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.

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...

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 :-)