The Amazing Race

*Very backdated post*

I really enjoyed my time at the Bees' kindergarten. It is a school that encourages creative thinking, curiosity and love for learning, as well as articulate expressions of ideas. The Bees flourished in their pre-school, and I was somewhat sad to see them regressing in the learning and expressive curve as they stepped into primary school, which still reinforces too much rote memory and the relentless push for good examination scores above the fundamental need for expression and creative thinking.

Last November, a month before graduation from K2, Little Bee's kindergarten organised an exhilarating Amazing Race in Sentosa. This was a family-friendly activity which involved a parent teaming up a child, and we were given clues to dash around various pit stops around the island a la Amazing Race style!

The children had a whale of a time looking for clues and learning so many new things about Sentosa! As for me, I relished the opportunity to participate in this fun bonding day, and shared plenty of laughter with Little Bee, as well as her classmates and their parents. And I love that we got to see Sentosa in a different perspective thereafter! I also cherish the bonding sessions with her classmates, teachers and other parents, knowing that the end of her journey in kindergarten is nigh, and that we would be meeting new friends and new parents in the next chapter of her life.

I think the easiest way to document the Amazing Race is through photos! Enjoy!

Challenges for the day!

One completed station, whew!

We dashed all around Sentosa (lumbering at some points when we parents were fatigued!), and one of the challenges involved taking the trams, fun!

Some of the classmates managed to congregate at this point, much to Little Bee's delight

Busy writing down what she had discovered...

Notice Little Bee's tense expression as she handed a completed sheet to one of the teachers at a pit stop? Heh.

The best way to take a Sentosa tram - face outside and enjoy the view! 

Everyone was a winner! MacDonald's vouchers were prizes for the day.

Fun With Current Affairs

1) The Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Conflict From The Bees' Perspectives

With the Bees growing older, I am beginning to inculcate some current affairs and general knowledge of the world to them - through good old newspapers. Both the Bees already have exposure to reading the newspapers weekly (not daily yet!) and discussing/writing articles analytically in school.

This year, Little Bee's usual show-and-tell in school was replaced by a "news sharing" session, which encouraged each student to bring a news article to school every Tuesday, present it to their friends, and then have an open discussion about the news article. I love this activity because it encouraged the little kids to enhance their knowledge of current affairs, motivate them to read the newspapers regularly, and to nurture critical thinking skills when asking probing questions about the articles.

On the other hand, Big Bee's school also required her to write 5 key points about a fortnightly news article she selected, as well as a small paragraph about why she was interested in the article.

One night back in September, Little Bee wanted to bring to school an article on the intricate turmoil of the Diaoyu and Senkaku Islands between Japan and China. Because of the complicated nature of the whole conflict, I had to use diagrams, maps and very simple language to explain to the Bees what these all mean. After a lengthy explanation, I asked them on their thoughts and viewpoints, and also got them to draw out the whole conflict in simple sketching. Here were their respective theories in their own words when I asked them what would they do if they are leaders in China or Japan:

a) Big Bee's theory: Split the islands in half, and get the leaders of Japan and China to shake hands and be friends! OR both countries should agree to bomb the islands and both will have nothing, so there will be no conflicts!

b) Little Bee's theory: Japan and China will stop fighting soon, and then both will forget about the islands!! Then, suddenly the China President will go to the islands and realise that the Japanese are still there. Then, he will get very angry, and China will have a war with Japan to fight for the islands again!

What does each theory tell you of the Bees' personalities? :)

2) Newspaper Treasure Hunt

2 nights ago, we played treasure hunt - not around the house nor in a park - but with good ol' Straits Times. I thought this would be a fun way to encourage them to flip through the newspapers and encourage them to read the latest news through directed questions from me. I had to ask different levels of questions to Big Bee and Little Bee because of their age differences, but nonetheless, they had fun flipping through the papers frantically and smudging their fingers with the newsprint. Here were some of the questions I asked each of them:

a) To Big Bee
- Which country did Obama go today? (It was a tricky question because the front page of Straits Times had a picture of Obama talking to the Thai Prime Minister, and Big Bee almost said he was in Thailand, but changed her answer as she read deeper into the article. He was actually in Myanmar on Monday.).

b) To Little Bee
- How many runners participated in the Run For Hope marathon? Why do you think they are running for hope?

They did not let me off the hook easily as well. They insisted I must be part of the game too - and Big Bee ended up asking me to summarise the whole Israel-Palestine conflict to them (which I had immense difficulty explaining the reasons why they were fighting using kiddie language, so I ended up talking about air raids instead!).

Eyes Brimming With Tears...

These 2 months had been filled with so many activities for Little Bee, who is moving on from her beloved kindergarten to the big kid primary school. I couldn't help but feel constant twinges of aches in my heart as my little baby is finally leaving that carefree land of boisterous play and wondrous innocence.

We had our last parent-teacher talk with Little Bee's teachers, and it was a somewhat emotional session - especially for the teachers. Both of them teared when they told me how they will miss having Little Bee in class, and what a joy it was for them to teach her. I had to give reassuring pats on their shoulders and backs to prevent them from breaking down! It make me truly cherish her kindergarten and all her highly committed and very dedicated teachers who really love their students.

Both teachers were full of praises for Little Bee - about her leadership potential in class, how she was able to rally up the classmates as always, but yet, willing to listen and be an occasional follower this year. Which is a nice indication of growth for her as she expands her emotional intelligence and awareness of a diversity of opinions and ideas. She had matured in the right direction. Earlier this year, one of the concerns raised by her teacher was that she could face a crossroads with her assertive and strong personality - she could be a great leader whom people respect and love, or she could be an impossible dictator that people abhor. This time, Her teacher told me she is kind, and is always helping her fellow students. She is also full of initiative in class - apparently, another classmate and her initiated a class activity to enhance the teacher's lessons, and had much ownership and accountability over this activity, which the teacher was very thankful for. Given her outgoing and gregarious personality, she is also always speaking out in class, asking inquiring questions of depth.

I am still in emotional tangles about Little Bee leaving her kindergarten for good. She had spent 3 beautiful years here, and the teachers had done an amazing job of nurturing her. Most of all, I will miss these loving teachers, teachers who truly care for the development of every student, who do not allow any student to fall behind, and who show so much love for the students with constant hugs and praises. Teachers whose eyes can brim with hidden tears, and whose noses became ruddy shades of emotions when talking about how much they love and miss her...

I hope she will continue to meet wonderful teachers like these even in primary school.

Autumn In Singapore

2 weekends ago, we visited the Gardens By The Bay for the first time as a family. The Bees were fascinated by the misty, mysterious Cloud Forest, and we were all captivated by the brilliant autumn colours of the blooms in the Flower Dome. I could not quite decide which dome I prefer, but I thought the Flower Dome - with its dazzling flowers from different regions and its autumn theme - was a lot more engaging than the Cloud Forest.

The Cloud Forest's key attraction was its colossal indoor waterfall and the cool, temperate climate that was such a welcomed reprieve from the sweltering weather. We also enjoyed the +5 Degrees show a lot, and the Bees were able to appreciate the extent and impact of global warming, witnessing from the large projection screen what the Earth may look like in the near scorching future, if we continue our irresponsible treatment of Mother Nature.

In the Flower Dome, we love immersing in the gardens of different regions, pretending we were far away in another land.
However, the Bees were enchanted by the resplendent displays of autumn delights like pumpkins, scarecrows, harvested wheats and an alluring display of beautiful flowers in red, orange and crimson. We were bewitched by the vivid colours and the magnificent display of stunning blooms.

 

 I was surprised that we were so mesmerized that we spent almost half a day in the 2 domes, plus a bit of time off for an alfresco lunch in the broiling heat of noon. We will definitely be back to explore the outdoor gardens and the skyway walk!