Jayden got a place in MSHS!

Yesterday afternoon, Aileen and I left Maris Stella High School with great joy and relief that Jayden had managed to secure a place in the school after a nerve-racking Phase 2C balloting ordeal. As I recollect the months leading to the primary one registration period and balloting, my heart is filled with thankfulness to God for hearing our prayers and providing for Jayden. Being ineligible for the earlier 4 phases (for those who are not aware - Phase 1, 2A1, 2A2 and 2B based on some forms of affiliation), we decided to put our faith in God to provide for Jayden. Though anxiety and disbelief sought to overtake us especially during the week leading to the balloting day, God helped to overcome it by giving us His inner peace as we meditate upon His words. We knew we could trust God to provide what's best for our boy (even if we missed out on the balloting and needed to look for another school). 

Looking ahead, we are trusting God to bless Joann (now in primary two) and Jayden with wisdom and ability to cope well with their studies. 

Celebrating Jayden's 6th Birthday!

Our boy has just turned 6 this year! The theme for this year's celebration is 'Angry Birds'. 

We bought a chocolate cake with simple design and topped it up with 'Angry Birds' collectibles. Jayden absolutely loves it as he gets to keep the toys.

Celebrating with his cousins

Birthday cake from Polar Cake Shop for the 2nd celebration at my parents' place

Thank you for the present, Shu Shu and Shen Shen!

Joann's Graduation from Living Sanctuary Kindergarten

The children had their annual concert on 3 Nov 10. Joann has graduated from K2 while Jayden will be progressing to K1 next year. Seeing how the children love their school and have grown in knowledge and skills, Aileen and I are truly grateful to God for a great team of loving and dedicated teachers that impact the lives of the little ones in LSK. We are proud that the children are part of the LSK family. 

The concert was a great success as all children from Pre-Nursery to K2, put in a great performance that night! All parents were beaming with pride when they fetched their children after the concert that night :-)

Joann's Graduation from K2 (2010)

Jayden Completes His Junior Music Course (JMC) Book 2!

Last Saturday, Jayden had his performance in class which signified his completion of Yamaha JMC Book 2! The Yamaha Junior Course is a 4-year comprehensive music education, designed for children to start at 4 to 5 years old. Let me give a short overview of the course.

The first 2 years is the foundation stage, called JMC which focuses primarily on building the musical ability to LISTEN, to SING, to PLAY and to ENJOY music in a group-learning environment. During these 2-years, parents' participation are required.

The 3rd and 4th year of the course is the development stage, called JXC where ensemble playing provides a child with a unique experience in music making as many parts blend together to create a beautiful piece of music. Through this process, a child can acquire the basics of music and learn to express their individuality through it. At the end of year 4, the child will sit for Yamaha Grade 9 Performance Examination and the ABRSM Grade 1 Theory Examination.

So, Jayden has just completed his 1st year in JMC. After 1 year in JMC, Jayden is now able to play simple pieces with 2 hands! I'm quite proud of his achievement, considering the fact that he struggled for a period of time during the first 6 months in JMC. During that period, he was not very motivated and was especially resistant when transiting to Book 2 where he had to learn how to play with both hands. His learning difficulty was compounded by the fact that I was not practising with him regularly. The turning point was when I decided to re-adjust my schedule and allocate 15 minutes every evening to practise with him at his keyboard. Every new habit will have its fair share of difficulty but both of us overcame the inertia and started adhering to the daily practice. Five months have passed and the daily practice has became "natural" for us. Being a coach to him at home, I have to learn about the G-clef, F-clef, Do-Re-Me-Fa-So-La-Te, Fa-Sharp-Re, etc as well as to play like him! Being able to play has also allowed me to encourage him to persevere and not give up when faced with difficult pieces as his dad is also not musically-inclined!

I have learnt to enjoy the time spent with Jayden daily at his keyboard as well as to follow him to his classes weekly. Aileen has always encouraged me that these are great father-and-son bonding time and I agreed with her totally! Now, I can't imagine the day when Jayden will progress to JXC in 3rd year where I can't join him in his class anymore. As for now, I just want to enjoy the journey with him together. 

As I conclude, here are the 2 songs that Jayden played last Saturday. Enjoy!

Adding Fuel to Fire

Jayden giving his 2 cents worth after my wife, Aileen reprimanded his sister, Joann :-)

Jayden's Prayer

Jayden who is now 3 years old, leading his sister in a prayer... enjoy ;-)

Jayden's 1st Day in LSK

Finally, the day comes for Jayden to join her sister in school! Aileen and I are excited for Jayden as he reaches another milestone of his life - schooling! He is in pre-nursery and as for Joann, she is now in K1 :-) Time really flies!

Aileen and I have been praying that Jayden will be inducted smoothly into LSK, like her sister (i.e. no refusal to get up the school bus, no crying in school, etc).

This morning started with him throwing a small tantrum and not wanting to change into his school uniform :-( Thank God for a quick idea - I told him that I would make a race with him, with him in the school bus while I would "run" to school :-P He was excited and happily boarded the bus with her sister.

I won the race :-P (the bus diverted to pick up other kids at another street while I take shortcut to school).

From there, I also "set-up" a live sms broadcast to Aileen & my in-law on Jayden's status :-)

The school was packed with anxious parents whose children would be in school for the 1st time. Ha, being "experienced" now, I hid myself from Jayden, peeking from a distance to see whether he could follow the teacher into the assembly hall and classroom. Thankful to God that he didn't need me to jump in to help him settle in, though he spotted me somehow after 1 hour. He just waved at me and continued with his activities.

Throughout the short 2 hours in school (3 hours after induction week), I could see that he was comfortable with the environment, teachers and new friends as he participated in the sing-along, played his toys with his new classmates, listened to stories, followed instructions to toilet, took his morning snack, hi-5 with his teacher and sister (they met each other during the toilet break).

Will be following him to school on coming Mon and Tue again. Well done, my boy! Also thanks to Joann for being a great sister by watching out for him :-)