When I was young, my parents always encouraged me to dream about the fun-filled holidays when I was grumpily studying for exams. And my mum would usually plan some wonderful holiday programmes for my brother and I, together with our cousins, so that we worked hard, but played even harder! I think it was a fundamental philosophy that shaped my attitude to perseverence, always ensuring a strong balance of work and play in my life.
With the Bees, I try to reinforce this same philosophy that my parents taught so well. One example was this past weekend, which was such a remarkable one! It was jam-packed with all sorts of activities, making it a very balanced weekend, and we truly worked and played hard. It was the weekend before Big Bee's Science CA1 on Monday, but instead of staying home to revise, I decided to practise intermittent revision with her instead!
Here was what we did:
Saturday
1) Big Bee's good friend from kindergarten, Mit, invited her to her 9th birthday party in East Coast.
2) Hence, we could drop Big Bee at the party place, where we left her squealing and excited with her good pals, before adjourning for a refreshing alfresco breakfast with the little one, which was a rare occasion!
3) After breakfast, we ambled towards the beach for a bout of sandcastle building with Little Bee. The late morning sun was blisteringly searing, but Little Bee enjoyed this little exclusive time with us thoroughly, where she was able to arrest both our attention all to herself. We love the soft, powder-white sand, and was able to stroll along the coastline, picking up myriad pretty seashells and colourful rocks! This certainly brought a whole new perspective to the East Coast beach for me!
4) We headed back to the birthday party for a little chatting between the parents, and some bonding amongst Little Bee with her jie-jie's friends. Most importantly for Little Bee, she got to eat the mouthwateringly moist chocolate cake!
5) We then headed for Kid's Kampong, where I had promised to bring the Bees after experiencing - once again - just how fun it was to do longkang fishing after Little Bee's field trip. This excursion with Papa and Mummy was much longer than the field trip in school because the Bees got to feed and observe many little animals too! More on this in another entry.
6) After an exhausting session of frantically catching fishes and feeding hungry animals, it was to our cosy home we headed towards! Big Bee and Papa (who is the designated Science tutor!) did some quick Science revision with her textbook.
7) After invigorating baths for everyone, we proceeded to Keat's and Candice's charming Thaddeus' first month celebration in the evening! It was simply remarkable to catch up with my cousins and relatives again, and for the Bees, their cousins as well! The Bees were also excited to welcome their newest baby cousin, Thaddeus, and Little Bee kept whispering to me that she wanted to carry the cute little baby! Gazing at the beautiful infant makes me want to have another baby again! Haha!
Sunday
1) We decided to head towards the zoo bright and early in the morning, and enjoyed a whole morning of enrapturing activities with the animals, all the way till lunchtime! Again, more on this in another entry. Big Bee was disciplined enough to complete her reading revision of her Science textbook before we proceeded to the zoo. Little Bee was also diligently completing her school homework with minimal supervision from me. Once again, working hard and playing harder! :)
2) Back home, Big Bee did a Science assessment by herself while I read some books with Little Bee.
3) I promised them a break in the cool evening breeze and stunning golden light of early dusk that I so adore. So, after an hour of schoolwork, the Bees dashed out to play table tennis with a grinning me in tow! We had fantastic fun sparring at table tennis, with Little Bee playing a moderated version where she simply rolled the ping pong ball over to Big Bee. We also stopped by the playground to become giggling pendulums on the swings! The addictive chuckles emanating from the Bees never fail to make my heart surge with immense joy.
4) Sundays are usually playtime in the bathroom for the Bees, which means waterplay and showering together! Again, shrill squeals and excited yells filled the bathroom with happiness and wonder as the Bees created a mountain load of bubbles!
5) Finally, more revision in the form of 听写 for Big Bee and some 四五快读 flashcards for Little Bee, before we call it a day, or rather, a long weekend!
As Big Bee exclaimed enchantedly at bedtime, "Mummy, this weekend seemed soooooo loooooonnnggg!"
4 comments:
Wow sounds like fun for even me. I must do the same come next year when Dylan goes Primary One. Regular revisions sure beat mugging at the end of the term!
Thanks babe - yes, I am sure you will do regular revisions rather than last minute mugging, hehe ;) But good for the kids to learn to balance play and work from a young age too.
wow... it is a long weekend indeed :> While I always did regular revisions when I was in school, I found it hard to just relax and go out for fun activities the weekend before exams. I doubt I will be able to do what you did by the time M has his exams next year when the grades really count.
But what you are practising is really great! I must learn from you! :>
Domestic Goddess: Yeah, in P1, I used to be very tensed up before major exams. By P2, I tend to become more relaxed, especially since regular revisions helped a whole lot, compared to last minute cramming! But I doubt I will have that much activities before a semestral exam, haha (this is just a continual test!)
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