HOMESCHOOLING 101

William Wegman's 123

2021-01-16T16:46:00.005+08:00

William Wegman's 123

One of the fun parts of browsing through a used bookstore is that you never know what you'll find.
I thought I'd seen all kinds of children's books - well, until I stumbled upon William Wegman's "123".

Almost everyone knows about the famous photographer from New Zealand, Anne Geddes and her baby portraits but have you ever heard of William Wegman and his dogs?

I think I picked up this book because of its "123", thinking that it's got high quality photos for the kids to read while learning their number.

Actually, it turned out to be a book where dogs are arranged to form shapes of numbers!

Can you see them in the book cover below?

I love dogs but this???

All I can say is that you can't help but smile when you see William Wegman's collection of books and calendars:

Creativity with sand art

2016-08-15T12:22:00.000+08:00

My daughter loves sand art and I love seeing how she chooses her colours for her creations.

As you can see, she's not a conventional person - she insists that there are things in the world such as pink sheep and purple cows :)

Do you know a child like that?

Please encourage their creativity for they will delight you with amazing ideas!

Get a nice starter set (eco-friendly) for our budding little Picassos

I can read! I can read!

2015-11-08T10:51:00.000+08:00

If you read my blog, you'll know that I read to my kids regularly before bedtime. Well, I think the first kid got a lot of bedtime stories because he was the ONLY kid then.

The second child? I did try but with work + cooking + picking up after them + homework + exam revisions, I have to admit that I probably read to her about 1/3 of the frequency I read to her older brother.

Furthermore, when her older brother started learning Mandarin, I realized that hanyu pinyin hampered his recognition of hanzi (Chinese characters), which was what happened to me when I learned Mandarin at 9 years old ;-)

Thus, I've not been too anxious about my daughter's proficiency in English last year when she was 5 i.e. phonics reading and spelling. Will you believe that she scored 0 for all her spelling tests last year?
Why did I not panic?

Firstly, I wanted her to learn as many Chinese characters as possible - if she learned the English alphabet, she'd be able to read the pinyin and then, she'd just read the pinyin.

Secondly, since her brother reads a lot of English books and I can ONLY read English books - what are the odds of her not picking up English, right? Lastly, I always believe in nature running its course and also, the wise old Dr. Maria Montessori had always believed in a child's self-motivated learning.

Remember: "You can drag a horse to water but you can't make it drink it."

On top of that, her father, brother or I will read to her when we can. Anyway, I was kind of "forced" to teach her English this year because her kindergarten teacher spoke to me, expressing utmost concern about her "failing" English.

Actually, my little dolly's sad face and sighing about scoring 0 for spelling that prompted me to spend time on English. Thus began our private English tutoring on Tuesday/Thursday nights, which she loves!

A few nights ago, she requested for me to read her a book but I was dead tired that she offered me a great deal - I would read half the book and she would read the other half LOL I agreed but I "pretended" to read slowly that she'd have to read and she ended up reading most of the book ;-)

This is one of her favourite books - It's too noisy! by Joanna Cole. She was soooo proud of herself but I think I was prouder then her!!!

I didn't realize that she had picked up so many English words - guess her Dad has been reading this book to her regularly. Just now, she'd ran out of the room to tell me excitedly that she could read "Ten Timid Ghosts" too. I gave her a big hug and many, many kisses LOL

This happy milestone reminds that I've yet to get my hands on a copy of her brother's FIRST book: "Preschool to the Rescue"

I wonder if he even remembers this book???

Dollars and Sense - The Berenstain Bears

2015-08-01T07:57:00.004+08:00

Both of our kids are Generation Z and I am guilty of preparing lavish kiddy parties.

Birthday cake, party deco, party packs albeit from cheapest deals I can find from eBay, wholesale shops etc. from the time they were born till kindergarten.

Now that both of them are in school and are still tempted by the treasures in Toys R Us, I decided to start them on some financial management.

First of all, I am not the best in finances but I grew up in a humble household where all money available was spent on food, household expenses and school supplies.

Clothes? I grew up with A LOT of hand-me-downs.

"Dollars and Sense" is a great book to get kids started on financial planning and financial management.

Anyway, I don't go around telling my kids that "money don't grow on trees" or that "I am made of money" thus the kids laughed in glee when they see Papa Berenstain saying that ;-) when the kids go up to him asking for money to buy baseball cards and a wedding dress for a doll.

I thought that the introduction of the concept of "playing with money" was great since most kids did start off with flipping, rolling and stacking coins.

Weekly allowance

The plot got intense when the kids were given a PILE of dollars for their weekly allowance - I could see the kids getting interested since they are now sort of on a dollar-a-day allowance hahaha.

They loved it when they saw the Berenstain Bears speed out off the house the minute they grabbed their allowance! Kids are kids...

Despite this being an old book, childish (nor adult) behaviours do not change much through time and thus, the Berenstain Bears soon got bored of the candy and toys they'd bought in a hurry. Sound familiar?

One thing I didn't like about the book is the stereotypical angry, shouting Papa Bear archetype when he's asked for money with Mama Bear coming in all calm and sensible - most of the men I grew up were rather good financiers. In reality, the women were always shopping, shopping, shopping...

Banker and borrowers

Thus, the kids were puzzled as to why Papa Bear was getting all hot and bothered but then we got to the part of the kids writing a cheque in exchange for cash with Mama Bear playing the role of a banker.

I thought that this was a brilliant because the kids could see how dollars and cents added up to something. I've since started a sort of checking account at home for #1 because he had been buying a lot of books using "cash advances". I'm still figuring out something for #2 though.

#2 loves it as a bedtime story and I like it that she's learning basic financial planning because she could articulate that the girly bear saved her $10 allowance from one week and spent the following week's allowance to buy the doll's wedding dress.

REVIEW: Ten Black Dots by Donald Crews

2014-01-12T11:18:00.001+08:00

Happy New Year 2014! I know I'm a bit late but now's the only time I had to blog again.

Wow, I can't believe that it's been more than a year since I last blogged...

Anyway, I have been quite busy with various projects that involve reading, writing and of course, teaching. I hope that you were busy too reading and doing interesting things :)

To get off on the right start, I want to share with you about this special book I read to my toddler a few years back.

Why is this book special?

"Ten Black Dots" by Donald Crews must have turned on a switch in my 3 year old toddler's mind or something because she picked up a pencil and drew the scene of the balloons flying away in the breeze!

I wish I'd kept that first picture she drew because it's so cute! She drew it from memory but her picture looks exactly like the page off "Ten Black Dots".

She didn't say anything to me about it - my son discovered the drawing and showed it to me. I was speechless and of course, thrilled to bits to see the cute little dots she drew along with the attached balloon strings :)

Since that day, she's been drawing and drawing and creating and creating...I'm saving almost every bit of her creations and still searching for that first drawing.

By the way, "Ten Black Dots" by Donald Crews, introduces the numbers 1-10 to preschoolers in a very creative manner.

Here's the blurb:

"What can you do with ten black dots? Just about anything! In this exciting, unique counting book, one dot can make a sun, two dots can make the eyes of a fox, and three dots can make a snowman's face. And that's just the beginning!"

If you're shopping for a toddler or a preschooler, you must add "Ten Black Dots" by Donald Crews to your book list.

Who knows what kind of magic can happen at your home or in your classroom?

Home schooling?

2012-11-10T00:18:00.003+08:00

When people ask me if I home school my children when I was a work-at-home mother, I will say no.

As Anne Marie Slaughter’s wrote in the Atlantic, “Why Women Still Can’t Have it All.” - [T]he women who have managed to be both mothers and top professionals are superhuman, rich, or self-employed.”

Even Sheryl Sandberg wrote in her famous book "Lean In" that it's incredibly difficult to manage both career and motherhood, even before you give birth.

The snapshot below shows you:

i) My toddler is building something using the pillows and the quilts and

ii) I had tried to write something in my organizer and possibly review some notes but my toddler was also interested to draw or write something with colour pencils and

iii) My toddler needs her lovey and her teddy bear in her class :)

She definitely did not allow me to look at my phone or even the computer!

Toddlers need attention and I do not give gadgets (phones or tablets) to young children.

A toddler's attention span is short and you may think that a phone or a tablet is helping them develop concentration?

Actually, smart phones are addictive so taking a phone away from toddlers causes them to be cranky and aggressive...

This is why my bedroom looks like a mess because I want to encourage my tot to use her creativity and imagination as she plays with toys, builds things and scribble away :)

REVIEW: Pecular Chris by Johann S. Lee

2008-03-29T23:27:00.007+08:00

Until today, homosexuality is a sensitive topic in Asia thus when this Singaporean novel was among the book pile of my “Asian Literatures in English” class in the uni in 1995, I wasn’t surprised nobody picked it up. I did and boy, am I thankful to my lecturer for including this book!

By the way, the lecturer who included the book is neither young nor gay. In fact, he was a quite an elderly, grumpy and old-fashioned Asian gentleman whose only saving grace was his impeccable British accent acquired from his education in the United Kingdom :D

“Peculiar Chris by Johann S Lee”, written in the early 1990s was touted as THE first gay novel out of Singapore. HIV/AIDS was relatively unknown then so can you imagine the reception towards a gay-themed book in "conservative" Singapore?

The novel tells the story of a well-to-do 19 year old Christopher Han, who returns to Singapore from a vacation in Australia and a painful break-up from his girlfriend. He joins the National Service and there, he gradually discovers his homosexual tendencies.

My course mates shied away from the book when my elderly, (presumably straight) male lecturer gave a brief synopsis – they feared reading about gay love, not knowing what “scary” or graphic sections they may encounter.

Since I read it when I was a naive, innocent and wide eyed student of 20 years old, it’s safe to say that “Peculiar Chris” does not contain any graphic or lucid descriptions of any his sexual encounters.

Instead, it focuses on his feelings and reactions about finding out that he’s gay. He’s puzzled, confused and scared in dealing with these newfound feelings. We read about the torment he goes through as he questions himself quite frequently if these feelings are real or just temporary. He can’t help but wonder if that’s the reason why he didn’t find his ex-girlfriend attractive at all, especially when he had sex with her. He just didn’t feel anything.

Eventually, Chris falls in love with someone (not an innocent, unsuspecting boy from the National Service!) but someone he meets. Sadly, he comes to terms with the reality of gay relationships when his partner contracts the AIDS virus.

I enjoyed reading the novel and truly felt sorry for “Chris” as he went through a late coming-of-age experience in such a conservative society. For the Chinese, to have a son turn gay is totally unacceptable as the boys hold the responsibility for continuing the family lineage.

Ultimately, most families cannot bear with the shame and stigma of having their children labelled as gay. Personally, I think that it's really sad when parents turn their backs on children who have "come out" - at the end of the day, they are still your children, your flesh and blood.

How can you turn your back on your own child? Especially at a time when he / she needs your love and acceptance the most?

I know a really talented Chinese boy who is now a very successful fashion / interior designer. He came from a rich family but his father disowned him when he told him that he was gay. The guy nearly went crazy and he started drinking and smoking heavily. It's a lucky thing that he didn't turn to drugs or worse. He was lucky to have a group of supportive friends who stood by him during this tough period...

Johann S. Lee wrote the book when he was 19 years old and serving his National Service. However, Johann says (in this interview with Fridae, Asia’s gay portal) it isn’t autobiographical. Instead, the novel was “something” he had to say and after he said it, he went to study law in King’s College, London because he wanted to

“run away from family, from Singapore… to be free… to be, well, gay.”

I’m pleased to read that the novel has been adapted into a Singaporean drama titled “Happy Endings”. Too bad I couldn’t watch the play! It would have been great to see how Chris and the other characters are represented on stage.

Also, Johann released a second novel titled “To Know Where I’m Coming From” (Nov 2007) which is the story of a mature 36 year old banker’s gay life and love in London and Singapore (read a review here) Is it the story of “Chris” all grown up? I have no idea. All I know is that I’d love to find it among my Christmas presents this year :-)