Öğretmenim

Canım öğretmenim
My beloved Teacher
Tükenmez senin sevgin
Your love has no end
Çiçeklerin içinde
Your flower is within me
BENİM Çiçeğim
My Flower
SENSİN
is YOU!

Ara Karnesi

Much to my amazement as a former teacher and a mom,Saturday was the day i discovered that...

There is NO EXAM SYSTEM for the
PRE-SCHOOL (anaokulu/pra sekolah),
FIRST GRADE (birinci sınıf/darjah satu),
SECOND GRADE (ikinci sınıf/darjah dua)
THIRD GRADE (third grade/darjah tiga)
STUDENTS!!!

Nice isnt it? i wish we had that while i was still a student..What do we have here? we have...

DAVRANIŞ KARNESİ (character report card /laporan pembinaan karakter)

how cool isnt it to be a teacher in those grades? It leaves u in a less strain position and that allows u to be more creative and relaxed in educating ur students..especially in the early days of schooling years where if u love ur school life..that will be a positive beginning for a child esp for his or her future years in the struggle to get a place in a university as she or he will have to study really hard to pass the complicated...difficult system of university exam entry....

Yesterday..i died of exaustion...figuratively speaking.

Halil left me in front of the school compound by 12 noon. Then, he took safa (his nephew) and our kids to Carrefour since i am left to this excruciatingly painful task...the least he could do was to babysit his kids for a few hours, right?12.15 noon, the veli toplantısı (parents meeting) started...mothers vs hatice's class teacher..that sweet Nilgün öğretmen (Nilgün teacher)...The meeting ended up at 1.30pm where later the parents proceeded to several rooms to meet the *branş öğretmenlar* (branch teachers..ieiii other subject teachers..) It was que after que that no man will have patience to do..That is why Allah has created us mothers... to deal with these things...i went there at 12 noon n i left the school at 4pm.. tired..thirsty..hungry..(they did offer refreshments but all i wanted to do was to finish the que n meeting all of hatice's teachers..).....the day did not end there.. at 5 there was ipek's birthday... then we went to baba for a while..then the kids (nephews n nieces) were at us for a while..n by the time they left.. my body was itching from my allergy towards dust..my feet aching ..n the sound of yasin lulled me to sleep from halil's mp3 player...

What is important for me yesterday was that it was ara karne (first semester report card) distribution..this is the chance for me to see how my daughter is doing at school..how the teachers percieve her in class..

This is her class teacher's assesment of Nur Hatice ..Wanna see her status?? Yup.. as u can see.. she scored *çok iyi* (very good)..top grades for her character building..The character list is..(i hope i am translating these right.. i am not too good in turkish..will ask halil to check my translation after he wakes up)

1. The responsibility of the homework given

2. The speed and capability in preparing herself for reading and writing

3. The habit to come to school

4. The capability to use of the language, respect and words used in conversation

5. The capability to use carefully and protect the school and class property

6. The capability to use carefully and protect personal property

7. The ability to be get used to the eating habit and following the eating room rules

8. The habit of doing the homework systematically

9. The ability to listen and join the lesson

10. The ability to carry responsibilities in a group

11. The capability to bring a task to a success

12. The capability to finish a task given

13. The relationship between friends

14. The love to be helpful

15. The capability to show respect to the elders and to show love to the younger

16. The habit of waiting in line

17. The ability to speak out in class

18. The ability to keep the personal locker tidy in between classes

19. The capability to be clean

20. The ability to listen

21. The ability to follow up the basic rules of mannerism (to thank, to apologize, to say hi etc)

What is soooo cute about this report card is the personal comment from her teacher.. she used the word..Benim Minik Papatyam(My little papatya *a flower*) to refer to hatice.. isnt that soooooo sweet??

That is the overall report card..There is a separate report card for english lesson..Hatice again get all top score (Excellent) except for homework and working in pair where she got only *very good*.

The homework was because hatice did not bring one english homework to school the other day coz her mom got her homework all mixed up..(should she be blamed for this?) and the other one was because the teacher once saw her fighting with a friend...Anyway.. had to queeeee long lines..many many hours..here is what i gathered from those i went to see:

Class Teacher (Nilgün Gülen)

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She is extremely happy with Hatice's development.. her character etc..I asked her whether there is any problem with hatice in her class.. she said no.. Hence, i did mention a few of my worries..n possible problem with hatice..for her to look into.. she is such a sweet lady! i even managed to chat with a few moms (of the older grades) while waiting in que.. they said the same thing too..

English Teacher (Sumeyye Özel)

*****************************

She is happy with hatice as well..Hatice is very participative in class etc..etc..her only complaint was that hatice did not bring back her homework (as i mentioned above..it was my fault)The rest..she is happy with hatice.. my only concern is.. (perhaps due to exhaustion n endless parents she had seen)..but can she ..the teacher..smile a bit???

Resim/drawing..art (Gülçin Gül Erikçi)

**********************

She describes hatice as *aceleci* heheheh *nak cepat*..i think i know what she meant.. at home i see hatice holding a pen and she can finish her drawing in seconds... she is fast... but the problem with that is..she does not stop to *think*..or *listen to instructions*...esp in class..The problem with hatice is... she is at times in a world of her own..no matter what u say (or the teacher say)...she has made up her own conclusions..hmmm... so in class..she finishes her drawing fast but not as what the teacher has instructed.. she needs to improve on that..Other than that..the teacher is happy with her.. -*sweet kid* she said..

Muzik (M. Kemal Öndeş)

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A cheerful guy.. his description for hatice *Perfect...çok akılı bir kız* ( a very intelligent girl)MasyaAllah....

Physical Education (Hülya Baş)

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She was not around

Computer (Gökçe Akça)

**********************

On leave

Chess (Ediz Gürol Gündüz)

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He think hatice is *çok akılı bir kız* ( a very intelligent girl) and he thinks that she can go far with chess if she wants to...but the aim is for the kids to love playing chess..no strains..he gave other compliments as well but better not exaggerate here..Else, somebody will muntah on this entry hehehehheeh (looking at my dearest friend M) hahahahahah

Drama (Enbiya Avcı)

******************

This teacher went to drama. He was no where to be found. Grrrrrr

Turkish Plays (Necla Aktaş)

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Again compliments for hatice but..hehehe yup there is a but.. hatice is a bit lazy to stand up..she prefers lying on the floor at times (but she also mentioned that it might be because the lesson is normally early in the morning.. the kids r still sleepy etc.)

Dear Teachers.. THANK YOU for ur guidance especially in EduCATiNG my daughter.. Nur Hatice. Only Allah can repay for all that u have done..

Saturday..25th November..my Daughter's first Report Card..:0)

No exams ...how cool is that??I think this is something true.. once the students have a good character base in life, this will make their life much more easier n fun.. they wont see the school as something far too seriously *boring*..I try not to mumble too much about hatice's schooling in this blog.. after all, she has her own blog for me to mumble of her schooling life..but i think i am so over the moon when the teachers compliment my daughter....which parents wouldnt, right?

U r Not a Snail!

I woke up from the sound of baddin coughing. It was not dark anymore outside.. fearing for the worst, i looked at the watch... 7.15am!!!!! We were late!!..15 minutes late!! halil must have forgotten to setr the clock after he woke up for work!

I quickly woke hatice up and brought baddin to the living room.. Yeah..he still wakes up with his sister every morning...went to the kitchen to prepare their breakfast..and went to check on hatice...

I couldnt believe my eyes!! There she was... still.. lay lay lay singing n taking her time..moving her hips to the tune of her own music...one hand holding her toothbrush..the other holding a toothpaste..

*haydi hatice..çabuk ol* (hurry up hatice)

i said in panic.... did she speed up her movement? Sure..of course... NOT..

FinaLLY, she came to the living room where she knew her clothes would be. She hold her t-shirt and sat on the couch...just looking... Haydaaa........i muttered to myself..it was 7.30am..she stilll has to have her hair braided.. breakfast... toilet...to do...to go to..

I took over n made her wear her clothes in 3 minutes. That done, i braided her her as fast as i possibly could..Allaha Şukur, this time she didnt move her head too much..Breakfast?.. a slow task...she was watching tikkabilla on tv while munching her food and drinking her milk..

7.42am..i told her to stop eating.. toilet time!! that done..boots in..winter jacket on.. n while waiting for keremcan to come out of her house, she sat on a small chair (tabure) while i fed her her leftover milk n dried raisin...it is a habit of hatice's (n baddin's next year-by force most definitely).. a bit of rasin before going out to school..

phewwww.. stress over.. .looked at the window to see her safely inside the school service..baddin shouting *bye bye abla* from the window..(i told him to shout bye bye keremcan too as not to be bias but he refused...).. n off to our daily activities..

thought i'd let off my steam a bit with this entry....she takes time...doing things slowly n happily in the morning..it is good perhaps but she is driving me nuts with her ease!! i just want her to be prepared n not be late for school n she is just happily lay lay lay herself every morning .. not caring if she is late or not..

Kızım.. u r not a snail!! Hurry Up!!

Story Book Making

2 weeks ago, one of the weekend assignment was for hatice (together with her parent or parents) was to produce a story book. I was in charge of course.. It was quite a lucky day coz on saturday morning that weekend, it snowed in the morning.. I immediately took that as an opportunity to make sure the kids come up with a story each.. Yes.. the came up with the stories almost immediately...They story may not make sense (especially baddin's) but they r their original stories It was meant for hatice's weekend project..but i couldnt just do the book for hatice n leave baddin behind ...it wouldnt be fair for him right? So both kids did their story books..

We later went out to buy the stuffs necessary for the book making. I left the kids at baba's while i went to nezih for the necessary items. We came home. Together from the internet, we found pictures we thought related to the stories...The kids chose the pics themselves. We got them printed...

i typed the stories on the pc..while Halil- the dad became the language and spelling controller..one field i simply cannot do.. together with the kids, we decorated the books..and here they r.. what a pity during the showing off of the books in class, hatice was absent.. she was sick.. so she couldn't show off her work to be admired by her friends.. it was hard work for all of us..the ideas of decorating the book was purely hatice's...of course, i helped a bit in decorating baddin's book.. but the hand drawing..the colors .. sticker sticking was his own handywork.. ENJOY the STORY!! (just dont try to make too much sense of them!! hahaha)

MUTLU KARDAN ADAM

One Happy Snowman

Bir gün, bir varmış, bir yokmuş.

Evvel zaman içinde, kalbur saman içinde,

bir gün bir kardan adam yaşarmış.

Kardan adam çok mutluymuş.

Once upon a time, there lived a snowman. He was one happy snowman

Sonra önünden bir kelebek geçmiş.

O da demiş ki;

“Sen çok şirinsin ve çok tatlı

bir kar adamsın.Kimse senden kaçmaz”

Later, one butterfly flew passed the snowman.She said:

"You are one cute and sweet snowman. Nobody ran from you."

Birkaç dakika sonra, bir arı geçmiş.

Ari demiş ki;

“Sen çok sevimli bir kar adamsın

çünkü sen hep paylaşan bir kar adam sın.

Çiçekler solar ve sen hiç üzülmezsin”

A few minutes later, a bee flew by the happy snowman. He said:

"You are one lovely snowman because you are always sharing things with your friends. Even when the flowers wilt, you don't get sad"

Sonra, kar adam cevap vermiş;

Later, the happy snowman answered:

“Evet. Ben çok mutlu bir kar adamım.

Yes. I am a happy snowman

Herkese iyilikler yaparım.

I do good to others

Herkes beni sever ve

Everybody loves me

çiçekler benden solmaz ve

benden kaçmaz.

The flowers don't wilt on me and they don't run from me

Ben de onları çok seviyorum.

I love them too

Sevmek, gülmek ve paylaşmak

güzel bir şeydir”

To love, to smile and to share are good things

Haydi herkese,

Come on everybody

“MUTLU OLALIM”

Let us be HAPPY!

This is baddin's story...written as he had told me..

KEDİ HİKAYESİ

The cat's story

Bir gün bir kedi varmış.

Sonra, onun annesi gelmiş.

Sonra, babası da gelmiş.

Sonra, kediye çiçek atmışlar.

Sonra, süt atmışlar.

One day, there was a cat. Later, the mother came. Then, the father came. Later, they threw the flowers away. Afterwards, they threw the milk away.

Sonra, bir çocuk varmış.

Sonra, kedinin ablası gelmiş.

Sonra, kuşlar böyle geçmiş

Then, there is a boy. The cat's sister came. The birds passed by.

Sonra, kediler ve yılan beraber çıkmış.

Sonra, kar yağmış.

Sonra, kediler kardan adam yapmış.

Afterwards, the cats and the snake went out together. Soon after, it snowed.The cats made a snowman together.

Sonra, kedinin yuvası da kar dolmuş.

Kediler kaçmışlar.

Bir avcı gelmiş.

Avcı bir tane kedi yakalamış.

Not too long after that, the cat's house was full with snow.The cats ran away. While running, a hunter came. The hunter caught one of the cats

She was absent

Yup..as the tittle suggests, hatice was absent from school from last Wednesday till friday...Saturday and sunday r off days. It was quite a nightmare for a couple of days.. Frm that Tuesday night she had fever..high fever. She started her antibiotics.. i think only by friday, the fever finally stopped.

But she told her class teacher anyway on tuesday that she wont be coming to school on wednesday..

While i was busy dealing with the kids..yup..both baddin n hatice were..r still not well..i recieved a call from the school..it was either the school principal or was it the assistant principle who called.

ring ring..(conversation tranlated to engish from turkish)

Me: hello

Caller: I am the head/assistant head (not so sure) of the school. May i speak to the guardian of our sudent Nur Hatice? Her mother or her father

Me: (i was at that time thinking to myself.. what does that make me? a servant?)..but instead i answered.. I am her mother.

Caller: Our student Nur Hatice was not at school today. Is she alrite?

Me: No..she is not well... she has bla bla bla (i explained her condition)

Caller: in that case..*getmiş olsun* (get well soon).

Me: Thank You.

hmmm..interesting isnt it? the head or assistant head calling the parents.

Then the next day, Nilgün öğretmen, hatice's class teacher called. I informed her of hatice's conditions n told her that she would be absent till the end of the week. She then asked to talk to hatice..

U should have seen my daughter's face... she was so happy especially after the teacher told her that she misses her etc..etc..her teacher has a soft voice n 2 children of her own..one hatice's age..she knows the psychology....my daughter was indeed one happy girl despite the discomfort of health she was in..

This is one good system of the school. They class teacher at least would call in the sick students by phone to ask of the students' health etc..etc.. it makes the student love the teacher n love the school coz they feel that they r cared...thus, school becomes much more bearable (if they dont like the school in the first place.

She had missed a lot of things last week in school... will mention that a bit later in the next entry..

General Observation

One day last week she came home feeling sad...i was busy in the kitchen that i didnt really bother to actually sit down n talk to her. She mentioned about this one child *E* not wanting to share the ceviz (walnut) she brought to school bla bla bla.. i said something...and that issue just went off the conversation like that..

Lesson: Sit down with ur child even 5 minutes if u sense something is wrong. Leave the household chores 4 later..UR CHİLD SHOULD COME FIRST.

Dinner over..bath time over... bla bla bla.. it was bed time.. lights off..it was our usual doa readings..chatting in the dark before closing the eyes to sleep.. It was then she once again opened the same topic again..She was explaining from her bed..while i was with baddin on his bed...

What happened was.. during school time, this child *E* brought some walnut and hazelnut to school..Everybody swarmed her..when hatice asked from her for a walnut... the answer she got was *i wont give it to u..u r not my friend*.. then another child *Ec* nodded in agreement..

That had hurt her feelings..but luckily another friend *M* took a walnut from her hand and shared it with my daughter..

What *E* and *Ec* had said however had hurt her feelings so much..that when she was telling me of the situation, my daughter came to baddin's bed and cried..sobbingly..she has a very tender heart...and for one not to like her... she gets really sad..

I suppose this is just kids matter..it happens all the time.. one time they get well with each other..the other time.. the reverse....But i always tell her during our pre bed conversations (that is the only time we really talk heart to heart)..to treat her friends nice..no matter how badly they treAT her..

I am glad though that she followed my advised... THere is also another child who drives hatice crazy everyday...that child was always unto hatice doing something.. irritating my daughter.. but one day last week, that child got a stomach ache.. she was crying.. and hatice..being hatice..*bir ablalık yaptı*..being used to being a sister to baddin.. she went to that child and hugged her...i am proud of her for that..

Kids matter..parents should not interfere.. i know that basic rule in parenting.. but i just cant help it.. if another kid make my kids cry.. i just go crazy...i feel offended.. i feel sad..i should try not to...

And yesterday, hatice came home with the weekend homework and next week's project.. book making!! In this rain..and with halil not around.. how am i going to buy those stuffs necessary for that? and hatice has not even come up with a story yet!!! From the monthly timetable, on tuesday, hatice will be in charge of bringing the fruits for all her classmates..*meyve gunu*..fruit day*..that we have to go buy as well.. halillllllllll yarın Carrefoura gidelim mı? hehehe..

oh yeah.. yesterday..the first snow of this year has officially announced itself..no snow at our living place..but at halil's place.. it snowed.. other places as well... this reminds me that the kids need winter shoes..esp hatice to got to school...