October 09

It had been FOREVER since the last post :P I do know that some of you are following this blog so I'm sorry to disappoint. Besides the fact that I hardly have time for anything these days, it had proven impossible to log onto Blogger (& Facebook for that matter) recently. Either the proxy server I'd been using needed some new config or that China's Great Firewall had finally caught up with it, I don't know. My tech support guy had for some reason been quite busy as well ;)

Well, tons had happened in the last month or so. In a nutshell, here's what happened in October 2009.

• We took a whole week to 're-tune' mini-b's sleeping habit back to sleeping alone in his own room. A month of molly-coddlying by his paternal grandmother did some damage. The worst night was when mini-b came to our room crying for the 3rd or 4th time after being accosted back to his bed and I was ready to cave and let him climb into our bed at 6am. Thankfully, DH held his fort.

• mini-b started half day playschool at Eton House! We're really proud of him for he didn't cry a single bit. All he needed was to be shown the train set and he would settle right in :D The main focus was on gaining independence such as eating by himself, washing his hands, putting on his shoes etc. He also learnt boundaries, respecting others' rights & group work such as there's a time for art class and Chinese class (<-- I was told by the teacher, Miss Lauren, that he isn't so hot for Chinese class... fell asleep once! :D the apple didn't fall too far from the tree, I thought. I think school had done mini-b a world of good. Just 3.5 weeks into it, I noticed that he'd begun using a lot more words. The stimulation he received in that 3.5 hours everyday was certainly a lot more than what I could give at home even without a certain bundle.

• Speaking of the bundle, micro-b had grown! He had started smiling and sleeping for longer stretches of time. Hallelujah! Right before we left Chengdu for Finland, the longest he slept at night would be 5 hours - waking up just once to feed in the night. It was a huge improvement over the last week when 2 night feeds actually meant at least an hour of sleep less.

I'd put up some pictures if I could. Here are a couple from the first week of micro-b's birth. Already feels like ancient history.

19 days old

Big brudder the tutti pusher

microbeanie is 2 months & 3 days old
minibeanie is a 2 year old toddler

EtonHouse Open House

We went to EtonHouse's Open House today. It was nice and I think we've half made up our minds to enrol minibeanie at Eton come Fall.

Firstly, we like the school grounds. It is safe, green, has plenty of open space for children to run around and the class rooms are huge. Each classroom has its own child-sized washroom, play and reading corners, cushions & toys.


A plus point is its international staff. This point goes beyond language, there's also the cultural divide (if the management is Chinese) that I've so often encountered in the normal course of life here. For instance, it's beyond my understanding why the Chinese typically do not turn on their heaters in their restaurants/schools/wherever during their winter.... Yes, they have heaters in their premises but they just don't use them! As a result, I have heard stories of children in full winter gear while IN their classes.

As for the International vs. Chinese syllabus dilemma in Eton, first off, I'd definitely like minibeanie to be exposed to Chinese; after all, he does get plenty of English at home. However, there are a couple of factors in favour of the International syllabus though. A recent change in its curriculum means that Chinese gets equal airtime as English. In practical terms, this means that if the English teacher talks about birds one day, the Chinese teacher will talk about the feathered creatures the next day.

And the second factor is the pupil to adult* ratio. As mentioned in my previous blog, the Chinese division has significantly bigger classes. Now, class size and pupil-adult ratio may not be a big thing when the child is 5 or 6, but for a 2-3 year old toddler who may not be toilet trained, able to dress himself or have 2 left feet on even surfaces, an extra pair of hands and eyes is vital to the child's safety. In Finland, daycares for 2 year olds are 4:1 (someone please confirm?). At Eton, I was given the assurance that the maximum ratio for the International division would be 6:1 and 10:1 for the Chinese division.

Ok, time to hit the sack... we haven't fully committed to a decision but I think I know where it's heading ;) On Wednesday, we'd be leaving for Beijing for the long Dragon Boat Festival holiday!

* teacher + teaching assistant


minibeanie is 1 year, 10 months & 1 day old
microbeanie is 24 weeks in utero

School debate

Without meaning to sound callous, we're hoping to send minibeanie to a playschool when the baby comes along. Not that I want him out of my hair for a couple of hours each day but I feel a new environment will be stimulating for him socially and intellectually. Ok ok... if I have to be totally honest, I DO cherish a few hours of 'free' time ;P

There have been a few options we're toying with. The first decision will be the International vs. Chinese syllabus. The International route leads basically to the one school which takes in children from age 2 - there isn't much choice we have there ;) Naturally, our options open up considerably with the Chinese route. There is that aforementioned school which has a parallel Chinese division and there are also a host of local options such as the very auspicious sounding "Golden Apple" or a playschool located within the grounds of Sichuan University.

From my discussions with parents, the main differences between the International and Chinese divisions are firstly, the pupil-to-teacher ratio where it's somewhat lower in the former than in the latter. Secondly, the Chinese route follows the syllabus as set forth by the Chinese education ministry. I can't comment on which syllabus is better because I do not have detailed information on both. But going by the pupil-to-teacher ratio as a factor, I'm inclined to prefer the International route.

Unfortunately, the International route is at an international school which almost by default costs an arm and a leg. Friends from Singapore will be familiar with this school, it's EtonHouse. As such, we're looking forward to Eton's Open House on Tuesday where we'll explore the grounds, learn more about its International and Chinese divisions and of course, the impact on our bank balance.

All the logical reasoning aside, both dada and I can't believe that our little one will be heading off to school soon! he's growing up so quickly!! :((


minibeanie is 1 year, 9 months & 4 weeks old
microbeanie is 23 weeks 4 days in utero