Award: ***CuteTot Alert***

Woohoo! It's been confirmed...My tot is a cutie pie!! Check it out at Totally Tots by clicking the button at the side bar:

Shopping: Toy addict

Are you a toy addict? I know I am.

This is one of the open-ended toys that I bought before Tiger was born. Hehe, I know...kiasu. I bought the smaller version just to see if he likes it. If he does, then I'll get the deluxe set :)

The wedgits are one of his Tot tray items for the week:

Funny boy decided to wear them as anklets:

Delighted with his work

I love this pose. Occasionally, he looks so grown up.

He is also loving his Mega blocks this week :) Finally...

I was starting to worry it was a wasted investment

Sometimes, I feel like a bad mother because there are times when I feel too exhausted to study with Tiger.

I have fallen asleep in class before  :p

This is Tiger copying my laziness..

He pretended to sleep while I was reading Mister Seahorse (Eric Carle) to him!!

~~~@@@~~~

Since Tiger's flu is clearing up, this weekend I'll be good mommy and I am planning to do these:

1. In conjuction with our Ocean Theme, We will visit the MV Logos Hope ship at Port Klang. It is a floating book fair with > 5000 titles and an international crew. They will be around from 29 Sept to 23 Oct 2011.

He'll get to see the sea (I'll just pretend it's an ocean) and a ship!! I'll get to buy books, how fun is that?

2. If Daddy's not a party pooper this weekend, we will go to the Play & Learn Discovery Exhibition at Midvalley Exibition Hall this weekend. More toys and stuff to feed my addiction. *Evil grin*. If Daddy ain't going, I'll just bring the kiddo myself.

~~~@@@~~~

Have a good weekend y'all!!

Letter: Why Mommy Don't Drink No More?

Letter To Tiger Thursday

Dear Tiger,

You came as a surprise into my life as I wasn't expecting you. It was a wonderful surprise though, the best I could ever hope for. You were growing for 8 weeks in my womb before I realised it. I had such an easy pregnancy. No hyperemesis, no reflux, etc. The worst that happened was muscle cramps, a volatile temper and Mommy became a real fatty. Seriously FAT.

Here's what you did to Mommy, just for laughs:

The pink fatty at two months post partum. Still carrying extra 10 kilos

Can you imagine the panic and fears that ran through Mommy's mind when I found out I was 8 weeks along? No prenatal folate...ate all kinds of rubbish....all the partying and booze...ate shellfish in Thailand....took sashimi...

The first thing I did when the kit showed 'pregnant' was call Po Po, then Daddy. After that, I prayed to begged God to please forgive all my wrongdoings. If I have a normal baby, I WILL NEVER TAKE ALCOHOL AGAIN. So, yes I have been alcohol free for almost 2 years now. I am a little less fun at parties but it's a small price to pay in exchange for the perfect you.


Love you lots,

Mommy

Right Brain: Tweedlewink. Is it worth it?

Tweedlewink is a right/whole brain training programme founded by Pamela Hickein (A trained Montessori teacher from the US) for ages 3 months to 6 years old. Then, they will graduate to the Wink Program. You can read more about the programme here.

If you have no idea what is right brain learning, read my post on it here.

This post is my personal opinion and experience with Tweedlewink, Malaysia. Tiger is 15 months old.

Little Tiger has been attending Tweedlewink from the time he was 9 months old. That means we have been attending classes for about 6 months now. Tiger was the youngest student then, but now there is a three month old student! That means I am not very kiasu, ahem. Also, It is a bit nuts to attend at 3 months because they cannot see that well until they are 6 months old. Well, unless you want to do it the auditory way, then , by all means.

Since then, our class has settled into a nice rhythm with two classmates, T (one month older) and E (5 months older). They are both VERY well behaved and I hope Tiger will learn from them. He is the most active and umm, naughty mischievous out of the three.

The management was very nice when I requested to maintain the class at three students only. We had another older child (almost 2) who joined us but he was sooooo disruptive that Tiger couldn't concentrate. I requested to change Tiger's class and luckily, T and E decided to join us :) We got a new time slot and all. I know that's a little mean but I am not paying RM 90 per class for noise making.

This is the scope of the lesson per class (1 hour):

1. I love you song (same song we sing at home)

    Visual eye play

2. Vocabulary booster: 2 different themes each lessons

3. World/Culture

4. Music/perfect pitch

5. Math: spots & skip counting

6. Reading: phonics & whole words

7. Science

8. Art

Thank you song.

It is quite hectic and packed but the children LOVE it. Whenever I ask Tiger, "Do you want to go Tweedlewink?" or "Do you want to see teacher?", he will always nod his head excitedly.

This is Tiger with his teacher.

He will always dance with the teacher and give her a hug at the end of the lesson :)

(He has the pacifier on because it was milk time and I wanted to take a picture)



Personally, I love it because I just 'steal' their weekly world, science and art ideas/theme. No need to crack my not-so-creative head and we get to practice/repeat the work done in class :)

As much as I believe the child's brain is like a sponge, there is no harm in repetition. I am not sure if it's just Tiger or Tweedlewink but his need/hunger to learn and 'study' is amazing. 

For example, after our class last Monday night, he wanted to do more work. It is quite obvious because he kept signing up and book, then he waved bye bye and blew kisses at grandma (This is routine). So we did a bit more schooling at home:

I presented the dice and can game to him.

Here, he threw the dice and it landed on three. 

I placed three hexagon pieces on the dice and counted them

He gets to insert them into the can via the slit.

Then, he requested for dinosaurs...

Here he helped the dinosaurs scratch each other's bellies.

He did more phonics work with the magnetic letters

He played with EVA foam letter I

 If he can't put it in, he will ask for help after 5 seconds
I NEVER help.
 He will attempt again everytime I say,"Try again, baby. You can do it."

Before we ended the session, he played with his continent map. I was singing the continent song halfway when he...

...ran to his Iran flag, I stopped singing and said, "Iran". Then he ran back to the continent map and I started singing again. This repeated a few times until I was breathless and collapsed with laughter. I hugged Tiger and smothered him with kisses. Then he waved goodbye to his room and held my hand as we went to bed happily.

What about Shichida or Heguru?

I can't give my opinion on Shichida or Heguru because I have not sent Tiger there. I am thinking about it :)
This is a sample of Shichida lesson plan if you are interested. You can read up on Shichida from the many books he has published, mostly in Chinese available from http://www.kids.net.my/ or http://www.ibaby.my/.

Will my child learn anything from the classes?

The real question should be, Will your child learn from school later on? Getting As in our school system is equivalent to the ability to regurgitate facts, not learning. Every child learns differently at a different rate via different methods. The schooling system is designed for children to conform, not to question or be creative. In my humble opinion, I think, instilling the LOVE of learning and the thirst for knowledge is the most important and that's what I am trying to achieve here with Little Tiger.

Update:
We stopped attending after 1 year 3 months because the lessons are cyclical, meaning they 'recycle' the main topics with some minor variations. He was bored, I was bored. I have to thank Tweedlewink for introducing me to Montessori and phonics. I think I, myself developed a love of teaching from the classes and Tiger is still a phonics nut himself.

So, yes. I think it is worth it to send Tiger to Tweedlewink because I truly believe in right brain learning and I love the Montessori elements they  have incorporated into the classes. I have recommended the place to many people and no, they didn't give me any commission, I still think they should :p

We also attended Ditoso in Kota Kemuning for 6 months before I stopped all right brain classes. Reason being, I don't think my kiasu-ism in class is good for him. When you are paying RM100 per class, you can't help but want the kid to FOCUS and make your money worth it. When he poops or fuss during class, I find my patience and whatever alpha wave just dissipate. And that affects him. When we practise at home at his pace and schedule, he always gets everything right because we are both relaxed and feeling loved. My two cents la, ya?

When You Give The Tiger Some Pom-poms

“The child can develop fully by means of experience in his environment. We call such experiences ‘work’.”
 Maria Montessori
~~~~~~

"Allowing children as much freedom to learn in the world as their parents can comfortably bear"
John Holt (Teach Your Own) on definition of unschooling

~~~~~

'Working' It: Tiger Style


I didn't give him the pom poms, I merely consented.
It's either play along or scream fest.

I had some mild palpitations & my OCD went into overdrive with so many pom poms strewn everywhere.
Including the teeny tiny ones.

 Tried to trick gently coax the fellow into doing some spooning work but he'd rather transfer with hands.

He made some pom-pom soup and even fed Mommy some (pretend play)
Delicious :)

Ahhh....yummy. Then, he signed, "All done"

 

That's unschooling a fiesty 15 month old with a Montessorian twist


~~@@@~~

As much as I love Tiger's initiative, the fear of him choking scares me to death.
He is afterall 15 months old
So, the pom-poms have been given a new home :)

An old plastic door hanger (no nails required)

&

3 vinyl pocket holders from Daiso

These are clear at the back, so I can see what's in each pocket.

Now I can keep his knick knacks safely.

Linking up to:

Tot School: Letter I is for 'Ice Cream"

‘Un’schooling Tiger Week 9 (20th- 26th Sept) @ 15 months

Alphabet:I is for Ice Cream

Theme: Cold Stuff

Tot School was a little more organized this week. We did lots of tot tray activities and less of math and science. Tiger was a little social butterfly over the weekend with a fullmoon party and a wedding dinner to attend.

So, we have decided to extend Letter I for another week as I still owe him a Haagen Daaz outing. Since Letter I is also the the first alphabet of his 'real' name, I decided to do an All about Me extension to the theme.

Tot Trays:
Here's Tiger with his Quick Stack Cups. This is an activity from Tweedlewink that he loves. Basically, they are supposed to alternate both hands during stacking and unstacking to encourage the whole brain development.

I usually pass the cups to him while saying left or right alternately. If I don't, he'll end up using his right hand only. The concept behind this is kinda like Doman encouraging cross crawling and brain gym.

This is the same can from last week.

Instead of the mini spoons, I used a large dice and some hexagon tangram pieces.

He gets to throw the dice and I'll hand him corresponding numbers of hexagons.

Then, he will put it into the slit.

Fun, Math & Fine motor in one simple activity, I love it!!

This is our version of the spindle box.

He is definitely too young for this activity but this is just for introduction.

This is why I said he was too young for this activity :)

This is really simple but he LOVED it!

Some cheap unsharpened pencils and a milk bottle.

Initially, I put some bean bags inside to stabilise the bottle but I soon realised that he was more delicate with his work without them.

He had to balance the bottle as he insert to prevent it from toppling over.

More phonics work with Alphie

Music lesson with this beautiful xylophone (RM 10 from Toys R Us sale !!)

Listening to a Japanese alphabet song (Brillkids) that he loves

He will always ask for an instrument to play with the song.

Here he is holding a wooden maracas (RM 2 from Fun & Cheer)

Worksheet

This is the ice cream printout from 2teachingmommies. Gotta love her work.

Tiger scribbling is improving. We did lots of paperwork as he ask for them every night. Will post more soon.

 This happens when he has access to the 'Fun Stuff' drawer. I have since moved it to the highest level.

All work and no play is so boring.

So, we played a lot too!

On Friday night, we accompanied Daddy to his futsal game.

Tiger's running after his football.

He can REALLY run now...

Little J with his ball. Nope, they don't share..

What's a 'Cold Stuff' week without ice?

I made ice lollies.

Tiger played with some reusable ice

Playing with his new water table. LOVED IT!

Watering 'his' plants.

This is his part of the garden. He was supposed to water the plants daily but umm, we forget sometimes, so kakak will do it

Does it look like he's peeing? I love this shot. Daddy was spraying him with the water gun :)

Our version of an artsy iceblock

Some jewels and lotsa glitter!

He was definitely fascinated for about 5 minutes

Here it is melting away in the warm sun. Love it when the jewels started appearing.

Tiger said "Ehh???" so many times :)

 

This is just for FUN:

This was Tiger on the stage in the ballroom at my cousin's wedding dinner on Sunday evening.

My baby wanted to show off his moves.

So embarasssing!! I had to chase him!!

The man on the left was the MC for the night.

Later, he came up to me and said, " Your son is such a performer"

Doing his cheeky laugh

He cried and threw a massive tantrum when I 'pulled' him off the stage.

We went outside and he started dancing again!!

He's so funny :)

We are linking up to Tot School :)