The one where my baby graduated (from kindy but still....)

With just a blink of an eye, it is already December 2015, so much good stuff have happened for the past few months and I shall proceed to blog about it all before the end of the year.

Date: 25 October 2015 (Sunday)

Venue: Crystal Crown Hotel, Klang

Occasion: Ryan's Graduation Day and Iman and Ranya's Talent Day

After 3 years in Tadika Ceria Az-Zahrah, my baby boy has graduated and will be starting standard one next year, Inshallah. He have grown and developed so much and I'm super proud of him Alhamdullilah...

1. Ryan is now able to speak in a more eloquent and less "pelat" manner.
2. He's more comfortable speaking in English and I've seen him use more complicated sentences of late (rather than his usual 2-3 words structure).
3. He's able to independently read his Iqra' textbook, memorize 12 short surah and the first 18 ayat of Surah Yassin.
4. He's able to remember all the actions for all 5 waktu for prayers, we still need to work on his recitations of course. 
5. He's able to read quite fluently in BM *yeay*
6. He's able to understand simple Math's concept (numbers, more-less, big-small etc). He's also quite good with additions (both on paper and mental calculation). 
7. He has awesome geography skills (at least for a 6 year old). He is starting to appreciate the differences between state and country :) He knows for example that New York is in US, Kyoto and Tokyo is in Japan and London is in England. 
8. Ryan love drawing. We got him a sketchbook which he call it his "game book". He will draw his Superheroes, battle plans and maps and pretend that it is a part of "video game".
9. He's able to float and swim for a few short strokes. He's a bit rusty, hopefully we'll be able to synchronized our timetable and get swimming lessons back in our roaster early next year
10. He have become quite a "Master Builder" and is super obsessed with Lego. A hobby that I encouraged. 

As much as we're happy that he's thriving academically, I'm more excited about his emotional, mental and physical development. It is no secret that I'm a huge supporter of "learning through play" and I credit Ryan's improvement in relation to his phonological issues based on the play activities that was conducted at home and his school. Alhamdullilah, we made the right choice in choosing TCAZ for Ryan and his sisters. I admit we don't see the development in 3Ms instantly unlike the more "academic" schools but what I do see is this...

Not only does he have the ability to READ, but there is the love of READING,

He not only know how to COUNT but what COUNT most...

We can't thank the teacher's enough for their dedication. Hopefully Iman and Ranya will also benefit from the school, Inshallah.

Muhammad Ryan Daniel was awarded the Anugerah Mutiara Putera 2015 for his developments and achievement this year. Alhamdullilah he won the special award two years in a row :)

My handsome boy confidently leading the ikrar, My heart burst with pride as a mother who watched him struggle to speak properly 3 years ago. 40% of his development can be attributed to the teachers and family support but I will say the rest he did himself. One of the most determine person I know (adults included :) )

Reciting Surah Yassin as a part of his Pra Tahfiz performance

Play acting the life of a "Turkey Boy"

Princess Ranya who had a meltdown earlier but quickly bounce back and gave the performance of her life :p

My Bollywood Princess Iman, who can't get over the fact everyone was clapping after she and her friend did the cute Indian dance head bopping thingy. "Mummy, kenapa semua orang gelak bila kakak nyanyi???" Hehehe

 My sweet babies, during their first kindy performance. 

 With my little superstars...

My tiny bit of validation...

Last 2 weeks on the 21 June 201 was Ryan's Report Card day. I was nervous as hell despite him being only 5 years old :p I was imagining the worst case scenario but was of course praying for the best. Alhamdullilah my fears was unfounded because Ryan is doing very well in school.

According to his teachers he's thriving academically, emotionally, mentally and physically. Ryan is a very well mannered boy and listens to instruction well ( I'm mentally wondering why is this not applicable at home? haha) He's also very helpful and loves helping his teacher to clean up the classroom after playtime (How come kat rumah mummy kena jerit2 dulu baru nak kemas ye, abang?)

Academically he's on par with his peers despite of his phonological issues.He's been scoring perfect marks for the past 8 weeks for his Fun English assignments and is able to present in sentences rather than words as was expected for his class. Teacher Ana also said that he has improved on his speech and is not as pelat as last year *alhamdullilah* The best part is despite his limitations, it does not affect his self confidence as he will readily offer input during classes :) I'm so proud of this little boy.

This awesome little boy have also been fasting from 7.30am to 5.30pm for the past 2 days. It was such a huge surprise for me because we didn't ask him to do it, though I did explain to him the basics of Ramadan.  When I asked Ryan WHY he's doing it, his reply to me was "sebab semua orang puasa and Ryan nak masuk syurga dengan semua orang" MasyaAllah good enough of a reason for me, love. May Allah continue to bless his little soul :)

 Ryan acting as Imam during school solat time :)

 Picture a bit grainy because I copied it from his report card hehehe

My parenting journey has its ups and down, with Ryan being the first, he's a bit of a guinea pig to us and sometimes suffers from incompetencies and poor choices made on my part and Lan's. Maybe I over think sometimes but I'm constantly afraid that I'm not doing and giving enough attention, opportunities and care to my children so when I do get positive input from a third party it really meant a lot. At least I'm doing SOMETHING right :) 

We still have a longggggg journey ahead. Here's to hoping that we'll be making more positive choices in relation to parenting my 3 little angels *inshaAllah*

Salam Ramadan, everyone. May this Ramadan help us to become even better Muslims than yesterday :)

Ryan : Kindy Activities Updates @Tadika Ceria Az-Zahrah

How time flies and we're already in the 2nd Quarter of 2014 :) Time for a quick update on the activities that Ryan has been involved in school so far. My little boy have been quite busy, we've enrolled him in a "Bijak Baca" and "Pra Tahfiz" classes which takes place after his morning session kindy (Monday- Friday). He is also still attending his speech classes every Saturday. 

Quite a hectic timetable for a 4.5 year old, huh? But he's enjoying it and Lan and I think this would be a good training for him when he enters Standard 1 in 2016 (InShaAllah) His Tahfiz classes have also tremendously helped improved his speech and he is also able to memorize Surah Al-Fatihah, 3 Qul and the first 5 ayat of Surah Yassin. MasyaAllah I've never been more proud of this little boy. 

The feedback I've been getting from his teachers/therapist have also been very positive.As much as I'm delighted  to hear about his development in the academic department, what really made me really happy is the input on his attitude on learning. He is very determined to learn new skills, love asking question and very hardworking.The only problem with this little boy is he's a bit kiasu and competitive (god knows where he get that trait from :p) 

His "pelatness" is a blessing in disguise. He knows that he needs to work harder than his peers when it comes to his speech so he does not take things for granted. Alhamdullilah it helped shape him to be the cheeky, intelligent and hardworking boy that he is today. Anyway after hours of going through the pics from his school FB photo archive, I managed to collate some pictures of my little boy in action :)

Classroom Activities

Sand Castle Building Activity

Personal Hygiene Week : Learning how to wash their own clothes

Trip to Tesco 

To learn about personal safety (not to speak to strangers etc) and halal food

Kembara Alam @ Kuala Selangor

2 days 1 night, Sleepover/Camping activities with his teachers and classmates. They visited Pantai Remis and Bukit Melawati to learn about nature and independence 

Activity of the day: Making their own photo frame using shells they collected from the beach. A picture of Ryan and his "jerung" group with his class teacher/chaperon - Teacher Ana

Camping/picnic session in Pantai Remis

Solat Jemaah in one of the Masjid in Kuala Selangor

:) 

Collection of artwork during his weekend away : A Counting Nature Book, Windmill and photo frame

FINALLY after 1 month, I managed to complete the promised "update list". Looking forward to May 2014. I have so much plans arranged and we all know it is my favorite month being my BIRTHDAY month and all (hahaha how's that for giving out subtle hints???)  Anyway have a good week and do enjoy the upcoming Labor Day...

This and that and nothing much...

All I can say is the 3 days break flew by so fast.... 

I wished it was longer so that I can spend more time with my munchkins 

The problem with weekends is I try to crammed down a gabijillion activities. From outings to visiting to housework... It is very hard for me to just shut down and do nothing. Mainly because I will feel irritated at the end of the day if I don't think the day was spent "productively" enough... So I will usually end up more exhausted by Sunday night instead of feeling rejuvenated.

Oh well.. my choice :p

But that did not stop me from feeling annoyed whenever I read about people who I think (or assume) having lesser responsibilities from me complaining about how busy and tiring their life is. Sometimes I want to shout at them and say things like "you have one kid and 3 maids, how hard can your life be as compared to me maidless, having to take care of 3 kids, keep my house presentable and work at the same time?" but I know those type of thinking is not fair. Different life, different obstacle, huh? So hard to keep things in perspectives at times.

But whenever I feel overwhelmed with things around me... I stop, take a deep breath and count my blessings instead... Maybe I don't have the latest most coveted handbags or on constant trip overseas but I have something even better.... my 4 lil (or not so lil) darlings... They drive me nuts and stress me out but I'm never short of love and attention whenever they are around... 

and for that Alhamdullilah :)

With my baby boo Ranya...

Hehehe early morning walk in the park with Iman, Ranya and Ryan on Malaysia Day holiday :)

Lil Miss Iman in her gorgeous Old Navy colour blocking dress :)

Selfies with my man....

Ryan Daniel. My handsome lil man :) After two months of speech therapy I'm happy to report that his speech is improving very well. I think he is just more aware of his speech patterns. People still chastised me for "over reacting" since they dismissed it as plain "pelatness" which a lot of kids have...I agree, maybe Ryan's speech problem was not overly serious, but I have the means and time to help him improve his problems, why shouldn't I? After all knowledge is power, rather than I waste my $$$ on new shoes or clothes at least I know I'm investing somehow in his education.

Miss Ranya Fatimah in her yellow outfit... She's trying to balance herself on the planks.. too cute

The twins are currently suffering from "twin escalation syndrome" It means that they try their very best to gain attention from outdoing each other. For example if one cry the other will cry LOUDER. If one jumps the other will jump HIGHER. It's actually very normal with most twins who experienced "sibling rivalry" at a much bigger scale. It makes sense if you think about it, they are of the same age, have the same needs and developing at the same rate.

They fight hard but they love more fiercely too... Iman is so protective of her little sister, she will get Ranya's bottle, towel etc for her, console and play together. Ranya is so manja with her kakak... You can't help but melt watching them play and laugh together... 

6 more weeks to our family holiday *in sha Allah*.... I can't wait....

The one on intelligibility and intelligence...

Ryan is pelat….

At 3.5 years old the so called problem is still considered “cute” and I know kids love to babble incoherent words and at this age one should not expect 100% intelligibility but I can see several raised “red flags” in his speech patterns. When he pronounces several words, some consonants seems to be missing, i.e. instead of saying “elephant” he says “ephant” or “Ryan nak pergi toilet” would sound like “Ayen nak peyi toiyet” 

I struggle to find the source of the problem. He seems to be hearing just fine, he managed to take instruction both in English and Malay and he responds and reacts to our questions (albeit being incoherent sometimes) I monitored his speech patterns and we tried to help him in other ways too. We intensified play activities at home and minimize tv and his bottle usage. I started teaching him phonics and we did see several improvements within the 6 months since he started school.

What I did next was to discuss his progress with his teachers. His class teacher assured me that Ryan behaves well in school, interacts with his peers and managed to follow instruction while doing class activities. He seems to have friends (haha) and we even have little kids screaming his name in recognition when we go out to the mall or play gym wanting to play with him (an indication that he’s pleasant to be with I guess?) Despite his speech being a bit limited, he’s able to complete his school “Fun English at Home” activities by memorizing 5 new words weekly. What was even more interesting was that Ryan was one of the few who manages to recite each words from cover to cover successfully. 

But I still see red flags… I can’t decide whether I was being overly cautious or plain paranoid. Some family members and more “experienced parents” assured me it was normal and he will be over it before he starts school, quoting “si ABC” but since I’m related to ABC and having help tutor the said kid when I was younger I also know for a fact that he hated “reading subjects” and even cried when I tried to teach him simple things. I know the problem was due to the lack of understanding due to early communication issues. So how now brown cow, do I want to risk this on Ryan? 

I arranged for an appointment with a speech therapist at Baby & Be.yond Clinic, Bangsar for an evaluation. After the evaluation, the therapist confirmed my suspicion of Ryan having a phonological problem (the fancier words for pelat ;p) She proposed that Ryan attend weekly speech therapy to assist him deal with the problem. The difficulty with her proposition was that her clinics are only opened on Wednesdays and in Bangsar.I wanted to help my son badly but at that time the odds was against us and having to wait for several more months “hoping” for an opened slot on Saturdays is not really an option. 

I believe that when there is a will, Allah will help find you a way and upon further research I managed to find another speech center in Section 13, Shah Alam. Ryan had his second evaluation with the new doctor last Friday, he had to undergo both “speech evaluation test” and “occupational therapy assessment” which looks looks at Ryan’s physical, mental and psychological abilities. Alhamdullilah, he cleared his OT assessment with flying colors. 

Doctor did admit that Ryan is a bit of a curious case. He seems to have acquired all of his expected milestones but something is hindering his speech development. The doctor commanded us for seeking help at a very early stage and my answer to that was simple. “Being in denial won’t help Ryan”. I believe that Allah also made it all a bit easier for Lan and I when a slot for the heavily in demand Saturday classes cleared up because the kids parents is going to further his studies in Harvard :p

We attended his first class last Saturday, Ryan was receptive for the first 15 minutes and got overly excited and his attention waned after that. Doctor gave several instructions and exercise for us to repeat at home. Trust me having to tutor my 3 year old who admittedly has an attention span of a gnat severely tested my patience. Thank god Lan is very helpful and being the non-verbal parent (i.e not the family nag ;p ) Ryan is more receptive to him in several situations. We’re also scheduling for a hearing test to double check his hearing.We have also weaned Ryan of the bottle entirely to help his jaw reflex. Other than a few tantrums and him coaxing a new Hulk action figure from us, he has been bottle free for 3 days. See that is one silver lining.

Writing this down is not easy but I think people need to be more Phonological Aware, that is why I’m sharing. Nobody likes to admit that their child is not perfect and living with the feeling that you’re screwing up their life somehow. But I’m done thinking of what “others” might think and any thoughtless comments towards Ryan limitations are a reflection on them not our family. Ryan’s intelligibility is not a reflection of his intelligence. I believe that and it is up to me to help Ryan understand and hold his hands through the process. 

I believe that this is test from Allah because he knows our family can handle this minor obstacle. In sha Allah, if we managed to go through this successfully Ryan would be a “stronger  and even smarter boy” and our family we’ll be even happier than we are now. God works in the most mysterious way. You just have to believe :)

Have an awesome week ahead everyone…