End of 1st part of homeschool year 2014

The first part of our homeschool year is drawing to a close soon. Though I follow the school calendar here, I've extended school till Wed. The reason is simply because we can't complete the unit on time! For every school day at home, our schedule can be really crazy sometimes. Maybe it's time to do a priority list when I start planning for next year. Fewer extra worksheets? Or cut down on the number of activities?

This journey with Zech has been wonderful with many discoveries along the way. Flexibility is such a big key word in our homeschool journey. It's a major lesson for me too. I've learned to patiently wait for the 'right' time to teach Zech as sometimes, he may not be developmentally ready. When a particular method or strategy doesn't work with Zech, I've learned to slowly let go and adopt another more appropriate and effective method. There are times when I struggled with him. However, when he knows I'm upset and about to discard something, he usually tells me he wants to continue trying. For that, I'm grateful.

Lately, my younger one is starting to drop his morning nap. I'm doing this reluctantly as I have absolutely no idea what to do with him while I'm teaching Zech. The first time we had school with Nathanael around, I fed him with grapes and cheerios. I was really relieved he could play on his own after his snack time. The second time we had school with Nathanael, somehow, I managed to get through. He did whine and try climbing up onto my lap to see what we were doing. But he was manageable. Maybe it really isn't that hard after all.

For the last few units, I'm thankful the activities we did could involve Nathanael. He loves to do things with us I realise.

W for water unit. Playing with ice.

The curious observer sitting behind Zech as his big brother explores how liquids have no shape.

Float or sink experiment.

O for octopus unit. Nathanael is happy to be doing craft together with Zech.

I for insects unit. The making of the ladybug.

Snack time. The boys' fav!

Ants on the log

Ladybug apple

There are times Zech needs to work alone.

Handwriting practice. No longer just forming letters but learning to write neatly within the given lines. We use a whiteboard and not an exercise book as the latter seems too strenuous for a preschooler.

MFW worksheets. Some are simply cut and paste while writing is required in others.

This is something I like. Very crumpled here. :( My mischievous younger one took it and crushed it!

I like this worksheet personally because as I dictate the word, Zech needs to distinguish the sounds and write the letters. Really good practice!


Other extra worksheets

I'm excited to end the first part of the year and start getting busy real soon with Christmas prep. Do you hear what I hear? Sleigh bells, carols and lots of glittering baubles on the Christmas tree...I can't wait for Zech's holidays to start!

The joy of having 2 precious little ones

My boys do strange things. Unique, weird and at times, funny. They are both unique and different. In their own ways, each never fails to amaze us.

In the wee hours of the morning, Zech was awakened by Nathanael. He couldn't sleep and guess what he was doing in the living room? He was playing with his number cards. Just as I had taught him, he was jumping about happily on his number cards while saying the number aloud. Later, I heard some noises again. This time, I went out and saw Zech looking through his word cards. It was tough but still, I gently reprimanded him.

At around 3am in the morning, I was again disturbed. I went to check on the boys. Horror of horrors! When I opened the door, I saw Nathanael playing with his toy train. So engrossed he didn't even notice me! After that, I had to remain in his room to ensure he was really in bed and not playing. I waited an hour before he fell asleep. Such torture!

Nevertheless, having 2 still beats having just 1 kid. I've collated some best of best brotherly moments in this post.

Same PJ, same action. They love to imitate each other.

After a shower together, they posed for a photo. Can't help feeling that Halloween is around the corner.

You can't see Zech here but Nathanael is entertaining his big brother with his silly act here. The boys love entertaining each other. It's pure joy hearing their laughter.

Recently, we've moved Nathanael to Zech's room. Their first night together here shows them in the same sleeping position.

Quiet play. Very rare at home.

Zech and Nathanael's craft. Big and baby octopus.

Making music together with their hand-made tambourines.

When Zech is reading, Nathanael usually follows his lead. Thanks to Zech. Nathanael is learning faster.



Because of his big brother, Nathanael is never alone at the indoor playground.

Brotherly love and affection need time to build. May the good Lord bless these 2 to be there for each other always.

Teaching the concept of place value to young kids

In MFW, the teacher's guide recommended using straws to complete the 100 chart. Every time there is a total of 10 straws, we bundle them up to form 1 ten. Now in our jar, there is exactly 5 tens or 50 straws.

Find this very tough for a 3 year old and initially, I merely went through this as a form of exposure, not expecting real learning from Zech. Was reluctant to teach place value as to me, this was something I taught before to the P1s. Some of the weaker ones could not even grasp the concept then. Halfway through, as we reached 4 tens, I decided to try teaching Zech, using a method I taught my pupils before.

With a place value mat and some lego pieces, I attempted to teach Zech but I don't think he fully comprehended the concept. Though he can count in tens, it's probably memory work.

I chanced upon the ten-frame mat on the internet. The ten-frame is supposed to develop the child's number sense and help them to organise objects by tens. I started with one mat first then 2 mats. We've used dinosaurs and teddy bear counters. Other tiny objects such as Lego, beans, pebbles etc. work too.

This method is great for young kids. It gradually builds up the base ten concept and even allows discovery learning and encourages kids to use Mathematical language. I'd start with a number and from there, I'd get Zech to add on or take away by either increasing or decreasing the number. It's really interesting to see how Zech struggled with adding on. He found a way eventually by removing all the counters and started counting all over again. When I decreased the number, he struggled once more. But he gradually realised he could simply take away one counter. In his own words, he told me as he placed one counter back in the container, 'I put one back.'

I'm still working on connecting Zech's understanding of 1 ten to the teen numbers to form 2 tens. Not easy for young kids but using the ten-frame mat means discovering other number concepts and relationships as well, which is the reason why I find this very beneficial. If you are keen to download the ten-frame mats, go to this website, http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/.

T for turtle and U for us

I can't help but blog about the goodness of the past 2 units of MFW (My Father's World - a curriculum I'm using to teach Zech).

T for turtle unit -

It taught Zech about perseverance. The fable, 'The tortoise and the hare' is a powerful story in this unit. There's a memory verse for every unit. The verse for this unit, 'I don't quit! I persevere." soon became a slogan for Zech as I presented some challenges for him to take up. He's still learning to be patient. But through this unit, it was a breakthrough for him.

The completed fish with some food stains. :)

U for us unit -

 

A wonderful journey for Zech to discover about himself!

Simply love the books borrowed from AMK library. Surprise surprise! One can actually find such great and relatively new information books there. Never underestimate your neighbourhood library.

 

 

Love the DK book on human body. Each page reveals the human body from outside in.

 

 

I traced Zech's body on brown paper. Then we pasted the organs on the figure. Now Zech has an idea of how God created the inside of his body.

 

I like the different kinds of experiments we have done for this unit.

Using the sense of smell.

Making a 'telephone' with 2 cups and a twine to communicate. That's the power of the sense of hearing.

 

Using the tongue to learn the basic tastes.

Home-made musical instruments.

Comparing the sound in a small versus big shaker.

A simple drum using a glucose container and chopsticks as drum sticks.

 

Best of all, Zech  got to make his very own baby photo album. A trip down memory lane indeed!

Finally, before closing the unit, I helped Zech to create his own family tree. I find doing this is good for him as he got to reflect and understand the relationship between family members. The only thing I missed out here was to include our siblings. For that, I'd need a bigger piece of paper. Probably drawing paper. Zech's holiday project. :)

Coincidentally, there was a Teochew Festival which I thought was really timely for the unit. Zech is a Teochew and it's the best way to learn about the culture.

 

 

There were some exhibits and a mini museum that showcased the history of Teochews in Singapore. Zech wasn't terribly interested. He was only keen to watch the stage performances which were pretty good. It was my first time watching and hearing someone sing in Teochew live on stage. The song was really soothing and nice. 

When I started teaching Zech at home, time flies! We are now at a new unit, D for dinosaur. Another amazing and truly enjoyable journey! Will update again.

This is the way Zech learns Mandarin.

 Zech has his regular Mandarin lessons with me and I'm using this set of books, 'Basic Chinese 500' to teach him.

 

 

The Mandarin lessons I've planned for Zech has basically no frills. Simple and traditional, this methodology seems to be really effective. By the time Zech completed the second book, he can read the third book in the series independently. What I like about the books is the teaching and learning of Chinese characters in context.  Unlike flashcards which teach words in isolation, 'Basic Chinese 500' introduces the Chinese characters with a storyline. This enhances understanding of usage. Repetition of the words ensures learning too. If you've heard of the leveled readers, 'Peter and Jane' (Ladybird series), 'Basic Chinese 500' is similar. At the beginning of each chapter, the strokes of the new Chinese character is shown with numbers to guide the learner. That's really a plus point as it encourages and allows a child to practise writing independently.

After going through the books, Zech practises writing on the word boards with a 'pen'. These boards are very useful but I can't find them at Popular anymore.

Next, I'll go through a Chinese book on colours with Zech. It sure wasn't easy for him to learn his colours in Chinese. I'm glad he knows them by now. For all his books, I usually paste a sticker on each page for successful word recognition. This reward system works very well for him.

Recently, I took out the magnetic Chinese spelling set purchased some time ago. Using the guide book, Zech could form the characters with a little help from me.

Zech also uses one other workbook as a supplement. I'm no expert but with trial and error, books recommendation from friends and some teaching knowledge as an English teacher in the past, I found some great ways to teach Mandarin. Most importantly, the child needs to be provided with opportunities to practise and speak the language.

An effective way to get kids to remember and recognize the Chinese characters is to use them daily in their speech. For example 来 is frequently used in Zech's daily interaction with my mum, so it was very easy for him to remember and recognize it. Building connections work too. For instance, 是 may not be easy for some kids to remember. I told Zech every time we encounter this word, "我是林宣义。” That aids in memory. 

Another powerful resource for learning Mandarin is reading. Enjoyment is important. If the child resists and doesn't like Mandarin, you know it's time to build the interest and not continue to force a child to learn by rote. Consistency is the key.

Personally, I feel there's a lot more I can do with my 3 year old going on 4 but these should suffice for now.  

Screen time for kids?

Ever since Zech turned 3 last Dec, he started watching an educational DVD once a week. His DVDs were limited to Leapfrog, Eric Carle and a series of short Mandarin stories. Recently, I've increased Zech's screen time. Probably inevitable.

The units from MFW, N for nest and T for turtle, were great opportunities to expose Zech to the natural world. Something that is difficult to see and experience in our city. So DVDs and the internet are great windows to the world beyond Singapore.

Sid the Science kid, which is now Zech's fav, is highly recommended. We watched 'home tweet home'. Wonderful series that educate and inspire...

At least, it inspired me to have a nest building activity with Zech after watching the show.

A home for the hen.

A home for Zech's craft bird.

We watched some great videos on YouTube.

Here's one showing how the hummingbird builds its nest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aupSOndl7W0

Another one by BBC showing the weaver bird.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6svAIgEnFvw

An eye-opener for Mummy too!

For T for turtle unit, I chose a few videos. They were simply amazing! I've always wanted to witness a real turtle lay eggs and now I finally did!

Witnessing the birth of hundreds of hatchlings. It was really a long wait but the good thing about videos is I can fast forward the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afsBBRbQb_I

A turtle laying eggs. Live!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwtjj9bRGtM

Discovered Jonathon Bird's Blue World series. Very cool! Up close and personal with sea turtles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_44-x_gWE7Y

So you see, I'm not against screen time for kids. But it must be restricted with a certain amount of educational value in it. And usually, I sit down with Zech during screen time so that I can explain and enjoy the programme with him. It's a wonderful way to relax too!