Mr Scaredy Cat

So the other day, Ace came home and quickly told me that he did not score too well for the mock math test. Out of 30, he only scored 10.5....

WHich is quite unusual for him!

I asked him why did he score so poorly and he said the test happened on a day that he did not bring money and did not eat during recess.. because he was too hungry, he was unable to concentrate at all!

I was like... "Wah lau eh.. wat kind of lame excuse is that? You never bring money can borrow from friends mah... you choose to go play instead of eat right??"

I told Ace I was very disappointed because this CLEARLY is not his usual standard and it told me that he did not give his best lor... Because it was an easy paper and he lost points because he could not finish fast enough.. the last part are story sums which had higher weightage and he barely did them at all. Given that it is a simple test, he should not take such a long time to complete the first portion...

And then Ace said he also did not put his heart into it and promised he will do better...

WHen his dad came home, he told his dad about his POOR results and kenna another round of nagging... But he also quickly informed his dad that he scored highest in his class for the science test. He scored 40.5 out of 50 and was highest in class and so his dad rewarded him with a treat at a dessert shop.

And then leh, I bought some assessment book for him to do and found that he got the answers quick and good. I asked him why the vast difference given that it is the same topic and he said.. "I already told you because I was hungry but you dun believe!"

Hahahahaha... ok.. so hungry man is not only angry man but a cannot zoh gang man...

And so we put this unpleasant past behind us and moved forward...

But leh, not long after, I received a call from school...

I was having a nap and then I got a call from a number I had not seen before. When I picked up the call, it was Ace on the other line...

"Mummy, my teacher says I have to call you because I never let you sign my composition file.

Turned out that our good friend has this composition file and since week one of school, his teacher has asked the to bring their work home for their parents to sign and for one whole semsester, he has not done so and his teacher just said to do so next week.

After the one week holiday, when semester two started, I still did not see the file and Ace did not show me any of his work and so his teacher reminded him EVERYDAY from monday, tuesday, wednesday.... each time he said he was sorry he forgot and he looked so apologetic that she cannot help but give him another chance.

So by Thursday, his teacher got fed up and decided to make him call me....

When he reached home that day, I asked him why I had to get such a call from his teacher. I told him that his job as a student was to get his work done and handed in on time and work does not just mean homework. If he was assigned to get something signed, that is his homework as well.

And then I niam niam niam....

After that, I asked for the file and when I looked through, I finally realized why he did not let me sign the compositions. Apparently, Mr Scaredy Cat had failed all his compositions BADLY and so I asked him whether he was thinking of scoring better before he sent to me for signature and he asked, "How you know.." Of course I know! I am your laobu!

Anyway, I explained to Ace there is no shame in doing badly if that is the best he has done. I was hard on him on the math because that was not his best... but for this one, I know he has done his best... and composition like any other thing is just a SKILL that you can master and learn...  if he had told me earlier, I could have helped him earlier with it too.... cos his laobu used to be a writer leh.. dun pray pray okie:) hahahaha...

So, I bought a book recommended by another friend who is a tutor to help him understand about the various aspects of composition writing and how to score. True enough, with a little guidance and his newfound knowledge, the next compo he did, he passed and improved from those 11/40 to a 28/40... so I told him, "See, you let me sign earlier, you would have gotten higher marks earlier:)" 

PS: The other day, we were chatting and he was a little dejected... cos he said that it seemed that everyone is better than him. If he scored 21, there is always someone scoring 22 and people around him seem to do better than him all the time.... only occasionally he is better than them...

I explained to him that he is in a class that is made up of people who have better results now due to the P4 streaming they had to group them together.. and I told him I noticed he has not been really focused lately so it could be possible that these people worked harder and were more focused. Whether they scored better may be important but most important really was that he gave his all.

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