After attending two trial classes last term at N’s previous school, the twins started “school” today, and I thought I’d write a short blogpost to commemorate the occasion. I say “school” because it’s actually a two-hour parent-accompanied playgroup, held twice a week. In Jakarta, kids actually start N1 when they turn two years old, but I’m really not ready for them to do that, so we have opted to start them in this bilingual playgroup, and will probably keep them here till they turn three. I would have loved to have them in a homeschooling playgroup like what we had in Singapore previously, but it’s really hard to find like-minded mums here (who live near me), so this is the next best thing I guess.
The twins have been asking to “go school” for some time, and were really excited about going to school this morning when I woke them up. However, they started looking a bit nervous when we arrived at the school, and weren’t as smiley as they were during their trial lessons.
Looking anxious and holding hands for comfort
They took off their own shoes, and placed them in the cubbies outside their classroom. Then they peered into the dark classroom and kept knocking on the door. Haha.
Taking off their shoes
Proud of themselves for putting away their shoes
Can we come in now?
When they were finally allowed into the classroom, I was surprised that they suddenly became shy and clung to me. I guess it’s quite normal, which is why there’s always free play scheduled at the beginning of each session, to allow the kids to warm up. The twins played with the wooden puzzles and some of the toy sea creatures for a while, then started fighting over some puzzle pieces, just like they usually do at home.
Playing with puzzles and sea creatures
Both Didi and Meimei were really attentive throughout the session, although Meimei was quite shy and didn’t participate as enthusiastically as Didi did. They both enjoyed doing the craft activity, though Didi refused to paint the bat for some strange reason.
Painting with straws
Snack time was also a hit with them as usual, and they kept going back to the teacher for more food! Another mum jokingly asked if I gave them their breakfast, because they were really stuffing the food really quickly into their mouths. It’s a good thing that there was playground time after snack, because they willingly put their plates and cups away once they heard that it was time to go to the playground.
Playing outdoors
The twins love dancing to music, and tried their best to follow the actions performed by the teachers. I thought it was really cute that Didi grabbed Meimei’s hands when they sang “Row Row Row Your Boat” in Mandarin, since the kids usually paired up with adults.
Rowing their imaginary boat together
All in all, I thought it was a pretty successful first session, and I hope they will continue to be enthusiastic about going to “school”!