PTC II for 2014

All As?! For the both of them?! Subhanallah.. Alhamdulillah.. No words can describe my happiness. 

Although, it turned out when we checked the papers J had a C that was wrongly transcribed as an A by her subject teacher. But still. I am elated. Beyond happy. Amazeballs I tell ya. 

No suprise here for Kakak's average. But to maintain the 95-96 percent from Std 1 till now, I am impressed. 

[by the way; row 1 is first term, row 2 is mid term, row 3 is class average]

But look at this. Jannah's result. 

Look at her jump from the 1st term to mid term results. And to surpass her class average. Awesomeness!

(You can tell I am ecstatic about their results kan?)

But yeah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. Alhamdulillah. 

Super duper awesome job guys.. Keep it up!

Now back to work! Finals are coming up soon! (Hahaha.. Kiasu much Mommy?)

Exams! Again!

I hate this week. Because I'm the one with butterflies in my tummy. The one that's feeling nauseous about the prospect of 14 papers in a week. Hahaha. 

Ah. So it seems I have yet to curb my kiasuism. Oh well..

Anyhow, they have been studying. Reading. Understanding the whys and hows (specially them JAIS subjects). And I know I will be at peace with the good outcome, no matter. (And still this suppressed kiasuism is trying to set itself free) 

So, you see. The Papa has been away. And with 2 little boys demanding attention most of the time, I haven't had the time (or energy) to sit with the girls to revise. And I was panicking because the first day was the toughest of them lot. BM (which is fine) and Sirah n Aqidah (which is not! - have you seen how much info they have to remember?). And I was feeling bad. Like I have not done enough. 

Jannah came back and well what do you know.. Excitedly telling about KKM visit and her jab and saying she didn't have time to do Sirah n Aqidah. Wait. What? Apparently, those 2 papers were postponed. 

Allahuakbar. God is indeed Great. 

Belated Post :: GD 2013

Their GD was an emotional day for me. Especially Jannah's GD. She was extremely excited about it, as not only were she performing with her class, she also had a solo show and tell session. So excited I was that I took the front seat at the concert. Kiasu much Mommy?! I was so proud of her. This from the girl who at one point didn't want to go to school. She's just grown so much.

She delivered her performance well. Didn't falter. Didn't get nervous. And to think that she is just 6! *sigh* I know I didn't have that kind of confidence at that age.

[pictures were copied back from ig as the phone died on me before I could backup on the PC. hence, no pictures of her performance. learnt my lesson, now everything goes to dropbox :) ]

If you've been following the blog, you know that I don't put much emphasize on her academically. I know her capabilities. Imagine my surprise when they announced her as the Best Improved Student. It was such a big moment for her. And I was so overwhelmed. I cried. Like really really cried. Haha.

That was a major turning point for her. She actually started to believe in herself more. To emphasize, I don't have to tell her to study. Or read a book. At all. She would on her own, get a book to read or pick out any one of her workbooks to revise. SubhanAllah.. 

See how proud she is with her trophy. :)

Kakak's GD was done well this year. The hall was big enough to accommodate all parents. And most importantly, ada aircond! Haha. 

Look! Aliah actually took part! A major milestone for her too. She's turning out to be a pro at this kompang business. :)

But yeah, she's more comfortable in her part at the sidelines. You'd never get her to go up on stage to perform. Hehehe.. 

After all her hard work through out the year, it came as no suprise when she was nominated one of the three Most Outstanding Student of her Year. It is good to know that she received the acknowledgement that is due to her, after what happened last year. It's only fair they recognise the hard work these kids put in, regardless whether the top 3 came from the same class or not. 

Even though it was expected of her, I have to say I was still very emotional. Nangis bagai jugak. Haha. Ah well, I could always blame it on my pregnancy hormones kan. :)

Dear Aliah and Jannah, 

If Mommy does not tell you this often enough, do know that I am always so proud of the little ladies the both of you have become. I can only hope and pray that you will both continue to be successful in whatever you set out to do in your life. May you both grow up to be good caliphs and continue to make the family proud.

Public Speaking 1

It's her second time actually. The first one was 2 weeks before this, and she was talking about one of her soft toys. And that crowd was smaller; i.e. her classmates only. 

This time it was in front of the whole school, during morning briefing as part of the English Month program. 

She choose to talk about Umar and brought along a 3D-scan picture of Umar. 2 days of practice. As soon as she got home from school, while taking a bath, during dinner, on the bed before sleep. Some would call it an obsession ;) 

I'm predicting a lot more of this from her.. Who knows she might just follow in Mommy's footsteps as a debater :)

PTC - Round 1

Right. 

So not freaking out.

Because; (1) exam was unexpected (2) both of them did well under the circumstances (3) Mommy is -slowly- learning to curb her kiasuness

Both received good reviews from their teachers. Alhamdulillah. They are obedient kids. No acting out. Being good caliphs. Listen to instructions. 

J needs to work on her writing. Not that her writing is unreadable, infact her penmanship is pretty good! She's still doing a lot of mirror writing; i.e. some of her letters and numbers are written mirrored-ly. Sometimes even a whole word can be mirrored even though she is copying the word from an example. In fact, a couple of her answers had to be marked wrong because of this. She could have gotten 100% for Maths if not for this issue!

I am impressed with the rate she is adapting and absorbing her new lessons.  8As and 5Bs is not a bad start. Her Bs are all for her PSRA subjects which was expected. But she keeps on suprising me with her ability to garner knowledge. Alhamdulillah. I believe she has what it takes to excel. She needs to be pushed in the right direction and her confidence needs boosting for her to believe that she can do it too. 

Kakak continues to excel. Alhamdulillah. 14 straight As from her. Although some subjects did drop from her usual average. But since it still is the beginning of the year I am going to cut her some slack. :)

Added responsibility for her this year is being the Asst Class Monitor. This is good. I want her to be more confident of herself. To speak out more. To learn this necessary skill of interaction with peers and elders. 

You know that I know that I don't have to worry about her academically. But I worry about her sense of being responsible. Of making judgement calls using her common sense and without prompting from adults. She worries me sometimes with wanting assurance before doing anything. So yeah, this ACM thing is good for her. 

Mommy has a lot of work cut out for her after this. Siap la korang! :)

Exams!

So their first term exams began yesterday. And as usual, this kiasu mommy was freaking out. Mainly because we just found out there was to be an exam 2 weeks ago.

You see, under the PBS this first term exam was nullified since teachers would be busy with evidence and bands what not. But when the directive came that PBS was to stop while they studied it, the school had to scramble to assess the kids somehow. Hence, first term exam. 

I am pro PBS by the way, as I understand and like the idea and plan of ridding our kids from this exam based assessment. Do these people who are so keen to mansuhkan really understand the idea of PBS? Yes, some implementation ironing out needs to be done. Yes, the online keying system sucks. Yes, the student : teacher ratio needs to be reviewed and reduced.You only here from the teachers complaining all the way about how their workload increased etc, but does it mean the PBS idea is bad? Do the parents really understand the concept? What is there not to like about a system that lets your child learn / develop at their own pace?

OK, ranting about that was not the purpose of this posting.

Getting back to the exams.

"What?! You have exams?" *hyperventilate*

Studying has been lax since beginning of the year. Work books have yet to be taken out since bought 2 months ago. And I haven't even started coaching J with her Jawi! How is she going to even read the question to her PSRA papers, let alone answer them??

Udahnya, Mommy kena re-calibrate expectations.

Hopefully whatever they learn in school is more than enough to carry them through.

J came back full of confidence. Alhamdulillah. Because she is the one I worry most when it comes to accepting failure / setbacks. And the teachers help read their PSRA questions to the whole class. *phew*

As you can see I don't seem to worry about Aliah. I do. It's just I know her capabilities and I know she can succeed. Biiznillah.

Let's pray I will be OK no matter how their results are. Because we keep telling them it is the effort that matters most. And since I know they did try their very best. I should be OK kan?

WW :: SAIS Sports Day

I had to miss this :(

Belated Post :: That Friday

It all happened one Friday right before Eid Adha. I was late to pick her up. And when I wanted to start the car, it wouldn't. Boleh? Padahal semalam ni elok je bawak. (turns out battery died) Anyway, called the school to see if she could get a ride back with the teacher she goes back with sometimes but was told that the teacher has already left. So what does a Mommy do in times of emergency? She SOSes her Mama! :)

About 10 minutes later, Mama called back to see if I have gotten a call from her teacher. Apparently, within that time frame she had gotten herself in a little accident. It was pretty bad that teacher decided to bring her straight to the clinic. Waited for Mama to pick me up, and we met up with her and her teacher in the clinic. 

Turns out she was being her usual Tigger self, jumping and running around, had a fall and a really bad cut on her chin. As it didn't stop bleeding, her teacher decided to get it checked out at the clinic. Luckily clinic was still opened. It being Friday and all (a lot of shops close during Friday prayers here in Bangi-land)

I didn't want to interrupt the procedure, so she didn't know I was there till after her stitches were done. It took a while too as it was in a weird angle and what with the bleeding that just wouldn't stop. Saw that it was quite deep too.

Amazingly enough, she was really calm through out the process. Doc was quite impressed with her too. Praised her for being really brave. When asked later, she was more afraid of getting a scolding from me than worry about the pain. Boleh? Haiyoh.. Nampak sangat Mommy garang nih!

And yes, dressing and cleaning was done daily by this blood squirmish Mommy. Actually, initially the doc did only 1 stitch sbb tak nak too much scarring. But it turns out she needed 2 more stitches as when I was doing the dressing the following day it still has not stopped bleeding. So, bawak la balik pegi klinik to get the additional stitches. Nasib la it is really underneath her chin so it is not visible from the front unless you look for it. And nasib la jugak medical is covered by Hub's company. The bill itself pensan jugak tengok. Haha. 

Maka, special la sikit gambar raya haji tahun ini.. :)

New School Year

I have two schooling kids this year! After a week, still need some getting used to not to panic at midday coz I haven't picked J up yet. Haha. Nampak sangat selalu lambat pick her up dulu. (oh, suddenly remembered a story to tell about the Friday I was late to pick her up that lead her to need 3 stitches underneath her chin - note to self : please remember to blog about it)

First day of school went of without a hitch. Dropped them of at 8. Took some obligatory pictures in class and left. I was slightly apprehensive about J, knowing how she is - worrying that she will want things done her way the whole time but apparently she adapted well. Made new friends on the first day and has not looked back since. 

She was put into Ibnu Qayyim, Kakak's class back then and has Teacher Gee too as her class teacher. I worry, because that is what a Mommy does. But I believe she will be fine. Need to remind her to chill and have fun while learning though. ;)

And I can't believe Kakak is already in Year 3! Oh man... I feel old! Hahaha.. They decided to jumble the kids around this year and thus she is not in the same class with her friends from last year. Even her bff is in another class now. I think it had something to do with the fact that her class performed so well last year, that they left a really big gap with the other 2 classes. Case in point, all the top 3 students from last year was her classmates and this year they were all put in 3 different classes. 

I think this move will do her good too. Make new friends. Keep her out of her comfort zone. See how far she can push herself without looking over her shoulder all the time to see (and compete) with her bff.

Whatever it may be, I do hope my two girls will enjoy going to school, have fun while at the same time gain knowledge. And of course for me to be less kiasu. :)

School Updates

The reason I did not post earlier is because I needed to calm myself down first and reiterate over and over (the wrong sentence / word structure is intentional) that a hiccup is good. It helps keep things in focus. It makes us work harder. Stop us from being too bigheaded.

Sebenarnya, it was not at all bad. It was in fact pretty darn good. But since my expectation is always so high when it comes to Aliah, a slight bump had me frustrated. 12As and 1B, and no 5 in class. In fact, no 5 in the whole standard.

Pretty good kan?

Patut sujud syukur and praise Allah Alhamdulillah kan?

But yeah like I said, I had high expectations. So the syukur only came a bit later when I stopped myself from being such a kiasu mommy.

And I belatedly remembered to give praise to Aliah for a job well done. Which was followed by a "you've got a lot of work ahead of you little missy" speech soon after. What to do, once a kiasu mommy..

Kakak, if and when you read this much much later in life - do know the only reason Mommy gets dissappointed is because I know what you are capable of. And seeing you sell yourself short and not getting that target makes me slightly frustrated. Not at you though, because I know you have tried your best. And that is what matters most. The fact that you tried your very best. Mommy loves you no matter what.

[nasib baik J takde exam last sem - they forgo it as they didn't want the kids to be too hooked up on As and forget that learning is all about having fun]

Of Tataya and Tanana

There is a lot to tell and again I don't know where to start.

Aliah has done well for this year in school. Alhamdulillah. And with her it is always easy.

Jannah on the other hand needs a lot of attention and guidance from me. So part of this school holiday program is to drill with her the basics. She's got a tough year ahead of her if she wants to be in SA.

Their final exam results were both good though. Improvement. Aliah sbb dah memang excellent tak nampak sangat but J's Bs and Cs are now As and Bs.

Aliah had 7 100%, 2 98%, a 95%, a 94% a 92% and a 88% making it a total of 13As all together. Alhamdulillah.

*Tataya and Tanana is what Amir calls his sisters : Kakak Ya and Kak Jannah :)

Exam Time Again

The 2 Kakaks are having their exams this week. Of course, Mommy immediately goes into kiasu mode. And I am only concerntrating on Aliah this semester. Even that has me hyperventilating already. Can you imagine when I need to divide my time in 2?

Even so, J will pick the time I need to tutor Kakak as the time she suddenly decides she wants to study too.

I personally think it is a good start, and I believe I want to continue this routine even after this exam. Hopefully I won't falter halfway.

So far, it has been a fair share of senang kacang and susah sangat. But this is coming from Aliah of course. I honestly dare not ask J. We are still going easy with her. Hopefully she'll suprise us again.

3 more days to go.. The worst is yet to come. Haha!

The Haul

In terms of Mother's Day card that is :D

This was given to my by Jannah waayy before MD

This was from Aliah done on the day she stayed home sick

All set for her MD concert in school

These 3 were done in school and she was so proud of it!

Proud angel with her work of art :)

12 As

Alhamdulillah..

It was an awesome 1st term result which should boost her confidence in maintaining her good grades. 12 out of 13 As. Superb! [a little background :: her school is both KSSR(4 subjects) and PSRA(7 subjects) combined + a few other school level subjects (namely Geography, Iqra' and Practical Ibadah)]

We were the first to arrived (nampak beno excitednya) and Teacher Gee was quick to point out all her results.. Tebal weh buku record diorang.. I guess they are doing a good job with the school based assessment thing. And due to that, we can't bring back her exam papers. So Mommy dengan kiasu (dan tak malu) nya mintak nak take pictures.

The second row shows her results. Not bad at all considering all her results are above her class average. And the last line is the projection for her next semester.. Hahaha.. Abesla pressure!! But yeah, she said so herself that she is happy with her results and I told her what needs be is for her to maintain it all. InsyaAllah, I believe together we can do it. 

Mommy and Papa are so proud of you Kakak! May you continue to shine and be the best you can be in whatever you choose to venture.. 

Jannah's PTC

Early last week, we went over to her school to sit down with her teachers on how she is doing so far. Alhamdulillah, her overall scores are above 95%. The one and only problem for this first term exam was her English, which isn't exactly English per se but more of writing (which again we all know is Jannah's least favourite activity). [her scores were 100% for both science and arabic / jawi, 98% for maths, 96% for BM and pendidikan islam and 86% for english]

As it is, with Jannah I know I can't even begin to compare her with Aliah. So, with that knowledge in hand I was less kiasu with her. I honestly didn't have any expectations for her. [not that she can't but Jannah is different that way - she keeps on surprising you with her abilities although they are not academic. and even then, I have to say it was a pleasant surprise to see her with the 95% average]

The long discussion we had with her teacher that day was more on her social development. I know something is not right as J has been reluctant  to go to school this past month. And true enough, she does not seem to be happy with her peers in class. She has friends, but they are all from other classes. She is a bit of a sore thumb with her own classmates as (1) they have all been friends since they were 3 and she is sort of the newbie and (2) she speaks in English where as most of them converse in Malay. I have to say, the whole of last week it bothered me that Jannah was going through what I went through in my teens. [in all honesty, my way out then was to leave and go to boarding school - but J is a little to small for that :P and even so, I don't think taking her out from the environment is going to help her in the long run.]

We (as in both us and the teachers) agreed that we need to handle Jannah differently. Make all the fun things  in school outweigh the peer issues. Alhamdulillah, this week has been better [as in less crankiness and cengeng-ness]. Hopefully we'll see some more improvement.

Came back to find this waiting for me :)

...this weekend is Aliah's PTC pulak... *hyperventilate*

School Issues

[this is a belated post]

started writing on 25 March

Both Kakaks are starting their first term exam tomorrow. Mommy already in kiasu mode. I'm worried about Aliah, walaupon tau she can sebenarnya. She has this tendency to "forget". Tu tak termasuk carelessness lagi tu.

I've told her, as long as I know and she knows that she tried her best. I will be OK. (pls repeat this mantra Nana!)

My bigger worry this time is actually Jannah. Received a call from her teacher, telling me about what happened in school. She had a major meltdown in school last Thursday and refused to go to school on Friday. Apparently, dia kena marah with both her teachers that day. Came home all red eyed and bad mood. And in all honesty it is giving me a headache right now thinking about it. I hope my pep-talk to her when she's sleeping works out. 

When ask, she says school is not fun anymore. And I think some of the dynamics of how her class was last year has changed as compared to this year. Plus, they were doing a lot of revision for the exams hence a lot of writing (no surprise that it is Jannah's least favorite activity in school)

to date

Last Monday, on the first day of exam I had to sort of drag her out of bed, into the shower. But once she was already in her school uniform, her tantrum and cries stopped. All the while I was coaxing her with all the ways I could think of. Finally, when I mentioned her school bag and all her other school stuff that she herself chose and bought barulah dia relent. And skipped (yes, skipped) happily to school.

A chat with her teacher the next day said that she was back to being her old self and did all the writing (exam mode kan) without much fuss. So, hopefully it will be OK after this.

Aliah's last paper was on Friday and I think she did fairly OK. Kalau tanya dia semuanya lah "senang kacang". But I am trying my best not to hyperventilate and go all kiasu - yet! Let's see first how she does. ;)

School 2012

I am chuffed that I could not physically be there for their first day of school. Especially since my eldest baby is embarking on a new phase this year - primary school!

We are continuing to send Aliah to Sri.Ayesha. Hopefully our extra bit of sacrifice and effort will help to mold her into being a better individual.

Both A & J had no issues on the first day (according to their Papa). Although, I did go on an anxiety mode when Hubby went back to school to fetch Aliah only to be told she was already enroute back via the school van. You see, we haven't prepped her for that and after 1 hour and she still wasn't home, of course la Mommy panic! (as it turns out, she does have to endure an hour daily to reach home.. Poor her! Bukannya jauh sgt sekolah dari rumah)

And of course at times like this I wished I was a SAHM.

Anyway, I leave you with their pictures from the first day of school.

They wore the alternate uniform for the Orientation Week

She was all so excited about her Pocoyo schoolbag :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sri Ayesha GD 2011

My little girls have all grown up! *sigh*

To watch Jannah perform on stage was amazing. She is a natural at performing. Sangat graceful.

And Kakak was her usual confident self.

I have to admit, I was disappointed that Aliah didn't get Top 3 in her class. She did get the Best Subject - English award however. It was expected though seeing how her results dropped this semester. I think she was disappointed with herself too.

Ah well, a good thing too so that she won't be too complacent next year. And Mommy needs to do all she can as well to help. Sometimes I wonder if that is being kiasu. But, tell me again which parent does not want their children to excel and be the best in whatever it is they choose to do?

[pics will be uploaded later; vids too I hope]

PTC - review

I was pretty apprehensive about the PTC or more commonly known as Report Card Day. This would be Jannah's first review after being in school for about 4 months. I was in all honesty, not expecting much from her as the Jannah before school refuse to even hold a pencil or even read abook. I did however have high expectations from Aliah as she has been saying most of her exams were easy peasy.

Hubby was forever reminding me to - jangan jadi kiasu.. be happy with whatever they get.. bersyukur. I know I know, easier said than done. But which mother doesn't expect the best from their children kan? And I was slightly disappointed.

Her teachers were very much reassuring, saying Aliah is indeed a bright girl. And one of the best they have had the pleasure of teaching. It might have not reflected in her exam results, she had 3 98%s, 96%, 94% and a 84%. And that pulled her overall average down a bit much to Mommy's disappointment :( . But I gotta tell myself to keep looking at the bigger picture. BIGGER PICTURE nana! Focus! Focus! And yes, Alhamdulillah I do indeed have a bright girl, a responsible one too. One that I know I can totally rely on as the eldest of her sibling(s). 

Jannah was a surprise too. The teachers too were surprise with her. Her basics are all good. Of course she is having a bit of a problem with her Arabic and Jawi and Islamic Studies. But her counting and ABCs and her basic logic understanding are all good. So, Alhamdulillah too. Next year baru Mommy jadi kiasu dengan Adik ok. Tahun ni boleh rilex lagi. :)

Sigh of Relief

I was actually going to post about Aliah's exams but got sidetracked by the new blogger layout. Kagum sebentar.

Anyway, *fuh* I can now give a sigh of relief as the last paper dah habes today. I know I know, she's 6 not even in Std 1 yet. But what to do, kiasu Mommy like that. :P

Actually, I am more keen to know how Jannah has been faring in school. According to her Kakak, who got to sneak peek at one of Adik's papers.. the little girl was holding her own and doing the right things. So, I guess she is OK. For her, no pressure as this year it was more to expose her to being with others and having fun in school and NOT just watching TV 24/7. I am just extremely happy that she now wants to hold the pen and colour / write.

So, 2 weeks to go before Mommy hyperventilate about the PTC. Haha! 

I need to remind myself to stop being critical and assess the situation from the bigger picture (like what Mr Hubby has been reminding me all this time); i.e. if she gets a 98% - first congratulate her for the extremely good results and ONLY THEN ask what question(s) she had problems with instead of going all kiasu about that single wrong answered question.

According to Aliah, some papers were harder than others and some were still in the category of "easy peasy lemon squezzy" :)

We shall see.