(2006/06) June 2006 MTB

Wah... so much to catch up...


toto,
Hope you will get used to the routine and will be easy soon
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You already did very well in bringing them all on the long flight
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sunflower, joyful, mtdt,
hahaha... I am attracted by the mention of shichida kindy :p hahaha... I hope the number of students remain. But think not likely next term. Waiting for the parents' course with Mrs. Khoo this month. Teachers turn over pretty high there. Teachers we met on the first day are all gone. I think the transition is smooth. overall A is still happy there, so it's ok for me. He loves to go to school. ONly thing is to adjust to the school timing. A gets very hungry and throw his temper at the teacher at about 1.30pm. hahaha... So I gotta pack some food in his bag, just in case.. the teacher will then take out and feed him.
VEry recently, he learnt how to beat people. Aiyo... come home and beat his sisters. Then tell daddy and mommy he wanna beat his sisters. Faintz...
Improvement or not... I did not find there's an impressive lot of improvement. Or probably I have not spent enough time with him to realise the improvement. One thing that improved a lot is he's running very fast now. Everyday practice running and walking to the MRT station to go to school. hahaha... mommy refuses to carry him. And now mommy gotta pant catching up with him.
 


Paula,
Wah... Kelly really can draw. She's advanced.
Are you planning for Kelly's party already? I gonna celebrate first birthday for my gals, but haven't done anything yet :p


sunflower,
Botanical gardens sounds good. Let's go for picnic! A few weeks ago, I brought ABC there. They enjoyed it very much.


mspiggy,
Wah... plant shut down... Sounds serious...
 
lyn, how are you? have not seen you posting for awhile, must be busy with ABC. so, are you getting another helper?

i am doing well with A and M... just that i can hardly find enough time to spend with J... actually, what is enough? I am trying to put aside at least 1 hr per day to read to him, or to put him to bed.... just me and him.

yesterday, it was raining cats and dogs, at - 1 degrees, i brought him out to see toys... we were both wet, and to make things worse, he had lots of water prior, and kept wanting to go to the toilet to pee while at the store, and once i pull down his pants, he peed and wet his underwear... and in a rush while leaving home, i did not bring any spares...aiyo.... think overall, he was quite happy cos mummy brought him out despite the bad weather...
 
toto,

wow snowing!!! that's very fun.
I'm sure you and J will have loads of FUN!

remember to have time out for yourself too, must unwind
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lyn,

hee.. am waiting for AISHITE to organise le
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haha arrow shot long time but no picker
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wahaha...
 
<font color="0000ff">MTDT,
When are u going to Perth? Free &amp; Easy or packaged tour? My friend is asking me to go to Adelaide in June but I've not decided as it's winter there!

Has anyone been to Adelaide? What are the "must-see", "must-eat", "must-do" and what to avoid?</font>
 
kong

mandy's nanny charges now is $600 frm mon to fri 7am to 7pm. that is considered the old market rate.

mtdt
go perth har?? when??

bbloh

hope i can help abit here. I love Adelaide... must see are
1) Barossa Valley on the winery and a few place of interest like The whispering wall
2) Kangaroo Island, stay one night there will be better so u can run through the whole island as you drove around.
3) In the city, the adelaide central mkt @ chinatown.
4) Rundle Mall which is the Orchard Rd of spore
5) Harbour Town for factory outlet
6) Glenglg, the beach @ Jetty Road. Take the tram
7) Victor Harbour
8) Mega big shopping centre at Marion
9) Night sightseeing @ Mount Lofty

But June might not be a good time to go... unless u go early jun. hehehe.
 
Hi mummies

Need some advise on childcare.. Just sent my boys to childcare, but realized that they didn't teach much. Not too sure whether the sch is not good or that there r a few new students, so teachers won't teach much to let kids get familiarized or other reasons.. Just want to check what do childcare normally teach for kids of our age?? Do they have handouts or teaching materials to aid them in teaching? Do they teach phoneics or show the alphabet? Tks
 
peng,
not sure... Ahboy's kindy doesn't seem to teach anything at his level, at this point in time? Think still easing kids into routine? He comes back singing songs (I'm sure he's DEAD SILENT at sch though), and telling me he played cars. Ate. Went toilet. That's all!

Wen,
btw I saw ur girl a few times when I peeped at my boy- she's perfectly fine in class. My boy knows ur girl's name- he can only tell me 3 names from his class!
 
peng - which CC r ur boys in?

Zav'cc now teaches letters phonics for eng (hv those tracing in sandcards etc), maths - nos n countings, chinese -vocab n recite tang shi or some rhyme bah.

nothing intensive.. no homeworks,handouts also.
only brings back artworks... and yes, lots of songs or reciting poems/rhymes etc
 
peng,
i think for N1 level, no homework or handouts bah..
So far, i seen of artsheets being given back. In sch, they do singing, reading of story books, alot of pretend play etc. Think from N2 onwards then they will have more things to work on.
Every time i ask X what you do in sch: he say EAT, SLEEP! haha..
 
<font color="0000ff">Dor,
Thanks for the tips on Adelaide. You seem to know the place very well. Are u staying in OZ? My problem is, my friend is going in late June and I reckon that it'll be quite cold. I'll be travelling alone with DS and I think I may not be able to handle an active tot, with large luggage and dealing with cold weather. Heard that the sky turns dark at around 4pm and by 5pm, most shops would've closed. What can I do after that? It'll be quite bored and travelling around the place can be inconvenient right? BTW, is the public transport convenient and accessible? Any idea how much to bring for a one-week stay?</font>
 
<font color="0000ff"><u>Re: Preparing kid(s) for childcare</u>
I'm sending DS to Childcare Centre next month. He's a very shy kid and I bet that he'll cry and cling onto me for at least the first few weeks. How do you prep your kid(s) for this phase? Can share?</font>
 
oic.. perhaps then the sch is normal.. yes no worksheets or tracing of letters, dun even show the nos or letters. Chinese is even worse.. juz singing only.. not even vocab at all

err.. the problem is that my boys like to do worksheets.. tracing of letters.. esp ethan who likes to write.. so i find them not stimulating enough..

Haha.. ivy, you are right.. they only eat and sleep.. i have accompanied them for the past 2 days.... yes that's all they r doing..
 
mummies,
any one had reviews on Berries (chinese enrichment sch).
I went for a trial at the Hougang branch. The teaching methods was quite good alto i dun like the teacher, felt she is not energentic!
But my son seems to gain a lot from the 1 session trial. He could recognise the 2 chinese words learnt from the trial and it was only a 1.5hr lesson! Tot it was quite an achievement...
Let me know if you hear of any good reviews on the teachers in their other branch? thanks!
 
how ah... shd I change sch? but they have adjusted it very well even though its only 3rd day of sch.. but the hassle of looking for n adjusting to another childcare plus the worst is that there is no good childcare at walking distance for me.. .so the practical part of bringing the boys home everyday by my mom would be a big problem.. but i wld say the sch is very caring.. the teachers seem ok and the boys like it.. fan ah..

bbloh
i keep talking to the boys abt sch for mths.. i have brought them to the sch many times and the sch is very accomodating to let me stay there for a hr+ to prep the boys for a few times.. so at least they r not unfamiliar with plc.. for the first 2 days, i have accompanied them full day but i often disappeared awhile giving them lots of excuse so that they r used to be alone with the teachers.. i also make sure that the boys kiss n hug the teachers.. everyday i will ask them how's the sch and whether they like it haha.. though i am there with them.. Even in sch, i keep telling them to look at other children and said that their parents r not here and they r not crying.. i asked my kids to follow them..

Yesterday night (on 2nd day of sch), i told them mummy n daddy got to go to wk so can't go to sch with them and made them promise not to cry.. today i reminded them of the promise again.. so far they r ok, though now in sch for only a few hrs.. today whole day on leave to be on standby..

Hope this helps.. Good luck
 
good morn

hi bbloh
Late june shld be cold but the weather now is crazy... so u wont know till the nearer date. just prepare enough thick clothes would be ok. but our tot at this age shld be manageable already. The sky turn dark by 5pm which is true and anyway, the shop closes by 5.30pm durin wkday. in the city, it stays open till 9pm on friday whereas, in the suburbs, the shops stays open till 9pm on thursday.
When nite turn dark, stay indoors. with kids ard, dun think u can venture out much unless u visit cafes. there is quite a few very nice n cosy but w/o car i dun think it is very convenient unless u take taxi.

In the city, the bus transport usin the city loop service is free but there is certain timing for them. for suburbs or other places, the transport timin varies depend on peak or off peak hrs. so if u stay w/i the city, it shld be fine.

Thse far away places like Barossa valley, kangeroo, you can take day tours to go. For the Glenelg beach, hop on the Bay tram frm the city. abt half an hr ride and is cheap too. Your tot would like it..

Oh one thing to take note, adelaide has more aboriginal people. You can see them sittin in the streets/parks. they might be rowdy.

how much to bring depends on how much u wan to spend... mayb $1k cash.. or less. just bring ur CC la. hehee...
 
peng
i placed my gal in 2-hr playgrp. They will have worksheets only next yr..this yr, its more of singing, playacting and show &amp; tell etc....everyday i ask her what she sing and draw in class, everyday same answer..sing ABCD &amp; Twinkle twinkle little star,..draw rabbit....
 
<font face="tahoma">Peng,
Wes's CC also always play and singing sessions. He did bring home artworks, I think they dont teach much at their age. </font>
 
peng,

same here... at PG and N1 level, only sing song, story telling, do art work and all those outdoor play stuff.

N2 level then S started tracing A-Z, a-z, 1-10, maindarin all thus stroke stuff. phonic I think they also still only at phonic alphabet sound only this year.

I gotta do my own coaching ... teaching them to proceed in reading beyond the alphabet sound they had been familiar with for long time liao. Tracing, counting beyond 10. Maybe K1 level I teach hanyupinying.
 
peng

for mandy's 2hr playgrp, they have worksheet done in sch like tracing of letter, numbers, colouring, draw lines etc. now and will bring back for me to review halfway thru that term. then at the end of the term, they will return all to me with comments.
she also bring back artwork every fri.
 
Lyn: Nope, did not get the bar you mentioned previously. Btw, jshoppers having free int'l shipping for purchase >6000 yen till end of this mth.

Ivy: Can you share what's the content of the Berries class? Is it parent-accompanied or drop-off type?

Re: School
ER is attending 2 hr daily class. The school covers phonics (1 letter each wk), some tracing of lines, maths, science &amp; chinese through singing, story-telling &amp; art-work. They provide a 1-page weekly curriculum for parents as update. Every Fri, he will bring back the work he has done for the week. Think N2 then the actual writing starts.
 
peng,

your 2 started childcare? Fiona started in Feb. She was so enthusiastic during the first week and didnt cry at all. However, the opposite happen during week 2. She refused to change in the morning, gave me a thousand and one excuse not to go to school and would cry the whole morning. We found out she didnt like to bathe and sleep in school... so now, i bring her home half day even though she's still signed up for full day. I'm still hoping very hard that she will want to go for full day. Their ciriculum cover both Mandarin and english every morning plus a short outdoor play if the weather is ok. They do reading, drawing, colouring and singing. So long she is happy I am happy lor :p
 
Hi toto,
How R u coping with the 3 kids? My 2 girls are constantly fighting for my attention! At night, I'm having little sleep cos no3 wakes up almost once every 2 hr
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I'm a walking zombie every day.
R u in arizona? snowing? must be v v cold. I thought now is march weather should be pretty cool. anyway nowadays the weather is so weird.
 
rodeo,
here is the Berries' program details:
N1 - First Bite (乐乐)
Duration: 1hr 30mins


- Berries Read &amp; Recognise Programme lays foundation for interest in reading through short sentences created using words the child has learnt.
- Conversational practices help to develop confidence in communication
- Thematic nursery rhymes initiate interest, refine language skills and develop an inquisitive mind
- Craftwork opens the door to creativity and imagination
- Story-telling &amp; game sessions encourage participation and association learning

All the above are covered during the 1.5hr lesson and its a drop off program. Its actually quite fun (that 1st trial lesson, i sat in). But teacher need to be more energetic, tho i think she tried her best! There was abt 10kids with a TA too.
 
toto,
I am still juggling my time for ABC. It changes as time goes by, and their needs are different as they grow. Take it as it comes
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hee...
My mum will help me on weekdays, and my MIL on weekends. I still cannot trust the maid 100%.


sunflower,
I thought you going to organise. hahaha...


mtdt,
Wah... So nice.. Going to Perth.


tinklebell,
How are you? Long time no see no hear. My ABC fighting for my attention. I am very torn sometimes too. When I see A playing independently, I felt I should be playing with him. B and C always want me to carry when I am home.
 
poohy,
Read that Joelle can read on her own already. How did you nurture independent reading? Can share? I dunno how to nurture independent reading.
 
Sunflower
13 Mar is tight for me cos Shan's school has mini performance from 11-12, and I am lecturing that evening. I may join if someone organises.

Following week am in Bali throughout, so wont be able to organise too. You organise lah !!
 
Ivy: Thanks. Will call them to enquire. There's a tampines branch near my place. Feedback u on the teacher there if I do go for their trial.
 
lyn,

J cant read independently yet as in sit on one corner reading story books on her own. But she enjoys browsing books on her own and for us to read to her. Those are mostly picture intensive books. For story books, I will point and she will read those words she know.

But I am teaching her and S to read graded readers like ladybird. I started teaching them only recently by first teaching them simple blends of AT eg. Cat, Pat etc. Then I introduce more like AD, AP, AN, AG etc.. all the simple blends with the short vowel "a". They get the idea very fast.

Then I let them watch the "Meet the Sight Words" DVD. This DVD introduces sight words like "the", "in", "You", "He", "have" etc. Sight words are important for sentence reading.

I wrote the sight words they know on a stack of blank cards and once I know they can recognise all those sight words, I formed simple sentences using the sight words. They then moved on to reading sentences which build their confidence.

Then I start them on the ladybird book 1a. Any new words will be reinforced by me writing on a card and going through with them every day. After 1 week, both of them can read the whole of ladybird 1a. I am building on it by adding more simple blends in other vowels, revising the ones we learnt already, writing more sentences for them to "decipher" and moving them to Ladybird 1b.

Kids want to win and it helps them gain confidence. In this way, they slowly increase their reading vocabulary. I am not particular that they must learn by phonetic .... at first they may pronounce new words by phonics, slowly it become like a sight word to them.
 
poohy - thanks for sharing.
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meet the sight words dvd - I just got them. but like abit "boring" to me hahahhaha :p
 
mtdt,

I got the DVD for sometime too... but I also find it boring so we din really watch it much previously. But recently the kids had a renewed interest in it so let them watch it and I found that they remember all the sight words in it.
 
poohy - hahaha ok ok. think cannot use adults standard to guage.

just like ladybird books... I also found it boring. but always hear gd comments n the effectiveness on using them to teach. :p
 
mtdt,

I find the ladybird books systematic and contains good repetition of new words. But I think it is not a phonics reader. It is more introducing new words by sight and reinforcing them by repetition. But I find it good gauge for me to know how much sight words they had learnt.

I dun just use one reader...but combination. eg. I also read phonics reader with them like "Pat Cat and Tat Rat".
 
Wow... poohy, you are amazing, with 3 kids, a FTWM, you are able to achieve so much... must learn from you. J can read... that is fast... my J still cannot read... i dunno if he knows he alphas and colors and numbers and shapes... hmm...

Jake is down with flu, so he din get to play w snow. i have cut down on his tv time, and instead, use his spare time to do puzzles, activity books, and reading... sometimes he will play his trainsets by himself or play with baby A and M...

tinkle - i am at North Carolina, will move to Missouri in April, then Idaho in May. We intend to rent a big house with a big garden and backyard, so I can buy more outdoor toys for JAM...
 
Poohy:
wow peifu you despite hving 3 kids, u still can teach them so well!

Chloe knows all her alphabet phonics and she is able to read words that i taught her and simple sentences.

I also have the Pat Cat and Tat Rat phonics book.... Will start this one soon
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<font face="tahoma"> Good morning ladies.

Poohy is indeed very dedicated!
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Re : outing on 13 Mar
anyone interested? if response good then maybe i can organise since i will be off that day
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Hi hi! A bit busy at work..but the outing thing need to respond..haha..
Cannot make it on 13 Mar leh..sob sob...any other day anyone plan to have an outing? Miss seeing all the kids together. Must be really different now that they are starting to play better with others.
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mspiggy,

13 Mar, I can't.
auditors coming
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yucks!

kite,

which series is Pat Cat &amp; Tat Rat??
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poohy,

wow, kudos to you!!
amazing how you find time for all 3 and yet accomplish so much
 
allo val

13th mar, mandy is goin to Disney on Ice w her sch. i dun wan to tire her out.. as the outin is frm 9am to 2pm.

how abt nxt wk btw 16 to 20th mar? cos she is having her term break.

so any other mummies wan to meet up?
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hihi..

me back in actions...

But still no time to read up all previous post..

Aaron Kwok live in concert again... 30 May 09.. Indoor stadium.. public sales start tomorrow.. Please support support... hahaha

Arrows shooting everywhere in regards to OUTINGS.. OK.. we go outing at indoor on 30may..I organise but tics not included have to self-pay! hahaha
 

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