A lack of focus/concentration or simply not engaged?

Teacher in her school said that Ai Ai has a lack of focus i.e. when other kids are playing with certain toys, she simply roams about the classroom not wanting to pick up any toys, or if she does pick up an item, she doesn't play with it for long.

This school she goes to is a Montessori school. Even though it's not a pure Montessori school, the teacher is at the very least Montessori-trained, so I trusted her comments and started worrying about this.

Mum told me not to worry as she believed that Ai Ai was simply not engaged in the activities and was tired of hanging out with 22-mth-old kids. The school could not put Ai Ai into the older Tods class as it was "full". I say "full" because they actually took in 2 newcomers to the Tods class this term rather than "promote" Ai Ai and another 29-mth-old boy to the Tods class. All in the name of revenue, I would guess.

School does not interest her anymore - she is no longer keen to wear her uniform in the mornings and tells me sadly that "K" (her previous classmate) has gone to a "big girl school". Actually K, who is 2 mths younger than Ai Ai, has been "promoted" to the Tods class because she enrolled in the school one term ahead of Ai Ai and therefore has priority.

I read up "The Absorbent Mind" by Maria Montessori, and she wrote that a child below 3 yrs old does not suffer from the defect of lack of concentration. If there was this defect, it would disappear the moment the child finds an activity that engages her.

And here is Ai Ai today doing some simple pouring activity for a full 50mins!
I gave her some rice, her tea set, a funnel, measuring jug, bowls, spoons and a tray and she happily poured the rice from one container to another for close to an hour.
And I wasn't "playing" with her at all... I was just lying in bed half dozing off and observing her.

Now R doubts the teacher's credibility and wants to pull Ai Ai out of the school immediately rather than have her interest in school killed. We'd be checking out another school, Agape Montessori at Thomson Hills, next week. Afterall, Ai Ai needs to go to a school while waiting for a placement in Chiltern. Coincidentally, her current school called today and said they can promote Ai Ai to the Tods class after I called last week to enquire how to go about withdrawing her from school.

2nd Day of School - Why did Ai Ai cry?

Ai Ai went into her classroom by herself today... with lesser enthusiasm as yesterday (maybe cos she knows Mommy and Daddy will not be with her?), but she still did it bravely without tears.

A grandmother was obviously embarrassed as she had a wailing boy in her arms and was trying to pacify him to go into the classroom.

I used the 1 hour during class time to do some grocery shopping and then returned to pick Ai Ai.
While waiting outside, the grandmother came over to my seat excitedly and told me (with a genuinely happy and smiling face) that Ai Ai was crying, and that her grandson was just looking on as Ai Ai cried.
I peeped through a slit in the window and saw that Ai Ai was indeed crying... she stopped after a few seconds when the teacher sat her on her lap.

Later, when the teacher led Ai Ai out to me, the teacher told me that Ai Ai did well, but cried because the teacher stepped on Ai Ai's little toe accidentally *OUCH*

So that's the reason why Ai Ai cried :)

First Day at School

Ai Ai has been asking to go to school cos her little friends (neighbours' kids) all go to school.
So we've decided to enrol her for a 1.5h daily playgroup session. within walking distance from our home.

At the door of the school, she couldn't wait to take off her shoes and queue up to get into the classroom.
She seemed alright when we left, but teacher said she cried after a short while, but was OK after a teaching assistant picked her up.

When we left the school, I asked her if she enjoyed school and she said yes, and that "Sophie cried".

Hope the coming days will be better!

Ai Ai posing in her school uniform

I've never seen her so eager to get dressed!

Ai Ai in class with teaching assistant

A very anxious Mommy who could not sleep last night
Actually Daddy couldn't sleep either :)

Ai Ai wondering "Why do I need to leave so soon?"

New students leave after 1 hour for the first 5 days.