Mad About Math!

I had been resisting letting Big Bee go into the routine mode of tuition, preferring to spend time teaching her all the subjects myself. However, it can get very taxing at times, like this past weekend when she had 20 pages of fairly complex Math homework to complete. First, I must contend with a frustrated Big Bee who was trying to complete all 20 pages on one Sunday morning. Then, I need to go through all 20 pages myself to make sure she had all the sums correct. So, that was nearly half our Sunday gone. 

And this evening, right after my work, Big Bee had to complete more Math homework with this question which Hubby helped her with:

Look at the numbers shown on the face below. 

Draw a straight line to split the clock face in half in such a way that the sum of numbers on one side of the line is equal to the sum of numbers on the other side of the line. 

I don't ever remembering doing any sums like this even in upper primary! Now I shudder to think what Little Bee's homework will be like in future. And seriously considering tuition for next year!

Imagination Is The Highest Kite One Can Fly

I must apologise for the long title, but this is actually a quote from Lauren Bacall, and I find so much truth in it. How many times did we withdraw into our minds only to find bounteous wondrous worlds in there? And I think it is vital that we constantly encourage our children to dream beyond their wildest fantasies - to make them feel that the world is a multifarious arcade of splendid beauties. To teach them to embrace life passionately - despite life's ubiquitous and irksome idiosyncracies. 

So last weekend, I brought them to fly kites. So that they can gaze into the sky and wonder how big our universe really is. So that they get to understand the forces of nature, that their kites simply will not soar into the sky if the elusive wind decides to play hide and seek with us. So that they can gradually understand that humans are but mere miniscule chess pieces in this glorious world we call home, and that we are but mere transient guests on this planet in this prodigious journey of time.

 

Proud Bees displaying their kites, with their favourite characters!

And fly kite they will. In the absence of wind, the Bees would grab their kites high in the air and ran as fast as they could - using the adrenaline-induced momentum of a feeble gush of air to bring life into their kites. Big Bee's athletic prowess allowed her kite to flow gracefully in mid air, whereas poor Little Bee ran at full speed with her little legs, only to have her kite dangling somewhat dishevelledly behind her back!

The following morning, underneath a cerulean sky peppered with white and grey clouds, we took a relaxed walk to a gorgeously verdant and open field behind our estate. 

Little specks of highly excited entities against a panoramic backdrop of blue and green

The wind was cruelly evasive, flirting with us through playful gusts that made us whooped with joy as the kites rose against its force, only to abandon us with glee, leaving the kites slumped and lifeless. That was how the girls learned about the power of nature, that nature is simply beyond our control, and that we have to patiently wait for certain things.

 

Big Bee getting the hang of the intermittent wind!

Little Bee was mesmerised when the kite started lifting!

The wind continued its ambiguous game with us, culminating with a rising storm wind that was accompanied by a stern dark grey cloud hovering over us. I decided to call it a day, much to the Bees' disappointment. But I took this opportunity to relate to Big Bee (in somewhat sketchy details!) how Benjamin Franklin discovered that lightning was electrical in nature through his kite-flying experiment. She was intrigued and asked me how come he was not killed. My knowledge of Benjamin Franklin was not very deep so I told her humbly I need to read up more on this. Hubby suggested that Franklin was perhaps wearing rubber shoes! 

As for Little Bee, whenever she sees the leaves on trees dancing with the wind, she will always tell me, "Wind! Can fly kite!" 

I am hoping we will get a merry, even-tempered wind this weekend! 

Two Is Enough

I guess my uterus is destined to be forlorn and empty from now on...

Me: "Big Bee, do you want another mei mei or di di?"

Big Bee (forcefully): "NO!"

Me: "Why?!"

Big Bee: "I don't like too many people in the house!"

Me: "I thought you like many people to play with you?"

Big Bee: "No! I don't like more mei mei or di di to snatch my bed! I already have Little Bee always snatching my bed!"

Me: ....

Me: "Little Bee, do you want another mei mei or di di?"

Little Bee: "Huh?"

Me: "Do you want Mummy to have another baby?"

Little Bee: "Baby? (Smiled) Toy baby! Little Bee has! There! (points to her doll in the living room)"

Me: "No, I mean a real baby from Mummy's stomach!"

Little Bee pulled up my shirt and looked at my stomach: "Nothing!"

Me: "Do you want Mummy to give Little Bee another baby?"

Little Bee (forcefully): "NO!"

Me: "How about more jie jie or gor gor?"

Little Bee (after some contemplation): "NO!"

'Nuff said. 

Learning At Home: Safari

This month, the theme for home learning is "Safari"! The Bees are crazy over The Lion King movie, and they both suggested excitedly to me that they wanted to learn about safari animals. And it is indeed a very fun theme, with an overwhelming array of activities!

We did mainly craftwork this time, as I had to juggle with Big Bee's homework every night. However, I still managed to let Big Bee do some fun safari games online that taught her the habitats of different animals and the geographical areas that different animals live in. She chose not to do some of the easier crafts this time as she thought they are too simple for her!

For Little Bee, I supplemented these craftwork with new learning on lower-capped alphabets, as she is learning those in her weekend classes. She is beginning to pick up on some letters, calling them "Big A" and "Small A". She had also started writing some new alphabets like "N", "T", and "e".

We kickstarted this series with an interesting craftwork of creating a giraffe with a movable neck, so that we can teach the kids about giraffes having long necks. True enough, Little Bee kept telling me that giraffes have "nong nong necks".





Big Bee's bowing giraffe in a field of grass with lovely mountains behind. I made her spell out Giraffe to put some spelling into this exercise.


Little Bee's giraffe. I make her paste the alphabet "Gg" so she can recognise the "big" and "small" letters, and 15 below stands for the number of spots on the giraffe. She drew the giraffe eye with a perky eyelash - by accident, I think!

Little Bee also wanted to make The Lion King, so one night, we created a lion mask which Big Bee and my Mum commented that it looked more like a flower mask with pointy ears! Hm...


ROAR!!!!

Little Bee also made a very simple elephant head with just a painted paper plate and 5 pieces of blue construction paper for the ears, eyes and trunk! Very easy craft that she can do with minimal guidance, so I can take some break!



Then, the Bees each created a set of binoculars from recycled toilet rolls and we played a hunting game in the safari. Guess who was the lion? Big fat Mummy! ROAR!!!




Little Bee painted everything on this zebra herself - I was quite impressed by her distribution of lines though I chuckled at the zebra's dizzy eyes. I wrote the word Zebra, but she kept mistaking "Z" for "N" and even painted 2 "N"s beside my word, emphasising to me "N for Zebra!" *faint*

Finally, last weekend, to cap off the learning process, we took them to the zoo to see how these safari animals look like - upclose and personal! This time, we managed to see a lot more animals, we went to the Wild Safari section and gaped at the elegantly tall giraffes, placid zebras and lazy rhinos.



The brave girls then went into Cat Country and roared at lions, posed prettily beside 2 napping cheetahs and ogled at a bored leopard ambling fretfully to and fro. Little Bee kept saying that cheetahs are "lion-cheetahs" - I guess she thinks they both look similar, and they do! We also went into Reptile Land where the Bees stared with amazement at all the slithering snakes and we ventured into the reptile aviary with bated breath, frightened that a chameleon may just materialise near us!

It had been a wonderful learning experience for the girls indeed. They love these safari animals! I think I have to think of a non-animal theme for this month - too many animals around!

Being Mothers

A very close friend and I had an interesting discussion this evening about how motherhood is one of the most thankless jobs in the world. That got me reflecting late at night and true indeed, once we become a mother, our lives certainly turned topsy turvy. The overwhelming joy of seeing your kids shine their big loving eyes on you. The dark despair when we are overcome with utmost fatigue yet we still need to appear strong in front of the children (especially during those dire hours of night fevers!). The vile frustration when we see the children fighting raucously over petty issues or flaunting their anger at you.

Ever since I became a mother more than 7 years ago, I never would have imagine this wealth of emotions of being a mother. More than anything, I never would have imagine the expectations we set upon ourselves to be the pinnacle of the household, ensuring everything runs at tip top condition and in perfect timing. From making sure the kids rise and shine, to ensuring that they are healthy and that all meals are taken care of, to bringing them to school on time, to making sure they learn as well as play, to maintaining sibling harmony with strong values imbued in them. 

And as my big one gets older, I realised the role of a mother changes as well. No more pampering them too much or they would feel claustrophobic. No more incessant fussing over them as you begin to hear an irritable undertone when they exclaimed, "Mummy! I know, I know!" Didn't we all use this undertone at some points of our lives with our own mothers?

Being a mother certainly is a lifelong job. And we are expected to amend our job descriptions at different stages of our kids' lives so that we do not end up alienating ourselves from them. We also need to set the expectations right with regards to our spouses. Life is never rosy nor easy. 

But what we can do is, as women and fellow mothers, to understand each other's roles and show support and a listening ear to one another. And for ourselves to thank us, without needing others to thank us. Giving ourselves a pat in our own backs, hugging ourselves, loving ourselves more. 

For all those stay-home moms, a salute to all your endless, tireless days of cooking, bathing and tending after the kids with infinite days of similar routines. For the working moms, a hug to drive away all those evil stresses at work where employers do not care a hoot if you are a mother or not, and having to juggle both work and caring of children back home despite our immense fatigue. 

For I think we have each other - mothers, all of us - as a powerful support network. And that being said, how about a simple word of thanks to our own moms, making them feel appreciated and loved as well? 

Finally, for me, motherhood is all the more joyous as I see my children going through the journey below...it is an amazing gift indeed. 

From this...

The Bees at around 2 weeks of their lives

To this! 

The Bees 2 weeks ago

PS: Big Bee is the baby on the left, Little Bee is the baby on the right! 

The Patriots

We had a surprise stay in Pan Pacific Hotel on National Day - for the Bees. They were both hopping around in pure excitement after we told them that we will be going to stay overnight in a "hotel room".

Hubby and I thought it would be nice to celebrate Singapore's 44th birthday close to the action, listening to the sonorous roar of the fighter jets, immersing in the resounding cheer from thousands of spectators, and most of all, to be bewitched by the resonant explosions of the dazzling fireworks. 

True enough, the atmosphere was dense with zealous, nationalistic energy. The Bees got into the entire mood of celebrating the country's birthday, parading around with helium balloons in the guise of our flags all around Marina Square before the parade show. We had a pleasant teatime in Marina Square, indulging in hearty food and relaxing as a family. The crowds were buzzing with energized enthusiasm in the mall, with ubiquitous manifestations of red everywhere.

 

The Bees enjoyed National Day immensely. The backdrop behind is a photo of the descending parachute troops. 

Back in the room, the Bees watched the parade on TV with fascination - rushing in and out of the balcony whenever there were pyrotechnics or planes/helicopters flying past. The highlight was gazing at the mesmerising descent of the parachute troops like fairies drifting down from the sky. Little Bee insisted they were balloons, whereas Big Bee set her eyes on real-life parachutes for the first time in her life. 

We had a sumptuous dinner in the room before turning in for the night, followed by a cosy breakfast in the hotel the following morning. The Bees thought it was a mini holiday, so they were extremely well behaved and cheerful. Big Bee, who was down for a week with various viruses, seemed to have recovered overnight! 

This is a memorable way of bonding as a family. Sometimes, as we veered away from the norm of home routines, with no interferences of weekend classes, it lets us truly enjoy spending the entire weekend in unhurried serenity. It is inexplicably wondrous. 

The resplendent scene from our hotel 

We intend to preserve this tradition of spending the nation's birthday as a family, in front of the TV or near the parade, a tradition that my parents had maintained till now. 

As Hubby and I travel to varied countries for work, not as tourists, seeing the uglier side of many cities, we begin to fall in love with Singapore more. True, sometimes it can get boring in little Singapore. It can get frustrating with the rapid race for success. It can get disheartening when you read about unpleasant things in the papers. 

Yet, where else can we feel loved and surrounded by our dearest family and friends? Where else can we speak the Singlish lingo with ease, knowing that we are being understood, and not feel like outsiders? Where else can we enjoy mild weather with minimal interferences from the forces of nature? 

For us, it is simply home, and I wouldn't imagine living anywhere else.

Multiplication Learned Differently

After work every evening, I am usually a sack of fatigue, and I typically indulge in a quick shower and fast dinner to replenish my energy in order to entertain the Bees for the evening. 

This evening, right after dinner, Big Bee was in the midst of completing her Math homework (they are currently learning the fundamental concept of multiplication) when she called for my help to a problem sum of sorts:

Mr Lim has 8 cows and hens altogether.

The animals have a total of 26 legs.

(a) How many cows are there?

(b) How many hens are there?

Yes, I reckon this would be an easy one for many adults, but imagine my Big Bee, who seemed just fresh out of my tummy only yesterday, tackling a question like that. I had to explain and sketch in graphical format to her, and thank goodness for her astute logic that enabled her to grasp this fairly quickly. She then had to translate this into proper "working" on her worksheet. 

And from the pages of multiplication homework tonight, it seems like the concept of memorising times tables (like us in the good old days) is long obsolete!  

Conflict Resolution 101

The girls had been fighting lately, probably because I segregated them for one whole week due to Big Bee's tough stomach virus resulting in a high fever and a throat infection. Now that she has recovered, I tore down the invisible barrier between the girls, and all I glimpsed were nasty scenes of sibling conflicts, with intermittent patches of dappled sunshine in between. I guess this is really Conflict Resolution 101!

I try not to interfere when they are having their little fights, as I want them to learn how to resolve the differences between each other. And there are many differences, with an age gap of 4.5 years! 

The green-eyed monster in Big Bee never ceased to be unleashed whenever I ask her to do some academic-based work, when Little Bee is doing some drawing. She would grumble: "It's not fair! Mei mei can relax when I have to work so hard!" No amount of explaining that Mei mei is actually learning from playing or doodling will satisfy her indignation. 

And this evening, Big Bee was tidying up the upper deck of her double-decked bed, so I merely exclaimed to her to be careful when shifting those pillows on top, lest she accidentally miss a footing and fall off! Little Bee, who was staring intently at her uttered firmly and loudly, "Careful! Later fall down, hit head. DIE!!!!!" Big Bee and me stared at Little Bee's morbid imagination in dumbfounded amazement. 

And just 10 minutes ago, they were fighting over a piece of puzzle that Little Bee tried helping Big Bee with, but ended up messing it up and upsetting jie-jie. I stepped in and told them gently,"No fighting ok. Must share everything!" Little Bee looked very sulky and grumbled,"I want FIGHTING!!!!" 

Do I need to worry??? *tremble*

Cultivating Little Readers

One of the best decisions I had made recently was to include a three-tier bookshelf in the middle of our living room, so the books are easily accessible and reachable by the 2 Bees. The girls will also decorate the top of the bookshelf with their craftwork, so they are constantly surrounded by things they had created themselves, hopefully, giving them the liberty of self empowerment. Yes, it may make our living room look more cluttered and messy, but I definitely think it is highly worthwhile.

I was just sitting aside this morning, looking at how both of them now make the bookshelf the centrestage of their activities in the living room, and my heart warmed at the fact that soon, they can share those literary treasures that so delight my being constantly. 

The top shelf belongs to Big Bee who personally displays her favourite books - her addictive series of Enid Blyton and Rainbow Magic books. 

Big Bee's favourite Enid Blyton book which is a compilation of many short stories - she has 21 Enid Blyton books, largely thanks to my Dad who had been supplying her with these! 

Big Bee's favourite Rainbow Magic book - she has 20 books from this enchanting series! 

She was the one who first arranged her books on the empty shelf, and I would see her constantly fluttering around her bookshelf, tidying and arranging the books in the most logical of forms! And whenever she has any free moment, her first inclination would be to go to the bookshelf and pick out some books to read. 

The second shelf consists of mainly books that are suitable for Little Bee - preschool picture books and Ladybird series. Whenever she sees jie-jie poring over her books, she would take a few books out to browse as well. This morning, I saw her perusing over a few books in utmost concentration. Her favourite books are now the "Let's Visit" series from Robin, and she can flip through the pages in absolute silence, giving me a good respite. 

Little Bee's favourite series of books - do I foresee a future intrepid traveller? 

The lowest shelf contains bigger books pertaining to general knowledge and large picture books, and these are generally for me to read to them whenever we are in the mood for a cosy read-together session. 

I love this bookshelf, and from the way the Bees were fussing over it everyday, I think they do too! 

"I Want Make Card!"

Little Bee wanted to make a card for jie-jie one morning, telling me to take out some paper to "make card", in her words. I thought it was sweet of her to think of her sister who was in school, and I am very pleased that she had develop a perception that creating a little gift may make her sister happy. 

Here was what she made for Big Bee, who was very happy to receive this from mei-mei after school. She conceptualised and drew everything herself! I was so happy to see her so independent. 

Front of card: She told me the face is "jie-jie" and I believe she was trying to write a message of some sort to Big Bee below the face.

Inside pages: Once again, she drew a full-bodied jie-jie on the left, and an apple (or so she claimed) on the facing page. Maybe she was thinking of giving an apple for jie-jie to eat?

Back page: To my surprise, she wrote "M" for the very first time all by herself! 

She also loves stenciling a lot these days, and this was her depiction of an undersea world with a whale and shark (notice how she drew a sad face for the whale, hm) and a sunken windmill and house!

Her favourite stencils

However, as she trundles towards her independent 3 years, there had been more conflicts on the homefront as she insisted on doing things her way with her iron-strong will. And impatient me would then scold her severely, causing her to break down in pitiful tears. Sigh - it is extremely tough to discipline our own children. Every time she cried, I would feel a pierce through my heart, yet giving in would mean acceding to her behaviour and I know how important it is to teach what is right and wrong at this young age. 

Yet, whenever those pair of teary eyes looked at me, my heart wavered. Being a parent is indeed not easy! 

Syonan-to

Hubby is a WW2 aficionado, so he brought the whole family on a surprise trip to this little-known war museum last weekend - Memories at Old Ford Factory. This was the very same location that the British army surrendered to the Japanese forces, and it felt really significant to walk up the very same path that the British troops marched up in 1942. 

I thought it was a really educational trip and was so thankful to Hubby who brought us here. We took this opportunity to highlight to the Bees about what happened in the Japanese occupation of Singapore, which was an extension of what they saw in the National Museum 2 months back. 

Big Bee was fairly fascinated by some of the gory posters and I even caught her ruminating over some displays, reading them intently. Little Bee didn't know where she was or why she was doing there, and she spent the majority of time playing with another little girl whose parents were also busy reading the displays like us! 

Big Bee concentrating on reading our war history

A nervous grin from Little Bee, who was staring at...

...none other but the fearsome Japanese Commander-in-Chief then, General Yamashita! 

There was a beautiful garden outside the museum, showcasing real crops that Singaporeans ate during the occupation - sweet potato, pineapple, rice, etc. As we ambled past the make-shift rice patch with a cute scarecrow peering over it, Hubby suddenly pointed out to a black mass struggling in the water of the rice patch. On closer look, we discovered to our horror that it was a drowning bird in the water! Hubby went on to find an empty flower pot and scooped up the bird, giving it a new lease of life again. What a heroic gesture - and in front of his darling girls! The Bees were impressed for sure! 

The bird, draped in algae, struggled up on its two feet to look at Hubby intently when it was rescued from the dank waters - as if to say thanks!

As we strolled down that historic path back to our car, we stopped to admire the dense forest of rolling hills around us, with the golden rays of the late afternoon sun beaming down on us and the quiescent whisper of the warm wind caressing our cheeks. 

We imagined how the British must have felt all those years back as they surrendered. More importantly, we envisioned how embittered the Singaporeans - our foreparents - might have felt in the cruel hands of the Japanese. It makes me embrace peace so much more, for it certainly is a treasured gem, to be handled with absolute care in this beloved place we call home. 

Falling In Love Again

Hubby joined me halfway through my work trip to the UK, and it was wondrously memorable. It had been years since we went overseas on trips without the Bees.

We spent the weekend together as well as many long weekdays in the lingering summer light.

 

Ravishing sunset at 9pm

Without the children around, we reconnected with each other's core essence, we were rejuvenated and we fell in love all over again. More significantly, we both rediscovered why we were in love in the first place, as it is so easy to lose this fundamental knowledge in our daily routines, when we are so busy with our work and running our children's lives. 

We had long coffee breaks and longer meals. We stuffed ourselves silly with hearty breakfasts, sumptuous lunches and splendid dinners - with a myriad selection of foods from English to Italian to Asian. 

Food! Sensational food!

We strolled aimlessly for ages, walking and talking, sometimes losing ourselves along the way. We never have the luxury of time to do this at home. 

A long languid walk with the wind in our hair and whipping our faces along the entire perimeter of the River Thames

We chanced upon the awe-inspiring basilica of St Paul's Cathedral in a late-night walk around London - a glorious sight to behold!

We enjoyed long train and coach rides, admiring the magnificent English countryside.

 

We treaded with wonder in Windsor Castle, almost like trespassers in the royal family's home

We were lost in time right in the midst of the mighty Stonehenge

We started laughing at ourselves more, something which is not easy in the daily stresses of life, bogging us down with venomous pressures snaking through the back of our consciousness. 

I wish everyday is indeed Christmas! A perpetual Christmas shop in the gorgeous city of Bath.

We were ourselves again - liberated and unfettered. 

Penguins

In last month's home learning Ocean theme, the Bees also made a penguin each, when they learned about birds that depend on the ocean for survival. In this case, the penguins depended a lot on the fishes from the ocean for their daily intake of food. 

Big Bee also took the opportunity to learn about the major seas of the world, and we discovered the biggest and smallest oceans in the world. Little Bee learned about what the penguins eat and how they waddle about, thereby mimicking the waddling penguin wherever she went! 

Big Bee's penguin with a couple of fish ready for dinner

Little Bee's penguin, stained with red dye! Before I could stop her, she merrily took up a colour pencil and started colouring the penguin's body red!

Her Little Secrets

Whenever I look at Big Bee these days, she reminded me so much of myself at her age. She had recently started collecting adorable little journals and diaries, and had scribbed many of her thoughts in some of them. Sometimes, she will create her own journal entries in a locked diary, mostly about her friends and teachers in school, and it is certainly interesting to peek into her social life from another perspective.

At other times, she would scrawl action plans on how to ostracise some of her friends (yes, kids are cruel indeed!!). I even discovered a piece of handwritten contract that her best friend Claire and her created - where the contents were about how they would like one of their friends to be out of their team! And there was even a line for the little girl to sign on it! 

She tried hiding some of these things from me, exclaiming smilingly when she saw me buried deep in reading them. But with sweet cajoling from me, she would relent and allow me a privileged peek into her life. And she would tell me excitedly in incessant chatter all the little idiosyncracies that she faced in school.

I enjoy listening to my big girl tremendously. For this signifies a chapter in her life where I am merely on the perimeter as an observer. No longer will I have an omnipresent occupancy in her life, but I am sure she will know that I will be somewhere in her backstage forever, only emerging into her spotlight whenever she needs me. 

This evening, I got her permission to "publish" one of her diary entries here, something that was written a couple of months back. She refused to let me showcase what she wrote about school though, and believe me, some of those entries are juicy indeed ;) 

Enjoy. It is totally unedited, so pardon the grammar. 

***********************************

4 April 2009 (Saturday)

Today me and Papa went to Botanic Gardens. First, we went to eat our breakfast. I ate a chicken wing and mee rebus. Papa ate roti prata. After breakfast, we bought fish food to feed the lovely fishes. The fishes were very hungry. We saw five black fishes that look like policeman. I also saw one catfish and many guppies. Then we went to my school for my Parent Teacher Meeting. Our Parent Teacher Meeting is at the Primary Hall. My Mummy told me that I was very good in class. During the Parent Teacher Meeting I was playing on the high beam with my friend. I only played for a while and then we went home. This is a wonderful morning. 

Pillar Of Strength

My Mum is my pillar of strength when I am out in the battlefield at work. She cares very well for my darling Bees, and is highly dependable whenever I travel for work. 

She is also the Bees' fortress for Mandarin, as she will speak with them in Mandarin the whole day long! Hence, Little Bee can now say one to ten in strange, lilting Mandarin, and Big Bee is slowly improving in her oral Mandarin, something I had requested for my Mum to help coach her every afternoon. 

Without her, I will not be able to do all those things I can do in my career and life. She is a simple housewife her whole life, revolving her life around us, her children, dependable on my father for allowance, yet resourceful enough to supplement the allowance with her income as a home nanny. 

So, she is always motivating me to get out there and work, be financially independent and to be a strong woman, emotionally and cerebrally. Yet not forsaking the family, to be constantly hardworking and caring towards the kids, and not to outsource the caring of kids to anyone but myself or Hubby (and her!). 

I guess this is how values are transported through the generations and ages - by example, by love, by demonstration. 

Here's a little portrait of her and Little Bee. She is the de facto hairdresser for Little Bee who doesn't like anyone else cutting her hair! So, she always gets her hair cut in the balmy balcony, which is quite an experience for the little one, I am sure.

 

Sweet Liberty!

That feeling of handing over an 80-page report, of reckless mental renunciation of all the things which I had been slogging over for the past 4 months, and of finally not having anything to worry about in those after-hours when the kids are sleeping.....those feelings are deliriously rhapsodic :)  

The Final Lap

My long loooong drawn MBA saga is still not over. I had pushed the deadline for dissertation submission to next Monday, and will not be asking for any later dates. So, for every night this week, it will be no blogging but only slogging (sounds like an advertisement slogan!). And no learning at home for the kids (except for Big Bee's studies) because I have no time (and should not free up any time!) to research on any learning plans :(

What with work and the kids, I had always been procrastinating. But it is NOT a good excuse. 

I am 93% there, I think. Next Tuesday spells the start of my languid and liberating days, as in seriously having nothing niggling at the back of my mind guiltily when I am enjoying myself with anything outside of academic matters. It is a concept that is overflowing with wonderful promises. 

Wish me luck :) 

Learning At Home: The Big Blue Sea

Since I started work, I do not have the luxury of spending entire days with my two little girls, so I structured the learning at home activities into month-long themes, so that the Bees can be more immersed into what they learned over a longer period. 

Last month, the theme was "Oceans and the seashore". Most of my themes are inspired by the Disney movies my Bees loved to watch. This theme was decided after I saw how enthralled they were with "Finding Nemo"! It is a good way to link their favourite cartoons into the real world they live in as well. 

I also decided to pull Big Bee into the picture. Above all those academic work that I had to revise with her, I thought it might be more holistic and interesting if she can learn things out of the school curriculum (read: more science and geography rather than focusing purely on English, Math and Chinese). This poses a good challenge because I have to customise activities to cater to both Big Bee and Little Bee. But I am thankful because Big Bee had been very upfront and forthright in ideas and suggestions on what we can do to engage her interest. She was thrilled when she realised she was part of the programme too! 

With the oceans theme, we explored everything from living things on the seashore to sea-faring animals like gigantic whales and miniscule starfishes. 

For Big Bee, I extended her learning experience to the solar system, as she started asking more and more questions from "Why is the ocean blue?" to "Why is the sky blue?". We spent one quiet evening when Little Bee was asleep to understand the galaxy we call home, and learned about the different characteristics of all the gorgeous planets in our solar system. She started asking me about the existence of aliens and her questions just kept spiralling beyond my limited knowledge! Still, it was great fun and I must admit, it is a wonderful journey for me too, to be able to learn alongside my daughter whilst she is absorbing all these fascinating information about the beautiful world we live in. 

For Little Bee, it was more of linking the oceans theme to academic basics like learning about certain alphabets (eg, W for whale, S for starfish and C for crab), letter tracing and independent writing, as well as number recognition and counting up to 10 (as opposed to rote recitation of numbers). Not to forget the highly gratifying craft works to hone her fine motor skills. Although she did not ask as many questions as her jie-jie, she is starting to know (I hope!) the different sorts of sea creatures living in and out of the oceans.

Her starfish collage and letter tracing of "S" 

 

Letter tracing of "W" for whale, walrus and water

I did some activities with them together, like reading books to them on ocean animals, using the ubiquitous world wide web to search for photos of sea creatures and painting oceans and seashore scenes. I hope these can be channels for them to learn from each other and to bond closer as sisters. 

Big Bee came up with a fantastic idea of creating an ocean dictionary where we can list by alphabetical category all the ocean-related creatures! We spent a merry afternoon on this. For Little Bee, I did not limit the alphabetical categories to sea creatures as it might be too difficult for her. 

Big Bee's dictionary of the ocean - cover page

Ocean animals for categories "B" and "C": we had to do some research through encyclopedias and books to find some of the animals!

Little Bee's version of an amateur dictionary. Big Bee and I drew pictures and words, and she added in some of her scribblings like the balloon-looking thing in "B" and the funny catface with a conical hat in "C" (I think she was trying to replicate the ears from the cat I drew).

We are still far from completing any comprehensive review about the ocean, but I thought it is high time to move on to a new theme (based on Big Bee's hint today) so that we can broaden our learning odyssey and in the near future, revisit this theme from a different perspective :) 

Big Bee and Little Bee had given some suggestions on what to learn this month (Big Bee proposed zoo or safari animals, Little Bee wanted farm animals...), so I am doing a bit of planning this week! 

Here was our final project for the ocean theme:

Monstrous-looking girls with bright orange hands after an evening of painting! 

Voila! Big Bee's crimson crab. She toiled over sticking the legs in meticulous precision!

Little Bee's crab - I added in the numbers in the legs and claws to teach her number recognition, counting and ordering. As well as reinforcing the letter "C" for crab.