Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish

 Mummy's Hippo School for 3 Year Old.

Week 1: Good Night Little Rainbow Fish

My lil Faith is not longer that little. She is turning 3 years old soon. Thus, I am starting a more structured home -learning "curriculum" for her. 

For the first week, we are doing Literature Based Learning starting with the book, 'Good Night, Little Rainbow Fish'. 

I chose this book because it emphasizes the close relationship between a mother and child as the mother reassures her child that she will always be around for him and will always keep him safe. Moreover, this book provides an excellent platform to jump onto the topic of under the sea.

By the way, Faith loves this book so much that I read it more than 10 times everyday for one whole week. 

Activity 1: Art and Craft of the Main Character - the Rainbow Fish

As usual, I went to the art cupboard, brought out some random materials ( buttons, sequins, sticker pearls, crepe paper, glitter glue, aluminium foil, googlies eyes) and with a printed copy of the rainbow fish, I asked her to decorate the fish. 

Faith knew almost exactly what to do and I did little to assist her. 

However, I did guide her to use different materials to decorate the different scales. 

Faith's completed little rainbow fish.

Activity 2: Learning different parts of a fish.

Activating Schema
After the art and craft activity 1, I asked Faith to identify the parts of a fish that she knows and I simply used a marker to write it down.

Constructing Knowledge
After her first round of identifying the parts, I taught her the rest of the parts of a fish that she didn't know.

Testing
To ensure learning, Faith was given a worksheet to label the parts of the rainbow fish.

Activity 3: Comprehension
What were the creatures that the little rainbow fish was afraid of?

In this comprehension activity, Faith needed to pick out the creatures that the little rainbow fish was afraid of from the set of stickers. Once she knew her task, she went immediately to get her book and started referring to it. After picking out the stickers, she was given the worksheet to paste her stickers on.

Activity 4: Imagination and Vocabulary Input
What other sea creatures could Little Rainbow Fish have met?

Faith was asked to close her eyes and imagine herself under water. I asked her to name me the creatures that she saw and told her that these were some of the sea creatures that the little rainbow fish could have met.

Since I have a set of under the sea colour pages, I cut out those sea creatures that she named and got her to colour them. After colouring, Faith created this under the sea picture.

After pasting the sea creatures, I wrote down their names in both English and Mandarin. My next step is to teach her to read these words.

Activity 5: Writing Task - 2, 3 and 4 letter words

3 years old is a good time to start getting the child to write. So I prepared these 2, 3 and 4 letter words that appeared in the book and held Faith's hand to write these words. Faith was only able to write 2 words per day. Anything beyond 2 words, she will start complaining about her hand being painful from writing. So, I'm taking the writing part really really slow.

Activity 6: Reading

I just happened to have this 'poster' on seals on my wall and since she identified seals in activity 4, I took the chance to teach her to read the words on the 'poster'. 

Activity 7: 3D Turtle Art
I bought this craft kit from Popular and we spent some time putting the 3D turtle together. This time, I gave Faith the chance to build it on her own. I only assisted her in slotting in the parts as it was quite difficult to slot.

Faith is very proud of her 3D Turtle.

 The craft kit includes these activities.

Activity 8: Drawing Symmetrically 

I created these 3 symmetrical drawing using basic shapes in powerpoint. I demonstrated the activity by holding Faith's hand to do the symmetrical drawing of the fish.

She insisted that she must draw some details for the fish. 

 Faith tried her own drawing of the Jellyfish. Really not bad for a first timer.

 The crab was a bit more challenging for her as there were more shapes to draw. It took her a few attempts to get this.

Activity 9: Under the Sea Wood Puzzle
This was a game that we played - Mummy called out the name of the creature and Faith will fish for it. I did this in both English and Mandarin to ensure that she learnt the names ( especially in Mandarin). I took this picture of the internet as I forgot to take picture when I did this activity with Faith. :)

Activity 10: Making a 'Fish Bowl'

With a blue paper plate and a sheet of clear plastic, we made this 'fish bowl'. We drew some fish on the paper plate and some on the clear plastic sheet. This fish bowl is actually functional in a sense that it can hold notes and letters. Now, it has become a 'mailbox' for Faith as her siblings can write her notes and drop it into her fishbowl. 

Activity 11: Re-telling the Story

The final activity Faith did was to re-tell the story of the Little Rainbow Fish to the family. Of course she can't read. But as she flips the page, she tries her best to tell the story. Surprisingly, she did use  key phrases on each page when she re told the story. So repetition is really important. 

 Other books I used to explore the topic of under the sea.


After reading the Little Rainbow Fish book, Faith got very interested in Sharks. So I dug out this Shark Sticker book and she learnt about different kind of sharks and sea creatures. This book is good for reading on more information on each of the different sharks and sea creatures.

Under the Sea Animal World Sticker Book introduces the different sea creatures by making the child find and paste the animal sticker to its name. 

Ocean Life is a big book for a more in depth reading of sea creatures. 

All these activities were done over a week and we really took our time for each activity.
To me, the most important thing is for the child to enjoy the learning process and to instill the idea that learning is fun.


Other Literature Based Learning

Click here to see activities on 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.

World Wonders and Famous Landmarks around the World

Other topics that you might be interested in.

• My Simple Philosophy about Raising Children
• Art and Craft
• Baby Explorer Age 0 - 1
• Cooking with your lil ones.
• Cooking adventure
• Learn Thru Play
• Literature Based Learning
• Parenting Issues
• Vocabulary Board

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Let it snow!

Let it snow, Let it snow, 

Let it snow. 

A simple snow making recipe for the kids to have fun while I'm busy preparing for our Christmas gatherings.

All you need is 
1) Baking powder ( I only used 2 bottles of baking powder to get this amount of snow.)
2) Conditioner (yes, hair conditioner.)

The kids are pouring the Baking Powder in a container.  

 I just add some conditioner (random amount) and the kids started mixing it up.

 We mix until we got a 'snow' texture.

Just before I know it, the kids invited Olaf and Penguin to our snow party.  Very soon, other animals came to join us too.

Try making snow at home.. it's easy, no mess and fun. 

Theme: Raising Global Awareness (Part II: Lil Learning Booklet )

Theme: Raising Global Awareness (Part II) 

My lil learning booklet, for the kids to keep busy before and during the trip.  I believe that this learning booklet can help the children to learn better.  Please allow me to share what I have in my learning booklet. It looks like a lot of work, but it is really not. (oops..a very teacher kinda booklet.)

Anyway, I was just doing research for our holiday and all I did was to cut and paste some information, then simplify it for the kids.

Basically, I wanted the children to be more aware of the Thai culture, people, history, religion, folk stories, geography and some fun facts. I hope this will just be a start for them to learn even more during the trip. 

Section 1: Pre-Trip Activities

This section will help to prepare the kids for the holiday as they are suppose to go find out some facts about the country. Basically, I just ask simple questions to get the children interested.

I thought what was more interesting for the kids was that they needed to think about phrases that they wanted to know and we really had fun trying to learn them. The kids wanted to learn the following phrases in Thai: 

Hello

Thank you

Sorry

Where is the restroom?

How much?

Goodbye

Where can I find toys?

It was really fun learning these phrases with them. 

Section 2: At the Airport

Section 2 aims to get the children to be more aware about what is going on in the airport. This will keep them busy while we check in. 

Section 3: On the Plane

This section includes a range of activities to keep the children engage on the plane for the duration of just over an hour. I have no busy bag for my kids but I hope this booklet and a small box of coloured pencil will keep them learning and busy enough.

Activity 3 is about places of interest that we might visit during the trip and I thought it will be a good idea to allow the children to read up and then decide on the places where they want to go to first. 

Section 4: At Krabi

Basically, this is where the kids will record what happens during the holiday. For our previous holiday, I always make them record on pieces of paper, hoping that when we returned home, we will reorganise the information. But not surprising, it never happens. These pieces of paper which records what we ate, where we went, when we went were always lost after awhile. 

So this holiday, I decided to keep their travel journal in this booklet. This will make it easier for me to keep it when we are back and there is not need to reorganise the information. 

Travel Journal is important to me because I believe the kids will forget after a while. So keeping a Travel Journal keeps them to remember better. Anyway, the Travel Journal is something very simple and they only need to record the food and the places of interest and just some simple reflection on what they have learnt. They have a page for everyday of the holiday. 

Section 5: On the Flight Back Home

On the flight back home, this is where the kids will do a longer reflection. Kids tend to forget very easily and I just want to help them remember better. For this reflection, the writing task is for my 7 year old. My 5 year old can just draw and write simple sentences.

After they are done with their final reflection, they can read this Thai Folk Story which I found online. And hopefully, by the time they are done, we will be home in Singapore. 

By the way, the sample that you have just seen is for my 7 year old daughter. For my 5 year old, I have modified it slightly, making it simpler for him. So he is not expected to write so much. For my 2 year old, her version is much simpler. Instead of all the blanks, the "answers" are given to her in pictorial form so that she can pick up new vocabulary along the way. I kept the readings as I can read to her. But she is still expected to draw and colour. Just to keep her engaged when I need a break. 

I hope with this learning booklet, the trip will be more meaningful for the children and they will be engaged along the way. Perhaps, you may think that this is too elaborate. But it is really not. When you just doing, it is really easy as most of them are found online and all you need to do is copy and paste. In no time, you will have created your own learning booklet for your trip. :)


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Other blog post that you may be interested in:
Theme: Raising Global Awareness ( World Map)

Other topics that you might be interested in. 

Do explore "Learn Thru Play" for more themes and activities. 

• My Simple Philosophy about Raising Children
• Art and Craft
• Baby Explorer Age 0 - 1
• Cooking with your lil ones.
• Cooking adventure
• Learn Thru Play
• Literature Based Learning
• Parenting Issues
• Vocabulary Board

Useful Tips for Preparing for Primary School

Preparing for Primary School..

Preparing for Primary School is alot of work. Just to share some useful tips to help you prepare your kids for Primary School, especially if you are first time parents with a child going in to Primary 1 next year.

1. Personalised name labels for books. 
Have both the Chinese and English name printed on so that you can stick it on all the textbooks, workbooks, files and exercise book. To me, any name label will do. This set of name labels is enough to be used for 2 years.

Name labels for books

I got the small labels for stationary.

The name labels that I got is about $5 for about 150 stickers. Different price for different sizes.

A nearby photo developing shop would most probably to be to create these personalised name labels for you. Start hunting for one now as it takes about 1 week to make. With these name labels, you no longer need to physically write the name on each book.

Another advantage of name labels is that, if your 2nd child needs to use the books, just stick another name label over. Neat and Tidy.

Many have asked where to find these name labels. 
A more convenient way will be to order name labels from Stickerkid. Read the my review on Stickerkid and get a 10% discount if you order before 31 December 2015. The quality of the name labels from Stickerkid is really good. Try it out today.



2. Make a name stamp for the Chinese word cards. 

Primary School students now have to use chinese word cards for their Mandarin lessons. I had a nice time writing my daughter's name on each and every card because I couldn't get the name stamp in time for her school. So don't repeat my mistake. Make one now as it takes about 1 week to get it done. It will be much simpler and definitely faster to just stamp the cards.

3. Textile marker for uniform, socks, shoes. 

My sister bought my a Lyra Textile Marker because she knew that I will need it. The textile marker can be used on uniform, socks and every shoes. Please label the uniform, socks and shoes because they do remove them in school- for example, during music lesson or during a performance.

Forget about the fabric stickers. Some of my friends used fabric stickers and it's not surprising that they do not last. They either fall off due to washing or the kids just simply peel them off. So use textile markers.

The textile markers are permanent and surprisingly, after one whole year of washing, the name is still there and very clear. Just take a look at the photo of the sock which I just took.

4. Buy a school bag that is appropriate for your child. 

There are 2 things to consider when buying a school bag.

Number 1 being the size. Some kids have bag so big that they can hardly carry them on their back. They have to hunch and that is very straining for their back. But at the same time, I don't believe in ergonomic bags as well because I think the kids should just carry what they can. So, a medium size bag would be appropriate for a normal child. The bigger the bag, the more things they will carry in them and the heavier it will become. With good bag packing habits, your child wouldn't need to carry that many books to school. In fact, for my daughter's school, the teachers keep the books in school for them. Which I thought that the strategy is very useful.

Number 2: Buy a bag that is durable, not something just pretty. The bag that my daughter uses is just $40 which I bought from a sports shop. Very durable. She used it for one whole year (though there are some minor wear and tear). Some of my friends went through 3 -4 school bags within a year. 

5.  Telephone number card.

Create a nice card with all the important telephone numbers on it. Make sure the card can fit into your child’s wallet. I laminated the card as it is intended for long term use. I created 3 of such telephone cards- one to be in the wallet, one in the school bag and one in the file. This is to make it faster and more convenient in case the child needs to call us during an emergency.

In the card, I included:

Mummy’s Hp

Daddy’s Hp

Home telephone number

Grandmother’s Hp

Grandmother’s home telephone number.

I give her all several numbers just in case one of us is engaged at the moment and is unable to answer the call. At least she will have other options.

6. Buy 2 pairs of school shoes

I bought 2 pairs of school shoes so that there is ample time for each pair to dry when I wash them. Sometimes, in the case of wet weather, at least your child will have a dry pair to wear the next day.

Buy shoes of the right size. Don't buy one size bigger. 

Like some mothers, I always think that buying one size bigger is better because the kids can wear them longer. It's a big mistake that I made when my girl went to P1. As I found out, they do alot of physical activities in school - for example, PE, dancing and they do a lot of running around (like playing chasing during recess), so big shoes made her very clumsy. Anyway, they use the shoes so much that after half a year, they need to buy new ones. So no point having a bigger size shoes when it can only last for half a year. 


I hope these tips help. For mummies who have more tips.. please feel free to add on...

Enjoying preparing for school.. 

Follow me on facebook page Raising Our Successful Children or fb group SG Primary School Parents. 

Other articles on Education: 

• Revision Strategies

• Understanding the Different Learning Styles using Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligence

• Basic Rules for Primary School English [Apostrophes, Contractions and Tenses]

• 12 Important Lessons your child needs to learn in Primary School.

• Useful Tips for Preparing for Primary School

• "Strong Foundation, No Tuition, No Enrichment Strategy" in Primary School

Theme: Raising Global Awareness

Raising Global Awareness 

I love travelling with my kids. But travelling is not just for us to go to new places and check the box. Instead, for my family, travelling is about getting to know the different countries' culture, tradition, religion, food, people and their way of life. So for every holiday, the kids are doing experiential learning. 

This year, we are bringing the kids to Krabi, Thailand. This is the first time the kids are visiting Thailand and they simply can't wait to taste the food there and to see their caves, local market and also their temples. So travelling is just one way to help raise global awareness and also increase general knowledge in our children. 

As we live in a globalized world today, global awareness is very important. Firstly, academically, general knowledge is a necessity nowadays. It will help our children to write better with richer content. Secondly, as the kids are growing up, they will meet and work with people from all over the world. So knowing about their culture and way of life will definitely give them an edge. 

So, just before the trip to Thailand, I decided to have some pre-trip activities and here is our challenge task 9 . 

Challenge Task 9: Identifying the countries around the world. 

First, I printed a black and white map of the world.

I got Natalie and Emmanuel to sit together. I challenged them to identify as many countries as they can. They worked on it for about 15 mins and wrote down the name of the countries. Of course, I helped with the spelling.

After identifying the countries, I doubted if they really knew the geographical location. So, I challenged them to colour the countries. 

To my pleasant surprise, they actual know so many countries around the world. So I ask them where did they learnt it from. Other than the usual answer of books, they said they learnt most of the countries from the game we used to play - Plague Inc. The game can be downloaded onto the iphone or ipad. It's a game where the player role play a virus with the intention to spread all over the world. I use the game to teach them about how virus evolves and how it spreads. So, it's interesting that they learnt the world map when playing that game too. 

For my next challenge, I will be asking them to write down interesting facts about each country. 

If you like to travel as I am, why not make the most of the trip and ensure your kids learn the most out of it. Afterall, most children are visual and kinesthetic learners.. so help them learn about our world.