A beautiful morning at school....

Today is Saturday and I am on duty again at my centre. Sometimes, I'll bring Sarah with me and she'll be spending half her day on her own - playing "masak-masak", puzzles, doing writing, drawing, cutting & pasting, etc etc...

Well, she was exceptionally in her best behaviour this morning! I was at the office and she was just beside me in the Playgroup room. After an hour plus, she was still playing on her own (of course, after toilet break & biscuit break in between time). She tidied up her kitchen first before she started playing puzzles. Very quietly, I took some pictures of her playing puzzles and I was just thinking to myself how blessed I am to have this little princess as my dear daughter... an apple of my eye indeed.

Once finished, she ran to the office to show me the completed 40-pcs puzzle.

Well done, Sarah! :)

An accident happened....

It was on 20th April in the wee hours of the morning that my car met with an accident. No, it wasn't me that drove... it was hubby!

I got his permission to blog about this incident, so definitely I am not here to "condemn" him! :*

This was my car after the accident:

Thank God it didn't look like this:

When the accident took place, all that matters was his life. It could have been worst, but the LORD's hand was upon him. I also thank God that the accident happened NOT with another car but with a tree. So, that alone was a blessing too. Else, things could get more complicated.

Also, thank God that my sister-in-law loan me her car. Else, I will not be able to go to work as usual too. Some other arrangement has to be made. And again, things could be more complicated too!

All in all... we all learn one thing here, in one way or another. We learn to appreciate the things and people around us. We learn to be more careful and always pray for God's protection. It is more often than not that we take our lives and our belongings for granted.

My car is now in the workshop and I will only able to get it back some time next week. Looking at a brighter side, I will get a brand new car by next week! :)

Sarah, the online game player

Sarah : Mummy, can i play barbie doll game? the one can change dress one? got hairband one, got bag one, and can change shoes one, got high shoe one and sports shoe one.... got sooooooooooooo many things one.... also can spin, and dance one? can or not, mummy?

Mummy : No, I must finish my work.

Sarah : Mummy, I good girl.... can i play or not?

Mummy : I said "No!" You rest a little while first. Mummy wants to do work.

And Sarah being Sarah.... being sooooooooooooooo persistent made mummy here angry and shouted at her to stop. :p

She cried a little while before she continued her act of persuasion.

She walked around me and said....

Sarah : Mummy I want to play game? Please? Can or not?

... while singing some nursery rhymes..... To Market To Market.... followed by Mary Mary Quite Contrary.... then followed by Row Row Row Your Boat.... Hickory Dickory Dock.... Three Blind Mice.... and then back to our conversation....

Sarah : Mummy "Three Blind Mice" is what? Huh, mummy? It's what? Mummy?

Well.... I just kept quiet all the while... hehehe... this mummy ar! I was actually blogging all these down while she talks.... :p

OK-la... i think she's been really a good girl.... so, the reward is... she can now play her Barbie doll game which she's been waiting for.

Well, this is the online game she plays...

http://icanbe.barbie.com/games.html#

... and the one with the "change clothes one" is.... http://www.barbie.com/activities/fashion/

hmmm.... maybe not.... how about.... http://www.barbiegirls.com/

Sarah : Why cannot find one?

............ ok, u know what? looks like as per this blog post, there were some changes made in the website. We couldnt find the page that she likes.... ie the "changing clothes one". So, she has to look for other favourites. Poor girl... :/

Actually... there are lots of free online games for kids, and even Barbie doll games are not just any games. They consists of matching games, sorting games, and lots more. It does educate the child, but of course, as parents, we must minimize the time for playing. Thus, the child learns to "wait", learns about following house rules as well as getting rewards when they behave well.

McD in a blue moon....

I had this conversation with Sarah in the car last night...... and this time, it's about McDonald's.... or is it?!

Mummy : Girl girl, from now onwards, we have to eat less of McDonald's you know? We can eat-la... but only once in a blue moon, OK?

Sarah : (after pausing for a while...) How about pink moon?

Mummy : (giggling...) pink moon? No pink moon. Once in a blue moon means you can eat it once in a long while. Not too much. Understand?

Sarah : Ohhhhhhhh....... then what now?

Mummy : Oh, it's yellow moon now!

Sarah : Ohhhhhhh..... not blue ar?

Mummy : No, it's not blue moon, it's yellow moon so we cannot eat McDonald's now ok?

Sarah : OK! :)

Well, why we had this conversation about McD? Cuz we realized lately that we've been giving in to our "craving" for McD. And it's not just Sarah. I have to admit, I too been eating that. Sometimes on a weekend, when we ask Sarah what she wants to eat, she'll reply either McD or KFC. Oh my... check out how kids can get so addicted with fast food... and even us adults!

Just writing for writing sake... :p

It has been about 1 and half months since I really shared about my life. I wouldn't dare say that I've been busy because I actually do have my own personal time as well, which I chose to do other things than to blog.

Why did I stop writing? In all honesty, I am a little lazy... especially when I do not need to wake up early to do my assignments now that I've completed my studies. I chose the extra time to sleep a little bit more. And sometimes, I just lost for words... to blog something which is deep and part of my life depends a lot (or mostly) on my emotions and my thoughts at that particular time. Sort of... no inspiration, then... just too bad-lah! :P

As I am writing this, I am actually suffering a little bit of a headache, and thought that blogging would just be the "cure" for now... maybe a bowl of cendol later too! kekeke....

No inspiration whatsoever, so I wont be writing anything "heavy", but just writing something to get my blog "alive" a lil. There are tonnes of folders of photos for me to filter and tell stories from (well, of course, mainly about my little princess), but sometimes procrastination wins the battle, sadly to say.

So anyways, "HI" to all my friends! Wish everyone a great weekend ahead and also great weeks and months ahead! :)

Teaching Alphabet Letters

Taken from : http://www.atozphonics.com/alphabet-letters.html

Frequently asked questions on teaching alphabet letters are:

• What is the ideal age to introduce the alphabet?
• What letters to teach first?
• Do I teach letter names or letter sounds?
• Should I teach capital or lower case first?
• Is it a good idea to teach the alphabet in alphabetic order?
• How do I actually teach alphabet letters?

So let's look at these individually, because the odds are there is at least one question above that you would like to know the answer to!

What is the ideal age to introduce alphabet letters?

This really does depend on your child. I would love to give you a definite answer, like - 'when your child is 3yrs and 45 days you may begin.' You know as well as I do that life just isn't like that! Some children will be ready at 2yrs while others are happy to wait until 5 or 6yrs. What I can say, is that if you follow the advice in'step 1' about what to teach BEFORE the alphabet, then it will happen naturally - you will instinctively know when you have 'reached the ideal' time to begin the formal introduction of alphabet letters. The decision ultimately lies with your child and not you! Just immerse your child in books, rhymes and phonemic awarenessactivities and the progression will be a seamless one. Most typically, a child is able to begin learning the alphabet around the age of 3 or 4yrs.

Do I teach capital or lower case first?

I have met teachers who swear by teaching capital letters first and yet others who insist on teaching lower case and then another group who insist on teaching both at the same time! Personally - I advise on teaching lower case first. Why? Because capital letters only account for about 5% of all letters in the written word and so it seams to make sense to pay more attention to the teaching of the lower case letters as these are the ones children will be introduced to first in their environment. After you have taught your child to recognize lower case letters, I would put up an alphabet frieze with both capital and lower case letters and talk about them. Let the child see them and compare them, play games of matching up lower case with their capital letters. Notice the importance of fun here - always make learning fun! While teaching my own children - I would use games to discreetly assess if they had grasped a phonics principle - there was no pressure of 'tests' so it was a win win situation. My children particulary enjoyed looking at the Letterland books.

Do I teach letters sounds or letter names?

I teach both at the same time. I would remind my children that animals are called by different names, such as a 'pig' or 'cow' but that they all make different sounds eg, 'oink' and 'moo'. So it is with alphabet letters, each has a name but also a sound. I would say "this is the letter 'S' it says the /sssssss/ sound as in sssun." Model the sound to copy and use words that are meaningful to your child. If you need a quick reminder of letter sounds here is a quick check list in the box to your right - some words end in the sound to help you isolate the sound you will be modeling for your child. Some letters have more than one sound, but at this stage we just introduce the first sound of a letter.

What letters do you teach first?

Here are some examples of how others teach letter order:

Alphabetical Order: Although knowing letters 'in' and 'out' of order is important, the main disadvantage of this method, is that a child is waiting a long time before they can start to read words with the letters they have learnt. You really can't read or write many words with the letter a,b,c,d,e

Random Order: For example, choosing letters of a child's name or family members can help give meaning to letters

Vowels: These are the letters, 'a,e,i,o,u and sometimes y'. Vowels are considered important because every word contains a vowel

Mixture of vowels and consonants: Consonants are all the letters which are not vowels. This way is often taught by phonic reading programs, such as Jolly Phonics. For example they start with the letters 's, a, t, i, n, p'. One of the benefits of this method is that a child is quickly able to 'read' and spell three letter words. These 6 alphabete letters make the following words:

Sat, tin, pin, pat, tap, tip, pit, sit, nit, nip, nap, pan

I personally choose to introduce a mixture of vowels and consonants, alongside teaching the alphabet song, so that they can see 'where in the alphabet' the letter they are learning fits into.