There are several wonderful posts on how you can prepare your child for Primary 1 - how to prepare her academically, teaching her to care for her belongings, showing her how to count her money and buy food.
Today's post however, is slightly different. I've asked 50 parents to share on their Primary 1 kids' real experiences in school. A timely post since these wonderful kids have all completed their first term of formal education, don't you think?
Recess
"After 10 weeks of school, I realised my son didn't know that a vending machine gives change." - Neresa
"Every day after school, I ask what he had at recess. Every day, his answer would be 'fish ball noodles'. Every single day. Today we are in week 9." - Marilyn.
"She said, 'I didn't know that the school canteen is so big! I can eat from a different stall each day!'" - Angeline.
"There's some lunchbox black market thing going on. And the one who brings the Oreos commands the highest bids!" - Susan.
"My daughter brings $1 to school daily. On the first week, I gave it to her all in 10-cent coins, thinking it would help her count better. Every day she would spent all her money on two pieces of sushi. I thought that was very expensive sushi, until last week when I gave her a $1 coin, and she started bringing home change. That's when I realised that she's been overpaid!" - Jiahui
"'I can buy chicken rice, or Ribena. But I cannot buy chicken rice, and Ribena. Because Mummy only gives me $1.50.'" - Celine.
"No matter what I pack in her lunchbox, no matter how much or little I pack, she never finishes her food!". - June.
"For the first 3 weeks I was the typical bento mum. Now I've given up preparing packed lunches. Because play is more important to him, and sleep is more important to me." - Heather.
"She came home one day and announced that she bought 20 fish balls at 10 cents each. I asked her why and she said 'Cos I had 2 dollars!'". - Cindy.
"'I have to be very careful when I bring my food to the table. If I drop the fish ball, I have to buy another one.'" - Mabel.
Bookshop
"Pei Pei has realised that the bookshop is a great place to visit during recess! In the past 10 weeks, she has bought 6 packets of colour paper, 1 correction tape and probably some other things I don't know of!" - Waiwai.
"Let's just say my daughter and the school bookshop owner have become quite close friends." - Grace.
"My 7-year old daughter is doing the exact same thing as me when I was 7. Pocket money is for bookshop expenditure and not for food." - Adeline.
"She didn't even know about the bookshop. Until one day I asked her to get an extra pair of school shorts. There has been no turning back." - Christine.
"6 packs of coloured paper! Will we ever get down to using 6 packs of coloured paper!" - Valerie.
"The school bookshop. It's a dangerous place." - Carrie.
Classmates
"At the end of the first day, my son ran up excitedly to me and said, 'Mummy, there are 2 other Kaydens in my class! The teacher has to call us by our full names!'" - Jasmine.
"At dinner we all share about our days. My Primary 1 girl's days are always the most interesting, filled with 'Today so-and-so farted in class and we all laughed' and 'So-and-so got scolded for losing her water bottle'." - Pei Ling.
"Belle tells me that C's father is a teacher too, that P has 2 brothers, and that M is so chatty in class that she always gets scolded. I am up to date with the class gossip." - Frances.
"Apparently they have to work together in groups and that doesn't always work out well!" - Melanie.
"'We have to stick with our buddies all the time. Like glue.'" - Colin.
Toilets
"Our son Mike goes to an all-boys school. On his very first day, he came back telling us that the toilets were 'really smelly.'" - Nicole.
"Apparently there's no toilet paper in the cubicles." - Sassy.
"'When our teacher tells us to all go to the toilet, it's very fun because we run there and laugh'". - Kai.
"'We have to go to the toilet two by two.'" - June.
Homework
"There was a really short honeymoon period and then it started. Homework, homework, homework! So much homework!" - Kelly.
"Her favourite lesson is PE. Because there's no homework involved!" - Alicia.
"He claims to like homework. We'll see how long that lasts! - Janice.
"I've decided to leave the class Wassap chat group. Because all the parents were stressing each other out about homework." - Mei.
"'I don't like homework. I just want to play.'" - Huiling.
Teachers
"Kayden finally realized why every student bows to a particular teacher after 4 weeks. He found out this teacher is actually his principal..." - Joycelyn.
"I asked what her form teacher was like. 'She doesn't say quiet or shhh. She just frowns a bit and says 'Girls...' and then we all keep quiet.' Sounds like magic to me." - Aileen.
"My twins both decided that their teachers were stricter than their parents after about week 4." - Jeremy.
"'I love my teacher,' she says. Which is a good thing, I suppose." - Evelyn.
"Josh kept getting scolded for talking too much before classes started. But he failed to mention that it was during 'silent reading' time." - May.
"Our daughter's teacher is really on-the-ball! She emails us once a week to keep us updated with the things the kids have been doing and need to do." - Adeline.
"Both her English and PE teachers are called Mr Tan; she finds that very amusing!'" - Angeline.
"'Mrs Lee is the Discipline Teacher. She is quite fierce but she can also smile." - Wei.
"'Miss Hamidah's shoes are noisy.'" - Jacklyn.
General
"After crying in the morning for a month, one day she suddenly stopped. Today however, she came home from school and told me "Mummy, I have bad news for you. I still don't like school'." - Catherine
"Two water bottles, one wallet, one shoe (yes, one) and countless pencils. That's our lost and not found count for now." - Josephine.
"She said, 'Father Barre's garden (within the school grounds) is magical! Every day I pick up a coin when I walk there!'" - Joanne.
"It's been ten weeks but he still doesn't know what time school starts. I suppose it's because we're the ones doing all the rushing in the morning on his behalf." - Michelle.
"Jake says he feels like a sheep because the students are always rounded up and 'herded' from one place to another throughout the day." - Kimmy.
"'I think I want to wear shorts under the pinafore. Because C (classmate) always like to lift my skirt." - Josephine.
"Shoes get washed on Friday, and turn black on Monday. I wonder if girls are like that too." - Maryann.
"When the school circular advised us to label everything, I thought they were overreacting. I was wrong." Hayley.
"'I'm the energy fairy of my class!'" - Crystal.
Today's post however, is slightly different. I've asked 50 parents to share on their Primary 1 kids' real experiences in school. A timely post since these wonderful kids have all completed their first term of formal education, don't you think?
Recess
"After 10 weeks of school, I realised my son didn't know that a vending machine gives change." - Neresa
"Every day after school, I ask what he had at recess. Every day, his answer would be 'fish ball noodles'. Every single day. Today we are in week 9." - Marilyn.
"She said, 'I didn't know that the school canteen is so big! I can eat from a different stall each day!'" - Angeline.
"There's some lunchbox black market thing going on. And the one who brings the Oreos commands the highest bids!" - Susan.
"My daughter brings $1 to school daily. On the first week, I gave it to her all in 10-cent coins, thinking it would help her count better. Every day she would spent all her money on two pieces of sushi. I thought that was very expensive sushi, until last week when I gave her a $1 coin, and she started bringing home change. That's when I realised that she's been overpaid!" - Jiahui
"'I can buy chicken rice, or Ribena. But I cannot buy chicken rice, and Ribena. Because Mummy only gives me $1.50.'" - Celine.
"No matter what I pack in her lunchbox, no matter how much or little I pack, she never finishes her food!". - June.
"For the first 3 weeks I was the typical bento mum. Now I've given up preparing packed lunches. Because play is more important to him, and sleep is more important to me." - Heather.
"She came home one day and announced that she bought 20 fish balls at 10 cents each. I asked her why and she said 'Cos I had 2 dollars!'". - Cindy.
"'I have to be very careful when I bring my food to the table. If I drop the fish ball, I have to buy another one.'" - Mabel.
Bookshop
"Pei Pei has realised that the bookshop is a great place to visit during recess! In the past 10 weeks, she has bought 6 packets of colour paper, 1 correction tape and probably some other things I don't know of!" - Waiwai.
"Let's just say my daughter and the school bookshop owner have become quite close friends." - Grace.
"My 7-year old daughter is doing the exact same thing as me when I was 7. Pocket money is for bookshop expenditure and not for food." - Adeline.
"She didn't even know about the bookshop. Until one day I asked her to get an extra pair of school shorts. There has been no turning back." - Christine.
"6 packs of coloured paper! Will we ever get down to using 6 packs of coloured paper!" - Valerie.
"The school bookshop. It's a dangerous place." - Carrie.
Classmates
"At the end of the first day, my son ran up excitedly to me and said, 'Mummy, there are 2 other Kaydens in my class! The teacher has to call us by our full names!'" - Jasmine.
"At dinner we all share about our days. My Primary 1 girl's days are always the most interesting, filled with 'Today so-and-so farted in class and we all laughed' and 'So-and-so got scolded for losing her water bottle'." - Pei Ling.
"Belle tells me that C's father is a teacher too, that P has 2 brothers, and that M is so chatty in class that she always gets scolded. I am up to date with the class gossip." - Frances.
"Apparently they have to work together in groups and that doesn't always work out well!" - Melanie.
"'We have to stick with our buddies all the time. Like glue.'" - Colin.
Toilets
"Our son Mike goes to an all-boys school. On his very first day, he came back telling us that the toilets were 'really smelly.'" - Nicole.
"Apparently there's no toilet paper in the cubicles." - Sassy.
"'When our teacher tells us to all go to the toilet, it's very fun because we run there and laugh'". - Kai.
"'We have to go to the toilet two by two.'" - June.
Homework
"There was a really short honeymoon period and then it started. Homework, homework, homework! So much homework!" - Kelly.
"Her favourite lesson is PE. Because there's no homework involved!" - Alicia.
"He claims to like homework. We'll see how long that lasts! - Janice.
"I've decided to leave the class Wassap chat group. Because all the parents were stressing each other out about homework." - Mei.
"'I don't like homework. I just want to play.'" - Huiling.
Teachers
"Kayden finally realized why every student bows to a particular teacher after 4 weeks. He found out this teacher is actually his principal..." - Joycelyn.
"I asked what her form teacher was like. 'She doesn't say quiet or shhh. She just frowns a bit and says 'Girls...' and then we all keep quiet.' Sounds like magic to me." - Aileen.
"My twins both decided that their teachers were stricter than their parents after about week 4." - Jeremy.
"'I love my teacher,' she says. Which is a good thing, I suppose." - Evelyn.
"Josh kept getting scolded for talking too much before classes started. But he failed to mention that it was during 'silent reading' time." - May.
"Our daughter's teacher is really on-the-ball! She emails us once a week to keep us updated with the things the kids have been doing and need to do." - Adeline.
"Both her English and PE teachers are called Mr Tan; she finds that very amusing!'" - Angeline.
"'Mrs Lee is the Discipline Teacher. She is quite fierce but she can also smile." - Wei.
"'Miss Hamidah's shoes are noisy.'" - Jacklyn.
General
"After crying in the morning for a month, one day she suddenly stopped. Today however, she came home from school and told me "Mummy, I have bad news for you. I still don't like school'." - Catherine
"Two water bottles, one wallet, one shoe (yes, one) and countless pencils. That's our lost and not found count for now." - Josephine.
"She said, 'Father Barre's garden (within the school grounds) is magical! Every day I pick up a coin when I walk there!'" - Joanne.
"It's been ten weeks but he still doesn't know what time school starts. I suppose it's because we're the ones doing all the rushing in the morning on his behalf." - Michelle.
"Jake says he feels like a sheep because the students are always rounded up and 'herded' from one place to another throughout the day." - Kimmy.
"'I think I want to wear shorts under the pinafore. Because C (classmate) always like to lift my skirt." - Josephine.
"Shoes get washed on Friday, and turn black on Monday. I wonder if girls are like that too." - Maryann.
"When the school circular advised us to label everything, I thought they were overreacting. I was wrong." Hayley.
"'I'm the energy fairy of my class!'" - Crystal.