Burn, baby, burn

This is PSLE marking week and I'm praying that the markers will be able to make sense of Andre's scripts.

Preparing Andre for composition was especially nerve-wrecking. Despite my pleas, he has a tendency to write grandiose plots featuring himself as the hero. When I told him it wasn't realistic to write about how he jumped on and single-handedly subdued a burglar, he asked earnestly, "Can I say that I tripped him up and he turned a 360 degree somersault?" 

Please, God, let the marker of his PSLE composition have a sense of humour. And preferably a few young sons.

What I'm very grateful for is that PSLE preparation has not affected Andre's self-esteem. When he is unable to make sense of a question, he's likely to conclude that there's something wrong with the question, not his intellect. For instance, there was a science question which asked, "what could be a reason why the graph shows no difference in the level of carbon dioxide even when the number of plants increased?" He answered, "the graph is wrong."

Lesley-Anne is also undergoing her end of year exams but I haven't been stressing out over it as I can trust her to do her own revisions. Like I always say, God is fair. When you have a kid who's relatively low maintenance, you can be sure to have another that will require double the effort.

Last week, we got down to clearing the p6 textbooks and PSLE assessment books. Andre declared rather savagely, "BURN THEM!"  Isn't it sad that the PSLE is such an unsavoury experience that most kids want to eliminate every sign of it when they're done? After the English paper, Andre told me, "it's raining sheep and goats!" When I looked at him puzzled, he explained, "English exam over. I've thrown all the English out of my head."

Being environmentally conscious, we didn't burn the books.  We sorted the books into two piles - textbooks and uncompleted assessment books to be given away, all others to be dumped in the recycling bin.

This is just a fraction of the school exam papers Andre has plowed through. So much paper! I really believe if the PSLE is scrapped, we can save an entire rainforest.

I also find it hilarious that Lesley-Anne was the one helping to sort the books while the owner of the books (and the resident bum) took a nap.

We ended up with four humungous bags of books to be reused. I feel sorry for the recipients already.