c'mon, darling...

This is my favourite phrase. I hurry my children through the whole day with "c'mon darling, let's go!"

And this afternoon when Kristin woke up from her nap, she told her mommy, "C'mon, darling. Let's go!"

it's a cow!

Mommy: What animal goes "moo"?
Kristin: It's a cow. And you get milk too!
Mommy: Wow!

I think the sound animals make is just too simple for my little girl now. I shall try asking her what one can get from an animal or perhaps naming the youngs of animals.

word of the week...

Bryan: N-O- No, V-M - Vem, B-R - Ber. There, mom, NOVEMBER!
Mommy: ????? LOL

Today's Novmbr the 27th!

KAPUTT!

I was just thinking of the funny words my kids use to express something is out of working condition.

The top favourite for Kristin is "kaputt". It is German, but can also be found in the English dictionary. She moved on very quickly from "broken" to "kaputt" and probably thinks that this is her favourite word now when something is out of order.

Bryan likes to say, "Look. My ship is wrecked." Or, "look Mom, Meimei ruined my train!" And I constantly hear him scream, "Don't wreck this! Don't ruin that!" whenever the two are playing together. Yeah, you can almost sense his frustration coz Kristin is definitely not a very nice little sister now. She's going through the phase where she destroys all things! O help! Kaputt! Alles kaputt!

it's paying off...

Early February this year, I was eager to teach Bryan some sight words. Timing wasn't really perfect. He was reading a little and then became lazy to practise anything at all.

I always subscribe to the belief that creating a learning rich environment will enable a person to learn subconsciously. This has always been so when I sprinkled important lines all over my classroom when I was teaching German, especially near the main entrance/exit. You see, students go through them so many times a day. It would not be long that they would put the foreign sounds to the foreign words.

Anyway, I thought I could do the same with my kids too. All my passive learning aids were up in the hope that my kids would absorb something without me actively teaching them, e.g. the alphabet wall frieze, the posters, the sight word charts etc. After 9 months, I think it's paying off:

Bryan was using the alphabet wall frieze yesterday to spell his name and his friends' names yesterday.

Then he surprised me when he read out the whole of the "Where" and "my" sight word chart!

He couldn't have remembered from his memory coz:

1) It was about 9 months ago that I even uttered those sounds to him.

2) He was correcting himself as he read. The first two questions begin with "Where is", while the next three are "Where are". When he was at question no. 3, he was reading "Where is" initially and then self-corrected to "Er, no, it's Where are". And when it came to differentiating socks from shoes, I begin to believe that he's making connections with the little phonics that he learnt from Ms Julie's class last year. The words "shoes" was initially read with "s" sound. And then he self-corrected again when he saw the aitch and went "sh-oes".

He's definitely making the connections. How exactly, I don't really know. This reminds very much of the"litte black box" aka the Language Acquisition Device as proposed by Chomsky.

Till now I still haven't figured out how to teach him phonics, blending sounds. I tried using onsets/rimes, but he still has a long way to go when it comes to segmenting words into syllables. Honestly, I don't have the diligence to do work on something with him systematically every day.

But I'm definitely pleased that he's reading without any active effort of teaching on my part!

nocturnal vs diurnal...

I'm really pleased with what Ms Judi does in her class. It took me many years to learn about the terms nocturnal and diurnal, and now my 4 year-old son is just rattling off what nocturnal and diurnal animals are.

I wish I could do more with the kids, e.g. reading with them. Even that I hardly find energy to keep up.

false alarm...

Kristin woke me up today with her cries. It wasn't the usual cries for "Mommy-come-get-me" attention. It was weird. When I found her, her face looked so flushed that I only had one thing in mind: Is she afflicted by Scarlet fever?

Friends have told me that there had been cases in the Frankfurt International School and Internationale Schule Frankfurt. And knowing that Kristin comes into contact with the siblings of these children, chances were pretty high.

Anyway, I dropped Bryan off at school and then went off to the clinic with Kristin.
The doctor did a swab on hearing my account. Thank God that the test was negative. So it's just a common cold.

Sigh... no wonder I'm getting fat. You must be wondering what's being fat gotta do with my children being sick?

Well, I had plans to hit the gym and then spend the remaining of the morning in a sauna after a workout, but no, one of them has to spoil my plans. Already, I gave up my Monday for grocery shopping coz I had to bring a plate for the Thanksgiving Feast on Tuesday for Bryan's class and then attend his mini-concert. And now, Wednesday, I still can't spend time for myself! And whatabout tomorrow and day after?
Nope, the kids have no school (Thanksgiving holidays) and of course, the babysitters at the gym will not take Kristin in with her nose all runny now, or would they?

Now it's certainly easy to sit at home and get bigger on the waist, isn't it?

you hide, i seek...

The kids love to indulge in a game of tag or hide and seek these days, but mostly at home since the temperature has dipped.

Yesterday, I intended to bring them out for a short walk and and some fresh air. So it wasn't the usual routine for Kristin. Actually, the intent was to expend Bryan's energy. I could really have spared her from the cold. Anyway, cold air would do her runny nose some good too.

I sent Bryan to his room for his afternoon milk and strapped Kristin down to her buggy for hers. If she was in her room, in her bed, she would have knocked out immediately. When Bryan finished his milk, he came running out of his room looking for meimei. But he just couldn't figure out where she was. In the mean time, Kristin kept all quiet and was tucked away in one corner in the kitchen, grinning away. It wasn't long that Bryan enlisted Dad's help to look for Kristin. Daddy went up and down the hallway leading to the kitchen several times to hint to Bryan, and finally this girl let out a chuckle.

When Bryan had an inkling that she was in the kitchen and went looking for her, Kristin let out a "BOO!" and greeted her brother with a broad grin. What a cheeky girl! Her patience in waiting out for her brother and keeping all mum really amazed me. Think she's seen enough of hide and seek games going on in school to be a pro now.

On hindsight, it was an extremely BAD idea to let Kristin have her afternoon milk in her buggy. She cried for 5 minutes and refused to drink milk in her room when it came to bedtime. I should have known better to sabotage her routine. Hope she doesn't conk out in school today. I would love for her to go back to her afternoon nap routine after the weekend.

happy thanksgiving!

The school will be closed this Thursday and Friday for Thanksgiving and Bryan's class will be celebrating the occasion with a big feast and a mini-concert on Tuesday.

The kids have been practising diligently and it's not hard to guess what they're gonna sing during the party.

Well, I wasn't quite sure of this song myself, so I ran a check on the Internet. And yes, Bryan did get all the words correct!

Albuquerque Turkey
(to the tune of "Clementine")

Albuquerque is a turkey
And he's feathered and he's fine
And he wobbles and he gobbles
And he's absolutely mine.
He's the best pet that you can get...
Better than a dog or cat.
He's my Albuquerque turkey
And I'm awfully proud of that.

Looking forward to the mini-concert this Tuesday!

sunday school singing...

We made it in time to church this morning. When the pastor invited all the kids up to the stage to sing a couple of songs for the congregation, Bryan was among the first to charge up. Alan and I thought there must have been some mistakes. All the children were much older than Bryan, and our son involved in a performance? No way!

But it turned out that he's been rehearsing moves with his Sunday schoolmates all these weeks. And he did have a blast singing for the Lord! Don't you think? Good thing I had my camera in my bag this morning. Check out those shuffling feet towards the end of the clip and his electric guitar!






Just in case you're wondering, Bryan's the one on the extreme right, with the grey and blue jumper.

first parent-teacher-conference on Kristin's progress...

This was what we put down on the parent survey in the beginning of the school year:
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What are two things that you really want your child to improve on or learn this year?

Learning to articulate more accurately, learning to communicate her needs either in verbal or non-verbal ways, but not through her cries and whines.
Eating on her own.
Toilet training.

What are some strengths that you feel your child has?

Being the second child in the family, we feel that Kristin learns many things by watching, listening, imitating her older brother. She’s also very keen to repeat words whenever she’s asked to during our reading sessions at home. When she’s taught a new song, she is quick to hum along. In general, we do feel that she picks up new things at a relatively fast pace.

What are some of the weaknesses that you feel your child has if any?

Kristin can be short-tempered and stubborn at times. She has a tendency to sulk and throw a tantrum when unhappy or when she doesn’t get things her way.

What special interests does your child have that we might be able to incorporate into classroom activities?

Kristin enjoys music and movement.

Is there anything else you would like to share with me about your child?

We would say Kristin is generally a cheerful girl. If she isn’t smiling, then something could be amiss.
Her interest in food needs immense encouragement.

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This was what the teacher had to say yesterday at the PTC.

"Kristin is a pleasure to have in class. She has settled in quite nicely with the group and our daily routine. When you ask her a question she does answer. She knows her colors pretty well, some shapes, most of the numbers and parts of the ABC's song. She always pays attention in class. She enjoys listening to stories, songs and other activities we do. When it comes to physical development I feel she is right where she needs to be. She at times can be quiet or shy, but once she warms up she doesn't hold back with what she knows. She is very alert when it comes to listening to stories, songs and other activities we do in class. She enjoys playing with her fellow classmates and also content with being alone at times. She is very proud when she sees her brother in school and she lights up when she does see him. She is one of the first few in class to try new things. She seems to be enjoying herself as well and we look forward to seeing how much she will continue to grow over the course of the the year.

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Right now, both Mommy and Daddy are happy where you are. We are also very pleased to hear that you did not cry even once in class. And the tantrums? Well, Ms Jane and Ms Sri say that they never happen in class. Good. Let's just keep it that way. This will be a very exciting year for you and the whole family. This will be the time you'll be actively picking up more words that we will soon know that we can no longer ignore the attention due to you.