School Holiday Programme at The School, Jaya One (Part 1)

My readers have been asking me how come I don’t write much about Ethan anymore. The truth is he is always at school while I am always at home with Ayden so obviously I have more to write about Ayden than Ethan right? Anyway, it is the school holidays now and we gave Ethan all the love and attention possible. So this post is all about him today :P

Ethan actually has a hectic school holiday as he has to sit for two major exams – Piano Grade 2 Trinity and Drum Grade 4 Pop & Rock Trinity. I don’t really want to burden him with all the routine practices throughout the entire two weeks holiday so I signed him up for a fun school holiday programme on the second week of his holidays as the first week was spent in Genting. 

On Monday, he woke up all fresh and happy to attend the first out of four days of his school holiday programme. The programme that we signed him up this time is at The School, Jaya One. 

I signed him up for this programme before we were told that his drum exam is at noon on the 10th June. By then, it is too late to back out. So what happens is Ethan will have to skip half of the school holiday activities on the 10th and that upsets him a lot especially knowing that he’ll miss out on the Robotic class but we have no choice. 

Anyway, let’s take a look at the first two days of the school holiday programme. On Monday, he woke up eagerly to go for this while I had to drag myself out of bed. I don’t usually wake up this early you know… 

Day 1

His first stop is at Fantasia Music (Yamaha). 

There were 8 of them in his group. They learn about the function of electone as well as playing with its rhythm and experience various accompaniment styles. Though what they learned here is actually for beginners, Ethan still enjoyed the lesson as it was his first time learning in a group. His weekly piano and drum lessons are both on ‘1 to 1’ basis. 

After spending two hours here, they were escorted to the next location for the next activity. The person in charge in the existing location will guide the kids to their next location and make sure all arrived safely. You can see the person in charge doing the head count there. 

Just a walk across and they are at their next location, the Craft Space.

They have their tea break here before they begin their craft lesson. The lesson of the day is creating using beads. Ethan loves pyssla beads. We were crazy about it back in 2013 but once Ayden was born, I kept everything away as those beads are very tiny and can be a choke hazard should Ayden get hold of them. Click to check out our many Pyssla Beads creations.

Ethan’s wish come true when he gets to create using these beads again. While most of the children stopped at ONE, Ethan proceeded to make FOUR! He fully utilised his two hours there.

Ethan and the Starwars, Ironman, Superman and Light Saber Pyssla Beads creation. 

It was 1pm once they were done and most of the children were already hungry. 

They were escorted to The Children’s House for lunch.

They spent an hour here having lunch before heading to their next location.

That next location is Cross Muay Thai to learn some dicipline and respect while reaping the benefits of getting fit via Thai Kick Boxing.

The children warming up.

They even get to do some real punches. 

Don’t mess with this tiny warrior! Okay he’s not supposed to be there but the kind people in Cross Muay Thai allowed him to be in the rink for a moment just so he can get a feel of it too :P

That was the end of Day 1. 9am to 4pm of exciting activities for Ethan while Ayden and I laze around waiting for him. We can actually just drop him off and return at 4pm to pick him up but I lingered as I wanted to take a picture or two of each activities..

Day 2

 

Day 2 begins at The Academy of Rock covering the basic aspect of pop and rock drums, electric guitar and vocals. Again, this class is for beginners but it was Ethan’s first time having some vocal lessons and more besides drums. 

After their tea break, they were escorted to Science Bridge Academy.

The lesson today is on Magical Leaves where they collect, press and classify different leaves while creating their very own scrapbook. 

After lunch, the last stop for the day is Dialogue in the Dark.

Ethan did not know what to expect here and I did not brief him anything as I myself have never experience anything like it. What happens is the children are invited to go on a journey in total darkness through which, led by blind guides, they learn to interact and communicate by relying on other senses. They are lead through specially constructed dark rooms in which scent, sound, wind, temperature and texture convey the characteristics of daily environments eg a park, city, boat cruise or a bar. Ethan told me they even ‘went’ to a beach in Sabah! A reverse role is created: people who can see are taken out of their familiar environment. The blind provide them with security and a sense of orientation by transmitting to them a world without pictures. Ethan could not believe me when I told him his guides are all visually impaired. It was a very ‘eye-opening’ experience for Ethan. He told me he enjoys his experience here a lot. He was initially afraid when caught in the total darkness but soon got confident to move around with the encouragements and guide of the guides. 

I am glad he went through this. It is something I can’t teach him. It’s something you have to experience for yourself to really understand it. 

This is Ayden, keeping himself occupied in the playground while waiting for big brother Ethan to be done with his activities for the day. 

That’s the end of Day 2. Tomorrow is Day 3 where Ethan will have to skip the first half of the day to go for his drum exam. Wish him all the best in his drum exam. That boy has not been practicing >_<