Things has calmed down considerably. The nightmares are gone but little Mathena enjoys hopping out of her "big-girl" bed in the middle of the night... to visit us.
The search for a school for my girls has proven to be more of a challenge than I have imagine. I have since lowered my standards with the local schools. Yes, I HAVE been told that there's nothing as good as CEDARs and it's true. All the public/mission schools are located by the suburbs. One is allocated a seat in school according to where one lives. There's a school within 1-2 kms of all public housing developments. Unless we go private (S$4K per term) there's a "ranking order" in registering kids to school...have a look at this page:
If you look a little closer, we are right down the bottom of the phases. I was assured that it's no problem to get into public schools but there's one more issue:
Letitia has to wait till she turns 7 before she's allowed into Primary 1 education. This will mean that when we return to Australia, she will in fact be one year behind everyone else. At this rate, I am very confident that Letitia can be ready for Primary 1 next year, not the year after. I am inclined to homeschool her to keep her up to speed for the duration of us being here.
Now the trick is to find the resources and choose the right ones to use. I have been in touch with a lady who homeschool her kids and found that there is in fact a community of home-schoolers here. Challenges upon challenges! I am keen to continue building and instilling Godly virtues in my girls. Homeschooling does not protect them from evil, it limits the evil from setting roots in their hearts. It also give us less "issues" to deal with and "undo" when they pick up the nasties. I am also keen to be "in touch" with the level of education in my girls. I have found that the last 1.5years, I have struggled to really KNOW where Letitia stands in her education progress. Unless I badger the teacher, I will have to patiently wait till the end of term to find out her progress. Coming home from a BIG day at school, Letitia is not really very informative in telling me the ups and downs of her day. So, if homeschooling, I am 100% aware of her character, her level, her ability and her nasty bits.
For those who are freaking out at the thought of me taking this ROAD, do be assured that we ase prepared to fall back on mainstream system if it gets too hard. Homeschoolers meet up with other children to socialise and share activities. Homeschooling is NOT a new thing. It's been done for generations! Those who's done it and is still, please comment and share your thoughts and advice! This is how big homeschooling is in Singapore:
We'll be out Sat and Sun afternoon with agents to start looking for places to stay etc. The accomodation prices here ARE not cheap. They will try to find you expensive ones. If we get places with rent higher than S$2500 per month, the landlord will pay for the realtor's commision. If we get a place cheaper than that, we'll have to pay up to one month's commision to the realtor. Sheeeesh! Welcome back to living in other people's home!!!
My dad will be here on Friday. It will be good to have another person in the house. I have been seeing to many 'tai-tais" and their maids around here that I am feeling like I should stay at home. The REAL expats have their living, housing and schooling allowances paid for. So they are here to live a life of luxury and glamour. I walk out and I feel like I look like a MAID, olive in skin colour, running after my kids, cooking, cleaning for them etc. Sigh! The challenge in being "normal" in a city of affluents.
Continue to pray for me!
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