Miss B has started letting some of her classmates know that she won't be at Heathdale next year.

She's even giving out Mum's business cards - with our home phone number written on it - so her friends can keep in touch.

Guess this is a good sign that she's starting to embrace the change that's coming into her life.

Am very pleased with how Beth is progressing in her Chinese this year.

She's doing her homework pretty much on her own, showing a lot more motivation and drive than last year.

I still remember how she used to have these meltdowns in the carpark where she would refuse to get out of the car to go to class.

Now she doesn't complain about learning the language or Sat classes, and has actually amassed an admirable vocab and her reading ability has improved significantly as well.

So glad we didn't give up when the going was hard.

Now we're waiting for the same miracle to happen with her AMEB piano.

Learning persverance

Beth had her first swim training session on Tue, in preparation for the HX Primary School Swim Carnival selection trials on 22 Feb.

She had plenty of tales to tell afterward. Of how she nearly drowned, but no one noticed her struggling. How the kids behind (mainly the boys) kept pushing and overtaking. And how she had never swum so hard and so long in her life.

All that didn't stop her going back again on Thu.

This time, despite having to take frequent breaks to get her breath, she kept going and was one of the last ones out (she said they were doing sprints). I even had to go to the poolside to remind her about getting ready for school.

There's a couple of kids like her, who are not very strong at swimming but who are nevertheless giving the selection trials a go.

To Beth and all of them, I say: Well done for having a go!

Learning/Teaching piano to the 4 yo

Am v excited to see Miss J show an avid interest in learning piano.

She has been working out the notes with the help of this handy aide by Duanne Shinn.


She's been 'working through' Beth's old Yamaha books - Rollercoaster, Happy Elephant, Whales' Sneezes and all that - including the accompanying DVDs. Her enthusiasm is as real and palpable as her big sister's bo-chap "I am doing this because you forced me to" attitude towards music.

I am learning to accept that #1 is primarily motivated by Art and Books and #2 is the one who has the greater probability of excelling in Music.

We have a secondhand violin which was given by my BIL and Miss J says she wants to learn violin (too).

Am now looking out for a good (Suzuki accredited?) violin teacher in the western suburbs.

A Peaceful, Conflict-Free Day

Had a good day with Beth yesterday.

The funny thing is, things didn't exactly go as intended. She had committed to finishing her school homework, two practice sessions on the keyboard of 30 min each, bath and Chinese homework.

She managed her school homework fairly easily, except for parts of the math homework. I thought it was the perfect time to introduce her to algebra and the concept of X. Was so pleased that she showed such enthusiasm for learning something new and managed to grasp the concept right away.

Getting her to practise the keyboard was much harder.

She dawdled till after dinner before getting to it, but when she did, she managed to do so with a good attitude and to keep her temper in check, which made it easier for me too. After all, it takes two to have conflict!

She pleaded exhaustion midway through her scales so I wisely (with God-given wisdom and self-restraint) decided to let her defer the practice of the remaining scales to today.

Hopefully, she keeps up her good attitude and we'll be right on exam day (now 10 days away).

Do all parents go through the same trials?

Chatted with my favourite school mum yesterday. Her daughter is Beth's best friend.

A quick discussion about play dates (which we've been trying forever to set up) led to an opportunity for me to find out if I'm the only one with a fractious 8 yo.

Turns out I'm not alone.

My friend, whose daughter is confident, well-rounded, bright and sporty and well-liked by everyone, confided that just the other day, her daughter was screaming and carrying on in the car on the way to school.

She was unhappy at having been told off by her mum, and yelled out something like, "If you keep doing this, I'm never talking to you when I grow up!"

At which point my friend said enough's enough, and told her to exit the car and make her own way to school.

I was so relieved to hear this story and so glad my friend shared it.

I have so many days where I'm gnawed with guilt, thinking: I'm not a good-enough mum. Why do I lose my temper with my kids? Where have I gone wrong? What am I missing? Why are my children so badly behaved sometimes?

But maybe this is just life.

My kids are of me but not me. They can - and do - choose whether to do good or do evil.

My job is not to micromanage but to teach them to take responsibility for their own choices and actions, to understand that with every choice comes a consequence.

Also, there will be good days and bad days in every family.

When the bad days come, I must remember to be RESILIENT and STAY SANE through it all, without compromising my morals or saying or doing something I might later regret.

When the good days come, I must remember to GIVE THANKS and BE GRATEFUL. It could be worse.

Because this - good or bad day - too shall pass.

100 marks plus five

Beth seems to have come off her i-hate-chinese mountain.

This past week she has been calmer and more amenable to doing her homework.

On Sat when I picked her up from Chinese class, she sheepishly told me she got 80% for her 听写.

I asked what her best pal Jennifer got.

"100 marks, plus 5 extra for knowing how to write 黑."

I bit back on my urge to lecture, and simply asked how she felt about it, and what she planned to do about it.

The upshot was she decided there was nothing for it but to study (Chinese) every day, even when she's not in the mood.

And we agreed it would be a good idea if I gave her a mini-tingxie every day of the week. Say 5 phrases at a time.

And she would try to get at least 90% the next time.

School Holidays (28 June to 12 July)

Beth has decided not to sign up for the Council's school holiday program this round. She wants to spend more time at home with Mummy.

So we agreed on a sprinkling of research projects (she has written up a list on the whiteboard but I have not yet taken a look, although I know Adolf Hitler is on the list), Bible study (to reinforce her new faith), piano practice (exams in Nov) and Chinese revision.

After speaking with her teacher on Thu, CA and I have identified areas that we need to work on with her:

• Division
• Fractions
• Introduction to simple algebra
• Balancing her reading with her creative output. She reads a lot but her comprehension, vocab, speech and writing do not necessarily reflect this. So we need to work on her output.

Perhaps the most critical is her attitude. We do not feel satisfied that she has the right attitude for someone of her gifts and abilities. She is often self-absorbed, insensitive to the needs and feelings of others, whining, demanding, unloving towards J and prone to temper tantrums. I would love to blame it on junk food, sugars and food additives. Or sibling rivalry springing from a 5-year age gap. But it could just be her, which is even more scary. CA and I are agreed that this is something beyond our ability and we need God to transform her from the inside. We want her to use her gifts and intellect for God's glory, and not for her own selfish desires, ambitions and gratification. We want her to stay pure and to be a role model for other young people.

¹²Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. (1 Tim. 4:12)

It's a huge ask in a material me-first society. That is why we call on the Living God. He heard Hannah's desperate prayer and blessed her. He honored Abraham's obedience, gave Solomon wisdom and made David a covenant promise that his heirs would inherit the kingdom. He authored the earthquake that freed Paul and Silas and converted the jailer. He opened Lydia's heart to receive His message. He is the Master of transformed hearts and changed lives.

Interim School Report/Parent-Teacher Interview 2010

Last night's interview with Beth's Grade Two teacher was such a blessing.

I learned that my little girl is smart, well-liked, popular, and that she does whatever she is asked to do, easily. I have to confess, my eyebrows went up at the mention of "well-liked" and "popular".

I saw her spelling results. 69 out of 70 for the Big Test, where the class average is in the 40s.

I learned that she is being stretched through Maths extension work in her little group of 3 with Mrs Walker, and that her teacher wants to be sure she is as strong in her measurement and shapes as she is with numbers.

We agreed that she needs work on her LEM phonics (matching a word to the rule when required) and that her reading ability far outpaces her comprehension and storytelling ability.

I felt like a child being praised when her teacher commented that Beth's after-school activities are perfect for rounding her out. (Beth wisely kept the bit about jujitsu to herself, as her martial arts instructor forbids students to boast about their involvement.)

I planned on going in alone, but Beth sneaked in as well, and sat on the floor next to me drawing innocently into her notebook...and eavesdropping on the interview.

Afterwards, we went out to Hungry Jack's to celebrate.

Hubby's question to me after the interview: so what's Beth's position in class? *sigh*

Funnily enough, Mum asked exactly the same question when I got on the phone to her later that night.

I had to explain that in AUS, they don't do positions. But yes, secretly I too would love to know what my child's class ranking is!

AMEB Progress (The First Month)

I admit, I am very impressed by how readily Beth has taken to her new music schedule.

She has one hour of group keyboard class with her Junior Extension Course mates on Sat morning, followed by 30 mins of one-on-one piano (AMEB Grade One) with her teacher Rebecca.

What amazes me is how little she is complaining about the additional work required, and how self-directed she is about practice most days. It's almost like another Beth coming to the surface.

Perhaps all she needed was a good challenge...and the right tutor. :-)

The Good and Bad of School Hols

The school hols are upon me.

Yay to sleep-ins, lazy days with the kids, and no need to worry about what to pack for school lunches.

Nay to having the kids around me all day long, fighting with each other and driving me nuts with their endless need for interaction and entertainment.

This year, we are doing things a little bit differently.

First, we're not going away. That'll take some of the $ pressure off while I build my organics business.

Second, we're setting GOALS. For Beth especially.

My big goal for J is simple: getting her 100% off training pants by June. Shouldn't be too hard as she's already 90% there with her timing accuracy.

With Beth, I'm finding that she needs specific, measurable, achievable etc etc things to aim towards.

She's a bright girl with lots of potential. But we do need to work on her resilience, her attitude and her temperament.

So I've started listing some things for her to focus on in the new year.

Simple things like school awards, Principal's Reading Challenge, VIC Premier's Reading Challenge, knowing her times table by heart up to 12x12, playing through Books 1 to 4 of her Yamaha JMC in different keys...

Next year, she wants to take up gymnastics @ Gym Monkeys, which is run by one of the school mums (Zoe's mum Sue), self-defence and keep up with swim lessons, which she loves. She's doing really well under her swim instructor David who's from China. He is very firm with the frisky kids and very encouraging towards kids who display a positive learning attitude (like Beth and her pal Catherine, also from China).

We've also agreed on breaking up the hols with play dates, day trips and excursions to places that interest Beth, like Melbourne Museum/IMAX, Eureka Tower ... Beth has the list in her brown notebook.

Tomorrow is Bedtime Story Day/Dress-up Day, and Beth is going as Susan the Archer (Chronicles of Narnia). I got her a green T-shirt, green netball skirt, and Mandy kindly lent us a plastic bow and quiver of arrows and a lovely maroon velvet cape that can be tied around the neck. The Grade Ones get an icy pole at lunch as a special treat, and an afternoon snack while they watch a DVD.

CA and I often jest that we pay more school fees ($5k a year) and get less actual study (by Sg standards).

Life Gives You What You Expect

Love this snippet from the school newsletter this week.

"Life gives you what you expect.

The most successful people in life aren't necessarily the best at everything.

They just try to make the best of everything.

They're like the mother who has to clean up the toy box after her toddler very day who says, "I am so blessed to have a creative healthy child" instead of "I can't believe there's a mess here again that I have to clean up."