Demythifying US Education

When we first decided that we will be making the move to the US, one of the many concerns we had was regarding the education systems in the US. Somehow, depending on which 'camp' one is from, the idea of US education gave us a varied response and concerns. We were of course warned about the safety of schools and if the girls will be led astray in the system. We were also asked if we were willing to let go of their placements in the good schools. (Letitia got into a gifted program in a well known and rounded Christian school and as non Alumni non Singaporeans, it was a feat/miracle in itself). Our own concern came from whether the girls will be able to settle into the system.

We are now enjoying our summer break and upon settling in to NY, we've had the chance to attend 4 weeks of end of year school life, Grade 3 and Grade 5 respectively. The girls 'just' missed the annual 'assessment' that is compulsory to Elementary kids here. I am writing to debunk the Asian concepts about American education...

The girls on the school bus coming home.

 

If you are wondering why my kids are going to school in their PJs...here's why~

The last few weeks of school, not dissimilar to the Singapore schools, things wind down and everything is on 'relax' mode. What impressed us was the SPIRIT week that celebrated all things 'rah-rah!'. The Spirit isn't the spiritual version we are first to think of, it's about sports spirit, school spirit, team spirit and summer time!

What a fun way to wind down to the summer hols with themed days of dressing...the entire week were planned out with themed out fun activities and events to let the kids have fun. Classes will hold their year end class BBQs (school and parent supported) as a end of year party.




















This is Mathena at a School Picnic afternoon!

Another amazing thing was, the yearbook came out at the end of the year and it has a special page dedicated to the highlights that happened this school year...no, I am not talking about the school activities, eg chess competitions, the annual interschool races etc. I am talking about world news, major events, community news and highlights that helps each child remember what key moments in their year...not just within the school confines.

We recently received an electronic report card that only parents can access. All the subjects are 'marked' with the following levels. No marks, no percentages! I am now being quite a 'kiasu' parent and wondering if there are anything left out?!?? Ha ha! On the other hand, Letitia is not heading to 'Exploration Maths' which is the Singapore equal of 'Higher Maths'! Aaargh, why is this maths stuff following us everywhere..

Little M was awarded a cute "Student of the week" trophy in her 2nd week in school. What an encouragement, what a joy for her. We've only had 4 weeks of school here but we've found that a lot of energy and resources are put into the 'whole child' development of a child. Eg. there's a doctor, a few nurses, a couple of psychologists, a couple of 'counselors' and more support staff that are paid to make sure the child does well and had no reasons to NOT excel in school. School success is not measure in scores or marks until the year before they enrol into universities.

     We had to get used to reading Fahrenheits instead of Celsius in our temps but thank God for thermometers with 2 types of scales to give us an idea in our heads!

Mathena's good friend (Thank God!)

  

The girls still enjoy being at home together and when the 'day' is good, they actually help each other with the tasks that I set our for them. Am grateful that the homeschooling habit is now useful for them to be independent and motivated to get their own work done plus learn new things. They need not be awards nor given accolades! 

The girls have also found a good dance school to continue their love for Ballet. It has been a blessing that this school is only 10mins away (for shuttling them with little C in tow) and even though the schools here are more advance and harder, they still love the dance!

Singapore Maths...here NOW in NYC. Will add to this after one year with a bit more 'knowledge'!

Labor Day Thanksgiving

Today is the 2nd of September, by the 5th, we'd be in this country 5 months. It's also a long weekend with Monday off and when we have extra time with Alex at home, I can't help but be thankful.

Will post pictures soon as at the moment, my laptop is exploding in lack of space and I am waiting for Alex to help me sort the 'clear up' space function, whenever that may be, before I can load more pics in my already tight memory space.

Things to be thankful for:
1) We've had a safe and meaningful summer break and now quite 'ready' for school year to start.

2) Letitia is going into a new school environment and will be with a new set of friends and one friend she knows well. Mathena will also change classes in her Elementary school and will be 'introduced' to Singapore Maths.

3) We've created so many memories the last 2 months, it can only but be a thankfulness from our hearts.

4) We've had visitors (from Singapore) in our homes and many more meals with my cousin and new friends. We now have 2 sets of families that we can call friends who is happy to help us out in times of emergencies.

5) We will be seeing the season change to Autumn soon (another reminder of God's grace)

6) Little Carson is growing TOO QUICKLY and I am struggling to document his life...

7) Alex still has a job (we hear of retrenchments still).

8) A good church (very small) to park ourselves in and praying for God to show us where we fit (even with a toddler)

I am also reminded that I have kept this blog as a source for families and friends to look deeper into our lives to stay connected, to love and pray for us. We've always been a family that have only gotten to where we are because of the faithful prayers of many. We are reminded daily that life is never a piece of cake, it's not going to stop us from trying to make our own memories and touching lives. Again, our lives, warts and all, we give to God, to love, to keep and lastly to serve others. Stay posted!

SUMMER Road Trip 2012

We've been in the US for at least 4months now and since it's the super long summer holidays, we decided to not waste it and make an adventure trip for our vacation. It's cute, we learnt that the term holidays are actually referring to the days eg public holidays, school holidays and when one goes away for a break it's termed 'vacation'! So yeah, we went on vacation. An adventure as it's our VERY FIRST road trip across 2-3 states in 7days.

First up, we drove 5hrs plus (suppose to be only 3.5hrs) in terrible traffic at certain points. Stopping at 2 stops before reaching our final and highlight of the trip. An ALL CHRISTIAN musical production of Jonah in Lancaster. We stopped for a stretch at New Jersey (state no 1) and later at a trout hatchery in Allentown, Virginia (state no 2). We were told again and again the summer will be hot, hot, hot but instead this first day of drive came with drizzling morning and an overcast weather. Nice relaxing and a little bit excited as we were almost late to the musical.

We also visited HERSHEYS Choc World!

After the musical, we drove around (long traffic lining out to get dinner) at the Amish country and to our huge surprise, they were premium outlets EVERYWHERE (no, we didn't go!). Had a quick simple dinner and drove into the darkness to our farm experience in the corn fields, B & B night stay.

We woke to 8 kittens at our door accompanied by kids playing with them, a beautiful damp morning with a huge breakfast with a 5course menu! Green Acres is an experience in itself and the kids topped off their morning with a hayride across the corn fields, a trip to the chicken coop to pick eggs, and last but not least, witness a slide climbing/sliding goat who will perform at call (food scraps). We headed out on our 2nd day.

Didn't take pics of the noodle,..we ate too quick!

Entering into DC, we tried hard to get into the motel before sundown but the traffic was horrendous. Yep, was warned that but yes, even with GPS, one can enter the wrong exits as it doesn't advice you quick enough to enter. We lived in the Virginia (state no 3) part of DC, 4-5 stops from the Smithsonian metro. Had Vietnamese Pho for dinner (been a looooong time) to fulfill our Asian tumms.

Day 3 got us up real late...we took our time and eventually found a well known crepe stall in the Rossyln city centre to enjoy breakfast. Our holidays have well planned menu options (in case you are starting to wonder) as when I am not cooking, I enjoy cook food! Off we went to the famous Smithsonian Museums, Natural History and later a dash of the American History Museum, all within a sunny hot walk away from each other. Then, ended up our evening with a Japanese dinner.



Day 4 saw us too tired to do another road trip so we switched plans. Scrapped a visit to the famous Eastern Markets for Saturday and instead, took the famous hop on hop off bus tour that allowed us to do just that, hop on and off!! A glance and lots of picture taking while juggling a cranky and cooped up baby on the bus was no fun. Girls were bored until we went to the AeroSpace Museum. Capped off our dinner with Asian dinner and tasted an authentic 'cha kueh tiao'..yummm!
 

 

Carson flying a plane!

 Day 5, we were off early for a 4hr car trip to Jamestown settlement, Williamsburg, Virginia. Known for it's 'live' museum of the days gone by where it all began. We saw Powhatan village life, Fort settlements and the harsh living conditions, the harbour ships and it's life within etc. An amazing 4hrs of history and an appreciation of this marvelous historical country. Just the 'stuff' we were reading when we were catching up with our American history. Kids loved it. Carson was exhausted. We drove back to a last minute recommendation to our all time favorite cuisine~ Hong Kong/ Cantonese food!





Day 6, this was our free and easy day and free and easy we did. We zzzz and woke just in time to eat! We had our leftovers from the night before (poor Carson! I think the food was a tad too oily for hi little tummy!) We later met up with a kind friend who showed us around her neighbourhood and took us to a local residential premium outlet (Alex needed some work shirts). We went back for the last time to Pho75 as we know we will struggle to find a shop like this where we live. Slept well, packed up and on the road again....5-6hrs to get home.

We stopped along the Susquehanna River and the head of the Chesapeake Bay at a town call 'Harve De Grace' and had a nice stretch before a long lag driving home. Stopped in New Jersey for a food court dinner and off 45mins home sweet home. 

We were blessed with safety, kind people, no traffic tickets or policecars (they were everywhere), good food, many memories and 100% family time. Just how we like it. We thank God profusely!

Our Kampung (a.k.a 'Village' for the non ASEANs)

Ossining is a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 37,674 at the 2010 census. It contains two villages, the Village of Ossining and part of Briarcliff Manor, we live in the village of Briarcliff Manor.

 This is a shot of the main street of Briarcliff Manor. It is literally only 15-20 shops long including a fire department, a couple of banks, the USPS and a hall.

 This is the girls favourite quaint little community library. We love this place as the librarians actually KNOW the books and it's contents and having conversations with these ladies can be amazing!

 

The buidling on the left is actually a beautiful retirement home alongside the main street and the other picture shows a typical 'home like' building built to contain businesses typically medicals, lawyers and accountants. This one is actually just down the road from my house and we go there for the GPs and the Paediatric services.

As we drive further and venture into the inner parts of the village, we start to see homes of this stature..

 

As the girls are doing a little bit of homeschooling to catch up with the entire year they missed due to the transition from Singapore to the USA, we are learning quite a bit about the establishment of this region and of course the other states. In the early 1600s, land was bought from the local Indians to build colonies and a certain Frederick Philipse (we are yet to read up about him) bought the area which presently constitutes the Town of Ossining from the Sint Sinck Indians in 1685. His manor (loves how it is called a MANOR when it is a HUGE gigantic piece of land) extended from Spuyten Duyvil Creek on the border between present day Manhattan and the Bronx to the Croton River. The last lord of the manor, also named Frederick Philipse, was a Loyalist in the American Revolutionary War, so the State of New York confiscated the manor in 1779. Big oops on who you 'support'!

 This is the older part of Ossining. I drive down this road a few times a day to drop Alex to the train station. It looks totally 'cast in time' and I can just see horse drawn carriages up and down the streets.

 This is our old faithful train station that takes Alex to and from Manhattan into Grand Central 5 days a week and according to the residents here, the trains has only broke down 1-2times in 5 years! Very reliable, may be a bit late sometimes but no major hassles.

 We were actually here 4 of July to see the fireworks except we were on a patch of grass. This leads to a ferry point to bring people to the other side of New York, across the Teppan Zee river... I think!

 This is the famous Sing Sing Prison.

In 1813, the village of Sing Sing was incorporated, and in 1845, the New York State Legislature created a new town out of the northern part of what had been the Town of Mount Pleasant. A local Indian authority suggested the town be named Ossinsing, a different form of the name Sing Sing. One year later the last "s" was removed for ease in pronunciation. In 1881, the town considered changing its name to "Garfield Plains" to honor the recently assassinated President of the United States, James Garfield, but dropped the idea after the much larger city of White Plains in southern Westchester County objected. White Plains is where all the MALLS/Asian groceries are...yet to see them all

In 1901, to prevent confusion of goods made in the village with Sing Sing prison-made items, local officials had the village name changed to Ossining as well. (Ooooh, so chinese and scared of bad reputation?!?)

In 1902 an area east of the village of Ossining, then known as Whitson's Crossing, was incorporated as the village of Briarcliff Manor.

AND Points of interest or trivia

• The Sleepy Hollow Country Club was formerly the home of Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt's granddaughter Margaret, designed by Stanford White. ^[8]
• The late Brooke Astor's home Holly Hill is located in Briarcliff Manor.
• The Edith Macy Conference Center, an internationally important conference and training facility owned by the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), is in Briarcliff Manor.

• Briarcliff is the site of the Trump National Golf Course (formerly Briar Hall Country Club), owned by the real-estate mogul Donald Trump 

and here's where most of the goss comes from.. 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Briarcliff_Manor,_New_York
What amazes me the most is...we live in a little village...little in terms of the USA but the history of this place is in the 100s AND the people have recorded and kept so much of the heritage with so much pride.

CHAN family in our backyard (summer 2012)

Settling in....Midtown Manhattan vs Upstate NY

 When we first arrived into Manhattan, this was the apartments that work put us in. This was pretty much how it looked like when we first entered. It surely did not look like this the very next day. The view was of a busy and often noisy city lights but different to this picture, we had a LCD tv where the buffet was and one less sofa. 2 bedrooms either side of this and a dining and kitchen right opposite the living space. It was a hop skip away from everything. An 900sqft amazing way to live and get to know the city of New York, New York....

 

Then, after 30 homes, we found this simple little abode in a quiet street in the township of Ossining. About 45mins north into the Westchester area is a popular yet quiet area. It is popular because the trains are effective in taking people in and out of city and when in this area, you will not even imagine you are in the hustle and bustle state of NYC. We were told again and again that we have to find an area that has good schools and yes, doing our homework, this village is not the top but at least not too far from the top listings. It was however further from the train station which accounted for the affordable rent and the 'bigger' and more comfortable designs. We later found (2months later) that this home at a 2200sqft approx is considered 'small' in this village...ha ha!

 The first week of arrival, our youngest person in the CHAN family turned ONE! We made it memorable and tried as much as we could to capture this moment though, it would have been nicer to have family and friends around...at least by then, we were all nearly recovered from our jet lag.

 A tiny kitchen that help feed the entire family of 5 with minimal utensils and things to use. Made me miss my Maplewoods kitchen. But I was soon blessed with a nice, fully functional kitchen that I can cook up a storm (baby food mostly) with and I was happy to just wait...

 

The city has it's draws...the lovely galleries,  the amazing museums,..

 

and of course the glitz and glamour...

 Back where the chipmunks, squirrels and groundhogs roam...this is now our home to unpack, to settle, to sleep, to play, to pray and to slowly allow God to unveil His plans in our life. We are thankful for sooooo many of His providence!

 ..and yes, 2nd Birthday celebrated in our favourite part of the house, the breakfast bench where many meals are eaten, fought over and splattered.

We are here for the fresh air, for the space, for the community (really nice people here!) and also for a safe place to bring up the family. Let's see what Ossining/Briarcliff Manor has to offer...