It took the kids quite some time to collect this much coins: But it took us longer to find a coin-counting machine that works. We went to many banks, searching high and low only to be told that their coin-counting machines are out of order OR their cut out time is 11am. Who on Earth goes out to deposit coins so early? Okay maybe it is only ME who does not leave the house before […]

Both the boys have too many toy cars scattering on the floor. I decided to help them build a multi-storey garage last weekend. We used the larger toilet paper rolls for this project. We used 15 rolls for this multi-storey garage. Maybe we can build a bigger one next. Stick double sided tape on the TP Rolls. Stick them together as you wish. We made three levels with 5 garages on each level. Ayden seemed […]

Ayden is turning two next month. That means he is ready for art and craft activities with me. Today, we made an apple tree using toilet paper roll and coloured crepe paper.  First, I get Ayden to paint the toilet paper roll with brown tempera paste.  He only needs to paint half of the toilet paper roll as we’ll be using only half. I did not cut it first because it is easier for him […]

This is Part 2 to Ethan’s School Holiday Programme at The School, Jaya One. You can read about School Holiday Programme Part 1 where he participated in activities from Fantasia Music, Craft Space, The children’s house, Cross Muay Thai, The Academy of Rock, Science Bridge Academy and Dialogue in The Dark. The activities in Part 1 were for Day 1 and 2. Today, I shall continue with Ethan’s Day 3 and 4. Ethan missed the […]

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 […]

With a blink of an eye we are already half way through the two weeks of the school holidays. Our holidays started great with the 4D/3N trip up to Genting but immediately after we got home it was busy, busy and busy for Ethan as he has his Grade 2 Trinity Piano exam on the 4th and Grade 4 Trinity Drum exam on the 10th June! So while other children are playing and enjoying their […]

Last week Ethan came home with a simple instruction – to select a fruit to bring to school for a project in Pendidikan Moral this week. We told him to bring apples as we always have apples at home. I’m referring to the edible ones this time :P He informed his teacher he will be bringing apples and the teacher gave him another set of instructions – to peel and cut it into cubes and […]

Ethan will be celebrating Teacher’s Day in school today. He had no time to get gifts for his teachers so I helped him buy but I forgotten to get wrapping papers. I only realized we are out of wrapping paper after dinner and it is already too late to go out already. How? We made our own wrapping paper. First, I cut a heart shape from a piece of paper.  Then I placed another piece […]

I was spending time drawing and colouring with Ayden. As usual, I’ll help him trace his hands and feet and draw faces out of them. We have been doing this since he was a baby and he loves it. Today, I am going to be very generous and share with you how to draw a human face out of your foot print. It is such an intricate art so you should pay close attention to […]

With a blink of an eye, the long weekend is over. Can’t believe how tiring it is to spend time with two active boys these days. It is either age is catching up with me or the boys are getting tougher. Out of the four off days, we get to spend one day at home peacefully with no agenda planned as the daddy needed to attend to some matters with our new tenant. As I […]

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Even the longest and most difficult ventures have a starting point. I home-schooled Ethan when he was younger. I don’t believe in sending him to preschool but as he grows up, I know I will have to eventually expose him to the real world to learn not only on academics but survival skills as well. We decided to enrol him into a public school. […]

If your kids are studying in government school, it is that time to log into http://sapsnkra.moe.gov.my/ibubapa2/index.php to check your kids’ exam result and even position in class.  You’ll be directed to this page: 1) Key in their IC Number 2) Tick the relevant school (Sekolah Rendah for Primary and Sekolah Menengah for Secondary) 3) Select Year at TAHUN 4) Click ‘Semak Laporan’ Once you are in there, click on the relevant exam term that you want to […]

It’s 1st of April 2015. Things will never be the same again after today with the implementation of GST but I’m not going to talk about that as I am no expert in this issue. I shall wait and see how this will affect my family’s expenditure. In preparation for GST, I resumed teaching. I am now giving private tuition again at night in my house. I’m so thankful I still have students eventhough I’ve […]

Every where Ethan goes, people will be asking him, “Ethan, have you eaten?”. One fine day, Ethan told his Dad that when he was younger, he did not understand what that means. He thought people were always asking, “Ethan, have you Ethan?” and to him, that made no sense. Only recently did he finally get what people meant when they asked him, “Ethan, have you eaten?” His conversation with his Dad prompted him to start […]

OK here’s the deal. Ethan came home from school today telling me his English teacher taught him a new word. I said, “Great! Tell me what word is that?” He said, “Siu-wing”. Me: Suing? Ethan: No, ‘siu-wing’. Me: What’s ‘siu-wing’? Ethan: You know, thread and needles… sewing? Me: Ah! Soh-ing! Ethan: Yes. Soh-wing! Me: No… Soh-ing! Ethan: Yes. Soh-Wing! Ok ok. I don’t mind him pronouncing it as ‘soh-wing’ though the ‘w’ is supposed to […]

Big brother Ethan is still feverish hence he skipped school again today. In the evening, the weather was very beautiful; sunny and windy so I brought them to the playground for some fresh air and sunshine.  After spending about half an hour playing on the playground equipments, I introduced a simple color learning activity for Ayden. It is always fun to learn outdoors as the resources are endless. For today’s activity, I suggested for the […]

Art subject can be fun and interesting but more often than not, parents and students don’t see it that way. For example Ethan brought home his latest art project last week. It is a texture and color art work. His teacher gave him a piece of paper with a printing of a robot on it. He is required to find surfaces with textures, place the paper on it and color; making prints on the robot along the […]

Ethan had been unwell since Monday evening but on Tuesday insisted to go to school as his fever subsided. We allowed him because there was no point arguing with him as he was very determined and looked okay then. But he came home on Tuesday with high fever and feeling nauseous. I did not allow him to go to school on Wednesday and made him rest at home instead. He kept himself busy doing his homework when […]

The reason I prefer to homeschool Ayden than to send to playschool is because I can guide him as and when he is most comfortable and feels like it. This is especially important during reading session as it will be almost impossible to teach a toddler when he is sleepy and cranky. At 16 months old, reading is not limited to word cards though I use mostly wordcards for our reading lessons. I introduced word cards […]

We don’t usually go to Paradigm Mall but several weeks ago we did to meet up with friends. After out meet up, we thought of walking around for a while when we passed by Popular Bookstore and saw that they are giving a free art and craft session for kids but there was not even a single kid keen to participate. Why? What is happening to kids these days? Art and crafts don’t fancy them […]

Continuation from our first homeschool activity of beading/threading, we are going to proceed with the second activity a toddler can do at home today. It is never too early to expose a toddler to the world of colours. If you watch your toddler closely, you’ll discover that he/she will usually have a preference towards a particular colour. Always start with that colour to capture his interest.  My 16 month old Ayden loves playing with building […]

It’s the second day of school for the big brother Ethan and Ayden is left alone at home with me. Now that Ayden is 16 months old, I can start ‘homeschooling’ him just like what I’ve done with the elder brother years ago. By ‘homeschooling’ I mean keeping Ayden occupied by giving him lots of playtime to improve his fine motor skills. Parents these days have all the luxury to splurge on their kids when […]

It’s time to dig out your ang pow packets and make Chinese New Year decorations again because before you know it, Chinese New Year will appear right in front of you :) Though I’ve always used only angpow packets for my decorations, today’s decor requires one additional item though. We’ll need toilet paper rolls to make this lantern.  Ang pow lantern I used big toilet paper rolls instead of the normal small ones as this […]

When I published “How to make a Halloween Paper Pumpkin” 3 days before Halloween I got many mommies buzzing me requesting to post seasonal crafts EARLY so that they can make them on time for their parties.  Well, Christmas is in December and it is only the beginning of November now. I hope this entry is not too early though :D I’ve compiled 15 of our most popular Christmas crafts to share with our readers […]

I am very fortunate as I have a great Whatsapp group that consists of Ethan’s classmates’ moms. One of the mom initiated it and slowly but surely we help to add other mothers we got to know along the way. They have been very supportive throughout Ethan’s Primary One journey. We checked with each other if we were unsure regarding their homework or anything school related. Before the school holidays, I suggested that the kids […]