Moving Up to a High School in Korea

(15 Minutes. That is all that I have to write whatever in on my mind lately.)

This is just a SotM (State of the Mind) write up on how we are going with the upcoming phase in my son's academic life.

This month is the start of the application period for the high school that we are eyeing for my son. This was not really something out of the blue since this particular school has been an additional point of us moving to this side of the country. But through the following years, the reality of not being able to get in or even just trying has not been particularly encouraging. For one, my son has not been that keen on his academics as most Korean straight-A kids are because we started him here on a laid-back approach to first learn the language.

Middle School came a bit of a panic as some parents are already starting attending High School orientation programs even if the kids have just started middle school. Non-Korean me is basically clueless and a bit appalled at the idea and my Korean husband is not really quite helpful. By the time the 2nd and 3rd (final year of MS) came around, our son's grades has not really shot up to stellar levels that a fancy high school requires. Only one thing that is consistent is the English one which will be a no-brainer since that is his first language at home.

We had tried to gather bits of info about the intake system but the local MS he is at was not really very encouraging at all because of his "numbers" (aka grades) at school. I had to directly go to the High School admission office to get first hand information. That, itself, was another emotional experience that might be in another post.

My husband finally got around to really looking into the details and chances of admission as the date came nearer. The month is finally here. We are still behind the essay part since it's really harder to get my son writing as he grew older. The only good thing is he has chosen to do try for admission at least. We just need to work more for the whole process to end in a total admission into the school.

I happen to chat a bit with a few non-Korean moms a few days ago who had older kids and asked how did their kids transitioned from MS to HS, starting from choosing and getting into HS. My worry level this month is pretty high so I wondered about how other parents went through it. This is not exactly Sky Castle level (if you know the K Drama that I mean) but my question was met like, they didn't had to worry much. Their kids told them, "don't worry, I got this." Or their kids' simply followed where their friends were heading, which is usually to the most basic high school around. Either that these parents are clueless, or just so laid-off on their kids' academic life. One thing that a Korean mom - friend that I know is neither though. She's the one who suggested ideas for me to attend such and such where I am usually the only southeast Asian mom who shows up.

Looking further into these specialized school, we've learned a bit to encourage us enough to really try. We believe that there is a place for our son in that school. It might need a little more effort that just signing up with a name but it can make a big life difference. There are opportunities that one just have to recognize and act on it. Getting into it might also mean extra monthly expenses for the next three years but we will be able to do it even if that would mean more work hours. But that is putting the cart before the horse.

Our goal until the end of next month is to get admission. I have no idea what other people did before or how they think but we will press on. I will try to document the process in case someone in the future might find this information helpful.

~~~
Year 1 MS: Get those stellar grades, specially on the subjects that matter, depending on the school of choice. Rake up the volunteer hours doing meaningful works. Start attending (solmyeonghae) to get direct information on such.
Sept - Nov: Attend the latest Solmyeonghae or get the final info on the specific dates for the process for the current year (application period, interview, docs needed like report cards, etc.)
Dec.: Finish the self-intro essay.
Week 2 : Submission of documents. First level results based on docs.
Week 3 : Submission of essay. Interview.
Jan. Week 1. Right after new year, Level 2 results.

This is the main deal. Pass this! The following weeks will be completing the final documents and such before the end of the month for the announcement of who will be the official freshmen for the next school year.

When all of these are completed, you got the month of February to chill and prep for the March school year to start. Sometime between these weeks will be getting the freshies supply ready for the dorm life in high school: uniform, clothes, beddings, personal effects (whatever that may be) and of course, mental and inner strength to face the unknown for the next few weeks at least.

11AM. One hour. I sure cannot stop writing once I get started. Signing off now. 

Morning Musings

This is the second day that my son goes to middle school. I've managed to let him eat a thick slice of bread and drink a cup of choco milk drink before he went downstairs at 7:45. I watched him from the window until he got on the bus. It was a bit of a wait for him out in the cold along with other kids who were also wearing similar uniforms. He thought it was going to be bulky if he just stuff the jacket in his bag later so he opted not bring one.

As the bus left, I checked what other buses come around this time online. I found that there are 1 or 2 more that he can take if ever he miss the 7:50. The tricky part is how long it would be walk from the bus stop to school. Bus ride alone takes 10-15 minutes, depending on time and passengers. I checked the buses coming and their locations as it is a bit tricky to figure out if the bus coming is going out or in since we only have one-sided bus stop. The one going the opposite way stops on the same bus stop. There is no way to know if the bus coming is going in or out unless I open another tab on the online menu or actually see the bus with it's LED out in front. Sometimes, even the latter can be wrong. The color-coded one online info is better. One can actually follow the bus' current location as it is updated real time, give or take a few minutes. It's almost creepy to think of that GPS thing on buses but it is pretty useful.

It made me reflect on how a parent would try to push the kid out in the world while still trying to keep the strings on him. He has been keen on taking the bus himself since day one of middle school and we've tried to teach him the basics. But as I chatted with him last night, he said he'll just follow the crowd. Ha! I guess he's not that ready yet? Even if I tried to let him find the stationery store to buy his supplies, he flat out told me that he doesn't know it, he's not good at navigating and he might get lost. Good or bad? I guess he won't be going anywhere except school anytime soon. I should be contented with that view for now.

We should do some more navigation trips later when we can. I noticed from our last trip to Seoul that he has stepped up a bit in navigating unlike our previous ones before where he simply didn't care and just relied on me for directions unless I try to push and ask him. This time, he was more involved although when I remarked that getting lost and navigating is fun, he tells me that it's the opposite. Where has his sense of adventure (a.k.a. Amazing Race spirit) has gone? Let's see what other changes will come these coming years. It would be totally nice to have him plan a whole trip by himself one day. I managed to let him do a bit of route research this time. He was the one who researched the trains and buses schedules and cost to COEX and this was because he wanted to go there in the first place. I'm not sure what other destination places would encourage him to do such. Or do so even if it wasn't a trip that he would like to take.

I actually like planning trips and such. But as I am a free spirit, I am very flexible. I have a plan, yes, just so that I will be on the safe side but at the same time, I can also tweak some on the fly provided that I have an extra info as back up. My son, at his age, is still a work in progress. It would be an interesting life trip ahead for him and see him navigate on his own in this so-called life.

My husband had his literal life trips on his own but it's really amazing how he did it considering that he suck at navigating streets. We've lived for more than ten years together in four different cities in between and he is like a homing-pigeon. He will only be be familiar with a couple of routes. That is probably why he ended up in Coron when his final destination was supposed to be El Nido when he first came to Palawan eons of years ago! I should've known better. :) He managed without his luggage and survived to tell the story and it's still a good one to remember now.

This reminded me about the interest to travel abroad soon together. Destination: Vladivostok, Russia. We all came up with possible interesting places. P, for Italy. Me, Greece. But both are a bit far for starters so Hubs kind of zeroed in Russia. Kid was interested in Russian language last year, and German this month due to hubs' encouragement mostly. Crossing my fingers that some family trip will happen soon!

Got to get to that uniform shirt for handwashing now, though.

Bilingualism

6 Reasons why your bilingual child might drop your language.

English is still the dominant language in our home. My 12 year-old son has
reacquired the Korean one since he was 9 after being away (we left when
he was 3). His dad almost never spoke Korean with him at that time. I tried introducing my own language when he was 6 but it wasn't really much. He can understand well and speak a bit before we moved back here but almost lost the speaking skill now. I think, it's really more on putting priority and giving the proper exposure.

5-Day Camp Success

The 5-day camp was a success. On what? Well, P claimed that he washed every night. Downside was he claimed he didn't see his oral care set so that means...

No. I wouldn't want to go into details. But we did pick him cleaner than from his previous camps. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to find the camp that interesting  that he said he got bored and missed home.

That 5-day camp was longest he's been far from home. I do think that he got some good experience from there other than the uninteresting Chinese camp. He told us about having to room with another 5th grader and two 4th graders. He's growing up, slowly.

Homeschool Update

My son's "homeschooling" is back on track. He is more inclined to do coloring and writing nowadays. His coloring skills had improved a bit. He's more aware of the colors outside the pictures and tries to color within the space. Writing letters, numbers and copying printed text he finds everywhere is becoming more often. A few months ago, I would be the one encouraging him to hold the pencil and practice something. He didn't really felt the same. He was more into "reading." It as almost frustrating to know that he can read but he can't write yet. Nonetheless, I took the time off and just let him be. Knowing that he will hear the "writing call" in his own time.
He now colors a lot more pages than before (more or less 10) and more often try to write with his pencil. Unlike before that he complains of "tired" after a short period of time.

His reading skills had improved immensely. He is never scared to figure out how to read stuff that he comes across. We've finished the consonants and vowels long ago and his "sight reading word bank" is growing day by day. As he tried to decipher new words, I keep in mind what part will be our next focus. My bet is on vowel families but I may have to try to figure out another one just in case there will be a better route. We did the "ail" family yesterday and he was so hyped on that. It may be another series to work on for us after the itsy bitsy books. Although, we're also doing the sight word set now, we might do both all together.

Another area that I want to deal with is the Math. I'm no math genius so I'm hoping that I can at least make a difference with my son. ;) I may have to work a little harder to figure out how to make it in this area but we'll see.

Off to check what's next on our "word family" and figure out how to go about fractions.