As the children get older, they understand better the meaning of exercising tolerance and initiative in this multi-culture society to make peace.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Time & Tide Wait for No Man
Transportation has brought us to the end of the 1st half of 2009. It was all lots of sweetness & some bitterness throughout our journey of acquiring new skills and knowledge.
Most children's 'speed' of learning 'gear(ed)' towards a 'fraction' of their developmental milestones ahead of 'time'.Time concept became the main focus over the past 3 weeks after I've noticed that most of the children are more than capable to tell the time in minutes per the position of the hands of the clock(eg. 9:45am).Hence, the curriculum objectives were modified to scaffold their understanding of time meaningfully.
To eliminate some misconceptions/ mindset of 1 hour equates to the minute hand pointing to 12 has been a big challenge.Visual & spatial intelligences are the 2 fundamentals that I have started off with. Children did many drawings of circle and assigned 1 to 12 around it representing the clock. This trains observation or spatial awareness. We worked a lot on gears and analysed how many small turns make 1 big turn & vice versa..
Therefore, having them hands-on and work on problem solving are the major activities I have used to eradicate their misconception and to understand how the facts are established rather than just remembering it.
Mom & Dad, happy reinforcing at home but please make it as part of real-life application. Eg.let your child tell you the time he leaves home for school, then let him know how long he takes to arrive in school. Thereafter, let him tell the time he arrives at school. Estimation is alright/safe but make it consistent with explanation.
Most children's 'speed' of learning 'gear(ed)' towards a 'fraction' of their developmental milestones ahead of 'time'.Time concept became the main focus over the past 3 weeks after I've noticed that most of the children are more than capable to tell the time in minutes per the position of the hands of the clock(eg. 9:45am).Hence, the curriculum objectives were modified to scaffold their understanding of time meaningfully.
To eliminate some misconceptions/ mindset of 1 hour equates to the minute hand pointing to 12 has been a big challenge.Visual & spatial intelligences are the 2 fundamentals that I have started off with. Children did many drawings of circle and assigned 1 to 12 around it representing the clock. This trains observation or spatial awareness. We worked a lot on gears and analysed how many small turns make 1 big turn & vice versa..
Therefore, having them hands-on and work on problem solving are the major activities I have used to eradicate their misconception and to understand how the facts are established rather than just remembering it.
Mom & Dad, happy reinforcing at home but please make it as part of real-life application. Eg.let your child tell you the time he leaves home for school, then let him know how long he takes to arrive in school. Thereafter, let him tell the time he arrives at school. Estimation is alright/safe but make it consistent with explanation.Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The destiny of Formula 1
Message for daddy from your chld:-
Dear Daddy,
Happy Father's Day!I really hope that you like the gift because there are things that you like, I wish for and magic too! I was so enthusiastic about giving you the surprise that I decided to trade my nap time for early completion of the gift. Did you manage to find out the trick without peeping into the slot?
Cheers!
We have entered into the favourite topic for the boys just in time to coincide with father's day so that your child can impress you with common topics to debate with you - Happy Father's Day. Mom & Dad out there, don't be surprised that your sweety pie daughter is equally competent when the topic on automobile is concerned.
As children has acquired the very fundamental of days and hours where time is concern, we proceed forward to race against the seconds. Together with their prior knowledge learnt on distance, they applied these into the understanding of speed.
We began by transforming ourselves into different made and model of cars such as Renault, Schumacher Mercedes-Benz. Teacher Phyllis won the 900cm (centimeter) race in 5 seconds in her who know what Jaguar XRK. A longest timing recorded was 15 seconds on the racer who was anticipating the bang of the gun shot instead of responding to the flagged of the flag. The average time taken for the 900cm race was 11 seconds.
Children also gained many logical processing skills as to why the train does not need the steering. Do you know why, Dad?
On top of that, they observed and studied the mechanism of gears that make a bicycle move. We will also study the treads on the tyres.
Throughout the entire week of discussion, it appeared that none of the children were more interested in the number plate than the adults. However, they seriously understood the laws and reasons for having it. Mom & Dad, see any conflict of interest or any hiddened agenda on this number plate thingy?
Dear Daddy,
Happy Father's Day!I really hope that you like the gift because there are things that you like, I wish for and magic too! I was so enthusiastic about giving you the surprise that I decided to trade my nap time for early completion of the gift. Did you manage to find out the trick without peeping into the slot?
Cheers!
We have entered into the favourite topic for the boys just in time to coincide with father's day so that your child can impress you with common topics to debate with you - Happy Father's Day. Mom & Dad out there, don't be surprised that your sweety pie daughter is equally competent when the topic on automobile is concerned.
As children has acquired the very fundamental of days and hours where time is concern, we proceed forward to race against the seconds. Together with their prior knowledge learnt on distance, they applied these into the understanding of speed.
We began by transforming ourselves into different made and model of cars such as Renault, Schumacher Mercedes-Benz. Teacher Phyllis won the 900cm (centimeter) race in 5 seconds in her who know what Jaguar XRK. A longest timing recorded was 15 seconds on the racer who was anticipating the bang of the gun shot instead of responding to the flagged of the flag. The average time taken for the 900cm race was 11 seconds.
Children also gained many logical processing skills as to why the train does not need the steering. Do you know why, Dad?
On top of that, they observed and studied the mechanism of gears that make a bicycle move. We will also study the treads on the tyres.
Throughout the entire week of discussion, it appeared that none of the children were more interested in the number plate than the adults. However, they seriously understood the laws and reasons for having it. Mom & Dad, see any conflict of interest or any hiddened agenda on this number plate thingy?
Monday, May 25, 2009
Around the '7 Continents' in seven days
To round up the theme:'Children Around the World', we took a tour to seven countries in different continent using different form of transportation.
When we arrived in Australia, children were very enthusiastic to spin the boomerang and frisbee.
We did it at the open field between our school and BKE. Some children were quite upset when they asked if the kangaroos really die after hit by the boomerang. With the observations of the spinning boomerang, children were taught technique to draw their object in motion - please refer to your child's documentation in the Math/ Science exercise book.
Many children love Italy by its name, they keep laughing upon hearing 'yi da li'.But there were also many questions such as 'If there is a strong gust of wind, will the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall?, How much does the gondola trip cost?
Children make use of their compass to determine the direction they are heading to. Time and money planning were also their constraints for arriving their destination on time. They have more opportunity to apply their acquired skills and knowledge on distance, money, addition, subtraction, number bonding, climate, gravity, electricity, speed, day vs night (wrt Time)etc.
Children were also exposed to more foreign language eg. Bon Voyage, as well as the costumes, cultures, houses etc.
When we arrived in Australia, children were very enthusiastic to spin the boomerang and frisbee.
We did it at the open field between our school and BKE. Some children were quite upset when they asked if the kangaroos really die after hit by the boomerang. With the observations of the spinning boomerang, children were taught technique to draw their object in motion - please refer to your child's documentation in the Math/ Science exercise book.
Many children love Italy by its name, they keep laughing upon hearing 'yi da li'.But there were also many questions such as 'If there is a strong gust of wind, will the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall?, How much does the gondola trip cost?
Children make use of their compass to determine the direction they are heading to. Time and money planning were also their constraints for arriving their destination on time. They have more opportunity to apply their acquired skills and knowledge on distance, money, addition, subtraction, number bonding, climate, gravity, electricity, speed, day vs night (wrt Time)etc.
Children were also exposed to more foreign language eg. Bon Voyage, as well as the costumes, cultures, houses etc.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Money matters!
This week, we were working on all about 'reality',namely : gravity & money. !
Children have so many questions about gravity and all the answers to the questions were answered in a so very funny manner to avoid confusion. Please ask your child to share why the hot air balloon, helicoptor & aeroplane don't fall after taking off, why don't we drop off from the roller-coaster? How did some kind of balloons fly off by its own? Why do water fall from waterfalls? Some were so very sure that I'm cheating on them when the pail of water didn't spill as I turned it 360 degrees for many rounds until I intentionally dipped my hand into the pail and splashed droplets on them. We all enjoyed experiencing the phenomenon in all crazy ways.
When come to money matters, children are serious and they don't think that a millon dollar is difficulty to earn. How nice if its real...!Lets take a look!
Children have so many questions about gravity and all the answers to the questions were answered in a so very funny manner to avoid confusion. Please ask your child to share why the hot air balloon, helicoptor & aeroplane don't fall after taking off, why don't we drop off from the roller-coaster? How did some kind of balloons fly off by its own? Why do water fall from waterfalls? Some were so very sure that I'm cheating on them when the pail of water didn't spill as I turned it 360 degrees for many rounds until I intentionally dipped my hand into the pail and splashed droplets on them. We all enjoyed experiencing the phenomenon in all crazy ways.
When come to money matters, children are serious and they don't think that a millon dollar is difficulty to earn. How nice if its real...!Lets take a look!
Sunday, May 10, 2009
See how we put our acquired skills into problem solving
Through knowing about the different climate in different parts of the world, as well as the available natural resources in those countries, children learnt to be resourceful while constructing their thoughts on building a house that suits the climate. In the process of identifying the type of climate, children learnt about the weather of countries near to the equator compared to that of the north & south pole. With the various skills (strategizing,planning,checking)and knowledge (area & perimeter,stable structure,center of gravity)learnt, children set up a tent which requires them to put their skills and knowledge into full use inorder to be successful.
You know what I mean after you've watched the video as attached.
If you're impressed, give your intelligent child a pat on his/her shoulder with a thumb-up! Trust me, a lot of engineering thoughts, management and leadership skills were evolved during the process! Children also learnt that lights are required in a house. We saw through pictures how wires run in the walls to bring electricity through the mains. All children celebrated that moment of amazement when the bulb was lighted up using battery from their home.
You know what I mean after you've watched the video as attached.
If you're impressed, give your intelligent child a pat on his/her shoulder with a thumb-up! Trust me, a lot of engineering thoughts, management and leadership skills were evolved during the process! Children also learnt that lights are required in a house. We saw through pictures how wires run in the walls to bring electricity through the mains. All children celebrated that moment of amazement when the bulb was lighted up using battery from their home.
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