Preschool: Our Current Curriculum {3 years old}

Currently,

He can read simple words, probably a few hundreds to a thousand.

I am not sure. Didn't count.

He understands the concept of numeral and quantity

He understands simple additions.

He loves to play with money 

He is highly curious and ask why, what or who all the time

Why is the sun missing?

Where is the moon?

Why is the sky blue?

He loves matching/puzzles/memory games

 Please note that:

He is not a roll in the dirt kind of kid.

He thrives on structure and organization.

He likes worksheets

He is highly sensitive 

He is not autistic.

He is not a genius or smart.

He just want to spend time in his study to 'study' and hang out with me.

Okay la, he practically begs/whines/bully me to study

Therefore, our focus right now is 

1. Reading/ Phonics

2. Math/Subitizing

3. Right Brain Practice

4. Pretend play or Art

5. Montessori-ish activities

6. Science & Messy Play will be done outdoors 

whenever I find the time

* Music and Chinese will be done in paid classes.

He is the boss, as usual.

Lessons are usually an hour or more.

The rest of the time he is being a normal kid who jumps off the couch,

breaking stuff and whacking his sister.

 Reading & Math 

The shelves shown are a little messy :)

The top shelves are for storage of wooden puzzles and Tiger's right brain materials.

The mid levels are his Reading and Math display.

Phonics: 

We are covering blends, currently /ck/

Reading:

1. Peter and Jane 2a

2. Usually picture books with extra activities on one special book.

Currently,  we are doing The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

We did some graphing and learned about the life cycle.

Worksheets:

No writing. 

Instead, we use alphabet stamps.

Puzzles or games:

Love this rhyming puzzle from ELC

I use it to reinforce left and right as well

Math:

Subitizing: Numbers 1-6 using printables like this

He is giving me ugly face when I said. "Wait. I take photo first"

Hehehe...

Simple worksheets

 

I encourage him to use different mediums with the worksheets.

No handwriting practice. Yuck!

We are strengthening his grip with fine motor activities 

such as Montessori-ish work and cutting

Obsessed still with these

 

  Right Brain

Linking Memory. His IT activity at the moment

Took this pic to thank my sister for loaning us this from Shichida

Pretend play

I know, I know.

Sigh....

I added a grocery store

"I want to sell ice cream when I grow up"

Everything else is chucked here!

Messy Art/Play

I love this kind of stuff because it pushes him out of his comfort zone

 

Papa is teaching him golf.

Failing miserably at the moment.

Our goal by the time he turns 4 is:

1. An independent reader

2. A gentle, loving brother to Dragon

3. More self-reliant

4. Linking 150 cards at least

4. Helping in house chores

Montessori: Mystery Bag

The mystery bag is probably the easiest Montessori material to DIY.

Unless you have a buying problem, like me, this is easily replicated with a bag

and objects around the house. 

Ours was purchased from kids.net (can't find it on their site anymore)

The mystery bag is used for refining the stereognostic sense.

The proper steps are outlined here at infomontessori

The prerequisite for this task would be the

 child already know the names of the items.

To start with, you can use different objects with different textures,

sizes and shapes.

To reinforce his sight words, I turned the puzzles pieces over, 

so that only the names are visible.

They were simple ones like:

Shape: square, circle, triangle, heart, cross

Animals: dog, cat, cow, sheep, rabbit, 

Transportation: car, train, aeroplane, bicycle,

Despite very gentle instructions to feel and and not see,

the half-monkey was cheating.

He wanted to pick out the Oppa Gang man Style aka human

 

Finding 'human'.

We took turns, so that I can demonstrate.

We also used this to practise his HSP.

He guessed everything wrongly...because he was in the mood to....

 

shake his bum bum....

So,  I recorded his video (which he loves)

And we ended up like this.

I guess it is no mystery how much I adore this half monkey. 

Right Brain: Home Practice {28 months}

At 28 months, his home practice sessions generally last about 10 minutes.

Sometimes, we do a part of it.

Sometimes, none at all. {If mama's working late}

This is a sample of what goes on during a session:

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Welcome Song

{or Oppa Gangnam Style if that is what he wants}

As long as he is happy.

Hug & Kiss

Not a normal hug; a tight, I really really love and appreciate you looong hug

Energy ball

Here is a video on how to make one

He usually makes one for me too ^.^

Blowing exercise

To teach child deep inhalation and controlled breathing techniques.

This is a foundation for meditation sessions later.

On this day, he was suppose to move the tentacles.

Eye exercise

I printed mine from from Right Brain Shop but you can simply draw one yourself.

 It is kept in a clear holder

Using a red dot magnet in front and another pin magnet behind,

I hold it in front of Tiger and move the red dot up-down, right-left

This is to warm up his eye muscles for memory work later.

Photographic memory

Here's a demo video on how it's done

These are mama's DIYs since they are so overpriced.

On the left are 2 question templates placed into clear holder

I used Tack-its to place the icons randomly.

The blue folder are the answer sheets for Tiger to replicate the icons' positions.

Grid memory game

Tiger loves this game

I used the Tot packs from Carisa's for these since they are already the perfect size
and oh-so-cute!
Do check put Jolanthe's packs as well

Imaging

This is from his Brainbox Set

I give him the card for 8 seconds before removing it.

Then I will ask some simple questions, like

Can you name the animals? How many birds were there?

Great for mental imaging

Spot the difference.

I give him 4 seconds to do this.

Tiger usually point out the difference, "This, this no same"

Colour memory

The icons are same, just different colours.

In these case, a clown balancing 3 balls

Linking Memory

Shen Li @ Figur8 is sharing her resources graciously.

Do check out her site to learn more about right brain education.

You can recycle old flashcards to do this.

Mandala

Ours are from Right Brain Education Shop

You can buy from here as well

If he is still interested we will continue with flashcards or puzzles

Otherwise we will read before retiring for the night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To read more about right brain education, here is our intro

For more free downloads, here are the links

Why I teach Lil Tiger from young (since 9 months)? Read about it here

My photographic memory templates/icons are from Google image.

If you would like a copy, just pm me or leave a comment.

You will need a printer, laminator and paper cutter.

A lot of work but think of the money you will be saving. $.$

Right Brain: ESP games

Even to an untrained individual, one can certainly attest to the fact that a child is more sensitive to the environment compared to an adult.

Most of us are so blinded by the norm of our daily rhythm that nothing seems interesting anymore.

Imagine looking at the world through the eyes of your child; even the simplest things would astound.

Like a lizard one the ground

A piece of rubbish on the street.

A dog barking in the distance.

As time passes, our brain filters out 'the norm' so that we don't go crazy.

If it doesn't, you would become overloaded.

One can only imagine what life would be like as a savant.

We obtain information from our environment via five physical senses, namely:

visual, auditory, gustatory, olfactory and tactile.

Prof Shichida believe that a child is born another five inner senses for perception:

clairvoyance, telepathy, precognition, psychometry and telekinesis

He called them:

ESP = Extra Sensory Perception

Honing these skills would further enhance the child's creativity, attention, and intuition.

Initially, I always thought that it was more hocus pocus than a skill.

Then again, after some time, I realised that

Tiger usually gets the correct answers in class if he was focusing (tapping in right brain powers?).

If he was acting like a monkey, it would be wrong.

Also, if the answer was in his right hand, he would be right too.

He tends to go for the answers in his right hand . @.@

For what it's worth, our ESP games always put him on the right mood for learning.

He loves the energy ball games as well :)

Here's one of our games (psychometry)

I placed a small blue spoon into a box and shook it.

Then, I handed him the box, asking

"Can you guess the colour of the spoon?"

Shook and examined the box like a pro.

"Blue!"
Opening the box to reveal the answer.

"Yes, blue ohhh!"

"Ha ha ha"

To all the sceptics,

Imagine, 20 years down the line, Tiger as a world renowned clairvoyant,

who makes his living by winning the lottery every month or so...

Me, living off him...in the Caribbeans....

Right Brain: Our Homemade Photographic Memory Material

This is an old picture from our archive but this is generally how it looks like on a heavy production day.

The printer is exhausted

The laminator is shivering with fear...

This is our second laminator by the way...

The first one was sent to warranty twice and according to my sister who inherited it, 

it is no longer acting normally nowadays.

The best part about our right brain training is the memory training.

Lil Tiger love his linking memory and photographic memory games.

The problem is, sigh, he wants new materials all the time.

So, I have to make a lot, A LOT..

Here, he was going through the template/background for the photographic memory,

looking for something with ABC in it.

@.@

When I told him there wasn't any, he replied, "Mama, make.."

Faint....

In the end he found a picture with 3 alphabet wooden blocks with A B C printed on it, phew...

Here are the some of the free vectors I made

Laminated of course...how else would I have managed to semi-kill one laminator?

I will share how we play this game tomorrow.

We call it, don't laugh, "ARE YOU READY, GO!"

 It became the name of the game because I used the same phrase everytime before I flash the template,

By the way, my niece, my fatty chubby adorable niece prefers my homemade material to the store bought ones!

I should start selling these @.@

Right Brain Learning: Our Home Practice Material

I get emails asking what exactly do we do for our right brain training?

We started off doing right brain work only, then I decided that it wasn't enough. So as time goes on, we incorporated more elements because I personally love creativity and fun in our work, like Montessori and Tot School.

I have explained why I feel the need to do right brain learning here even though I don't really like the rigidity and spoon feeding method. As with all the methods, I bend and break rules to suit us better.

 This is the basket where I keep my materials for the week.

I keep it on the Tot Tray shelf so that it is easily accessible.

The materials are mostly available for free here. After some time, you will be able to use free pictures from magazines or any flashcards that you have at hand.

 This is a sample of what goes into the basket on a weekly basis:

Clockwise from top right corner:
1. Space memory sheets (credit to verol pj from http://www.sgparenting.com/ )

Show the template for 3 seconds. (Bear holding the heart containing baby, deer, banana & crocodile)
Give the child the answer sheet and the small cutouts of the 4 items
They are supposed to place them in the correct position on the answer sheet

Purpose: To train the child's photographic memory ability. Same principle as Mandala

Note: If you are too lazy to print and laminate, you can purchase from http://www.kids.net.my/.
Many materials are made by some mothers who attended Schicida before but pricey in my opinion.


2. ESP game
Blender with some fruits.
Present the materials. I usually make a silly presentation to keep Tiger interested.
Like this: " Brrrrrrrr (suppose to sound like blender :)) Ooh look, Mommy got a blender. We will make juice today. What yummy fruits we have.
Present the fruits
Hide one of the fruits behind the blender. Can you guess what is the fruit in the blender?

Purpose:
According to Schicida, younger children has ESP powers that enable them to sense 'paranormal' events. There is no evidence, just anecdotes that this is true.
I intepret it as something like, they can sense your unhappiness even when you try your best to hide it because they can sense your negative vibe.

I am not really hard pressed on this, just wanted to see how much of it is true. Who knows, maybe Tiger is a clairvoyant and he will sense the lottery one day. I'll be the last one laughing then ;)


3. My DIY Montessori colour box 1 (without the box)
Shouldn't be in the right brain basket but I usually keep all the tiny stuff in it as well for convenience


4. Linking Memory (lower left corner)

• This I LIKE. This really works because I use it. How do you think I passed med school without studying my ass off and staying hot? Just kidding :p
• Anyways, Tony Buzan (mind mapping moneymaker)and and this Singapore dude (can't remember his name off hand) uses it as well.
• Basically, you are given a list of objects and you make a silly story out of the objects to aid your memory.
• Certain things will help you remember better such as smell, colour and 'dirty' stuff. Not for kids though :p

Here's how we do it with flashcards or printouts:

1. I make up a silly story using 10 flashcards. I usually print/write the story out so that the storyline remains the same.
2. I present 4 cards to tiger, telling him the nonsensical story.
3. Then I will add on 1 card daily (repeating the same story) till we complete all 10 at the end of the week.
4. For alternative methods, click here

5. Chinese flashcards
For speedplay
Very young children are supposed to learn better at higher speed.
Schicida recommends flashing 3 cards per second
I find that my tongue gets twisted and the words are jumbled together if I flash too fast. No point in learning, watermelonpapayaorange, right?
So, I flash 2 cards per second. Just the nice speed for us. Now he will learn, watermelon and papaya.
I usually use the computer for this. Good for karma as you kill less trees compared to printing.

Note: Schicida teaches Japanese as well. Personally, I don't see the need to add on another language that he is unlikely to use later on like Japanese or Spanish. He is going to learn Chinese in a few dialects and Malay.

6. Cute box with Tweedlewink flashcards
Tweedlewink provides an A4 sized card at the end of each lesson. After you cut it, the cards are too tiny too flash. My fat fingers will cover most of it. I usually give him the cards to play with and read them outloud.

7. Whole word flashcards (in the middle)
Ala Tweedlewink. I am not a strictly phonics person. We do both.
I downloaded for free from this nice lady here

Sounds like a lot? Not really, this entire exercise is over in less than 10 minutes. Speed is of essence in right brain learning.
It may sound a little cuckoo if you are skeptical but we'll see. I want this to work so that Tiger will breeze through school later (our exam system is basically memorise and regurgitate) and he has time to do whatever else he loves, hopefully charity work and a part time job to learn the value of money :)

Right Brain: Free download of resources

Links to flashcards to download for FREE to get you started:

1. http://www.figur8.net/resources/flashcards/. This is Shen Li's blog. Very informative on early learning.
2. www.sgparenting.com/. Shichida & Glenn Doman parenting site. Has ESP, memory games and many others.
3. www.shichidaparents.com/rc/others.html. Shichida parents website
4. http://www.brillkids.com/free-download/: This is HUGE.
5. http://www.earlylearninghq.org.uk Gorgeous printouts in cartoon form
6. www.eslflashcards.com/ Cartoon flashcards
7. http://www.kizclub.com/flashcards.htm

If you are planning to download & print, consider using a CISS system with your Canon or HP printers. So much friendlier on your pocket!!


RM 239 for printer + CISS system + free ink
Refill: RM 10/bottle

Other hardwares you will need:

Paper cutter

You will need a laminator as well.

I purchased mine for RM79 during Popular sales.

 Happy DIY!

Right brain Learning: What is it?

Basically, it is a teaching method that is applicable to all ages but most effective in young babies, especially in those less than three years old. This is because the right hemisphere of the brain develops before the left, remaining dominant until the age of three and a half. However, it is never too late to start. In Japan, they have used right brain learning methods in Primary Schools with success.


The pioneers of right brain education are said to be Glenn Doman And Makoto Schicida.



Glenn Doman Method

Mr Glenn Doman
Image from google



Glenn Doman is an American who founded The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential. He uses a flashcard based teaching system that he applied to brain injured children. When these children showed improvement, he used the same method on normal children with extrapolation of creating geniuses.

His link:  http://www.iahp.org/  You won't find out how to do it from the site. You have to buy his books. I've read one of his books and tried this method before and honestly, it is just too tiring and soooo boring.


Shichida Method

Mr Makoto Shichida. Image from Google



Makoto Shichida is from Japan. He is a well known gentleman in Japan who realised that all children are geniuses and not crying, drooling cuties. He believed with love, guidance and repetition, all babies can unlock their genius potential. What kind of genius babies you ask? Children with talents like speed reading and photographic memory. There are 2 Shichida schools in Malaysia. His link: www.shichidamethod.com You won't be able to find out how to do it here either. 

They are very secretive about the teachings but a lot of lovely mommy bloggers have shared their notes:

Here are the mommy blogs: 
The Bub in The Belly (by Leona aka Pinkie Pirate). She has written some very detailed posts on Shichida and the methods that she implements at home.
Special Training (by Angel). She provides free sample lesson plans.
Babylicious (by Shen Li). Her two boys are attending Heguru and Tweedlewink.She has written many articles regarding early education, not just Shichida.


Other right brain schools available in Malaysia is Heguru in Midvalley and Tweedlewink in Damansara, Puchong and Klang.

Right brain learning is effortless in children as the right brain is already activated - which helps explain how children soak up information like sponges. In small children (and savants and geniuses), the right brain is activated because it is dominant. This has been observed by Montessori as the absorbment mind.

How your brain works
	Left hemisphere		Right hemisphere
	Conscious awareness			Subconscious awareness
	Logical thought			Abstract thought
	Short-term memory			Long-term memory
	Slow input			Fast input
	Detail analysis			Whole-picture (gestalt) comprehension
	Linear, sequential, reason			Creative, imaginative
	Favors physical senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell)			Favors intuition (resonance with subtle energies)
	Likes repetitive input			Soaks up information like a sponge
	Uses words, lists and numbers			Uses rhythm, shapes and picture images
	Processes one data at a time			Processes data all at once
	Practical, works well under stress			Emotional, works best when fully relaxed

 

"Your right brain tries to say the color, but your left brain insists on saying the word."



This is just my understanding on this topic and right brain introduction in a nutshell.

So, can anybody tap into these super abilities? Yes!!
That's why right brain education is so popular in Asia. We are nice but very kiasu (translation: scared to lose).

Read a little more about the 2 methods here.



Right brain kiddo. Please excuse the drool