Exam free

We are now officially an exam free family!

PSLE ended one week ago, and it took another week for Peanut's exams to end today.

Celebrating girls

It's been a week of rotting for both Carrot and myself. Now that I have walked with my second-born to the end of her PSLE, it's time to let go and live life for myself! No more setting of assessments or planning the revision schedule or marking of papers. Like Peanut, Carrot will be mostly on her own from now on, and I suddenly have a lot more free time.

It's been quite liberating. I'll have to come up with a more constructive way to use my time if I'm not going to start degenerating from now on, but for now I'm taking a well deserved break!

This is Carrot taking her (well deserved?) break for the past week. 

We have also thrown out most of her assessments and revision books. In the end, we were still left with many blank pages in the assessment books (some of them from Peanut's time!) and also many past year papers. But we no longer have any use for them, so out they go! This truly marks the end of a phase for us.

Now, Carrot goes to school everyday to play games and cards with her friends. Today they had a Learn to Play experience Dragonboating.

Spot the Carrot.

As I said, we will get back to a more constructive life eventually, I'm sure. But for now, the rotting continues!

Halfway mark

The PSLE written examinations started off badly for Carrot when she got insomnia the night before the first paper. 

I'm afraid it's also partly my fault. On Wednesday, Carrot and I went out for lunch and popped in to Popular to buy a new ruler because she had lost her ruler. Along the way, a book "Strange Houses" caught my attention and I decided to buy it for myself. But Carrot got intrigued with it too, and spent half the afternoon reading it... finish!

Unfortunately, it's a horror mystery novel. I should have put my foot down but it was so rare to see her so engrossed in a book that I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop. So as expected, it made her unsettled at night, and coupled with the nervousness of having to face the PSLE the next day, she ended up spending the whole night awake. I didn't know because I went to bed myself, but YX was still around when she came out of her room past midnight and he tried talking to her and accompanying her until 4 plus am before he gave up and expired for the night himself.

When I got up at 6am to start preparing breakfast, she came out of her room to tell me she did not sleep and was so tired and had a headache and then she cried. Gosh, my heart also sank because what a way to start a gruelling national exam!

But what had to be done had to be done. So I calmed her down and assured her that her adrenaline would see her through this. She had some breakfast and took a panadol and vitamin C, and then off she went! I was quite impressed by her stoicism as well after the initial burst of tears.

We did not forget to take a photo to commemorate the start of the PSLE written examinations. Can you tell she did not sleep?

I then spent the morning praying and hoping that her headache would not act up.

Thankfully, she came back from the exam quite positive. The exam itself was difficult, but she felt she had done her best and had no regrets. She was especially pleased with her compo. I was just really grateful that she survived the experience and did not come back all disheartened for the rest of her papers. 

That night, she was a bit traumatised and afraid that she would not be able to sleep again, but sleep she did. When she woke for her Maths paper the next day, she was all bright and cheery. Phew!

The Maths paper was difficult too (that seems to be the story of her life this PSLE!), but we are glad it is over and that we are almost halfway through. I've started throwing out some stuff and it feels good to do so. It's a new experience for me because during Peanut's time, I still kept a lot of the stuff for Carrot. Now, I well and truly can throw and/or give them away. Yay!

This weekend, we continued working hard. I kept telling Carrot the story of how Peanut started slacking a little during this halfway mark for her PSLE, and how Peanut then ended up with AL2s for the two subjects which came after - Chinese and Science. Heh. So Carrot tried her best not to slack.

But even so, we still found time to work on puzzles together during break time. I'm not sure it's a relaxing use of our time, but it was a good way to take our minds off the revision, spend time together and avoid the screen.

Puzzle time

My soon to be very happy and carefree kid.

We all look forward the last day of the PSLE, but I also have to remind myself that the exam season does not end that day for all of us. Peanut's exams go on for another week, so the real celebrations will have to wait. 

But for the 12 year old who has been working hard for the past few weeks, she will have certainly earned her break. And I will also have earned back my Sunday afternoon naps. 

It's a good month ahead.

Festive exams

We packed Carrot off for her PSLE Listening Compre earlier this week, and I heaved another sign of relief. I am always thankful when the girls get to sit for their exams without any event, because that's not something we can take for granted! I recall two years ago, Peanut suddenly had a blocked ear just 2 or 3 days before her PSLE Listening Compre, which gave me a minor panic attack.

So just getting to this stage with our good health is something I am extremely grateful for, and I hope that will last till the end of the exams!

This Friday, Carrot also attended lessons at her primary school for the last time. Two years ago when Peanut went for her last day of lessons, she felt sad and Carrot could not understand it. 

True to form, Carrot was super pleased on her last day of lessons and positively beaming. She's not as sentimental as Peanut, and she did not have as carefree and happy a learning experience at school. So as far as she is concerned, it's good riddance! 

I'm also in a generally a good mood because I am on leave this coming week. It's always good to be on leave, even if it is because of the PSLE study break. In fact, I'm already feeling a little festive. But whenever I show signs of getting overly excited about the end of exams, Carrot will tell me that she does not want to think about it because she wants to focus on the exams first. Clearly, she's more sensible than me in this respect. Good for you, Carrot!

And she has been putting in some good work recently. Of course there is still some whining and complaining when she feels tired, but she really makes the effort in her practice papers, and tries to squeeze in work whenever she can. We still have a few days ahead of us, so let's keep it up, Carrot!

As for Peanut, she's been cooped in her room studying for her exams too. We've left her mainly to her own devices and she only comes out occasionally when she wants company around her when she studies (in which case she sometimes displaces me or YX from our own study room so that she can be near one of the parents...) or when she needs help with any question. I'm not really in a position to help her much with her Maths questions anymore unless she refreshes my memory with the formulas first, so that's more a YX job at the moment. Phew! Soon I will also be palming Carrot off to him, hah!

Check out what I discovered in my phone one day. These days, I find all sorts of strange selfies and wefies in my phone. Anyway, I thought this photo captured the essence of this month quite well. Exams is definitely the flavour of the month. 

Although craziness is also ever present in this household. This is what I saw when I walked to the living room this afternoon as the girls were listening to music. Ommmm?

Hey, whatever works to help manage the stress around here is good!

I don't think the PSLE journeys have been particularly harrowing for me, but this is my second PSLE kid and boy am I glad that I am done after this! To a certain extent, I enjoy the time I spend with the girls revising and laughing over silly Science OEQ questions, and pulling our hair out over impossible Maths questions. And when I take leave from work for PSLE, everyone at work always understands and tries not to get in my way. Because the PSLE is sacred. 

Still, I think twice is enough fun, and it's time to move on with life after this. I still haven't decided what I am going to do with my extra free time from next year onwards, but whatever it is, I am sure it is going to be good!

Back for the last school term

Just like that, the school holidays are over!

I took some leave, and then was blessed enough only to have to go to the office on 2 afternoons, so I had time to supervise the PSLE revision and we put in some good work together. Peanut was also busy with exam revision so it was quite a studious time for us all. (Except for YX who caught up with his gaming)

One of the first things we did at the start of the holidays was to collect the PSLE breakfast bundle from NTUC. It's a nice touch from NTUC, and makes the PSLE feel almost festive. We collected a similar bundle for Peanut two years ago, so Carrot was quite excited to get hers. She has already finished the milo and Koko Krunch.

I brought the girls to Coffee Bean one morning when our part time cleaner was cleaning up the house. Peanut, being the teenager wannabe, has always wanted to study at a cafe, but ironically it was Carrot who found the experience conducive and finished a Science paper at the cafe. Peanut did a bit of work and then decided it was too distracting and not conducive enough and gave up. She has since concluded that home is the best place for studying. I agree!

Our drinks for the morning. More importantly, I discovered a new favourite drink from Coffee Bean - Houjicha Latte. It's a new drink and I don't think it will be a permanent thing, so I have resolved to try and drink it as often as I can now!

This is what I saw one afternoon after I returned from the office. The younger one really knows how to make herself comfortable when studying.

The Queen on her throne.

This week felt almost like a throwback to COVID times because we stayed home quite a bit. I console myself with the thought that family activities outside can go into full gear again in just a few weeks' time. For now, we study.

But just before the start of the last school term, we celebrated my mum's birthday this evening with a meal at Song Yue. The next time the family gathers together, PSLE will be over. I'm counting down, and I can't wait already!

Crisis of Confidence

This has been a testing period for us.

The preliminary results are in, and they are not good. Overall, Carrot managed to just about meet the cut off point for what was our third choice school, which we had always viewed as a reliable back-up option. But now I'm not so sure at all about its reliability as a back-up, and whether Carrot can even make it there!

This brings to mind, of course, the Government's mantra of "Every School is a Good School."

I have always felt, however, that this statement was not complete. As George Orwell would no doubt have told us, "Every school is a good school, but some schools are better than others."

But I don't intend to write an exposition on what a good school is. That would take far too long and require far too much effort and brainpower, all of which I am running short of at the moment. What is more important to me is not so much what is a good school, but which schools will Carrot be able to choose to go to?

One of my central beliefs in life is that having a choice is important. It is okay to be a road-sweeper or cleaner, as long as that is your choice, and not something you are forced to do. So my main fear for Carrot now is that she may end up not having a choice as to which school she gets to go to.

On top of that, it also saddens me to see these failures chip away at her confidence. Perhaps it really is 犯太岁, but this year has not been kind to her. Starting from teacher issues, netball defeats and health deficits in the first half of the year, to friendship problems and academic difficulties leading up to this third quarter. When it comes to character building through failures and hardship, I must say she is getting the full works!

In life, no one loses all the time. The win will come, but whether it will come in time for the PSLE exams, I don't know.

In any case, we have gone through the disappointment and grieving process, and we trudge on.

But amidst this doom and gloom, there was a glimmer of gratefulness in me when I heard Carrot recount an incident in school when a friend of hers (whom she didn't even like that much) cry badly over her Maths results. Instinctively, Carrot did what she could to cheer her up with silly banter, and she succeeded in drawing some laughter not only from her friend but from others around her as Well. And this is even though she herself also received her not so ideal Maths results that same morning.

This daughter of mine may not have the best academic results (right now) but her soul is definitely ok. It would be great if a beautiful soul could also come with strong academic ability. But if one could have only one, then a beautiful soul is definitely the way to go.

The beautiful soul contemplating what shape of wanton to wrap next.

We have now officially stepped into the PSLE month, and before we know it this will all be behind us. I'm not going to say let's enjoy the ride (because who in their right mind will??) but certainly let's give it our best shot one more time, Carrot!

 

Orals (urgh) and other things

Almost immediately after I started celebrating never having to practice orals again with my girls, Peanut dragged me for an intensive Chinese orals practice with her over the last weekend because her own examination was this week and she was panicking. Chinese orals at the secondary two Higher Chinese standard is very different from PSLE practice. It was much more difficult and tiring, and I felt very much the limits of my own Chinese ability.

Still, we managed to power through the weekend together, and I think the exam itself didn't go too badly. So I'm glad it is over, but now I dare not say that I shan't have to do orals ever again. Darn. But at least for this year, my ordeal is over!

As for Carrot, she started her preliminary examinations this week, and is still in the middle of it. So we are still hard at work.

Hard at work.

But also not forgetting to still have fun (with hair) in the meantime...

Preparing for the exams are taking up a big chunk of our time these days, but there's always still room for other things.

Like Friday movie nights! We are currently watching the Enola Holmes series. It's an entertaining and wholesome watch - exciting and intriguing but not too scary. Though there are moments when the girls (and I, a little) will scream. All good fun.

I met up with old friends for lunch this week.  And I mean that in the literal sense. One of us is already approaching 70 and another (who did not join us this week) will be retiring next month. In some respects, I envy them but of course it is a blessing to be able to continue working for now. Hopefully, my time will eventually come but for now, I am simply grateful for every chance I get to meet and chat with old friends.

Finally, to wrap up the week, YX and I attended the 动力火车： 一路向前 concert last night. This time round, we did not bring the girls. They were not overly keen and I didn't want to have to spend money on their tickets. After all, they have been to two 动力火车 concerts already. It turned out to be a bit of a pity though, because I felt the song selection for this concert was better. Oh well, too bad!

Anyway, it worked out overall because this was right smack in the middle of Carrot's preliminary examinations so it probably would not have been wise to drag her out for a late night concert.

And so now we are back to the grind of work, school and exams for the week ahead. Wish us luck!

The last PSLE officially starts

Soon after she crossed the 12 year mark, Carrot went for her first national examinations in the form of the PSLE orals this week. She was stressed and nervous, which took the form of a lack of motivation to put in intensive preparations the day before the exam. Everyone deals with stress differently, and apparently her way edges more towards a denial.

Well, 零时抱佛脚 doesn't always work anyway, so I didn't push it. After all, she also put forth a valid point that she needed to rest and keep a clear mind for the actual examination. It wasn't that we didn't revise the day before, but we kept things light.

Also, this has been outside her room ever since orals started, which quite aptly reflects her mood. (Though I don't know why it's still there since the oral exams are over!)

As a second time PSLE mum, I think I was a bit more prepared for the orals. We went through as many topics as we could, and of course she memorised several good phrases and proverbs.

Off for the start of the PSLE! 

In the end, the Chinese orals threw her a bit of a curveball in the form of the pretty difficult topic of a household robbery and neighbours. I think that caught many people by surprise, and Carrot was very displeased and upset when she got back from the exam. 

Anyway regardless of topic, I think it's always a bit anti-climatic when you finish the PSLE orals because you prepare and prepare so many topics and phrases, and in the end you either don't get to use anything, or just use 1 or 2 of those phrases. In Carrot's case, at least she got to use the 远亲不如近邻 phrase. I remember that in Peanut's time, she also only used one good phrase. 

Thankfully, the English orals went a bit smoother. It still wasn't a topic that we had recently chatted about, but she felt that it went ok.

The important thing is that it is over! As with what happened 2 years ago, I feel happy and relieved that we don't have to do oral practice anymore. And in fact this is even better than 2 years ago because I don't have to engage in this sort of intensive orals practice with the girls EVER AGAIN!

I was so happy that I dug out all the oral books when she was still away taking the exam and set them aside to be thrown out or given away, only to then realise that actually some of these books also have Listening Compre exercises so I probably still have to keep them for a while  more ...

Still, regardless of how the exams went, we are that much closer to the end! I'm already thinking about new hobbies that I can pick up from next year onwards after I am done with my last PSLE kid.

But for now, the prelims looms, and the grumpy old man is still in action.