An improved version of Matthew

Matthew has been attending childcare for six and a half months now. Intellectual development, he has always been quite good, so I was not so concerned on that part. He has definitely picked up more, as the teachers here are able to "tune" to his needs and development levels due to a smaller class. He has an almost endless thirst for knowledge.

What impressed me was the improvement in his social behaviour and interpersonal skills.

His teachers said that he is able to apply the correct behaviour to the situation. When it's schoolwork time, he really put in the effort in the piece of work he's given. He plays hard at playtime. He eats quietly at mealtimes.

He has more friends now. I think it's good that at childcare, the kids get to mix around. Matthew loves to be with the older kids, because they can communicate at the same levels. It seems that at his previous school, he tend to stick to himself more, because most of the kids were not able to express themselves well enough and he got frustrated communicating.

He is better behaved, much much less whining and crying. Whining and crying usually happens when he's tired or hungry.

He feeds himself, asks for a wider variety of food, questions the benefits of each food that he eats; willingness to try new foods and telling us how he feel about the food.

He is now more sociable, smiles more and greets people when told, even to neighbours in the lift.

Last but not least, he learned from his friends that they sleep alone without papa and mommy with them, he told us he wanted to do the same. The first big step was to "kick" Joanne out to our master bedroom and he slept on one mattress, Mike slept on the other. He told Mike that Papa cannot hug him at bedtime. The second big step was on Thursday night, he had no choice but to sleep alone, because Mike had a late appointment and I had to put Joanne to sleep. I switched on the aircon and fan (he complained it was too hot) and left the room door half-opened. He was scared of machines, aliens and monsters. I told him that they won't look for good boy who sleeps on his own. They only disturb naughty boys. Less than 30minutes, after calling out to me several times, he slept on his own...

One time only, but it's definitely a big step... :)

Well done Matthew. Jia You!


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