Goodbye to her tuition teacher

Shehnaaz is another tuition teacher for Coan. She was not a teacher but she likes to teach small kids in mastering the English language. At first she was reluctant but after we told her about Coan's problem, she agreed. She didn't promise anything but would try to help.


We noticed Coan improved a bit after going through a tuition class with her. At least, I didn't have to listen to Abang's scream and shout when Coan can't recognize a letter when she actually could memorize it earlier. Fooh!! What a challenge...


It wasn't long for Coan and Shehnaaz to have the session. I think it was only about 2 months (minus all absenteeism caused bu Coan!).


Shehnaaz's husband has got a job offer in Abu Dh@bi. The family would be going. It's good for the family actually since Abu Dh@bi is closer to India (their hometown). We went to say goodbye to the family a few days before they left.


Thank you Shehnaaz for being a good tutor for Coan. Your assistance is very much appreciated and remembered for the rest of her life...

Dictation

I can't recall myself having had a dictation when I was 6 years old (in kindergarten). I could hardly knew A B C then. I remember the only thing that made me so excited to go to my kindergarten was the playground! We could play with the sand too... :).


Here, in Saudi (perhaps other places too), kids have to do dictation / spelling. Teachers would dictate the words and the kids will have to spell. It is a huge problem if the kids can't even read. If we can't read, how could we spell? It's really impossible.


What teachers did was, they asked the kids to memorize the words. Then, before dictation time, teachers would give kids all words that will be asked during the exam. That happened in Coan's school. Her tuition teacher, Ms Shehnaaz also did the same. The only different was, Coan had a 1 to 1 learning with Shehnaaz and 1 to many learning at school.


When Coan was in KG2 (she's in KG1 temporarily at the moment), her teacher taught her animals and their babies (ie: cat and kitten). Yesterday, when Shehnaaz dictate words to Coan, she made 1 mistake. Shehnaaz asked her to spell chick. Instead of spelling chick, she spelled hen! Look at the picture below. Perhaps, she had in mind that most of other animals are mothers. So, when Shehnaaz said chick, she taught of a mother of the chick which is hen!

Though she made a few mistakes, I noticed her improvement. Before this, she can't even spell even a word. Pity her. Her teacher always scolded her and put nasty remarks on her book like 'never learn???' and 'don't study???'. I am not bluffing when I put many question marks there. The teacher really treated her like a 15 years old student whereas she is just 6 years old.


I hope, she will keep improving herself so that I could transfer her back to KG2. Insyaallah...

Another tuition for her...

Coan has started her 2nd tuition class 2 weeks ago. She has stopped going to Ms Laly's house since Ms Laly decided to take care of Coan in her class (KG1). Coan is supposed to be in KG2 buat she is put in KG1 which is 1 grade lower.


I'm not happy about this but I'm telling myself, if Coan can read soon enough, I'll transfer her back to KG2. The teacher in KG2 is not patient enough. She can't stand to see 1 of her students not being able to read. Instead of coaching, she suggested to down grade the student. So far, I could see a bit of improvement in Coan's performance. She could recognize letter now (she didn't really before).


Partly, it was our mistake too, I guess. She played a lot in her previous kindergarten. Also, her teacher just let her played around instead of sitting in the class and learned. At home, she didn't do her homework and I wasn't firm enough to make sure she did her homework. Oh well, too much regrets. Why should I? Pass is pass. We should move on, looking at the future.


So, I decided to send her to a new teacher. Her name is Shehnaaz, an Indian lady. She is not a school teacher but she teaches playschool in the morning. She teaches the kids to read and communicate. I guess that is what exactly Coan needs.


I hope and really pray Coan can improve this time. Shehnaaz just has 1 student in the evening - Coan. It'll be easier for her to coach Coan. We'll see her progress in a month time. Till then, Ummi is signing off...