Educating Rianne

I have thought my little nephew, Jayden, pointing at objects and asking his mummy "This one what?" to be quite amusing. And when I hear it from my own daughter, Rianne; I can no longer laugh..

I wanted to faint more than what I would do in my usual giggling self! It is undeniable that Rianne pick up things really fast, which in a way is bad as we almost cannot control the stuff she learn and start using them before we even know it. Take for example, she's a dialect expert. She can pronounce Hokkien words that accurately, way better than her mom! A 2 yr old toddler, an Eurasian, speaking fluent Hokkien words and phrases should be quite interesting to watch; but honestly, I am the least impressed!

More often than ever, I have wished Rianne to have a good grasp of English, then if she can, Chinese language would be the next. That is why I have always communicated with her in the former and lesser in the latter. I know there won't be a problem picking up Chinese/Mandarin when she goes to school the next time. I rather start educating her in English, and have her building up a stronger foundation than to struggle when she finally start school.

Talking about school, I cannot believe how incredibly hard it is to source for a centre which is going to take away close to $700 (provided I'm entitled to the government's subsidy) of my monthly salary for my toddler. It is still around 6 months before Rianne enters Nusery 1, and there is already no centre near where I stay that is available. It isn't like my criteria for the Montessori is super difficult to meet. All I am looking for is the centre should have adequately trained teachers and professional caregivers, and not just any cost-saving school
which scrimp on hiring good staff and compromise on the quality as a result.

My sister once told me it doesn't matter whether the kid goes to an expensive Montessori or just the PAP kindergarten, coz ultimately it is still the kid's inner talent that will give results. Hello, you'd only ruined your kid's talent and leave it completely undeveloped if you want to save money by sending them to lousy centres!