Another Week Beyond – 2036

September 4, 2020

Dear Friends,

It is said that a school is a place with four walls that holds the future within. For Azlinah, a mother of 3, it is also a place where people are always present for her children and her. This week she presented our teachers with a fabric coin pouch as a token of appreciation for Teacher’s Day. Each gift also came with a home-made “thank you” card prepared by her children.

As a long-term social visit pass holder, our Healthy Start Child Development Centre has been a familiar and comforting place for her, she tells us. Over the past 3 years, whenever she picked up her children, she looked forward to hearing from our teachers how they were at school and how they have been developing. Azlinah elaborated that as a single parent, the teachers were important in helping her make sense of the many worries she had of her children.

Her youngest child took more than a week to settle into the routine and was constantly crying. She was relieved when the teacher assured her that it was normal, and children just needed time. The teacher then showed her the different activities that her child enjoyed and was often so engrossed that she did not cry.

With her second child, Azlinah was concerned that she was very quiet and hardly said a word at school. However, her child’s teacher was confident that there was nothing wrong and with regular attendance, she will be chatting with her friends soon. Azlinah is now very proud of her child’s progress and is so happy that the teacher was right. She laughed when she also revealed that she was picking up several English words too as her children have now brought the language of school home.

Azlinah appreciates the warm relationship that her family has with our centre and thanks our teachers for educating her children. We are touched by her sincere gesture of appreciation and how she got her children to join her. Importantly, we would like her to know that the lessons she has been imparting to her children are just as valuable if not more; and that’s why sincerity, appreciation and patience are known as values.

Schools are closed today to commemorate Teachers’ Day and one way we can honour all those who have taught us well is to patiently explain something to another in the course of our day. If that opportunity does not come our way, I am sure we can mindfully express our appreciation of those around us or have a kind thought about them. Happy Teachers’ Day!

Wishing you, health, and peace of mind.

Sincerely,

Gerard

“Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.” – Confucius

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