Wednesday 30 October 2013

Happy Halloween 2013

This year's Halloween was hosted by Not Me!
Haha..

So I offered to make these party packs.
Made it a little more special with personalized name tags.
In it, some typical party hats, noise makers, some candies, bubble solution or
noisy hammer, do a dot worksheet with orange stickers (I had to), and bibs for the babies

DECO
Banner, decos and games by my sister Winnie

Someone went overboard with these :)
  

Toilets tubes ghost and ghost lollies!
Hairbands for mommies to take pic with &
mask for the kids


Does this look creepy?

COSTUMES
 Tiger was supposed to be a pirate but as usual...he didn't like it.
So, we switched his old Spiderman with Cutie L who wanted Superman.
Same colours ma Spidey and Superman...hihi
Kids!!
So, he became Batman
 

 My sweet niece as a witch.

My handsome nephew as a booby Superman.

 Lil J, suave as usual, as Vampire

Sour face Batman.
Oh, this picture is to prove that I am not as fat as the Bella show me.
See, my head is only as big as lil J's head!
 

My sweet fairy princess who wore her costume form 5 pm to 9 pm 
WITHOUT ANY FUSS.
She also missed a naptime and conked out on the way home.

Other cutie came as Fairies, a nurse, pumpkins...so cuuuute. 
This Halloween is also significant for Tiger as he had his first lollipop.
It was also some kids' first exposure to candies.

Games
Sensory bin that the kids scooped and scooped for the longest time
  

Baking soda and vinegar: uncover the eyeballs! 

 Ice monsters

We played 'pass the parcel' where everyone got a gift >.<

Food, yumz
We had some KFC, meehoon, nuggets, fried rice, fruits tarts, donuts,

Aunty Sharon made this most delicious gula melaka and santan jelly.
To die for....
If only there were some cendol inside....slurrrppp.

I had wine...yay!
Sorry, I need alcohol in my life.
It is the key to keeping me sane+ a happy, loving married life + a doting supermom.
Send a Lambrusco if you love me ^.^

 <<<>>>

We had a blast.
It was peaceful, fun, filled with love and wonderful people.
Happy Halloween!!

Signing out, errr,
.
.
.

What is Batman's catch phrase, ya?


Math: Worksheets, oh worksheets!

3 year 4 months old

Remember this schedule I made?
 
He loves checking it and deciding his own thing.
We'd already cycled, visited the playground and did messy play
but he was like, "It's okay, that one can do again"

@.@
 Double standard.

Recently, it was all about Math.
Since he is not attending preschool/kindy, he thinks worksheets are fun.
>.<

 I bought this book from MPH for about RM 20
I didn't know it is a bestseller when I chose it.
I just liked the concept and presentation.
Well, Tiger love it (Mighty good taste I have)
You can check it out here

Because it is so pricey, I wanted to recycle it for Dragon.
So, we use it with our Crayola Dry Erase Board & Daiso markers.

Here are some of his work.
As you can see, it is not too tough.

Simple counting

  I combined it with some counting abacus beads to make them more hands on
and to make it more concrete for additions.
Tiger actually hates it when I add stuff.
He thinks I am slowing him down :p
Too much right brain work??
He cannot write number 6 or 8 yet, so I write the answers for him.
No forcing allowed.

Patterning

I created some simple patterning strips with stickers as well.
We practiced some scissors skills after that.



I have to limit him to 1-2 sheets per day.
His seriousness towards 'work' is not limited to homeschool time.
His attitude in BaoBei is the same.
He is almost done with Set A cards (about 100 words).
Not bad for a banana.
 It's just who he is. 
A boy who loves learning, words, and numbers.

If your child loves to play and find worksheets boring,
use your daily activities to reinforce numbers.
We count absolutely everything.
Trees, birds, fruits, money, etc.

If it's any consolation, Dragon girl will probably do zero worksheets.
Her attention span is as good as a fish's

She looked at this puzzle for 5 seconds before asking for....
  
.....this sticker activity that was included in the Halloween party pack.
After I laid it out for her, she took one look and walked away!
=.="

God, I hope she is really tall and beautiful when she grows up.
Please, please do not let get my shorty genes.

Tuesday 29 October 2013

Spooky Halloween Bin


To create this bin, I used:
Instant oatmeal (from apple sensory bin)
Cinnamon sticks (also from apple bin)
Wax pumpkins
Fake spider web
A lil girl and boy for representation of the kids.


I thought it was a pretty neat bin but nope, Tiger created this instead.
I call it the Rubbish Bin

Some shots of them exploring the bin while I just observe.
Again, free play and fine motor is prevalent in a session like this.

Examining the bottom bowl filled with oatmeal

Sweet girl is enamored with the spoon and bucket.
I adore little girls in dresses. 
In Tiger's words, "Mei mei look like princess!"

Disturbing each other is all in a day's work

Exchanging hairbands

Dragon girl loves sensory bins.
Right now, while I am typing this, I have already disposed of this 
oatmeal and the googly eye water beads bin.

We currently have another 3 bins.
I tend to over do Halloween, I know.
Pity the kids :p

1. Super messy Halloween treasures sand bin

2. Orange spider mini bin

3. Shredded paper bin

{pictures later!}

Thursday 24 October 2013

Halloween Monster Kit

This was a spur of the moment thing since I couldn't think of 
where to chuck this giant sorting container

I saw this pic from No Time For Flashcard which inspired ours.

Can you see Tiger waiting impatiently to dig in?
Haha...
I was telling him, Wait, go away for awhile laaa. I want to take a picture first.
See? I chase my son away to snap a pic for you guys =.="
I reused the tiny stuff I hoard in the 'craft' drawer.
Speaking of the craft drawer, by the way, it is full of junk and not crafty at all.
We have some
googly eyes, golf tees, glass beads, butterflies, straws.

Can you guess what he'd made?

Tadaaaaaaa...
The saddest Snow Monster ever!

I am not going to sugar coat things and say what a great experience this is.
Truth is I bloody hate PlayDoh.
The floor is gross after play.
There will be bits everywhere.
And that is not the worst

The absolute killer?
Mixing different colours.
God, I swear my blood pressure shoots through the roof.
And what did Tiger do?
He rolled white, red and black together.
New ones that were just birthed from the container.
Untainted.
Fresh.
So wangi
So soft.
They were like, like....like virgins......
*cries*
.
.
.
.


Tiger saw the look on my face and ran out of the room, shouting
"I go sleep now. Good night. I love you mama. Bye"
In one breath.




=.="
Nasty little thing.






Friday 18 October 2013

Preschool Guide to Math


Warning: A lot of links on this post but definitely worthy of your time.
So, don't be lazy, go read.

<<< >>>


 I heard Tiger singing the other day,
One plus one is two
Two plus one is three
......
(from Shichida song)

Correct, but when I ask him,
"If mama give you 1 sweet and papa give you one more,
how many sweets do you have?"
Three
=.="
Confirmed. Not math genius.

Since I am not trained to be teacher, I have to ask Google.
First, must back up my teaching with science.
This article is useful

I was looking for a guide on preschool math when I found some I like:

1. Life of Fred (books)
2. Greg Tang (books)

At the end of the day, what I want to achieve is
still the same: LOVE OF LEARNING
CURIOSITY
CREATIVITY

What should your child learn in preschool math?
 Even if they didn't learn a single thing by end of preschool, at least make sure they
have some number sense

If you are happy that your 4 or 5 year old can recite
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
and trace those numbers on countless worksheets
you are in deep shit.
I know kids in our system who recites blindly from A-Z.
But when you show D individually, you get a ??????

Bottom line is,
they must understand that numbers represent a set of things.
Like how words represent an emotion.
Otherwise, you are wasting your money.

Just like
how kindy waste one month preparing for concert
by making children conform to a routine in a monkey suit. 
Monkey suit also you must fork out own money.
Kolian.
Just that alone turns me off.
No, thank you, I'd rather spend that money watching paint dry.

 My advise: PLAY
but not just plain play, SNEAKY PLAY

At this age, they must be able to touch and feel math.
Use anything you can manipulate.

 For more ideas, you can refer to Karen Cox's prekinders
Choose a guide that you are comfortable with and stick with that!

Generally,
PRESCHOOL SCOPE
  • Numbers & Counting
  • Grid Games
  • Matching
  • Shapes & Geometry
  • Pattern Block Mats
  • Sorting
  • Patterns
  • Sizes
  • More, Less, Same
  • Estimation
  • Money
KINDERGARTEN SCOPE
  • Count to ten
  • Count a set of five objects using one-to-one correspondence
  • Identify the numerals 1-5
  • Compare sets of objects and describe them using “more,” “less,” “equal,” or same
  • Use correct vocabulary to compare objects (“big,” “small”; “long,” “short”; “more,” “less”; “heavy,” “light”)
  • Use words that identify time of day (“morning,” “afternoon,” “night,” “day”)
  • Identify circles, squares, rectangles, and triangles when shown models
  • Sort objects by their attributes (color, size, shape, and so on)
  • Use words that indicate position (“in,” “out,” “beside,” “over,” “under,” “between”)
  • Recognize and copy patterns in songs, rhymes, and body movements
Tiger loves worksheets too but I try not to do too many.
He is kinda btw a preschooler and kindergartener's level at the moment.
So, too simple a task...BORING!
To difficult and he becomes frustrated. Like writing numbers, etc

Solution?
I try to challenge him creatively by asking him to create games of his own.

Here's what we did last night.
 Prop: Skeletons (RM 5.90 from Memory Lane)

Matching with pipe cleaners (Daiso)
It was Tiger's idea to make a cross.

More complicated matching.
He was to match with the pipe cleaners.
Problem: too short.
Solution: He said, Nevermind, can ady
=.=""

His work
Essentially correct but so grrrr....crooked!
I was telling myself, "Control...do not correct his work. Breathe"
Must. Control. Self.



He came up with helicopter skeleton.
Excellent fine motor work.
Again, if he was in kindy,
I doubt this kind of non-conforming behavior is encouraged.

 Matched with musical bells.
Ring according to number of skeletons


Going to sneak in some addition work tonight.
Again, me no expert. Just a mom, doing her best.
Following my nerdy boy's lead.
We will probably use Singapore Math soon.
Will keep you guys posted on that.

I read somewhere that our educational system is from the Industrial Ages.
Where silence, obedience, robot-like factory workers are created.
Despite new findings, it will take many many years before changes are made.
It's okay, we can beat the system...one kid at a time.
Gawd, I hope I am still so spirited when Tiger's 10 years old.



Tuesday 15 October 2013

Lil Dragon: She wants to be a Malay chick

At 15 months, she doesn't speak much to be a genius but when she opens her mouth, I just die from laughing.

I foresee that she will be speaking broken Chinese (like Tiger), a smattering of English and super cun Malay.

Mak, Mak! she yells.

MAK. Instead of good old mama, like the brother. I thought my hearing was failing me but nope, clear as a bell....MAK! MAK!

=.="

In 10 years, she will be saying, Jom la Mak. Kita 'rang lepak le. Rilak bro....

In 30 years, "Oh pocot, mak kau, tahi kucing." Also known as melatah.
I used to startle the NICU ward sister, Kak Pah just to hear her melatah...haha!

My brother used to speak Malay exclusively for the first few years but now, he curses really well in different dialects. No worries about picking up other languages la. A myriad of languages boost IQ too, did you know that? No need to attend French classes..Malaysia has so many to choose from. If you want, you can also learn from the Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Nepalese, etc. More useful than French too.

The other night, I wrapped a towel around her head and pretended it was a headscarf. Not bad.
She is so pretty. *swoon*  Me, very proud of me self. I marvel at my creation every single freaking day.

Somebody posted in a mother's group on Facebook, "Do you ever feel like a bad mother?'

Surprisingly, the answers were:

yes, everyday. 
I am a careless mom 
Sometimes.

My first thoughts were, Walao eh...serious bor??? Post partum depression can last so long one?

Don't get me wrong, I know depression because I had it post partum, but to be so hard on yourselves....sigh. I prefer my cup half full.

Being a mother is such a daunting task. No manual, no mothering tuition, no obvious right vs wrong method. Of course we beat ourselves up. On top of that, those stupid celebrities shed weight like removing panties. Arrgh...

Giving birth sans painkillers does not make you greater, just dumber. Breastfeeding doesn't make you superior. Blending buckets of baby food doesn't mean you are a kitchen goddess. Motherhood is not a pissing contest.

So, I say...chill out. Love yourself first, then everyone around you will feel loved too. Don't be overly self indulgent la. That is just plain vain and dumb. Children learn from watching you, so the little things in life mean a lot in the end. Drink your coffee, do your nails, stay hot (for yourself, not your man). Have a healthy, sexy marriage. *wink wink*

To my 15 month old daughter, I am trying my best, okay? Give chance a bit if mama screw up once in while. I wish you will grow up to

Be open minded.
Be kind
Be adventurous
Be courageous
Be hungry to learn
Be a voracious reader
Be a food and life lover
Be a good person
Be a good Malay Chick??? (We just keep in view la, this one)

If you want to be a Malay chick and embrace Islam, I will be gutted because you will not be able to sembahyang me on Ching Mings but oh what the heck! I 'll get over it. Islam is a fine religion when not used as a political weapon.I seriously HATE it when politicians use religion to provoke racial disharmony.

You can be anything! (even a carpet...hihi)

Just dumping my thoughts on you guys >.< No offense to our Malay readers, ya?


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