Saturday, October 25, 2008

Exam's over!

I was busy last week helping out the girls getting ready for their finals. Yes finals! No more exam to monitor until next year... yippeee! I know that I am not the only mom out there who makes a fuss over the children's preparation for the exams. Some choose to trust the tuition centre, others a private tutor but me, I rather do it myself.. as for now. Come on, they are only in year 2 & 3... what?

The girls however takes me for granted, I think. Me, the mama who is hardly sick (Alhamdulillah..), the iron lady standing by them rain or shine. Every time when the exam week is nearing we will have this same old conversation. It goes something like this..

Yasmin: Mama, have you prepared the time table for us to study?

Not that I really follow. It is just that to make sure that I manage to touch on every subject..

Me: Not yet. Will do that today.

Wardah: Mama dah beli revision books? (Have you bought the revision books?)

This is how I teach them. They do the worksheets I bought for them & through that we discuss the questions. From here I can pick what are the things they are weak at.

My girls are so used to this pattern that every time there is an exam, the almost similar dialogue is heard. It's not that I'm complaining. Just that, what will happen if suddenly I decide not to bother about their studies. Can they cope?

I remember then when I was younger. Both of my parents, they used to work. There was no time table sticked onto the fridge. No discipline teacher at home to monitor the whereabouts. No dietitian to babble about a balanced diet crap - "Finish up your vegetables!". I was free to do whatever I wanted. So did my siblings. On top of that.. I was still an A student (primary level..;-))

Guess, the competition is tough now. At 5 some kids can already read! I still remember at 7, I was still doing the ba..BA, be.. BE, bi.. BE, bo.. BO, bu.. BU. Reading was out of the story. And... at 8, I read & pronounced "knife" without the silent K... hehehe!

Do you know why a sandwich is called sandwich? Once, there was this man called Mr. Sandwich. He was always on the go & didn't even have time to eat. During one of his rushing days, he took a slice of bread put some vege, beef patty & sauce on top. Covered the food with another slice of bread & that was his meal. From that day onward, his simple & fast lunch is called - Sandwich.

Where did I get that from? My Yasmin... She read this somewhere & shared with us over dinner. And she is only 9. When I was 9, I was reading only books with large prints!

Need I elaborate more? Children nowadays are moving further in comparison to us their age. Time has changed. If we don't bother about them, they will slip through the climb to success. Wherever that is...

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

hehehe...its the kids who's supposed to be celebrating the end of their exam...not their Mom larrr!!!
whoahahahaha!!!
:p

Waterlily said...

I can be a garang teacher to my son :) But he still prefers to ask me than go to my other half. Agaknya dia tau I dont mean it kut..

Anonymous said...

Way to go Yasmin!
Even Aunty Leen doesn't know that sandwich story...(Aunty hanya tau makan jek hehehe).

Ja, one of my colleagues siap puasa sunat and take leaves when her kids go for exam. Until our boss asks: ini siapa yg ambik exam ni, mak ke anak?

:-)

jabishah said...

Myn,
At their age, exam week tak exam week sama je... but mama, once they are done with all the papers akan melompat kegirangan! FB here I come! Hahaha!

jabishah said...

Wlily,
Didn't you know..? Though how high the post their father carries, nothing can beat to the powerful knowledge of their mother! Hehehe! So mama kena lah control pandai ;-)

jabishah said...

Leen,
Hahaha! A ah kan... kita tau mkn je. Bacanye malas!
Wow.. now I thought I was amongst the mama contoh ;-) Bagusnye your colleague tu. Oklah thn depan I pun puasa lah. Err.. satu hari ckp tak???

wanshana said...

Ja,

Both my hubby and I would prepare mock exam questions for our kids masa Std 1-Std 4. Bila dah masuk Std. 4 onwards, we just rely on the workbooks we beli from the bookshops tu.

I would be their BM and BI teacher, whilst my hubby would be their Science and Maths teacher :)
Memang teruk le anak-anak I kena jerit days running to the exams. But, every time nak exams, they would still ask us to do the mock papers for them!

I guess they know that it works for them.

Good luck with the results pulak! :)

jabishah said...

Wow Kak Shana you two are such efficient parents. I yg tak kerja ni pun tak terbuat mock questions. Beli je worksheets kat bookstore ;-)

Ye lah.. now am waiting for the results. Should be getting all this Thursday. HB has already warned them. No holiday trip this hol if the results are bad.

Anonymous said...

I too am my boys tutor. It's not easy teaching ur own kids esp boys. I only send them for BM tuition & the rest teach them myself. This week I'm starting teaching again (I know final exams over) as Abj will be sitting for his UPSR next yr. Going to start revising std 4 work. Abilash , I'll will be teaching him std 3's work for next year. THEIR TEACHERS AT SCH ARE HOPELESS, sigh!

Ezza Aziz said...

exam over...
ni sapa yang ambik exam ni...

jabishah said...

Wow Sheela, you are so advanced. True we still hv to monitor them despite having a formal edu in school. We are lucky we've got the time. I hv to salute those working moms. But Im sure if we were in their shoes we wld find the time...

jabishah said...

Kak Ezza,
Mmg pun... Now ni mama diorg yg kecoh tanya paper itu ini dah dpt ke belum. Tension je the gils.. Hahhaha!

Anonymous said...

hey ja! lama tak chit chat with you. Really can relate with your situation. Getting kids ready with exams is really stressful. Still, be proud that you are a concerned and caring parent. Now the stress is on receiving the results!! Ha3.

jabishah said...

Ye lah Sheena. Been awhile.. Busy jgk lah you tu. Lagi Supermom with no helper. Salute!!
Wanna meet up durung the school hols. We include the kids this time. ;-)