At the eleventh hour.

Mommy dearest has been cracking and spinning her head for the past few days thinking of ways to improve her children's studies.Luckily, she doesn't have any kind of heart- related diseases or suffer from high blood pressure or else the chances she might end up in a ward again are very great.

Last week I attended two "majlis rundingcara", one was at my son's college and another was at my daughter's school.This year I have three children sitting for major examinations.Along is sitting for his SPM,Angah for PMR and big baby for UPSR.So , you know the kind of worries ,anticipation, anxieties and turmoil that I am facing...

For Along and big baby, I do not have much problem since they are very consistent in their studies and performances.But for Angah , her latest result leaves me speechless and at wit's end!

I received different responses from the two interaction sessions.Along's teachers gave very encouraging comments and his recent result is something that he should be proud of considering that he missed lots of his classes.

From his Chemistry teacher, "Ridzuan is always busy and he missed three topics when he was away for rugby.Tapi tak pe sebab dia pandai bawa diri.Balik dari training dia terus jumpa saya for coaching.Dia ni saya lantik as mentor in Chemistry."

From his Sejarah teacher, "Mu sibuk lagi We (short form for Ridzuan)Bor..bor..lah.Nok periksa doh ni."

From his Add Math teacher,"Dia orang yang paling sibuk dalam sekolah ni.Kejap pergi rugby,sekejap sibuk ngan Badan Perwakilan Pelajar,sekejap pergi exhibition hinggakan pergi ziarah kematian pun dia.Lucky pick up dia cepat, kalau tidak teruk juga.Dulu saya jadikan dia model dalam kelas saya,tapi sekarang ni pelajaran dah menurun sikit. "

So after the session, I had a long pep talk with along asking him to slow down with his activties.
He promised me that he will focus on his studies from now on since he has let go some of his posts.The election for Badan Perwakilan Pelajar is done, so from now on the fourth formers will take over.The fifth formers can now concentrate on the lessons.Alhamdulillah...

Then I went to Angah's school.The comment I received was not becoming at all. I made a point to see all her subject teachers.
From his Science teacher,"Dia ni pick up sederhana, jadi kena rajin lah.Dalam kelas very responsive dan tidak ada masaalah.Saya tak bimbang dia ni pasal dia tak tau dia tanya."

From his Math teacher, "Saya tak tau apa nak cakap pasal dia ni.It is like dalam kelas dia ni orang lain and bila ambil exam seolah-olah dia jadi orang lain."
I was confused and asked, "kenapa?"
He answered, "Nampak macam dia faham bila dalam kelas, tapi bila exam dia tak boleh menjawab."
Wow..there is a problem here.But all I can think of is she lacks practice in Mathematics.Once she understands how to solve the problems, she should practise it again and again.And to do this,she needs to be hardworking and Angah is definitely not!Self-study which should be the practice of any boarders does not suit her.She has to be reminded continuously, guided closely and even blabbered often to get her to study.And how am I going to do these since she is staying at the hostel???
So, after spinning her head for days, mommy dearest comes to a solution.From this weekend I will visit her every week to sit and study together with her, even if I have to stay the whole day.I cant forsee any other ways to get her to study since she has only 62 days to her PMR.
I have myself to be blamed too.All this while I thought like Along, I could leave everything to her and the teachers.So, I did not give much attention to her and trust her to excel on her own.

To me, there is a blessing in disguise here.Angah's case has made me see that different children learn not only at different pace but under different condition.I also learned that once you put your children in boarding schools you just cant wash your hands clean.You still need to be alert on their activities and guided them closely.

So, now I ve decided to blog less, instead spend more time studying and working with my children.And last night I had been sitting together with daughter Ifah until 11:30 pm to teach and coach her in Math on the topic "Integers".It is not easy for I have to refresh my memory on this.Afterall I left my Mathematics 30 years ago after completing my fifth form.However, the session I had last night with Ifah was satisfaction guaranteed.
I got to go now because the next topic is "Angles" and I have to do my revision first! Bye folks.