The Mask

I was wondering what Idlan was doing with balloons at the apartment last. It turned out that it was part of his assignment from school. What was it? To build a mask.

First, you glue the balloon with paperThe glue concoctionIndustrial strengthFirst, he inflated a balloon, pasted some papers at half the surface. This would form the curvature of a face. He then left the paper and glue to dry solid overnight.

And then the colouring partAlmost doneBut not without the mess ...Then came the colouring plus some bits for the nose and mouth. Walla!

Homework Time

Sri Utama did not follow the standard time table, hence they were open this week while the rest of the schools were closed. Both Idlan and Irfan also had tons of assignment to hand in before next weekend. But what infuriate us was the amount of daily homework that Idlan especially was getting. Personally they were both excessive and unnecessary.

We had pointed this out to the teacher during the last meeting but it seemed that nothing had really changed. Idlan still had to stay up almost every night doing his homework. Then Anita would be doing his and Irfan's assignments and projects in the meantime. It was getting ridiculous. Even the other parents were seething.

Unfortunately the assignments carried a substantial percentage of the exam marks for the end of term. We don't really have a choice. As a long term plan, we were looking at alternative school and maybe giving up on the national stream, taking O and A levels instead.

But, better get the assignments and homework out of the way first. The arrangements can't go on much longer.

Homework Sunday

I was done with my morning rounds and seen the first couple of admissions for the day. Now it was time to chill at the apartment with the boys for lunch, while waiting for more admissions.

Idlan especially got plenty of homework still. I was pretty sure that when I was in school, we never had this much homework to do.

Sometimes I thought it was too much. Unfortunately nowadays homeworks were expected. And there seemed to be getting more, not less.

It was warm and breezy outside, and at the dining area with the windows open, it was certainly very nice. Anita and the boys were staying in since there were workers coming in to fix the bathroom all day today.

Homework!

As usual, getting the boys to do their homework every night was a big exercise for my lungs. I had to get then to concentrate and they were easily distracted. Idlan actually finished his homework before dinner and Irfan decided to do his after watching TV.

As soon as they finished their dinner, they were running around with their guns again. Another shouting natch before they started to behave. Ten minutes later, then the homework was done. He could've easily finished it he had his meal .....

Painting Time

I watched Irfan doing his computer project last weekend and was fascinated by the amount of knowledge these seven year-olds actually have concerning computer. And the computer system at his school used both Macs and PCs, and since the main computer was a Mac, he was able to adapt to both system.

First, he composed the paintingSend it to the printerMake sure things were in orderThe task given was to use either Microsoft Paint, or another free software for Mac - Tug Paint I think it was called - to do a drawing, print them and submit them.

More masterpiecesLetting them dryIrfan actually did everything by himself, navigating the menus, and making sure that things got printed out …. amazing! I don't think I would be able to that at his age ….