I can’t believe that it is already June, which means it has been slightly more than 3 months since I had stopped sending Alycia to pre-school as she has been falling sick continuously eversince attending pre-school in January 07.
As the school term will reopen in a week’s time, I have been asking myself this question… should Alycia go back to school? While the health freak mummy and wimp in me keep telling me NO, since her paed said her immune system is not fully developed yet and that it’s best to send her to school when she turns 4, the kiasu mummy in me keeps telling me aiyah, just go lah. If she doesn’t go, she will be so far lagging behind her peers and how long can you keep her at home? She needs exposure to germs and virus to get immuned to them.
So how? I am really in a dilemma. To go or not to go to school? What if Alycia goes and then the whole sickening cycle of her falling sick repeats itself? This will even weaken her immune system further and may later lead her into developing asthma. That will be big time headache for me and big hole in pocket for DH.
Some friends have asked me to homeschool Alycia and Sherilyn. I seriously don’t mind homeschooling my gals as when it comes to teaching them, my enthusiasm is always unbounded but my gals just won’t reciprocate the way I want them to. Alycia is for one who learns better when she is with peers. I was surprised that she had learnt so much in school in a period of less than 2 months and loved going to school so much and she is actually raring to go back to school.
So what say everyone? To go or not to go to school for Alycia?
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Homeschooling is not easy wei, esp. back home where resources are lacking. Here in WA, even with the resources available (community centers organise like art classes and PE for homeschooled children), I dare not. I guess I just have more confidence in the traditional way of schooling.
Not sure what kind of ailments Alycia suffered from but it’s very common for kids to be sick for the first few months of school. Rae had like the flu, cold, flu again, stomach flu, normal flu – which is why Fall + Winter = flu season. And mainly because cold + back to school (school starts in the fall and ends spring).
Sending the girls to preschool for me is not a matter of catching up with academics because the preschool I sent Rae to focuses more on play and social/emo development. Things like how to play together, line up, sit in a circle, take turns, to listen and not talk when someone’s talking, to walk, to say sorry, please, mind their manners etc – these are essential skills your child has to learn to be able to function in society, society of course being kindergarten when they officially start school. And they cannot learn these life skills at home – I don’t think realistically anyway. That is one of my grouses with homeschooling – it’s just a bit isolated.
Rae has a weak immune system due to her kidney reflux (shes on long term antibiotics, can u imagine?) but I send her to school anyway coz I believe her being out there not only builds her immune system but also her confidence, her emotional intelligence, her independence. The academics will come when they come. She has, on her own, learnt to read even up to Grade 2 books now because of the love for reading we’ve grown in her, so I wouldn’t really worry.
Okay, long enough my comment lol.
But really Shireen, you need to do what your gut tells you, after enough research and asking around. Most important is what makes your chld happy!
I thought about homeschooling too but it is so new here that I couldn’t find enough ‘kaki’ who were interested. And also, it is not easy…..at all.
I didn’t want to send Tee to school till she was at least 3 but aiyo…I needed a break, man. And she wasn’t reaching her full potential at home with a lazy Mummy, so I thought Ok la..send her and see how. If it doesn’t work out, I could just stop but it has turned out great. Phew..and now I get 2.5 me time every morning.
As for illnesses, whenever you start them, they will still get sick for 6-12 mths. It is something inevitable because they are building their immunity whilst being exposed to the big bad world. Even if you start at 5, she will still go through the first however many months getting a little flu here and there.
Don’t worry about A not keeping up with her peers if she doesn’t go to school now. The experts say that there isn’t a 6 year old who doesn’t know how to read or write, so even if you started late, they would just catch up. A kid knowing how to read at 3 means nothing as the kid who started reading only at 6 could still get farther ahead in life.
So it’s a personal choice really, when you want to start them at school. Hope that helps.
Tks Jenn & Patsy for the lengthy but great advice. I’m still 50-50 on my decision. Today i brought the gals to the paed again. My paed also said up to me coz my gal will still fall sick sooner or later, as soon as she goes bk to school as she needs to develop her immunity. I still hv 1 more week to sleep over this.
it is up to personal opinion. Get people’s feedback and weigh which is suitable for you.
Jeriel is in kindy solely to burn his energy..not soo much on learning..
hmm… my main objective for wanting to send cairo to school next jan when she turnes 26 mths old is mainly cos she’s an only child. as for your girls, they have each other (n perhaps some neighbour kids?) so its not so bad.
i think most parents are doing some form of home schooling nowadays be it formal n complete or not, so the kids would not be total doinks when they rejoin their peers la…
other factors to be considered too:
1)the school’s hygiene level (how often do they clean their toys n stuff, r the teachers constantly washing their hands ngetting d kids to join in?)
2)how they monitor n separate sick kids from the group (are they firm if some parents insist their kids are not THAT sick n can handle class?)
anyway, no correct or wrong answer, just wat ur most comfortable with. good luck *wink*
Chanel… does Jeril fall sick easily since attending school?
Cairo’s mum…tks 4 the tips. I really need some good pondering now.
shireen, u know of the rainbow vacum ? my SIL bought one and it is very good since both your gals have allergy nose. I plan to put qiqi into school too next year when she turns 4, hopefully wont have such problem with the spreading sickness among kids. A friend of mine sponsor lots of Lampe Berger oil (Anti-Bacteria) to her gal’s preschool. Since then, her gal hardly get sick from her peers in pre-school. U can try.
i do hear alot of mommise worried bout the kid’s immune system…probably can give a try n see how lor
Chin Nee… wah sponsor Lamp Berger oil? That’s very very costly oi! The money spent on LB can be used to send the child to a better preschool wor.
Jazzmint… that’s what i tot too. Just send Alycia to school first and if she still falls sick, then that will be my final straw…. pull her out and let her rest till end of this year, when she turns 4 in Dec 07.
when my sis first sent marcus to kindy when he was about 2+, he was sick every other day. and his attendance is not even 40%.after awhile, it got better.
Maybe u can check out how the school deals with hygiene issue. Like my gal’s playschool, the moment they walk in the door, they have to wash their hands b4 doing anything. It’s not totally immune-proof but it helps a little.
Leena… my paed said falling too frequently w/o letting the lungs recover fully may lead to asthma.
Blur mommy… the sch that A attends is not as clean as I wld want them to be. Here in KL, only those very expensive preschools pay close attention to hygiene and food served.
i am facing the same decision as you .. to send or not to send. Hard one.. but PB said.. to keep her with us for another year.. 😉