1. What would you do if you had to look after a five-year- old child for the day?

The only time I have ever babysat for anyone is babysitting my younger cousins with an age ranch of about three to five years old. However, it is only on rare occasions. Of course the rare babysitting experiences were pretty interesting and fun-filled for me, despite the many difficulties I had encountered.
Looking after a five-year old child isn’t as easy as it seems. It involves planning ahead, adjusting to ever changing situations and also ensuring the safety of the child at all times. And as any adults know, five-year olds are a bunch of hyperactive and vocal kids and they tend to run around and scream for their needs, to the worse extend not listen to you at all. Therefore, maintaining a form of discipline to gain respect from the child is necessary at all times.
If I were to look after a five-year old child for a day, I will definitely make the day an eventful and exciting one to keep the child entertained. Before the babysitting session, I will plan out all the things I will do with the child and a backup plan in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
All children enjoy watching cartoons like Tom and Jerry. Hence, I’ll bring some of my old video CDs of those cartoons for the child to watch while preparing meals for him or her. This will prevent the child from getting bored and to end up running and wreaking havoc all over the house while I am busy in the kitchen.
Most kids I’ve seen are very keen in entertaining themselves with doodles and colours during their free time, hence after the meals; I will help the child with his or her school work if any. Alternatively, I will give the child a colouring book to colour and doodle in.
Always being cooped up in a house isn’t very healthy, not even for a five year old. Therefore in order to allow the child to have the luxury of running around in the outdoors and breathe in the fresh surrounding air, I will bring the child out to the nearest neighbourhood park and have a game of Frisbee with him or her. That is provided that the weather permits for any outdoor activities. This will definitely help stimulate the hyperactive juices in the child and allow the child to be able to run freely about and enjoy the game as well. Having a few rounds on the bike is also a plus point for the child that is provided that he or she knows how to cycle in the first place. An outdoor picnic in the park after the activities will be set up with all the prepared food and snacks for the child to munch on.
When it is about time that to parents of the child are back to look after the child, I will bring the child back to the house for a bath. If the parents are still not back yet, I will keep the child entertained with a few rounds of Snakes and Ladders. The game never fails to bring in anticipation and laughter into the players.
These are the activities I will organize and execute if I were to look after a five year old kid; of course nothing will ever go smoothly but I believe that as long as the kid is enjoying him or herself, the babysitting session is a success.

-XiaoXuan (6)

8. Describe some of the superstitious belief that you are familiar with.

There are many people who are superstitious. Even though I am not very superstitious but there are some that I believe, to be safe than sorry. Some superstitions that I know are finding a four-leaf clover will bring good luck, walking under a ladder is unlucky and that if a black cat crosses your path, it will bring you bad luck.
It is lucky to find a four-leaf clover, probably because a four-leaf clover is really hard to find. Hence, if you found one you would be considered lucky. In addition, walking under a ladder is unlucky because in the past, criminals were hung from the top rung of a ladder and their spirits would linger under the ladder. Furthermore, black cats crossing your path will bring bad luck because black cats were said to be witches. Thus, if a black cat crossed your path it meant bad luck.
Not everyone is superstitious, however for those who are; maybe they have heard about some superstitions and they believe in it. Otherwise, they may also have experienced it and thus believed in it. For example, someone may have walked under the ladder and the ladder just fall on them. Hence, aren’t they just having bad luck?
I do not think that it is good to be superstitious. Everything around may be linked to a superstition, hence it would not be possible for us to avoid all of them. It is also not good to be superstitious because will make people a paranoid. They would always be so careful in what they are doing that it makes others very irritated. However, there are some superstition that is better for us to believe, as there may be traces of facts in them, like an apple a day keeps the doctor away. An apple will be part of a healthy diet, thus having a healthy diet would mean that we would not have to see a doctor since the diet would keep us healthy.

-Corrina

What do I remember most about my time at primary school?

When I was Primary Six, I experienced many different things with my class. The most memorable one was my first camp that I went to. The camp was our reward for peer tutoring, which lasted for a long period of time. Initially, I was unable to attend the camp. However, after much persuasion, my parents finally consented let me attend the camp. The camp was held at Sentosa’s Underwater World.

We went there on a Friday evening and when we reached there, we were taken for a walk in the Underwater World. After that, we watched a documentary on sharks and how cruel getting shark fins is. Soon, all of us were exhausted and we headed for our showers. Then, we slept beside the conveyor belts. It was an interesting experience sleeping beneath marine animals. Everyone felt weird and scared of sleeping because we were right beneath a whole tank of water. Furthermore, the boys were sleeping underneath the sharks. I was so terrified and shocked whenever there was a thud sound. I feared that water may gush out from the tank along with the sharks. Although my mind kept thinking about those terrifying thoughts, I managed to fell asleep later.

The next day, we went to the Dolphin Lagoon and watched the performance by the dolphins and their trainers. It was spectacular. After the show, I was stunned when I was told we will be in close contact with the adorable dolphins. I was elated at that thought but I always feared being too deep in the waters. Hence, I hesitated about touching the dolphins from beside. However, I was relieved when I realized that the waters was shallow and only up till my knees.

All in all, the camp was the only experience that I had with my friends that I would never forget and will cherish up till now. This camp made me know more about my friends and feel bonded to them despite being unable to go out often with them.

-Jason, (39)

1. Do you agree that man is destroying the earth’s environment?

Depletion of ozone layer, littering, deforestation, etc, are all man’s doings. The earth had become a place not save to live in due to the consequences that come after man-made disasters. Man tried to make the earth a better place for them to live in. Instead, the earth is suffering ebn without man giving a second thought that what is beneficial to them might not be good to the earth.

I agree that man is destroying the earth’s environment. The more CFCs related products, like aerosols, used by man, the more the depletion of the ozone layer. By doing so, globalization, the trapping of heat in the earth, will lead to death of living things that could not adapt to the rising temperature. This in turn led to more destruction of the biodiversity of the earth.

Millions of plastic products used in everyday life of man are being disposed off and burnt. The harmful gases produced lead to the pollution of the air on earth, overtaking the fresh air in the atmosphere. These harmful pollutants simply destroy, dirty and kill the earth’s environment. Moreover, thousands of trees are cut down by loggers to obtain timber or wood to make furniture; things that man need. This large scale of cutting trees – deforestation - lead to many drastic changes no man could ever think off; even more disasters.
Soil erosion due to the absence of support from the trees will occur, followed by floods due to many debris washed into the river channel. These made the earth unsightly. Moreover, it destroys the earth’s environment, creating a mass destruction of the beautiful earth.

Hence, man is destroying the earth’s environment. Although what man is doing now is good to them, it is definitely harming the earth. Large scales of man-made destructions are still carried out, leading to even more harm to the environment. If there is no man, nature will lead the way. Globalization, littering, deforestation, etc, will not even be in the dictionary of mankind.

-elaine, (4)