Phoebe at her desk, doing her Chinese homework.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
A Serious Worker
A serious worker she is, at her desk, doing her Chinese homework, with her 3 H-es and good posture.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Phoebe's Scrap Book
Since Term 2 of this year, I've introduced the concept of a scrap book to Phoebe. Initially, I wanted to do a recipe book with her but I thought that a recipe book might be a little restrictive while she can record much more activities in a scrap book. She likes to call it her scratch book and she would do the action of scratching whenever we're going to do some writing on it. I just want to use this means to encourage her to develop a love for writing and expressing herself. I also thought it is a good way for her to put her words into print. So whenever we have done an activity, we would record it down into her scrap book. It's like a mini MLEA book. Let me introduce her work to you :)
Front Cover and Back Cover
I bought an A4 size Biology book for her. To beautify it, we used a previous printing art work done by Phoebe to wrap the book up. We cut the letterings from magazines and Phoebe paste the letterings onto her scrap book. The photograph was a gift from Auntie Nia. She took the picture of Phoebe when we went to Genting last June. To enhance it further, Phoebe stuck some of her stickers on the cover page.
Phoebe wrote the sentence "I Love Mom" all by herself without any guidance. She could spell it all. Then she started drawing some shapes which I thought she must have learnt it from school. She was revising what she had learnt from school and demonstrated it in her scrap book. I have insisted that she had to write date on every piece of writing. It's good to cultivate date-writing habit.
We brought Phoebe to watch a Chinese performance, The Ugly Duckling. She documented it down. She was very excited about doing her scrap book. I did quite a lot of scaffolding, asking her many questions and sounding out the spelling for her. Initially, I had wanted her to write neatly on the narrow lines. Then I realised that she started to get tired and a little frustrated of rewriting, just to keep to the convention of writing on the lines. I suddenly realised that I was killing her interest in writing and the flow of her ideas became constipated when we get too meticulous in writing on the line. So I stopped immediately and allow her to just write down her thoughts without bothering writing on the line. She became enthusiastic about writing again and she even wanted to draw a picture of her sleeping position on the bed : Papa, Phoebe, Mommy and Reuben (and all her little toys). I'm glad that she's enjoying herself :)
We went to SKMC's Easter Party and Phoebe had a good time. We also invited our neighbour's little girl for the party. All the children received presents/ goodie bags. She didn't like spelling out her date "April" so I let her write her dates in numbers in the subsequent entries.
We went to a Pyjamas Party last year. This picture was taken FOC during the party. It has been on our piano, so I thought it will be better to stick it in Phoebe's scrap book rather than letting it lying on the piano collecting dust. Again, a lot of scaffolding was done, e.g. tenses - wear/wore and sounding out the spelling. She also refered to her previous entries for the spelling of familiar words such as "I, went, to, a and party". I did not spell for her but encouraged her to find these reoccuring words in her previous entries.
Phoebe's school took the children to a performance. Their school will usually organise one outing to watch a performance once a year. I wish they could organise more, but then maybe the school was sensitive enough to consider the financial constrain of some of the other children. Phoebe came back very excited about the performance. She told a little of it, in bits and pieces of information. She also had a big poster and her entrance ticket. She stuck it in her scrap book and I encourage her to write about it. Lots of scaffolding and questioning but a worthwhile piece of writing.
We made bread pizza in the March school holidays this year. So I thought it will be good to help her refresh her memory on the steps of making bread pizza. Hence we did a recipe. Some of the words are too big and long for her to spell e.g. pineapple, mozzerella cheese. Hence, to make it easier for her, I printed the words out and she could do some pasting. I was afraid that she'll be frustrated spelling the long words and lose her interest. Key : Not to kill her interest! She arranged the sequence of the pictures according to the steps. Then we wrote the steps down. She kept rereading the previous steps before she pen down the next. I thought it was very good because it shows that she is trying to get the flow of ideas.
Just recently, we explored the Gallop Stable. It was the first time Phoebe did horse riding so she wanted to document it down. There were some factual information in her writing this time. She was able to tell me that a horse lives in a stable and eats hay. In city Singapore, we hardly get to see a stable, so it was good lesson learnt.
Phoebe told me that she wanted to draw a picture in her scrap book. I told her, "Why not? Okay, what do you want to draw?" and she did this. I asked her, "why is there only one cloud in the sky?" She said, "Everything is only one in this picture. One flower, one sun, one cloud, one cookie, one apple, one carrot, one Phoebe, one Reuben...etc". Suddenly, I had an idea. I told her, "Wow, you have one in everything. It's like a poem. One sun, one cloud, one cookie... Why don't you write it down because when you put all the words together, they sound so good." So Phoebe wrote her first poem and we named it "One Story". I asked her if she wants to call it "The One Poem" but she said she prefers calling it a story. Hence I respected her decision since afterall, it was her work, she was the poet and the auther. :) So ta-dah! Phoebe's first poem "One Story".
So here's Phoebe's scrap book. She loves doing her scrap book and she loves to read what she has written. She is able to read all the words she had written in her scrap book. She's very proud of her own work and her scrap book is very precious to her. I'm very proud of my little girl too! :)
Front Cover and Back Cover
I bought an A4 size Biology book for her. To beautify it, we used a previous printing art work done by Phoebe to wrap the book up. We cut the letterings from magazines and Phoebe paste the letterings onto her scrap book. The photograph was a gift from Auntie Nia. She took the picture of Phoebe when we went to Genting last June. To enhance it further, Phoebe stuck some of her stickers on the cover page.
Phoebe wrote the sentence "I Love Mom" all by herself without any guidance. She could spell it all. Then she started drawing some shapes which I thought she must have learnt it from school. She was revising what she had learnt from school and demonstrated it in her scrap book. I have insisted that she had to write date on every piece of writing. It's good to cultivate date-writing habit.
We brought Phoebe to watch a Chinese performance, The Ugly Duckling. She documented it down. She was very excited about doing her scrap book. I did quite a lot of scaffolding, asking her many questions and sounding out the spelling for her. Initially, I had wanted her to write neatly on the narrow lines. Then I realised that she started to get tired and a little frustrated of rewriting, just to keep to the convention of writing on the lines. I suddenly realised that I was killing her interest in writing and the flow of her ideas became constipated when we get too meticulous in writing on the line. So I stopped immediately and allow her to just write down her thoughts without bothering writing on the line. She became enthusiastic about writing again and she even wanted to draw a picture of her sleeping position on the bed : Papa, Phoebe, Mommy and Reuben (and all her little toys). I'm glad that she's enjoying herself :)
We went to SKMC's Easter Party and Phoebe had a good time. We also invited our neighbour's little girl for the party. All the children received presents/ goodie bags. She didn't like spelling out her date "April" so I let her write her dates in numbers in the subsequent entries.
We went to a Pyjamas Party last year. This picture was taken FOC during the party. It has been on our piano, so I thought it will be better to stick it in Phoebe's scrap book rather than letting it lying on the piano collecting dust. Again, a lot of scaffolding was done, e.g. tenses - wear/wore and sounding out the spelling. She also refered to her previous entries for the spelling of familiar words such as "I, went, to, a and party". I did not spell for her but encouraged her to find these reoccuring words in her previous entries.
Phoebe's school took the children to a performance. Their school will usually organise one outing to watch a performance once a year. I wish they could organise more, but then maybe the school was sensitive enough to consider the financial constrain of some of the other children. Phoebe came back very excited about the performance. She told a little of it, in bits and pieces of information. She also had a big poster and her entrance ticket. She stuck it in her scrap book and I encourage her to write about it. Lots of scaffolding and questioning but a worthwhile piece of writing.
We made bread pizza in the March school holidays this year. So I thought it will be good to help her refresh her memory on the steps of making bread pizza. Hence we did a recipe. Some of the words are too big and long for her to spell e.g. pineapple, mozzerella cheese. Hence, to make it easier for her, I printed the words out and she could do some pasting. I was afraid that she'll be frustrated spelling the long words and lose her interest. Key : Not to kill her interest! She arranged the sequence of the pictures according to the steps. Then we wrote the steps down. She kept rereading the previous steps before she pen down the next. I thought it was very good because it shows that she is trying to get the flow of ideas.
Just recently, we explored the Gallop Stable. It was the first time Phoebe did horse riding so she wanted to document it down. There were some factual information in her writing this time. She was able to tell me that a horse lives in a stable and eats hay. In city Singapore, we hardly get to see a stable, so it was good lesson learnt.
Phoebe told me that she wanted to draw a picture in her scrap book. I told her, "Why not? Okay, what do you want to draw?" and she did this. I asked her, "why is there only one cloud in the sky?" She said, "Everything is only one in this picture. One flower, one sun, one cloud, one cookie, one apple, one carrot, one Phoebe, one Reuben...etc". Suddenly, I had an idea. I told her, "Wow, you have one in everything. It's like a poem. One sun, one cloud, one cookie... Why don't you write it down because when you put all the words together, they sound so good." So Phoebe wrote her first poem and we named it "One Story". I asked her if she wants to call it "The One Poem" but she said she prefers calling it a story. Hence I respected her decision since afterall, it was her work, she was the poet and the auther. :) So ta-dah! Phoebe's first poem "One Story".
So here's Phoebe's scrap book. She loves doing her scrap book and she loves to read what she has written. She is able to read all the words she had written in her scrap book. She's very proud of her own work and her scrap book is very precious to her. I'm very proud of my little girl too! :)
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Head Heart and Hands
Since Phoebe is already in K1, she has been getting some homework from her school.
Monday - Mathematics
Wednesday - Chinese
Friday - English
It is usually one or two pages. I thought the amount of homework is appropriate and the challenge level is manageable. The children has been taught what to do. It keeps her a little busy in grandma's place and at home.
Whenever Phoebe is doing her school work at home, I always make sure that she sits properly at her desk, with both legs under the table. I always tell her that she needs to do her homework with the 3 H-es. She must do her homework with her Head because she needs to think about what she's doing. She needs to do her homework with her Hands, one hand to be placed on the book and the other hand will hold the pencil. Lastly, she must do her work with all her Heart. It is then, she will be able to do it well.
I've seen many children doing their work with their heads and hands, but not with their heart. They do it any way they like and they do not put in effort. I hope Phoebe will not become like one of them. Hence, when comes to written work, I am very strict with her. If she writes in an untidy manner, I will erase and make sure she redo again. And I always remind her to do her work with her Head, her Hands and her Heart.
Last night when she did her Mathematics homework, she told me about the 3 H-es. I was pleased to hear her reiterating it. I hope this reminder will be stuck in her head and etched in her heart forever :) She's my baobei precious girl and I love her sooo MUCH! :)
Monday - Mathematics
Wednesday - Chinese
Friday - English
It is usually one or two pages. I thought the amount of homework is appropriate and the challenge level is manageable. The children has been taught what to do. It keeps her a little busy in grandma's place and at home.
Whenever Phoebe is doing her school work at home, I always make sure that she sits properly at her desk, with both legs under the table. I always tell her that she needs to do her homework with the 3 H-es. She must do her homework with her Head because she needs to think about what she's doing. She needs to do her homework with her Hands, one hand to be placed on the book and the other hand will hold the pencil. Lastly, she must do her work with all her Heart. It is then, she will be able to do it well.
I've seen many children doing their work with their heads and hands, but not with their heart. They do it any way they like and they do not put in effort. I hope Phoebe will not become like one of them. Hence, when comes to written work, I am very strict with her. If she writes in an untidy manner, I will erase and make sure she redo again. And I always remind her to do her work with her Head, her Hands and her Heart.
Last night when she did her Mathematics homework, she told me about the 3 H-es. I was pleased to hear her reiterating it. I hope this reminder will be stuck in her head and etched in her heart forever :) She's my baobei precious girl and I love her sooo MUCH! :)
Friday, April 16, 2010
What's Reuben Saying
Reuben is at the two-word stage. Some of the two-word phrases he can say are : open door, open box, papa shoe, papa car, thank you, see you, bye bye, choo-choo train, cut hair, mommy please, no more etc. Occasionally, you can hear him articulating short 3-word sentences. We've heard him saying to his grandma, "Mama, papa coming." Whenever his papa goes to the carpark to get the car, Reuben will say, "Papa, take car."
Reuben is also able to articulate 2 to 3 syllabic words. Among which are : umbrella, animal, elephant, banana, aeroplane, gorilla, crocodile etc. He loves animals and is able to name many animals and make their sound. For example, pig oink, horse neigh, cow moo, sheep baa, lion roar, monkey *woo-woo*, duck quack, crocodile snap, snake *sss*, dog woof, cat meow etc. The other animals that he can name are hippo, rhino, turtle, camel, donkey, fish, bird, rabbit, crocodile, deer etc.
Reuben is able to count from 1 to 20, with one or two numbers missing in between. When he counts to 13, he will say, "Thirteen! Mama house" because that's how we count when we're in the lift and his grandma lives in 13th floor.
He can name some colours such as yellow, purple, green, red, blue, pink, black, orange etc but he only names them. He is not really able to identify them specifically except pink, green and red. The rest, we have yet to teach or discover from him.
For body parts, he can identify and articulate eyes, nose, mouth, ears, head, hair, feet, hands, tummy and face.
For the alphabet, we've not assessed him, so we really do not know what he knows. When Phoebe was two, she already knows her alphabet, colours and counting to twenty. With Reuben, we're just too lax in teaching him. Maybe with two kids, our attention are divided or maybe we're just too distracted with other things. So mommy, papa, we must buck up! No share king! (our private joke) Haha :)
Nevermind, he's a happy boy and we're happy parents :) No stress! :)
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Gallop Stable
We chanced upon this place for horse riding and we decided to explore it. It's called the Gallop Stable @ Pasir Ris. It was not difficult to find as it was very near to Pasir Ris Park. The place was small but clean and well-kept. The horses look healthy and clean. With animals around, it was inevitable to see some flies around but they were harmless. Phoebe had a chance to ride on the horse for her first time. She really enjoyed it very much, though her facial expression did not say so. For ten dollars, the child gets to go around the stable once. It took them about 7-10 minutes to complete one round, so it was pretty fast. Reuben was too young for the ride though he wanted very much to try. Then we bought 2 packs of hay bits ($1 each) for the children to feed the pony. I was very pleased that they were not afraid at all. Two of them just dished out their handful of hay bits for the pony to feed on. Phoebe learnt that the place for a horse to live in was called a stable. We stayed there for about half an hour or so before proceeding to our usual Pasir Ris Park for their favourite swing ride :) We like the horse stable and will definitely pop by there again before going to Pasir Ris Park in future :)
:
:
Phoebe really enjoyed the horse riding though her expression did not say much about it. They also like to feed the pony. Phoebe said she love horses :) Mommy too :)
Bye Bye, See You
This is Reuben's reaction after the Sesame Street show has ended. He does it whenever the words get roll out. :) Every time I watch this video clip in school, I always misses him and want to go home to hug him! :) Such a cuttie boy :)
Monday, April 12, 2010
Bus Ride
Phoebe and Reuben love to take bus rides. Whenever I mention about taking buses, they will get very excited. They also love to take the LRT because they are able to see the scenery. I would let them take the LRT to go round Seng Kang so that they can have a bird's eye view.
Oops! Undesirable behaviour... :p
Looking Good
Adults like to look good, children too. Reuben and Phoebe likes to be adorned in their best before going out. These pictures are taken after our trip to the Expo JL sales. The aircon there is ruthless. Parents going there must always remember to bring along an outwear for your children! :p
Phoebe and Reuben in their denim and chino jackets
Sunday, April 11, 2010
We Can Feed Ourselves
Reuben is able to self feed rather well. He picks up food with his fingers and stuffs them into his mouth. He is also able to handle fork and spoon to pick up finger food quite steadily. Phoebe dislikes french fries and all fried food but Reuben is the opposite. He loves fries and chicken nuggets and fish fingers and all sorts of convenient food. He's still on the porridge diet which I like it very much because it is wholesome, packed with all the nutrients. For lunch and dinner, he has his porridge. He'll eat fries and other food as additionals after his porridge.
:
Reuben enjoying his minestrone soup in Brewbaker's and his fish nuggets in Ikea :)
Phoebe enjoying her Sticky Chewy Chocolate ice cream in Swenson's and her chicken rice in Downtown East food court :)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
In Touch with God
The children get in touch with God everyday, especially Phoebe. Every morning from Monday to Friday, while waiting for her school bus to come, I will pray for her for God's protection and favour. When she reaches school, before her lessons starts, the teachers will guide the children to commit their day to the Lord. They will sing worship songs and pray.
On Saturday night, Reuben will attend his Sunday school, especially catered for 2-3+ year olders. Though Phoebe has exceeded the age limit, she is allowed to sit in to join in the activities and sing the action songs. On Sunday, Phoebe will attend her own Sunday school, which is especially meant for K1-ers.
Whenever we're on the move, we'll play children's Christian songs for them. The six slots in our car's player are occupied with Integrity Children's CDs. We have played the songs so many times until both Phoebe and Reuben are familiar with the songs and the sequences.
At night for bedtime stories, we've started reading to Phoebe Bible stories meant for children. Though we do not systematically read to her Bible stories every night, we try to do so for at least twice a week.
Every night before the children sleep, I will pray for both Phoebe and Reuben. Phoebe asked me how to be close to God. I told her that all she needed to do was to pray to God. I taught her how to pray and sometimes she will pray simple prayers. When my back was strained badly, she even laid her hand on my back and prayed for me! I was very touched by her initiative and gesture :)
My prayer for my children is always that they will grow up to become man and woman after God's heart and that, they will become children with good values and be filled with the 9 fruit of the spirit, which is : gentleness, kindess, patience, self-control, love, joy, peace, goodness and faithfulness.
Though both Phoebe and Reuben have not been baptised yet, I pray that one day, when they are old enough to decide for themselves, they will live up to the command of the Lord and be willing to be baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! :)
On Saturday night, Reuben will attend his Sunday school, especially catered for 2-3+ year olders. Though Phoebe has exceeded the age limit, she is allowed to sit in to join in the activities and sing the action songs. On Sunday, Phoebe will attend her own Sunday school, which is especially meant for K1-ers.
Whenever we're on the move, we'll play children's Christian songs for them. The six slots in our car's player are occupied with Integrity Children's CDs. We have played the songs so many times until both Phoebe and Reuben are familiar with the songs and the sequences.
At night for bedtime stories, we've started reading to Phoebe Bible stories meant for children. Though we do not systematically read to her Bible stories every night, we try to do so for at least twice a week.
Every night before the children sleep, I will pray for both Phoebe and Reuben. Phoebe asked me how to be close to God. I told her that all she needed to do was to pray to God. I taught her how to pray and sometimes she will pray simple prayers. When my back was strained badly, she even laid her hand on my back and prayed for me! I was very touched by her initiative and gesture :)
My prayer for my children is always that they will grow up to become man and woman after God's heart and that, they will become children with good values and be filled with the 9 fruit of the spirit, which is : gentleness, kindess, patience, self-control, love, joy, peace, goodness and faithfulness.
Though both Phoebe and Reuben have not been baptised yet, I pray that one day, when they are old enough to decide for themselves, they will live up to the command of the Lord and be willing to be baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit! :)
Reuben attentive during Bible story time :)
Phoebe attentive during Bible story time :)
Papa reading Bible stories to Phoebe before bedtime.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)