I am so happy over a conversation with Jiale that I must blog about it immediately!
Not long ago, I mentioned on FB that Jiale would get upset and go 'no no no' whenever I mentioned school. But just now..
Me: 宝贝，你今天去学校好玩吗？Play and play right?
Jiale: 玩玩玩
Me: 你喜欢吗？
Jiale: Yes.
Me: 那我们再去学校，好吗？
Jiale: 好!
YIPPEE! : )
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
First Play Day
First proper day at Playdays. The plan was for Daddy to drop us off near the school so that we could have breakfast first, as it would be too early. Since we had to leave the house with Daddy, it was soooo rushed that I started regretting sending Jiale to school! Cos we would usually be nua-ing around slowly having breakfast and playing and taking our own sweet time.. AND then realised the eatery near the school wasn't open yet.. Sigh.. nowhere to eat.. so we ended up going to the school 30 minutes early. Luckily we could go into the classroom early too! :D
I had already decided I would be leaving Jiale alone in the class today. So after bringing him in, I only stayed for 5 minutes. Anyway the moment he entered the room, he saw a Thomas floor puzzle and promptly started to do the puzzle. When I said bye-bye, he started crying and asking for 'wo wo' (his nickname for Thomas, I have no idea why). I gave his trains to him and said bye-bye again, and he immediately said bye-bye and went back to his puzzle!! So it wasn't me that he missed.. it was the trains..???! In disbelief, I told him 'mummy is leaving' and he started crying again. Urmm, but I had hardly stepped out of the room when he stopped crying! When I peeped in from the window, he was engrossed in the puzzle again. Oh... well... Haha :P
With a heavy heart, feeling like I had abandoned my son, I left the school, not sure where to go. (Didi was with me, of course.) Ended up at Suntec City as it was just 3 stops away by MRT. Still feeling guilty. BUT when I opened the menu at Old Town White Coffee to see what I wanted to eat, I finally realised I AM FREE!! I could order anything that I wanted to eat! Cos when Jiale is around, I can't order anything spicy in case he wants to share my food.. and soupy stuff too hot and difficult to feed him... and this.. and that.... so usually only can eat things like toast or fried rice. WOOOOO HOOOOOO..! At that moment, ahem, all guilt flew out of the window. Oops :P (This sounds terrible hor?)
Did some shopping after having breakfast.. Wow.. so peaceful to shop without a toddler around.. and no sense of guilt about lugging him around to buy things.. Ahhhh... : ) I had thought that 3 hours was quite a short time for me to finish my errands as it included traveling time, but yuan lai it's more than enough when I could focus on what I needed to do and be efficient & productive. Hmm I might bring along a book or laptop in future. (Used to feel bad about leaving Jiale in high chair for too long, eg when I met up with my friends. But now I don't feel bad about Didi, because I know it won't be long before he refuses to sit for long! So I shall just enjoy it while I can!)
Back at the school half an hour before class ended. Peeped in again, saw Jiale sitting with his classmates listening to the teacher read a storybook. When he saw me, he gave me a big smile and came over for a while, before returning to the activity with the class. YAY!
After the class, the three teachers all gave good feedback about Jiale. They said he did not cry at all after I left, and shared his trains with his classmates, and was participative in the activities. Double YAY!!
Looks like my boy has grown up, and I did the right thing by choosing to wait to enrol him in school. I am so looking forward to next Thursday! : )
(not that it's not right to send the child to school earlier. It depends on the child's temperament. I just mean that it's right for MY child.)
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Academic Pressure at 31
I'm definitely feeling stressed. I think about the boys' schooling/learning goals/age-appropriate developments etc almost all the time. Wonder how other mummies can be so confident about what they are doing..? See, there are two conflicting schools of thought - 'academic' versus 'play'. And the reason I choose 'play' is not because I am so laidback about the boys' future academic performance.. Cos I do want them to excel! Two main reasons:
Firstly, play-based learning is supposed to be a better way of learning, supposed to make them even smarter than the academic way. Problem is, I guess can't see the results so soon.... >.<
Secondly, of course young children will enjoy play more than studying right? And be happier playing than studying? And urmm, when they are happy, they will be better learners?
Haha.. so you see, while I am a play advocate, my motives are not that innocent! So often, I am tempted to give up/cut down outdoor time or messy play time so that we have more time to 'play' with puzzles, blocks, etc. The perfect solution is to be able to play.. go park.. AND study! But time not enough! Unless I push back his bedtime...? But.... sleep is also supposed to be very important for brain growth! (ah... everything links back to brain la)
It's not that my priorities are playing/art/sensory/free play/outdoors.. I MAKE myself prioritize them. It's a conscious effort, and all the time, I am struggling and questioning my choices. I could choose a middle ground.. some play, some studying.. But err, how much of each? 50% each..? Or..?
The most difficult part is I do not know what is best. I wish someone would tell me The Answer. I need A Hitchhiker's Guide. Is there a Dummies/Idiots' book for teaching your children? I can read and read more and more books, but there is no definite answer. I see other mummies around me all doing different things.. How do they know what to do??? I am so scared that if the boys don't do well in future, I will look back and regret.. : (
Well-meaning friends will probably tell me just to do my best, I am their mother and I will do what's best for them, etc. I think it's a gamble. I am gambling with my sons' future.
(but even if they do well, I can't claim credit either. Like gambling, it could be pure luck.)
Sigh.
(I suspect most of my posts will end with a sigh. Sigh.)
Firstly, play-based learning is supposed to be a better way of learning, supposed to make them even smarter than the academic way. Problem is, I guess can't see the results so soon.... >.<
Secondly, of course young children will enjoy play more than studying right? And be happier playing than studying? And urmm, when they are happy, they will be better learners?
Haha.. so you see, while I am a play advocate, my motives are not that innocent! So often, I am tempted to give up/cut down outdoor time or messy play time so that we have more time to 'play' with puzzles, blocks, etc. The perfect solution is to be able to play.. go park.. AND study! But time not enough! Unless I push back his bedtime...? But.... sleep is also supposed to be very important for brain growth! (ah... everything links back to brain la)
It's not that my priorities are playing/art/sensory/free play/outdoors.. I MAKE myself prioritize them. It's a conscious effort, and all the time, I am struggling and questioning my choices. I could choose a middle ground.. some play, some studying.. But err, how much of each? 50% each..? Or..?
The most difficult part is I do not know what is best. I wish someone would tell me The Answer. I need A Hitchhiker's Guide. Is there a Dummies/Idiots' book for teaching your children? I can read and read more and more books, but there is no definite answer. I see other mummies around me all doing different things.. How do they know what to do??? I am so scared that if the boys don't do well in future, I will look back and regret.. : (
Well-meaning friends will probably tell me just to do my best, I am their mother and I will do what's best for them, etc. I think it's a gamble. I am gambling with my sons' future.
(but even if they do well, I can't claim credit either. Like gambling, it could be pure luck.)
Sigh.
(I suspect most of my posts will end with a sigh. Sigh.)
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Trial at Playdays
Brought Jiale for his trial class at Playdays at Mountbatten Centre this morning. And yes, we have signed up for a term!
This is a drop-off class for 1.5-year-olds to 2.5-year-olds. 10 students in the class, 3 teachers. While I was chatting with one of the teachers at the start of the class, she warned me that as this was the 2nd week of the new term, there were still quite a few newbies, and thus, to be prepared for quite a lot of crying. She also told me it's ok for me to stay for the entire class or to leave anytime. The class started with free play, with wooden toy furniture and a playhouse, a magnetic 'fishing' car set, and some painting with Dot-A-Dot pens. As more kids came in and the parents gradually left the room, I realised the teacher was not kidding. The crying was sooooo loud and sooooo whiny..! I really admired the teachers for being able to tolerate it! So, the 3 teachers ended up with one crying baby at their hip each, while they played with the other kids. Jiale was not very happy when we entered the classroom, I guess he recognized it as a 'school setting' and realised mummy might be abandoning him soon. But he soon calmed down as I promised him I would be with him. He soon started exploring the room and the toys, also playing on and off with the other kids, especially one boy who was one month older than him, often glancing at me (to check I was still there, I think!)
Gosh, though it was just a few hours ago, I realised I can't recall much about the class! Faintz.. my memory is getting from bad to worse.. OK, I THINK after the free play (about 30 minutes), there was music and dance for a short while.. Then the kids went out to the playground, where there were quite a few tricycles, cars (Little Tikes type), skate scooters etc, and a big enclosed (with net) trampoline, and a simple play structure (again, Little Tikes type). Jiale was playing quite ok for a while, then he decided to be unhappy.. dunno why!! He was ok again when the class went back to the classroom.
Then.. I THINK it was snack time.. (really can't recall!! Urgh!) The kids were given a bowl of plain white rice with some seaweed, followed by dried strawberries (like raisins) and fresh grapes. Oh ya, since they first came in, cheese crackers were available almost all the time, and greedy Jiale ate 3.5 pieces! (the 0.5 came from a classmate who offered it to Jiale)
Towards the end of snack time, one of the teachers started changing the diapers for the kids one by one. I changed for Jiale since I was there.
After snack time, it was art time. The kids were given a cut-out of the number two and rollers with trays of paint. It was about 11.30am when they finished with the painting, and then a Chinese teacher came in for Chinese time. The Chinese segment of the class was conducted in the format of a game, just like the rest of the class. The lao shi brought with her 2 big containers and some plastic duckies, filled the containers with some water, and let the kids catch the duckies with scoops & nets. (Just like what we do at home! haha!) Then she sang Chinese songs with kids and they danced in a group. But I think Jiale was quite exhausted by then, and he didn't join in the singing or dancing, just lay on the floor with his head in my lap. Though it was still early for his nap, I think 2+ hours of class was too siong for him, especially since he wasn't used to school at all.
At the end of the class, the parents joined in for a short segment of songs and the kids also played with bubbles.
So, why did I decide to sign up despite Jiale's still obvious reluctance to join in the activities and to let mummy leave the room? Hmm, I am glad I stayed on for the entire class, cos I saw how patient the teachers were with the 3 other kids who cried for almost 2 hours..! I know Jiale would definitely cry when I first leave the class, but I am quite sure he will not cry for so long. Furthermore, the type of activities are exactly the things that will be able to distract him, haha. I think with me around today, he was not able to participate fully cos he had to keep coming back to me to make sure I wasn't going to disappear. Quite a few times, I saw him looking with great interest at what the teachers & other kids were doing while he was standing next to me. Having stayed on for the whole class with him today, I hope he won't be so scared the next time since he will be able to know roughly what's coming next, and the place isn't completely new by then.
Frankly speaking, while I like the teachers and the play-based ideology, I was not impressed by the activities. For example, while they were doing art, it seemed a bit too rushed.. Understandable, cos other than the activities, the teachers also had to do the cleaning up and prepare for the next activity. Even with a ratio of 3 teachers to 10 students, it's still like that. Can't possibly expect a better ratio right?? Whereas when we do artwork at home, Jiale could take his time and paint to his heart's content, and add water if he likes.. or add some balls.. or add water beads.. or so many possibilities! I think at the school, there would be no way he could get his whole body 'painted' :P It was just... not so... relaxed.. Oh well, I guess he can learn to be neat & tidy while at school, and create messes to his heart's content at home : )
Anyway, since it's just for 3 hours a week, I think there's no need to worry too much about what the school is doing. I don't need the school to teach any academic stuff, in fact, I would prefer the school not to teach ANY academic stuff. I'm happy as long as they don't undo the relaxed and happy learning attitude which I am trying to inculcate in Jiale - no structure, no timetable, no lectures, no worksheets, no homework please! Homelearning is still the main course. If I were sending Jiale to daily classes, there would be sooooo many more criteria I would expect the school to fulfil! Only 3 hours.. chin chye la.. On the other hand, Playdays is already not cheap.. and I still find it lacking.. I wonder how much it will cost for a school that really satisfies me... >.<
In fact, I'm seriously considering homeschooling him.. *think think think* Just for the preschool years la, I don't dare to NOT send him to government primary schools! Anyway I love our education system and MOE syllabus and government schools... exam stress, PSLE, homework are all good, part & parcel of life la, since he's already grand old age of 7 by then. Just as long as his afternoons are still free for him to play!
At the moment though, he's still 'untamable' and I have no idea how to do 'seat work' with him, cos he can't sit still la. No point me planning lessons and he's not happy. Shall see how it goes as he gets older. Will it be too much if we are still doing play-based ONLY when he is 6 years old??? Gotta read up! For now, I only know play-based is definitely good for a 2.5-year-old monkey : )
This is a drop-off class for 1.5-year-olds to 2.5-year-olds. 10 students in the class, 3 teachers. While I was chatting with one of the teachers at the start of the class, she warned me that as this was the 2nd week of the new term, there were still quite a few newbies, and thus, to be prepared for quite a lot of crying. She also told me it's ok for me to stay for the entire class or to leave anytime. The class started with free play, with wooden toy furniture and a playhouse, a magnetic 'fishing' car set, and some painting with Dot-A-Dot pens. As more kids came in and the parents gradually left the room, I realised the teacher was not kidding. The crying was sooooo loud and sooooo whiny..! I really admired the teachers for being able to tolerate it! So, the 3 teachers ended up with one crying baby at their hip each, while they played with the other kids. Jiale was not very happy when we entered the classroom, I guess he recognized it as a 'school setting' and realised mummy might be abandoning him soon. But he soon calmed down as I promised him I would be with him. He soon started exploring the room and the toys, also playing on and off with the other kids, especially one boy who was one month older than him, often glancing at me (to check I was still there, I think!)
Gosh, though it was just a few hours ago, I realised I can't recall much about the class! Faintz.. my memory is getting from bad to worse.. OK, I THINK after the free play (about 30 minutes), there was music and dance for a short while.. Then the kids went out to the playground, where there were quite a few tricycles, cars (Little Tikes type), skate scooters etc, and a big enclosed (with net) trampoline, and a simple play structure (again, Little Tikes type). Jiale was playing quite ok for a while, then he decided to be unhappy.. dunno why!! He was ok again when the class went back to the classroom.
Then.. I THINK it was snack time.. (really can't recall!! Urgh!) The kids were given a bowl of plain white rice with some seaweed, followed by dried strawberries (like raisins) and fresh grapes. Oh ya, since they first came in, cheese crackers were available almost all the time, and greedy Jiale ate 3.5 pieces! (the 0.5 came from a classmate who offered it to Jiale)
Towards the end of snack time, one of the teachers started changing the diapers for the kids one by one. I changed for Jiale since I was there.
After snack time, it was art time. The kids were given a cut-out of the number two and rollers with trays of paint. It was about 11.30am when they finished with the painting, and then a Chinese teacher came in for Chinese time. The Chinese segment of the class was conducted in the format of a game, just like the rest of the class. The lao shi brought with her 2 big containers and some plastic duckies, filled the containers with some water, and let the kids catch the duckies with scoops & nets. (Just like what we do at home! haha!) Then she sang Chinese songs with kids and they danced in a group. But I think Jiale was quite exhausted by then, and he didn't join in the singing or dancing, just lay on the floor with his head in my lap. Though it was still early for his nap, I think 2+ hours of class was too siong for him, especially since he wasn't used to school at all.
At the end of the class, the parents joined in for a short segment of songs and the kids also played with bubbles.
So, why did I decide to sign up despite Jiale's still obvious reluctance to join in the activities and to let mummy leave the room? Hmm, I am glad I stayed on for the entire class, cos I saw how patient the teachers were with the 3 other kids who cried for almost 2 hours..! I know Jiale would definitely cry when I first leave the class, but I am quite sure he will not cry for so long. Furthermore, the type of activities are exactly the things that will be able to distract him, haha. I think with me around today, he was not able to participate fully cos he had to keep coming back to me to make sure I wasn't going to disappear. Quite a few times, I saw him looking with great interest at what the teachers & other kids were doing while he was standing next to me. Having stayed on for the whole class with him today, I hope he won't be so scared the next time since he will be able to know roughly what's coming next, and the place isn't completely new by then.
Frankly speaking, while I like the teachers and the play-based ideology, I was not impressed by the activities. For example, while they were doing art, it seemed a bit too rushed.. Understandable, cos other than the activities, the teachers also had to do the cleaning up and prepare for the next activity. Even with a ratio of 3 teachers to 10 students, it's still like that. Can't possibly expect a better ratio right?? Whereas when we do artwork at home, Jiale could take his time and paint to his heart's content, and add water if he likes.. or add some balls.. or add water beads.. or so many possibilities! I think at the school, there would be no way he could get his whole body 'painted' :P It was just... not so... relaxed.. Oh well, I guess he can learn to be neat & tidy while at school, and create messes to his heart's content at home : )
Anyway, since it's just for 3 hours a week, I think there's no need to worry too much about what the school is doing. I don't need the school to teach any academic stuff, in fact, I would prefer the school not to teach ANY academic stuff. I'm happy as long as they don't undo the relaxed and happy learning attitude which I am trying to inculcate in Jiale - no structure, no timetable, no lectures, no worksheets, no homework please! Homelearning is still the main course. If I were sending Jiale to daily classes, there would be sooooo many more criteria I would expect the school to fulfil! Only 3 hours.. chin chye la.. On the other hand, Playdays is already not cheap.. and I still find it lacking.. I wonder how much it will cost for a school that really satisfies me... >.<
In fact, I'm seriously considering homeschooling him.. *think think think* Just for the preschool years la, I don't dare to NOT send him to government primary schools! Anyway I love our education system and MOE syllabus and government schools... exam stress, PSLE, homework are all good, part & parcel of life la, since he's already grand old age of 7 by then. Just as long as his afternoons are still free for him to play!
At the moment though, he's still 'untamable' and I have no idea how to do 'seat work' with him, cos he can't sit still la. No point me planning lessons and he's not happy. Shall see how it goes as he gets older. Will it be too much if we are still doing play-based ONLY when he is 6 years old??? Gotta read up! For now, I only know play-based is definitely good for a 2.5-year-old monkey : )
The Classics
增广贤文 弟子规 唐诗
Bought these CDs from Popular recently.. and I LOVE them! And so does Jiale! I play them in the car and most of the time while we are at home, and now Jiale would ask me to play the CD (point at the hi-fi and say '鹅鹅') when I forget. He's often dancing to the songs and recitation, which are in very lively melodies and voices. The melodies are lovely, and the singers are good!
Listening is supposed to be one of the best ways for a young child to learn, especially since they can't read much yet. Furthermore it doesn't hurt to have the CD playing in the background while we go about our usual activities anyway, so why not? : ) I don't know about Jiale, but I have definitely picked up a few more poems since I started playing the CDs. If even my old brain is learning from the CDs, I'm sure his young fresh brain is learning much more! (but I did cheat la, cos I would refer to the lyrics as I am a very visual person. My hearing is usually affected when I can't see well, ie when I'm not wearing specs/contacts.)
But then, so what? Why need to know what chinese classics at all?? Good question. I also don't know the answer. I guess if you want to link it to some academic goal in terms of PSLE etc, they are pretty useless. Personally, though my knowledge of chinese classics is sadly lacking (no guts to take Chinese Literature in secondary school cos I was very scared of the memorizing), I am loving all the sayings.. so meaningful.. the poems are so beautiful.. I am also very pro-Chinese, as in I think it's VERY important to learn Chinese well, Chinese should be my children's first language and main foundation, and Chinese is a beautiful language (which I did not fully appreciate while I was in school).
I also truly believe that it is waaaaaay more difficult to learn Chinese than to learn English. I came from quite a good secondary school and a very good JC and there were many good students (good as in good results) around me, and I have only met people who were good in both Chinese and English, or good in English and bad in Chinese. Never met anyone who's good in Chinese and bad in English.. China scholars not withstanding (but then, even China-Chinese manage to do well enough in English to get top government scholarships!)
Ending off with one of my favourite poems (very hard to make a choice!)
日照香炉生紫烟
遥看瀑布挂前川
飞流直下三千尺
疑是银河落九天
飞流直下三千尺
疑是银河落九天
I can visualize Li Bai looking at the waterfall!
(OK, OK, I admit the CDs are for ME. My boys only 顺便 listen!)
(OK, OK, I admit the CDs are for ME. My boys only 顺便 listen!)
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Daily Routine
I love my new routine! : )
Jiale usually wakes up at 6am+. But I still wanna sleep, so I let him play with my iPhone till 7am before I drag myself out of bed. (I know it's not good for young kids to play with phone.. but there are some really good apps ya? At least it's 'controlled' cos I definitely want my phone back when I wake up :P And surprisingly, heusually returns the phone willingly and doesn't ask for the phone for the rest of the day. The only thing I am worried about is his eyes : /) Then I will do some bits & pieces around the house and give Jiale some breakfast if he wants to eat (usually not, cos he drinks milk when he wakes up), and I eat my breakfast. Didi usually wakes up a bit past 7am nowadays, he used to be able to sleep till 8.30am while I was still breastfeeding him, cos when he woke up at 5am+, I just breastfed him and he continued to sleep. Now that he's sleeping through the night, I also can't expect/hope that he will sleep till 8.30am la!
After Didi drinks (or more likely, refuses to drink) his morning milk, it will be free play or homelearning activities, OR messy/art/paint (often 3-in-1) play, depending on whether Didi can join in. Like this morning, Didi could join in to play with watercolors, so we started at 8am. Didi has to be down for his morning nap around 10am, so we have to stop by 9.15am latest for the boys' bath and breakfast. But Jiale finished up the watercolors around 9am, so we came in for bathtime. Since we were early, the boys were able to play for a longer time. Water play is definitely Didi's current favorite! 9.30am, I dragged Didi out, dressed him, gave him a drink of water, and put him down in his cot.
Having achieved so much in the morning, and since Jiale had started happily playing with his Playdoh, I gave myself a 30-min break - checked fb, drank some milo, took my morning shower, washed up the breakfast dishes, simple lunch prep.
10am, joined Jiale in his room, all ready to engage him in learning activities! But I don't have lesson plans or such things for him.. me lazy and I know he isn't likely to cooperate.. So my goal was just to play with the educational stuff (a lot!) in his room, depending on which ones he preferred. We played with Playdoh for a while more, then moved on to Mazes activity book, Go Einstein Go (a logic game), Chinese dominos, a fishing game, a board game (to learn turns-taking & moving by throwing dice, and counting the dots on the dice), a spatial learning game (the free gift that comes with Enfagrow, dunno how to describe it), a sticker game book, a buttoning activity.. I think that's about it.. before Didi woke up.
If Didi can't join in the activitiy (no shaving foam for Didi yet!!), we will do the activity during Didi's morning nap. This pretty much means not much learning stuff in the morning, cos the only alone time I have with Jiale is spent creating & undoing a mess :P
Time for Didi's milk feed again. If Jiale is not doing anything much or in his room, I will go to his room with Didi and try to do more learning stuff with Jiale while Didi plays on his own. But for today, Jiale was already engrossed with his trains at the balcony (trains area) when Didi was done with his milk. So we joined him there. The brothers promptly proceeded to forget about mummy and just played with each other and the trains : ) So I just hung around and sang along with the CD and watched them play.
(Oh ya, for the morning learning time, if Jiale is engaged in something else, eg trains, I won't disrupt him. Will let him continue doing whatever he is doing.)
1pm, time for Brillkids. I let them watch one lesson each of Chinese, English & Math a day, total less than 20 minutes. By 1.30pm, they eat lunch. After that, Jiale goes for nap. Didi might nap at the same time as Jiale or slightly later, depending on how long he naps in the morning. He had a 2.5 hour nap this morning, so I let him stay up till 2.30pm.
Once Jiale goes in for his nap, it's FREE time for me! Even if Didi is awake, he is perfectly happy playing on his own.. probably because Jiale isn't around to snatch toys, haha! So while Didi explores around the house, I eat my lunch. I have at least one hour to myself while both the boys are napping. During my break, I either read parenting books or read blogs, and of course, fb! It's also because I have this free time that I am able to blog. (Only one computer at home and hubby uses it when he comes back from work.) Used to prepare the afternoon play activity during this time too, but nowadays I bring the boys out to playground around 4pm, no time for anything else, so it also saves me some prep time.
Home around 6.30pm, bathe the boys, prepare a quick dinner for them, they eat, then drink milk. After milk, Didi goes to bed, around 7.30pm. Then it's bedtime stories for Jiale, and he's off to bed at 8pm. End of the workday for me!
Hubby comes back from work with takeaway dinner, we eat together, watch TV. I read parenting books and prepare for the next morning's play activity. Still fb-ing, on my phone, lol.
I'm so much happier now that I have a routine that works. For quite time, I have been coping quite well with the mundane stuff like getting the boys fed and bathed etc. But I felt something was lacking.. sometimes whole days went by without having really 'done' anything.. Did they learn anything? What did I achieve? What did I do with them having spent the whole day together? So I thought about it and set out priorities - messy play? homelearning? dvds? computer? outdoor play? I realised that if I did not plan, and just 'see how', usually nothing got done. It would of course be perfect if I could incorporate everything everyday.. But it's just not possible.. If I wanna spend more time at home doing learning stuff, I would not be able to let them go outdoors for two hours.. If I give up the messy play in favor of learning stuff... I don't want. So I accept that I CANNOT do everything. Umm, so learning stuff has been kicked to the lowest priority - small pockets of time in the day, as and when I'm free and he's interested, or when it rains in the afternoon and we can't go to the playground.. provided he doesn't get caught up with his trains again!
Jiale usually wakes up at 6am+. But I still wanna sleep, so I let him play with my iPhone till 7am before I drag myself out of bed. (I know it's not good for young kids to play with phone.. but there are some really good apps ya? At least it's 'controlled' cos I definitely want my phone back when I wake up :P And surprisingly, heusually returns the phone willingly and doesn't ask for the phone for the rest of the day. The only thing I am worried about is his eyes : /) Then I will do some bits & pieces around the house and give Jiale some breakfast if he wants to eat (usually not, cos he drinks milk when he wakes up), and I eat my breakfast. Didi usually wakes up a bit past 7am nowadays, he used to be able to sleep till 8.30am while I was still breastfeeding him, cos when he woke up at 5am+, I just breastfed him and he continued to sleep. Now that he's sleeping through the night, I also can't expect/hope that he will sleep till 8.30am la!
After Didi drinks (or more likely, refuses to drink) his morning milk, it will be free play or homelearning activities, OR messy/art/paint (often 3-in-1) play, depending on whether Didi can join in. Like this morning, Didi could join in to play with watercolors, so we started at 8am. Didi has to be down for his morning nap around 10am, so we have to stop by 9.15am latest for the boys' bath and breakfast. But Jiale finished up the watercolors around 9am, so we came in for bathtime. Since we were early, the boys were able to play for a longer time. Water play is definitely Didi's current favorite! 9.30am, I dragged Didi out, dressed him, gave him a drink of water, and put him down in his cot.
Having achieved so much in the morning, and since Jiale had started happily playing with his Playdoh, I gave myself a 30-min break - checked fb, drank some milo, took my morning shower, washed up the breakfast dishes, simple lunch prep.
10am, joined Jiale in his room, all ready to engage him in learning activities! But I don't have lesson plans or such things for him.. me lazy and I know he isn't likely to cooperate.. So my goal was just to play with the educational stuff (a lot!) in his room, depending on which ones he preferred. We played with Playdoh for a while more, then moved on to Mazes activity book, Go Einstein Go (a logic game), Chinese dominos, a fishing game, a board game (to learn turns-taking & moving by throwing dice, and counting the dots on the dice), a spatial learning game (the free gift that comes with Enfagrow, dunno how to describe it), a sticker game book, a buttoning activity.. I think that's about it.. before Didi woke up.
If Didi can't join in the activitiy (no shaving foam for Didi yet!!), we will do the activity during Didi's morning nap. This pretty much means not much learning stuff in the morning, cos the only alone time I have with Jiale is spent creating & undoing a mess :P
Time for Didi's milk feed again. If Jiale is not doing anything much or in his room, I will go to his room with Didi and try to do more learning stuff with Jiale while Didi plays on his own. But for today, Jiale was already engrossed with his trains at the balcony (trains area) when Didi was done with his milk. So we joined him there. The brothers promptly proceeded to forget about mummy and just played with each other and the trains : ) So I just hung around and sang along with the CD and watched them play.
(Oh ya, for the morning learning time, if Jiale is engaged in something else, eg trains, I won't disrupt him. Will let him continue doing whatever he is doing.)
1pm, time for Brillkids. I let them watch one lesson each of Chinese, English & Math a day, total less than 20 minutes. By 1.30pm, they eat lunch. After that, Jiale goes for nap. Didi might nap at the same time as Jiale or slightly later, depending on how long he naps in the morning. He had a 2.5 hour nap this morning, so I let him stay up till 2.30pm.
Once Jiale goes in for his nap, it's FREE time for me! Even if Didi is awake, he is perfectly happy playing on his own.. probably because Jiale isn't around to snatch toys, haha! So while Didi explores around the house, I eat my lunch. I have at least one hour to myself while both the boys are napping. During my break, I either read parenting books or read blogs, and of course, fb! It's also because I have this free time that I am able to blog. (Only one computer at home and hubby uses it when he comes back from work.) Used to prepare the afternoon play activity during this time too, but nowadays I bring the boys out to playground around 4pm, no time for anything else, so it also saves me some prep time.
Home around 6.30pm, bathe the boys, prepare a quick dinner for them, they eat, then drink milk. After milk, Didi goes to bed, around 7.30pm. Then it's bedtime stories for Jiale, and he's off to bed at 8pm. End of the workday for me!
Hubby comes back from work with takeaway dinner, we eat together, watch TV. I read parenting books and prepare for the next morning's play activity. Still fb-ing, on my phone, lol.
I'm so much happier now that I have a routine that works. For quite time, I have been coping quite well with the mundane stuff like getting the boys fed and bathed etc. But I felt something was lacking.. sometimes whole days went by without having really 'done' anything.. Did they learn anything? What did I achieve? What did I do with them having spent the whole day together? So I thought about it and set out priorities - messy play? homelearning? dvds? computer? outdoor play? I realised that if I did not plan, and just 'see how', usually nothing got done. It would of course be perfect if I could incorporate everything everyday.. But it's just not possible.. If I wanna spend more time at home doing learning stuff, I would not be able to let them go outdoors for two hours.. If I give up the messy play in favor of learning stuff... I don't want. So I accept that I CANNOT do everything. Umm, so learning stuff has been kicked to the lowest priority - small pockets of time in the day, as and when I'm free and he's interested, or when it rains in the afternoon and we can't go to the playground.. provided he doesn't get caught up with his trains again!
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