More competitions!

As mentioned in my earlier post, most of my time lately has been attending to Anastassia with her back-to-back competitions.

However, let me first share the kids March exam results.

Mia has improved tremendously in this exam. This year Mia became closer to a studious Perak girl, and this has made my Mia more studious too. And it confirms my beliefs that it is important to have the "right" friends for our children. Moreover she has passed the 'adjusting and blending" in college. She is a different Mia this year, more mature, more focussed to her academic abilities.

"Congratulations Mia, you have more "A"s than before. You have definitely improved" I said, patting her back.

"No Mama, I'm not satisfied. I am still weak in Maths and Sejarah" Mia menggeleng kepala, sulking.

"Tak apala, at least ada improvement. Your target tu tinggi sangat dulu. Now with your results, okayla for you to aim 9As in your next exam." I said.

"mmm..... gerammmmmla, Mama....." Mia mengetap gigi, still tak puas hati.


Anastassia had fever during exam, I was called to pick her at 10 am on the 2nd and 3rd day. I did not expect much from her. However, she managed to get highest in Penulisan...... which is unbelievable. I guess it has something to do with the nonstop coaching she got for her Bahas, Syarahan and Pidato competition... hehe..... As i told the teacher who coached her (BM teacher), Anastassia dapat tuition BM free.....

Puteri........ mmm...... I sort of neglected her during the exams, as I had to concerntrate on Zaryff and Anastassia who was not well. But then.... what can I say, she got no1 and became the best student for std 3 again this time round...... (During exam, memang dia belajar sendiri..... she still continued to study even when I asked her to rest)

Zaryff...... alamak, his results dropped slightly....... I vow to really mengadap dia for his May exam..... *sigh*



Last Wednesday, I accompanied Anastassia and her teacher for her Pidato DiRaja Competition. Wow...... tercengang jugak Mia tengok. Pidato ni terbahagi kepada 2. The first part is the normal pidato which the students prepared earlier. However the 2nd part is the Pidato Spontan. The student kene berdiri atas stage, was given a topic and was given a minute sebelum mereka start berpidato. Memang susah. Anastassia got the topic "Ibubapa memainkan peranan penting dalam memupuk perpaduan kaum di kalangan anak2".

Out of the 12 patricipants, only 3 of them, Anastassia included managed to give a full 3 minute pidato. The rest could only stand up the stage waiting for the bell to ring before saying "Sekian, Terimakasih". Kesian. Yela, berdiri aje atas stage tu terkebil-kebil tak tau nak cakap apa. Tapi its a good exposure for students, and from there memang nampakla Anastassia tak gugup langsung and tak ada masalah bercakap dihadapan orang ramai. And memangla tak sia2 cikgu BM dia preparekan Anastassia on this, masa school holidays hari tu. Must be good in General Knowledge.

It seems dalam Public Speaking pun ada macam ni.

After Pidato, I rushed her to the other part of town for her Choral Speaking Competion. Lega the teachers bila tengok Anastassia sampai. Apa taknya, she is one of the main speakers! hehe. She arrived just in time.

During ther performance, memang nampak dia all out. Her teacher puji dia kat Helena. Later when I told Anastassia that she was superb, she said "Kita menangis masa tu, Mama. I really got into the character". (Anastassia jadi Mak Si Tanggang, who was frustrated with her son yang tak sedar diri)


So now, more rehearsals and practise for the next round........

Mia and Anastassia

A lot of things happened for the last 3 weeks. Let me just share the ones that concerns my eldest 2.

Mia

Mia turned 14 on February 22. I sent her, a Secret Recipe's Muddy Chocolate cake and a couple of Domino's Double Decker Chicken pepperoni pizza on Sunday for her to share with her dormies and kakaks.

Mia seems to enjoy her 2nd year at college esp since dah ada 1st formers. Hehe. She said she's not into the 1st formers, takdala nak ambik adik angkat or nak garang2..... banyak lagi important things to attend to, she said. On the adik angkat, she said that having 3 adiks at home pun is more than enough! (Haha. Memang Helena tau dia pening melayan kerenah adik2nya)

Mia also seems to be more focused in her studies, syukur. Sejuk rasanya, , I really want my kids to study atas kesedaran sendiri, without having me to nag.


Anastassia

This child of mine is really busy. Dulu masuk Bahas competition, then bowling, and then syarahan. Now cuti sekolah ni everyday pergi sekolah. She has to practice for her Pidato DiRaja competition, Choral Speaking AND Robotic.....

I do pity her as she is the type yang cepat penat. Is it because of her small built? Kakak Mia dulu lagi tiring schedule dia but she can handle it. I started to give her vitamins early this month.

We (the school and I) found out something recently. That Anastassia is really at ease with standing in front of a crowd and talk. Tak de rasa malu, takde rasa tension, takda rasa gemuruh.

And end Feb, as the Ketua Pengawas, she was asked to give a speech during a function, which was attended by the Pengarah Pelajaran Negeri, pegawai2 Jabatan Pelajaran, Guru Besar2 from other schools and other para jemputan. TV3 came, reporters too. (It was shown on TV and was in the papers)

The day before the function, I asked her.

"Anastassia, have you practised the speech that you're going to give tomorrow?" I asked.

"Ermmm" Anastassia responded.

"Anastassia????" I asked again.

"Ala, mama, nak practise apa. Just cakap ajela....." Anastassia said sambil buat muka boring.

"Eh you better practise, ramai VIPs datang tau, TV3, reporters, nanti buat malu aje kalau tergagap2 atas tu."

"I know what I'm doing la mama, dont worry about it" Anastassia said, while sambung buat homework dia.


On the said function, Anastassia was the first to berucap, then the YDP PIBG, Pegawai Jabatan Pelajaran, Pengarah and then Guru Besar.

When her name was called, she walked up the stage confidently, gave her speech confidently, smiling at the VIPs when addressing them, malah siap berpantun lagi. Her voice was clear and loud. She looks like a pro up there. (Bab2 public speaking in bukan senang, kan, esp for a child that age)

Later that day, I asked her.

"Anastassia tak rasa tension ke cakap atas stage to a hall full of people, ada VIP, ada reporters and cameraman?

"Duh?..... nak tension apa?" Anastassia reponded shrugging off her shoulder.



I remember that I always try to get Mia get involved in activities that require her to speak in public. Being a prefect, dia selalu kena bercakap kat mike infront of the school. And nampak okay aje Helena tgk dia bercakap atas stage. (during her primary days)

But Mia doesnt seems to warm up to my suggestion. She did tell me once that although she doent mind public speaking, its not what she likes to do. "Its just not me, mama" But this child of mine understand that it would be important in later years to be good in public speaking. And being Mia (yang selalu dengar nasihat mamanya) she is in the debate club in college.

However, Anastassia seems to embrace public speaking naturally. Helena takde encourage sangat pun. (Not as much as how i pushed Mia) Having a loud voice is another plus for her. I still remember her English teacher said when she was in std 3. "I would always ask Anastasia to read in front of the class. Her voise is so loud, its like she's using a microphone". And seriously speaking, suaranya yang kuat tu memang tak padan dgn her size. Hehe.

And it got me thinking. Each child has their own strengths, own specialities. Each child is different. I knew this before, but I understand it now.