A Jumpy and Grumpy Trial

This week's trial class didn't go as well as planned. The timing was totally wrong. Baby couldn't concentrate and was cranky and kept wanting to get out of the class. It beats me why we chose that time slot, knowing very well that it's his nap time!


Despite that, the teachers were all very enthusiastic and the activities well-planned and guess what? It covered a topic that I'm planning to do with him in the week after! That saves me much effort, killing two birds with one stone! :)


We had play time, did some music and dancing followed by arts and craft. I'm surprised that there are 2 craft works to complete!

Snack follows shortly and this was the time Baby was really alert. The snacks were yummy. He was given some fish biscuits, a papaya and two sausages. He finished up the sausages in no time.


Next up was role playing time, more music time and lastly outdoor sandplay.

That was a bilingual class that we attended and I totally loved it. I've been to other trials but this is fun and chinese is in focus and used throughout the class! Needless to say, we signed Baby up right after the trial. :)


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Tiring Day for Baby
Screwed Up

A is for Apple

I thought I could get through this easily because apple is one of Baby's favorite fruits. He's too familiar with this. But, it's still taking me two weekends to complete this. This is contributed by me being greedy to want to cover a lot on the topic but lack of time to prepare the materials! :P

We started off with the letters...
Then, we flashed the words...
Followed by some pictures...
And, we did craftwork...
We touched and felt and tasted...
We did coloring...
We sang songs...
We played toy...
We played games in iPhone and in class...
We learnt proverb and bible verses...
We read books... all on Apples!

--- Details ---
Language & Learning
Alphabets
Aa
I concentrated on small case A this time.

Flash cards
apple
Apple
APPLE
苹果


Pictures
Picture cards and real apples!


Proverb
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Bible Verses
Deuteronomy 32:10

In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

Psalm 17:8

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

Zechariah 2:8

For this is what the LORD Almighty says: "After he has honored me and has sent me against the nations that have plundered you--for whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye--

Proverbs 7:2

Keep my commands and you will live; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.

Lamentations 2:18

Their heart cried to the Lord: wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no respite; don't let the apple of your eye cease.

Song of Songs 2:3

Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest is my lover among the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit is sweet to my taste.

Song of Songs 8:5

Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover? Under the apple tree I roused you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth.

Joel 1:12

TThe vine is dried up and the fig tree is withered; the pomegranate, the palm and the apple tree--all the trees of the field--are dried up. Surely the joy of mankind is withered away.

Note: The phrase "apple of the eye" in the bible actually means the "pupil of the eye" or the "center of the eye" or the "center of God's love". And, the forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate in disobedience was not indicated in the Bible (the Book of Genesis) that it was an apple. No idea why apple became the symbol for the forbidden fruit!


Music & Action
红苹果
We sang 红苹果 (Red Apple) or 大苹果 (Big Apple) song. This is a classic children song that I remember singing when I was a kid. Of course, my Baby has to know it too! :)

If the above cannot be viewed, click here.

The lyrics:

(说唱)
我是一个大苹果,哪个孩子不爱我,
又香又甜又好吃,皮上红红好颜色,
小朋友们常常吃我,脸上也像红苹果.
(独唱)
我是一个大苹果,哪个孩子不爱我,
又香又甜又好吃,皮上红红好颜色,
小朋友们常常吃我,脸上也像红苹果.
(合唱)
我是一个大苹果,哪个孩子不爱我,
又香又甜又好吃,皮上红红好颜色,
小朋友们常常吃我,脸上也像红苹果.
(重复)

Karaoke
We sang karaoke on this song too.


The Apple Song
I found a very interesting Apple Song on youtube too. Never know apple exists in so many colors and types!



Arts & Craft
Coloring
I printed out a Apple coloring page and passed him red and green to color.


Alphabet Craft
We did the lower case alphabet craft, yet another craft commonly found on the Internet. Here's what you need:


Baby at work:


The end product:

It's delicious and he nibbled on it for a while! :P

Play Time
Indoor Play
We bought this toy for Baby last Children's Day and it's no brainer that the toy of the theme is the Apple toy - No need to source for new toys! A worm pops up when the button is pressed and the catchy music move Baby to the beat. :)


iPhone App
We played Apple Catching Game on Apple iPhone.


Outdoor Play
Then, we had our outdoor activity where we brought Baby to the supermarket to see and feel real apples.

Through this, he learnt that there are 2 different colors of apples - Red and Green.

Snack Time
After which, he had his snacks on apples!


We also added apples to his his porridge during the weekend! :)

School Time
In school this week, the teachers had him pluck the apples from the apple tree. What a nice coincidence! :)



Book & Story Time
Big Red Apple by Tony Johnston and Judith Corwin


Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss



Coming Up Next: A is for Ant


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排排队，查查看: 明记鸡饭

Another Chicken Rice stall that I like. :)


I remember eating it frequently in my teen years and when DC and I were dating... There weren't so many people then and we could get it without waiting very long for it (it was served, not self-service then)! Now, people just come streaming one after another from all over!



The chicken meat sold at this stall is cold but very springy. My sis esp likes the soup there. She can drink a big bowl each time. Hmm, the bowl seems to have downsized but I think it's refillable.


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排排队，查查看: 强记海南鸡饭

Screwed Up

We signed Baby up for a trial session with a learning centre but alas! I remembered the time wrong! The class was supposed to be on 2pm but when we got there at 430pm, the class has ended!

What a damper! I was very eager to attend this with Baby and now we had to wait for another week! :(

Fortunately, DC didn't complain much on the wasted trip. We just had to find something else to do with Baby...My fault! :P


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Sis Birthday Treats

Sis' birthday is around the corner and she gave us a treat at the Sakura Restaurant at Yio Chu Kang Stadium. There were some unhappiness about the waitress attitude but we took some nice photos of Baby that day! :)

Here's one:



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A is for Alligator

I started my first alphabet activities with Baby last Sat, as scheduled. :)

Here's what we did (and I think the rest of the lessons will follow the same approach, with some fine-tuning along the way).

We started off with the letters...
Then, we flashed the words...
Followed by some pictures...
And, we did craftwork...
We did actions...
We did coloring...
We sang songs...
We played music...
We read books... all on Alligators!

It was a fulfilling week!

--- Details ---
Language & Learning
Alphabets
Aa
(I used all sorts of letters "A" or "a", make an introduction, and repeated flashing the letters to him for his recognition)

Flash cards
alligator
Alligator
ALLIGATOR
鳄鱼
(I did DIY flash cards but alligator cards or other alphabet cards should be easily obtainable. In fact, I used both: DIY ones to show the words and ready-made ones to show the picture. And, of course, not forgetting the chinese words! I also printed out the word in chinese for this is after all a bilingual lesson! :P )


Pictures
I happened to have a picture card with alligator in it and showed it to him. On a separate day, I showed photos of alligator taken from the recent zoo trip. Meant to print them out but too bad, DC had not installed the printer software to his new OS yet. :P Also, I incorporated some maths by showing multiple number of alligators and telling him how many there were.


Bible Verses
In Job 41 God describes a creature called the leviathan, a mighty, untameable, fearless animal with tightly fitting scales and a mouth full of terrible teeth. The leviathan lived in the water, which it was able to churn with its great strength. Some people think that this description fits the crocodile, some think that this is dragon and the rest, a whale or vessel...

Job 3:7

May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

Job 3:8

May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

Job 3:9

May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,

Job 41:1

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook, or press down his tongue with a cord?

Job 41:10

No one is fierce enough to rouse him. Who then is able to stand against me?

Job 41:25

When he rises up, the mighty are terrified; they retreat before his thrashing

Psalms 74:14

You broke the heads of Leviathan in pieces. You gave him as food to people and desert creatures.

Psalms 104:26

There the ships go, and leviathan, whom you formed to play there.

Isaiah 27:1

In that day, Yahweh with his hard and great and strong sword will punish leviathan, the fleeing serpent, and leviathan the twisted serpent; and he will kill the dragon that is in the sea.

Music & Action
Row, Row, Row Your Boat - The Alligator Version
We sang Row, Row, Row your boat. The one with the crocodile and it goes like this:

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile (I replaced it with "An Alligator" to fit the theme),
Don't forget to SCREAM! (Shoutz: Arghh!)

Row, row, row your boat, (action: holding hands, rocking back and forth)
Gently to the shore..
If you see a crocodile (I replaced it with "An Alligator" to fit the theme),
Don't forget to ROAR! (Shoutz: Roarrrr!)

We learnt this song from his playgroup class, you'll get the idea from this video:


If you have a xylophone or piano and know the keys, you can play the tune and sing along. That's exactly what we did - I played the music, sang the song and Baby danced to the beat and added his beats on the xylophone! :)



Action
In addition to the above, I also teach Baby a set of alligator actions:

Alligator, (open thumb and pointer to make alligator mouth)
ALLigator, (Next repeat the song but a little bit louder each time.)
ALLIGator, (two hands placed together at wrists to open for alligator mouth)
ALLIGATor, (arm at elbows placed together to make mouth)
ALLIGATOR, (Then really loud with the same words use your whole arms to make alligator mouth.)
Alligator. (Last use on thumb and pointer tips of finger only and sing the song without letting any sound come out.)

Snappy, The Crocodile Song
I stumbled upon this very cute crocodile song while searching for songs related to Alligators. It's in some foreign language, so I just tell him that cute little green creature is an alligator. We all love this song so much that DC and I decided to use this as our ringtone!


The lyrics in English:

I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
I come from Egypt. I live out on the Nile.
At first I was inside an egg,
and then - Schni schnap! - I finally got away.
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
I have sharp teeth. I have a pretty smile!
I'll snap at you - you'd better watch your tail,
I'll snap at me, because I snap so well!
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
When I play I'm snapping all the while,
At the crypt I make the mummies run,
But when I snap I'm only having fun!
(Chorus)
I am Snappy the Little Crocodile,
When I play I try not to go wild,
When my Daddy puts me to bed,
I go to sleep and bite him on the leg.
(Chorus)

Arts & Craft
Coloring
I printed out a picture of an alligator and gave 3 green and 1 brown crayons to Baby to color. Then I drew an alligator with free hand and color it as I explained the alligator parts and colors to him.


Alphabet Craft
Then, we made an alligator out of the alphabet A. This craft is commonly found on the Internet. Here's what you need:


As usual, he helped out.


The finished product.


Did this on purpose. Does it look like he's on the run hot on his heels from the alligator? :P

Play Time
I was hoping to find this actually in a store that I know that sells a lot of wooden toys but this was not sold there. Looked around some places but did not find anything I like, so no alligator toys for Baby. :P



Book & Story Time
Alligator Alphabet written by Stella Blackstone and illustrated by Stephanie Bauer

This book is very colorful and attracts Baby's attention. It's a good book to introduce alphabets (small case), animals and names of baby animals.

There's an Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

This book is about an imaginary alligator that lives under a boy's bed. Love this creative story and the illustrations! I think Baby quite enjoy the book as you can see in the photo below:


Snip Snap! What's That? by Mara Bergman and Nick Maland

This book is about a scary alligator who was scared off by his victims in the end. Quite a nice one but not quite for Baby as there were too many pages and the illustrations are difficult to explain.


Next: A is for Apple


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Soaring Skywards

I went up on the Flyer again, it's my 5th time there! :)

It's our last day at the makeshift office and we wasted no time at celebrating this by popping over to the next door flyer for a free flight.

It's a new experience every time there. Unlike my last time there, there is an new and interesting discovery gallery this time. It covers quite a large area, with history and facts about the flyer and Singapore's past. I'm impressed by the high-tech beams and interactive image projections.




As usual, it's photo time in 165 meters off ground! :)

Group Photo


Sayonara to the Pit


Sticks and Steels against the Skyline - The standard photo in flyer for me


MBS - I wonder when will I go there?


A big compass in the capsule!


The work in progress area


Oh, what are they taking pictures of? Did you know that if you look at Conrad from afar, you'll see the number 13 on its exterior?




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What would you do when you get bored with your toys?

Here's what my son did to his favorite barn toy now:



He faced the animals all inwards! Just look at the backsides! LOL!

He is also starting to do throw the pieces to the dustbin, jumbling up the colors on his color puzzle and piecing his puzzle on another board/toy all on purpose! I hear the alarm ringing.... time to get new toys!


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Bonus LVOE

It's the time of the year for a little indulgence. I haven't decided what to get for myself but CP knows what she wants from me.

In fact, she had longed for this since last year.



While there, we saw a new arrival - the Message Key Charm. It went nicely with the Idylle Speedy too.




I happened to see this on display. Somehow, it beckoned to me and looked especially nice today. Well, mental will gave way to impulsive shopping once more.




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