30
2011
48 months
Looking through my folders today and found this video taken using my iPhone. I had to rotate it otherwise you guys will be straining your neck viewing it but the quality has been compromised as a result of that :( This is one of my favourite videos of Ethan and I wonder why I did not post it up earlier. He is extremely cheerful here and I wanna hug him just by watching it.. <3 […]
28
2011
His secret garden
Ethan at play.. What is he building? His masterpiece… A SECRET GARDEN of flowers, snake and fence! (^_^) Aww…. :D
24
2011
Word World – Where Words Come Alive
The creator of Word World – Where Words Come Alive must be a genius! A REAL genius! Thank goodness for Word World! We were first introduced to Word World back in January 2010 when Darling redeemed a set of Word World VCD’s from his credit card points. Ethan loves it instantly that his collection of Word World VCD/DVDs has been growing tremendously throughout the years. His latest Word World episode is Mmm.. Mmm… Milk. Mmm… Mmm… […]
14
2011
Colours in Mandarin
A week after attending Bao Bei, Ethan is starting to speak in Mandarin. Ethan and colours in Mandarin While we were playing with colours last Tuesday, he happily blurted this out… Sweet! He now has the confidence to speak in Mandarin to ME but not to his teachers yet. Why? Because he knows his Mandarin is superior to me so he can show off!! Most of the time I don’t know what he says until […]
5
2011
Bao Bei Reading Wonderland : Updates
I’ve been busy hence no time to update Ethan’s progress in Bao Bei the past few days. I won’t be updating so frequent-lah, but I think the first week is very important so I took notes of whatever improvement I see in him. Read about Day 1’s update here. Day 2 Ethan still refuse to read nor speak to the teachers unless it is in English. He does not participate in group activities and still […]
4
2011
How to draw with Charcoal?
I sent Ethan to his Mandarin class today and went to work right after. For the very first time I have peace and quiet at my work place. I saw this sitting at the corner.. Charcoal sticks I have never sketched using charcoal before but since I have all the time in the world today, I decided to try and came out with this.. Charcoal Zebra Though I thought that the zebra is cute, but it did […]
1
2011
Bao Bei Reading Wonderland : Day 1
Today marks the first day Ethan attending Mandarin classes at Bao Bei. We went there 10 minutes early to have a look at the premise before enrolling Ethan. We did not get to see the classroom during our last visit there last week as they were in a midst of a class then. Hand sanitizer I saw ALL the kids getting their hands sanitized before entering the classroom. Thumbs up. Can you spot Ethan? I […]
26
2011
Bao Bei Reading Wonderland : Fee structure
We are looking for a decent place for Ethan to learn Mandarin. Our first stop is the well-known Bao Bei Reading Wonderland. Bao Bei Reading Wonderland, children’s super-learning programme? Really so super? While Darling and I were busy enquiring about the programme, Ethan kept himself entertained… He’s getting restless. Okay, okay… so you are hungry. Let’s go Snowflake :P Before we left, I almost fainted when given the fee structure… For a 1 1/2 hours […]
21
2011
How to make mooncake?
In my entire life, all I know is to EAT mooncake. Never in my mind did I imagine that one day I’ll have the opportunity to make my own mooncake, until today that is :D Today, I got the golden opportunity to learn how to make mooncake at West Lake Garden, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa :) West Lake Garden, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa The dough, the fillings and the tools needed to make […]
15
2011
Foot in mouth project
To put one’s foot in one’s mouth means to embarrass oneself by saying the wrong thing. But fret not as that is not the issue here today. The past few days have been very hectic, running from one place to another and come night time, classes back to back. But I like to take things positively, it’s better to be busy than being left idle and grow cobwebs around you, right? Tonight I just don’t […]
18
2011
Bao Bei Reading Wonderland.. any good?
Okay. Since Ethan’s reading in English is progressing well, we thought of sending him for Chinese lessons. I am a bit sceptical (being a banana, I’m afraid he might not be able to cope). But I heard that the best age to learn a new language is before the child turns 6 years old. We are looking high and low for a reputable and reliable centre when the obvious came to mind – Bao Bei […]
11
2009
The Sound of ABC
I never like to teach children below the age of 4 reading the phonetic way. I find it troublesome and they found it confusing. I always use the whole word approach for younger children. But as I was teaching my older students the phonetic approach, this busy body of mine was always around. Yesterday, he requested for the ABC book and started to sound all the 26 letters of the alphabets. To mothers out there […]
22
2009
Ethan reading Mandarin @ 23mths old
I’m so overly excited right now. My little ‘Banana Boy’ can read in Mandarin! I don’t speak a single word of any Chinese dialect, but for the sake of Ethan, we got him some Chinese kindie books and started to teach him simple words such as family members a couple of days ago. Surprisingly, he gets it very fast! Even faster than when I was teaching him to read in English! Now, I myself needs […]
4
2009
How to start your child on reading (Intro)
Since the posting of Ethan’s reading video, I’ve been flooded with emails asking me to share tips on how to start young toddlers to read. I am all so happy to share my two cents worth as I believe in nothing but to make every child a reader. But, let me clarify with all the mommies and daddies out there that I am by no means an expert in this field and I should not […]
29
2009
Reading Sentences @ 20 mths old
Ethan has finally started to read sentences. It was quite tricky getting him to focus one word at a time and proceed to the next word and on and on. Initially he was overwhelm with all the words in a sentence that he just look at them and kept quiet! But now, he finally understood what reading sentences means and is slowly getting used to the concept. The whole-word approach is based on research findings […]
6
2009
Learning to read – Phonics vs Whole Word Approach
I am sure most of us would like to teach our little precious to read as early in their lives as possible. But not many knows what method to use. Generally there are two methods most commonly used in teaching/learning reading, the phonics way and the whole word approach way. The phonics way is reading by making sense of the spelling and sounds of the word while the whole word approach way is reading by […]