School Holidays...

Well, well.. School holidays are approaching. Feeling kind of boring for not knowing what to do during school holidays...

Most of my students go for holidays as well leaving me jobless for hmmm.... about 2 months!! Luckily, now I found myself something to do.. =D

I've just created a facebook at facebook.com. There contains photos of my baby of course. Speaking of that, without realising my baby is now 13 months old... Gosh, how can I slow down the time?!

Anyway, the website to my facebook is http://www.facebook.com/privacy/#/home.php?ref=home. Feel free to visit it if anyone of you have the time. (Oops, forgot to tell you that you need to sign up or login to browse thru my photos =P)

Happy holidays!!

Tutors & Tutoring

School holidays are approaching. Before that, students have to do one important task -- EXAMINATION!!

Every year, during this kind of period, most students will feel stress & tense. Not just for students that haven't prepared themselves, but also for those who have prepared themselves well. And also during this kind of period, tutors are the busiest group. They need to prepare test papers, arrange students' schedule, arrange tutors' time slot, arrange transport, etc...

Tutors nowadays aren't easy. They have to undergo lots of transformation before becoming a really well-known tutors. Even if they have become well-known, they need to constantly update & upgrade themselves if they still want to be in this occupation.

Speaking of tutoring, we can see lots of tuition centre mushrooming around. Is opening a tuition centre a hot cake now? Does it really provide high profit or is it only a fashion trend that everyone is following? Even private tutors can be seem everywhere and the prices they stated are even 'scarier'. One cheaper than another.. How to survive?...

Since there are so many centres and tutors around, how does the parents choose for their children? I know most parents will go for the most renowned centre or specified tutor. But how do they get know of them? Through recommendations? Or just having the hope to let their children try? If it's good, then they stay. If it's bad, then they leave. How to determine good or bad?

Sometimes, I find the way parents determine bad or good is quite unfair to the tutors. Some students are intelligent in nature, they catch-up things fast and they perform well. This is good.

However, some students are slow in learning and need more time. In this case, parents will usually give out an 'edict' and say the tutor or the centre aren't good.

Of course, I do admit that the teaching method that the tutor uses is very important also. But I think parents should give tutors the chance and time to get know well with their children and thus, proving themselves. At least, give them a year time. Having only a month or 3 months or half year won't be good enough if the child's base itself is really poor.

Parents should learn to appreciate every effort that the tutor has invested in their children. Even if their children show just a bit of improvement, a little bit of praise is enough to the children to regain confidence and act as an encouragement to proceed to the next stage and try to perform well in everything they do. Every child is unique in it's own & parents should learn to accept it. If parents can educate their own children, will they send them to others who do not understand their children?

On the other hands, children/students should learn to be grateful as well. If they think being a tutor is an easy job and take everything for granted, they are wrong. Educating own child is a difficult task, moreover educating others' children.

Of course, I know they are some black sheep among tutors but bear in mind that not every tutor is the same.

Use your heart to feel and use your mind to think...

Online Games

Recently, I came across an online game with lot of cute pandas. This is a web recommended to me by one of my tuition student.

Although this game presents in a very simple way and nothing really special about it, it does attract lot of students. The main point I want to say about this web is, it actually communicate with the students' parents. Hence, the parents can be assured that their kids are in best hand and this is a very 'healthy online game'.

Actually, I think this is a very clever way as we know that there's nothing safe in the web world. With this kind of web, parents are aware of what web their kids are surfing and what kind of games they play. On the other hand as well, kids are exposed to the web world in a very safe environment.

I do hope in future, more and more this kind of web will appear. This can more or less, ease the worries of today's poor parents who slogged hard just to give their kids a better life.

Oh, the website is http://play.petsclub.tw/

Part Time Working

Nowadays, many students are going for part-time jobs. Some do not mind skipping classes or not attending school in order to work part-time during their schooling days.

Working part-time is becoming a fashion for the teenagers in these days. They desire money because they need extra cash to cover their daily expenditures. Many are happy to have their own money to spend. They do not have to stretch out their hands to ask their parents for money.

Some students are working part-time because they have to help out with their family's financial needs as their parents are not bringing in enough money to cope with the family's expenses. To help around, many work after school and especially during the holidays to earn extra money.
(Recently a case happened because of that person working part-time. It is sad to know that the robbers being so cruel as to kill that person.)

There are cases of students working because they are not getting enough pocket money to buy luxurious items for themselves. They would like to possess the latest hand phone, MP3, laptop, digital camera, etc... They do not want to drop behind or lose out to their friends who can afford to won such items.

Sad to say, others work part-time as they feel stuffy staying at home. They feel depress and lonely as there is no one to talk to. Their parents are busy working and they need company. Thus, they go out to work to find friends and be in some body's company and not alone.

It is not surprising to hear that there are students who work just for fun. They want to have a kick out of working life and also the exposure. They want to gain some working experience and hope to learn something while working part-time.

Well, no matter what kind of jobs they are working, the most important thing is the kind of jobs they do, does not break the laws and is legal. (Teenagers tend to be gullible and naive, so they are often being used by some 'black-hearted' company. So to all of you out there, beware when looking for jobs!).

Stressful children...

Students today are very stressful. especially those in primary school. Besides coping with school homework and activities, they need to attend private tuition classes as well. Some may need to attend other skills classes such as ballet, arithmetic or music.

Is our parents being 'kiasu' or is it a necessary for our children to learn more skills so as to adapt themselves in this challenging society?

Parents like to compare their children with others. They tend to forget that each child is born with a different gift that makes he/she to be unique. A child can be good in drawing, singing, doing mental sums and many more.

Parents should learn to identify their children's potential instead of forcing them to learn the skills that are 'not meant for' them. When a child's talent is tapped, the child can excel to his/her fullest potential.

Instead of sending children to learn skills that might not be in use in future, parents should always educate the child on survival skills. This is to help the child adapt to changes in the environment. When a child is taught the right survival skills, the child is able to cope with the demands of society.

I found that most children nowadays tend to fully rely on their tutors that when exam came, they had no idea at all on how to answer the questions! When this happens, the tutors are always the one to take the rap...

Young children are always the one who are passive, hence they have no chance at all to speak out their minds. So, parents should take the initiative to understand their children.

There are many times that parents think they had given their children what they needed. However, that may not be the thing that they really need.

Material possession may be important but understanding what is on the child's mind is priceless. If parents are willing to spare some of their time for their children, I believe this will help to reduce social problems...

Theme Cars

Have anyone of you come across 'Theme Cars' on the road? How do you find those?

To me, I find them cool, special & unique. However, it seems to me that it is still not very popular in Malaysia as I only saw a few of it in my area (Johor)... Surprisingly, those cars all have the common theme - 'Hello Kitty'!!

So, does that mean theme car is only meant for girls? Or only girls would willingly spend money on it rather than guys??

Can you imagine how our road will look like when it's full of theme cars? Will it look like it's having a parade?! How about for those who's having wedding ceremony? (I mean chinese wedding of course).. It will be very spectacular, won't it? =p

So, if anyone of you happen to be the owner or friend of the owner, do you mind sharing with us some information such as where to find these kind of workshops, what's the costs, how long does it takes, is the theme changable & most important, does it pass the JPJ rules & regulations...

Or if you have any opinion about this, you are free to share with us your opinion as well.. I would be glad to see some of those theme cars pictures if you have =)

Secret

I've recently came across a book called 'Secret' by ... I forgot the author somewhat :p
Well, in this book, it states that every little thing that somewhat happened around us came from our mind.
Meaning, if we had positive thinking, every little thing that happened around us, would become positive. Of course, if we had negative thinking, every little thing that happened around us, would somehow become negative as well.
In the book, there is one example that really attracts my attention. (Well, the book I read is in Chinese Version, so any translation mistake, do forgive)
There is a guy who's a gay. Because he thought himself as a gay and not accepted by society around him, whatever negative thinking he had do happened! Everyone boycotted him, bullied him, disliked him, etc... He e-mailed the author of this book and she re-sent him his own e-mail and asked him how many times had he wrote the word 'dislike'/'don't want'... and asked him to change his attitude of that to the things he 'likes'/'wanted'..
Amazingly, after he changed all the negative thinkings to positive thinkings, his situation really changed! Those who had once disliked him or bullied him had either being changed dept or resigned... The world around him also changed from dislike to like and he didn't even feel the people around him boycotting him or minding him being a gay anymore!!
Wow, if our thinkings can really fulfilled all the little thing that we wished for in our life, I do believe our life will change into a better one...
But what if that person has ill intention of thinking? Will our world be in disasterous??