WOW. Remember my post on my tendency for obsessive compulsive behaviours? This time, it is seriously distracting. My mummy friends had been recommending highly addictive Korean dramas that seemed to have struck a deep chord with legions of people. In the beginning, I viewed this obsession amongst friends with a mixture of amusement, curiosity and bewilderment. Not just my mummy friends. But also my close friends, my yoga instructor, my collegues, my aunts, my cousins...Even my mum was not spared the obsession when I witnessed the usually nonchalant her chasing a Korean drama series at 11.30pm every night, sacrificing her sleep and her reading.
So, after much temptation from my mummy friends, I decided to take a plunge just to test if I could be immuned to such compulsion.
OH. BOY. I had so little sleep, trying to finish huge chunks of the drama series that I was literally walking around zombified in the day, yet with mystical powers to help me stay awake at night to watch every episode with bated breath, my fingers irresistibly clicking "next episode" uncontrollably, despite an average of 3 hours of sleep per night.
This. Is. Vile. Yet hauntingly alluring. I just could not stop. And ended up rewatching the same series. Now I finally understand why my mother, aunts and friends kept harping on the exquisite romances, rich plot, fast-paced storylines, captivating soundtracks etc.
For now, I am indulging in the sea of love. And I wonder when I will be out of this raptness. At the same time, I am trying very hard to ensure that my life regain normality as soon as possible, especially with work that is piling up (productivity in the office is way low when I am obsessed with things other than work!), Big Bee's exams, hundreds of back-dated blog entries to write about...
This. Has. To. Stop.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Visions Of Her Future School
Big Bee's school celebrated their 1XXth anniversary this year, and published a large beautiful book with specially-commissioned exquisite photos of the students, teachers and staff in all sorts of activities around the school, as well as a charming collection of creative essays by the students. The photos reinforce the strong bonds and culture that permeate their school, and the essays highlight the students' dreams, aims and perspectives about different aspects of school life.
I was elated to find out that one essay that Big Bee wrote earlier this year was selected to be featured in this memorable keepsake. Her essay took up a whole double-page spread with 2 handsome photographs, and I delight in revelling in that spread every once in a while.
Here is Big Bee's featured essay - I hope she will grow to love writing as much as she loves reading now.
*************************************************
FUTURE SCHOOL
It is 27 March 2062 in the morning at 7.30. The school badges worn by all the students are vibrating and flashing with lights.
Going to the different levels of the school in 2062 is not tiring at all as there are escalators to transport the students up to their classrooms. At the square where the students assemble every morning is an automatic, moveable shelter that can be opened or closed according to the weather. If it rains, the students need not run for shelter during assembly. A prefect can just go to the general office and press a big, red button located there, and the shelter will cover the square.
After assembly, our badges vibrate again. Time for lessons! The lessons are held in special, high-tech classrooms that are air-conditioned. We also have comfortable sofas and white marble tables for doing our work instead of chairs and desks. The whiteboards are now really special! Fifty years ago, the teachers had to use marker pens to write on the whiteboard. Now the teachers only need to type whatever they want on the computer in their desks, and the words that they have typed will be projected on the whiteboard. All the students now have our very own iPads that are used for learning.
The music rooms are in a guitar-shaped building. One of the many rooms inside is for learning piano, another for learning violin, and yet another room is used for singing lessons. The art and craft rooms are in a big building shaped like paint brushes. That is where we learn to paint, and there is currently an art exhibition to showcase the art pieces that the students have created through the decades.
The toilets are all very clean and do not smell as there are toilet robots that keep them very clean. We do not need to worry about people not flushing the toilets or dirtying the floors.
The canteen is the best place in school! There are now no stalls or hawkers selling food, but there are vending machines. All we need to do is to press a button indicating what food we want, pay the money to a canteen robot, and the food will be served to us by a conveyer belt so that there are no queues at all.
"Buzz....!" The badges of the students start vibrating again. How time flies! It is now time for school dismissal! Some students take their school buses home, and others stroll home with their parents. There are also some who stay back for after-school activities. This is yet another busy but fun day in my school in 2062.
I was elated to find out that one essay that Big Bee wrote earlier this year was selected to be featured in this memorable keepsake. Her essay took up a whole double-page spread with 2 handsome photographs, and I delight in revelling in that spread every once in a while.
Here is Big Bee's featured essay - I hope she will grow to love writing as much as she loves reading now.
*************************************************
FUTURE SCHOOL
It is 27 March 2062 in the morning at 7.30. The school badges worn by all the students are vibrating and flashing with lights.
Going to the different levels of the school in 2062 is not tiring at all as there are escalators to transport the students up to their classrooms. At the square where the students assemble every morning is an automatic, moveable shelter that can be opened or closed according to the weather. If it rains, the students need not run for shelter during assembly. A prefect can just go to the general office and press a big, red button located there, and the shelter will cover the square.
After assembly, our badges vibrate again. Time for lessons! The lessons are held in special, high-tech classrooms that are air-conditioned. We also have comfortable sofas and white marble tables for doing our work instead of chairs and desks. The whiteboards are now really special! Fifty years ago, the teachers had to use marker pens to write on the whiteboard. Now the teachers only need to type whatever they want on the computer in their desks, and the words that they have typed will be projected on the whiteboard. All the students now have our very own iPads that are used for learning.
The music rooms are in a guitar-shaped building. One of the many rooms inside is for learning piano, another for learning violin, and yet another room is used for singing lessons. The art and craft rooms are in a big building shaped like paint brushes. That is where we learn to paint, and there is currently an art exhibition to showcase the art pieces that the students have created through the decades.
The toilets are all very clean and do not smell as there are toilet robots that keep them very clean. We do not need to worry about people not flushing the toilets or dirtying the floors.
The canteen is the best place in school! There are now no stalls or hawkers selling food, but there are vending machines. All we need to do is to press a button indicating what food we want, pay the money to a canteen robot, and the food will be served to us by a conveyer belt so that there are no queues at all.
"Buzz....!" The badges of the students start vibrating again. How time flies! It is now time for school dismissal! Some students take their school buses home, and others stroll home with their parents. There are also some who stay back for after-school activities. This is yet another busy but fun day in my school in 2062.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
All About Singapore
Our homelearning had revolved around the theme of Singapore on this month of our nation's birthday - and the Bees are loving the little snippets of Singapore that we had been reading nightly. I have no time to do painting or craftwork yet, but we had been doing lots of reading that hopefully will translate into a nice lapbook at the end of the month.
This theme coincides with what Little Bee is learning in school as well, so once again, it helps to integrate and reinforce what she has learned in school. By watching the National Day parade on TV, the Bees were also able to understand a little about the history of Singapore, and I intend to bring them out on more trips around Singapore this quarter.
Last week, Little Bee was asked to write 6 sentences about Singapore for her weekly homework in school, and with some help from me, she wrote these down, which I thought is some lovely reflections from her about how she feels about Singapore.
Sorry for the dark photo quality as this was taken with my iPhone! Here are her 6 points about Singapore, and she came up with most of them herself.
1. Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world.
2. Singapore's National Day is on 9 August. (she said she prefers to use the term "birthday" instead of National Day though!)
3. Singapore has no natural disasters, like tornadoes and earthquakes.
4. Singapore has many races like Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and others.
5. It is always warm in Singapore because we are near the equator.
6. My favourite place in Singapore is Sentosa!
This theme coincides with what Little Bee is learning in school as well, so once again, it helps to integrate and reinforce what she has learned in school. By watching the National Day parade on TV, the Bees were also able to understand a little about the history of Singapore, and I intend to bring them out on more trips around Singapore this quarter.
Last week, Little Bee was asked to write 6 sentences about Singapore for her weekly homework in school, and with some help from me, she wrote these down, which I thought is some lovely reflections from her about how she feels about Singapore.
Sorry for the dark photo quality as this was taken with my iPhone! Here are her 6 points about Singapore, and she came up with most of them herself.
1. Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world.
2. Singapore's National Day is on 9 August. (she said she prefers to use the term "birthday" instead of National Day though!)
3. Singapore has no natural disasters, like tornadoes and earthquakes.
4. Singapore has many races like Malays, Chinese, Indians, Eurasians and others.
5. It is always warm in Singapore because we are near the equator.
6. My favourite place in Singapore is Sentosa!
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
20 Years
...20 years. This is how long Hubby and I had known each other as of last month. 2 full decades. 240 months. 7,300 days.
We did not mark the special day with fanciful celebrations. Instead, we quietly acknowledged the fact that we had known each other for more than half my life, and rejoiced in the notion that we are still as much in love with each other as 20 years ago.
We met as sparkly-eyed freshmen in his university. Destiny must have been working its adroit hand as it lured me all the way to his campus. Within weeks, we were dating regularly - deliriously in love, meeting each other almost daily, writing lots of love notes and poems to each other. Oh, those were the wonderful years.
6 years later, we went on a trekking trip to Nepal with some friends. On our first day of camp, we set up camp on a grassy knoll high up in the Himalayas, with resplendent snow-capped mountains all around us. At night, when our friends had retired back into their tents to hide away from the cold, he asked me to look up at the skies, and I was blown away by a dense blanket of dazzling, brilliant stars all above us. It was magical.
As I looked back at him, I saw him holding a little jewel case with a pair of diamond earrings, smilingly saying, "These are the stars from above" (or something like that!) and "Will you marry me?" I was overwhelmed and speechless, before uttering some unintelligible affirmation out of sheer happiness.
14 years later, with 2 additions to the family, we acknowledged that marriage is a whole lot of hard work, compromises and effort - but most importantly, love and companionship. There were good days and there were equally bad days. We had gone through much trials and tribulations as well as endless happiness. We still think about the same things at times. It is uncanny when he utters something and I would look at him, stunned, because I was just thinking about the same thing. It is remarkable that I sometimes still finish his sentences for him - and vice versa - because we know just what each other is thinking about. But most of all, we cherish each other's differences - how he could not even do a single forward bend despite his wife being a yoga practitioner for the past 10 years, and how I could not even understand a single music squiggle (yes, musical notes are squiggles to me!) when his favourite hobby is composing music.
I recently chanced upon this little note of scrap paper which contains an unforgettable poem that Hubby wrote on a lovely morning in London 3 years ago as I slept. We both read it again and were transported to that memorable trip. For me, I was touched that he could still write this poem even after 9 years of marriage then, and his scribbles and cancellations on that scrap paper made the poem even more precious.
Here's the poem he wrote:
My beautiful wife
In the early morning light
Lips pristine and locked
Face a perfect scenery
Eyes like the morning sun,
Waiting to rise
From the slumber sleep
Time never moves
As she whispers
Each breath
Lips part slightly
Air moves in
I place my kiss -
Morning rises
~ 12 July 2009, Sunday, London
We did not mark the special day with fanciful celebrations. Instead, we quietly acknowledged the fact that we had known each other for more than half my life, and rejoiced in the notion that we are still as much in love with each other as 20 years ago.
We met as sparkly-eyed freshmen in his university. Destiny must have been working its adroit hand as it lured me all the way to his campus. Within weeks, we were dating regularly - deliriously in love, meeting each other almost daily, writing lots of love notes and poems to each other. Oh, those were the wonderful years.
6 years later, we went on a trekking trip to Nepal with some friends. On our first day of camp, we set up camp on a grassy knoll high up in the Himalayas, with resplendent snow-capped mountains all around us. At night, when our friends had retired back into their tents to hide away from the cold, he asked me to look up at the skies, and I was blown away by a dense blanket of dazzling, brilliant stars all above us. It was magical.
As I looked back at him, I saw him holding a little jewel case with a pair of diamond earrings, smilingly saying, "These are the stars from above" (or something like that!) and "Will you marry me?" I was overwhelmed and speechless, before uttering some unintelligible affirmation out of sheer happiness.
14 years later, with 2 additions to the family, we acknowledged that marriage is a whole lot of hard work, compromises and effort - but most importantly, love and companionship. There were good days and there were equally bad days. We had gone through much trials and tribulations as well as endless happiness. We still think about the same things at times. It is uncanny when he utters something and I would look at him, stunned, because I was just thinking about the same thing. It is remarkable that I sometimes still finish his sentences for him - and vice versa - because we know just what each other is thinking about. But most of all, we cherish each other's differences - how he could not even do a single forward bend despite his wife being a yoga practitioner for the past 10 years, and how I could not even understand a single music squiggle (yes, musical notes are squiggles to me!) when his favourite hobby is composing music.
I recently chanced upon this little note of scrap paper which contains an unforgettable poem that Hubby wrote on a lovely morning in London 3 years ago as I slept. We both read it again and were transported to that memorable trip. For me, I was touched that he could still write this poem even after 9 years of marriage then, and his scribbles and cancellations on that scrap paper made the poem even more precious.
Here's the poem he wrote:
My beautiful wife
In the early morning light
Lips pristine and locked
Face a perfect scenery
Eyes like the morning sun,
Waiting to rise
From the slumber sleep
Time never moves
As she whispers
Each breath
Lips part slightly
Air moves in
I place my kiss -
Morning rises
~ 12 July 2009, Sunday, London
Monday, July 30, 2012
Learning At Home: My Amazing Body
We had not been doing much structured thematic homelearning lately, due to the busy and hectic schedules for all of us, including the Bees. However, for the latest theme - My Amazing Body - we managed to read up and explore a lot of literature for children on the human body. It helped tremendously that both Bees were studying about the human body in school as well - so what we did at home was really a reinforcement of what had been taught in school. Unfortunately, Big Bee was drenched in all her schoolwork, assessments, examinations, co-curricular activities, school performances and camps, etc, so other than reading the books together, she could not really participate in other activities.
Basing loosely on the multiple intelligences model, I had listed down very briefly what we did. Unfortunately, this time round, I had no time to take many pictures!
1) Visual/spatial intelligence
I sketched out 2 big A3-sized outlines of their bodies, and customised these to each of the Bees. Each Bee had 2 body outlines to experiment with. For Little Bee, we took one and created a body board game, which was quite cool. However, as we drew in more game boxes, we kind of lost the winning outcome of the game! Although, on hindsight, I think it was a nice way to inculcate in Little Bee that not all game boards are about winning. The journey itself is more fundamental. The board game was good to reinforce addition and subtraction, with little boxes on "Move 10 steps forward" or "Go back 6 steps", etc. I pretty much let Little Bee design the game board - but we had yet to play it!
For the other body outline, Little Bee drew the major systems of the human body and identified where these were - veins/arteries, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, stomach, big/small intestines etc. This was another augmentation to what she had already done in school.
We also learned about bones and skeletons, so Little Bee completed a very simple craft using earbuds to re-create a skeleton, which was really fun for her.
2) Linguistic intelligence
We read many books about how the human body functions. Children's books on these were amazing - the vocabulary was fun, the concepts was refreshingly simple and the experiments were fabulous to reinforce these concepts.
Little Bee created a mini book on "My Amazing Body", which was really a nice fusion of what she had learned in terms of the vocabulary of different parts of the body and the application of the concept of numbers to these parts of the body. The illustrations were done entirely by Little Bee, and I thought these reflected her quirky sense of humour. The cover of the book was drawn using chalk, and she had great fun with that!
I had yet to do Chinese learning, but will attempt to do so soon - it will be more complete if I can reinforce the English vocabulary of different parts of the body in Chinese.
3) Logical-mathematical intelligence
We learned about the connection between numbers and parts of our body from the previous exercise on the mini-book. We also played around with some recommended child-friendly experiments from some of the books which really helped to enhance the application of concepts to real-body understanding. Unfortunately, I could not really remember many experiments now, except for a few - the common experiment of blowing in and out into a balloon to illustrate how our lungs work, asking the children to clench and unclench their fists non-stop for a minute to demonstrate the effort of our pumping heart which will pump in this manner for decades, and getting the children to open their eyes wide without blinking to drive the importance of blinking - and many more!
4) Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence + musical intelligence
There was a week when we were learning about bones, so we watched a hilarious video about the song Dem Bones, while singing and dancing to the tune, imitating the many skeletons on the music video - laughing, prancing and singing. Fun!
We also had fun moving different parts of the body to illustrate the workings of the major muscle groups and how they are helping to move these parts of the body.
5) Intrapersonal intelligence + existential intelligence
I could not find activities relating to this theme to reinforce interpersonal intelligence, but hopefully this is something that I always endeavour to inculcate in them irregardless of any thematic learning! I also could not find time to focus more on naturalistic intelligence.
However, we reflected a lot about the importance of the different functions of the human body to keep us alive. We discussed about what would happen when our heart stops beating, when certain parts of our body (eg kidney) stop functioning - and I hope this fosters self-reflection in them.
In all, a very enriching theme indeed!
Basing loosely on the multiple intelligences model, I had listed down very briefly what we did. Unfortunately, this time round, I had no time to take many pictures!
1) Visual/spatial intelligence
I sketched out 2 big A3-sized outlines of their bodies, and customised these to each of the Bees. Each Bee had 2 body outlines to experiment with. For Little Bee, we took one and created a body board game, which was quite cool. However, as we drew in more game boxes, we kind of lost the winning outcome of the game! Although, on hindsight, I think it was a nice way to inculcate in Little Bee that not all game boards are about winning. The journey itself is more fundamental. The board game was good to reinforce addition and subtraction, with little boxes on "Move 10 steps forward" or "Go back 6 steps", etc. I pretty much let Little Bee design the game board - but we had yet to play it!
For the other body outline, Little Bee drew the major systems of the human body and identified where these were - veins/arteries, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, stomach, big/small intestines etc. This was another augmentation to what she had already done in school.
We also learned about bones and skeletons, so Little Bee completed a very simple craft using earbuds to re-create a skeleton, which was really fun for her.
2) Linguistic intelligence
We read many books about how the human body functions. Children's books on these were amazing - the vocabulary was fun, the concepts was refreshingly simple and the experiments were fabulous to reinforce these concepts.
Little Bee created a mini book on "My Amazing Body", which was really a nice fusion of what she had learned in terms of the vocabulary of different parts of the body and the application of the concept of numbers to these parts of the body. The illustrations were done entirely by Little Bee, and I thought these reflected her quirky sense of humour. The cover of the book was drawn using chalk, and she had great fun with that!
I had yet to do Chinese learning, but will attempt to do so soon - it will be more complete if I can reinforce the English vocabulary of different parts of the body in Chinese.
3) Logical-mathematical intelligence
We learned about the connection between numbers and parts of our body from the previous exercise on the mini-book. We also played around with some recommended child-friendly experiments from some of the books which really helped to enhance the application of concepts to real-body understanding. Unfortunately, I could not really remember many experiments now, except for a few - the common experiment of blowing in and out into a balloon to illustrate how our lungs work, asking the children to clench and unclench their fists non-stop for a minute to demonstrate the effort of our pumping heart which will pump in this manner for decades, and getting the children to open their eyes wide without blinking to drive the importance of blinking - and many more!
4) Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence + musical intelligence
There was a week when we were learning about bones, so we watched a hilarious video about the song Dem Bones, while singing and dancing to the tune, imitating the many skeletons on the music video - laughing, prancing and singing. Fun!
We also had fun moving different parts of the body to illustrate the workings of the major muscle groups and how they are helping to move these parts of the body.
5) Intrapersonal intelligence + existential intelligence
I could not find activities relating to this theme to reinforce interpersonal intelligence, but hopefully this is something that I always endeavour to inculcate in them irregardless of any thematic learning! I also could not find time to focus more on naturalistic intelligence.
However, we reflected a lot about the importance of the different functions of the human body to keep us alive. We discussed about what would happen when our heart stops beating, when certain parts of our body (eg kidney) stop functioning - and I hope this fosters self-reflection in them.
In all, a very enriching theme indeed!
Friday, July 27, 2012
A New Abode
Things had been particularly hectic mainly due to the fact that we had moved to a new home. The packing and subsequent unpacking of our domestic stuff had been overwhelming - on top of our regular daily schedules of children, schoolwork, work, business travel, everything!
Moving to a new home is a strange phenomenon. On one hand, Hubby and I felt bittersweet about leaving our old home filled with poignant memories of our children growing up. As we packed the very last item, and got ready to step out of our old home for the very last time, we stood in the middle of the empty living room, gazing around us, with memories of spirited laughter and girlish giggles flooding our minds.
However, on the other hand, a house is but a physical infrastructure, and a home is truly where the family is - where our love, our commitment and dedication to each other flourishes. So, it doesn't matter which house we are in, so long as we are all together in one loving home.
So, it is with elation and excitement that we look forward to spending even more quality time with each other in our new home. We are still in the throes of crazy unpacking, and we are at a stage where we see more big brown boxes at home rather than floors or walls!
Moving to a new home is a strange phenomenon. On one hand, Hubby and I felt bittersweet about leaving our old home filled with poignant memories of our children growing up. As we packed the very last item, and got ready to step out of our old home for the very last time, we stood in the middle of the empty living room, gazing around us, with memories of spirited laughter and girlish giggles flooding our minds.
However, on the other hand, a house is but a physical infrastructure, and a home is truly where the family is - where our love, our commitment and dedication to each other flourishes. So, it doesn't matter which house we are in, so long as we are all together in one loving home.
So, it is with elation and excitement that we look forward to spending even more quality time with each other in our new home. We are still in the throes of crazy unpacking, and we are at a stage where we see more big brown boxes at home rather than floors or walls!
Friday, July 6, 2012
Days Of Very Full Plates
It is true that my blog had been inactive. It is true that this might possibly be the longest hiatus that my blog had taken, that it felt a wee bit strange and somewhat unfamiliar as I logged onto Blogger earlier on. It is a fallacy though that I had lost interest in blogging, for writing still remains a primary love of mine.
I must confess that part of my tardiness stems from my obsessive compulsive behaviour again, this time revisiting the life of one of my favourite writers, Jane Austen, in Becoming Jane, and the restrained yet fiery passion and romance between Austen and Tom LeFroy.
Another fundamental part of my blog's inactivity is due to my completely hectic schedule at home. School had reopened and hence the normal busy pace of life had restarted, and there are also other exciting developments on the homefront. I had certainly been sleeping at 2-3am every night and waking at 6.30am to fetch Big Bee to school, and I wish there is a pill that we can just swallow to ensure that we have all the goodness of sleep in our system, yet without having to waste time sleeping!
Little Bee had gotten her confirmation letter into the primary school that her sister is in, all thanks to the great Phase 1A system, and I sometimes still take out the pink confirmation slip, gazing in wondrous disbelief that my little baby will be going to primary school soon. On the other hand, Big Bee has been exceptionally busy with school CCAs and lots of dance performances, on top of her homework, and these performances had kept us parents busy, entertained yet proudly pleased at the same time.
Here is a peek at what had been keeping the Bees busy on the academic front. Little Bee's kindergarten is stepping up on more "serious" work to prepare them for primary one in half a year's time, and I try to include in funner, less academic elements like painting, games and journal writing at home during their free time to ease off the sobriety of academic work.
Surprisingly, both of them are coping well and handling these work in their strides, still finding lots of time daily to play, to walk the dog and to engage in endless giggles with each other. I do think these elements of enjoying life are most important!
I must confess that part of my tardiness stems from my obsessive compulsive behaviour again, this time revisiting the life of one of my favourite writers, Jane Austen, in Becoming Jane, and the restrained yet fiery passion and romance between Austen and Tom LeFroy.
Another fundamental part of my blog's inactivity is due to my completely hectic schedule at home. School had reopened and hence the normal busy pace of life had restarted, and there are also other exciting developments on the homefront. I had certainly been sleeping at 2-3am every night and waking at 6.30am to fetch Big Bee to school, and I wish there is a pill that we can just swallow to ensure that we have all the goodness of sleep in our system, yet without having to waste time sleeping!
Little Bee had gotten her confirmation letter into the primary school that her sister is in, all thanks to the great Phase 1A system, and I sometimes still take out the pink confirmation slip, gazing in wondrous disbelief that my little baby will be going to primary school soon. On the other hand, Big Bee has been exceptionally busy with school CCAs and lots of dance performances, on top of her homework, and these performances had kept us parents busy, entertained yet proudly pleased at the same time.
Here is a peek at what had been keeping the Bees busy on the academic front. Little Bee's kindergarten is stepping up on more "serious" work to prepare them for primary one in half a year's time, and I try to include in funner, less academic elements like painting, games and journal writing at home during their free time to ease off the sobriety of academic work.
Surprisingly, both of them are coping well and handling these work in their strides, still finding lots of time daily to play, to walk the dog and to engage in endless giggles with each other. I do think these elements of enjoying life are most important!
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| Little Bee's Chinese writing exercises from school |
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| Getting to understand the intricacies of Chinese comprehension in school for Little Bee |
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| Little Bee's weekly homework which sometimes include a short writing exercise about anything under the sun... |
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| ...or some drilling in Math |
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| Little Bee's weekly Spelling exercises |
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| Little Bee's weekly 听写 |
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| Big Bee's weekly 听写 and 默写 above and beyond all her other school homework |
Friday, June 22, 2012
Fictitious Characters
Drama is an element that definitely brightens up a child's world, instills endless imagination and inspires creativity.
Which was why I was really glad when I received a notice from Little Bee's school that one of the school days would be designated for a parade of imaginary book characters, where the children are supposed to dress up in a character found in a book, bring (and read) the book with the character and parade in front of the entire school.
I am secretly delighted that the school, unlike some other schools, are willing to sacrifice a day of boring and monotonous academic learning for really fun imaginative play like this. I thought this helps to encourage confidence, creativity and a love for reading in a child.
Needless to say, Little Bee will dress up as one of her favourite princesses. In previous years, she would dress up as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but this year, she could finally fit into jie-jie's Cinderella's costume, so she was determined to be Cinderella. And of course, she knows the story of Cinderella so very well :)
She was delighted to be decked in Cinderella's sparkling blue dress, complete with white gloves and a little handbag.
And it was a sight fit for elation when I saw all the classmates gathering together, examining each other's costumes and guessing the characters that their friends were acting as. Little Bee's classmates were mostly like her - strong, colourful personalities, with assertive and extroverted traits, and more importantly, a significant sense of loyalty and friendship which is evident in all their hugs and highly familiar gestures with each other.
This being the final year in which she would spend with them in kindergarten, I hope they would strike up a lasting friendship that would remain strong even in the primary school years, like what Big Bee had experienced.
Meanwhile, can you guess what some of these characters are!?
Which was why I was really glad when I received a notice from Little Bee's school that one of the school days would be designated for a parade of imaginary book characters, where the children are supposed to dress up in a character found in a book, bring (and read) the book with the character and parade in front of the entire school.
I am secretly delighted that the school, unlike some other schools, are willing to sacrifice a day of boring and monotonous academic learning for really fun imaginative play like this. I thought this helps to encourage confidence, creativity and a love for reading in a child.
Needless to say, Little Bee will dress up as one of her favourite princesses. In previous years, she would dress up as Belle in Beauty and the Beast, but this year, she could finally fit into jie-jie's Cinderella's costume, so she was determined to be Cinderella. And of course, she knows the story of Cinderella so very well :)
She was delighted to be decked in Cinderella's sparkling blue dress, complete with white gloves and a little handbag.
And it was a sight fit for elation when I saw all the classmates gathering together, examining each other's costumes and guessing the characters that their friends were acting as. Little Bee's classmates were mostly like her - strong, colourful personalities, with assertive and extroverted traits, and more importantly, a significant sense of loyalty and friendship which is evident in all their hugs and highly familiar gestures with each other.
This being the final year in which she would spend with them in kindergarten, I hope they would strike up a lasting friendship that would remain strong even in the primary school years, like what Big Bee had experienced.
Meanwhile, can you guess what some of these characters are!?
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Bewitched By Bali
I do apologise for the long radio silence. Our little family of four had been enchanted by the allure of Bali from 6 to 13 June. 7 luxurious days of gorgeous beaches with spectacular waves, of breathtaking cliffs and emerald rice fields, of nestling deep in the rainforests and hills of Ubud, and being woken up by roosters and birds, of boisterous days with friends and quiet moments with ourselves. We are back, but our spirits are enlivened by the spirituality of magical Bali :)
This is my 3rd time in Bali, and the family's first time - and I am delighted that Hubby was totally captivated by the sheer beauty and serenity of Bali, especially Ubud. The girls enjoyed the company more - we were joined by PF and her family in the first leg of our trip, with 4 nights together in Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay. The Bees had the most gleeful moments playing ceaselessly with their childhood friends, Eugene and Claire. Thereafter, they enjoyed the deep tranquillity by ourselves in Ubud, bonding tremendously as a family, where we stayed for 3 nights in a stunning villa deep in the virgin forests of Ubud's remote villages.
Unfortunately, I am experiencing some difficulties transferring my digital images from my camera (hence my silence as well), so I am going to use some photos from the Internet to illustrate where we stayed.
I will be writing more about this trip soon...
This is my 3rd time in Bali, and the family's first time - and I am delighted that Hubby was totally captivated by the sheer beauty and serenity of Bali, especially Ubud. The girls enjoyed the company more - we were joined by PF and her family in the first leg of our trip, with 4 nights together in Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay. The Bees had the most gleeful moments playing ceaselessly with their childhood friends, Eugene and Claire. Thereafter, they enjoyed the deep tranquillity by ourselves in Ubud, bonding tremendously as a family, where we stayed for 3 nights in a stunning villa deep in the virgin forests of Ubud's remote villages.
Unfortunately, I am experiencing some difficulties transferring my digital images from my camera (hence my silence as well), so I am going to use some photos from the Internet to illustrate where we stayed.
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| The sunset cafe of Intercontinental, by the beach and the crashing waves of Jimbaran Bay, where our 2 families spent much time chilling by the beach. |
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| The splendid villa in Ubud that we stayed in, complete with a private pool where monkeys drank water from! |
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| ...with astounding views high up in the hills of Ubud, a plunging valley and a gushing river through the valley |
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| We have our own private bale (gazebo), complete with deck chairs, an outdoor living and dining area, and a marvelous four poster bed in the bedroom |
I will be writing more about this trip soon...
Monday, June 4, 2012
Busy Days
The June holidays had sneaked upon us stealthily but steadily, and life is still as busy as usual. In the months leading to the holidays, school life was frenetic with lots of work and revision for the Bees. Hence, almost every night was spent on homework, 听写 and other readings.
Therefore, it was with a colossal sigh of relief that school was out in the final week of May, and that we could start planning our vacation in peace. Thus far, I had been letting the Bees relax incessantly, with no serious homelearning activities except for lots of fun and painting (see their latest paintings below, and yes, Mummy Art School only opens during the holidays these days!), as well as plenty of gatherings.
Big Bee invited her best friend to hang out at our home for a whole day last week. Just last night, we had a dinner gathering with PF and family, where the Bees could catch up once again with Eugene and Claire, playing rowdy rounds of hide and seek while the adults planned for our imminent vacation. Hubby also just bought Kinect for the girls yesterday, and we had such a roar playing with it the entire morning (even me!) until my muscles are now aching from all those vigorous actions required by Kinect!
We also spent our days on lazy breakfasts, languid saunters in the parks, long walks with our dog Aidan, and enjoyable afternoon coffees in different cafes. We had lots of family errands to run this month, but spent a lot of time chilling as a family, and I had planned plenty more gatherings with other friends and family.
Little Bee also just received her confirmation of admission into Big Bee's primary school, so it is yet another milestone for Little Bee - the primary school odyssey! A new chapter will begin for her...
More importantly, I am taking almost 2 weeks off work so I could spend even more time with the Bees!
Am eagerly waiting for the next coming weeks indeed!
Therefore, it was with a colossal sigh of relief that school was out in the final week of May, and that we could start planning our vacation in peace. Thus far, I had been letting the Bees relax incessantly, with no serious homelearning activities except for lots of fun and painting (see their latest paintings below, and yes, Mummy Art School only opens during the holidays these days!), as well as plenty of gatherings.
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| Little Bee's Underwater World |
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| Big Bee's Marine Wonderland |
We also spent our days on lazy breakfasts, languid saunters in the parks, long walks with our dog Aidan, and enjoyable afternoon coffees in different cafes. We had lots of family errands to run this month, but spent a lot of time chilling as a family, and I had planned plenty more gatherings with other friends and family.
Little Bee also just received her confirmation of admission into Big Bee's primary school, so it is yet another milestone for Little Bee - the primary school odyssey! A new chapter will begin for her...
More importantly, I am taking almost 2 weeks off work so I could spend even more time with the Bees!
Am eagerly waiting for the next coming weeks indeed!
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Rough And Tear Math!
Life had been immensely hectic for me, with crazy working hours, Big Bee's mid-year exams and Little Bee's increasing school load in preparation for primary one. Which is why I have absolutely no time to conceptualise comprehensive homelearning plans nor do much elaborate activities with the girls. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the light beaming at the end of the tunnel will shine brightly soon.
Meanwhile, I make do with whatever little time I have to spend quality time with the Bees. Which means hastily rigged homelearning materials which may not be the best in aesthetics but nevertheless, helped achieve learning outcomes!
Last month, Little Bee and I were learning about number bonds and addition, and I had absolutely no time to prepare anything fancy. Hence, I just pulled together some scraps of papers and toothpicks, and taught her the following concepts. She was tickled by the little bits of papers that I tore to make counting tokens, and loved this concept of learning where we tore bits of paper whenever we needed them! I just placed the final number (10 and 5), and she arranged the below bonds herself.
Meanwhile, I make do with whatever little time I have to spend quality time with the Bees. Which means hastily rigged homelearning materials which may not be the best in aesthetics but nevertheless, helped achieve learning outcomes!
Last month, Little Bee and I were learning about number bonds and addition, and I had absolutely no time to prepare anything fancy. Hence, I just pulled together some scraps of papers and toothpicks, and taught her the following concepts. She was tickled by the little bits of papers that I tore to make counting tokens, and loved this concept of learning where we tore bits of paper whenever we needed them! I just placed the final number (10 and 5), and she arranged the below bonds herself.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Colours Of Nature: Of Cygnets And Ducklings
They say swans mate for life.
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| A family of swans and their beautiful, fluffy cygnets (photo taken by Big Bee) |
And everyone knows the transformation of the ugly duckling.
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| A group of ducklings gazing across the lake (photo taken by Big Bee) |
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| Notice the gorgeous downy feathers of these adolescent cygnets? (Photo by Big Bee) |
With so many beautiful fables surrounding the swan, we felt truly privileged to witness the exquisite offsprings of the 2 resident swans in our favourite part of Botanic Gardens, and another brood of ducklings that appeared mysteriously!
That was almost a year and a half ago.
I remember the Bees were so elated to play with the different varieties of birds, squealing in excitement and basking in their proximity to these feathered creatures.
That was when that part of the Gardens was still relatively quiet. And now, with the completion of the MRT near the Botanic Gardens, many people throng the verdant grounds which used to seem so boundless and uncluttered. Now, the meandering emerald pastures are filled with people, and the atmosphere buzzed with liveliness and gay chatter.
Which is perfectly fine, as everyone should enjoy more time outdoors, especially in land-scarce Singapore. But I miss my tranquillity and quiet. And I think the swans miss that halcyon peace too. The cygnets and ducklings had undoubtedly grown into adults, and the cygnets are nowhere to be found, probably transported by the park authorities to somewhere else.
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| Only the ducks and the parent swans are left behind |
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Which is a wee bit sad because the park may be resonant with sounds of humanity, but the quiescent way of life for the swans and ducks seemed to be a remote past now.
Still, we frequent Botanic Gardens for our breakfasts and tea breaks, immersing ourselves in the verdure and assimilating the serenity of the atmosphere.
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| Oops, another addition to our family joined us - and disturbed the peace of the park further! |
Here, we hope our girls could understand the virtues of soaking ourselves in the present moment, appreciating the beauty of nature, listening to the sounds of Earth around them, and listening to their own hearts through this stillness.
I hope there are many more of such oases in time to come...
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Up On A Hill's Peak
Last month, over the Easter long weekend, my cousins and I coached up to Genting Highlands, staying at Resort Hotel, for a short but much anticipated break. The adult cousins looked forward to lots of catching up and chatting, and the little cousins looked forward to lots of playing together! We were also lucky because my mum happened to come on the same trip with her friends (although she was so busy we hardly met!) and Irene's parents also came along on the trip (same, the grandparents were all so busy that they could not meet us!).Some memorable moments from the trip:
1) An early coach ride
Waking the family up, bleary-eyed, at 5am - in the dark dawn - to get ready for an early morning coach ride starting at 6.15am.
2) Napping!
Relaxing and napping loads on the bus while the big girls giggled and chatted among themselves. What a contrast to our previous trip where I had to share a seat with toddler Little Bee!
3) Theme parks galore
Spending lots of time with the cousins and my 2 nieces, Chloe and Val, in the indoor and outdoor theme parks.
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| The girls outside the open-air theme park |
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| Both my girls loved the bumper cars! Here, Little Bee was seen trying to deftly avoid another car, otherwise she would usually go around bumping others! |
It was so relaxing just strolling around and deciding on the rides to take. Furthermore, the theme parks in Genting Highlands have none of those long queues that we find in Disneyland or Universal Studios, and that made it a lot more enjoyable!
4) Taking a stroll along memory lane
The adult cousins reliving their nostalgic memories of coming to Genting Highlands together as children - as we paddled boats around the large tranquil lake that had been in existence since we were little kids!
It was so idyllic to sit back and just paddle the boat with our legs languidly (although I had to paddle a little harder because my "partner" on the duo boat was Little Bee, whose legs could not reach the paddles!). The lake was serene and placid, and it was so nice to paddle near our cousins, with the little cousins waving excitedly and shouting each other's names whenever we paddled closer to each other!
After the boat ride, we then ambled around the edge of the lake, retracing the steps of yore when we were young. We then took the antique car ride, amidst much nostalgia, and I could just sit back and enjoy the scenery because my "driver" was Big Bee!
5) Food, glorious food!
Malaysia has one of the best foods (for me) on earth. We took every opportunity to gorge on palatable delights, and the climax was reached on Saturday afternoon when all of us were feeling rather lackadaisical after a whole morning of theme park rides - so we decided to go for a cheap hotel buffet! The result was plates and plates of scrumptious local and international goodies, from char kway teow to fried bee hoon, from ice-kachang to delectable cakes! The adults stuffed our faces until we were speechless with bloated stomachs!
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| The girls munching away at high tea! |
6) Easter egg hunt
Hubby and I bought 12 colourful Easter eggs (with little sweets inside), and hid the eggs all around our hotel room. Thereafter, we invited all 4 girls to search for the eggs, and boy, what energy and enthusiasm permeated the room, with the girls frantically and excitedly searching for the bright little eggs! After they found the eggs and the activity in the room settled a little, what ensued was crazy play between the girls and Hubby, while all of us watched in amusement. That was certainly a welcomed reprieve from the constant activity in the theme parks!
7) Foot Reflexology Delight
The best thing about having older daughters is that they are now able to fully appreciate the marvellous concept of spas with hubby and I! On Saturday night, four of us went to a foot reflexology spa. Hubby, Big Bee and I had the best foot massages ever, in a dim ambient setting. Little Bee was so patiently sitting in another comfy chair while quietly talking to me at times that I felt really bad that she couldn't enjoy the massages yet (the therapists told us that she is a little young for foot massages). Still, this is a good indication of future holidays!
8) Breathtaking vistas
Early in the second morning at around 6.45am, Hubby whispered and gestured me to walk outside with him to "look at something very beautiful", in his words. I was intrigued. Leaving the 2 girls sleeping in the dark room, we tiptoed out to the lift lobby which was a few steps away, where there was a huge window which served as an excellent viewing gallery for nature's greatest show - sunrise! Captivated, with our arms around each other, we observed the stupendous unfolding and resplendent transformative colours of one of nature's most astounding miracles. We were bewitched by the dense tangerine gathering of clouds, by the enchanting sea of misty lavender clouds with murky peaks of other lower hills peeping through, by the gradual but alluring changes of sunlight across the gorgeous vista.
On that morning, while having breakfast by ourselves, we were lucky to discover an exquisite glass house beside Coffee Bean and Tea Leaves where four of us were inveigled by brilliantly azure skies, virginal white clouds and lush verdant alpine trees.
We strolled around, loving the chilly nip in the air and the sharp, tangy pure air of the hill top. Wondrous indeed!
This was such a fun and relaxing trip that the cousins are already planning our next getaway together!
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