Holistic Report Card...

...Yes, that was what Big Bee's primary school named their report book. However, when I flipped through the pages, only grades leaped out at me. Perhaps the "holistic" portion referred to the compulsory subjects of Social Studies, Art, Music, PE, etc? 

The month of June had flared its exuberant cranium into this year, indicating a halfway point for the year. Every day, I am constantly amazed at how fast time gallops past us. Every moment, every second is too precious to let go, especially as we get on in age. We want to savour with exquisite relish and encapsulate every droplet of happiness into a frozen moment of rapturous eternity. Yet, it is impossible. 

So, every week or month, I would conduct a silent reflection on past milestones and appreciate quietly all the little felicities in my life. 

I remembered the milestone of half a year ago, when Big Bee entered into a new threshold of her life. My trepidations, her consternations. My heartaches, her headaches (at all the homework!). My uncertainties, her inferiorities. 

Yet, the 6 months of strong teamwork in the family culminated in contentment for us. I am very happy with her academic progress. But more fundamentally, Big Bee had adjusted beautifully in school, she has found new best friends while maintaining strong ties with her old buddies, she eased into her new school life with confidence and stable emotions. 

She managed to attain satisfactory results - 98% for English, 96.5% for Maths and 94% for Chinese. The mean scores for all students in primary one are 86.9%, 90.8% and 86.6% respectively, so I think primary school is indeed competitive these days. 

But what made my heart glow was her form teacher's comments in the report card which indicated that she had adjusted well emotionally:

"(Big Bee) is a confident and self-assured child. She has done very well this term. She is enthusiastic and participated well in class discussions. She has shown herself to be dependable. She is very bright and has good leadership qualities."

This is but a miniscule step in her academic sojourn and an even more microscopic tiptoe in the bigger journey of life. Let's hope she emerges strong and happy!

With her family of teddy bears (a la our traditional paper dolls) and a little wardrobe of clothes for them.