Homeschool Room For Kindergartener and Preschooler

Some quick updates for March 2015.

It is an evolving process since I enjoy organizing so much.

I will post updates on the playroom and outdoor classroom later.

 Because lovely Hubs stole my "grass" carpet for the living room, I've had no choice

but to use this ELC alphabet tiles because the others were too small.

Initially they looked haphazardly cheerful, like this.

Last night, I rearranged them.

So. Much. Better.

Why didn't I do this earlier??!?

I've replaced the doors on the lowest levels of the bookshelves to reduce clutter.

And I've also removed the dangerous metal door handles and replaced them with some 

DIY pipe cleaners and XL pony beads.

So much nicer and child-friendly.

Those are currently the kids' treasure cupboards. One each. No fighting.

This week's Toy-centered Learning:

Cars

Playset from Enfagrow milk powder.

There was a broken toy car for Tiger to take apart but it's missing now :p

Some big machines books and his fav Usborne Look Inside Cars.

 

Space

Inspired by this Toobs set.

In the study room itself, the biggest challenge was delineating the 'zones' for my kids 

to reduce friction. The two aren't exactly best friends right now.

And the room is really tiny.

 Dragon Girl's Baby School Area is mostly to the left of the room.
Their artwork are proudly displayed no matter how, erm, creative they look.
The trays are created with a late 2 year old in mind.
Nothing advanced for her like what I did with Tiger. 

Left (top to bottom)

1. Peep Inside Zoo with miniature animals for matching

2. Two-to-three pieces animal puzzle

3. Froebel J1 for sorting.

Middle

1. Magnetic puzzle

2. Sponges for threading

3. M&D stacking blocks

Right

1. Clock

2. M&D letter stamping with ink pad

3. Our construction sensory bin

 

The creative area. 

This is mostly used by Dragon girl only.

The cart can be rolled off to gain access to the materials behind it.

Occasionally, Tiger tries to be artistic too :)

Tiger's kindergarten skills area

Math area

English and Chinese reading area

Music and science area

A 'secret' writing area that's placed higher up to hide our sand tray from Dragon :)

Last but not least, their small little games area just outside the study.

The marble run is surprisingly very, very popular and well used.

I've placed more board games on the bookshelves since they seem to enjoy those now.

Alright, that's all for now, folks. I am grateful to have the resources to teach my children in a loving, protected environment. I cannot imagine doing anything else in my evenings. Have a wonderful weekend!

PS: Just leave a comment if you are curious about the materials/toys used. If I do not reply here, please pm me on Facebook.

The Kissy Mom

Today is the day I woke up 30 minutes earlier to drop Tiger off in school.

Usually MIL sends him since I'd rather snuggle under the covers for another 5 minutes. I am so not a morning person. Haha. Thank God for my MIL :)

As we walked into school together, his teacher greeted us at the gate. Not like she was being super polite but more for the customary temperature check. She also check his oral cavity. I was so tempted to ask why but nevermind la. Give a good first impression.

Teacher: Morning, Tiger. And you are the....?
Me       : The mother. *Tak kan la the sister. Got so young and pretty meh? Hehe*
Teacher: Oh, I've never met you before.
Me       : Usually the grandma sends him. *smile*
-feeling determined to send my son to school every morning. Hmmmph..

As we walked upstairs to place his bag, my very graceful son tripped and fell. Thank God he didn't start bawling his eyes out. I also noticed a puddle of water in the middle of the playgroup and the OCD in me so wanted to go and wipe it ASAP but sigh....nevermind la.

Tiger wanted to head out to the play structure outside but the teacher at the gate had a different idea, "Tiger, go read your Peter & Jane."
My first thought was, "Ala....kesian nye. Cannot play first?" but my son just turned around and headed back inside.
There, he is becoming a robot already after 2 weeks in school.
I really don't know if it's a good thing or not but since I have decided to send him to Chinese school where discipline will be even stricter, I might as well go with the flow.
Creativity shall be a priority at home.

I was about to leave when I remembered...I forgot to kiss him goodbye!! How could I?
I looked around and NOBODY was kissing their kid. How? Kiss or not?
I grabbed his hands and asked, "Can I kiss you?"
He immediately tried to run off! Rascal!!!
I yanked him and gave him the loudest kiss on his left cheek.
He smiled sheepishly and ran into the school without looking back.
This will probably be the last day I get to send him to school...hahahahaha!

Be grateful I didn't lick you :p :p

PS: It is important to lick your kids. Seriously. The experts think so too. Here's the link to the article.
Lick Your Kid. What Rats Can Teach Us About Parenting

I love you so much, sweetie. Much more than my sleep and that means a lot, k?