First day of classes

After all the lead-up, Wednesday came at last, the day we get to meet the students. Went for a morning walk around Fort Canning Park and then sorted some money from Australia for rent, bond and agent fees. About 1pm we took the train to our branch and had lunch at the makan stall right at the mall where the study centre is located. Began with a staff mtg, Libby is now the branch Social Secretary.

Her first class was Nursery, 1.5 hrs with one 3 year old boy, Jian Ming. He just wanted to play with the truck and blocks but I convinced him to 'work'. He liked singing and dancing to Hokey Pokey but after 3 repetitions I had had enough. He cannot hold a pencil but knows all his colors, can stack and sort. Can count to 10 with 1 to 1 correlation, even count on from 6. Amazing. I was just glad he didn't wet himself or throw-up which is what I had been warned was most likely to happen.

2nd class much better. 4 lovely Primary 4 kids all told me what I should be doing all lesson as they were with Morris Allen English (MAE) last year as well. Very bright and keen. I learnt a lot! Managed to get all the right papers filled in and in the right places by the end of the session but only because the lovely Prawinda was keeping her eye on the clock for me. And we only managed to finish half the planned lesson because I didn't listen closely to the lisening activity so we had to repeat it. No completed and corrected work sent home. Oops! That's a big no, no.

3rd class 2 great Primary 2 kids. I actually got the hang of it by this stage and even got some work pinned up on the corridor wall.  Both Ang Zane and the young girl are very competitive so this should be interesting. The classes all work on 5 week themes and all the lessons are planned, we just have to photocopy enough of everything so students each have their copies, we have a master to work from and the business auditors can see exactly what has been covered and what hasn't in every session(read lots of paper shuffling and filing). Resources in the centers seem pretty lean. I need to go and look for an alphabet frieze etc for my own junior classroom, book resources not looking very fresh and up to date compared with the schools I've been working in recently. There seems to be heaps of paperwork to keep track of for every session but I'm sure we'll get the hang of it quickly. Brave enough to go back for more tomorrow.

Eric had only one student in the first class and he wouldn't talk.  Again only 1 in the next class but his numbers doubled in the last session. Class numbers are expected to rise by the end of the week as this is just the first week bach for schools too. All staff departed the building not more than 15 mins after the last session.  16 mins train ride to Clarke Quay to the hotel we are still staying in. After a quick meal at the local makan stall we're ready for bed. This will continue to be our daily routine until we can access the apartment at Serangoon. Will be collecting our unaccompanied freight boxes at the end of the week, but who knows where we will store them.

Eric in the foyer of the Peninsula Excelsior Hotel, home until the 11th Jan.