Alycia’s pre-school is using the abacus method to teach the preschoolers Maths. Her pre-school is gravitated towards Mandarin and most of the preschoolers there eventually go to a Chinese school. Last week, Alycia brought home an abacus to be used for her Maths homework. When I taught her to use the abacus, she appeared lost. I had a tough time trying to teach her the concept of the abacus and calculations. This week, she missed the entire week of school again due to her sickness. If she continues to fall sick regularly, I am really worried she will have a tough time catching up. As it is now, she is already very far lagging behind her peers as she had missed more than half a year of school last year.
Hubby is really adamant that Alycia has to go to a Chinese primary school in future. He plans to register Alycia at Kuen Cheng 2 Primary school, despite the horrendous one-way traffic jam leading to the school. I am really worried that Alycia would not be able to catch up with her studies and homework as Chinese schools are well-known for heavy load of homework.
For those of you who send your kids to a Chinese school, how is the workload like? Is it true that kids who go to a Chinese school have very little time for play as they spend most of their time trying to finish off homework and attend tuitions? If it is, that is really unhealthy for a kid. All work and no play can really bore a child to the core and create a feeling of hatred going to school in the child. I really need some enlightment in this Chinese school thing.
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yeah, chinese school will hv lots of homework everyday. some kids can cope, some not. it all depends on each kid. i send ian to fungates and now he has homework at least 4 days in a wk. i like him getting home work because he will get used to having it everyday when he goes to chinese school. esp now he doesnt quite his mandarin homework, i hope he will get used to it too. besides i send him to bao bei to brush up his mandarin as we speak only eng at home..
my daughter brought home abacus too and i do not know what to do with it! how to use abacus arh?
from what I see between my cousins.. those who went to chinese schools have more school work and academically smarter but are shy… those who went to national schools have less school work, less hardworking but sure can talk! I suppose we need to help them balance it.. 🙂
my hubby also insisted both my boys go to Chinese school.(though both of us knw nuts abt mandarin especially written form). We put them in Yuk Choy..rather than Sam Tet which I heard more pressure. Lots & Lots of homewrk..at least 3-4. sometimes more. Must let them start with Mandarin tution even at kindergarten level. If at home speaks Mandarin..a bonus. They only knw English & speaks a bit Malay with their Indon kakak. But No regrets sending them to chinese school ..now they are fluent in Mandarin, can converse well with friends & teachers in school after 3 years. Must have tuition in Mandarin to help cope with their homewrk. At least nw they knw one xtra language though writing wise..really need to practise a lot. Good for their future since China has open up market in Malaysia and has a lot of opportunities if they are into business. Even in medical line I heard overseas Mat Salleh prefer doctors who knw mandarin. Hope this helps.
Miche…. know what, I think I have been teaching Aly the wrong way of using the abacus. No wonder she seemed so confused when I taught her coz she must be wondering why mummy is teaching her a different thing from her teacher.
When I studied her Math book yesterday, I saw the instructions on the front page…. and gosh, it seems confusing too… coz we were never taught to use the abacus during our time. I will ask Aly’s teacher to teach her again… I may even stay in the class to see how it works so that I can coach Aly next time.