Stories through drawings II

My dear son is drawing a lot than usual. He draws about games, landmarks, imaginary stories... below are some of his latest drawings. His habit is to draw and explain his drawing at the same time. Each picture usually takes 10 - 15 minutes to finish. Everything he draws are entirely from memory. It's just amazing to see each month his progress in drawing. This batch we saw him experimenting with fonts and also comic style dialogue boxes.

Inspired by Landmarks/Books/Movies

Japan. Sushi shop, celebration rocket, Torri gate and 20th Century Fox (decoration)

Rio - Christ the Redeemer

A city in China. See the Great Wall?

Pompeii - This time the structures are drawn in a more realistic manner

Flowers and mountains

Castle drawn in an interesting angle

China

China - temple and lion dance

Hotels and shops (see the signboards) Titanic in the background

Italy - Florence

Earthquake

Mary, Mary quite contrary...

Israelites crossing the Red Sea

Inspired by Games

Plants Vs Zombies

UFO Attack - Sim City

Tower Madness

Others

Started to write dialogues in his drawing

Check out the different fonts he wrote in. On the left, he uses dots to make out the word BtA BEV, On the right top, he wrote the word CRASH! in the lighting strikes, and below some alphabets with strings attached. He is getting creative. :)

Emperor At Work

Doing his math and insisted on wearing his 'robe'

Mom, I am not teacher Reese, I am emperor now!

"I am the Emperor" declared Reese. This week, he is the emperor of China. We are all from China. He calls me Chinese woman. He is Chinese boy at times. He tells daddy you are part of the family and we all live in the Forbidden City. He wears a 'robe' everywhere in the house. It's one of those old batik dresses he found in my mom's place. He talks about everything China. He told me about Porcelain Tower of Nanjing (seriously, I don't even know what this is until I read about it!), the Great Wall of China, we read 'A story about Ping' that talks about the Yangtze river.

First time at Sushi King and really enjoyed his sushi

Last week he was into Japan. He asked me whether all Chinese people can eat wasabi! He talks about Torri gate, Tokyo Tower and of course sushi. He has been asking his daddy to try sushi. He claims that it is good for him! Hahaha...

Neuschwanstein Castle

Just last Sunday, we were at Popular bookstore and Reese and his dad were looking at some miniature building blocks. There were a few structures and one of them was a castle. Reese asked his daddy what is the name of the castle. The daddy tried to read the name which was in German and because it was a German name, he did not pronounce it right. Guess what? Reese stopped his dad from pronouncing it and CORRECTED his pronunciation of that word (Neuschwanstein castle)! Daddy was a little surprised. So he asked Reese whether he knows where the castle is and Reese promptly told him that it was from Germany! Daddy was really surprised. Hahahaha...

You can find this book at Popular Bookstore for RM15.95

Geo Walk ipad app

My dear son has been reading this book '1000 Words Around the World' and playing an iPad App call Geo Walk. Both the book and app gave him a wealth of information on countries around the world.

Using Google as a learning tool

Many parents boast how good their young kids are with electronic devices like operating the TV and CD players, opening certain websites like Youtube on the computer and play their favourite videos. Is this good? Well, it depends on how you see it. To me, I only teach what is really necessary. Till today, Reese doesn't know how to operate the remote controls for the TV and players. :) I do not want him to freely turn on the TV. Unfortunately, he found out how to use the air-con remote control and turns on the air-con as and when he feels like it!

The same goes with using the computer. I only teach him what I feel is necessary. Lately, I taught him how to do Google search. He loves to view images and videos of his favourite subjects. Now that he can read and spell, it is about time for him to learn to use Google as a learning tool. I always tried to sit next to him while he searches for images or videos. Don't want him to have access to undesirable materials.

Having an iPad is really great too. It is a wonderful learning tool. There are many free learning tools that explain, demonstrate, show beautiful pictures and videos and etc... It can be quite overwhelming at times but it's really good! Learning has never been this fun during my time.

Reading to me aka the story teller...

Reese reading a Little Miss book with a stuffy nose and cough. Poor boy.

Lately, he likes reading stories to me. Good for me, no need to read so much to him... hehehe...
He is into Little Miss series.

Expansion...

We went to IKEA to get additional shelves. Reese's homeschooling corner is expanding. Books are overflowing and no where to put. His little corner has expanded and has taken half of the living room! With the new bookshelves, they should be sufficient to hold his homeschooling books for the next two years or so! In a few months we will be ordering two years worth of homeschooling materials to take advantage of the lowest shipping rate. It has gone up to 19% if we purchase above USD900. We are saving money!! It's going to be around RM4k plus.... *faint* Anyone wants to contribute? :)

Early this year we bought these but they are no longer sufficient. So now, it has become his toy storage area

Our new shelves! We even put up a few pictures of Reese when he was a baby

Now our living room is divided into two

At Play with Neighbourhood Kids

Yesterday evening, I took Reese to the playground to play. There were about 3 to 4 kids his age playing together. Reese immediately went and joined them. They were playing fishing using a yo-yo as a fishing rod. So I went near the kids to observe.

The first kid said "I going catch golden fish".

The second kid said " I want 'litter' fish".

The third kid said "I want a fish".

and so everyone took turns to fish. It's always golden fish, 'litter' fish and fish but when it comes to Reese's turn to fish, it's different.

Reese said " I want to catch a shark!"/ "I caught a shell fish" / "I caught a crab" / "I am catching a cuttle fish" / "I caught a Dory fish!" / "I caught a prawn.. oh..now shrimps..."

I can see a vast difference between Reese and the kids. Luckily Reese is the easy going type. He communicates with the kids mostly through actions. Half the time they don't understand what he says because of language barrier. Most of the neigbourhood kids speaks Mandarin or broken English. I just hope Reese doesn't pick up the 'lah' and Manglish.

A Typical Day...

Mondays

We get to stay home till 4pm before going to my aunt's place for my classes. I love Mondays because there is no rush to get things done. We will have breakfast and then do our schooling. After that, we will go to the playground. After an hour, we head home and clean up. Reese will then draw or read on his own while I prepare lunch or sometimes, we will head out to the neighbourhood and have lunch.

Tuesdays to Thursdays

First thing in the morning he gets up he will take a book and sit quietly on the sofa to read or he goes to his drawing table and draws. Then he has his breakfast, brush his teeth and gets ready for school. In the car, he will read or sometimes he gets to play the Ipad.

After school, he will eat lunch with me and after that we go to my aunt's place (my teaching place). Reese takes a quick shower and then we will do Math and English worksheets. After that it is free time. He is allowed to do anything he wants. Usually he will draw or play. Then he takes a nap. After nap, more Ipad playing/drawing or sometimes he gets to play with neighbours' kids. After my classes end we go home.

Once home, he will draw, play with toys or read with me (Science/social studies or readers). After an hour or so, he gets ready for bed and reads his bible story book. Then quiet time for about half hour before he drifts off to la la land.

Fridays

Every Friday after school Reese gets to go to his maternal grandparents' home for a few hours to play while mummy works.

Saturdays & Sundays

He watches a little bit of TV in the morning and plays the Ipad, draws, plays with toys and reads. We usually go out for meals and some window shopping at malls.

Sushi and Peeing....

Random things I want to record down. My son has taken a liking to Sushi. I have someone to eat sushi with now! Yeah! My dear hubby doesn't like it. :)

Yesterday, I started to train Reese to pee standing (Yes, all these years... he pees sitting). I thought it's going to be a struggle but surprise surprise.... my son did not protest and just promptly change position and hold his birdie calmly and pee. We did have a little accident in the evening when his aiming was out and pee shot all over the toilet! Looks like my threats about not bringing him to Florence if he can't pee standing works! :)

My son is getting more matured lately. Behaves well at school, rarely gets complaints from teachers. He is also playing better with other kids. I am really happy about it.

At home, doing Math worksheets is no longer a struggle as he will willingly sit and do it with me. Not that he doesn't know, it's just that he is lazy to think! bah!

Great Readers Makes a Good Reader

I invest heavily in good books. There are so many great books out there and we will never be able to read them all. For young children learning to read, it is important to buy them the right books. Guided readers are really good. They have appropriate levels to guide the child through different stages of their reading. Readers are great to build confident readers. Never buy a book that is too difficult for a child to read. Go with readers that the child can read and let them enjoy the stories. Increase the difficulty level slowly. Not only do you want your child to be able to read but also comprehend what he reads. Always ask questions or have discussion with your child after he finishes his reading. This help to ensure he understands what he reads and also pick up new vacabulary.

Some of my personal favourite guided readers are from Random House. You can find some of these readers in our local bookstore. If I am not wrong, it is retailing at RM14.90. They have both fiction and non-fiction tittles but limitted. I bought almost all the Stage 4 titles and they are all great.

Usborne Young Reading series is also quite good. They have both fiction and non-fiction. It's only RM11.90 per book(hard cover). They have quite a large selection of titles and are easily available in MPH. Bought both Series two and three readers for Reese. I like the illustration and they do have some interesting non-fiction tittles. We even bought some classics like Around the World in 80 Days, Ulysses and etc.

Another one is I Can Read series. Has over 200 tittles. Mostly fiction.

Do you know our national library is a great place to get these books? Do check it out. You can check online whether they have a certain titles before going there to borrow. I think each person can borrow up to 3 books for 3 weeks. I haven't been there but I did visit their online portal. Quite friendly. Most titles I look for they seems to have it :)

Being Ahead of Reese is a must now...

Taken this morning, after his breakfast... he is on the sofa with a book!

Reese: Mummy, have you seen a man of war?

Reese: How about lovebirds?

Reese: There is even a beach man of war! They eat fish......

Reese: Do you know starboard is the right side of the ship... port is the left side...

Reese: Portholes .... are they the windows of a ship?

I am beginning to feel challenged by Reese! Where did he get those knowledge from? Then I found out that he has been reading the Wildlife fact files! My dear son has been absorbing a lot of knowledge simply by reading. He reads extensively at his school mini library and at home, he will pick up books in our little library to read. He is even reading his children encyclopedia! It is just so wonderful to see him reading for pleasure. Last month and this month alone I bought 10 books for Reese. Our little library is growing and I am getting a kick out of it.... hahaha...

Recent purchases. Reese seems to like non-fiction

By the way, I would like to tell you about this wonderful site that you can buy books from and they provide free shipping to Malaysia and many other countries! I can buy almost any books that are not available here and believe it or not, some books are even cheaper than local bookstores. Books take about 3 to 4 weeks to reach here but the free shipping really makes a big difference(Shipping usually costs between 30-35% of total purchases)!

www.bookdepository.co.uk

I already have many mummies thanking me for introducing Book Depository! Happy shopping!

Leaving School...

After much thinking and consideration, we will stop sending Reese to kindy by end of October.

Some might ask why stop schooling at age 5? Reason is very simple. He is not benefitting from it. Teachers were unable to persuade him to do academic work. Reese's academic level is above what school can provide him. Reese doesn't join most of the activities. Besides playing with the toys/materials, he draws and reads on his own. The new batch of students who came to his school were all 3 and 4 year olds. Most of them hardly knows ABCs.... there is even one that always bullies Reese!

Reese will be fully homeschooled and I will spend less time working (less income for the family!). I am very excited about it but at the same time a little worried about Reese being lonely.

I am going to try to enroll him for some enrichment programs so that he will have social interaction. The reality is he cannot take instructions well in a group environment. Performing arts school rejected him and Takwondo didn't work out either. I still have 2 more options to try, gymnastic and football!

I also arrange play dates for Reese and hopefully it will help. :) He now has a few friends that he goes skating with on alternate weeks which is great. Next week he will start Sunday school at his kindy and hopefully he will fit in well.

He is actually behaving better at school. Less complaints from teachers. A sign of maturity? Should I keep my appointment with the developmental pediatrician in August? Ah.... any suggestions? Saving a few hundred ringgit would be good! hehehe..

School Field Trip and Skating...

Yesterday was the 1st International Mud Day. The school took the kids to Kiara Park to play in the 'mud' to celebrate it. Some of us mummies tagged along to help out. Before we left home to meet the kids at the park, it started to rain really heavily and Reese said in a very loud voice, "Oh mummy, I am SO DISAPPOINTED! Why must God sent rain???" He folded his hands (like Tinker Bell) and pouted his lips. So cute...hahaha...

Anyway, the rain slowed down and we went ahead. The kids had a lot of fun digging, splashing basically mucking around! I tried to catch a fish or two but failed and even got scared and shouted when some black creepy-crawly emerge from the sand...one of the teachers commented that I should not scared the kids and I told her I can't help it... I am a city girl! hahaha....

Busy digging sand

I am having fun!

The kids were really enjoying themselves

After wash up, they had snack

After the field trip, we went home to have lunch and then off we went to BSC for skating. Just two days ago, took Reese to buy a helmet. It's not cheap! RM139. Well, no choice as safety comes first eh? :) Reese spent about 2.5 hours on the roller ring. He didn't want to go home!

Reese and one of the supervisors. He is really nice with kids. Played with Reese a lot and taught him how to skate better

Stories through drawings...

Reese loves telling stories through his drawing. As he draws, he tells us the stories. He doesn't draw for beauty but rather drawing is a way for him to express his thoughts. He is back to drawing 5 to 6 sheets a day.

Mount Vesuvius in Italy and the city of Pompeii. It shows the eruption of the volcano.

Another picture of Vesuvius eruption with the slow flowing lava (the lines looking like veins) coming down towards the city.

In space. A rocket just landed. A few astronauts complete with space suit. An American flag. Can you see the craters?

An airplane collided with the cumulonimbus cloud or was it a house in mid air. A man escape using a parachute!

Reese's garden (inspired by FarmVille). He said he grew pumpkins, grapes, artichokes, beans and some other things.

God's temple. Flaming touches everywhere. See the sign that reads GOD?

The battle of Jericho. Check out the soldiers (stick men) armed with spears and some other weapons.

Heaven guarded by two angels holding flaming touches

Instructions for us to fix the 3D Statue of Liberty we bought. He was frustrated with my excuse of not having the instructions to fix it. So he drew this and said "Here mummy, I have the instructions for you. So fix the Statue of Liberty for me!" Hehehe...

In Japan. This is a game according to Reese. 'Chop Chop Ninja'

Another game. Tower Madness. Aliens and weapons.

Mr. F's house going pass a few landmarks and got bombed. Can you tell which landmarks Reese drew?

See the Ipad Advertisement? Behind the billboard you can see many landmarks.

This is New York City. It's close to the sea. Can you see some people near the fountain?

A movie.

A twister in New York

Reese can In-line skate!

Yesterday was a great day because Reese could skate! We went to BSC in Bangsar for lunch with 2 friends and their kids and then the kids went skating. This was Reese's second time skating. The first time was last week and he was struggling to stand and balance. Bump his butt a few times. At the end of that session, he was able to stand without help.

Yesterday, after a few falls he was able to skate unaided. I was so proud of him. He even asked me to go outside the ring and watch him skate! He didn't want my help. :)

Reese and his friend

Reese had home-made Mac and Cheese followed by free ice-cream with toppings at Stuff your Face (a very child friendly restaurant).

It was a fun outing and finally Reese can do a sport? Next up should be the bicycle! When my friends first told me that their kids taught themselves to stake after 2 times at the ring I was skeptical but seeing their kids skating like pro, I have to believe them. Reese also did it, so it is true! What I like about this place is that there are at least 2 guys to watch over the kids and they even help the kids to skate. So paying RM22(weekdays) to skate in the ring is not too bad. Don't need to pay for lessons. I heard skating lessons are quite expensive! There is one at Kiara Park conducted by Stakeline.

Protective gear is important. Reese was wearing pads for knees, elbows and palms but no helmet. He hit his head yesterday. I need to get him a helmet!! It can be quite rough in the ring, some of the kids couldn't stop in time and bump into each other constantly or falls and the impact was very strong.

Did I tell you that Reese went for a Taekwondo trial class? He just couldn't stand still and listen to instructions so can't take lessons. *sigh* Well, at least he can stake. Plan to take him staking every Wednesday and hopefully he will make some new friends too!

Skating on his own. Still wobbly but I think by next week he should stake better.

Gaming Addict at 4 years 8 months Old

My son is into gaming! He is hooked on a few games on the Ipad and even one Facebook game.

Day and night, my son thinks about his crops: plow, plant and harvest, earning coins, saving coins to buy decorations, building and decorating... given a choice, he can be with his Ipad the whole day!

I told hubby he may very well be a gaming addict and it's all our fault! His current favourite games are 'Smurfs', 'Bugs Village', 'Farm Ville', 'City Ville', 'Go Go Gadget', 'Tower Madness', 'Chop Chop Ninja'.

You people must be thinking what kind of parents we are....hehehhee..... Well, I do limit his play time. But on weekends, well, he gets to play many hours.

Reese did learn some basic concepts about buying and selling, the need to work to earn money and save up money for purchases... He learned about food. He knows many vegetable/flower/fruit names like brussels sprouts, artichokes, lavender, tulip, cranberries... He learned some basic strategies to defend and conquer and now comfortably uses terms like cannons, electrocute,bomb, shoot, blast, aliens...

So it's not so bad.... :) Hahahhaha....

Got lost but.....

Today we went to Popular bookstore to get some stationery. While browsing for some files, Reese decided to test his own bravery by walking away a short distance from me and hurried back to find me. I told him to stay close and was quite cautious making sure I knew where he went.

He was enjoying himself. After a couple of times of disappearing and appearing, I begin to relax and continue browsing for files and minutes later I realized that Reese did not appear and I thought he could be playing at the children's section. Another few minutes passed and I still did not see him, so I quickly went over to the kids area but couldn't find him. I started to panic... calling his name and the next thing I knew, I heard a kid crying and immediately knew it was Reese. I ran out of the children's corner and found Reese walking hand in hand with a security guard. He was crying and mumbling "I lost my mummy" repeatedly. Phew!

After Reese stopped crying I asked him what happened and he said:

"Mummy, I lost you and I went to a person who was not a bad man to help me find mummy!"

**At least he knew how to seek help! :)

Things He Said that Amazed Me....

Mummy: What happens when all the ice melt in the Arctic and Antarctic?

Reese: Oh.... it will be a world wide disaster! There will be floods everywhere just like in Noah's ark. People will die.

Reese: Never so feared and loved ..... (forgot part of his sentence but it was amazing...)

Reese: Ohhh.... I don't want to be near the river! It's so stinky and dirty.

Mummy: What happens when it's stinky and dirty?

Reese: It's pollution mummy. It's bad for us.

Reese: Mummy, do you know what is a greenhouse?

Mummy: Err... do you know?

Reese: Yes, it's a glass house. Plants can grow in it.

Mummy: Oh I see, do you know what is greenhouse gasses then?

Reese: Gasses that traps the heat and makes ice melt.

During the three days ban of Ipad:-

Reese: (Woke up) Mummy! my plants have wilted! I need to harvest the plants! Please help me harvest the plants otherwise they will wilt! Please... (He is into Smurf game where he builds and manages the Smurf's town)

Reese: Mummy, can you count snow?

Mummy: No. It's not countable.

Reese: Mummy but Popo said snowS!

Reading Pompeii buried alive:-

Mummy: What are these layers called? Do you remember we learnt it in Science?

Reese: (thinks hard) Sedimentary rocks!

Mummy: Reese, what is a hobo?

Reese: A person who has no home....

Reese: Mummy, I still don't want to go to heaven. I don't want to die yet. I don't want to grow old.

Mummy: What is another word for big?

Reese: Gigantic, huge, enormous!

It's amazing isn't it? His memory and vocabulary are incredible. He tends to correct our pronunciation and grammar too and he is not even 5 yet. Even a student (12 years old) of mine was amazed by him and commented, "Aunty Florence, for a 4+ year old child his vocabulary is impressive!".

Reading Progress at 4 years 8 months

It's the final week of the two weeks break. Glad to have a break from work. Reese is having fun playing at home minus the Ipad for a few days which is a good thing. He plays with his toys, reads, draws and watch some cartoons. He was ban from the Ipad for 3 days for misbehaving... hehehe....

Lately I realized that Reese will read anything that he picks up. Read as in really reading the words. Previously, he will only look at pictures and read when I asked him to. Reading is no longer a task but enjoyment for him. He reads very quickly and so fast that he will miss out words along the way or add in his own words! He is capable of reading chapter books but prefers books with lots of illustration. When we go out, he will read signs, prints and etc. and often asked the meanings of words, phases and sentences.

When we do out studies, Reese does the reading instead of me now. My role is to supervise and explain things to him. I am so pleased with his reading progress. With him reading willingly, he is learning more and more things from books. Whenever I pick him up from school, he is usually reading quietly at the reading corner. Reese loves science and he will tell us many things that he picked up from the 'I Wonder Why' series. I have about 5 of these books in the car for him to read and rotate the titles every now and then. We are reading 1 new story book a day for the past few days. He is currently obsessed with the book 'Pompeii Buried Alive' (Step into Reading series Step 4).

Tested his reading level a few weeks back and he is now reading at Grade 3 level.

Say what you want but I made the right choice!

I have been homeschooling Reese for over a year now and truely love it. It's so different from what I went through when I was his age. There may be alot of preparation work involved and definitely a very huge responsibility. I mean, my son's education is in my hands. There are still family members and friends who do not agree with our decision to homeschool Reese. To them, getting a proper education is only through school and some are skeptical about my ability to teach my own son, afraid that Reese may not socialize well and be weird when he grows up. :)

In the comfort of our home, doing some worksheets and admiring our little carrot top (part of an experiment)

Some people told me to slow down Reese's learning. Don't pressure him! He is still young. It makes me feel like a really bad mother! But honestly, they just do not understand that Reese is no ordinary child. He just 'gets it' the first/second time I teach him something. Just like that. No repetion is necessary. So how do I slow him down? I can't unless I do not teach him anything. :)

I don't do alot of work with Reese. Our typical day consist of 2-3 worksheets of a combination of the following - math, fun activities (searching for words in an alphabet box/ maze/connecting dots), English, analogies/critical thinking, science.

Usually takes about 30-45 minutes max and 4-5 times a week.

Then we read books to learn science, history, geography, poems, stories.

Usually 20 minutes and when something interest him, it can stretch up to an hour. We love sitting together with a bowl of fruits and read. Reese loves asking questions and I will try my level best to asnwer them and then we have discussion, singing/acting or just being silly. I always have my Macbook around so that I can show Reese more pictures or videos related to what we read. Can't do without the internet really! At times we do simple experiments which always excites Reese.

Our daily schooling is scattered throughout the day but all in all, it takes between 1 hour to 2 hours a day.

Reese checks on his carrot top everyday to see how much it has grown

At times I wonder, how will Reese fit in if he does go to a public school. He is going to be bored to death. At the rate he is learning, I think when he is 7, he would be doing Grade 3 (Standard 3-4) for all subjects. Is it fair to slow him down so that he can be 'normal' like others? It's not fair at all.

It says test! To Reese, it's just another worksheet. Well, Reese got a little reward (Banana Chocolate) for completing the test!

He learns at his own pace. I let him lead. At times we do nothing because he is not in the mood but somtimes we do math, science, history...etc all in one sitting!