We spoke to some former teachers and these are the things that they say will definitely irritate your teachers.
courtesy of the-parenting-magazine.com
1. I’m not your maid –Teach your P1 child independence and highlight that the teacher is not a maid. Do not ask your teacher to pick up your pencil from the floor or take water bottle out of your school bag for you. If you dropped something, raise your hand, ask for permission and do it yourself.
2. Pooping in Class – some P1 students are born premature, or just shy and fearful. They may not dare to ask the teachers for permission to go to the toilet, and hold it in, until they could no longer do so and end up “peeing or pooping” in class. Teachers have to interrupt the class to clean up the mess and the soiled child. They also have to leave the rest of the students and may have a hard time explaining why their fellow student, who may be embarrassed for soiling him/herself. Teachers advised that parents train their kids to ask for permission to go to the toilet.
3. No Toilet Manners – In some schools, the teachers and students share the same toilet. Teach your child to practice good toilet manners by aiming properly into the toilet bowl.
4. Drinking Water in Class – Teachers generally do not allow students to drink water in class because the combination of spilled water, wet floor and young children is an ideal recipe for accidents, not to mention the extra work of cleaning up. P1 kids may also try to read and drink water at the same time – again, not a good combination.
5. Challenging your Teacher with Arrogance and Defiance – As more families adopt the no-caning policy and with more children coming from affluent or indulgent families, teachers experience more backlashes from haughty students. Citrix Chee, a former primary school teacher who taught Mandarin and now counselor at Kang Ren Group shares this story:
A student was sent to her Chinese remedial class for getting 8/100 marks in his Chinese testWhen she caught him doing his Kumon work, she requested that he put it away to concentrate on the Mandarin lessons. When she turned her back, the other students reported that he was doing his Kumon book again. She repeated her request again, only to be greeted by 3-worded Hokkien vulgarities from this P4 student. The other children were watching her reaction. She had no choice but to report the boy to the principal. The boy continued to be defiant and even threatened to get her fired by complaining to MOE.
Parents, do NOT tell your child that no matter what wrong he or she has done, you can write a letter to complain to MOE. This allows the child to be very defiant and arrogant towards the teachers.
6. Insult and Disrespect Your Teachers – Using vulgarities in class is a “no-no” said Ms Chee, but so are parents setting a bad example for the kids. She recounted an incident from a fellow teacher:
At the end of the school day, a P6 boy told his female classmate that she “was so cheap, she can be a prostitute in Geylang”, making her cry. When the teacher investigated the incident, the boy scolded the teacher, “For wasting my time, you’re a bastard”. The angry teacher went to speak to the father who was waiting in his Jaguar. The father’s response? “My son is right! Stop wasting our time,” he said. The son hopped into the car and they drove off, leaving a very upset teacher standing in the parking lot.
Parents, it is very important to teach your kids to respect you and their teachers!
7. Expensive Material Possessions – sometimes it is the parent’s best intention to buy branded bag, shoe or watch for their children as an indication of their love and indulgence, but it can make the other classmates feel inferior. For example on sports day, if your child turns up in Nike Air while everyone is wearing normal shoes, it is very hard for the teacher to explain to the other students. Try to fit the child in with the rest of class.
8. Relying on Teachers for Knowledge – Teachers agree that school is a place where they provide the knowledge for to students. Their bugbear is when students do not explore any knowledge by themselves and always rely on the teacher to provide the answer.
9. Not Hand In Homework On Time
10. Bad Handwriting or Sloppy Work – Students should check dictionary if they don’t know how to spell or write a word. Drawing circles in place of the words are not acceptable.
11. Incomplete Work or Missing Workbook
12. Fall Asleep in Class or Fidget because of Boredom – Before the streaming begins, your child may be more advance and already know the work. However, the teacher still has to teach the syllabus dictated by MOE. Help your child find ways to be patient in class.
13. Borrowing Money from Classmates – Teachers have to mediate when a child borrows money from his classmate. And when one borrows from multiple students, s/he may appear to be a fraud.
14. Bringing Handphone to Class – usage of handphone in class is very rude and risk being confiscated by teachers. Check what the school rules about handphones are and teach your children about the boundaries of handphone usage.
15. Bringing Sharp Objects to Class – teachers advise that sharp objects should not be brought to class. This is because the students are in the care of the teachers, thus it becomes their responsibility when a child is accidentally hurt from fights or play. Not to mention the dangers to the classmates and disruption of the class routine.
Teachers’ Expectation
Here are some of the things your child should already know when he/she enters P1:
- Sit down on the floor
- Raise your hand if you wish to speak – learn to be patient
- Wait for the teacher to call on you to speak
- Be toilet trained
- Be able to stand in line and know where to stand in the line
- Sit down at the desk when asked to do work
- Do homework independently in class like writing.
- Be able to write and recognize basic characters eg. father (爸爸), mother (妈妈)
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