I Can Write!

It's not within my initial plan for Jeremy to write his chinese name at 4yo 5mths, but he did it unexpectedly! Here he was writing his chinese name worksheet he brought home from school.*

* I had customed made a chinese name dot-to-dot book just 2 weeks ago and b4 it arrives, his school already started them practising their chinese name!!

Salt Lamp = Negative Ions ??

Been wanting to get one salt lamp years ago but as it was quite pricey for my consideration, I've then put off the idea. And just days ago, I saw someone selling at a local forum at a very attractive price !! After checking on the pickup location, here it is sitting in our house :)

Solar Grasshopper

This is an amazing easy experiment to teach children about solar energy. Cool!

Online Learning for Jeremy

Today no school for Jeremy as tomorrow's his zoo excursion so he stays home till 3pm for his mental arithematic class.

And I've found a very good website that teaches the whole spectrum of English for children aged 4-8 and decided to download the 14days trial for Jeremy. Jeremy aced most of the activities and he enjoys learning through this media ! Hence, this shall be part of his homeschooling curriculum too!

Visual Stimulation Infant Books

Added few more books for Joshua's eyes & right brain training purposes. And I found some A3 laminated mini posters for him instead of those typical huge wall charts that need to paste onto walls. Cool!

Chinese Readers for Primary One

As I was browsing some books at the bookstore, I saw these series of books which captured my attention instantly!! I took a quite peek and "Wow" ...and now these books are seated nicely on our bookshelf.

e-Learning

I have not been organised in my daily homeschooling plan for Jamie (not to mention Jeremy!) till I have decided to draft up a routine time-table so that I will strictly follow it through. Here, I am incorporating e-learning into the curriculum.

Student Progress Report

This evening Jeremy took back his chinese report card from the enrichment school. I am pleased wif his progress though he has been rather mischevious on stage. And below is Jamie's report when she took back on Wednesday night. As usual, she is weaker in her oral and expression.

Money, Money, Money!!

I am subtly introducing Jamie what is the value of money/coins since the start of this year and today, she is more confident in handling money. I am not in a bit hurry to rush her but it's good that she starts learning it now since she has to buy food herself on every Tuesday and Thursday. She has completed the "Coins" workbook and now she is going into "dollar" workbook.

Reading

Joshua loves to "meddle" wif board books whenever he gets a hand of it. Instantly he will try to lick it before flipping open the pages, whahahaa!!

Classical Ballet

Jamie had her 1st RAD exam this morning at 10am. It's her "1st" because this time she will be graded by an overseas external examiner. We reached the school by 835am. By 915am, we were all ready to enter the studio for her assessment. Nevermind the results, most important is that she did her best and had enjoyed every moment of it! She will be promoted to Grade 1 after the exam.

** Jamie & her group rehearsing for their dance items while waiting for the 1st group to end.

How much change???

Since the start of the year, I've been giving Jamie opportunity to buy food over recess on every Tuesday and Thursday and the rest of the weekdays, bringing packed food from home. She is coping with money with a new sense of learning yet couldn't fully understand the virtue of saving. What do I do then?? Well, first of all, I opened a saving account for her at POSB. Next papa brought her to choose a piggy bank that she can save her pocket money. And lastly, with the recommendation from L, I've managed to get this wonderful Money Sense board game for her to learn how to deal with money diligently. It's F-U-N!!

Heuristic Problem Sums

Call me "kiasu or kiasee" mummy, anyway I'm not in the lest bothered for I know what is best for my children so as to prepare them well for the challenges ahead. Here, I started Jamie solving problem sums using model bars instead of writing out the equations and steps which I've been coaching her since late last year. She has little problems in solving these herself without drawing out the models but I think it's good that she understands and knows how to derives from these models so that come P3, she will have minimal hiccups in adapting these steps.

Yoohoo!!

** Click PLAY to view the video.

An Overcomer Jamie

I remembered Jamie started her 1st swimming lessons wif an instructor at my fren's condo some 1.5yrs ago, in Y2008 Oct. Back then, the instructor just let her be whenever she refused to try to blow bubbles or head down. It only lasted for about 3mths and she ceased learning there due to unforseen circumstances. And I continued her wif another coach around February last year and she's still wif this coach since then. But stopped swimming for another 3mths from Sept'09 due to recovering of kawasaki diease.

*******

So, in between she still didn't try hard to do head down or even jump into the pool etc. But the breakthrough came about some time this year when she suddenly "open" and tried it herself during every swimming lessons, slow but bit by bit. Perhaps gotta thank Jeremy too since he started swimming early this year and has been progressing faster than expected. Now she can even swim wif the kicking board wif head down, completely. Praise the Lord! What a breakthrough!!

Reading

I rarely have time to read alone wif Jeremy. This evening, while I was free from Joshua, I quickly grabbed some phonics readers, sat him down and he read to me. I'm glad that I've made reading an enjoyable pastime for my children to cultivate. They will probably grow up to be an avid readers if we continue this reading habit together wif our children.

1st Porridge

Yummy fish porridge!! Today shall mark the start of Josh's porridge journey till he is ready for rice (started semi solids abt 1-2wks ago).

I Can Feed Myself

Surprisingly he can hold it so well even for the 1st time!

My Breastfeeding Journey

It's been 8 months since I've started bfg Joshua and I am glad I've persisted right from the beginning. When will I stop then? Well, shall see how then.

Caterpillar

This beautiful caterpillar that hanged from a tall tree instantly caught my eyes when I was rushing to the supermarket this evening. I supposed iIt was struggling to go back to the tree before it changes into a coccoon. Isn't it beautiful?

Morning Excursion @ West Coast Park

Due to Papa's busy work commitments, he seldom have the time to go outing wif us. But today, I had managed to "squeeze" out some of his morning slot to go out for a short breakfast and outing with us together with Sandra's family. It was a good one though the weather was very humid towards noon.

Happy Birthday to ME!

Yay I'm another year wiser.... do I ??? This year, being "cheapo" we had my celebration twice, yes not once, but twice, at Swenson! And I got my free firehouse ice cream twice of course!!

Kinderart Assessment

It's the end of Term 1 and here's Kinderart assessment on Jeremy's arts enrichment wif the kindergarten. Also attached is one of his artwork he had brought home.

** double click to read teacher's comments.

Internet Connection DOWN

Sickening, don't know what happened...couldn't log in since last weekends!! But finally its OK (thks papa :P) and I'm back online again, yea!

Happy Birthday, Amanda

Jamie was invited to a "All gals" art n craft party at an Art shop at West Coast Plaza for 2hours. After dropping her off, I went for my own hi-tea at Fish & Co while taking a breathe from my 2 boys who were at home wif their daddy.

Head Down

I am tired of waiting for the "big day" when Jamie finally can head down COMPLETELY but while waiting, I am very pleased that Jeremy is making steady progress to do head-down since 1 month ago (pix above was taken on 27th Feb when he did his 1st head down.)

Been Lazy

I've been a little slackened for the past few days.... perhaps due to fatigue or long- term burnt out?? Anyway, gotta get back on track again and need to prepare Jamie for oral and comprehensive drilling soon (thanks to Levine for her "pre-warning) as her 1st SA1 is coming up pretty soon. Stress sia! And Jeremy has just started his 1st spelling in K1. So far so good as the school only started them in 3 letters phonetic words (eg fat, mat, cat, sat etc). I think I've too many things on my plate for our 3 kiddos and I still have to clear stuff from our storeroom and at the same time gotta finish up wif some DIY right brain materials for the kids...who says Money not Enough? I say, Time not Enough!!

Splashing Time @ 7.5mths

Joshua has been enjoying water fun time every time he's being put into the swim tub. It's proven that babies who are exposed to early water experience benefit them tremendously and the obvious reasons are quoted as ..."fostering a growing sense of self-esteem, confidence and independence. As a child's ability to freely move through the water increases so does their sense of well-being." Read up more here.

Abacus Lesson

Finally after 3 tough months of twice weekly lessons, Jeremy is getting better wif his abacus homework. He doesn't whin terribly, cry while doing work or taking his own sweet time (can be up to 2 hours for a mere 2 pages work) to complete his homwework. He is more cheerful and enjoys lesson now. See how happy he is ??

Colorful Organic Fruits

Yummy!! These are for Josh! Remembered Jeremy took alot of organic fruits, cereals and grains when he was very young.

Improved Motor Skills

After months of drilling, Jeremy has shown significant improvement. However chinese characters are more tough for him at this age for I remembered Jamie didn't write chinese words well at 4yo 3mths old.

Parent Volunteer #2

The cycle is back again..this time for Jeremy. Yup, he will be going to P1 in two years time. So now I gotta apply as Parent Volunteer. Hate it! Sigh, but what to do??? Anyway this afternoon, I went to the school to submit my completed form. What's next?? Well, they will email me an electronic mail request to submit another more detailed form. Then lastly follow by a 1-to-1 interview around end May. Why so troublesome???

Hair Cut Again

Don't know why boys tend to patronize barber so much more frequent than girls??

1st Day of the Week??

Do you know what is the first day of the week?? See it yourself.... I thought its Sunday as many of us thought too but its not! Its "in us" for so long that Sunday is the "last" day of the week, a day of rest and relax. So its time we change our mindset!

1st Chocolate Bar

This is Jeremy 1st taste of a chocolate bar shortly after 4yo. Can you find the gleam from his face???? **PS : He has put on some weight for the past 1-2mths prior losing weight again due to episodes of diarrhoea and tummyache.

Violin Enrichment

After battling for some time, we have decided to enrol Jamie when she took back a letter from school. So today is her 1st lesson. This is her 1st formal practise wif musical instrument.

Missing In Action

Why am I so busy?? Well, apart from the daily coaching of Jamie & Jeremy & their enrichments, I'm also tied up with Joshua whereby I need to do flash cards activities with him at least twice daily. Then came March holidays which made me even more busy !! But to the kids, they had enjoyed themselves very much except Jeremy on certain days having some tummy ache and diarrhea. He is fine now. And tomorrow school re-opens !! B-U-S-Y again!!

Joshua @ 6 Mois

This is Joshua at Little Neuro Tree while waiting for his kor-kor.

Morning Work

Both kids had their mental arithematic practices this morning after breakfast. According to their teacher, Jamie's foundation is very firm and her speed and accuracy is there. As for Jeremy, after into his 9th lessons, he is now able to do 3 single digit addition/subtraction eg (1+3-2), and the "friends" of 1,2,3,4 & 5 (eg 1 friend is 9, 2 friend is 8etc)

Power Failure

I panickly went downstairs to dial the town council's number which stated at the lift lobby. And hurriedly brought all my EBM to my parents-in-law house to refrigerate. This is the 2nd time power tripped ever since we moved here 1yr 4mths ago. 1st time was due to a faulty iron and today?? The technician said it gotta do wif "downstairs" electricity ?? Whatever as long as the power is back...

1st Pumpkin Taste

Decided to blend the freshly steamed butter nut pumpkin I've juz bought yday at ntuc. Wah! Am so pleased wif the smooth texture and of course the "not-so-sweet" for the little taste bud.

I Know My Name

It's long awaiting indeed. But nevermind the slow milestone... he can write his name !!

Waking Up Early

Joshua is usually the first to wake up before Jamie & Jeremy due to his early morning milk feed. And he is the first to greet his jie-jie & kor-kor too!!

I Can Sit!!

It has never cross my mind that Joshua is already capable of sitting upright on his own till his "counterpart" did it during CNY visitation at our place, lol!!! So cute seeing him sitting by himself. So when did he started to sit ???

Year of Tiger

Expecting more ang baos since I've 3 kids??? Hahhaa.... shall see how. Meanwhile, have a blessed lunar new year !! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

Hands-On Sight Words

DIY some cards for Jeremy. Been quite stacken lately but I'm coming back!!

Fisher Price Jumperoo

After battling whether to get a preowned set or go ahead w 1 mth's rental, I've decided to rent instead. And the funny thing is, he doesn't like the music/sound at all and will cry shortly less than 5mins playing in it.

6 Months 7Days

After whrestling for quite a while, I've decided to start Josh on cereal. He is taking it well so far. Hmm, soon the start of puree and semi solid food....

Cheers!

See how happy CQ's mother ? I suppose this shows how much joy Joshua brings to them.... anyway, he is such a loveable, big eyes baby that melts people's heart.

HYPY Test

Jamie took home her 1st test paper from school. Am very pleased wif her results although I think she should score full marks. Was penalised for "cao" (grass) as she wrote "chao" instead. Sayang!