A Cat and A Dog Makes My Household Complete

Yup, I’ve got a cat and a dog at home. What’s so special about these two pets you may ask? Well, you don’t get a SINGING CAT and a SPELLING DOG very often, do you?

Animal Glitter Graphics

Animal Glitter

Have you guessed? No? Read on.

The singing cat can sing whenever I feel sad and she always cheers me up with her voice and her close snug against my arms. Her eyes, yes, her eyes can make anyone’s heart melt.

The spelling dog is one special dog that goes for spelling competition. He would always spell on the stage and gets a medal for doing extremely well.

Have you guessed this time?

The singing cat is 2 ½ years old. She is the youngest and she is my honey angel. Yes, she’s my little daughter whom I love dearly. She likes singing and music.

The spelling dog is 4 ½ years old. He is the middle child and he is my sweetheart. If you remember, Wayne is the most difficult child at home and he refuses to learn his spelling. Now, with this new role – “the spelling dog”, he loves spelling. I see the transformation with my very own eyes, from “Mummy, I don’t want to spell at home. I’ve learnt in the school.” To “Mummy, can you please say: Spelling dog, please spell JAGUNG (corn in Malay)?”

We love role play. This time, the role play turned out to be favoring me, giving me a chance to instill the interest of spelling in my middle child. He learns without stress and I’m dancing around happily when he can spell many words correctly. Woohoo!

Learning Chinese

Teaching Chinese is never an easy task for parents who speak English at home with their children. With the help of these tools, I manage to turn the phrase: “I don’t like Chinese.” To “Mummy, I want to learn Chinese today.”

This set of Chinese books has the same concept as “Peter and Jane” where words are being repeated to enhance the vocabulary. The books come with flash cards and an optional CD (good for parents who do not know Chinese).

These books are categorized into several series:

First 100 words – 8 books

Second 100 words – 8 books

Third 100 words – 4 books

Forth 100 words – 4 books

Fifth 100 words – 2 books

Sixth 100 words – 2 books

Seventh 100 words – 2 books

Eighth 100 words – 2 books

What I normally do is to go through the books once with my son and teach him the new words using “han yu pin yin” (pronunciation of the word using English alphabets). Then, I would have him read to me again covering the “han yu pin yin”. What I notice in many children is the ability to memorize words. They can read to you the whole page without even looking at the book! When that happened, we know that they can’t recognize words.

So, the flash cards come in handy to help or test the children to recognize words. There are several fun ways to use the flash cards. All we need is a little creativity to turn learning into games.

Check out fun ways to use flash cards in my upcoming posts.

Happy Mother's Day

Glitter Mother's Day Graphics

Fun With Glittering Glue Stick

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Wordless Wednesday - Teach Chinese With These

Look out for my next post on how I use these.

Napkin Rabbit

Wondering how a napkin rabbit look like? Presenting the cute little napkin rabbit:

It's a craft which requires folding skill. Let's work magic to turn a napkin into a rabbit. Your little ones would love it.

Materials:

1. Napkin (paper or cloth)
2. Marker


Methods:

Fold (see picture)

Click images to enlarge

Source: The Tale of Napkin Rabbit by A. J. Wood.

What do you do with this rabbit?

My children each get one and they give the rabbits each a name, build them a house and take care of the rabbit like a real pet. Good practice before getting them a real pet, eh?

Do you know this song:

There’s a cottage in the wood

A little deer by the window stood

Saw a rabbit hopping by

Frighten as can be

“Help me, help me” the rabbit said

There’s a hunter to shoot me dead

“Come little rabbit come with me, happy as can be.”

Let your little ones hold their napkin rabbits and hop around when you sing that song.

Tell them stories about rabbits such as the story of The Rabbit and The Tortoise and let the children play the role of rabbit by holding their napkin rabbits.

So, if you are short of craft ideas or activities for your children, this may be another choice!

Learn Phonics And Blends With Magic Ring

If you are cracking your head, thinking of how to make your children learn and remember their “suku kata” (Malay phonics and blends), why not take a look at what I did with my children and see whether it gives you an idea or two.

For those who are wondering what MAGIC RING is, it’s actually a name of a game I have thought of for my children to learn their “suku kata” (Malay phonics and blends) in a fun way.

It’s actually very simple. First of all, you will need a piece of paper to write down whatever blends that you want your children to learn. (See picture)

Then, you need a Magic Ring. Use a binding tape or masking tape or whatever ring like thing that you can find. (See picture)

Let’s start the game:

“Magic ring, magic ring, show me BU”

The magic ring will move towards BU and land on top of it. (See picture 2)

Demonstrate one or two times and let your child be the Magic Ring.

Have fun!

PS: This method can be used to teach numbers or blends in English too.