Parenting Seminar 2010 ...( 27 Mar 2010)

Million thanks to TK PSG & TKSS for their initiative in organising the recent parenting seminar held last weekend. This was indeed our very first parenting seminar session. We were overwhelmed by the invited speakers and the topics presented were relevant.

Our favourite speaker was Mdm Foo Kum Fong, a math specialist. She spoke of the importance of us as parents being the tutor to our children. She emphasized that parents should be well equipped with the school curriculum so that we will be able to assist our children.

I took her advise and made effort to re-learn the Maths topics, finding ways to put things in simpler and interesting way for my son. However i have to admit that i have to rely on the numerous assessment books with model answers. It was indeed a fruitful.

But one thing I learn is that parents should not be too kiasu and pressure the kids to excel in Maths. What is more important is to create a conducive environment for them to like Maths and make them understand that the subject is very much relevant in our everyday life.

Learning Maths can be fun and this is a challenge - that we parents must try to create such fun experience.

One take away that I got from the workshop was that every child is different, and their ability, aspirations and views of life are not one similar with another child. Hence, parents must guide their kids based on their unique characteristics and abilities.

Perhaps in the future such workshops can be organised together with the students so they and their parents can learn together as a family. This is good for family bonding and shared aspirations.

Cheers!

Siti Alawiya

Sec 1F parent

Learning Journeys: A call for volunteers

Parents, if you are interested in volunteering for school activities, this is an opportunity which you may like to consider. The Learning Journey is an event to bring students out of the classroom to learn. It will be held on 25 May, 7 am to 2 pm for all levels. Volunteer parents can assist the teachers to look after students. Like the student, parent volunteers can also learn from the event. Places for this year includes Changi War museum, fish farm, Discovery centre.

Inform your class rep or email/comment to this blog if you are interested.

Regards

Sports Day

The sky cleared after an early afternoon shower. Students came to Bedok Stadium for Sports Day. Teachers and invited parents came. Parents can bear witness to their child’s effort in attaining sporting excellence.
Sebastian, the Sports Day PSG IC had earlier contacted parents who wanted to participate in the 4x100m. The names came from returned forms and more came through the class rep system. While the day wore on and more parents came, Sebastian invited parents to participate. Parents sporting accepted the challenge. PSG Parents formed 3 teams to race with teachers and alumni. During the interval, the band put up a marvelous display. This was a glimpse of the preparation for the coming band competition. After the interval, you can see in the photographs that the PSG teams were serious. They took time out to do some stretching before the race.
While waiting to be ready at the starting line in the PSG race, the first staccato stanza from my TK literature poem (33 years ago) flashed through.
Breathless….
”Heart aches,
lungs pant.
The thin air,
sorry scant”

Bang! off we go. Children were cheering. In a jiffy, the race has ended. The fastest PSG team came in third. The adult race was the last event for the day.
The intense effort during the few seconds made us

appreciate the nature of competitive racing. This will be an added topic for dinner talk with my children. Besides having more common ground and appreciation for my children, the Sports day did pull parents together and new acquaintances were made. TK also offered parents the opportunity to feel young again… through racing. Looking forward to next year’s Sports Day.

TK1Nite

“Hello, please come this way for TK1Nite registration.” Parents were met by friendly registration ladies (PSG volunteers) when they arrived for the TK1 Nite. From there, councilors guided the participants to the library and lab tours.

One of the highlights of the tour was a visit to the classroom where their children have prepared a table top artwork to express themselves. Parents, Alwi and Ram left a note of encouragement on their child’s desk for encouragement. Other parents did likewise, sitting at the students’ desk to have a feel of the surrounding.

The Principal and subject teachers gave a short talk to the parents to help the transition of child from primary to secondary school. The parents proceeded to the hall and had dinner. Parents are organised to seat with parents of the same class and teacher. The occassion was well used by parents to network with each other and share common experiences. Teachers also took the opportunity to explain some aspects of the class and give candid early feedback on the class.

Behind the scene, we have PSG committee and class reps working in harmony with the school management for this major parent event. PSG members took care of items including early planning, print and visual materials, dinner/caterer sourcing.
On the morning of the event day, Takako went to buy flowers and met PSG helpers to prepare for the flower decoration for each dining table. Roger the cameramen captured an artistic shot of Roy in the flower arrangement session. You can see Rinku in the picture preparation serving enriched water to the flowers.

In the afternoon at about 3pm, with tables set up by the school, the registration ladies took position with the list of participants. Student Councilors were on hand to be tour guides for the day.
At the end of the event, PSG members came together to give Mega a farewell “jump” shot for 7 her seven wonderful years in PSG committee.

PSG committee is really a fun bunch. Through such volunteer work, we get opportunity to contribute, make more friends and enrich our quality of life.

TKSS school management team has done a lot to help develop our children and emphasized the importance of parents as stakeholder. TK1 Nite was a key school and PSG collaborated event for the parents. Thank you to TKSS staff and the parents who came.

Parenting Seminar

Hi Parents,

The much anticipated parenting seminar will be held on Saturday, 27 March 2010 in TKSS from 2.00pm to 6.00pm and cost to parents will be at S$20 per person (refreshment will be provided).

This year topics will be an exciting one and include a topic on Mathematics, details as follow:-

Topic 1: Responding to the educational challenges of the 21^st century. Be a SURE (Supportive, Understanding, Role-modeling & Empathizing) parents.

Speaker: Dr. Ho Boon Tiong PhD, Consultant Educationist, Class Point Consulting.

... 6 years developing curriculum for the gifted and was a professor of science teacher education at NIE for the last 8 years.

Topic 2: Engaging Parents to provide support in the learning of mathematics

... how parents can be actively involved and provide support in their child’s education, specifically in the learning of Mathematics in TK. In addition, ideas on the stimulation of interest and curiosity in the learning of Mathematics through the use of games and activities would be shared.

Speaker: Mdm Foo Kum Fong

... served as Master Teacher in Mathematics in the East Zone, providing leadership in the teaching and learning of Mathematics across schools in the zone.

Topic 3: Unleash the Potential within Your Child – How to Create a Conducive Home Environment & Help Your Child Learn Most Effectively

Speaker: Mr. Alvin Poh, Founder of Learning Champ.com

... inspired many parents to believe in their children’s potential and help them to become the best they can be.

Please register at TKSS general office. All payment should be in cash or cash cheque.

Safri Sujadi
TK PSG Chairman

Cyber Wellness Workshop - 23 January 2010

Bringing up well-balanced teenagers is an uphill task, and more so with the presence of internet. It's not simple to guide them to use it wisely when there are always some new platforms, trends, and dangerous pitfalls. TKSS has been tackling this issue by organizing workshops for the students as well as the parents, collaborating with Touch Cyber Wellness & Sports. TK parents learned the latest in the workshop on Saturday 23rd January. Jaslin and Emily, both the mothers of the Sec1 students share their experience here.

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I am glad that TKSS has arranged for this workshop as it gives us (as parents) a better understanding of what computer games are all about and why some kids can be so badly addicted to it.
Though my 2 kids are not obsessed with computer games (and that's because I impose restrictions on their usage), I feel that I am able to connect with them better after the workshop and we do discuss about MMOG, etc. I realise that not all computer games are bad for kids, so long as our kids are able to instil some self-discipline on themselves. I am never keen in those aquarium or farming in the Facebook. After hearing from Mr Poh (the speaker for the workshop) that these can be a good way to bond with the children, I asked my kids to teach me how to go about planting/harvesting, etc. It has definitely strengthened the relationship and bonding between us, which is so essential especially as they turn into
teenagers. I would like to thank TKSS for arranging this workshop for parents.

Jaslin Lau

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The Cyber Wellness Seminar was very informative and useful for me. My children are growing up in this technology-savvy age and I must admit, they are better versed than I am in this area (be it computer or hand phone!). I have been a homemaker for quite a number of years now; I know I need to keep abreast of what’s going on especially in the computer world. Most of our kids are not spared of computer usage especially computer gaming. In fact, every spare time they have, they want to play computer games. Computer gaming has become an integral part of their lives! For the first time I heard of the term MMOG. MMOG stands for Massively Multi-player Online Games (e.g. Maple Story). They are highly interactive and addictive! Many gamers get absorbed in “living their virtual characters and immersing themselves in a fantasy world” that they cannot stop playing. There is also the social networking aspect like Facebook. Kids in this generation do not use emails, they chat online or blog! This seminar has opened my eye to see what my children are exposed to, what kind of games are available to them online and the possible danger these activities pose to them. Through this seminar, I learn how to better manage my children’s cyber gaming activity and to take an interest in what they do when they are in front of the screen. A good way to know what our children post on their accounts (say Facebook), invite them to be our friends in our accounts (do it when they still want to be your friend and when they still think you are cool☺). This seminar definitely gives me a better understanding of what goes on in the Cyber gaming world and why my children always say, “5 more minutes please”.

Emily Low

Passionate Parents: Friends through PSG

If you happened to be in a MRT station recently, you may have noticed the poster. It put across a simple message of neighbourliness to enhance your life. Ladies in the picture: Mega Siew, Sunitha Raman, and at the second row: Takako Iino, Kartar Kaur, Ivy Chan. They are from five different countries. Their common link... Tanjong Katong Sec Sch. Their children studied in the same school. As parents, they wanted to give something back to the school. They volunteered their valuable time to be active members of PSG. Through participation, they got to know each other and their friendship blossomed. Now they are best of friends for life.

For the new PSG members, do let us know if you want to be an active PSG member. The PSG committee contacts are on the right column of the blog page. :-)