Sandwiched Club

Hey all, in this update, I will share a bit about how we transitioned back to school after the holidays. The transition this time was much smoother than before. Perhaps the kids have grown but here’s what we did to set them up for success., love Mrs Bacon

Master Focaccia and his sister, Ms Cheesy were having so much fun during the holidays. It was an epic break with adventures in Singapore and In Taipei. So, getting back to school days would require some conditioning.

Conditioning began 2 weeks before the start of school.  

1. School books preparation – In previous years, Mrs Bacon and Mr Eggy (Dad) would have been the ones to prep all their schoolbooks, subject files. That would mean writing their names, their subject names on their books and files. There were also some paper based exercises that need to be categorized in each file. Not this year – Mrs Bacon decided the kids would prep their own books, write their own names and classes, and file their own exercises.

It was not just a good opportunity to organize themselves but also to become familiar with the topics they would be covering in the year. Mrs Bacon spaced the preparation through a couple of days making sure both Master Focaccia and Ms Cheesy would take to organizing. It is a life skill after all.

• Packing the stationary cupboard – Mrs Bacon knew the kids needed their stationary before the school year started so one evening, she started to reorganize the cupboard while the kids sat close by playing. And slowly, they both started to help Mrs Bacon. Clearing used papers, sharpening pencils, removing pens, markers, highlighters with no ink, it was a project that the kids found therapeutic – more so than playing.
• Money Matters – Through the holidays, Mrs Bacon had started to give the kids physical money to buy their own meals, especially when they went outside together. No more of Mrs Bacon buying food for them, the kids had to speak to the unfamiliar store vendors and collect the change they needed. This was all to begin giving them weekly allowances, an independence that require planning and thought.

These tasks were done to provide the children a chance to become confident and rely less of Mrs Bacon. That meant teaching them a set of skills: Organizing, listening, prepping, planning, communicating daily. As much as academics were important, so were the skills that would hone their decision-making capabilities and Mrs Bacon was just getting started.