Dania's School Clay Project

The other day, Dania mentioned about her Kajian Tempatan project she had to do during CNY. Apparently, she had to create a cave out of plasticine, following the instructions in her text book.

I tried googling some videos on how to make a cave; most of the videos I found used paper mache and were too complicated for my limited creativeness. So I called my brother to help.

This is what they finally came up with.

It cost me approximately RM60 to buy all the stuff for her cave but looking at the final result, was so worth it. My brother helped a lot, in terms of the design and layout.

The frame of the cave was made out of polystyrene and then covered with balls of plasticine. Dania helped roll bits of plasticine into balls while I helped my brother cover up the polystyrene. The bushes were actually leaves from the trees in my mom's garden, taken with permission of course. The grass was fake grass, bought at the art shop for RM7 per piece. Initially we wanted to create the grass using plasticine, but figured that would just take up too much time.

Dania also created the "boulders" using grey plasticine and the stalactites and stalagmites using orange plasticine. My brother helped arrange them around the stream and pond.

En Rashid complained that the cave looked too "boxy" but actually we ran out of plasticine. My brother wanted to use something to create a roundish shape for the top of the cave but we were worried that the polystyrene might not be able to hold the weight. So a "boxy" cave it is.

Which was just fine, because Dania got A+ for her project!!

Go Dania!!

1st Day of School

Today I took leave since it was Dania's and Dina's first day of school. Normally, I wouldn't be too worried but since Dania was now in Standard 4 and Dina in Standard 2, that meant they had different schedules and wouldn't be going to the same school at the same time anymore.

I had booked the van for them since early December but I was still worried that there would be hiccups in terms of getting the kids to and from school on time. Fortunately the van lady, whom we had used last year, was rather efficient. She admitted that the first day was a matter of getting used to the routes of picking and sending back the kids. But in the end, the girls got to both schools on time and were back home when they were suppose to be.

I asked Dina if she missed seeing her sister at school and she laughed. Hah!! I guess it's true, distance does make the heart fonder.

Banished to a Lifetime of Stupidity??

I think everyone’s heard or read about the school in Sarawak that refused 3 of its students to take the UPSR exams, just because it wanted to keep its percentage rate up.

As a mother, I feel outraged that the teachers and the school even thought of such notion. Their excuse that the students were C-average students is not valid whatsoever! If the students are poor in their studies, I’m pretty sure the teachers also are partly responsible.

Plus, without taking the exam, what would happen to these students? Forever be labeled as “stupid” for the rest of their lives? Without a Standard 6 cert, they would not be able to continue to secondary school…and then what? Become a dropout and do what?

Kesian bebdudak tu. Dah la humiliated in front of all their friends, this must have a huge effect on their self esteem and sense of self worth. I hope someone steps in and gives these kids free counseling and tuition. Not every kid has the same learning capability. Some, who excel in primary school, may find secondary school a challenge. Some only start to develop in secondary school. Some may only start to excel in University. Some may never be good at academic level but excel when it comes to application of the knowledge.

Whatever it is, the school is totally in the wrong and I hope the Government will take strict action against the teachers and principal who allowed this to happen.

Sports Day

Last weekend, Dania and Dina had their school's Sports Day. Unfortunately for them, they both were unable to qualify for any individual events.

"Memula Kakngah masuk 70m, dapat #4, lepas tu 100m, dapat #5."


"Berapa orang lari sesama?"


"Lima."

Alahai...nevermind la my girls. I was never much of a runner myself (still not!). I was more into team sports like netball, basketball, badminton and volleyball (though I sucked at that...heehe).

The Sports Day was held on a Saturday for those in Std. 1 - 3 and on Sunday for those in Std. 4 -6. I think it made sense to break up the classes like that because, really none of the parents wanted to stay beyond 12pm.

Initially, I had planned to just drop off the girls at school then head back to catch up on my sleep. In the end, I ended up staying until the whole thing finished, which was around 1130am.

I missed seeing Dina participate in her event because the teachers had initially set up the games near the student tents, instead of the parents' tents. Plus, Dina had told me she was in the beanbag event, when actually she was in the drag-the-ball-using-hulahoop event. I had only realized she had finished when later on she came up to me, showing the medal she got.

"Wah, you got a medal! For what place?"

"Fourth!"

Alahai...nevermind. At least you had fun.

Dania participated in the "big shoes" event (terompah besar). Luckily I was able to spot her out from among the crowd. She was just about to start when I saw her and sprinted across the field to take her picture.

Her team was the first to go. I think there were like 3 teams of 3 and the last person had to run to the finish line with the ball. Dania's team showed great teamwork and they were the first team to reach the 1st checkpoint.

Excuse the excited voice in the foreground. Just another mom being in the moment for her child.

Unfortunately, they fumbled on the transition part and fell behind. In the end, they got fourth by a slight margin.

Eventhough they didn't get first place (or second or third..hehe), the important thing is they learned the concept of teamwork and had fun in the process.

Report Cards

Today En Rashid and I went to pick up the girls' report cards at the Kafa school. Luckily Dania reminded me, if not we would have both forgotten.

We headed there around 1030am. In the newsletter, it said to be at the school from 800 - 1100. Hmm..as always, last minute.

We met up with Dina's teacher first. Alhamdulillah, my not-so-little girl is doing well. She got 100 for a few subjects while the rest were over 90. Overall, she got #3 in class. Her teacher said her quran recital was fine, just needed to practise more.

It was, unfortunately, a different story with Dania. If during her 1st semester, she got #1, this time she got #6. The worst part is, her marks for all her subjects had declined dramatically. Some from 100 to 75! Even her teacher mentioned, that Dania liked to play around in class nowadays and at times failed to pay attention.

I'm disappointed. Only because I know my daughter can do better. Even her Sek. Keb. results had declined (from #3 to #11).

I don't blame her 100% though. As a parent, I know I can play a bigger role when it comes to my children's education. It's not just enough sending them to school and making sure they do their homework. I should take advantage of the fact I have no classes until September and sit down with them as they do their work. Make sure they really understand. Make sure they do enough exercises.

I know some moms out there will tell me to chill out. Getting a B is not the end of the work. That's not the point. If I know Dania had worked really hard but still got a B, I would have been proud of her. The fact of the matter is, she hasn't been studying much and it has shown. She's been watching way too much TV, spending way too much time reading story books instead revision.

Their next exams are in August. I hope Dania works harder (and I hope I can be there for her more) and gets better results.

What Our Kids Will Learn In Kindergarden

A: APPLE

B: BLUETOOTH or BLOG
C: CHAT
D: DOWNLOAD
E: E MAIL
F: FACEBOOK
G: GOOGLE
H: HEWLETT PACKARD

I: iPHONE

J: JAVA

K: KINGSTON OR KINECT

L: LAPTOP

M: MESSENGER

N: NERO
O: ORKUT
P: PICASSA

Q: QUICK HEAL
R: RAM
S: SERVER
T: TWITTER
U: USB V: VISTA OR VIRUS

W: WiFi

X: Xp OR Xbox
Y: YOU TUBE

Z: ZORPIA
Thank God .... A is still Apple

Back at Home Plus 1st Day of School

Yeah, Daria's back at home. Eventhough her cough is still there, the doctor was satisfied enough to allow us to take her back home with a condition, we make sure she finishes all her meds and keep giving her the nebulizer. She gave us this portable type, looks so cute with pictures of little bears on it. The price was a bit of a shock; over RM112 (this wasn't covered by our insurance) but it's small compared to Daria's health and well-being.

One thing I really have to be thankful for is that every cost for Daria's hospital stay was covered by our company's insurance. Overall, the grand total was a little over RM2000, which really would have hit us bad especially so early in the year.

I'm still on leave, seeing how today is the 1st day of school. Oya, before I forget...

HAPPY 2011 EVRYBODY!!!

Told ya I'm the late type. Anyhow, today is extra special because 2 of my princesses are going to school together. Yep, Dina is finally in Standard 1. Luckily they have a year of going to school together coz next year Dania will be going to primary school in the morning instead of the evening.

Last night my mom came over and together we sewed the badges on the girl's uniform. I know, I know, last minute...but the hospital stay kind of screwed up with all my plans. I still haven't started studying for my Mid-terms (cue soundtrack from Pyscho...eeekk, eeekk, eeekk, eeekk!!) and my 1st paper is this Friday!! Arghh...now that Daria's all better, must start concentrating on my exams. Nak la 4-flat lagi trimester ni...hehehe.

Surviving....

On 3 hours of sleep! Yesterday I had to take EL because Syazmin’s cough became so much worst, so bad that she couldn’t sleep because she was hacking all night long. I took her to the clinic where the doctor put her on nebulizer for 20 minutes. And what a harrowing 20 minutes that was! Syazmin hated having the mask on her face so much, she was balling her eyes out and twisting her body left and right, trying to get it off. I had to wrap my arms around her arms and legs while the nurse had to hold her head still. Poor baby. I had to take her for a second dosage in the evening but fortunately hubby was back from work, so this time he held Syazmin while I tried to keep the mask on her face. She was still coughing last might but at least she didn’t wake up every 30 minutes. Here’s hoping she gets better soon. Uwaaa...ibu needs her beauty sleep!!

Since I took the day off, I dropped by Dina’s pre-school to pick up her progress report book. All in all, the teacher didn’t have much to comment except that Dina’s lack of speaking English could be due to her friends who also didn’t speak much English when conversing with each other. I doubt this will change when she goes to regular school next month so I’ll have to pick up the slack by speaking to her in English more often at home.

We also stopped by the book store to get all the books needed for next year. God, can’t believe I spent over RM200 for the girls on their school books. Make me wonder how the low income families are coping, especially those with multiple children in school.

I then took the girls to get their hair cut. Dania was mighty reluctant; she wanted to keep her hair long. I told her she could keep her hair as long as Rapunzel once she started earning her own money and living on her own. She failed to see my point and continued to pout while the hairdresser cut her hair to a manageable length.

I spent the rest of the day, looking after Daria and checking her breathing. Once hubby had put her down for the night, I started on my FM assignment. Crap, that shit is due in 2 weeks!! You’ll think having to type out one page of answer for each question would be easy enough, especially when the font size is 13 but helltotheno…apparently not when you’re surviving on 5 minutes of sleep.

Dina's Concert & Why I Need A New Camera

Last year, I had trouble getting pictures of Dina at her concert. This year, the same thing happened again.

We arrived at the venue rather late. Hubby had sent Dina there earlier in the morning as all the students had to be there by 7.30am. Parents were suppose to arrive around 8.30am. We got there at 9am, just in time for the speeches. Yawn!!

There were 4 centers joining the ceremony so it was rather long, what with 4 performances from each center. Dina was in 2 performances; a Chinese dance and the choir.
Luckily I brought a book to the concert, so I read while the other kids were performing. Don't judge me, all the other parents were only interested in seeing their own kids perform too. Heeee. But I never forgot to give my mandatory clap at the end of each performance. Some were rather good, especially the dramas.

Below are some pictures of Dina during her performances. As always, Grade A photos!!
Awesome!! You can almost make out her features.
Another great shot!! This was her in the choir singing a CT Nur song. Don't ask me about the 2 angels in the front; they were a major theme throughout the concert.
Super shot!!
Dania and En Rashid sitting upstairs. Initially we sat in the hall downstairs but quickly moved up thanks to....
...all the kiasu parents who wouldn't listen to the organizer and insisted in standing up front and center to take videos of their children performing (circled in red). Dude, your kid is not the only one on stage. Get your butt out of our faces and move to the side!! A**holes!!
Dania with a cupcake she bought at the venue. Those things cost RM2 per piece and were mighty sweet! I gave her RM10 and she went and bought 5 of them. Then grumbled to me about them being too sweet. Grrr...
Dina's picture during the graduation slideshow. Grrrrr....
Dina, taking the prize for getting second in her class. Like..wtf is with my camera...I give up.
Here's Dina at home, posing with her prize and graduation folder.
And here she is with her graduation certificate and photo.

Congratulations Dina!! Here's going to real school next year.

Flags

Dina: Ibu, I have to color the flags of all the states. Can you help me?

Me: OK, what state are you looking for?

Dina: Negere Sembilang.

Me: You mean, Negeri Sembilan.

Dina: That's what I said. After that is Pulau Pening.

Me: Pinang!!!

Dina: Huh? I also need to know how to color Selawak.

Me: *sigh*

The Haircut and The Lie

Yesterday Dania came back from school with a new haircut. Her fringe had been cut super short, like 4 cm above her eyebrows.

Of course, being the concern parent that I am, I grilled her about her hair. What happened? Who did it? Why? Who else got their hair cut?

According to Dania, her teacher took her for a haircut coz her fringe was too long. I was kind of surprised because Bibik usually cuts the girls’ hair and she always makes sure their fringe is at least 1cm above their eyebrows. I asked Dania, did your teacher tell you your hair was long before she took you for the haircut? Yep, apparently her teacher had given her a warning last week but she forgot to tell me about it.

I sms’ed her teacher to inquire about the incident. I agree if what Dania told me was true, then what happened was her fault. However, I would have appreciated a heads up from the teacher especially since we had signed up for the SMS system (where the teacher would send an sms to the parent about anything regarding their child).

So this morning, Dania’s teacher called me up. I was in a meeting at the time so she sent me an sms instead. Her sms:

Salam Puan. Saya baru dapat tahu cerita pasal gunting rambut ni. Mereka gurau2 and kawan Dania tergunting sket rambut dia. Harap puan x marah, budak2 ni bila bergurau kita x jangka hal yang dibuatnya. Saya harap puan dapat maafkan kwn Dania tu, dia pun x dating arini, mungkin takut saya tanya mengapa buat gitu.

Translation: Salam puan. I just found out about the whole haircut incident. Dania was playing around with her friend and the friend accidently cut her hair. I hope you’ll understand, kids being kids, sometimes when they play together, we can’t expect what they’ll get into. I also hope you’ll forgive Dania’s friend. She didn’t come to school today, maybe she’s scared I’ll ask her about what happened yesterday.

Laaaaaaaaa….!!! Hmmppfftt!

OK, so conclusion? My little angel told me a BIG FAT LIE yesterday. The whole part about the teacher taking them for the haircut, she told her teacher that she had DREAMT that part. DREAMT IT?!!

I plan to slow talk her when I get back this evening. I can forgive the haircut part but this lying and making up stories?!! Unacceptable.

God help me when they all get older and discover boys. What stories will they come up with then? ARGHHHHH!!!!

Plans For The Weekend

OK, so I finally settled all the stuff required by the University. So last minutes! Here's hoping this attitude doesn't continue when I start classes. Sheeshh.

We have quite a full weekend planned ahead. Dania has replacement school tomorrow so we might go shopping for her bike (which hubby promised ages ago!) in the morning. I also have to search for a flower girls' dress for Fara (my cousin's daughter). My cousin's wedding is on Sunday so we'll be heading down to Johor that day. Minus Daria and Bibik since the little girl (Daria, not Bibik) is still not 100% well.

Feeling hungry but too lazy to eat. Bleh ke?

It's Been One Of Those Days

It all starting with the phonecall I received yesterday from the University.

Uni Clerk: Mrs Azlina, this is regarding your application for ...... It's incomplete. We still need one passport photo and a copy of your latest payslip. Also, your 1st degree is not accredited by JPA so we need you to get a Letter of Credentials from them.

Me: Huh? What?

Uni Clerk: Yeah...oh, and we need them by this Friday.

Shit!! I thought everything was in order. All those things weren't mentioned in the website. Plus, thanks for calling me at 5.30pm, when it was too late for me to do anything that late.

Luckily today I only had one morning meeting. I sms'ed my boss about the situation and she agreed to give me half day to settle everything.

This morning when I woke up, I saw spots all over Daria's body. Great!! Measles! No wonder she had been having the fever off and on for the past 3 days. I took her to the clinic and the doctor verified the case. She gave us some calamine lotion and told me to make sure that Daria got lots of fluids, coconut water being the best.

Since the clinic only opened at 9am, I arrived at the office around 10am. Luckily there was available parking in the basement. I rushed to the meeting, determined to get out before lunch. Unfortunately the meeting dragged on until 12pm. Then my emails acted up and refused to leave the outbox. After rebooting my laptop (dammit, I need a new one!!), I finally cleared all pending emails and packed up my stuff to leave.

But I was hungry. Starving even. So I took my officemate out for a quick lunch. In the end, I took off for JPA around 245pm. luckily traffic was light and I arrived there in record time. After driving around looking for parking (the signage sucks!), I headed to the 6th floor.

As it turns out, I was required to show my scholarship offer letter or student visa to get the letter. What?!! That was like 16 years ago!! I asked the lady there if there was any other way. She said, since I wasn't under a JPA scholarship, I had to show proof that I was a student like 10 years back.

Fine!! Let me go back and rummage through my pile of stuff at home and try to find my old passport!!

I rushed home but not before I made a quick detour to buy Daria some coconuts. I basically made a mess of my bedroom searching for my old passport. Luckily ada!!

It was already 4pm. The office closed at 5pm but knowing government...hmm, it would be more like 445pm. As I drove out onto the highway....what? What was this?!

Are you freaking kidding me?!! A roadblock??!! For the love of....I'm in a rush here, people!!

Ok, roadblock over. But that cost me 10 minutes. Wait, something's blinking.

GREAT!! Just super!! I need to stop for fuel now.

OK, calm down, petrol station is just ahead. Drive in, pump fuel and drive out in 10 minutes. Wait...oh, crap...I pumped the expensive fuel. Ok, that's enough...RM20 should do it. En Rashid can fill up the tank later.

Drive..drive..reach the JPA at 430pm. Sign in and get to the 6th floor. Give all the forms required and wait for the letter. Hmm....as expected, most of the staff started going home at 445pm. Hah!!

But at least I got the letter. However seeing it was already nearly 5pm, there was no way I could get to the University to submit everything before the office closed today. Plus I still hadn't done my passport photo. Crap, might as well head home.

I called the Uni and they said I could send everything in by hand Friday morning. Hmm..ok la.

Footnote: Daria's doing a bit better but she's become very clingy and fo the first time, refused to eat. Poor baby.

Dania's Prize Giving Ceremony

Last Saturday, Dania's school held a prize giving ceremony to celebrate the students who had achieved the top 3 places in class and also best marks for all subjects for last year's examinations. Dania was among those selected; she got 2nd place in class and best student for Bahasa Malaysia penulisan (writing).

The ceremony was suppose to start at 11am but the PIBG (PTA) meeting held earlier finished late, so it was about 12pm when they lined up all the students to receive their awards. Here are some photos of Dania during the ceremony.

Dania was among the first to go up on stage so it was easy getting her picture while the students were waiting under the tent.

The picture is a bit blur but I like how they decorated the stage this year. It's like the teachers actually made some effort, rather than just tack some balloons to the wall and hang a lopsided banner.

Dania with her awards. She received two trophies and a certificate for 2nd place in class.
Dania and her proud ibu.
Dania and her proud abah and sister.