Reese Matthew's Secret Isle

Art at 5 years 4 months old

2012-02-01T00:44:00.001+08:00

Some destruction

Kek Lok Si Temple, Penang (We were there at the eve of CNY and we saw a lot of fireworks)

Reese saw UP yesterday and decided to draw this

Lately he is into Smurfs. Smurf village on fire because of a volcanic eruption

Buildings with lanterns hanging everywhere. What is interesting is the mid section. Can you see the perspective shown here of the narrow street?

Not sure what was the story behind this piece of art. :)

Waves and buildings.

Volcanic eruption somewhere in Italy.

The castle in the movie Tangled with floating lanterns. See all the homes on the hill?

My favorite piece for this month. Forbidden City, China during Chinese New Year

Reese is 5 years 4 months old

2012-01-31T06:59:00.000+08:00

I was just browsing this blog when I realized that Reese is exactly 5 years 4 months old. I have been a mummy for that long? Wow! I haven't blogged about his milestones for the longest time. So I am going to do so now. :)

Weight: 26+ kg

Height: 112 cm (or was it 116...can't remember but the nurse did say he grew 3 cm in the last 6 months and very tall for his age!)

Food: Eats adult portion and eats almost anything. The only vegetables he takes are broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, cabbage, carrots and some leafy veges. Loves his fruits. Still prefers Western to Chinese food.

Personality: Cheeky, friendly, talkative and generally easy going.

Emotionally: lacks empathy and ability to pick up social cues (issues we are working on).

Favorite activity: Drawing, reading, building things and pretend play

Speech: Advance with huge vocabulary

Creativity: Very creative and has a wonderful imagination

Education: Generally few grades ahead of his age peers. Loves science. Dislike math. Reese is confirmed gifted but has not done any formal testing yet. He will be tested before the end of this year.

Physical: Not exactly on par with his intelligence. Not as flexible. Still afraid to climb up on high bars or swing on monkey bars. Not athletic material. Having said that, he is always moving. Cannot sit still except when he is doing his favorite activities like drawing.

Sensitivity: Still sensitive to loud noises and hates wetness. Even if it's only a tiny drop of water on his clothing and he will make a big fuss and demand to change clothes! (Gifted children tends to have issues such as what Reese is experiencing)

Ambition: He wants to be a teacher. He wants to get married on the second day of adulthood and have children and wants to teach his own children. He wants to build his own apartment block with over 60 floors and his wife to take care of us! Haha...

Follow Up Visit at Sunway Medical

2012-01-26T07:52:00.000+08:00

Yesterday we met up with the developmental pediatrician for a follow up consultation. The first meeting was 6 months ago. We spent an hour and a half with her. She did some developmental test with Reese, we had a chat about his progress over a couple of issues (mainly social).

Overal there were improvement but there are still a few key issues that we need to continue to work on. His lack of empathy, his inability to 'blend in' with people, taking instructions from others and co-operate in group activities/ learning. Hopefully in the long run with time and maturity he will improve in these areas.

The doctor also asked about our future plans for Reese. I always knew what I wanted for my son and yet when she asked us I was a little lost for words. I told her that I will continue to homeschool him as long as I can and when he is older we will enroll him for gifted programs from U.S. Deep down in my heart I knew I need guidance. My son is no ordinary kid. Hopefully the pedi can guide us along the way.

The pedi said that by this year, Reese will have to take a series of IQ test and then we work from there. He should be ready for them. If we want to enroll him for any gifted programs, we will need those test scores. It's not going to be cheap.

So does Reese have Aspergers Syndrome? Maybe and maybe not. It's complicated. There are some signs that say yes he has and yet there are some that are contradicting. The pedi does not want to label him and just said that at the end of the day, what is important is that we are able to help him over come some of his social issues and thus able to blend-in in society. We agree.

The pedi was also impressed with Reese's artwork but she commented that all his drawings lack human presence! She actually shown some of Reese's work to another expert and the first thing the expert commented was "There were no people in his drawings!". It's true. Reese never likes drawing people. It's not normal. Mmmm...

It was a good meeting and we are looking forward to hearing from her about the testing. All these years, I have been wondering how gifted is Reese. There are a few levels of giftedness and each level of giftedness can be very different from the other.

Level of Giftedness
Gifted or moderately gifted - IQ 130-145
Highly gifted - IQ 145-160
Exceptionally gifted - IQ 160+
Profoundly gifted - IQ 170+

Educational Board Games

2012-01-21T22:32:00.000+08:00

Think Toys (The Curve) is having a moving out sale and everything is 50% off. I went to their educational section and was so happy to see all the Learning Resources educational games. They have games for Language Arts and Math. It's really a bargain! Mostly priced around RM79 per set and after discount RM39.50. I bought 3 games. Came home did some research and all the games I bought have good reviews. :)

I bought Reading Riddle Maze, Cooking Up Sentences and Alpha-Bug-Soup

We also bought this for Reese since he asked for it. It was quite an impressive set. Has secret passage way and even a dungeon and a draw bridge. It comes with a few figurines as well. It was RM99.50 after 50% discount.

Alpha-Bug-Soup

As they play, early readers build letter recognition and vocabulary skills. Players roll the die, pick up disks, and move the little critters. Then they call out words using the selected letters and collect bug disks when correct. Skilled players can make the game more challenging by adding new twists and turns. One variates is to increase the amount of words called out and used more letter disks. Add the timer and the pressure is on! It includes 16 Critters, 84 Letter disks, 4 game cards, 1 sand timer, 2 number cubes (Dice), 72 transparent chips and game board. For 2 to 4 players.

Cooking Up Sentences

Proper grammar—easy as pie! “Chefs” follow recipes to make complete sentences by gathering and correctly identifying parts of speech. Draw a Free Ingredient Card, and add the funny word of your choice to the mix. Read complete sentences aloud for giggles and spoken grammar practice. Parts of Speech Cards feature color-coded backs for self-checking. Includes 19" square game board, 150 Parts of Speech Cards, 4 double-sided Sentence Recipe Cards, pawns and spinner. For 2-4 players.

Reading Riddle Maze

Kids improve their reading and listening comprehension skills without even realizing it! Players read a riddle, then move across game board maze to collect the tile with the riddle's answer. Maze pieces, which can be rearranged, allow for multiple ways to reach the answer tiles. The first player to collect three riddle cards wins. Double-sided tiles provides two levels of play. For 2-4 players. Includes game board, 81 tile cards, 80 riddle cards and instructions.

January 2012

2012-01-18T08:08:00.001+08:00

Been busy with work and getting into a routine for our homeschooling after all the holidays. We got a little lazy! Our schooling journey thus far was quite good. Reese was reluctant to do his work and was always finding ways to get out of it! It was tough and my temper did not help either. But after a week of scolding, crying and talking, Reese finally realized that he has no choice. I had to explain to him that if he wants a better life in the future, he needs to learn and earn money the easy way! I gave him examples of hard labour equals very little money and one has to toil under the hot sun and vice versa. At the moment, he equates money to better life but he doesn't understand that there are other factors that will make living life meaningful (Will have to tackle this area when he is older) :)

Reese is playing better with other children. In fact, every time when a playmate has to go home, Reese will complain that he has no one to play with him. He has been asking me to arrange playmates for him.

As with adults, whether familiar or not, he communicates well with them. :) I think socially he has matured quite a bit.

Next Wednesday we will be having a follow up session with the developmental pediatrician. I am glad to say that we have only good things to tell her about Reese and hopefully she will declare Reese normal and disassociate him from Aspergers Syndrome. :)

Waiting at the concert hall...

Last Sunday we went for a concert at MPO's Family Fun Concert. It was our first as a family. A little bit of drama happened because we were not aware of the dress code (Smart Casual). We were there an hour before the concert and had to dash home to change clothes! We live in Kota Damansara. Anyway, it was quite good and Reese enjoyed the experience. We will go for the next in April!

January is coming to an end and we will be traveling to Penang this Sunday at 4am or 5am (to avoid traffic jam) for CNY and be back in KL on Tuesday! Crazy but no choice. Hubby can't take any more leave else it would be nice to stay longer instead of just 2 nights. Really not looking forward to the hot weather and traffic jam in Penang!

We are all counting down to our trip in February! 31 days to go.... yes!

Fun Activities Just Before The End of 2011

2012-01-06T06:40:00.000+08:00

With no classes and lots of free time, lazy me finally did a few activities that were long over due. We baked and made jellies! Did some crafts too. We went to the science centre a few times, did some science experiments at home. Overall it was a good break for all of us.

Reese helping me to mash bananas. Our first experience in baking a cake together!

Banana cake came out moist and yummy!

Silly me bought whipped cream and it melted in no time! So decorating the cake was not possible. Reese ate up all the M&Ms.

We made a batch of jellies together for the first time. Not bad at all.

Daddy taught Reese how to use a screw driver. Boy's thingy!

Both busy at work!

There.... a wooden truck.

Painting time!

I am King Arthur! We made the crown and decorated it together. Reese is very much into role play.

Do You Remember KALKITOS?

2011-12-28T06:25:00.001+08:00

Back in the 80's, there is one childhood activity that I loved very much. I actually forgot the name but after describing it to hubby, he told me it was Kalkitos. What is Kalkitos? It is a collection of rub-down transfer activity game. Players are given sheets of blank scenery which they can fill up wherever they like with transfer pictures of people, animals, objects, vehicles to create their own unique stories. It is simply a great way to let your imagination runs free!

I have been wondering why it is no longer available for this generation of children. It was such a waste until a month or two ago I saw it at Cziplee Bangsar! Yes! I found my Kalkitos!! BUT... it is expensive. RM22 per pack. So that deterred me from buying and it doesn't look very appealing in terms of the illustration.

Yesterday I was at the bookshop again and this time, I decided to buy one because deep down in my heart, I really missed it. :) I bought one of the K-Atlas series. Since it has some of the famous landmarks my son loves, why not? educational right?

After opening it, I was a little disappointed with the content. For RM22, I expected more pictures for transferring. Anyhow, everything now is more expensive. Can't wait to introduce it to Reese. Here is their website http://www.kalkitos.sg/

Hands feeling itchy! :)

All Set for 2012!

2011-12-27T08:14:00.001+08:00

We had a simple Christmas celebration this year. Nothing fancy just dinner with love ones and celebrated my father's birthday. Reese got quite a lot of gifts. Educational toys which will add hours of fun for him :)

Some of the books for next year

In less than a week it will be new year. Time sure flies huh? Well, it is going to be an exciting year for us! Reese will be starting his homeschooling again and we will be doing 1st of 2 years of World History under Sonlight program. I am very excited. Science looks interesting too. Now, Math... mmmm... Reese dislikes Math and thus I slow down a lot. He will be doing Grade 2 Math and I hope he will show more interest next year!

Homeschooling has become easier as I have learned quite a few things from experience. This time, I am more organized and preparation time was less. We have just set up a new workstation for Reese as he has outgrown his table and chairs.

New workstation

There will be more field trips and activities for Reese next year. Oh, and more playmates too! We are also looking forward to our Europe trip in February. It is going to be a really wonderful field trip for Reese. He will be learning about Ancient Rome next year and being able to be at those historical sites for real.... ah... just wonderful! Reese is a lucky boy. :)

My Instructor's Guide and program schedule all done for the 1st 3 months!

Obscene and Embarrassing!

2011-12-20T01:46:00.000+08:00

A couple of days ago, while on our way to a picnic lunch with my friend and her twin girls, Reese started talking about sexual organs in the car. First he exclaimed loudly that his testicles hurt! Then he said his penis hurts! It was really embarrassing! I was apologizing to my friend and the more I asked Reese to stop the more he talked about them! Then he went on to talk about fallopian tube, vagina and a whole lot more! My friend was chuckling away and I felt very uncomfortable. Luckily the girls didn't know what those words were.

He has been talking about production of sperms and how they swim into the vagina, milky liquid and everything about reproduction! He talks about it at home and also when we are outside. When I tell him not to talk about it while outside he will ask why not? So hard to explain to him. Imagine strangers who do not know us and listen to our conversation or the things Reese talks about.... what would these people think of us parents? Gosh....

Hope this interest on human production will quickly pass.....

The amount of knowledge he knew about human anatomy at this point in time is equivalent to 5th-7th grade biology! And probably secondary level for certain specialized topics of human anatomy. Seriously.

He can describe with scientific names the digestion process, functions of the different organs in the human body and draws the organs in the right positions in the body, the nervous system, muscular system, the skeletal system, immune system, division of chromosomes and etc. Do you know the names of the 3 white blood cells? I don't but my dear son knows... they are neutrophills, macrophages and lymphocytes!! Quite a mouthful right?

I seriously need to catch up but I don't quite like biology!

FRIM Visit

2011-12-15T07:50:00.000+08:00

At the start of the hike

Yesterday was a really adventurous and memorable day. First I finally met my schoolmate whom I have not seen for 18 years. We went for a picnic with our kids at FRIM (Forest Reserved Institute Malaysia) in Kepong. After a lovely picnic, Reese was asking to go for the canopy walk. So off we went in search of the canopy walk station. First we saw a sign that said 900 meters to the canopy walk station. Fine, we decided to try. Not bad at all, a big rocky path... long walk but the kids were fine. When we reached the base, another sign said 500 meters to the start of the canopy walk. What we saw ahead was actually a hike up the hill with no proper stairs but it looked manageable plus we didn't want to walk all the way back. It was a long walk. We thought that perhaps by walking on the canopy it will lead us back to the bottom. How silly of us. We were not prepared for the hike. I was wearing sandals with heals and Reese was wearing sandals too. We have no proper equipment and I was carrying my handbag! Crazy right? But we have no choice, so we started the hike. The kids were doing great and along the way we saw some fungi. As we hike up, it became more and more difficult and the kids were getting really tired. After all, it was half a km hike up a steep hill. Horror! We forgot the kids' water bottles. Poor kids were exhausted and thirsty. My friend had to carry one of her girls as she was about to faint!

My dear friend, her twin girls and Reese at the picnic

After a very long and difficult hike we reached the canopy walk!! Yahoo!.... next challenge, my friend's kids were afraid of heights. Coaxing them on to the bridge was ok but as they walked on it.... they were truly afraid, it was so high up! Even Reese was afraid initially...but somehow... we got through. Phew! (later I found out that my friend was also afraid of heights!)

At the station. About to walk on the canopy!

At the start, everyone was a little scared!

Kids were more relaxed at the second part of the canopy walk

My boy, at this stage he was no longer afraid and was having fun

To our horror, we had to hike down the steep hill (500meters). Argggrrhh! This was the most difficult... it was steep and it was tough helping the kids down. Reese refused to touch anything for support because of mosses! Really difficult and time consuming. I felt like crying at one point! Miraculously we did it.

Fungi we saw as we hike up

Once down the hill we had to walk the stony path back to the main road. It meant another 900meters walk! We were totally exhausted at the end and was sooooooo glad to see our car! All the kids declared that they hated FRIM.... hahahaha...

What an adventure! Later I realized that my sandals' soles were torn. Crazy crazy crazy.... So glad to be home and I have aches all over! I asked Reese whether he still wants to go for canopy walk and he said yes! Next time we will be well prepared and we are definitely going to enjoy the scenery on the canopy!

The Smokehouse Hotel at Cameron's

2011-12-14T17:39:00.002+08:00

We took a short break to celebrate hubby's birthday at Cameron Highlands. It was a lovely weekend and wished it was longer! Traffic from Tanah Rata towards Brinchang was really bad. We spent most of the day at the hotel instead. :)

Our room.

Lovely flowers everywhere in the garden.

The view from our room. It over looks the garden and the golf course.

Enjoying the cool air in our room. Just relaxing.

Strawberry farm at Raju's. Yummy sweet strawberries.

Reese clowning around. He loves the Smokehouse a lot. He kept wanting to stay in instead of going out exploring.

The interior of the Smokehouse Hotel. Every night they will light up the fireplace. A real fireplace.

Our very delicious dinner at the Smokehouse Restaurant . It was to celebrate hubby's birthday.

A full English breakfast. It was yummy too. :)

We will definitely stay at the Smokehouse again. Wonderful service with a personal touch. It's worth the money we pay.

Reese's Interpretation of a Bird's Eye View of NYC

2011-12-10T15:13:00.001+08:00

Just came back from work and saw this on Reese's drawing table. According to him, this is a bird's eye view of New York City. I can tell you this is totally from his imagination as we have not came across pictures or videos with such a view. Gosh, his imagination is really something huh? Amazing piece of work.

Sex Education

2011-12-09T18:12:00.001+08:00

"Mummy, do you know that sperms travel from the urethra all the way to the penis and shoots out from the tip of the penis!" *Reese was demonstrating the direction flow of the sperm to the tip of his penis* LOL

This dumb mummy at first told her son that only women has urethra (I got confused with uterus!)... Reese gave me a puzzled look! After checking... men have urethra too... * I really need to study*

There is this lovely book we borrowed from PSN's resource centre on sex education. A very child friendly book. It's a book about babies, bodies, love, sex, reproduction and families. Child-friendly illustration and at times humorous too! One thing I like about this book is that it has just enough information to educate them and not too much to leave them exposed or overwhelmed. Suitable for children above 5. Reese loves the book. He has been reading it everyday.

Book Title: Let's Talk About Where Babies Come From
Publisher: Walker Books
Author: Robie H. Harris

Shrink Plastic Craft

2011-12-09T05:36:00.001+08:00

This is a really easy craft to do and the end result is amazing!

The cost of making this craft was almost nil except for electricity! :) We did this craft in less than 20 minutes. We are going to make a lot more as gifts for Christmas. Hope you like it!

I recycled some plastic boxes for this craft. Look for food boxes/packaging like the above. Most of these plastic boxes will have a small triangle with an indication of the plastic grade. Look for plastic #6

Cut the plastic accordingly and draw away! Use permanent markers like Sharpies (RM11 for 5 colors) or alternatively you can use color pencils (You need to use sand paper to roughen the surface of the plastic before you can color with color pencils).

Reese drawing and coloring

City at night

Use aluminum foil or baking sheet as a base and put your plastic on top of the foil/sheet. Have a preheated toaster oven/oven at about 250-300 degrees. If you have a very powerful hair dryer, you can use it too!

Watch the magic! In less than 3 minutes, your plastic will curled up and shrink and eventually it will flatten out.

Done! We have a nice looking art piece. After shrinking, the color of your art work becomes more intense and the size of your plastic will shrink to 1/3 of it's original size. Thickness of the plastic is about 2mm! I didn't have a puncher at the time of making this otherwise you can punch a hole before baking and later sting it to make charms, earrings, bookmarks, keychains, ornaments....etc

Art at 5 years 2 months

2011-12-07T06:58:00.001+08:00

Love the perspective of the main buildings

Word Art

Not sure what this is but I just like the houses and apartments.

Love the fact that the house was almost submerged in the floor waters. It is pretty realistic.

After watching the youtube video of the Kajang flood.

At times, he likes to draw really fine and small buildings

Again, love the perspective of the suspension bridge

A rough sketch of the Penang bridge

Very creative! Alphabet soldiers at war!

Mr. F's house from the animated movie UP

Flood

I think this is in Florence, I can see the Duamo's dome falling! Can you? :)

Hurricane! See how the electrical cables got in the way... and buildings literally broke into halves?

Volcano eruption

Storm

Lightning being attracted to the tall rod... not sure what you call that... but it was inspired by a book he was reading about electricity

Building Fun!

2011-12-07T06:17:00.001+08:00

Reese loves his blocks.

Golden Gate Bridge with soldiers going to war

Water works! Piping of a building

Designing his own Angry Bird game

I dissected a praying mantis!

2011-12-06T22:02:00.001+08:00

My dead praying mantis

While cleaning the apartment, at a corner of the balcony sliding door I found a praying mantis. Still wondering how it got there because I stay on the 12th floor! Anyway, when I found it it was already dead. Then I was thinking should I pick it up and let Reese view and perhaps dissect it ?

See, I was a little afraid and used a tissue to hold it.

I let the idea pass because the thought of dissecting it..... errr... wasn't very appealing. For some reasons I just didn't even want to pick it up and throw it away. I was going to ask hubby to do it. :)

After dinner we came home and told hubby about it and asked him to remove it but hubby was already giving me weird looks and all! (He has a phobia of cockroaches). So I decided to be the brave one and picked it up. In my heart I knew it would be such a waste if we do not take a closer look at the mantis! So I did it. Reese looked at the mantis from all angles with a magnifying glass. Next he wanted to see the wings under the microscope then the legs and then the eyes...gosh... I was tearing each part of the poor mantis. Couldn't do the eyes though because it was too hard. Ha! I did it. All done in less than 15 minutes. Reese had fun and I guess I had fun too but also felt a little 'geli'. What is next I wonder but first I need a real dissection kit!

Busy looking at the eyes of the mantis. He was asking me why the pupils are!

Partially dissected praying mantis

Food Poisoning

2011-12-05T08:28:00.001+08:00

My poor boy had food poisoning last week. It took 6 days for him to recover. Had diarrhea and vomiting at the same time, and was in and out of sleep for 4 days. Saw a normal GP (Such a waste of money!), then Hospital ER (was told to throw away all the medication given by GP) then the following day to our trusted pediatrician (Reese was given probiotics). Poor boy was constantly complaining being weak and hardly took any food or water. Day 4 onwards he was better but was still having diarrhea and vomiting. Managed to take spoonful of food and water every hour or so. Finally, today he is alright and his stool has harden. He has lost significant amount of weight. What an experience!

At Tropicana Medical Centre at 3am

Day 3, weak but managed to watch some cartoon

Day 7, recovered and enjoying a book and sausage bun

Engrossed in the book

Great Youtube Videos for Learning the Human Body

2011-11-29T06:14:00.001+08:00

Reese is crazy over the human body and to supplement his interest, I found some great videos that teach us about the human body. There are many such videos on Youtube but these are some of the simpler and child friendly ones. They are suitable for children age 6-12 years old but if your younger children are interested, then go ahead and let them watch. Only complaint is that the narrator has an accent which eerr.... I didn't like it but.

Reese Drawing and Explaining the Human Body

2011-11-28T12:31:00.001+08:00

The books we borrowed from PSN were really good books. Reese has been reading them a lot and we learned so much from them. Here is Reese explaining and drawing the human body. :)

Reese's Birthday Celebration at McDs

2011-11-27T05:30:00.001+08:00

I just got the photo's from Reese's teacher 2 weeks ago. We had a small 5th birthday celebration for Reese with his school mates at McDs on his actual birthday.

Big Bad Wolf Aftermath Sale

2011-11-25T21:08:00.001+08:00

I was not suppose to buy any more books for at least 1 year but I can't help it. BBW aftermath sale was just too tempting. So I went today. I managed get myself a preview pass for next year's BBW sale! I was no.83 out of 100. I managed to get 18 books for RM41.00. Most of the books I got were only RM2! I got myself a hard cover cook book for RM5. How not to buy? :)

The sale is still on. Go before it ends. It is on till 28th November.

Some nice readers and read aloud books for Reese.

Jim West Puppets' Dinosaur

2011-11-23T18:56:00.001+08:00

2 weeks ago I bought tickets for Reese and I to watch Jim West Puppets' Dinosaur. This morning was the show and guess what? blur me thought the show was at 11am when in actual fact it was suppose to be at 10am. At 10am I looked at the tickets and got a shock to see the time of the show! So out we go at lightning speed (Poor in-laws had to walk/run super fast with us to the car!). On the way in the car Reese commented, "Was it me or what? Are we in a roller coaster ride?" :)

Then 5 minutes before we reached the place the box-office guy called to find out whether we are coming! We were already 25 minutes late. Bummer!

When we reached the entrance, it felt like a relay race because the box-office guy was standing at the side of the entrance with my tickets and membership card all ready and shoved it into my hands and wave us in! Hahaha...

Well, lucky us, we only missed 10 minutes of the show because they started late. We had fun and it was much more enjoyable as compared to the previous two by Blunderbus (UK) that we saw.

Learned a few things about dinosaur and puppet making from the show. Simple props but really hilarious. Just two guys doing the entire show.

Later in the day, we went for the free puppet making workshop that came with the show. Reese did most of the work and he actually enjoyed the whole puppet making process. Maybe he is beginning to like craft!

Here are some pictures taken at the workshop:

Jim West the puppet master

Reese drew the design and cut part of his puppet

Jeremy the other puppet master

Full concentration. I rarely see him so engrossed in his craft. Well, maybe because I hardly do craft with him!

Kids and their puppets

Reese and the two puppet masters

His almost finished puppet.

It was fun mummy!

Science and craft kits

2011-11-23T05:37:00.001+08:00

A couple of days ago, I was browsing for educational toys to buy and came across a whole lot of science and craft kits. I have seen them before in most departmental stores but did not really look at them in detail. These science and craft kits are priced from RM25+ to RM49+ each. One particular brand stands out pretty well is 4M. They have a wide selection of science kits. From building simple robots to dinosaur excavation! I actually find them interesting. Is it worth the price? Well, for most of the kits, yes! because all materials are provided with instructions. Hassle free. These kits are for children 7 and above but I am sure some 5 to 6 year olds would love it too! If you have younger kids, go for their craft kits. A few years back I bought 1 and it was quite good. We made a dinosaur and Reese painted it.

Currently there is a promo for this brand where they bundle up 2 kits with a free gift and you save at least RM6 or more. Popular bookstore at IPC has quite a good selection and slightly cheaper than Toys R Us. :)

Some of the Science kits I saw at Popular Bookstore, IPC

Smart Robot
Tin Can Robot
Eco Science Toys
Clean Water Science
Weather Station
Potato Clock
Brush Robot
Soda Can Robug
Windmill Generator
Flying Science
Magnet Science
Night Sky Projection Kit
Solar System
Illusion Science
Detective Science
Spy Science
Cosmic Jet Robot
Cosmic Rocket
Buzz Wire
Kaleidoscope Making Kit
Different types of Dinosaur Excavation Kits
Volcano Making Kit
Kitchen Science

Science kits from this brand has over 90 different types! There are also a few other brands that offer similar science kits but selection wise is limited.

I am going to get a few as Christmas presents for Reese. The plan is to do 1 to 2 of these kits a month and thus it is inexpensive. These kits are great educational tools. Hands on learning is one of the keys to fun learning and a better understanding of the subject matter. Highly recommended.

By the way, if you are tight on budget, go to 4M's website and download their instruction manual and get an idea how to perform some of the experiments! It's free. :) Here is the link: Instruction Manuals

Robotic Festival at PSN

2011-11-22T13:58:00.001+08:00

I am so excited!

We went to the Robotic Festival at National Science Centre (PSN) this morning. First stop was to the resource centre to borrow our books (First time). Reese borrowed books mainly on human anatomy. Next we went to the second floor for the Robotic Festival (Free). It was fun with lots of hands on activities for children. These activities are mostly for children above 6.

Do bring your children there. It is from 19th - 27th November.

Entrance to PSN: Adult - RM3 and Children above 6 - RM1.

Books from the resource centre. Each member can borrow 3 books for 3 weeks.

He is cute mom. He can talk and move!

Do you see me?

First station. Robo Clay. Each child get to choose a robot templet and decorate it with clay (not sure what kind of clay)

Mummy did most of the work!

Second station. Build a robot from cardboard paper.

Our paper robot. Reese named him Bob.

Fun with Ollo. We are suppose to build a robot dog. Reese checking out the manual.

This is the set with everything we need to build the robot.

The finished product. A robot dog. Not easy. Definitely for children older than 8 years old. There were about 15 participants with their mummies. At the end, all the mummies were the ones assembling it. Some decided to abandon it after a few attempts and by the time I left, everyone was still hard at work. I was the first to finish! Not bad eh?

Our little robot. Too bad, we don't get to keep it! Hehehe... it's not cheap. They are selling it there for RM125.

Reese played with the robot dog.

Last station. Reese made a sponge moving robot.

He came home with all these. :)

Our paper robot and sponge robot in action!

Type chatting with his aunt...

2011-11-22T08:24:00.001+08:00

Last night I was chatting with my sister on Facebook and my baby wants to say hello to his aunt. At first he started by saying hello and ended up chatting with her for more than 40 minutes. He did all the typing himself and occasionally asked me to help him spell a word or two. It's my son's first time chatting with someone over the internet. Oh boy, he really enjoyed it and wanted to continue chatting. It was hilarious watching his reaction every time he tried to be funny/cheeky with his aunt! Typing for him was not easy but he did quite well using both his hands.

Their conversation:

Jillian: This is Reese or Florence typing?
Reese: You are typing.
Jillian: hmmmm this must be reese boy. reese is naughty boy or good boy?
Reese: yes! i am a good boy.
Jillian: i heard from gong gong reese is naughty
Reese: yes it's true!
Jillian: and your mummy say you are making noise and dont want to sleep. is it true?
Reese: no it's not true.
Jillian: are you going to help gong gong decorate the christmas tree? or yee yee decorate the tree first?
Reese: i want to decorate your tree!
Jillian: ok then i ask gong gong wait for you ok?
Reese: yes!
Jillian: so what does reese want for your christmas present?
Reese: psn
Jillian: what is psn?
Reese: it's a type of cake.
Jillian: ahhhhh, where can yee yee get that cake?
Reese: from the hj farm.
Jillian: and where is HA?
Reese: in brazil.
Jillian: wow... its too far, do you know how yee yee can go to brazil?
Reese: no!
Jillian: hmmm then yee yee cannot buy you the psn cake, so you need to pick another gift for christmas
Reese: no i want it!
Jillian: but you will have to teach yee yee how to go to brazil, else how can yee yee buy the psn cake for you?
Reese: ok!
Jillian: so reese find out how yee yee can go to brazil then you let yee yee know ok? i think its time for reese to go to bed
Reese: first go by boat. ok?
Jillian: ok after travelling by boat then what?
Reese: go to the town. trrrr!
Jillian: what is the name of the town?
Reese: type faster! qwertrr.
Jillian: what is qwertrr? u must be polite when asking question, understand?
Reese: the name of the town.
Jillian: ok, after travelling by boat to qwertrr town then how do i go from there?
Reese: you go back by boat.

---- and it went on for another 10 minutes!

Random thoughts and sharing

2011-11-16T22:49:00.001+08:00

He loves reading in the car.

Today I took Reese and his playmate to the science centre. After having fun exploring and playing we went to the resource centre. Both the kids chose their own books and sat down to read. I was watching Reese. Watching his expression and the little smiles forming while he read was so satisfying. I can see that he thoroughly enjoyed what he was reading. I could hear soft giggles too. He was so handsome. Ah... I love my son so much! :)

On average we spend about 2 hours in the car everyday. To kill boredom I usually have 3-6 books in the car for Reese to read. Sometimes he will read to me or he will read quietly. I am just so glad that he loves books and seems to have a good balance between playing iPad/computer and reading. We used to restrict his playing time on the iPad but now it is no longer necessary. He is not addicted to it. Now, I allow him to play as long as he wants but usually after 10-20 minutes, he will stop and pick up a book to read, draw or just play with his toys. He gets bored with the games! :)

My very cheeky boy.

Reese has been telling me about his future. It gets more elaborate and detail each time he talks about it.

He wants to get married a day after he becomes an adult! *LOL*

He still wants a wife named Alice and she has black hair and insisted his wife will work, earn money and take care of us! Hehehehe... He said he will build a modern apartment just opposite our current home. There will be 60 floors and he will live on the top floor. His modern apartment will have more pools than our current condo. He wants to have twins now. He wants to have his office in his modern apartment so that he can teach there. Reese still wants to be a teacher.

A week back, Reese was helping me arrange 40 sets of books. Initially he was very excited and diligently work on them and arrange the books neatly. After completing 8x40 books, he declared he was 'totally exhausted' (his words). Then he said "But I only have energy to play, Mummy you finish the rest".

Next few weeks are going to be busy for us. Lots of activities and outings for Reese enjoy and socialize. We are going for 2 workshops on Robotics organized by PSN, watching Jim West's puppet show and puppet making workshop next week, a day trip to the elephant sanctuary and park and a visit to FRIM with a friend and her twins. Ever since Reese stopped going to school, he actually has more social life than before! :)

Thank you teachers!

2011-11-16T22:21:00.001+08:00

Reese's teachers. Lovely ladies! Reese was really lucky to have these wonderful teachers to love and teach him. :) We were at the school annual party which was also Reese's last time to be with his kindy friends. So far so good, he did not complaint about missing school. He seems contented being with me 24/7 and I find it more relaxing. No need to rush for time.

Aunty Shu Wen

Aunty Audrey

Aunty Wan Ching

Aunty Mabel

Reese is getting more advance...

2011-11-13T15:55:00.001+08:00

Just this morning, while changing, Reese said "Mummy, the rectus abdominis controls your stomach."

Other things he said:

One of daddy's favorite band Audio Adrenaline... The daddy asked me whether I taught Reese about hormones! because Reese told his dad that adrenaline is a hormone after seeing the name of the band. :)

"Adrenaline is a hormone. It is produced from a gland, when you are scared."

"Mom, do you know baby's bones are made of cartilage? It's soft."

"Biceps and triceps controls your arm movement."

He talks about neurons and brain activities, he talks about light going into our eyes through the pupil and how it hits the retinas and signals are then send to the brain, he talks about how babies are made and etc...

Gosh, honestly all this knowledge he got was purely from reading books. I have only briefly gone through the human digestion process sometime ago. Not only can he remember the facts, he can also pronounce the scientific names.

I am a little worried. He is only 5, will I be able to keep up with him in his studies as he grows older? Will he complete high school (secondary) before he turns 12? It is very possible.

2 nights ago, I went for a meeting organized by National Association of Gifted Children Malaysia and had a chance to meet a former child prodigy who entered Oxford at 13. It was really sad that his life was pretty depressing. He was pretty much a loner. Everyone treated him differently at school. He talked about his struggles at university and how he can't take failure. He started working at age 16 and even in the corporate world, he was treated differently and employers expected much more from him just because he was gifted. Life was truly not easy for him. He is successful but not happy. He is currently married and pursuing his passion in photography.

I don't want Reese to end up like him. I really have to sit down and think of how I want to give him a good education and a balanced social life. I want him to be happy.

mmm... not easy having a gifted child.

Planetarium Negara

2011-11-10T04:50:00.000+08:00

Finally took a trip to the planetarium with Reese yesterday morning. Very crowed with school children from kindy to secondary schools. It was nothing great. The exhibits were old. We went up to the viewing tower to have a view of the KL city. Then went for a show (Dawn of the Space Age) at the space theater. I felt so irritated by the secondary school kids!! Shouting and talking loudly throughout the show, I guessed the teachers were somewhere else! Gggrrrr....

Reese's favorite activity there was the anti gravity room. Once inside, you just find it super hard to balance and Reese had a blast running around and going through the slide.

The main gallery

Sleeping area in the space shuttle

This is my bed!

Viewing gallery with binoculars

ohhh... I can see KLCC!

Mummy, why can't I balance! (Anti gravity room)

PSN is still a lot better and more fun. :)

A Short Penang Trip!

2011-11-08T08:08:00.003+08:00

Reese was really happy to visit his grandparents. It was raining a lot and we didn't do much. We took Reese to The Blue Mansion and we went for the tour of the mansion. Reese was a good boy and only towards the end of the tour that he became restless. We even saw the Penang CM! Reese has questions throughout the walking tour and we have to stop him from asking questions! The tour guide even appointed him her assistant and asked him to make sure no one took photographs in the mansion. My boy took it very seriously and kept telling me that he will make sure of it. So funny.

As for hubby and myself, we had some good food and did a little touring of the heritage site.

On Sunday night we went to have dessert in a small shop and while waiting for our dessert, I casually read out a sign that said "No outside beverages allow. Thank you!". Then Reese asked what 'beverage' means. So we explained to him. Then he stare at the sign for a moment and commented, "Why there is no 'd' for 'allow'?" At first we were all puzzled by him and then we got it. It should be:

NO OUTSIDE BEVERAGES ALLOWED. THANK YOU!

My son was correcting our grammar! Hahaha.... 4 adults and none of us realized the mistake!

Drawing as a Language

2011-11-04T07:37:00.000+08:00

Last year, while I was actively searching for answers to Reese's drawing ability, I came across Drawnet: The Drawing Network. It was the brain child of Bob Steele, Professor Emeritus, UBC.

He has been creating awareness on how drawing should be seen as a language medium. He believes that:

children have an un-coded language in spontaneous drawing.
spontaneous drawing is an aid to the acquisition of literacy.

I have been in contact with him and he is a really nice person. I thought it would be nice to share some of the advice from him with you.

One of the first questions I asked him was how can I help to hone my child's interest in drawing and he told me this;

First 6 years of the child's life should not have formal art instruction! Do not send your child to art classes. Do not let your child watch TV programs that teach drawing. These activities will stifle your child's creativity.

Let the child explore drawing on their own. Let him develop his sense of style.

Do provide lots of love and encouragement to the child. Have discussion with the child on what he can draw.

Supply the child with art materials, stationery and ample space for drawing.

Have you noticed for the past few years, suddenly you see a lot of art enrichment centres mushrooming? In their marketing, they will brag about how they can help your child draw really well and create wonderful art pieces? Do you see that many of these teachers are not qualified art teachers? (they merely follow lesson plans with step by step instructions-that is franchising business for you!) Some of these centres even have text books!

Whenever there are art competitions, do you find that most of the art work produced by kids are very similar in style? Are these truly personal style or merely 'manufactured' style taught by art enrichment centres?

Children education is a very lucrative business (I am in this business). There are just too many enrichment centres in Malaysia. All trying to milk money out of unsuspecting parents! Malaysian parents are obsessed with them! On average, each child goes to at least 3 different enrichment classes (my observation from friends' kids and my own students). *sigh* Children hardly have time to play and rest. Common complaints I got from some of my students: " I have no time to play", "I have 4 tuition today. I have ballet, English, Enopi Math and Chinese class!", "I am so tired".....

Sometimes when I confront parents about their kids having too many classes, their typical response:

"No choice, no time to teach them. Let others do the job"

"They do nothing at home so it is better they go for classes and learn something."

"Oh.... ballet, swimming, piano classes are non academic mah! It's fun!"

"Mental math is good for you. Helps the child in his math and so is right brain and left brain training....bla...bla...bla..."

At the end of the day, when you bombard your child with too many activities or classes, the child will experience burnout! What a child needs, is to be a child. Don't you agree?

First Lab Session at National Science Centre

2011-11-02T16:51:00.002+08:00

Today we went for our first lab session at the National Science Centre. It was a fun experience. While waiting for the session to start, we mingled with some home schooled children at the resource centre. I managed to chit chat with a few mummies. I was really happy because we have finally found a homeschooling group to join. This group is multi racial and my boy will have the opportunity to learn about other races, their culture and differences. Can't wait to get to know these families better. I was quite surprised that some of these mummies actually read my blog!

So back to our lab session. Today's topic was on Cold Fish and Water Quality. We learned about fish (body parts, behavior) and what kind of water condition is suitable for fish to live in. I must say older kids would enjoy the lab session more. Nonetheless, Reese had fun using different science apparatus, learning how to measure temperature, testing presence of certain chemicals in water and the process in doing so. He did some of the recording and calculation. It was really a great exposure for him. Being home schooled , having the opportunity to use a science lab and doing proper experiments is precious.

Can't wait for the next session. :)

**From 19th-27th November, National Science Centre will be having a Robotic Festival. They have lined up many activities for children. You can check out their website for more information.

What we learned today.

Something new for Reese

We were given live fish to do our observation!

Taking a closer look at the fish

Mum, I am a little scientist!

Full concentration! Pouring the right amount of pond water for testing

Mum, this is really bad for fish to live in!

Games

2011-10-30T23:26:00.000+08:00

When we saw the developmental pediatrician a few months back, she said to introduce board games or games with rules to Reese. Today we went to Toys R Us and bought 2 games. Snakes and Ladders board game and Tumbling blocks. It took me quite a while to browse through the games section.

When we got home, we played tumbling blocks. It was an instant hit. We all had a great time playing it. Great family bonding time. Our little family was laughing and cheering each other on. The loser had to do a loser dance which Reese demonstrated to us. Shaking our butts like mad! :) Reese truly enjoyed the game.

Next up was Snakes and Ladders. This one was a little slower and thus less excitement compared to Tumbling Blocks. Reese even picked up a book and read while waiting for his turn! We did finish the game at the end.

We played another round of Tumbling Blocks at night before Reese went to bed. Now we have a new routine of playing games!

Reese is getting busier. We have biking sessions around the car park once or twice a week, morning exercise at Kiara Park once a week, gymnastic class every Saturday morning and now games sessions probably 2 to 3 times a week.

Reese has stopped going to his kindy and I have made adjustment to my work. Now I have more time to spend with Reese and do our schooling at home. I plan to have more frequent field trips, arts and craft and science experiments. Our schooling will be more fun and no rushing to complete our work within a time frame.

Everything is beginning to fall in place and I have become a more hardworking homeschooling mother! :)

Writing Fully in Cursive...

2011-10-27T06:21:00.000+08:00

My boy is finally writing fully in cursive. He writes with confidence and it is getting nicer. Yippie! Another milestone for Reese.

Quite nice eh?

Reese is doing creative writing and narration 2 times a week. The copy work (2 sentences) from each lesson is used as part of his penmanship practice. So each week he is required to write 4 sentences (2 short and 2 long). Killing 2 birds with 1 stone. :)

Tips: Don't use the blue and red line exercise books! They are confusing. Use lines like the above. Just 3 lines (2 solid lines for the top and bottom and 1 dotted line in the middle). It is easier for children to write. I felt that children should learn the correct strokes and form of each alphabet without having to worry about whether each letter is written perfectly. Children gets demotivated and frustrated when their written letters are constantly erased. Those who can write beautifully are slow in speed. It takes them forever to write a short sentence! To me, as long as the child can form letters correctly, with reasonable speed and is legible then it's good enough.

Do you find that children these days do not write in cursive anymore? I was taught cursive when I was in Standard 4 but it was only briefly. I write with a combination of print and cursive. It is a fact that you write faster with cursive.

Interesting article on cursive writing:

How Should We Teach Our Children To Write

Learning about the Human Body

2011-10-26T08:36:00.001+08:00

I think I am beginning to unschool my son. I am letting him lead me to what he wants to learn. Ever since he discovered The Magic School Bus on Human Body book, he became very interested in how our body works and what is inside it. I was so tempted to keep the book because it was part of his next year's science studies. I am glad I did not because he now knows more than me about our body (sort of). He can tell me how our digestive system works, what is in our blood, what germs are and how our body fights them, our 5 senses, he talks about our bones, he can easily tell you what our heart, lungs, intestines, stomach,liver, brain do...

Oh... did i mentioned that he can also draw the different types of cells? All these by just reading, watching videos on digestion and The Magic School Bus. Sometimes we will sit down together and have discussion on things that he doesn't understand and have lots of fun along the way. No boring text books or worksheets. Amazing what a child can learn if you allow him to lead the way.

I found this at BBW sale last year for RM15. It's worth it.

This morning he drew the different types of cells and labeled them. On the right are viruses and bacterias.

Books we read

Links to the videos:

Short video on digestion system - Link
The Magic School Bus - Inside Ralphie Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
The Magic School Bus - For Lunch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
The Magic School Bus - Works Out Part 1, Part 2, Part 3
The Magic School Bus - Flexes its muscles
The Magic School Buss - Goes Cell-ular

Math... Yawn....

2011-10-26T06:22:00.000+08:00

When I first started math with Reese last year, he was very excited and enjoyed doing it. Then when addition was introduced and as it gets harder, my son begins to dislike it. He doesn't like repetition. Could it be too hard for him? Nope. He has no problem doing them. He just doesn't like doing the sums (addition or subtraction). He is fine with other areas of Math.

Whenever he has to do math, he will whine a little or protest. Lately, he will actually feel sleepy and YAWN! Seriously. Just want to record this so that he knows. :)

My son is very much a right brain child. Need to find more creative ways to teach him!

** It is very important that a child knows his addition and subtraction facts well. It makes doing sums easy and minimize counting up or down for the child. Reese hates doing these sums simply because he doesn't know his facts well enough and he has to do a lot of counting up or down. He hates repetition so that makes it even worse.

We have started to work on some Singapore Math and gosh, it is truly challenging even for me initially. My boy seems to enjoy it. If you go to a bookstore, check out some of the challenging math books from Singapore. I think for some of you, your eyeballs might just pop out! :)

Just give you an idea, here is some of the questions they expect a Standard 1 kid to answer.

Finally made it to Logos Hope Ship!

2011-10-23T17:43:00.000+08:00

2 weeks ago we went to Port Klang to visit the Logos Hope ship but the queue was way too long (The co-ordinator told us we needed to wait another 2 hours plus before going up the ship) and Reese urinated in his pants! I had to wash the entire pants and then spent 15+ minutes trying to dry his wet pants under the hand dryer! At the end, we left without going up the ship.

Today, we went to Klang for Bak Kut Teh and reach Port Klang around 12.30pm. The queue to the ship was long and around 1pm we managed to go in. Reese was happy and again, we got a few books and hubby was happy to get a few music CDs which were really cheap. Tomorrow the ship will be leaving Port Klang. We made it. Reese is one happy boy telling us how much he enjoyed the trip. :)

Books for his Geography lessons

After we came back, Reese sat down and drew Port Klang at night.

Logos Ship in the middle with the very long pier that we had to walk to get to the ship on the right

Reese was totally excited about going on the ship

Listening to the short presentation

I am captain!

Mummy, it is soooooo hot and I am sweating!

I am very happy mummy. I like the visit.

I told Reese when he finished his high school studies, mummy will give him a year (gap year) to explore the world before going to college. I told him he can apply to volunteer on the ship and sail round the world. He seems to like the idea. :)

Art at 5 years old

2011-10-23T08:19:00.001+08:00

Lately Reese is into floods and 3D buildings. He is also learning (self learning) about the human body and it's functions. He has also started to 'invent' factories that produce things. Reese is kinda strange, he never likes to draw from looking at pictures or photos. He MUST draw from memory. He only draws spontaneously. Every piece of drawing is done in less than 15 minutes.

Below are some of the art work he did this month.

Tokyo, Japan - Tokyo Tower surrounded by power plants, factories (he drew smoke - pollution) and buildings

Rio De Janeiro, Brazil - Christ The Redeemer Statue, A celebration.

Florence, Italy - Aerial view of the Duamo and the surrounding buildings decorated with hanging light bulbs

Petaling Street, Kuala Lumpur - Flood in Petaling Street. You can see the Twin towers and KL tower at the far left end

London, England - Tower bridge and Big Ben can be seen here. Another celebration scene.

New York City, USA - A huge wave sweeping into NYC.

Giant plants invading Russia. See how a building in the middle was partially destroyed by the giant plants?

London, England - Big chandeliers were used as part decoration of the city

Paris, France - You can see Arc De Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower and a french statue

Statue of Liberty drowning!

1 of 2 complete human being in Reese's drawing. Here it shows a boy Arnold sneezing with mucus flying out! :)

The other complete human drawing! From left, Reese, Daddy (Fungi for hair), Mummy (wearing incredible t-shirt) and maternal grandfather with (buildings for hair)

Human body and organs. Those smily faces you see on the right are white and red blood cells and platelets

Cake factory

Food factory - Eggs are cracked followed by dashes of pepper into cone shaped bowls, then droplets of soup go into the bowls. Next noodles are dispensed and you have a nice bowl of noodle soup.

Science Through The Magic School Bus

2011-10-18T21:31:00.001+08:00

Have you heard of the Magic School Bus?

I remembered playing one of the The Magic School Bus educational software back in the '90s. Fast forward 2011, my dear son is now into The Magic School Bus books. After reading the first book on human body, he was able to tell me about blood cells, white blood cells fighting disease germs, digestion and more! At first it might be a little overwhelming with facts all over the place in a single page. So take some time to digest it first before reading it with your child.

The Magic School Bus is a series of children's books about science. They feature Ms. Frizzle, an elementary school teacher, and her class, who board a magical school bus which takes them on field trips to very interesting locations such as the solar system, clouds, and the human body.

The original series titles:

At the Waterworks
Inside the Earth
Inside the Human Body
Lost in the Solar System
On the Ocean Floor
In the Time of the Dinosaurs
Inside a Hurricane
Inside a Beehive
And the Electric Field Trip
Explores the Senses
And the Science Fair Expedition
And the Climate Challenge

Now they have chapter books and many other titles based on The Magic School Bus.

They also have a TV series aired in the '90s. There are 52 episodes in all. You can actually find some of them on Youtube here. Each episode is about 25 minutes. The books and TV series are for children age 6 and up. I

You can visit The Magic School Bus website. Fun activities for kids to play and learn.

Things that interest Reese this month...

2011-10-18T07:07:00.001+08:00

Reese can write in cursive comfortably now. In fact he has finished learning all 26 lower case letters. Now he is working on the upper case letters. Very soon he will be writing fully in cursive! Every opportunity he has, he will write in cursive.

He is learning about the human body on his own. Found one of his next year's science books interesting and he has been reading it a lot. He tells me about esophagus, lungs, blood cells, tells me about disease germs and many others interesting facts.

He is also into waterworks. How water is processed before it flows through pipes to our homes.

He is riding his bicycle! Getting better at paddling!

He is having fun at gym class. Learning some techniques and happily showing them to me.

Playing with his microscope. Happily collecting leaves and stuff to view under the microscope. He knows how to prepare simple slides for view.

Read to your child!

2011-10-16T07:11:00.000+08:00

Read a lot to your child. The vast mass of knowledge in the world can only be gained by reading, and if you want your kid to be smart, he has to acquire a love for reading. I can't stress enough the importance of reading.

It is sad to see most kids these days don't read enough. Teachers at school (primary) rarely have story time. Ask your child when was the last time he heard a story from his teacher! So my dear parents, allocate 10-20 minutes to just quietly read a book to your child.

Some benefits of reading to your child:

Basic speech skills

From birth, your child is learning critical language and enunciation skills. By listening to you read, your child is reinforcing the basic sounds that form language.

Better communication skills

When you read to your child, he will be much more likely to express himself and relate to others in a healthy way. Learning about the interactions between the characters in the books you read, as well as the contact with you during story time, your child is gaining valuable communication skills.

Improve concentration and discipline

Your child may initially squirm and become distracted during story time, but in time, he will eventually stay put for the duration of the book (Don't give up, just keep reading!). Along with reading comprehension comes a stronger self discipline, longer attention span, and better memory retention. These are vital skills your child needs when he start formal schooling.

Reading helps in creative writing

Children who reads a lot tends to do be creative writers!

Improve critical thinking skills

By reading to your child, he will learn to grasp abstract concepts, apply logic in various scenarios, recognize cause and effect, and utilize good judgement. Your child will begin to enjoy the stories you tell him when he can relate the scenarios in the books to what's happening in his own world.

Reading can open up new worlds and enrich children's lives

Given the wealth of available resources such as Internet, libraries, bookstores and schools, if a child can read well and understand that reading is a source of information, then for the rest of his life he will have access to all of the accumulated knowledge of mankind, access to all of the great minds and ideas of the past and present. It is truly amazing!

Reading can provide your child with plenty of good, clean fun

Reading can provide your child with endless hours of fun and entertainment. Stories can free up imaginations and open up exciting new worlds of fantasy or reality. They allow children to dream.

Children are influenced by and imitate the world around them. It is very important that you carefully choose stories and books that can have a positive influence on your child, sensitizing him to the needs of others. For example books that encourage children to share, be kind, doing our part for mother nature.

So read to your children everyday!

Past tense anyone?

2011-10-16T06:09:00.001+08:00

How much should a 5 year old know about past tense? Not much.

3 days ago, I did some revision with a standard 4 student while Reese quietly played at a corner. I was testing my student on past tenses and half the time he couldn't answer. Reese was listening and he answered for him.

After my class, out of curiosity, I took a standard 6 (local English) grammar book and tested Reese on past tense and I was a little surprised that he got almost all right.

Reese is always in the classroom during my lessons. He has his own space with a drawing table, books and toys. Lately, whenever I do comprehension with my students, he will quietly listen. After the class he will hurried to me and ask questions about the stories and also words he didn't understand. Then he will try to use the new words he learned in his daily speech. He speaks grammatically correct English 95% of the time. He is into writing sentences and requires very little help from me. He is able to spell quite well too (own initiative). I guess whatever I am doing with him for Language Arts is working. He has a flair for the language.

Reese's song...

2011-10-14T05:25:00.001+08:00

Once there was a tree
the tree was taller than a house
it was also taller than a building
the tree was so high
and a storm came
thunder and lightning
zigzag everywhere
and struck the tree
and after the storm
was over
the sun shone
on the tree
meanwhile a man came out
of a house
and the man came into the woods
and chop that tree
and the tree fell down
with a boom boom boom
and that was the end
of the story.

By Reese Matthew Kam

Reese was playing on his own and humming away. Then I heard him making up a song with words... It was funny the way he sang the song. It was half rhyming and singing. Later I got him to repeat the song and wrote the lyrics out! :) Not bad eh?

Should I sell or wait?

2011-10-13T18:38:00.001+08:00

Lately, I have been thinking, should I sell Reese's baby stuff, books, shoes and clothes away? He is already 5 and yet I am undecided. Should I have another child? I want to but...

financially we may not be able to support a second child the way we want to
working will almost be impossible for me unless I hire a maid again *shutters*
having to start all over again, bringing up another child from birth... mmm...
at least 6 years difference between Reese and 2nd child... mmm...
will hubby be able to handle the kids and will they make him go crazy? :)

mmm...

* I already selected the books that I want to sell and even set up a blog just to sell the things and yet...

I want a second child...

so that Reese has a companion and someone to share responsibilities with when it comes to family matters. If we are gone, he still has family. I don't want him to be lonely.

I love kids.

mmm...

Theatre shows, Orchestras and more...

2011-10-12T07:20:00.002+08:00

When was the last time you took your child to a play/live performances, an orchestra or you have never done it before? Too expensive or totally have no idea that there are many such performances specially catered to children?

Well, it is about time you give it a try because it is a wonderful experience with lots of educational benefits for children.

Theatre
The puppet shows/plays are wonderful and they engage with the audience all the time. Beautiful puppets are used and the actors are great. I started taking Reese to these plays 2 years ago. We saw 'The Giraffe can't Dance' and then early this year 'Elmer the Patchwork Elephant'.

These shows are brought in by Gardner & Wife.

Now 'The Selfish Crocodile' is showing till 22nd October 2011. Ticket prices are not very expensive. Starting as low as Rm45. You can get tickets online from here.

Orchestra
I always thought that orchestra performances are not very child friendly but I was dead wrong. There are many that cater to children and families. If you visit MPO's website and click under family fun concert, you will see some very interesting concerts. Again, ticket prices are not very expensive considering the kind of exposure you children can get from it.

I am planning to take Reese to 'Bach to the Future' concert. He has never been to one yet. Can't wait!

SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR??? TRUST ME! IT'S WORTH IT!

Google Earth is a fun learning tool!

2011-10-11T21:31:00.002+08:00

We have heard how children use Google Search to find Youtube videos, games and websites. My son also does that but now he is into Google Earth. He expertly search for his favourite places around the world. He just showed me the Vatican City! Technology... it's just amazing. It sure makes a difference when it comes to learning geography. Children not only get to visually see these amazing places but also get to view them in 360 degrees(Ipad apps). Children these days are so fortunate though it is still not too late for us older ones to experience all these technological marvels.

If you have fast internet connection, explore Google Earth with your children. It is fun and interesting. We were fascinated when it detected our current location and zoom right to our building!

This is free geography lesson for your kids! You can learn about mapping, zonings, types of housing and many more. :)

In my opinion, those who chose not to expose their children to computer and technology before 6 years of age is truely missing out. We live in a technological age and there is no way to escape it. Start early but have a balance. You can go wrong!

Box Day!!!

2011-10-10T19:02:00.002+08:00

YES!! We got our books (exactly 1 week)! FedEx guy delivered 2 boxes (Roughly 34kgs). Took me a good 45 minutes to check through all 130+ books. I was so excited. Many great books for me and Reese to share for the next 2 years.

Can't wait to look at his books!

Lots of books

I think I am more excited than Reese with all the books!

A few years back a friend introduced Sonlight curriculum to me and instantly I was sold. I count myself really lucky to be able to homeschool Reese with full support from hubby. For the past 2 years as I homeschooled Reese, I came across many books from a few homeschool curriculum like AOP's Lifepac, ACE's books, Susan W. Bauer's books... they are all great curriculums but for us, Sonlight is what works best. 'Real' books is definitely more fun than text books! The selection of books by Sonlight are filled with illustrations, easy and straightforward text and yet very informative. Very kid friendly.

Reading one of the books

Totally absorbed...

Mummy! Do you know....bla..bla..bla..

Reese's little library

Great finds at BBW warehouse sale!

2011-10-09T06:32:00.001+08:00

After the Big Bad Wold sale, I went through all the books and was surprise that I got some really great ones. :) Here are 3 of them.

Beautifully illustrated with a captivating story(Hard cover). Great for read aloud

Introduction to classical music, the great composers and instruments (Hard cover). It comes with a CD with 37 selections from the greatest composers. A great introduction that has just the right amount of information so as not to bored a child.

A nice little story with nice colorful illustration and it comes with a CD which includes the story, games and songs!

All of the above was only RM8 per book(less than USD3). Dirt cheap right? :)

Big Bad Wolf Book Sale

2011-10-07T05:52:00.000+08:00

Yesterday went for the preview sale at BBW warehouse sale. The venue was huge. There were so many books that I just got tired browsing! It's crazy. They have a really big children section. Their selection of children books were quite ok. Mostly books for toddlers. They did not have books from Usborne or Scholastic except the Horribles series. There are some reference books from DK and a lot of books from Disney and some other publishers. So if you have toddlers, this is the sale you don't want to miss. Books are dirt cheap. We are talking RM5-10 for most books in this section except box sets with toys and stuff(did not look at price but my guess is it shouldn't be more than RM20).

My loot

Those looking for cookbooks, lots of selection but I only got Jamie Oliver for RM24. Did not browse through the fiction and non fiction. I was too tired after spending nearly 3 hours at the kids section! They also have quite a selection of coffee table books.

I got some comics, two Horrible series box set and it's annuals, Mr. Men and Little Miss books, a story book, some books for myself and a comic for hubby. My damage was RM500.

So that is it! I will impose a self ban, no book purchases for 1 year! I bought too many books this year. I have spent over RM7000 on books this year alone. Almost all on Reese's books. My two new 6 feet bookshelves will be full by next week when Reese's homeschool books arrive from US. It's a shame that I only have 1 child to enjoy all the great books else it will be more worth it. :)

I am most happy with the Horrible series

More fun using our Microscope

2011-10-06T06:46:00.001+08:00

So after viewing those exciting organism swimming in the little droplet of stream water, I decided to hunt for more interesting things to view. I found this set of prepared micro-slides from Toys R Us. It's from Edu Science (Toys R Us house brand I think).

The set comes with 12 slides with 38 assorted specimens. Retailing at Rm49.90. It has slides of animals, fibre, plastic, fungi, drinks and etc. It is quite worth it. You can see very interesting patterns/designs and colors of the different specimens. Both Reese and I were constantly 'wowing' away! :) But nothing beats our stream water. It is the best because it has living organism in there. Need to go get some yogurt and see some bacteria. That should be fun too.

Edu Science from Toys R Us

Parents, this is truly educational fun. I highly recommend getting a microscope and let your children see the microscopic world! Honestly, I am having a lot of fun myself. I have never seen so many slides in my life! When I was in school, I only saw a couple of slides during biology classes and that was it. There were too few microscopes to share among 30-40 students. :)

I wish I could take some pictures of the things we saw and you will be in awe!

Some images I found on the net that resembles what we saw with our microscope:

We saw bubbles in Reese's saliva. It was something like that but nicer with a white background. A lot more and some actually forms beautiful patterns with some rainbow color at the rims of each bubble.

Silk. What we saw is very close to this image but more colorful and brighter.

Stream water. What we saw was almost like this but brighter. See those black dots? They are some kind of organism and they move real fast. We also saw a few other types of organism moving at different speed and one moves in a very interesting manner. All in a tiny drop of stream water. Amazing.

This is the wing of a fly.

One of the first thing we saw through the microscope! It's hair.

** What we saw were a lot brighter (light source) and thus nicer as compared to the pictures above.

My previous post on the microscope:

Introduction to a microscopic world

More fun with nature and the microscope

Art work at 4 years 10-11 months old

2011-10-04T22:10:00.001+08:00

A tsunami hits a town. Check out the waves!

A ship wrecked. Big waves hitting the ship.

A sign which says GOGRTOWN(George Town). Penang bridge, crops planted on hills and houses

Forbidden city, China

Notre Dame, Paris

Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

Tsunami hits Brasil

Playmate: Update

2011-10-04T08:02:00.000+08:00

Reese is enjoying his time with his playmate twice a week. He plays well with the girl. I was observing one of their play session it went like this:

Reese: Sarah! Let's go to war!
Sarah: Ok.
Both took their guns and 'helmets' and started running around the house.
Reese: Sarah, we need our tanks!
Sarah: Oh yeah. Let's go get it.
Each took a little rider and started moving around.
Reese: (Pick up the telephone) Mom? Hello mom, I am now in India. Going to war!
Mummy: Hello Reese, you are in India?
Reese: Yes, that's right. I am in India.
Mummy: Why India?
Reese: I want it to be India. Going to war with Sarah. See you and bye.

Reese: Mum, I need to put medication in my tank.
Mummy: Why?
Reese: Because I need to take medication after war.

Reese: Sarah, Look out! Enemies!
Sarah: Reese! Let's kill the enemies!
Reese: Ok, pshhooo, pshhooo.... there dead.
Sarah: Yeah, let's go over there.... more enemies!

Sarah: Ah... let's go home Reese.
Reese: Ok, let's go back to our home and rest.

Reese: (Calling me on his phone) Mum, we are home now. We have bunk beds!
Mummy: Oh... great. Have fun. Bye.
Reese: Yeah, bye but mum, you messed up our bunk beds!
Sarah: (Clearing the clothes on the sofa bed)
Reese: Sarah, nevermind... mum will clean up the mess!
Mummy: ????

I am so glad that he found someone that plays at his level and they talk a lot during their play.

More fun with nature and the microscope...

2011-10-03T17:24:00.000+08:00

Today at 7.30am, we went to Kiara Park to exercise and collect stream water, leaves and mosses to view under our microscope. Reese kept asking whether the fungi we saw 2 weeks ago are still there on the stump or has new fungi taken over, whether we will see more types of mosses...bla...bla..bla...Reese also took along a small magnifying glass and was so happy searching for/looking at bugs, fungi and leaves. I find that now he is not afraid to walk on wet/tall grass. Less cautious with mother nature. That's good but this mummy is still not very comfortable! :)

Checking out mosses

Mom! I can see fungi!

See the little insects next to the fungus? I wonder what they are. They have some bright orange spots on them.

A type of fungi. Don't know the name!

Looks like a worm right? Reese calls it a wormy fungus.

Pick up some mosses and pollen from some flowers to view under the microscope

After lunch, I prepared the slides for viewing. It was really interesting. Stream water was the best (MUST TRY). When we viewed it through the microscope, we saw little dots moving everywhere! and even one very strange looking squarish organism that looked like a waffle swimming around. Reese was fascinated. I wonder what those things are. Probably some insect larvae? Need to search the internet for more information. It was a good learning experience for both of us. Our toy microscope is so much fun.

Milestones at 5 Years Old

2011-10-01T07:03:00.000+08:00

My baby is 5 years old! 5 wonderful adventurous years with this little being. It's been awhile since I updated his milestones. When he was very much younger, milestones were updated monthly but this mummy has grown lazy. :) Let's see what my boy has achieved so far.

Size - He is very tall for his age and weighs a staggering 25 kgs plus.
Food - One word to describe him. He is a foodie! He eats Western, Chinese, Italian, Lebanese, Spanish... and even Indian food! Food is his motivation.
Personality - A very friendly boy. Everyone is his friend. He likes role playing with his friends. He is very cheeky and super playful.
Emotional - Still a little immature for his age but he is getting better. He still lacks empathy but again it is improving. He is the type that will listen if you reason well with him.
Physical - Ah, not an adventurous boy. Afraid to explore heights if it requires him to climb! He is not agile at all. Hopefully by going to gymnastic class, it will help him. :) We got him a bicycle and a scooter (from his grandaunt) and intend to get him to learn to cycle and scoot around! Yeah... he can't cycle yet. Our fault but he can skate! hehehe...
He is already off diapers completely and no longer drinks formula milk.
Education - Confirmed gifted by a developmental pediatrician. In general he is about 2 to 3 years ahead of his peers in academics. Science is one of his favorite subjects and he doesn't like math because he doesn't like doing addition and subtraction but he likes word problems.
Reading - He loves reading books. He has started to read his first chapter book (The Story of Dr. Dolittle) and also comics (Tintin). He still prefers books with illustration. He can read newspaper too.
Drawing - He loves to draw. Started drawing at 3 years 9 months old. He draws to tell stories. Everything that he draws are from memory and most drawings took less than 15 minutes to complete. His drawings are always filled with incredible details. Some told us even a 9 year old can't draw like him.
Play - He loves role play with his friends. Now that I got him some playmates, he will always look forward to playing with them. His favorite toy is still wooden blocks. He likes to build structures and then have them destroyed by some kind of disaster.
Field trips - He loves it. :)
My boy doesn't watch TV much. We turn on the TV every Saturday morning and hope he will watch some cartoons but after a while he will turn it off by himself! At times he will ask for TV to watch his favorite cartoon and sometimes we will all sit together to watch some amazing documentaries. On average, he watches TV once or twice or sometimes none at all in a week.

My dear son is really a wonderful child. He is always happy and hyper active. He is a child that can be controlled easily. As he grows older, it becomes even easier. Reasoning works well with him. We hope in the years to come he will continue to be good, healthy and happy! :)

A surprise 5th birthday party at McDonalds for Reese and his schoolmates

Reese's First Chapter Book

2011-09-29T06:33:00.000+08:00

Reese loves books with illustrations. He is not a fan of chapter books. His reading level has improved tremendously. He is reading at Grade 4 level (for 9 years old). He is a fast reader. Whenever we give him something to read out loud, before he reads to you, he will read in his heart the contents in that page in a blink of an eye. He tends to skip pages usually to pages with interesting illustrations first. If he really likes a book, he will read it over and over again.

We have a booklist of readers to read for this year and Reese has come to the last book. It is a chapter book with minimal illustrations. When I showed him the book he was not interested. He asked me to read to him instead. So to get him interested, I read some paragraphs and he did the rest. Only manage 1 chapter a day. As the story develops, he is slowly taking an interest in it. We are reading 'The Sword in the Tree'.

BUT

there is one chapter book that he likes and is reading it all by himself! It is 'The Story of Dr. Dolittle'. It is one of the read aloud books that I am doing with him. The story is quite interesting with strange creatures and adventures of a human doctor who can speak animal languages, going about saving monkeys and sailing to strange places in Africa... no wonder my son is reading the book even though it has minimal illustration! It's really wonderful seeing him flipping page after page looking for his favorite parts in the book.

The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting is highly recommended The story contains suspense and adventure but there is little explicit violence. Great book to spur a child's imagination!

A Microscopic World...

2011-09-27T07:12:00.001+08:00

Reese was introduced to the microscopic world when he first read Greg's Microscope by Millicent E.Selsam a few months back. A lovely level 3 reader under the series An I Can Read Book.

Reese enjoys reading this book

Toy Microscope - MicroPro by Educational Insights

For Reese's birthday, we bought him microscope (MicroPro-Educational Insights). It is pretty impressive. It came with some prepared slides for viewing and other tools for making your own slides. Reese was really happy. We had been looking at salt, sugar, saliva, sand, thread... all in 1 day. It's easy to use and it came with a light source that makes viewing easier. It allows magnification of up to 600x. Quite well built and friendly for kids. The microscope can easily be tilted to a child's viewing level. Adult supervision is necessary for a young child because you need to do adjustment to get a clear view of the slides. Very easy to use and so far, we are all enjoying it. There are so many things to look at. We have yet to go collect pond water, perhaps look at bacteria from yogurt! I am also getting The World of the Microscope (Usborne Science and Experiments). Read wonderful reviews about it. It will compliment our microscope really well. Can't wait to do more experiments!

Highly recommended for learning about microscope and its uses for children

Quite a child friendly microscope. It came with prepared slides and other tools for easy sample collection and slide making

I paid RM119 for it. I bought it from Think Toys at The Curve. It is truly an educational toy and hours of fun guaranteed. There are a few other brands of microscope available among the toyshops here. Some are more expensive and some cheaper. I did a research and MicroPro by Educational Insights seems to have the best reviews. I must say I am not disappointed.

My dear son enjoying himself. Totally fascinated by the things he sees through the microscope.

Birthday!

2011-09-26T13:11:00.001+08:00

We celebrated Reese's birthday yesterday. It was an early celebration. His actual birthday is this Friday. It was a simple celebration with family. Reese was very excited about it and can't wait to received his guests! Throughout the day he would asked us whether it was time for his party.

Ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins

Simple yummy food

Blowing his candles!

He had a great time with everyone. He had his first treasure hunt with simple clues to hunt for his presents. After the treasure hunt, he wanted more. Reese got a bicycle, ant artist (To observe ants' tunnelling) and microscope from me and hubby, a nice scooter from his aunt and uncle and ang pows from both maternal and paternal grandparents.

My boy is 5. Five wonderful years with this amazing child. I am so blessed. :)

Introduction to Malaysian History

2011-09-23T06:05:00.000+08:00

Being a homeschooling family, we rely heavily on materials mostly from US and thus, there isn't any support when it comes to learning about our own country. To find suitable material to teach Reese about our country's history which is not bias is definitely not easy. First of all, most history books are crap and it is in Bahasa Malaysia. I needed one that is in English and not too deep for a young child to understand.

Sometime back, I found History of Malaysia - A Children's Encyclopedia book by Tunku Halim. It is written in brief but comprehensive fashion. Just a nice introduction for children to our history. The book has lots of pictures and illustration. The book retailed at about RM65. The author has another book which is somewhat like a novel entitled A Children's History of Malaysia. I have not read that book yet but will do so soon.

I for see the only way to teach Reese Malaysian history is through books written by different independent authors and the internet. I cannot rely on school history text books which do not truly reflect the truth!

With out recent visit to Melaka, Reese is beginning to learn more about our country. It's about time to teach him our country's history and be proud of it! Honestly, I have forgotten most of what I had learned in school. So it's going to be fun learning together with Reese and I have plans to visit every state in Malaysia as we learn about the past!

I also found Where Monsoons Meet (Not for young children) a very interesting book on Malaysian History in a different perspective. It is out of print but I found a forum that shares the book through scanned pages. Worth a read. :) I am trying to get my hands on this book!

Oh, I also found this little bookshop at Lot G35, The Summit USJ. Yes I know, it is a terrible shopping mall but I found this bookstore by accident and I like it. It is Bookalicious! The interesting thing about this bookstore is that they sell a lot of books on Malaysia. Their books are somewhat between the prices of Bookxcess and regular bookstore chains. Go check it out.

Gymnastic YES!

2011-09-15T06:30:00.001+08:00

YES! Finally there is something that Reese seems to enjoy and most importantly he listens/follows (80% of the time) instruction. He did not disrupt the class of 6 kids (including him). :)

Yesterday took him to Flykidz for a trial lesson and he loves it. Teachers were nice but strict at the same time. In fact they told off kids with stern voices when they misbehave but also praises the kids when they do well. It was really a good balance. Reese actually listened.

The lesson is for an hour. 1 couch to 6 children max. It's quite a big place and each week children were trained to do different things with different routine. They have 3-4 stations. Each station has a 'magic' carpet where children are required to sit down and learn a particular routine/activity (Children are taught basic gymnastic movements). Then they will take turns to do it. Being Reese, he was not able to sit still and every time he tried to get up or move around too much he will be warn sternly. Thank God he listened and wait for his turn.

Before they begin the lesson, they will do warm up with the kids and it was really fun watching little kids shaking their butts and moving they bodies! It was hilarious. Towards the end of the lesson, the children got to play a game or two and are allowed to make as much noise as they want and run around. My dear son truly enjoys his experience there.

I am so glad to have found something that will help him to learn discipline and also socialize. Next on the to do list is perhaps to let him learn Chinese. This is an area I can't help him.

** In case you wonder how much are the lessons, it is RM500 per term ( 3 months, once a week). So it's about RM41.70 per lesson. It's not cheap but the place is well equipped and teachers are dedicated. They have a centre in Solaris, Mont Kiara and Sunway Giza, Dataran Sunway.

Day Trip to Melaka

2011-09-14T05:22:00.002+08:00

It was a cloudy Sunday morning, just had our breakfast at Petaling Street and I was talking to husband about the food here made me think of food I had some 20 years ago. Then some how Melaka came into our conversation and the next thing we knew, we were on our way to Melaka braving the heavy rain and miraculously once we reached Melaka town centre, the rain stopped (Well, Reese prayed for the rain to stop!). We took Reese to try chicken rice balls which was terrible. Just do not understand why it is so famous! Then we went to see the sights, walk along Jonker street, had the umbrella shaped red bean with coconut ice cream, found some childhood toys, tasted some really good ice white coffee and cendol with very rich gula Melaka. Next, went to look for the famous crepe cake. It was packed but the cakes were really good. Layers after layers of crepe with cream.

Next we went to another part of town and took a ride up the Gyro Tower (RM10 for adult and RM5 for kid). Saw the entire skyline of Melaka town. Next, Reese went on a car and motorbike ride and had so much fun. About 6pm we went out of Melaka town to look for one of the famous Malay seafood place and ended up eating at the wrong shop but it was still good and super cheap! We had a big stingray, big prawns and squids. It was only RM50.

We really enjoy this impromptu trip blessed with cool weather. Will go back again soon.

Reese was one happy boy exploring Melaka

Mummy/Daddy and son photos

White coffee served in a vase like glass filled with solid ice and it was really strong. They are also famous for cendol with durian topping

Can't wait to dig into the yummy cake. Reese had 1 whole slice to himself!

See the layers of crepe?

Gyro Tower

On his ride. He was big and thus the car moves rather slowly

Some of the yummy seafood we had for dinner

Work and Play

2011-09-14T04:23:00.000+08:00

Some fun moments I would like Reese to remember. One moment he was playing soldier and another he was doing math. How I wish I had a chance to learn like him.

Soldier Reese took a break from fighting and sat down to work on a Math worksheet

Mom, check out my helmet!

After a lesson, both Reese and his new playmate decided to play restaurant

Check out the feast they prepared. A saw is handy in their kitchen :)

I cannot imagine what it would be like for Reese to go schooling in a regular school with rigid rules and lot's of discipline. I think he will have nightmare going to school! I really hope God will provide me with whatever I need to guide my son in his education journey all the way through high school. Thinking of it makes me shiver with a little uncertainty and fear.

Playmate

2011-09-11T05:36:00.002+08:00

God is good. I have been scratching my head as to how I can find playmates for Reese to help him socialize better as time is always a luxury we do not have.

A student of mine is now homeschooling with me for 4 months. So she comes twice a week and she is a year older than Reese. Last Wednesday was her first lesson in my home and it went really well. Both kids played well together.

After the girl's lesson, she got to play with Reese for a good half hour. They turn the play room into their 'home'. They went marketing on their little bikes, cook and eat together in their 'home'. Then they turn their 'home' into a shopping mall! Again, ride their bikes in and out of their 'shop' shopping for things to be displayed in their shop. Observing, my boy is no different from a typical kid. Role play with his new friend with logic and creativity. At times he led in the play and vice versa. It's a good balance. They hold meaningful conversation and were truly happy playing with each other. My son is normal. He is capable to socialize with others provided they are at his level. He is already missing his new friend. The coming months, he will get to play and learn with my student. I am so happy. Planning to bring them for field trips together too. Ah, what fun it is going to be.

What if you got separated?

2011-09-09T09:54:00.002+08:00

What do you teach your child to do when they accidentally got separated from you or during an emergency?

I have thought about this many times and yet not sure how to teach Reese to response in case he got separated. At almost 5, what can he do?

So I told him and explain to him that if he got separated from us, first thing to do is to look around and find a woman stranger (find a man only if there is no woman stranger around) or a security guard to help you. Tell her/him you got separated and ask her to help you call mummy/daddy.

I made Reese memorize our mobile numbers. Told him not to cry and be brave so that he can say our mobile numbers correctly to the stranger. Next week I will teach to remember our home address.

We live in a condo, so I taught him what to do if he was accidentally left in the lift alone. Told him to go straight up to our floor and wait there for us.

Another very important thing is to teach him how to dial 999 or is it another number in case of an emergency? Gosh... see how ignorant I am? I have to find out because I remember they have a different number that is for all emergency? Being a parent sure isn't easy.

We live in a scary and violent world. We may think that we will never be careless enough to lose our children or faint in the house... but we never know. Children are never too young to be educated to response to an emergency. Kids are smart! If you haven't started to educate them in this area.... start now! :)

Oh... if you have even better ways to help kids stay safe... share with me...

National Science Centre Positive Change!

2011-09-05T14:55:00.004+08:00

If you have read some posts back on our visit to the National Science Centre, you will find that I said it was in a sorry state. Today I was so surprise to see that the place is better equipped and added some new playground/activities for children. Now I highly recommend that you bring your children there! Adult ticket is RM3 and children under 6 is free. We spent 3 hours there today. The place has been refurbished with some new exhibits and new play area for children. There is the Foam Factory where children can play with foam balls, some vacuum like machine and air guns for shooting foam balls (1U has a similar foam ball playground which you have to pay RM30?) Then it has a nice playground with a very tall tunnel for sliding. Lot's of fun. It even has a big bouncy area for kids to bounce around. Oh.... it even has a huge hamster wheel for kids to run on. We didn't get to try that because it was not open yet.

The foam factory. In the middle there is a fountain that shoots out foam balls

Bounce away!

We visited the nature park of some sort. Can't remember the name. We saw butterflies, different types of plants and creepy crawlies. It was a nice place. They have a lab in there where two young men show us around the place and explain the metamorphosis cycle, showing us bugs and caterpillars at various stages and cocoons too! They even have microscopes for kids to view slides of plants. Very interesting.

Holding a caterpillar

Stick Insect

Cocoons in various stages. We were lucky to see a newly 'hatched' butterfly

First time looking through a microscope

Then there were some really cool gadgets and experiments for kids to enjoy. By the way, we had almost the entire science centre to ourselves because it's a Monday and we were there at 9.30am. We get to do anything we want with no queues. We have yet to visit the outdoor playground which we saw water play as well. We will definitely go back now that it is full of fun things to do.

One of Reese's favorite activity. Moving balls to different place using different mechanism

Two gigantic moving dinosaurs at the centre court

Having fun with the walking piano

Another fun activity. You have to paddle to move the 'plane'

Operating a crane to hook up a wire ball

An imprint of Reese's body

Resource centre for some reading

Currently there is an exhibition on Dinosaurs going on. Ticket price is RM8 for adult and children RM6 (roughly). We didn't bother to go because I don't think it's worth it. Hehehe...

Cursive Writing

2011-09-04T06:34:00.001+08:00

My dear son has taken an interest in cursive writing. It all started with one of the storybooks he read. It had a list written in cursive. So I search the net for a site that has cursive writing and started to print them out for Reese to write. He likes it. He is quite good at it too. So far we did 'a,g,d,c' with just one worksheet for each letter and he is able to remember how to write them correctly.

I am just wondering, should a child at such a young age practise writing cursive when his manuscript writing is not that good (I do not practise handwriting with him). He tends to mix both upper and lower case together when he writes. He needs more practice. Maybe I should make him practice both. :)

Cursive 'g' written by Reese

Site that we use for cursive writing:

http://www.kidzone.ws/cursive/index.htm

http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/cursive.htm

Paper Toys for Free!

2011-09-03T07:07:00.003+08:00

Did this in 20 minutes

I found a lovely site that allows you to print paper models of many different landmarks, vehicles, people and many other things for free. Yes, it's absolutely free. They are quite easy to make. You just need to print them out on paper and if you want a bigger version of the models, just bring it to a photocopy shop and have it enlarged!

No need to spend money buying those paper models selling in bookshops! Check it out. I love it. www.papertoys.com

Some Great Books I Found this Month...

2011-09-01T08:14:00.004+08:00

Great books

In the month of August, I bought 26 books and a box set of 50 books (Mr. Men). Crazy? Yeah... I think so. I just cannot resist buying great books and the best part is, these books are heavily discounted.

Let's see what I bought, first I found some books on empathy selling at RM5 per book if you buy 5 I think. Then I bought 3 books (Buy 2 free 1) Osborne Young Reading Series and Reese's first comic from MPH.

A few days back we found a little nice bookshop (Bookalicious!) in Summit. It has quite an interesting selection of books and in general it is cheaper than MPH, Borders and the like. Some of its books can be as cheap as Bookxcess. Oh, if you like books that are banned here in Malaysia, you might find them here. :) So here I found 'You Wouldn't Want to Be' series. Nice illustration (similar to MAD comics style). I like this series very much. It's an informal way of learning History and Geography of the World and they are cheap. Only RM9.90 per book. Retail price is about RM40. I found Scholastic Part-of-Speech and Part of Punctuation series a good way to introduce grammar to Reese. These are in story form so it's not technical at all. It's on promotion. Buy 2 free 1 at RM12.90 per book.

Yesterday, we went to Popular Bookfest and got the Readers' Digest Children Illustrated World Atlas at RM24.90 and oooohhhh.... my all time favorite Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree Series at RM9.90 per book and a craft book for boys at RM19.90. At the book fest, you can find some really good bargains and some books were even cheaper than Bookxcess.

So my damage for this month is about RM400 +.

Coming October there is the Big Bad Wolf sale.... another round of damage coming!! AND

Mid October I will be ordering Reese's homeschool books for the next 2 years and that is going to be even damaging. Crazy crazy crazy......

**I guess as long as it helps in Reese's learning process it is all worth it!

Coming to Five...

2011-08-29T06:27:00.003+08:00

In a month, Reese would be five. 5 wonderful years with my little boy. It feels surreal. I remembered how fragile he was and how much protection he needed from us. He is growing up to be a fine young man. Mild in temper (to me) and an obedient boy at most time. I miss carrying him and have him rely on me. He is getting so independent and I can hardly carry him.

Yesterday was one of those days that he wanted to be carried because he was sleepy and also just wanted to 'manja'. It felt so good carrying him with him hugging me tight. Of course it's no easy feat carrying a 25kgs plus!! I was amazed that carried him from 1 end (old wing) of 1U to the other end(new wing). My boy is growing up so fast.

In my eyes, he is a handsome little boy. I always asked my hubby, is your son still handsome? Hehehe... I always wonder whether he will grow up a handsome boy or not. We were at the cinema yesterday and saw this advertisement of a nerdy looking young man in it. I told hubby, I hope Reese will not grow up to be a nerd and hubby said, eh! that is the latest fashion for men! mmmmm.... Well, whatever it is... I want my son to be a fashionable, attractive, confident young man! ;) Hubby then said he will most probably be a 'bad boy' and I was like... never mind, as long as he is smart and give himself a good life....oklah... terrible me isn't it? :)

Then we headed to Salvation Warehouse to browse at some CDs. I was looking at some kids' worship songs for Reese. Then we tried a few popular ones. Both hubby and I felt that they were too adult! Then I asked hubby....could we be a little outdated? hehehhe...

We are really like hermits. Hardly go out and socialize. Got to do more of that.

I should be thinking about his birthday party! What to do this year? It's going to be his last year at school (I have decided to pull him out after all). Presents.....what to buy? I am thinking of a microscope. He has been asking about it because he wants to see tiny things. Paternal grandparents want to get him Dandy and Beano Annuals. They said those are good comics for Reese to read.

Field Trip to The KL Bird Park

2011-08-27T06:48:00.004+08:00

Reese and a classmate

My very active cheeky boy

Making faces

Pouting Lips

This boy has no fear until he got clawed by this big bird

Feeding the Lorries. At first very excited until... he got bitten!

Happiest when feeding the ostrich and Emu

Yesterday we went to KL Bird Park with his school and playgroup kids. We were there from 8.45am-1.30pm. It was fun for Reese and quite a good experience being near birds. Fed the Lorries but they became quite aggressive and Reese got bitten on the finger. Cried so much. So for those of you intending to feed the Lorries, please be careful. The birds are like vultures. 5 to 6 birds will go for the food the moment you offer them.

Reese got to feed ostriches and Emus, pat baby chicks, watch the bird show and walk a lot. Good place to bring kids. It's very cooling as well. Entire place is shaded because of the netting around the aviary. Toilets are clean and snacks and resting places are everywhere.

At the end of the trip, Reese declared that it was a good trip. He enjoyed it very much despite the biting. :)

My Boys

2011-08-26T06:20:00.002+08:00

I thank God for giving me these two insanely wonderful creatures. Yeah... creatures they are. They are the centre of my life. Sometimes they are a pain in the a** but I love them to bits. I felt so blessed. Everyday I am showered with kisses and hugs and my favorite, hugging them like bolsters! Especially the younger creature. He is so meaty and gladly lets you hug him in anyway you want. Ah.... Thank you God.

Teaching Math and Great FREE Resources

2011-08-25T03:18:00.006+08:00

When I was young, the way math was taught to me was pretty straight forward. For addition and subtraction, use your fingers as part of your counting tool. There aren't many manipulative used. I was never very good at math. In fact, I think I was quite slow with counting because 10 fingers were not enough and I have to use alternatives then!

A few years ago, I attended a short workshop on how to teach math to young children. The first rule I learned was never to teach your child to count using fingers. Yes, no fingers. Use manipulative (beads, blocks and anything you can think of) for visual understanding and learning of concepts. In the early years, children learn about addition and subtraction facts. How do you teach them these concepts?

For me, I started introducing the concept of addition with manipulative like beads. Ones the child understand the concept, I go on with the introduction of symbols like '+' and '=' and what they mean. Next we work in a systematic approach with addition of 0,1,2,3 and so on. Once the child mastered addition facts, subtraction would be easier and I teach him the relationship between addition and subtraction. Reese never use his fingers for counting. It's counting with number lines or by heart.

There are many math programs out there in the market. These programs boast of teaching math with critical thinking skills, mental arithmetic and many many other big words thrown into their marketing. If you do careful research and with patience you can find books, free worksheets and know-how to do all of the above. :) Don't need to spend so much money sending your children to enrichment centers.

I found some really great worksheets on the internet that teach children addition/subtraction/multiplication and division facts. I love it. It is systematic and it trains the child to remember the facts (mental math). Once a child remembers these facts, the child would have mastered half of the syllabus in early math (Pre K-Standard 3).

Addition/Subtraction Facts Worksheets

Check out free math worksheets by John Woodward . These worksheets are systematic, repetitive (drills) and the author suggest working on the worksheets daily. For me, we only do these worksheets on alternate days. So work with your child and see how much he/she can take it. It is really good!

Math Books

I am using Horizons Math by AOP publishing from the U.S. It is a very colorful workbook and uses the spiral method of teaching. Generally more advance than most math programs in the U.S.

What is spiral method?

"Hands-on learning is included in every lesson through the use of manipulatives suggested in the teacher's guide. All material is presented in a 'spiral-learning' format. This is where a few concepts are introduced at a time as the material is reviewed and previous concepts are reinforced."

"Fundamental concepts previously obtained in earlier units are reviewed in subsequent grade levels for true mastery. Every math concept follows a general pattern of gradual development in all seven grade levels." (Taken from the Publisher's website)

I really love this program because it's colorful, each day Reese works on a few different concepts and boredom is eliminated. Concepts are repeated but spread over a few lessons and the child don't even realize it.

Do you know that one of the best math programs/books is from Singapore? Concepts are introduced first with visuals and gradually to abstract form. Critical thinking plays a big part in Singapore math. It uses the mastery method where 1 concept is introduce at a time until mastered before moving on to the next concept. It usually comes with a text book (full color) and workbooks (black and white). It is so good that it even has a US edition selling just for the US market. It is one of the top 3 preferred math programs for homeschoolers in the US and here. We can easily get Singapore math from local bookshops like Popular bookstore.

I have seen some of these books but I didn't like it because they are dull and black & white and I don't like mastery method. We are so used to the colorful workbook from Horizons Math. This is my personal preference. Singapore math is still one of the best around.

Educational Videos

You can also check out Khan Academy for some pretty neat videos on teaching math. In fact, at Khan Academy, they have educational videos that teach almost anything you can think of! It free.

If you find my recommendation helpful please share your experience with me and others.

Reese the Author

2011-08-24T06:31:00.007+08:00

Reese drew some of the characters of Mr. Men and Little Miss.

Reese is really into Mr. Men. So much so he decided to create new characters. His first is Mr. Faint. He made a little booklet about him in less than 15 minutes. Did the entire thing all by himself (except mummy cut and stapled the paper for him).

Mr. Faint by Roger ....(he is trying to write cursive) Book 51

(Picture of Mr. Faint which does not exist in the collection. It's entirely a new character by Reese Matthew Kam )

One sunny day, Mr. Faint went to Washington to wash his

(See Mr. Faint holding a lot of jellies)

Jelly. Plop! Plop! Doom! Doom! Rumble! Rumble! Bbboommm!

(Plop!Plop! means jelly dropping and picture shows Washington with fireworks)

and he fainted. Onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineteneleven he said.

(Picture shows balloons, flags -streamers, a party is going on)

Rant for the day...

2011-08-23T05:58:00.004+08:00

At times, I just want to relax and do nothing. Absolutely nothing. Sounds familiar? Or is it just me? :)

When I do nothing, it gets addictive. The more I don't want to do anything, the more tired I become. Does it make sense? I can spend the day just playing iPad, surf the net, read a little and sleep.

No homeschooling for a few days, house left uncleaned, no cooking, sometimes eating out too, I am lazy... and I am too lazy to entertain Reese. During such time, my body and mind just refuse to work together. My mind will kept thinking about the dirty floors, pages of worksheets to be done with Reese, eating too much outside food - bad for health....etc and yet my body just refused to budge.

Guilt will slowly crept into me. Haunt me for days until I return to my usual self. :) I guess this is considered battery discharging and recharging.

Drawing in 3D

2011-08-20T05:42:00.003+08:00

Yesterday Reese drew this and told us that it is Sienna, Italy. At first it looks like his usual drawings until hubby pointed out that this was drawn in 3D and aerial view of Sienna. His sense of depth and perspective is getting really good. He drew this in less than 15 minutes. It's all spontaneous drawing. I am truly amazed at his ability. A couple of days ago hubby and I were casually talking about our talent in art. Hubby said that when he was in primary, he would draw robots and sell them to his classmates! Apparently he was really good at it and got lots of requests! As for me, I was quite good at art too. I love drawing cartoons and designing stuff. I was the head of art in the editorial board when I was in secondary school. So I guess Reese did inherit some of our artistic talent? :)

Aerial view of Sienna, Italy

Reese wrote...

2011-08-19T06:37:00.003+08:00

Reese is a seed.
He can grow big.
He needs a brown branch.
Soon cherries grew on the tree.
Then the leaves begin to die.

He did this yesterday afternoon. He can spell quite well except the word 'cherries' and 'leaves' Reese wrote 'cherrys' and 'leav'.

Reese's First Comic...

2011-08-19T05:52:00.006+08:00

Two Sundays ago we went to MPH and saw an interesting comic series. It's produced by Gempak, a popular local comic publisher. The comic is originally from Korea. It is a science comic series. Illustration looks good and it's really cheap. Only RM10.90 and supposedly sold more than 8 million copies in Korea!

So I pick one that talks about Survival During An earthquake and show it to Reese who instantly found it interesting. So after reading it for some time, we bought one for him. Thinking it would be nice learning more facts through fun reading with lots of illustration.

Reese was somewhat obsessed with it. Day and night he was reading the book. Then a day later, Reese suddenly exclaimed to me... "Mummy, I wanna PUKE!" I looked at him with disbelief and asked him whether he knows what puke meant and he said vomit. Wow! honestly, I didn't like the word puke...sounded rough. Then another day or so he came to me and said "What THE..." Gosh, that irritates me because I find that very very rude! and where did he learn all these? from the comic book. He also learned to make/write dramatic sound effect like Drrrrrr, Arrggg, Whooh, Doom...when he talks/writes his stories/drawings. Did he learn any new facts about surviving an earthquake? Only heard him talk about 1 survival tip.....

Influenced by the comic. Reese added sound effects to his drawing. Here is a picture of a tsunami. A huge wave approaching a town with people (stick figures) running and people shouting Tsunami.

So is it a good idea to expose him to comics? Maybe I should have waited a little longer before doing so as I felt the phases and expressions in the book are not meant for a nearly 5 year old! Plus I don't think he really understand some of the humor and he constantly bug me with questions about it. Ha..ha..ha..

This series touches on many subjects and they do look educational but it's for children 8 and onwards

Paris and Italy Invasion!

2011-08-18T07:52:00.004+08:00

Reese is crazy over Paris and Italy. He is so excited about his trip next year February that he will read, draw a lot of pictures, watch documentaries, talk about them and even practice saying French and Italian names! If you have a chat with him, he can tell you a lot about these two countries. You might even think that he has been there! :)

City of Rome burning

City of Paris with a lot of birds surrounding the Eiffel tower

The old city of Rome with the Colosseum being the main feature

Paris with Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame (with clock??)

Unrelated but for the record...

Neuschwanstein castle, Germany

Inca City, Peru

What is your Child's Learning Style?

2011-08-17T05:46:00.005+08:00

When we were in school, we were expected to learn in the manner in which material was presented, often in textbook form with a lot of repetition, drill and pencil-and-paper test. Many parents including myself never encountered the idea of learning styles when we were in school.

If a child had difficulty learning, the child was assumed to have been at fault. Some of those children may have been underachievers, or felt as if they were failures because they didn't learn concepts the way the teacher presented them.

Today we know that how we learn has a big impact on whether we learn at all, and that the same material can be presented and evaluated effectively in a few different ways. Mismatches between a child's learning style and the learning environment are a frequent cause of learning difficulties.

There are 3 types of learning styles

Visual Learning

Chileren learn best by seeing things. They benefit from diagrams, charts, pictures, films and etc.

Auditory Learning

Children learn best by hearing things. They benefit from read aloud, information is presented and requested verbally.

Kinesthetic Learning

These are children that learn best by experiencing/doing things. They benefit from total engagement with a learning activity. They learn faster through drama presentation, science lab, field trips and etc.

Another way to approach the idea of learning styles is to ask whether we learn best by seeing (visual) or by hearing (auditory) and whether we arrange things and ideas best in space (spatial) or in time (sequential). A visual-spatial learner will be able to 'see' patterns and connections in space. People with this learning style often excel in art, architecture, physics and etc. An auditory-sequential learner will be able to 'hear' patterns and connections in the realm of time. Writers, musical composers and lecturers must have strong auditory-sequential skills.

The traditional school model favors an auditory-sequential style. Children are expected to learn in a step-by-step sequential manner. In school, children are usually surrounded by words rather than pictures as the primary information source. In school, the emphasis is on rote memorization and reiteration of details.

The visual-spatial learner, however, often learns best by not following the usual sequence of steps, by thinking and doing in 3D - with design and construction and experimentation - rather than with pencil and paper, and by exploring 'big picture' concepts before delving into details and facts.

Understanding how children learn best and prefer to learn saves time and energy in the long term; learning is more efficient and frustration reduced. Once you know your child's styles and preferences, you can think of creative ways to introduce new subjects and reinforce previous learning.

Can't figure out your child's learning style? No worries, start with mix media learning. :) Do you realized that multimedia always appeals to children? It is because it satisfies the many learning preferences that a child may embody.

Some examples to facilitate different learning styles (reference to Creative Homeschooling by Lisa Rivero):

Visual Learning

Vides, books with plenty of pictures, chalkboard/whiteboard, paints and other art supplies for creative experimentation and play, charts, photographs, pictures- encourage the child to hang maps and posters around the house; cut colorful photos and graphics form magazines to put in scrapbook, art museum field trips.

Auditory learning

CDs - start early in allowing the child his or her own music collection bayed on personal taste books on tape are great for car rides or bed-time relaxation, musical toys and instruments- encourage children to make their own, plenty of opportunities for informal discussion - mealtime, car time and etc.

Kinesthetic Learning

Floor puzzle, blocks, chalkboard/white board, Cooking and building activities, field trips, role plays.

Spelling!

2011-08-15T06:36:00.006+08:00

Now that Reese reads so well, it is about time to start teaching him spelling! Since he was taught phonetics from young, he can spell 3-4 letter words comfortably. So it makes spelling easier for him. Honestly, I do not want to force him to memorize words because it's stressful, boring and eventually they will forget the words when not used.

My strategy was to start with common words that are used frequently in writing and reading. I casually asked him to spell 1-12 and he could spell everything except number eight, seven, eleven and twelve. We repeated the spelling of the words he can't spell and played teacher-student game. We did both orally and in writing ( on the whiteboard). We tackle 2 - 4 words at a time and repeat these words a few times throughout the week. Each time in less than 5 minutes. Every now and then, I will casually dare him to spell words he learned and give him a lot of praises. NO REPETITIVE WRITING ON EXERCISE BOOK for us.

I started this about 3 weeks ago and so far, he has covered numbers 1-12, Sunday-Saturday, the word week and month, January-June and some words that he was interested in.

I realized that because he reads extensively and coupled with his superb memory, he picks up the spelling of many words both partially and completely. It makes teaching spelling easier for me. ;) Just two days ago, he asked me how to spell the word 'delicious' and after 2-3 times of writing the word, he can spell it on his own. Awesome isn't it?

Reese loves to add speech in his drawing. Here he spelled the word 'delicious' on his own.