Let the countdown begin

I started this blog to let off steam 5 years ago when Tai Pi was in P1. Coaching her in math and in particular dealing with the "more than", "less than" questions was driving me up the wall. This blog was meant to record our journey towards the PSLE but has assumed a much greater purpose since then. I realised along the way that a blog like this would tell our story to future generations - not just within the family but to others as well. Having always enjoyed my father's stories of the old days and not having as good a memory as he did, putting down my thoughts like this as I go along is really the best way for me to preserve the memories.

But I digress. What I meant to talk about is the PSLE; yes it's finally just around the corner! The much dreaded first major exam taken by kids in Singapore, the cause of much stress for kids and their parents alike, and the inspiration for this blog, is but 3 months away. I feel as if we are headed towards a waterfall and there's little we can do but drift towards it and hope we survive the fall.

I actually feel both happy and anxious about this. No doubt it's causing us some stress but I'm also thinking the fact that it will be upon us soon also means that it will soon be over. And boy will we be relieved when it's done with!

But what would bring us the greatest relief is if Tai Pi gets accepted into the School of the Arts (SOTA) which she so badly wants to join. She went for an audition there a few weeks back and will know the results in early August. Not sure about this year but there were more than 1000 applicants vying for 200 places last year. Tai Pi said that many of the applicants were for Visual Arts which is the area that she applied for. If she receives a positive answer from SOTA in early August, she will only have to obtain a good enough PSLE score that qualifies her for the Express Stream (that means doing better than one third of PSLE candidates which is anyway the benchmark set for homeschoolers for a PSLE pass) and then we won't have to worry so much about the PSLE and which school she would end up in. This is especially important for Tai Pi as the MOE only processes homeschoolers' secondary school applications after they are done with the posting for mainstreamers which means that homeschoolers get posted to whichever school still has vacancies regardless of how well they may have scored in the PSLE. Unfair I know but that's the MOE for you.

So from now till early August, I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed and hoping that Tai Pi's talent and passion for art is sufficient to earn her a place in her dream school.

Taking the Wheel

I know I haven't blogged in ages. I keep telling myself I have to keep it going as this blog serves as a sort of personal history record for the girls and future generations. I'll get round to filling in the huge gaps but in the meantime here's the latest news - I'm finally taking driving lessons!

I'm the only adult I know who doesn't have a driver's license. The girls are so used to this that they can't imagine me driving. But dragging 3 kids and their stuff around especially in the hot sun got me thinking that perhaps I should get a car. We are tired too of our bad luck with taxis - whenever we need one, there's none in sight, but when we don't need one, they are everywhere!

So three days ago, I sat for the Basic Theory Test, passed it (49 out of 50 questions right) and had my first driving lesson. After the lesson, the girls first question to me was, "Did you crash into another car?" Hmmm such faith they have in their mother...