ice Cream Maker's female inventor Nancy Johnson since we have 2 gals. Valerie's mummy came up with many good ideas on how to make the costumes, props and make the show interactive. We met up 3 times to research, make the props and rehearse within the week.

Today was the big day, last minute we had to change their catwalk cos there was no rehearsal for the kids. RaeAnne was very nervous when she went on stage but I was very proud that she overcame her fears. She spoke clearly and loudly and her friend was good too. When they pulled out the ice cream from the ice cream maker, the audience clapped. It must have impressed the judges. Because RA won Best dressed and the two gals both won the Best prize for Primary 1 level. So happy for them.

Artary

The gals started art classes at Artary in Sept. They have been taking classes at Globalart for 1 yr, 2 yrs for RA. Felt that it's time for a change cos Globalart is very focused on colouring and blending with crayons and very guided by the teacher. I think it's good when the gals are younger and their fine motor skills are not strong. But now that they are almost 6 and 8 yrs old. I think they should be more independent.

Until now, RA can't blend on her own despite 2 yrs at globalart. The gals enjoy painting now. So I switched them to Artary which focuses more on painting. Fees are similar, $37.50 for 1.5 hrs class. Only thing is don't need to buy the books at Artary unlike Globalart as all materials are provided.

So far, they have done a few artworks. Will try out until Dec and see if we should continue next year since both gals are entering primary school and they get art class once a week. :)

Children's Day Celebration

We were lucky to see a good offer for Hard Rock Hotel so decided to bring the kids for a staycation. Mil came along too. It was good that Hard Rock Hotel's hotel room has double beds and a pull out bed so it was big enough for 5 of ua.

We had lots of fun. This time we did not go the RWS attractions since no free tickets were included. Instead we tried the Luge and Mdm Trussards' Wax museum. The Luge was fun, $51 for all 5 of us. RL is below 6 so her ticket is only $3. Mdm Tussard's wax museum is really expensive though, 5 tickets costs $178. Almost enough for a staycation at a Far East hotel. Faint!

It included a 40 mins play about History of Singapore that is only in English using real actors but speaking in Singlish. Kids and MIL were bored. Some parts were even scary as the kids have to cross a dark forest with sounds of roaring tigers. Wish they skip the part and just sold us the wax museum part. We took many pics but yes, once is enough.

We took so long at Mdm Trussards that we are half an hour late to check out. Luckily, the hotel gave us 1 more hour and extended our checkout to 130pm. Which is a good thing because I promised to let RL swim again before we leave the hotel. :)

First school prize for RA

Thursday was RaeAnne's school celebration of Children's Day. She came back with many presents. From her form teacher, Mrs Teo Lee, she got a purple teddy bear key chain. Secretly, she preferred the white and gold one. Lol. Her Chinese tcr gave her a notebook so that they can write more Chinese. But the best present for her was getting a 优胜奖 for the bookmark competition that she submitted after June holidays. She made a Chinese bookmark for 我的猫宝宝。 She said she was very excited to receive the certificate and prize from Mr Mah, her Principal. Proud of you, RaeAnne!

Another of her classmates, Gerrard also received a prize. The school did not return her bookmark n I couldn't find the photo taken in June. The most interesting thing is the prize she received was a Chinese storybook for 2-3 years old. Hb jokes that maybe in China, it is a book meant for 2-3 years old. But in Singapore, it is only Primary 1 standard. Lol.

I Look Smart

RaeAnne got the I look smart award at the end of Term 2. Must be because of her short fringe and short hair. She only received her badge when Term 3 began. She is happy to wear it everyday. Haha.