Balance of free-play or guided-play?

Dad is truly perplexed.

Recently, dad and mum had seriously considered sending me to Uncle Eric's music school as they noticed that I love to sing and am pretty musically inclined. Mum also considered stretching me further by sending me to "Growing Up Gifted" based on Auntie Carol's recommendation that they have a strong child-centred curriculum. Moreover, Joshua also attended GUG when he was younger, and turned out... pretty well.  However, dad just found an old newspaper cutting from the Sunday Times.  The headlines shout out - LET INFANTS BE INFANTS (Sun Times, 6/7/2008, p30)

The editorial noted that the “rat race” for children which seemed to begin earlier these days, when babies were barely out of their mothers’ wombs.  Wow.... in fact, it was funny to know that an American infant-care specialist advocated that parents read to their toddlers when they were two or three months old- and with such a claim his workshop drew sell-out crowd last month. Here in Singapore, two centres which offered the Shichida method, devised by Makoto Shichida in Japan, claimed that all babies were born geniuses, had long waiting lists. Toddlers who attended Shichida classes were said to develop memory, creativity, and the ability to perform quick calculations.

So whats the verdict? Well the editorial opined that sending infants to “genius” classes could prove harmful, as children at that age could be taught to read and perform simple tasks, but not in a structured environment. They should be encouraged to explore and discover things around them freely to stimulate their curiosity and not be pushed to follow a tight schedule in a confined space. They explained that instead of sticking one’s child in a class, parents should instead take him for a walk in a park and watch his senses come alive in a free, natural learning environment.

Daddy daddy.... what will you do with me now???? :)

My (almost) first articulation of animal names

Dad and I read a book together tonight. The book- Grow, was very interesting as it showed many pictures of baby animals. Dad found it amusing though as I kept refusing to say COW when he pointed to it. I still preferred to call it- Mooo....

Anyway, Dad was so thrilled to hear me read together with him that he wanted to record my accomplishment. However, I was definitely more excited to see myself in the video, and became less cooperative to say the names of the animals in the book. However, you can still count on me to say "Hi" and "Bye" in the sweetest voice :)

Blanket Party

Be careful what you play with the kids.

It all started when we were role-playing lion dance. Yet, a simple blanket can transform to bring loads of fun... too excessive til they start perspiring profusely just before bed time. But thats where the laughter and motion triggers the kids natural way of flowing into imagination. Under the magical hideout, they find a safe haven to become secret agents, a piece of rock or enjoy a good game of boxing. Its fascinating to enter into their world of imagination. Its really like insightful to see how they use their ability to fantasize to visualise a highly complex cognitive act.

Much of it also has to do with how the kids FEEL- and the blanket was a convenient way to allow them to express their emotions in their most authentic manner. For example, I observed that after their mummy screamed at them, both of them quietly tugged into other under the blanket and remained 'mummy'-liked quiet. Little Joanna even peaked out and gestured me to join them in the silent protest.

I think as parents, we need to think hard on the selection of toys for our kids. I hesitated buying Josh another Ben 10 game last evening and thought hard on what games can best bring out the imagination of my kids. In the end, I rushed back home (without buying any toys) to engage in yet another round of our blanket party!

i learn to type on the keyboard

Hi I am joanna

happy to try blogging. I just woke up and was attracted to follow daddy type on his computer. I am a fast learner and people said i am very intelligent. I am a big and independent girl already.

And i love my brother Joshua

Love

Joanna

Integrating EL and IT for pre-school???

Daddy thought of a new idea- integration of presentation skills with IT. Instead of teaching Joshua how to make a presentation, he decided to get Joshua to designing his own powerpoint.

First, daddy asked Joshua to select his favorite photos from the album.

Next, Joshua shared about why he loved the photos he selected. (of course, dad was refraining from making value judgment since its Joshua's story)

As Joshua is speaking, daddy showed Joshua how to type- at least joshua knows why J. O.S.H.U.A is on the keypad.

Finally, dad showed Joshua how to animate the elements within the ppt.

After printing out the slides (as Josh wanted to bring them around) dad helped Joshua to make a easel to display his 'love story'.

Below is his excited Love Story.... enjoy!

My Friend Yanling

• Yanling is one of my classmates.
• She is also my partner- we love each other.
• Her favorite colour is pink.
• She loves strawberries and macaroni with vegetables.
• We both enjoy playing with lego together.
• She likes all the teachers in Trinity Methodist Kindergarten.
• Joshua says “next time I want to marry her!”

Yanling and I love to play London Bridge together

London bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London bridge is falling down

My fair Yanling

Home schooling as a result of Hyperparenting

Dear daddy's friends

Dad looked at me strangely this evening. He wondered if it was alright for me to be home-schooled. After reading an New York Times article 'New York parents delay formal schooling for kindergartners' http://http//r.smartbrief.com/resp/mLrYsSAfCzyrhQfCiugxvmAZ
he found it odd to make the connection that home-schooling is an extreme version of bourgeois parenting- hyperparenting. (He chuckled and was near hyperventilating)


As he read, he concurred that the parents chose such a path for their kids (and themselves) with a very clear goal in mind- to craft a life that fits what they see as their child’s developmental stage as well as that of themselves. Further reading led to finer distinction from the home schooling curriculum- "nor are they strictly “unschooling,” that is, following the teachings of John Holt, a progressive educator who promoted a child-led learning movement that is a wildly democratic subset of the home-schooling world". What was evident in the article was the social network support among parents who home-school their kids.

Dad reflected on the rationale of why these parents took this path, many of whom are very 'well-schooled', considering very practical issues and was tempted with the idea himself. Surely, he thought to himself as a curriculum designer, he has more than it takes to individualise a curriculum well suited for us. His main concerns though with home-schooling is the lack of space for development of social skills. Yet, as he pondered deeper, if life skills were taught through activities such as reading aloud the subway stops, or counting out change at a vegetable stand, how can he achieve success even without going down this path.

One thing that was clearly a push factor for parenting in both New York and Singapore is the mad rush to nurture the brainiest kids- endless enrichment lessons (many of which began from the foetal stage), multiple tuition classes- tireless cognitive hyper stimulation for the sake of ensuring a seat in the top schools or highest grades during placement exams. Daddy concludded that the following quote by one of the parents resonated well with him- "to value his own good work, and think for himself". What necessitates the 'right' option, eventually lies in how one best understand himself/herself and that of the child. May God grant all parents the wisdom (and energy) to raise the kids in a best possible manner.

footnote: Dad wondered what do Jewish parents that their kids are generally more gifted than other kids around the world.

Learning in Spiral Prgression

Today, dad decide to extend the learning of the concept of 'Ark and water' to learn with Joshua through spiral progression to enrich the learning experience.

photo of the 'futuristic' looking ark constructed using Lego bricks yesterday.

What is spiral progression?

Spiral learning refers to the view that learning takes place over time as a
process of maturation, so that the same or similar ideas are met again and again
but each time with greater sophistication requiring further maturity.
Extracted from http://www.ncetm.org.uk/Default.aspx?page=22&module=enc&mode=100&enclbl=Progression

These were the specific activities for this evening:

• 8.30pm- 8.45pm Warm UP: Whats Up Today?



• 8.45- 8.50pm Revisit Story of "The Animals and the Ark" <Word recognition: Dad recorded the time taken for Josh to arrange the form alphabets>




• 8.50 -9pm Underwater creatures <Science: Dad showed Joshua a series of underwater animals and discussed the difference between land and sea creatures>



• 9-9.15pm Origami: Boat making < Computer and Craft: Dad and Josh surfed the web and did a comparative study of Noah's ark by analysing various images in Google. Then they found this great website http://www.origami-kids.com/ >
  



• 9.15-9.30pm Water invasion <Science: Dad first asked Joshua about why can a large bottle float while a smaller sea shell can sink. By testing out the two objects, dad introduced concept of buoyancy. Next, they placed their paper boat in the tank and allowed water to splash to create the 'rain' effect as part of Noah's ark>

The intent was simply to allow Joshua to construct various examples of the same above-mentioned concept (unit of learning: Sea). By revisiting a story i.e. The Animals and the Ark" the activities became then the extended example spaces (new educational concept on the breadth and depth of the mental collection of examples). By showing how the same idea can be developed through different subjects, the child's dimensions of possible variation expand and thus the transfer of learning is researched to increase his ability for interdisciplinary learning (also a key advantage in problem/project-based learning).

In education, teachers realised that to build confident independent learners, it is critical for students to gain a high degree of competency in a particular skill/ learning area. Thats why daddy particularly emphasize to teachers that a well designed rubrics can be a powerful means to scaffold learning of a child (read daddy's blog for teachers- http://think-learn-grow.blogspot.com/)