Learning for kids Archives - Page 3 of 8

5 Reasons Why My Kids Do Not Have Tuition

I know this topic on tuition is going to have 2 camps on it. Hence I need to put a disclaimer that this is not a post to say having tuition is a bad thing but what I feel how a child’s precious life should be. If needed, I may send my kids to tuition, but, it must meet some consideration criteria before I will do that. I will address my take on this later.

My eldest, Missy 10 is in P4 and No. 2, Master 8 in P2 and No. 3, Master 3 going to pre-school soon. From birth till now, all 3 of them have not had any enrichment classes and I hope to keep it this way for as long as it is possible.

There are many parents who send their children for tuition or enrichment classes at a tender age. There is no right or wrong. These parents usually want their children to have a head start in life and be high achievers in their adult life. It may be for the reason of learning things ahead of other peers. It may be due to some children need tuition for extra academic assistance or just want to be ahead in the syllabus than others. And it could be due to the reason that some parents do not want to leave to chance and cannot imagine failure to happen to their children.

For me, I feel that a child’s life, which I am defining here as the category of zero to 16 age of life, is too precious to spend too many waking hours on academic stuff. Formal education can last for about 16 years from P1 to University. Some spent 20 years of their life in academic. Our Missy 10 spends about 6 academic hours in school + 2 hours of extra academic classes which totals to 8 hours on studying, and I have not added the time she spends on homework and assessment. If a child goes for tuition after school, that would mean spending another 2 more hours, not inclusive of the school homework and tuition homework that a child will need to do when he / she gets home. Oh, and the travelling time. Nowadays academic pressure is everywhere and our poor children are subjected to all these stresses at a tender age. They should be enjoying their rightful childhood, doing simple things like play. I wonder how these children will look back in life with not much memories of being a child except going for tuition and studying.

5 reasons that I am putting off tuition for as long as possible.

Continue reading “5 Reasons Why My Kids Do Not Have Tuition”

Thank you to Our founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew

As I pen down my words on the Condolence book at the lobby of my office, I fought back tears.

Our founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, an icon of Singapore is no more.

In the early hours of 23 March 2015, our founding father passed away in peace, at the age of 91.

Soon, the internet and all TV stations were outpouring with grief and all Singapore flags were flown at half mast.

Singapore was declared to be in national mourning for the whole of last week 23 – 29 March on which 29 March was the state funeral when all Singaporeans wept for our warrior, our hero and our father of Singapore.

Continue reading “Thank you to Our founding father Mr Lee Kuan Yew”

Science Comic – JJ’s Science Adventure Book Review {+Giveaway}

Science is a daily encounter. Children learn about Science through their daily activities. So, Science should be an easy subject when school children starts to learn it as a formal subject in Primary 3.

But, is it really so easy to ace?

I do not think so at all.

I realize that even though children may know Science, they may not know how to answer the test questions using Scientific terms nor do they remember all facts at the age of 9. How to deal with Science questions in the exams would probably be another blog post on its own. But there is a way to remember how Science works and key concepts for the exams and it is easy! Continue reading “Science Comic – JJ’s Science Adventure Book Review {+Giveaway}”

Learning Chinese – 3 things that parents must know to help your children

Learning Chinese in Singapore seems to be more difficult than anywhere else. Well, I am not really comparing with learning Chinese in Japan, Korea, etc. However, in an environment or country where Chinese is a mother tongue to majority, why is this subject so hated by many children and their parents.

I wonder why.

It has probably to do with parents here speaking lesser Chinese and more English at home to their children. Hence, compared to China where Chinese is spoken daily, every minute, every second, we speak a mix of English and Chinese and use simple Chinese words and limited vocabulary.

While my kids do not have much of a problem with this subject for now, I should not get complacent. I was told by Eeva Chang (张美香), (the educator and principal of Eduplus who is also engaged by MOE as a trainer for 8 years to teach all school Chinese teachers in Singapore), that children will face a drop of marks in Chinese once in Primary 3 and once in Primary 5. At least an 8-12 marks down.

Why??? Continue reading “Learning Chinese – 3 things that parents must know to help your children”

Simple kids games – by the kids

XX and YH have lots of ideas when it comes to free play time. They will hide in the room for an hour or so and forbid us from entering while they create surprises for us. I like such surprises and am always amazed at their creativity as they set their little brains to work. I hope such childhood fun will last for as long as we can hold on to.

Here are some of the simple games they created with whatever they have at home. Best thing is they are easy to play, no additional cost (use anything in the house) and fun! Continue reading “Simple kids games – by the kids”