Any Mommies in mid-late 30s or over 40 with small children?

[snowball32]

Hi Tamarind,

That is very good price for a 3-roomer.

For that price, can get a 4-rm in suburbs.

For me, I speak to my kids in both English and Mandarin at home nowadays. But, it is always 1 language at a time. I am trying to introduce Teochew to my kids....they sound very funny when they try to speak

 

[tamarind]

snowball,
We actually wanted to sell at $350K But there were many people who viewed but did not make any offer. Then this family offered $337K and we thought it is good enough already.

My hubby is Teochew, but he does not know how to speak Teochew at all. It will be nice if my kids know how to speak some Teochew too. Now my kids are better at speaking Cantonese than mandarin, and I am quite happy with that hehehe Cantonese is my roots

 

[cupcake]

Rona,
really?! Then can I tongpang u for a set? Ur son is still with slyvia for piano? I got alittle confused by her pricing. Ur son is doing individual lessons with her? How much does she charge u n wat grade?

 

[rona]

Tam/Snow,
I'm a half Teochew - dad's a teochew. But my hokkien is much better then teochew - mother's tongue mah.

I understand a few dialects, and can speak a few, now learning kek and brushing up on hainanese too... And due to the nature of my work, i think my dialects getting better then my English...

 

[rona]

Tam/Snow,
I'm a half Teochew - dad's a teochew. But my hokkien is much better then teochew - mother's tongue mah.

I understand a few dialects, and can speak a few, now learning kek and brushing up on hainanese too... And due to the nature of my work, i think my dialects getting better then my English...

 

[rona]

muffin,
yah, i don't quite understand her charges too. She told me that if we use her method of teaching, then its not necessary one to one (more like group setting), i'm paying $120 per 4 lessons, no grades yet, he started sometime in Dec 09. There is individual lessons, but she may not be the teacher, then the charges for this will be lower I think. Is your gal going to perform at the concert?

 

[rona]

This forum is getting unstable. This is what i got from the publisher:

c/o Leng Kee Community Cenytre Pte Ltd
400 Lengkok Bahru
(Very near to Redhill SMRT Station)
Singapore 159049
Tel: 6225 2443 / 6899 1377

Price list:
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)
Teachers’ Guidebook : $15.00 nett

1A and 1B is for our P1 kids. Do you want to wait for 1B to be out first then get the whole set together?

Cheri, how about you? I can go get the books for you first.

Please state what you are interested so I can consolidate:

Rona: Series 1, 1A and 1B

 

[rona]

好妈妈胜过好老师

I saw this book in Clementi NTUC! selling for $12. Based on dangdang's price (RMB19.50) and delivery (RMB14) and exchange rate, buying online should still be about $4 cheaper.

 

[rona]

好妈妈胜过好老师

I saw this book in Clementi NTUC! selling for $12. Based on dangdang's price (RMB19.50) and delivery (RMB14) and exchange rate, buying online should still be about $4 cheaper.

 

[stylobb]

rona
Sorry, what is:
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett ?

Is this meant for younger kids?

 

[stylobb]

tam
Wah, quite difficult to have 1 parent speak English and 1 parent speak Mandarin... if this is the way, looks like I will have to be 100% Mandarin speaking! hehe.. (since hb's lousy in Mandarin.)

 

[rona]

stylo,
for the 1st set of 3 books - more general words, i think. But for book 1A and 1B - more on the words found in the current school higher chinese textbooks. I think its generally easier for the kids to remember the writing of the words if they have a story to accompany the words.

 

[stylobb]

rona
Ok, would you please order for me then.

Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)

We don't really need the Guidebook, do we?

 

[happy_33]

rona,
where did you see the Words & Images 1A & 1B?
DS only have Words & Images 4《字形画之校园识字大王》, still need to buy 1A & 1B?

Only see the 1-3 and 4 plus the teachers guide online.

DS actually already been using the Words & Images 4《字形画之校园识字大王》in school. Purchased via his school in Jan/Feb. DS do have more interest in Chinese after getting this book as he'll go and find out how did the chinese words come about.

 

[rona]

aa,
Words & Images 4《字形画之校园识字大王》is 1A. They are printing 1B and it should be out by next week. Yah, its interesting to know how a certain word is written the way it is. Just like 北 and 背

 

[rona]

tam,
I just realized that the reply i wrote to you is not in.

I have been hunting something like zixinghua for adults for long time now but can't get any good ones. Its very interesting to learn how a word comes to be what we are writing now. When explaining the origins of the word and with the interesting story behind it, i'm sure the kids can remember how the words look like better. just like 照 and 碧...

 

[cupcake]

rona

Yeah, i realise my posting did not get posted too!

Re:Sylvia, my gal is performing, wat abt urs? I am paying $120, also no grade. I thought that is for individual lessons? So its for group? I am so confused, recently she quoted 300 for my nephew (also no grades) maybe I need to check with her tomorrow again when I send my gal.

Would you please order for me the books. I need to start teaching my gal Chinese, she still speaks like 'angmoh', thanks.

Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)

 

[snowball32]

Hi Rona,

I will get :

Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)

Thanks!

Hi Tam/ Rona,

My hb is Hokkien but his Hokkien (安徽) too "cheem" for me to understand. I can speak decent Cantonese, thanks to those HK dramas which were super popular in late 70s/ 80s....during our era....learnt from those dramas

Hi Muffin,

My DD1 speaks Mandarin like an angmoh initially. Now, she is more tuned back to speaking like a S'porean Chinese liao...slowly tune your gal and she will get the right frequency soon

 

[rona]

Snow,
my mum also from the same province as your hb... hehehhe. i also speak the same hokkien, i think i've a bit of the accent too...

 

[cracker]

Stylo
Yes its the one with red bricks, near Yellow Pages. 2 yrs ago I sold my 4rm toa payoh for COV $60k! And its nowhere near mrt station, at lor8. I'm very surprised that this young couple that bought from us is so rich! But after returning the interest earned from CPF, we got lesser than this amount. Plus reno fee, furniture cost etc, nothing left from the COV...

 

[aly_nat]

Rona,
pls order for me:
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Thanks.

Yawn,
My gal is attending Maths enrichment at Just Education.
How's your dd's piano coming along? My dd1 is struggling with her grade 2 test pieces. Wonder if she'll throw in the towel any time soon

.

JE,
Your kiddos' age gap quite big hor? My 2 gals are 6 years apart. Your dd2 also a Dec 08 bb?

You will be back to Singapore for good? How long have u been in Melb? We were in Qld from 2006 - 2009. When we returned, my dd1 hates chinese class, and actually ask if she can drop the subject!! I hope your dd1 will take to chinese better than mine.

 

[addy]

Gosh!! I realised I had been missing so many posts!! Had subscribed to the thread but dont know what happened, out of a sudden i stopped receiving notification on posts.

*Sigh* Are there some probs with the forum nowadays?

 

[rona]

Addy,
yah lor, the forum is super unstable these few days!

 

[2sleepy]

aly nat

I switched my dd to Nafa recently. Not doing so well. Teacher gave verbal warning to kick her out because she still couldn't get her fingering right. She started learning grade 2 pieces before joining Nafa but now put on hold until she could get her fingering corrected. We were told this whole semester will be devoted to fingering, not touching on any exam pieces.

Have you bought the newly published grade 2 exam pieces?

My dd kept yawning in class. She prefers to zoom into exam pieces. Now she yaya-papaya declared she will self-learn since teacher is not teaching her. She has been listening to CD the entire afternoon selecting the songs she wants to play. Can visualise me raising my eye- brow?

If she really kanna kicked out, I think we're kind of neither here nor there, not in time to register for exam next March and without a teacher to follow through. The saving grace is I'm totally cool about this. Come what may lor. No pressure from me although she certainly felt the heat from teacher

Your dd is learning with private teacher or music school?
Is Just Education good? I've a few of their assessment books

 

[2sleepy]

zhi xing hua

hey, I think the publisher should pay me commission leh (I'm joking !), didn't expect to generate so much interest

hope all mommies find the books useful. Please feedback after you use 1A & 1B. I only bought the first 3 books

 

[cupcake]

Yawn yAwn,
how come NAFA so strict?? Thot music is for enjoyment, like that would kill the fun. How old is ur dd?
Good things must share, any teaching materials to aid mandarin will b keenly sought.

 

[2sleepy]

muffin

She's 6. Actually, I think it's alright to be strict. I wish her 3 previous teachers could be more diligent in enforcing proper fingering (none of them did!) then we wouldn't have this problem now. Afterall it's easier to learn the proper way right from the beginning than spending thrice the effort to correct 'bad' habits formed

I've no complaints about her Nafa teacher, it's really for my dd's long term benefit. The question is of course whether my dd can tahan. Me being clueless, can only sit with her & cheer her on lor. I guess we can always return to her previous school or engage a private teacher if Nafa didn't work out for her

Then we joke about selling her piano if she totally lost interest and we can use the proceed to buy an omega watch or go shopping in Japan. She gets really offended whenever we say that

 

[cupcake]

Yawn yawn,
Just curious, is it v difficult to get into NAFA? I heard need to audition? What's the process like?

 

[cj_mum]

Snowball/Tamarind,
Thanks for your valuable advice. I think I will start my DD2 with storybooks first.

aly nat,
Ya, big gap for my 2 girls. Not by choice, it's God's timing

Yes, my DD2 is also a Dec baby. My DD1 doesn't hate Chinese. She's doing ok, still within my expectation. But if you let her choose between thick English storybook and thin Chinese storybook, she will definitely pick the thick English storybook lol!! Hmm...we should be going back for good. We've been staying here for a year. Wow, 3yrs in QLD! Your hubby was posted there for work? Why didn't you consider migration and stay put then? Did your DD1 attend any Chinese lesson when she was in QLD?

 

[2sleepy]

muffin

No special preparation required. My dd picked one of the pieces she practiced daily to play during audition. 2 teachers tested her on sight reading, tapping & aural. Similar to what she did during her regular lesson with music school teacher. Supposed to sing a song during audition too but didn't get to that. All done within 10 minutes

Were you asking about piano some time ago? Have you found a suitable piano?

 

[aly_nat]

Yawn,
My dd is with a private teacher. Her teacher bought the grade 2 exam pieces for her recently. I'll let her continue learning piano as long as she has the interest. I also dun mind if she learn music just for leisure and enjoyment.

I sent her to Just Education primarily becos they follow MOE syllabus very closely, plus the fact that there is a branch
within walking distance from our place. I find that the quality of teacher is the most important factor, and I am glad that her teacher is good. My dd only thrive under a strict teacher.

JE,
We enjoyed our time in Qld very much, but migration is not part of our plan. We are not prepared to give up everything here and go.

 

[2sleepy]

rona, snowball, tamarind

I'm teochew too! Speak teochew to my dad & hokkien to my mom. My cantonese is not very good though, must read subtitles when watching drama

Hubby & I converse in teochew sometimes, mostly to keep the kids in suspense because they would be extremely curious what we are talking about

 

[stylobb]

muffin
"Good things must share, any teaching materials to aid mandarin will b keenly sought. "
I Agree!!

Can feel the mommies here 'sweating' over Chinese! haha... Thanks to yawn too!

Just now, was going thru Chinese reading with my kids, all my hb cud say was "My goodness...!" cos some of the words are too cheem for him...keke.

rona
Since Arnold likes art, shud let him go for it.

Rmbr I mentioned jesse's class was closed, well the RC is reopening another art class and it's at the same venue but on a different day. So happy.

fairy/rona/bloom
I went for my run on sat at macritchie. Siong...

 

[stylobb]

I am 100% Cantonese!!! Love the dialect! Say a few words can mean many things...hahaha...

 

[cherisw]

je
wow so fast & it's time for u to come back to SG! hv u enjoyed ur stay in melbourne so far? did not consider staying on for good?

my hb's posting there is not critically urgent sort hence it's not a problem waiting for the visa to be approved. He just has to conduct the biz remotely & fly in once every few mths if he's not based there.

addy
i stopped receiving the notifications of posts from the forum since long ago

rona
pls help me to order
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
would be great if i can collect them from you by 19th July cos shipping over my stuff the next day.thanks so much!

we will be there for minimum 2-3 years...we r open to staying there for good if we like it there & feels my dd will be better off being educated there. Honestly, we feel SG's education system is too stressful. Hope to find a better balance there but hopefully, it's nt to the other extreme lol. someone told me we should still apply for PR regardless so that my dd can get huge subsidies for her uni fees if she does go to a uni there in future.

stylobb
hb & i decided to speak only mandarin at home wif my ger when we r in melbourne. Nt sure if it will work haha..keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[tamarind]

Dear all,
This forum is indeed unstable and in case it is down forever (quite likely because the admins are not earning money here), our backup thread is at :
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12030&start=180

You can bookmark the thread above.

Chinese
I think it is because recently there were lots of complains that Chinese is difficult to learn, and so many parents want the weightage to be reduced at PSLE. Since MOE made it very clear that they will not reduce the weightage of Chinese, parents start to put in more effort into teaching Chinese.

The fact is that the best age to learn Chinese is between 3 to 6 years old. Many parents made the mistake of focusing only in English. When kids are very proficient in English, they will lose interest in Chinese. Nothing to do with whether Chinese is easy or difficult to learn. If a child only learns Chinese between 3 to 6 years old, he will find English very difficult too.

So it is important to devote equal amounts of time to both English and Chinese below the age of 6

I know that it is possible for a child to be able to read long novels in both English and Chinese by the age of 7.

 

[bloom75]

snowball, like urs, my gal is still itnerested in playing her puzzle..but it has come to a time where u can see she is just fixing it using memory rather than her brain...

tam, my 5 room will be fetching the same price as ur mom's 3 room is i am to sell now hahaha...

i am 100% cantonese too! and can speak though not fluently...

rona, where will the pickup point be for the books?

 

[tamarind]

bloom,
The location is really important ! My mother's flat is in Bukit Ho Swee which is considered central.

I am actually only 50% cantonese, my mother is Hainanese but I don't know a single word of Hainanese

 

[aly_nat]

Cheri,
I think it's a good idea to apply if you are open to the idea. Everything is super expensive (living costs, medical, education) if you are not on any subsidy scheme.

My dd likes aussie school so much, she took a bit of time adjusting to S'pore school when we return.

Tam,
Thanks again for the advice. I thank God that I have another chance at getting it right with the learning of chinese bit. I've started reading chinese books to my tod. And I make my tod sit next to jiejie when she read out loud

.

Rona,
I forgot to thank you for ordering the books. xie xie duo duo

Bloom, Snowball,
when is a good time to introduce puzzle? I give those 4-piece puzzles to my tod, she just tear them apart and throw them ard. Growing up, my dd1 was not interested in puzzles. She prefer lego.

 

[2sleepy]

tamarind, bloom

Yes, location is EVERYTHING for property. My 6yo Sembawang flat fetch a lower price that the price I paid for my current 30yo flat

My gf owns a flat at Beo Crescent. I think it's somewhere near Bukit Ho Swee? Must address her as 小富婆 the next time we meet

The curious thing is market forces seem not to take into consideration the remaining lease of old flats. Theoretically, very old flats should be selling at a huge discount vs another almost brand new flat with say 90 years lease remaining.
However, a 40 yo flat in prime location with only 55 years lease left can still fetch sky high price. Probably everyone just assume HDB will extend the lease eventually since there are so many ageing flats? Otherwise it will reach a point where banks shorten the loan tenure and buyers are stuck high & dry without loans or very high monthly repayment amount

 

[cj_mum]

Cheri/aly nat,
Yes, we enjoy our stay here very much. I think all kids would love aussie school. It's so relax as compared to Spore. But we prefer to let our kids have their education in Spore first. That's why we're going back.

Tam, thanks for your advice. Besides reading books, do you use flashcards to teach your kids? When is the right time to use them?

 

[2sleepy]

JE

I agreed. I think it's better to go through Singapore system before studying overseas, when the kids are older in their teens or Uni years. Learnt kungfu here in Singapore then become 武林盟主 overseas

 

[aly_nat]

Yawn,
You very funny leh

.
Agree. It's either u stay throughout their education, or u go over to complete your studies at uni level.

 

[2sleepy]

snowball, bloom

I'm a big fan of puzzles too! My dd1 started 3 pieces at 1.5yo and managed 24 pieces around 2yo. She's very interested in puzzles for reasons unknown to us. Her best record was 100 pieces
My dd2 only managed to fix 3 pieces at 3yo. Most of the times, she threw the pieces around. Her best record was 60 pieces
However, both lost interests in puzzles by age 5. Not sure why, they simply stopped playing. With hindsight, I think it's probably due to too many enrichments when they were around that age hence no spare time to fix puzzles


aly nat
I guess there's no definite age to introduce puzzles. Just let the child try

 

[tamarind]

yawn,
For my mother's flat, there is a high chance that HDB will replace with new 4 room HDB flats in the same area in the future. That is why people don't mind paying more.

JE,
I don't use flash cards to teach my kids. In fact, I didn't teach them anything until they were over 3 years old. Before that, they play all day long.

Puzzles
I also have close to 10 sets of puzzles at home. But both my kids are not very interested in playing with them. My 6 year old boy still needs help with 100 pieces of puzzles They prefer to create their own arts and crafts, and imaginative play.

 

[fairyprincess]

HDB flats:
Actually- what will happen to these 30 year old flats in great locations- will their lease be extended or will they be pulled down?
I know I can sell my top flr corner maisonette for 100K above COV...but have not taken action...as I know I will not get back the same size of apt if I do so...still in dilemma...

 

[2sleepy]

tamarind, fairy

Not referring specifically to 3 room flats. There are many ageing flats in Queenstown, Tiong Bahru, Toa Payoh, even Ang Mo Kio & Bedok

Just wondering aloud what is HDB going to do with all these ageing flats. Can't possibly demolish the whole estate and move everyone to a much smaller flat right? Old flats are bigger in size compared to newer ones for the same room type

This problem will catch up soon. When banks start reacting to short leases, HDB will have to take action. My guess is HDB will extend the lease by asking all flat owners to pay for lease top up

 

[rona]

Fairy,
wah! you are a 小富婆 too!

unless yours not in a lousy location and has a nice environment, i think you should just keep it.

Yawn,
you're a teochew too! hi-5! your hb too huh? else how can both of you converse in teochew?

 

[rona]

i will place the order tomorrow and try to collect it by friday. I work around bugis area, and accessible to suntec city as well. On Sat mornings, I'm usually at Bukit Timah Shopping Ctr. will be in Isetan Scotts area around 3+pm... Bloom, suit you? gosh, i feel like I'm exposing my trail...

Where do you stay Bloom? maybe I should look at the flats in your area! Five room for $330+... sounds ok.

Ordering of ZiXinghua:

Rona, Stylo, Snowball, aly_nat, muffin
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)

Cheri
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
same place on sat morning?

Did I miss anyone out?

Please copy this post, past on the new posting and add in your name so I don't have to search again.

 

[rona]

i will place the order tomorrow and try to collect it by friday. I work around bugis area, and accessible to suntec city as well. On Sat mornings, I'm usually at Bukit Timah Shopping Ctr. will be in Isetan Scotts area around 3+pm... Sunday in Bedok usually. Bloom, suit you? gosh, i feel like I'm exposing my trail...

Where do you stay Bloom? maybe I should look at the flats in your area! Five room for $330+... sounds ok.

Ordering of ZiXinghua:

Rona, Stylo, Snowball, aly_nat, muffin
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
Words & Images 1A : $20.00 nett
Words & Images 1B : $25.00 nett (out next week)

Cheri
Words & Images Eds 1-3 : $23.00 nett
same place on sat morning?

Did I miss anyone out?

Please copy this post, past on the new posting and add in your name so I don't have to search again.