Reading Archives - Kids 'R' Simple

Ending July 2017 with …

We have crossed a good half of the year for 2017! Very soon, it will be the end of the year. I am kind of glad that I did not set out any resolutions for 2017 to beat myself for not achieving much at this mid-year check. I guess life goes on and we just busy ourselves along. What’s important is really whether we are happy with our life now and are we contented? At this mid-year check on myself, I should really be counting my blessings more than harping on meeting any goals. Don’t you think so?

I have many blessings to count and I am saying that because life is kind of mundane and mundane in itself is a bliss. At down times, I choose to find consolation in any small things that I should be contented with and be thankful for things that we often take for granted. At happy times, these feelings go into my emotional bank to be retrieved at times of need. Life is short, so why not make everyday count? It will be good if my kids know how to stand strong and be contented with their lives and be happy. Resilience, perhaps, is more important than any academic achievement that the kids should achieve.

So much for a philosophical wrap up for July. Now, here’s what we have been up to.

Preparation for Prelims …

I am thankful for an understanding boss and hence am able to give much support to Missy for Prelims preparation. Sometimes when I am home, Missy is busy doing her homework or doing self-revision. On many afternoons, my role is really to be THERE for her. I am a walking dictionary, prompter to academic questions, and my teacher role is getting smaller to much of my satisfaction. That shows that she is improving and taking good charge of her learning such that my involvement has switched focus on supporting her other needs. I chat with her, entertain her performance of hand-stand, stunts when she takes study breaks, prepare snacks for afternoon tea-breaks and encourage her when she loses steam.

Prelims is over. I am exceptionally anxious to see if our hard work for the past months will be paid off. I really hope to see more than a small improvement so that Missy’s confidence will be boosted.

On Health …

We had been hit by a bout of flu that went round the family in July. What was worse than this was that I sprained my ankle badly on a morning jog. I fell down a flight of steps. Ever since then, my ankle has been healing ever so slowly. I envy those who can run and hop and jump with their good legs. 1 month after I sprained the ankle, I still cannot run for the bus. I cannot continue my Pilates and Zumba clases. I cannot run about with the kids. Another recent disappointment is that I have to give up any long distance runs for the time being. How can I even take for granted my good pair of legs before this? I am frustrated with the stupidity of not warming up before a run. This teaches me a painful lesson.

Perhaps there are still good things that comes out of this episode. I learnt to walk slower. I start to consciously take care of my body and avoid taking short cuts or compromise my posture, anything that will hurt my body. Hopefully I can be up and about in 3 months time.

On Reading …

I am reading slowly but not stopping. To inculcate a reading culture in our home, I removed decorative pieces from 2 shelves of the TV console to make way for books. The books are refreshed every now and then to entice the kids to pick up a book and read. We frequent the neighbourhood library, bought new books and brought the kids to sgbookdeals to grab 49 books for $50 in a box. I purposely leave books strewn about on the tables and bathroom for any chance that the kids will pick them up. I ask the kids to bring a book along to read while on public transport or waiting for meals. I have a book list chart for them to fill up completed titles. We have reading hours and bedtime reading if time permits. It takes time to build up a reading culture at home, and it is never too late to start now.

A good role model helps here to influence the rest to read early morning while mummy’s at work! Spot the bears! #kidsrsimple #kidsrsimplereads #lovereading #reading #nlbsg #nlb #nationalreadingday #nationalreadingmovement

A post shared by Kids R Simple (@kidsrsimple) on Jul 2, 2017 at 7:54pm PDT

So, I am ending July 2017 with… contentment

July was not an exciting month partly because we spent much time for Prelims Preparation (Click here if you wish to know more on how we prepared for our Prelims). However on weekends, we still bring the kids out to breathe fresh air, dispense their energy and for family bonding. Examinations will not stop these play times. I am totally thankful that so far, our no-tuition way works out for us so that we have more time to relax and indulge in more important things than academic. I hope August will be a healthier month for us and better luck to accompany us from now 🙂

How did your July go?

When Mum Reads, Kids Read

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You would have thought that if my kids were read to every night when they were young, they would be avid readers when they grow up. I can tell you that in our family, we are living proof that this is a myth! When my little ones were one year old and fidgeting about, I would bring a book to him and try reading out loud in the most interesting way to capture his short attention. Then, I found out the best time to read quietly to babies and toddlers was when they were drinking milk. I made it a habit to read to them every night and even had to negotiate with my kids on the number of books. They love my reading even up till today. While I thought once they reached Primary 1, they should be reading a book on their own. Reading chapter books. But Primary 1 came and went, they were still not so interested in Chapter books and hardly followed a series.

Most kids around us are reading, some voraciously. Their cousins finished Harry Potter series at age 9. I was so impressed! I was getting worried about my kids who were not so interested in picking up books. Most of all, I worried for their English language. The only way to improve English is only to READ, READ and READ! No shortcuts!

I tried all sorts of methods to get them to read. Mind you, it was hard work and futile work! I printed reading charts, gave reward stickers, allowed redemption for a small gift upon reading X number of books, brought them to the library every 2 weeks, nagged at them, cajoled, encouraged, left books lying around, did book exchange, and many more. All these failed to get them to read. Sometimes, I wondered whether I was such a good story teller that my kids refused to read by themselves.

Finally, one day, I started to realize there was one common thing these avid reading kids have! They all have mums or dads who love to read! Maybe that is it! Continue reading “When Mum Reads, Kids Read”

March – what goes on in our lives

March has a one week school holiday and we did quite many things together as a family. This monthly wrap up post is really a good way for me to check on our family activities and ensuring we have sufficient family bonding time and time for play.

Taking time off from work for the kids

During the 1 week school holidays, I took 2 days off from work to bring the kids out. On the first day, I planned a visit to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum together with the grandparents. We went to sing Karaoke later on. My kids love to sing, and half the singing session was for them to sing their favourite songs. Mind you, the songs they sang were adult ballads and fast numbers, not the kiddie songs. And seeing that we have still some time, we took a leisurely walk at Labrador Park and saw a Holland cruise ship which was exiting to the sea up close! How lucky we were! At dinner, we took a visit to where granny works in a childcare centre. The visit intrigued the kids as they seemed to be impressed that their grandma is still active in the workforce as an assistant teacher teaching little ones just like when they were young.

I am sure by now you know that we love to bring the grandparents and the kids out together. I can’t emphasize enough to the kids that their parents love their grandparents and we place great importance on family relationship and respect our own parents. Hence, as much as we can, we will invite the elders to join us.

Family

On the second day, Master 9 had a playdate. We met over breakfast at Mac Donald’s, had 2 games of bowling, went for a good lunch, and visited Art Science Museum – Future World. It was a good meet up with the mummies who are pretty much Continue reading “March – what goes on in our lives”

McDonald’s Happy Meals free educational books

If you are a parent like me, who likes to first scrutinize the toy on display for McDonald’s Happy Meals before agreeing to my children’s requests to get that red box for them, then you will surely be as excited to know that now the “toy” is an educational book for children!

Starting from the week of 3 Sept at 11am, every Thursday will launch a different set of books to choose from with every purchase of a Happy Meal.

McDonald’s is always a popular restaurant for little kiddos Continue reading “McDonald’s Happy Meals free educational books”

How to improve your child’s Chinese

After I published a post on my children’s school system, an SAP school which emphasizes greatly in Chinese traditions and values and everything Chinese, many parents wrote to me to ask how I manage to engage my kids’ interest in the Chinese language. To be honest, we started off easier than most parents whose kids are struggling with this language. We are a Chinese speaking family. In this post, I am going to share with you what we do in our family and 10 tips that sees our kids enjoy through this “monster” subject that many Singaporean children hate. Continue reading “How to improve your child’s Chinese”