G starts Preschooler I at Heguru!

Time really flies! It’s been one and half years since G started classes at Heguru. I know I’ve not been updating much on his progress on this blog, but yes, we have been continuing classes at Heguru. 

G has been attending the toddler class since Jan 2013, and last weekend, he finally moved on the the preschooler class! I don’t know about him, but I’m definitely excited about him progressing to the next stage. 

Transition from toddler to preschooler

In order to better prepare the children for the change from parents-accompanied class to attending class by themselves, the school had arranged for a transition period for the children. For the first half of the toddler class, parents would sit with their children as usual. However, during the second half of the class, parents and children were separated for the activities. The usual activities like mandala coloring, iroita, tangrams and number memory were done independently by the children. 

During the first session when the parents sat away from the children, I could sense some insecurity (from both adults and children!) However, our minds were set at ease when we saw how well our children were managing without our help. I was so proud to see G coloring his mandala and doing all the activities with minimal help from the teachers! 

After a few transition classes, G was ready to go in independently for the Toddler class. I met up with his teacher to review his progress, and was pleased to note that he was paying attention in class and did well in his activities. He even managed to draw the shapes in the colour mandala. 

More about Heguru Preschooler

The preschooler class at Heguru is meant for 4-6 years. There are 2 stages – Preschool I (4-5 year olds) and Preschool II (5-6 year olds). 

The objective of the preschooler class is “to consolidate what the children has learnt during the Infant & Toddler class and connect it to the left brain”. Activities that are done help to prepare the children for Primary school. 

Compared to the Toddler class, there were quite a few changes to the class:

Longer duration:

At the preschooler stage, the children start to attend classes independently. Preschool I class duration is 70mins (vs 50mins for toddler class) , while Preschool II class will be 90mins (same as the Primary level).  

Environment:

To prepare for the primary school environment, chairs and tables are used in the preschooler classes. They are no longer seated on the floor throughout the class. 

Activities: 

<As the classes are not accompanied, the following information will be what I gleaned from G and the teacher>

First half will consist of right brain activities, similar to what was done in toddler class. Then, there will be physical activity, followed by desk work in the second half. 

In each class, the child will be handed 3 booklets of worksheets – C, R and H.

Booklet C is done in the class. Some examples of activities include tracing, puzzles (pelican, iroita, tangram, plate), mandala, craft work, dot bar, listening comprehension and matching. 

Puzzles : Plate (top left), Pelican (top middle),Tangram(top right), iroita(bottom)

Booklet R is the review booklet, to be done at home. It is essentially a duplicate of the activities done in class, meant for reinforcement of the concepts gone through in class. 

 

G working on booklet R

 
Booklet H is the homework (!) booklet. It includes extension activities based on what was done in class. For example, there could be a different set of matching, tracing etc. This is meant to be handed up the next week. 

Parents information session:

After every class, there will be a 10min session where the parents are invited into the class and the teacher will go through in detail the activities that the child has gone through that day. The objectives of each activity are also explained clearly so parents have a clear idea what to do. For example, the teacher explained how they taught the children to use scissors correctly, how much time was given in class for each activity, how to reinforce concepts at home. 

G’s reaction

I’m not able to observe him in class, but based on the teacher’s feedback, and the worksheet activities, he was able to complete most of the activities independently and on time. Some of the activities that I needed to reinforce are the Pelican puzzle and Mandala drawing. 

As usual, he is happy to go for Heguru and he loves doing the worksheets (he completed both Booklet R and H over the weekend in one sitting!). We are also doing the S2 worksheets and I had to persuade him to stop 😝

My thoughts

I had some reservations initially when I found out that the preschooler class was not parent-accompanied, as I would not know how to guide him at home. 

However, my concerns were addressed during the parents session, where the teacher explained each activity in detail, and we were provided with the booklets to continue with the reinforcement at home. 

In my opinion, the preschooler syllabus is well thought-out, covering aspects such as fine-motor skills training, mathematical concepts, logical reasoning and listening comprehension. As the activities are timed, and parents receive feedback via the timing written on the worksheets to see the areas where we can continue to work with the child at home. 

I’m definitely looking forward to see how G progresses in the preschooler course. 😊

Do stay tuned for more updates! 

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Learning Chinese – the journey

Chinese? Difficult!

Chinese has always been a tough subject for C. When she was much younger, around 2 or 3, she used to ignore anyone who spoke to her in her mother tongue.

Who could blame her? To her, it was a totally foreign language.

Although we are ethnic Chinese, 99% of our conversations with her were held in English. We read English books, she watched cartoons and DVDs in English, even the punishments were meted out in English.

Our initial attempts at introducing Chinese were half-hearted at most. Truth be told, I had assumed (or maybe, hoped) that she would be able to pick up the language sooner or later. After all, she was Chinese, wasn’t she? Her grandmother watched Chinese shows, and she was exposed to the language at school. We had also enrolled her in a weekly 2-hour Chinese enrichment class. I never remembered any difficulty picking up the language myself, so I thought it would be the same for her.

How wrong (and deluded) I was. At 5 years old, she was barely able to conduct a conversation in Chinese. She could read some Chinese sentences, but understood little.

Alarm bells started ringing for us when we attended the Primary One Preparation Seminar conducted by the enrichment centre in May last year. In the seminar, the speaker covered the syllabus for primary school Chinese, in which the oral component played a major part (gasp!). We were shown sample test papers, and I found myself shaking my head… C had a loooong way to go, and it was all uphill.

We set to work trying to get her interested in Chinese. In a previous post, I posted about doing a lapbook on China. I had a reward chart marking each day that we managed a short conversation in Chinese. It was difficult to stay consistent, and I lapsed back to speaking in English from time to time. I started reading more Chinese books to her.

Fast forward one year later. I’m pleased to report that some progress has been made, and in her first term show and tell, she scored 19 out of 20 points. She is now able to conduct a fairly decent conversation, and picking up more vocabulary from reading Chinese books.

Although the push to start picking up Chinese was academic, I hope that in time, she will be able to appreciate the beauty of the language, and not treat it as another subject to study for.

The journey has just begun.

Do you face difficulties introducing a second language to your child?

p/s: I’ll be introducing some books and tools that helped C learn Chinese. Do stay tuned!

We survived Term 1!

Yay! We made it through term 1 of school, and it’s time to take a break. I’ve been looking forward to this week, when I can finally wake up at 7am, instead of the usual 5am routine.

I’m happy to report that all is going well in school, despite my initial worries. From waking up every morning at 5.30am, to completing her school work, to making new friends, C has coped marvellously well so far. In class, each of the students are given responsibilities, and she was proud to report that she was made the English rep of her class. I was amused to see her eyes shining as she told me how she helped to collect and carry the books during English class, and she wore the English rep badge with pride (I’m reminded that she has to wear the badge everyday and it must be in the correct place just above her name tag).

Of course, not everything was perfect. C had to learn how to stand-up for herself against bullies, taking responsibility when she forgot to hand in her work, handling disputes among friends. It was part of growing up, when she learnt that mummy will not always be around to handle unpleasant events.

To be truthful, I was very concerned about bullying, and was shocked to hear her saying that “someone was mean to her in school and threatened to throw her water-bottle away”. It took me a lot of self-restraint not to overreact, and to stay calm while we talked the incident through. It ended happily though, and she was able to resolve it by herself (the girls are best friends now!). That first incident gave her the courage to stand up against bullies on the school bus, to defend herself and a friend against the older girl (proud mum moment :)) It was certainly a reminder to myself to step aside and let her learn, instead of taking matters into my own hands.

Now that we’ve survived term one, it’s time to celebrate 😉 We will be bringing the kids out to have some fun. Have a great week ahead everyone!

G at Heguru – 2nd year update

Time flies, and I’ve realized that my last update on Heguru was from March last year (!)

G has been attending Heguru classes for a year now. Since Heguru groups the children born in the year 2012 and 2011 together in the same class, he is still doing pretty much the same activities compared to last year.

Course contents
With the new management taking over last September, there were some improvements made to the contents, for example, introduction of Chinese word flash cards. The physical exercises were also fine-tuned so that they were more age-appropriate (last year G was asked to hop on one leg at 1yo… )

Peg memory numbers 1-100 had been fully covered last year. With the start of the new year, we are starting with numbers 1 to 10 again.

The topics covered during the flashcards are not duplicated though, and new sets of cards are introduced every 4 weeks. I’m constantly inspired by the topics presented in class – ranging from guitar chords to types of whales to sources of calcium.

I’ve also purchased a set of 24 booklets recommended by Heguru (12 books for intellectual development, 12 books for number concept). They contain simple exercises to be done with G on a daily basis (a page from each booklet a day). An example of the contents in the intellectual development booklets include identification of parts of the body (vol. 1) to identifying collective nouns (vol. 12). For number concepts, they start with simple counting (vol. 1) to counting number of blocks in 3-D shapes (vol.12).

Heguru booklets

G’s progress
G is turning 3 this May. In right brain training, this is the age when the children start to give “output”. (Previously, when they were younger, below 2 years old, the focus concentrated on “input”, where information was presented to the child). Since the end of last year, I’ve seen G responding to ESP exercises verbally, sometimes shouting out the answers before teacher finished the question. I’ve mentioned previously that I was surprised that G could do the ESP exercises, and I continue to be impressed by his output in this area.

Previously I had concerns that the introduction to colour mandala was not age appropriate. Now that G is a year older, he is able to do the colouring by himself. He is now less distracted by the box of crayons, and able to focus on the image. On some occasions, he is also able to start drawing the shapes on the mandala (but most times, I’m still the one drawing).

He has also grasped the concept of linking memory. Last December, on a whim I decided to try it with G using a set of cards. To my surprise, he was able to name all 10 cards I placed and could recite bits of the story that I told. Currently he is able to do about 15-20 cards (depending on his mood).

One of the areas that he has not made progress, though, is during self-introduction. The cheeky boy happily goes to the front of the class when called, but refuses to say his name or answer questions (he happily chatters on when he is out of the spotlight). Hopefully this stage passes soon…

I’m happy to see that G continues to enjoy his classes, and look forward to more pleasant surprises this year 🙂

Which of your kids’ recent developments have surprised you most?

Chinese New Year 2014 – 守岁

Today is the eve of the Chinese new year (除夕), when families gather for the customary reunion dinner. This year is no exception – I have just spent a few pleasant hours chatting with my family, over a sumptuous dinner prepared by my mum.

Now that dinner is over, I’m back at home, and the kids are fast asleep. I’m trying my best to stay awake past midnight (I’ve been up since 5am, so it’s quite a bit of a challenge keeping my eyes open).

Why am I not in bed? Well, I’m upholding a Chinese new year custom called “守岁” (shŏu suì) , which entails staying up on the eve of the new year. Literally translated, 守 means “to watch”, while 岁 means “year” or “age”. The origins are not very clear, but most versions involve the mythical beast called “年” (nián), which appeared at the stroke of midnight on the Chinese New Year to hunt. In order to stay alive, people stayed awake to watch for the creature, and ward off its attacks by letting off firecrackers.  年 and 岁 both mean “year” in Chinese, so the practice of watching for the beast also came to be known as “守岁”.

Of course, I’m not staying up because I think that a monster is going to attack at the stroke of midnight. Rather, the Chinese believe that when children “守岁”, it will increase the longevity of our parents. With the arrival of the Year of the Horse, I hope that my parents will be blessed with health and happiness in the coming year.

As I come to the end of this post, it has just passed midnight. I hear the fireworks going off, and it’s time for me to go to bed.  Before I go, let me wish everyone health, happiness and peace in the Year of the Horse. Happy Chinese New Year everyone!

Do you follow traditional customs?

Entering P1 – what did I forget to pack?

Two weeks have passed since C started Primary 1. As a first-time parent of a P1 student, anxiety was (and still is!) inevitable. There were lots to prepare, and I benefitted from tips by experienced parents. Besides the usual school textbooks, school bag and water bottle, there were some items that I would have overlooked if not for friendly reminders 🙂

For those who might be in the same situation, here’s a list of some items that might be useful:

1. Label printer – for labelling all belongings. C received this as a thoughtful gift (many thanks to E and C!)

Label printer

2. A small wallet with change – it’s easier for children to give the exact amount.

3. Spring clip to attach the wallet to the belt hoop. I bought this from Daiso (it’s actually a hat clip, but works perfectly with a wallet too)

Spring with clip for wallet

4. A small lunchbox – some parents prefer packing lunches for the recess break. I let C buy from the canteen, but I pack her daily portion of fruits for snack time.

5. Handkerchief/a packet of tissues

6. Wet wipes – I put some in a Ziploc bag together with her lunchbox. In case of accidental messes.

7. A change of underwear

8. A watch

9. List of emergency contacts – I’ve placed copies in her wallet and school bag.

10. Hair accessories (for girls with long hair) – I almost forgot to buy the dark blue/black clips and hair ties for C. Most of hers were brightly coloured 😉

Here’s a checklist that I’ve compiled (so that I wouldn’t forget when it came to G’s turn!) => Checklist for first day of school (let me know if I’ve missed anything!)

Do you have any tips for the first day of school?

Right brain training with G – Peg memory 81-100 (Printable)

This is the final instalment of the peg memory series. Over the past year, I’ve covered peg memory from 1 to 100 🙂 With regular practice, the peg memory system will be a useful tool to help with activities requiring memorization. For an example of how to use it, you can refer to my previous post here. Do try it!

Download it here ==> Peg memory 81-90

Download it here ==> Peg memory 91-100

Just a note:
Peg memory material for 1-100 can also be accessed here => Home practice material

Have you tried peg memory already?

Right brain training with G – Peg memory 71-80 (Printable)

Sorry about the late updates on peg memory. I’ll be updating the peg memory material for 80-100 in the next few days 🙂

Download it here ==> Peg memory 71-80

Just a note:
Peg memory material for 1-60 can be accessed here => Home practice material

Have you tried peg memory already?

Home Practice with G (the budget version)

Some time ago, I had a discussion with some mummies who were interested in doing home practice, but were concerned about the investment needed to buy all the materials necessary to do so. This prompted me to do a short post on some ways we can DIY our own home practice material at very little cost, using items that we have.

Photographic memory
In class, this is done in various ways:

• Flashing a picture, then asking the child which picture he saw
• Flashing a picture, then asking the child to replicate the arrangement of the items on the picture
• Placing cards in the order of the story told (Story memory/ linking memory)

At home, we can either replicate what was done in class, or use what we have at home:

• Use lego. You’ll need 2 sets of bricks – one for yourself, another for your child. Arrange the bricks and show the child, then give him his own set to replicate what he saw.
• Play peek-a-boo with his soft toys. Remove one of them and ask him to identify which is missing.
• Tell silly stories using items that you have – be creative! An example of a story that I did with G just before he had snacks.

One day, G was driving his car (toy car) when he saw piglet (piglet toy). He decided to throw and eraser (eraser) at him to get his attention. Piglet was very happy (happy face sticker) to see him and they both decided to eat grapes (a few grapes) and raisins (a few raisins). They went to the zoo and saw Mickey Mouse (Mickey soft toy) and said hello to the panda (a panda biscuit). It was a hot day so all of them had water (a cup of water). Soon stars (star sticker) came out and they went home.

G had an incentive to do it, because he got to eat grapes, raisins and panda biscuits after 😉

ESP

ESP practice in class is usually done using pictures – guessing the hidden item, shape, etc

At home, household objects/toys can be used:

• guess the colour of the spoon in the bag by touch – place similar spoons but of different colours in an opaque bag or box and ask the child to touch
• use poker cards to guess the shape (clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades)
• place animal stickers under bottle caps and ask them to “see” which bottle cap has a specific animal
• using coloured pom-poms

The list goes on.

Home practice need not necessarily involve printing/laminating. Sometimes using real objects that are familiar can be more interesting to young children. Hope these tips will be useful!

Do you have any DIY ideas for home practice? Do share them in the comments below!

Right brain training with G – Peg memory 61-70 (Printable)

It’s been a while since I did the last update on G’s right brain training class. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we took a month’s break from the usual weekly class. Classes will be restarting in October, so do look out for the updates soon!

Download it here ==> Peg memory 61-70

Just a note:
Peg memory material for 1-60 can be accessed here => Home practice material

Have you tried peg memory already?