Its all about expectations and management. I am talking about some articles in Asiaone that i read today. Somehow, the urge to pen in the blog arises, all too quick! Perhaps that is yet another association with me again... hahaha, as a past student and a present mother.

The first being that students are stressed over the mountains of schoolworks presented to them, on top of whatever extra-curriculum they may have. And the effects? Students felt the stress level ever-increasing and their supposedly "good for them" quality sleep, reducing to an unhealthy 6.5hrs only. Yes, i used the term "unhealthy" because werent we informed that all young children should have quality sleep of at least 8-10 hours? Whatever happened to the "sleep early, wake up early" motto that was fondly past down since many decades ago, from our parents' era?

I recall with a smile, that when i was young, my mum would made us (bro and me) laughing stocks amongst our classmates, for being the only students to sleep at 8pm sharp. How we hated that. How embarrassed we were, for not being able to participate in whatever entertainment gossips discussed in our little circle. How our "then-perceived-freedom" was restricted. But, beneath all these grumblings, we thanked her from the bottom of our hearts when we aced our classes every year. And yes, we were always refreshingly awake in class, all thanks to the quality 10 hrs sleep the night before.

However, I must agree that times are different, 20years ago compared to now. Back then, school work was hectic, but students faced lesser distractions from TV programmes, technology advancements (internets, gamings, fashion trends etc). Without such enticements, students have more time to study, complete their schoolworks/projects, attend their ECAs and of cos, play (hey, games played last time was helluva big difference from now - hopscotch, five stones, zero-points, ball games etc). Students now, are usually given more freedom, and of cos, exposed to more addictive activities, that directly prolong their play time, hence leaving lesser time for their studies. While expectations of these kids (by their parents, peers, schools, society) are raised, management (of their time) becomes a huge question.

Looking back at my son gingerly treading onto the educational path, I can't help but shudder. I am guilty of wanting my son to fare well in school. In fact, this year, his K1 started him on the first ever "Spelling Test". The entire household was jittery. For the longest time ever, we forced ourselves to sit down with him, to go through the 5 spelling words (a, an, am, are, and). Yes, he got them all right and since then, all his spelling tests were perfect, scoring 100%. I asked myself once, what if he came back with a 3/5 or a 4/5? What would be my reaction? Would it be encouraging or would I feel a certain dismay? Either way, both dun seem correct to me.

Looking at his assignments from school, one would say "Hey, so chicken feet!! As easy as ABC". But think back to the times when you were a young toddler. Did you ever once confused between when to use "a" and when to use "an"? Do you already know how to spell "Could" when you were 5years old? I wonder how heavy the school assignments would be when he gets into Primary school. But i know that it is inevitable for school-loads to get heavier since everyone is advancing and progressing.

The second article was one that a parent wrote in to ask for the school or MOE to "address her grievance". And what was her grievance? That the school that has successfully accepted their child's Primary One enrolment, has informed all parents that they will be changing from a single session to a partial single session (in this case, P1 - P2 will be in noon and P3-P6 in morning classes).

Personally, I had gone through both Am and PM classes and I tend to think that to have the lower primary students to be in the noon classes, are anything but "adding stress to the children". Of cos, it would be wonderful to have the children to have AM classes so that when they come home, they have sufficient time to rest, recharge, do their homeworks and slight playtime. But isn't this all about learning to manage? Naturally, to be in the PM classes, usually meant "shorter" hours, considering that by the time they return from school for dinner and all, it would be a good 7-8pm, which is nearing to bedtime, hence leaving lesser time for revision and all. But if the child does not learn to manage, then how do they cope with their work in future? We all know that timelines and deadlines once set, are hardly negotiable. And even if the superiors allow an extension, how would it reflect on the employee's capabilities?

Given a choice, i would certainly hope for my son to be enrolled in AM classes since the positivities outweigh the cons. But I guess I won't be too hard on MOE. Afterall, at the end of the day, its all about learning to manage the expectations - both parents and child.

Well, is this a controversy, I do not know, because there were some forumers "slamming" the writer as her letter seems to cause a little storm. Probably when reading, we all sensed the writer's unhappiness and it kind of rub off some bad effects when we read. Hope the writer will chill down soon, and move on.