A Microscopic World...

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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?

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!

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

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!

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...

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...

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

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

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

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.