Thursday, April 09, 2009
Winter Term Assessment
9-April-2009:
It was Parents' Day again at Dominic's nursery yesterday and as usual, I got a full illustrated report on Dom's progress during the previous term. This time, the report isn't as interesting because (1) He hasn't made a lot of progress; (2) The term was short - with Christmas holidays and all, and Dom being missing from school during our holidays back in M'sia; and (3) I think the first report will always be the most interesting one. :-)
Favourite Observation
One particular observation that I really like reads something like this: "Harvey (or whatever the name is, can't remember), our new little boy was looking helplessly at his shoes. Dominic went over and helped him put on his shoes. 'There, finished!', he exclaimed happily when he was done." Dominic is such a loving helpful little boy, don't you think. I have no doubt he'll be a wonderful big brother to his siblings.
Physical
At 3 years and 3 months old now, Dominic has been doing very well with physical activities such as obstacles and climbing frames. When given a choice, he spends most of his time outdoors. He often comes home with bruises on his legs and when I asked about it, he just said "I just fell down" (nonchalantly). I don't think he'll be the athletic type because honestly, I find him clumsy and timid (i.e. afraid of falling). And when he was young and still on nappies, his bum was so big that he had difficulty even climbing on a chair! Maybe I'm wrong. I'm not really sure what he does in school but at home, he's now getting better at *catching the ball* and he can ride the bicycle real fast.
Creativity
Dominic has shown an interest in artwork since he was young, but recently his interest is more noticeable and he takes pride in his own work. He loves his own artwork - "Mummy, be careful, don't break it" ... "Need to hang this on the wall" ... "Look, it's so pretty" (even though it was ugly) ... "I wanna show daddy!" and so on and so on. Once, he found a piece of his drawing in the dustbin (which daddy threw out) and he asked "Mummy, why throw this away?". I was at a loss, I didn't know what to say. So I said "I think it's broken". Recently, he stuck a few scraps of paper on the wall using cellotapes and he was so proud of it, telling us how pretty it was (it wasn't pretty at all, actually). When he ran out of cellotape, he used glue instead! Now, we have horrid marks on the wall (left by the scraps of paper) that we can't remove.
I find Dom really creative with songs. He must know about 40 songs by now. But instead of singing those songs again and again, he often makes up new lyrics for the songs, sometimes with his own words (i.e. words that don't exist).
Culinary Skills
In the kitchen, his role has been upgraded. Instead of just beating the eggs, he now cracks the eggs into the bowl as well (FYI, that is his job, I'm not allowed to do it for him). Instead of just transfering chopped garlic to the plate, he now peels the garlic as well. He's now also in charge of stirring or stir-frying food in the pan, although I'm always worried that he'll get hurt or burn himself. He takes an interest in what we cook and he asks everyday "Mummy, what are we going to cook today?".
Reading & Writing
Dominic is learning phonics now (I'm teaching him at home, the school doesn't teach that yet). He now knows the sounds for S, A, T, I, P, N, D, G, V, K and Z. He's getting there slowly. Sometimes he goes a whole a week without learning anything because I'm too tired (or lazy). Sometimes I get frustrated even though he's being funny, for example when I asked him what 'B' sounds like, he said "Zzzzzzz". Bee, get it? Or he said "Boink! Boink!". In terms of writing, he's been practising every evening, i.e. tracing letters and numbers on dotted lines. He writes one page a day and can trace pretty well but not quite write, except 1, I, l and O.
Other than that, I've also been doing Maths with him, e.g. find the 2 shells that are the same, find the object that is not the same size, colour the bigger object, match the objects that have the same shape, circle the object that is different, count the objects and write down the number, circle the group with fewer objects, etc and he's been doing well except for counting. He rarely gets it right if there are more than 5 objects.
During our discussion with his teacher yesterday, I said I would like Dominic to concentrate more on literacy and numeracy skills but she informed me that the direction for early learning (set by the government) is that it should be led by the children. If the child says, no I don't want to read, he/she cannot be forced. They can be encouraged but not forced and they should be encouraged in the areas that they show interest in. They should not be told to sit down and spend 10 minutes writing. They must want to do it themselves. I don't know how this will help my son because given a choice, he will ALWAYS choose to play, play, play and play. I know playing is also learning but surely they need some structure if they're to learn reading and writing? I don't know ... since they're not going to help me in school, I'll have to continue doing it at home.
Computer Skills
His observation report shows that he has been using the computer a lot in school for drawing and playing games. He has a good grip and control of the mouse and navigates confidently. It's a pity his computer at school is not Internet enabled.
