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Thursday 28 February 2013

Kindergartener and exams

I've never really thought much about kids' exams. What do kids get tested on anyway, especially kindergarten kids? I just feel it's so wrong for kids this young to be tested. They probably don't even know the concept of exams or have the stamina to sit through the exam papers (how many 4-5 year olds can concentrate for 1.5 hours on a single paper?!!!). I know in H's school calendar, it has been clearly marked out that 12-14 March are exam days for Reception kids. Yeah yeah exams, no big deal, until I saw in the Parents' Handbook last night that I realise this school takes the whole exam business really seriously.

3 days of exams, 4 subjects will be tested (BM + Ejaan, English + Spelling, Math and Science). There's even a list of topics / areas in which they will be tested on for each subject, and the list is long (I kid you not)!

Should I revise with H to prepare him for the exam, or should I just let him be? I really don't think kindergarteners should be given exams. The teachers should be able to assess how much they've learnt by observing their class work, no? Research shows that formal academic testing in young kids is inconclusive anyway since most kids this age can't even read instructions, nor have the attention span. I know H probably doesn't, given how he likes to dilly dally when doing his homework, but it doesn't mean that he does not know his work. So to me, exams are counter-productive and introduce unnecessary stress on kids. I dread having to tell H that he will be having exams and that he has to finish the exam papers and finish them fast. I can just foresee him asking me tonnes of questions like What is exam? Why must have exam? Why must finish? Why must do fast? Why this why that...

As far as I remember, I've never studied for exams throughout my primary school years, nor do I remember my mom ever revising with us. So I think I shall just let H be. He'll just need to learn from this coming exams - if he does well hopefully it'll motivate him; if he does badly hopefully he'll learn to buck up. What I wish to instil in my little big boy is for him to be an independent learner. That way mommy can relax knowing that he can take full responsibility for his own learning. *A long way to go I know, but I should really start by teaching him to take responsibility for his own homework*

Wednesday 27 February 2013

Registration process for public primary school

For first time parents wanting to register their child in a public primary school, this is what you need to do (for those wanting to register in a Selangor school):

  1. Go to the Jabatan Negeri Selangor website and click on Pendaftaran Murid Tahun 1. Registration starts 1 March 2013 (for kids born in the year 2008 and 2009). You can only register your kids 2 years before the start of their academic session, i.e. this year's registration is for kids entering school in 2014 or 2015.
  2. Print out the completed online form
  3. Go to your school of choice within 14 days of online registration to hand in the printed form and supporting documents.
Documents required:
  • Child's birth certificate (original and copy)
  • Copy of eletricity and water bills (Jan 2013)
  • Copy of parents' Marriage Certificate
  • Copy of parents' Identify Cards
  • RM1 processing fee
Registration is open from 1 March 2013 to 30 April 2013.

Hope this helps. We'll be registering H in a public chinese primary school since we've not really decided if we'd keep him in his current international school.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

Farm in the City

I've been wanting to take the kids to the Farm in the City ever since I heard rave reviews about it from other mummies. Although I'm not a big fan of animals, it would be good for the kids to get close to nature and be comfortable around furry and feathery beings (don't be like mommy... hehehe). Kids these days are such city kids, they are afraid of anything 'dirty' - my kids certainly are and from my conversations with friends and colleagues, so are their kids. E.g. H used to be afraid to step on sand and grass, he's ok now but L is still icky about stepping on grass barefooted. When it comes to getting close to animals, no need to say lah, all the more they're afraid.

Last weekend, Hubs organised a day trip to the Farm with a few of his friends from work, all with kids around H & L's age. We convoyed at one of his friend's place in TTDI before heading off to Seri Kembangan. We had no clue how to get there, but with Waze (this is an amazing app), we managed to find our way there without getting lost :-)

I can't remember how much is the entrance fee, I think there's a family package (2 adults 2 kids) for RM99. Kids under 90cm in height enter for free! The entrance fee includes all the animal feeds, so you don't have to fork out anything else, except for the pony ride which costs RM5 per ride I think.

The first section as soon as we entered the Farm is the tortoise and turtle area. There's a giant galapagos tortoise for you to pet and feed. We were quite surprised that H actually went up and fed the tortoise. L on the other hand just clung on to me and refused to get down. She's such a 'big talker'. Before we went to the Farm, she's the one all excited and said she wanted to feed the animals, etc. But as soon as we got to the farm she became all timid although not admitting it, "I'm not scared..." and she told her little friends, "Don't need to be scared, it won't bite!"

There are other species of turtles too and the kids were fascinated. We then walked through the reptile area (there were huge snakes and H got a little scared) and the bird aviary. Here H really freaked out cos the birds were everywhere. One even came and perched on L's stroller. He started crying and wanted to get out NOW! The kids were also scared of the goat (who's overly friendly) and the deers, so we had to also exit the area quickly.

After that we went to the fruit and vegetable farm. The plants and trees aren't really grown yet so you don't really see any fruits and vegetables, except for the banana tree and winter melon creeper which were bearing fruits. But the kids got to see scarecrows and a well. There's also a cow for feeding but none of the kids wanted to feed the cow.

One thing great about the Farm is that they have sinks everywhere for you to wash your hands. We took a break at the cafe (it's really not much of a cafe but good enough) for drinks and ice-cream. The cafe is just next to the petting zoo and longkang fishing area. There are lots of cute little bunnies and guinea pigs. L only wanted to stay outside the fenced area to fish. I think this is where the kids had most fun, all trying to net the fish but nobody was successful. The fishes were just too fast. Even daddy, with 4 nets in his hands, couldn't net any. Hubs asked if H wanted to feed the bunnies, and surprisingly he said yes. He happily fed the cuddlies and we praised him for being brave. He even showed off to L, "see mei-mei no need to be scared, look at kor-kor, you just hold the vege like this!"

We then went to the lake to feed the swans and fishes. This is the only place L wanted to participate. After emptying 2 containers of feed, she wanted to stay on but we were told there was an animal show starting in 5 minutes so off we went. There's a butterfly area which we didn't go in. We also went through the exotic animal area rather quickly (they had giant rabbits, praire dogs, marmosets, iguanas, etc. *don't know and can't remember the names of some of the animals...hehehe).

We didn't go on the pony ride. After the show, we headed off to find lunch. All in all is was a great day out. The kids had fun (L's been asking to go again and said she'll feed the animals the next time we go). We should really do more day trips like this on weekends, it's much better than staying at home or going to the malls. Now where shall we go this coming weekend? Hmmm....

Monday 25 February 2013

H's colouring nightmare

I must have underestimated how much H dislike colouring. I know he's not a big fan of colouring but his procrastination when it comes to finishing off his homework that requires colouring is driving me mad!

I'm not sure when this all started. He's never been unwilling to colour, in fact when in a good mood, he will try to colour in nicely. But recently, I realised that he's just unwilling to pick up those colour pencils. Over the weekend while I was supervising him with his homework, he did eveything quickly but left out sections requiring colouring.

"Can you please finish off your homework? Just a little more, you only need to colour the boxes."

No reply and went off to play with his sister!

"Come back H! You can play later, just this little bit more..."

H came back, and sat there playing with his colour pencils instead (pretending they were stick men fighting).

Me getting impatient, "You better finish it now cos I'm not going to remind you again. You can go to school and explain to the teacher why you didn't finish!"

Reluctantly he started colouring, but instead of just filling the boxes with one colour, he had to draw stripes. Sigh, I was really losing patience. And he was doing it really slowly as well, getting distracted all the time. I just couldn't sit there any longer and walked away before I snapped.



When I came back after 1/2 hour, H still wasn't done. Instead he proudly showed me what he did, "See mommy!". H drew the ants and bees game (ipad game) on paper, complete with different levels some more! *slaps forehead*



"Very nice dear, but why haven't you finished your homework? No need to do in colourful stripes lah, just use one single colour so that you can do it faster!"

"In school you don't waste time like that ok else your teacher will say you're slow in colouring!"


Opps, blurted out too fast!

"My teacher didn't say I am slow in colouring. She said I was lousy in colouring."

I wonder if that's the reason he's rejecting colouring. It's terrible how teachers make such comments even if it's unintentional cos you never know how those words can affect a kid's subconscious mind.

"Well it's ok to be lousy, not everyone's good at everything, but with practice you can be good too..."

H finally sat down to finish off his homework. He coloured the rest of the boxes with one single colour and finished in no time. See it's not that hard. I'm not sure why he just refused to do it.

What's with homework and colouring

I'm not sure if it's the norm with schools these days, but H seems to be getting more and more homework. Not that he's complaining, but mommy is since I have to make sure he finishes his homework. H actually likes doing homework. He can be quite fast when he's in the mood, but he's also easily distracted and can take ages if it's something he's not interested in, e.g. colouring.

This week's homework

I simply can't understand the rationale for making the kids do so much colouring. Every subject, whether it's English, Math, Mandarin, etc, seems to require the kids to colour. Shouldn't colouring be reserved for Art classes? It'll make completing the homework so much faster if the kids don't have to colour in the pictures.

H really doesn't take much pride his work. The first few pictures he'll try to colour within the lines using different colours, then it becomes single colour still somewhat within the lines, then towards the end of the page it's just messy scribbles of colour.

I'm actually not too bothered about his colouring skills but I guess I have to teach him about taking pride in his work.

Thursday 21 February 2013

Quality time with L

L has recently become more clingy and whiny. I blame it on me not spending enough quality time with her. I noticed that on days when I spend one-on-one time with her, showering her with attention, etc., she's more well behaved and will not 'reject' her nanny. Otherwise she will cling to me like a koala bear as soon as I get home, and will scream and cry whenever she wants something.

These days Hubs sends H to school in the morning so I must make it a point to stay home till about 8.45am before she heads off to nursery to head off to work. That way, we can snuggle up and read, or play games. I remember I used to spend more time playing with H, e.g. doing puzzles, painting, etc. but I've not done the same for L. Not because I don't want to, but there's just not enough time since bedtime is now earlier (8pm on school days).

Yesterday morning L took out this spatial logic puzzle to play with. We actually have lots of puzzles and games stashed away and forgotten. I should really do some reorganising and take them out for L now that she's ready for them.




This morning I didn't have time to spend with L cos I had to send H to school. But tomorrow, we shall have our mother-daughter bonding time again by explore another puzzle/game together :-)

chores and pocket money

Ever since H got his new wallet, he's been bugging me every evening (when I come home from work) for a 'job' so that he gets paid. My little H is quite a money face (must have gotten the genes from  Hubs). Here are come of the conversations that have transpired since he came to possession of his wallet.

On the first night
After I told H I will think of something for him to do, he told Daddy, "Mummy will give me a job tomorrow and you can pay me RM8-RM9 for it." Wah since when do kids get paid RM9 for a chore. I'm not sure how he arrived at that figure but he surely won't be paid more than RM1.

The second day
H: Mommy what is this for? <showing me the card compartment in his wallet>
Me: That's for you to put your cards
H: I don't have a card. Can you give me a credit card?

Wah, credit card? Hell no!!

H's first chore
It's really not easy to think of a chore since kakak does almost everything and we don't want him to get the wrong impression that he'd get paid for doing routine things, things that he's meant to do anyway. And after much bugging (and to make sure he's doesn't lose interest), I asked him to help me clean up my wadrobe. He wasn't much of a help to be honest but I paid him RM1 at the end of it. On hind sight, I should have only given him 50 cents. Now he must think that chores are such easy peasy way to make money.

Yesterday
H: Can you give me a job again?
Me: You don't get chores everyday.
H: But I want.... <started whining>
Me: Chores cannot be too easy for you to earn money <oopss said it too fast too soon>
H: But I want easy, I don't want difficult. You must have different types. RM1 for easy, RM3 for medium, RM5 for difficult.

Wah, can bargain summore!

Me: Nope. RM1 is maximum. If it's easy you only get 50 cents.

Then he asked me for another card since there are more than one card compartment. After digging through my cardholder, I could only find one 'useless' card (a loyalty card we got from the biscuit company when we bought our CNY cookies).

Me: There you go, you can have this cute little biscuit shop card.
H: To buy biscuits?
Me: Yes.
H: You mean if we buy biscuit and we don't have enough money to pay we give the card?

Alamak!!! He thinks it's a cookie credit card... hahahaha!

Me: Nope, you can't pay using the card but you can get a discount!

I'm starting to think that this whole chores and pocket money idea is not such a good idea after all. Perhaps I need to change my strategy to make it easier else I'm gonna be bombarded with endless request for chores every evening (and overpaying for simple stuff which defeats the purpose of teaching him that earning money is hard work).

Tuesday 19 February 2013

fierce teachers

H is such a sensitive little boy. Last night after putting him in bed he said he wanted to chit chat. I must make it a point to have chats with H. There isn't enough time to do so cos most days by the time I get home, I probably only have about an hour with the kids before I have to get them ready for bed. That one hour would be spent playing, reading, etc. It was good that I had a gathering with my old schoolmates last Friday who reminded me that young kids like H also need an emotional outlet cos we'd never know what is happening in school unless we talk to them about it. Normally I'd just say, "No more talking, go to sleep!", but last night I was happy I had a chat with H.

Me: So how was your first day back in school?
H: Very good... <he was smiling but I sensed some hesitation>

Then he said he didn't want to go to the school anymore cos the teachers scolded. I had to probe and question to find out exactly what happened. Sometimes it's hard to understand H cos he has difficulty articulating what he wants to say. Long story short, there are a few teachers who according to him are fierce and like to scare children. I asked if they scolded him he said no, but they scolded his friends. After much probing, I found out H's definition of scolding isn't really scolding. For example, the teacher will tell his friend who's day dreaming "You're day dreaming, E!". To him, since the teacher said it in a loud voice, that is scolding. I asked if the teachers punished, he said no. I asked if the teachers scolded if they ask questions or don't know how to do something, he said no. Whew!! So I guess H is just being overly sensitive. I then told him it's ok, the teachers aren't really scolding, they just wanted the children to pay attention and learn.

Then H told me his class teachers said he is lousy at colouring. I was initially aghast. How can the teachers pass derogatory remarks like that? Surely that will affect the child's self-esteem. I was thinking to myself that if that's true I'll need to have a word with the teachers. But before I started probing, H corrected himself, "no they didn't say lousy they said I was slow at colouring". I asked if the teacher told him that, he said no, he overheard the teachers saying that.

When I told Hubs about what H told me about his teachers, he said, "Good, that will toughen him up." I believe it's important for parents to not overprotect their kids and allow them to learn how to deal with tough situations, but we have to also take care of their emotional wellbeing (especially for a sensitive child like H). So it's really a fine balance and it's not always easy to know where to draw the line.   

Monday 18 February 2013

chores for preschoolers

While we were shopping for H's school bag over the weekend, Daddy thought it'd be a good idea to start teaching H how to save by getting him a wallet. He of course choose an Angry Bird wallet to go with his trolley bag.

H was really excited about having a wallet. I think it makes him feel like a big boy. He asked for money to put in his wallet but Daddy said not to give him any, he has to earn it.

H: Mommy can I have some money for my wallet?
Me: Nope, you have to earn it.
H: Why?
Me: Well money don't grow on trees or fall from the sky. Mommy needs to go to work to earn money, so you need to work for your money too. I'll think of something you can help out then you'll get a dollar.

But what can a 4-year old do? It can't be something so routine (and something he's expected to do anyway like making his bed) else he'll want to be paid everytime he does it. And since I couldn't think of anything, he had no chore and no money for his wallet.

The next morning when we were going out, H wanted to bring his wallet. Daddy said no, wallet stays at home since there's no money inside.

H told Daddy: Mommy's gonna give me a job and I'll get a dollar!

Opps... I better think of a chore for him soon else his enthusiasm will soon run out.

trolley bag for H

We finally got H a school bag. He's been using his small backpack which by the time we put in his pencil case, extra set of clothes, water bottle and snack box, there's no room for anything else. It's not easy choosing the right school bag. He wanted a trolley bag just like all his friends, but with the trolley, the bag itself is already quite heavy without anything in it. I'm not sure how he'll be able to carry the bag down the stairs. But then again, if we got him a backpack, it'll be too heavy for him to carry on his back when he puts in all his books. So finally, we decided a trolley bag it is.

We went to Isetan. There's quite a good collection of bags for sale there. H insisted on the Angry Bird trolley bag. We wanted to get him the medium size one, which is just right for his frame, even if he were to carrry it on his back, but he insisted on the large one. I think it's because of the design - he wanted the bag with the Space Angry Bird.

Daddy: This is too big for you. It'll be too heavy for you to carry.
H: Don't worry daddy, if it's heavy I'll pull it!
Me: Are you sure? What size bags do your friends have?
H: Same like this, some even bigger!

H's trolley bag is almost as big as him

We couldn't get him to change his mind so we got the large one. After putting in all his books, the bag is indeed heavy. I reminded Daddy to remind H when he drops him off this morning to not carry the bag but to pull the bag, even if it's to go up and down the stairs. And guess what my boy did? Daddy said he pulled his bag from where he was dropped off till the stairways, then he got one of the prefect kor-kor on duty to carry his bag down the stairs for him. I hope he doesn't think that those big kor-kors are there to help carry bags. This is actually not the first time he did so. When he was still using his small backpack, I used to put his books in a recycle bag for him to handcarry. There was one day a couple of weeks back when he took back more books than usual and the recycle bag was pretty heavy. So when I dropped him off and asked him to take the bag, he complained it was heavy but I said he needed to be strong. Then a few steps into the school, I saw him talking to a prefect kor-kor and he handed the kor-kor his bag. Then they walked off together towards his classroom.

I must ask him what he said to the kor-kors. I hope he knows how to ask nicely and says thank you after that.

Friday 15 February 2013

Hello Kitty Town & Little Big Club @ Puteri Harbour

While we were in JB for Chinese New Year, we took the kids to the Puteri Harbour Family Theme Park. I must say it was a great day out for the kids. We went to the Hello Kitty Town and the Little Big Club. Admission is RM50 for one park and RM85 for both (same price for both adults and kids, but kids under 3 enters for free). I think RM85 is pretty expensive since the parks aren't at all big but Hubs was happy and felt it was worth every single penny since his kids had so much fun. His comments: It's much cheaper than lugging the whole family abroad, and less stressful too! I guess he has a point.
 
 
Hello Kitty Town
What's there to play? There isn't much in the Hello Kitty Town to be honest, and it's really more for girls but I guess kids that age don't really think that way. Hello Kitty Town is more activity based. You're given an activity card whereby you need to get it stamped before the start of each activity. That means you can only do each activity once. There are 6 activity stations:-
  • Cookie decorating. You are given a Hello Kitty cookie to paint with chocolate or strawberry jam. The kids only wanted to decorate but didn't want to eat so daddy had to gobble up both cookies
  • Jewellery making. Here you're given a necklace and all you do is choose a charm and chain it to the necklace. The quality of the necklace and charm is pretty good I must say. L's been wearing hers ever since :-)
  • Nail salon. Both kids didn't want to have their nails painted so H painted mine and L just ran around. I had to bear with uglily painted nails until I got back to KL (sigh ugly nails for CNY)
  • Hello Kitty's house. This is not really an activity but more for photo taking. You get to walk through Hello Kitty's living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, walk-in wadrobe, etc.
  • Black wonder. For me this is the most interesting activity, but H was shivering with fear (I kid you not he was really shivering and crying, and insisted to be carried). L was cool though. Well the place is quite dark, it's supposed to be scary. You walk through a maze, then you come to a hall with multiple rooms (spookily set up), in which you have to find clues to solve the puzzle.
  • Dressup. We didn't do this but I think it's just dressing up for photo taking
Apart from the activity stations above which requires stamping, there is also the spinning tea cup ride and a jungle gym type area with air guns, balls, etc. Oh, there's also dance performances on stage.
 
That wraps up the Hello Kitty Town. Time for lunch before we head up to the Little Big Club. The problem with Puteri Harbour is that it's still quite dead so there's really no place to eat apart from one restaurant at the harbour front. We were told the Lat restaurant is quite good but they weren't open for lunch that day.
 
Little Big Club
If you were to pay for only one park, I would suggest you go for the Little Big Club. It's spread over 2 floors (did I mention the parks are indoor, so you're not affected by rain or shine), and also divided into areas according to the cartoons/characters.
  • Barney's Yard and Playhouse. This is just a simple play area for the kids to run around. Nothing much. Kids can also watch Barney video in the playhouse
  • Pingu's Igloo. You get games machines in this room much like an arcade but on a much smaller scale (H's favourite). We almost gave this place a miss cos we thought you have to insert coins to play but later found out the games are all FOC. There's an air hockey table, 2 basketball shooting machines and 3 hit the bobbing penguins (?) machines.
  • Bob the Builder. This is again similar to the jungle gym type set up where you have playstructures to climb, slides, etc. But what is different here is that there's a section in which you can build a wall using big puzzle pieces (imagine tetris if you remember the game). The kids loved this. They'd build the wall as high as they could, then run through it to crash it down.
  • Angelina's dance studio. Only L went into this cos she wanted to see the mouse and she has a thing for ballet. The room's set up like a stage with Angelina on the stage to take pictures with the guests. Kids and adults can also play dress up
  • Thomas and Friends. A whole floor is dedicated to Thomas and Friends. This is where you get rides (finally). There are 6 rides altogether - they're all pretty mild (well I guess they're designed for young kids). H is normally quite timid but when it comes to rides, he's just fearless. L on the other hand would only sit on my lap. There's also a huge playstucture here. The slides are quite scary I must say, and going after the kids can be a real nightmare as you have to be quite small and flexible to go around the structure. 
Overall it was a great day out. Thanks Yi-Yi for inviting us along. I think having their cousins with them added to the fun. We must check out Legoland next...

Thursday 14 February 2013

mental math addition strategies for preschoolers

H's school is participating in the World Education Games this coming March and being a kiasu school, the teacher told us parents to let our kids practise at home in the weeks leading up to the games. I always thought that H is good in maths, well he does know how to perform addition and subtraction but I guess he doesn't have the speed. So being a kiasu mom, I guess I'd need to teach him some basic mental math strategies to boost his speed in doing sums.

I came across this post by Shelly Gray and thought the strategies to be most apt for a preschooler like H. Here's a summary of the 6 strategies:

1. Counting On - Counting on means that you start with the biggest number in an equation, and then count up. For example, in the equation 5+3, you want students to start with the "5" in their heads, and then count up, "6, 7, 8." This is to discourage students from counting like, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5.....6, 7, 8." Students also need to be taught that if an equation looks like this: "2+6," they still should start with the bigger number in this case "6" and count up "7, 8." I know Math Monkey teaches this. Kids are taught to have a mental picture of the numbers 1-9 (made up of dots) so that they can use the 'counting on' strategy without having to count with fingers.

2. Doubles - Doubles are all around us; think of fingers and toes - 5+5, wheels on a car - 2+2, or the eggs in a carton - 6+6. When students know their doubles well, they should no longer have to think about the equation to solve it. Rather, the answer becomes automatic. This means that the student has developed automaticity. For example, when a student sees the equation 8+8, he should know that it equals 16 without even stopping to think. Building a strong foundation of doubles will help students with the next strategy, Doubles Plus One.

3. Doubles Plus One - This strategy is a natural progression from the doubles. It includes using a known fact and building on it. For example, in the equation 5+6, a student could think, "I know that 5+5 makes 10, and one more makes 11." This strategy will likely require a bit more teaching than the previous two, but it will be well worth it; when students know their doubles and doubles plus one facts, they know 25% of the addition table!!
 
4. Making Ten - The making ten strategy involves memorizing the number combinations that add to ten. This includes 7 and 3, 8 and 2, & 5 and 5. Again, it is important that students develop automaticity with regards to these facts so that when they see a combination, they quickly know that it is a making ten combination. Once students begin to use this strategy, "counting on" becomes unnecessary in some circumstances. Again I know Math Monkey teaches this. Kids are taught to draw a 'ten point circle'. The  numbers opposite each other are friends, i.e. number pair that sums up to 10.
 
5. Making Multiples of Ten - This strategy is a natural follow-up to making ten, as it uses the same number combinations in a different way. When teaching this strategy, students will learn to use the making ten facts in equations such as 27+3. In this case, students will see the ones digits and realize that 7 and 3 make 10, so 27 and 3 makes 30.
 
6. Front End Addition - This is perhaps one of the most powerful mental math strategies out there. Front end addition involves adding numbers from left to right, eliminating the need for carrying. For example, 54+19. You would do 50+10=60, then 4+9=13 and finally add up the 2 numbers, i.e. 60+13=73

Happy CNY!

Happy Chinese New Year to all! May the Year of the Snake brings you lots of joy and prosperity :-)