Saturday, November 07, 2009
Spontaneous Development
'The spontaneous development of the child should be accorded perfect liberty; that is to say, that its calm and peaceful expansion should not be disturbed by the intervention of an untimely and disturbing influence...' Maria Montessori
Thursday, November 05, 2009
Rainforest and such
This week has passed by more quickly than I expected and is already coming to an end. Its the second week of our Rainforest co-op and I am grateful to Raihanah for preparing some of the materials which I have managed to use in my daily lessons.
Monday morning was mainly the co-op thingy, I enjoyed walking around Choa Chu Kang Park and looking at the trees and trying to identify what type of leaves they have. I was very ambitious because after that we went to IMM and managed to do some shopping, eating and playing at the playground but had to ditch the water area as I realised my lighter than usual baggage was due to the fact that I didn't bring a change of clothes and towels for my children.
Tuesday was a long work session as I woke up half awake to Sofiyya asking for papers and stationery to do the metal insets (what did we move up the school hours?) I managed to squeeze in some housework as the boys worked on the 3D puzzle of the globe. After breakfast, Ihsan was timing himself on the puzzle as I worked with Umayr on his bromeliad model which was unfinished from Monday's session. Ihsan later joined us and made his while Umayr worked on the Darby activity book with his sister.
I put together some materials to make the miniature environment of a farm and asked Umayr to help me get some animal farm figurines. There was some confusion about which animals lived on a farm and this led to a 'modified' presentation on wild and farm animals. The boys searched for figurines and toys of animals around the house and put them into two groups. At the end of the search, we went through each pile and decided whether they belonged to the correct group and why. We then identified the similarities and differences between wild and farm animals.
We then worked on our miniature environment with a hut, bridge,pebbles,a cow and a horse I got from Daiso and a matchbox truck. There used to be more on our old farm but they 'got around' as most things do when it come to miniatures especially.Umayr of course took the opportunity to play with the truck with the excuse that he's working on the miniature farmhouse.
During this time, Sofiyya was working on her painting of fairies who flew through a gate to go back home.(I need to cut down on fairy storybooks)She then related this story to my mum, my dad and my husband, besides me of course. (My parents are staying with us as they are in between houses)
In between the works I've mentioned, Umayr and I actually did a 3 part lesson based on the Lego Knights and Castles book he asked me to read. At first we just read the book and Umayr would reproduce the scene with his magnetic figurines on the book. He then came to me asking which character was which and after I read to him the snippets at the back of the book I suggested he write them on labels.
The next day, he continued to work on this and labelled them to the figurines and checking his answer with the book.
On Wednesday, we somehow managed to start school on time which was not the case for almost the whole of last week. We usually start school at 8.30 and end by noon but I have not been disciplined in teaching the Islamic and Arabic lessons (basic Arabic with much reference to books ya..)if not class will usually resume after zuhr and end around 3p.m.
On that day, I revised with the kids how to take photos of the crafts we made for the rainforest co-op with my handphone and transfer them to the laptop. They then learned how to print out the photos and paste them into their lapbooks with a tagline. Ihsan wrote his on his own but Umayr refused to have any words in his. The boys worked for almost and hour decorating their covers with drawings of plants and animals of the rainforest.
Sofiyya had pictures of herself printed and I showed her how she can arrange them and staple them together neatly. The next day, I found pieces of paper folded together and stapled like an A5 sized book on the floor.
She also continued drawing circles with her metal insets on Wednesday and she came to me saying she couldn't cut a proper circle with her scissors. I asked whether I could show her. 'Oh, you have to turn then you'll get a circle!' Sofiyya said.It was a revelation to her that you have to turn your wrist around the circle outline to cut out the shape.
This continued on Thursday and she was drawing circles with her metal inset and cutting them that I suggested we make a centipede based on the book 'Speed,speed, centipede.' we read last week. Umayr joined in. The book was about counting in tens to hundred and I wanted to cut out ten sets of ten shoes but realised that it was too challenging (mostly for me) and settled on teaching Umayr how to make a paper chain of shoes.
While we were working on the centipede, Umayr said that he will make one that stands up. I was almost commenting that it'll be a complicated process requiring hardier cardboards and joining the pieces together with something ( what kind of explanation is that?) but I stopped myself and let him go figure it out himself. In the end he did make one that stood up. I actually thought he didn't realise that he was joining the head and tail together when in actual fact, he made a three dimensional model.
At the same time this was happening, Ihsan was sitting at the same table, working on his rainforest map and trying to figure out where the tropic of cancer and capricorn are on the globe to indicate on his map to demarcate the area where most rainforests are.
He then coloured the map according to the Montessori colours and pasted it into his lapbook. He worked on this for the next hour. I think I should have let him rest but him doing so in the room meant a diversion from his work mode; maybe this is 'false fatigue'. I had worked on the Birds nomenclature, in relation with the birds from the rainforest book we read in the morning,with Umayr earlier and was going to an extended one with Ihsan but he complained of tiredness.
I confess I should have dealt with it more intelligently, but my threshold was up to the neck today and I sadly, threatened deprivation of toys instead of trying to find a hook. He came reluctantly, and stated that he will read everything backwards and spoke to me backwards. It was easy with labelling, but I guess reading paragraphs on the functions of each part backwards ( he was reading from the end of the paragraph and right to left)was too much and he gave up after two paragraphs...hehehe...
I later did a presentation on the 3 part animal puzzle with Sofiyya and we traced the puzzles to reproduce the puzzle into a picture. I let Umayr play with an Oxford Reading Tree program on the laptop later and Ihsan worked on Math games with a Math Lab CD-Rom. Sofiyya got her Wordworld CD. I'm going down the drain with my sensorial and play philosophies with these CDs but sometimes they can be rather attractive.Sigh, I hope I can get the materials done soon, so I won't cave in to this...
Monday morning was mainly the co-op thingy, I enjoyed walking around Choa Chu Kang Park and looking at the trees and trying to identify what type of leaves they have. I was very ambitious because after that we went to IMM and managed to do some shopping, eating and playing at the playground but had to ditch the water area as I realised my lighter than usual baggage was due to the fact that I didn't bring a change of clothes and towels for my children.
Tuesday was a long work session as I woke up half awake to Sofiyya asking for papers and stationery to do the metal insets (what did we move up the school hours?) I managed to squeeze in some housework as the boys worked on the 3D puzzle of the globe. After breakfast, Ihsan was timing himself on the puzzle as I worked with Umayr on his bromeliad model which was unfinished from Monday's session. Ihsan later joined us and made his while Umayr worked on the Darby activity book with his sister.
I put together some materials to make the miniature environment of a farm and asked Umayr to help me get some animal farm figurines. There was some confusion about which animals lived on a farm and this led to a 'modified' presentation on wild and farm animals. The boys searched for figurines and toys of animals around the house and put them into two groups. At the end of the search, we went through each pile and decided whether they belonged to the correct group and why. We then identified the similarities and differences between wild and farm animals.
We then worked on our miniature environment with a hut, bridge,pebbles,a cow and a horse I got from Daiso and a matchbox truck. There used to be more on our old farm but they 'got around' as most things do when it come to miniatures especially.Umayr of course took the opportunity to play with the truck with the excuse that he's working on the miniature farmhouse.
During this time, Sofiyya was working on her painting of fairies who flew through a gate to go back home.(I need to cut down on fairy storybooks)She then related this story to my mum, my dad and my husband, besides me of course. (My parents are staying with us as they are in between houses)
In between the works I've mentioned, Umayr and I actually did a 3 part lesson based on the Lego Knights and Castles book he asked me to read. At first we just read the book and Umayr would reproduce the scene with his magnetic figurines on the book. He then came to me asking which character was which and after I read to him the snippets at the back of the book I suggested he write them on labels.
The next day, he continued to work on this and labelled them to the figurines and checking his answer with the book.
On Wednesday, we somehow managed to start school on time which was not the case for almost the whole of last week. We usually start school at 8.30 and end by noon but I have not been disciplined in teaching the Islamic and Arabic lessons (basic Arabic with much reference to books ya..)if not class will usually resume after zuhr and end around 3p.m.
On that day, I revised with the kids how to take photos of the crafts we made for the rainforest co-op with my handphone and transfer them to the laptop. They then learned how to print out the photos and paste them into their lapbooks with a tagline. Ihsan wrote his on his own but Umayr refused to have any words in his. The boys worked for almost and hour decorating their covers with drawings of plants and animals of the rainforest.
Sofiyya had pictures of herself printed and I showed her how she can arrange them and staple them together neatly. The next day, I found pieces of paper folded together and stapled like an A5 sized book on the floor.
She also continued drawing circles with her metal insets on Wednesday and she came to me saying she couldn't cut a proper circle with her scissors. I asked whether I could show her. 'Oh, you have to turn then you'll get a circle!' Sofiyya said.It was a revelation to her that you have to turn your wrist around the circle outline to cut out the shape.
This continued on Thursday and she was drawing circles with her metal inset and cutting them that I suggested we make a centipede based on the book 'Speed,speed, centipede.' we read last week. Umayr joined in. The book was about counting in tens to hundred and I wanted to cut out ten sets of ten shoes but realised that it was too challenging (mostly for me) and settled on teaching Umayr how to make a paper chain of shoes.
While we were working on the centipede, Umayr said that he will make one that stands up. I was almost commenting that it'll be a complicated process requiring hardier cardboards and joining the pieces together with something ( what kind of explanation is that?) but I stopped myself and let him go figure it out himself. In the end he did make one that stood up. I actually thought he didn't realise that he was joining the head and tail together when in actual fact, he made a three dimensional model.
At the same time this was happening, Ihsan was sitting at the same table, working on his rainforest map and trying to figure out where the tropic of cancer and capricorn are on the globe to indicate on his map to demarcate the area where most rainforests are.
He then coloured the map according to the Montessori colours and pasted it into his lapbook. He worked on this for the next hour. I think I should have let him rest but him doing so in the room meant a diversion from his work mode; maybe this is 'false fatigue'. I had worked on the Birds nomenclature, in relation with the birds from the rainforest book we read in the morning,with Umayr earlier and was going to an extended one with Ihsan but he complained of tiredness.
I confess I should have dealt with it more intelligently, but my threshold was up to the neck today and I sadly, threatened deprivation of toys instead of trying to find a hook. He came reluctantly, and stated that he will read everything backwards and spoke to me backwards. It was easy with labelling, but I guess reading paragraphs on the functions of each part backwards ( he was reading from the end of the paragraph and right to left)was too much and he gave up after two paragraphs...hehehe...
I later did a presentation on the 3 part animal puzzle with Sofiyya and we traced the puzzles to reproduce the puzzle into a picture. I let Umayr play with an Oxford Reading Tree program on the laptop later and Ihsan worked on Math games with a Math Lab CD-Rom. Sofiyya got her Wordworld CD. I'm going down the drain with my sensorial and play philosophies with these CDs but sometimes they can be rather attractive.Sigh, I hope I can get the materials done soon, so I won't cave in to this...
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Best Buys
Today was shopping day,Alhamdulillah.I sometimes think I buy too much for schooling everytime I touch something it must be educational. The boys bought walkie talkies which I thought would be a good hook for learning sounds for $15.90 from Children's World at IMM level 2, the shop opposite Baystreet 21.They also bought a box of around 50 country flag erasers for less than $5.00 which they of course use to play 'erasers' but I'm gonna use it for geography lessons. Sofiyya bought wooden cutting materials shaped like food from Learn-thru-Play. We had them before, but they died a natural death (parts got lost).
However, my best buy has to be my 3D globe puzzle from Children's World for $9.90.
The shop has a better one for I think around $60 and Puzzle World of course has the works if you've got the bucks.The boys were interested at first but the small size of the puzzle means they need good minor motor skills so they did parts after I divided them into continents and I put the whole thing together. A spherical base would also have provided more support.
They put numbers at the back; so younger children can start from there but I realise that some of them were wrongly numbered and it can get confusing as they go by layers. There were some spelling mistakes but that can be used as a lesson and for $9.90 this is a very engaging Geography lesson.
Now I need to find one missing piece...
However, my best buy has to be my 3D globe puzzle from Children's World for $9.90.
The shop has a better one for I think around $60 and Puzzle World of course has the works if you've got the bucks.The boys were interested at first but the small size of the puzzle means they need good minor motor skills so they did parts after I divided them into continents and I put the whole thing together. A spherical base would also have provided more support.
They put numbers at the back; so younger children can start from there but I realise that some of them were wrongly numbered and it can get confusing as they go by layers. There were some spelling mistakes but that can be used as a lesson and for $9.90 this is a very engaging Geography lesson.
Now I need to find one missing piece...
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
My Little Niche in the Corner
Sometimes I feel I am withering my life away at a little corner in a little flat in a tiny Island with no one around, that life will go on perfectly completely without me. I guess that's why cosmic education; which elementary Montessori education is centred upon is important as it links each life with the cycle of life, that each of us plays a part in this world but that there is a whole universe out there humbling us into powerless beings. We are both khalifahs and lowly servants.
Anyway,enough with the babblings; today we continued with the rainforest theme. I read Miss Spider's 'Top O' Big Tree'and used it to connect to the rainforest which is rich in plant growth and insects. I did a language lesson on three shapes of leaves(orbiculate, obcordate and linear) with Sofiyya and introduced parts of the root (3 part cards) to Umayr which I related to the buttress roots of the kapok tree.
Ihsan tried to find the distribution of the rainforest on the world map online and found a good site www.passporttoknowledge/rainforest/main.html. From the main overview of rainforests; Ihsan picked out statistics about the rainforest and wrote them into the factfile that I wrote for him.
From the percentages, he was also required to find the actual areas of rainforest in different continents.It was thus a combination of geography,research,percentage, fraction, multiplication and language as I used the words in the wordsearch game for his spelling, vocabulary and dictation which he insisted on doing today. I do believe that I'm doing this the wrong way though, I believe I'm supposed to touch on biomes in general instead of working from a particular biome to the general idea of biomes.I do really need to go back to reading my Montessori manuals and books.
Anyway,enough with the babblings; today we continued with the rainforest theme. I read Miss Spider's 'Top O' Big Tree'and used it to connect to the rainforest which is rich in plant growth and insects. I did a language lesson on three shapes of leaves(orbiculate, obcordate and linear) with Sofiyya and introduced parts of the root (3 part cards) to Umayr which I related to the buttress roots of the kapok tree.
Ihsan tried to find the distribution of the rainforest on the world map online and found a good site www.passporttoknowledge/rainforest/main.html. From the main overview of rainforests; Ihsan picked out statistics about the rainforest and wrote them into the factfile that I wrote for him.
From the percentages, he was also required to find the actual areas of rainforest in different continents.It was thus a combination of geography,research,percentage, fraction, multiplication and language as I used the words in the wordsearch game for his spelling, vocabulary and dictation which he insisted on doing today. I do believe that I'm doing this the wrong way though, I believe I'm supposed to touch on biomes in general instead of working from a particular biome to the general idea of biomes.I do really need to go back to reading my Montessori manuals and books.
Beauty of Homeschooling
I sometimes think that homeschooling is a sanctuary where I can shape my children's life to my ideal vision, away from the harsh reality of this world and of schooling itself. When you scratch the surface of our very efficient and visionary system, it can be rudely ugly that you want to dig a hole and bury yourself or run very far away.Ignorance can truly sometimes be bliss.
Today I finally settled on 'The Rainforest' as a theme, courtesy of Raihanah who's helping to organise some sessions on the rainforest for our homeschooling kids. I do really get carried away at times and tend to reject 'ordinary' themes and before I realise it, it's been a few weeks and my lessons have been disorganised.
I realised I have a book called ' A Walk in the Rainforest', an alphabetical illustration with short snippets of what you can find in the rainforest. What's more amazing is that it came out of a high school project of this teenager which I think is a good inspiration for the kids.
During circle, I used the the map of the rainforest work the kids did yesterday during our sharing session and referred it to the book which had a beautiful illustrated map of the rainforests of the world. We talked about what rainforests are like and some of the animals and plants which we can find there.
Raihanah read a story too during that session that revolved around the kapok tree and coincidentally, it was one of the items in the book. So we got to talking about it and after that we did a diorama of the rainforest which Raihanah prepared for us.
Umayr however, had a bicycle accident that tore the skin of two of his right toes during outdoors. It was pretty bloody (and screamy) and I had to 'stroller' him home. He's fine now and is already climbing the hall walls. He got to be the king for the day, hitting the remote with his three hour special access to TV and was carried around for the earlier part of the day.
Ihsan and Sofiyya of course got distracted. I did articles 'a' and 'an'lesson with Ihsan and used the words from ' A Walk in the Rainforest' for the nouns while Sofiyya worked on the book 'Places Where Animals Live' from www.readinga-z.com,pasting pictures of animals to their proper habitats on the book after I read it to her. I eased the rules for today and they got a weekday pass to TV too. I'm getting lax.
Today I finally settled on 'The Rainforest' as a theme, courtesy of Raihanah who's helping to organise some sessions on the rainforest for our homeschooling kids. I do really get carried away at times and tend to reject 'ordinary' themes and before I realise it, it's been a few weeks and my lessons have been disorganised.
I realised I have a book called ' A Walk in the Rainforest', an alphabetical illustration with short snippets of what you can find in the rainforest. What's more amazing is that it came out of a high school project of this teenager which I think is a good inspiration for the kids.
During circle, I used the the map of the rainforest work the kids did yesterday during our sharing session and referred it to the book which had a beautiful illustrated map of the rainforests of the world. We talked about what rainforests are like and some of the animals and plants which we can find there.
Raihanah read a story too during that session that revolved around the kapok tree and coincidentally, it was one of the items in the book. So we got to talking about it and after that we did a diorama of the rainforest which Raihanah prepared for us.
Umayr however, had a bicycle accident that tore the skin of two of his right toes during outdoors. It was pretty bloody (and screamy) and I had to 'stroller' him home. He's fine now and is already climbing the hall walls. He got to be the king for the day, hitting the remote with his three hour special access to TV and was carried around for the earlier part of the day.
Ihsan and Sofiyya of course got distracted. I did articles 'a' and 'an'lesson with Ihsan and used the words from ' A Walk in the Rainforest' for the nouns while Sofiyya worked on the book 'Places Where Animals Live' from www.readinga-z.com,pasting pictures of animals to their proper habitats on the book after I read it to her. I eased the rules for today and they got a weekday pass to TV too. I'm getting lax.
Thursday, October 08, 2009
Teaching Your Child At Home
I have been asked many times where I get my homeschooling resources from. Generally, I think I can divide them between physical (the learning materials themselves)and inspirational resources (how in the world am I supposed to teach these kids?). It is of course easier if there's a list you can tick off from but I prefer to have a list of questions to use when deciding whether an item is going to be beneficial to both my child and my limited resources. This of course differs from parent to parent depending on your beliefs but mine would generally be:
1. Does it engage the child in a manner that will lead to the development of a particular ability for that period of his life?
2. Does it develop his creativity and imagination? (those fancy gadgets usually don't)
3. Does it assist him in integrating his life into adulthood and the world around him?
4. Does it inspire an awe and wonder of life, the universe and all of Allah's creations? (this you can get a lot from nature actually)
5. Can it surpass the test of time (and siblings and age)?
The list is not exhaustive of course; I just like to have not more than five points at a time and depending on context, my questions change. However, mainly I have these questions in my head when I shop(having to think helps to shut out the whinings,complains and squabbles surrounding me).It is thus helpful to know your child's developmental stage as a guide and some theory of learning.
Ok, my close friends would know I am a Daiso fan; so with your questions just throng through Daiso stores and find stuff. For those in Jurong, you can also go to Japan Home at Jurong Point . I personally try to avoid Popular, it's so indoctrinated (although I am more agreeable with it's sister store, Harris)and if you've got more dough; go to Muji.
Of course you cannot forget art stores,and if you have very little time like me, go to Art friend. There is also an art store at Takashimaya near the Art Friend branch there which has good stuff, unfortunately I can't remember the name. The toy store beside it is nice too but the prices are steep. I believe it is at the level where the library use to be.
Then there is always the library, because I live in Choa Chu Kang, I frequent the one at Lot 1 which has greatly improved since they moved. I love story books that teach concepts.
They have a limited number of dvds though, and I go to Woodlands or Jurong West for this as they have a wide range of educational dvds. I don't like the Jurong East branch for psychological reasons, the children section is underground and gives me a claustrophobic feel and the architecture is cold.
Ok, this is all I can say for now, need to get ready for school .Next time, insyaAllah, I'll talk about more technical resources.
1. Does it engage the child in a manner that will lead to the development of a particular ability for that period of his life?
2. Does it develop his creativity and imagination? (those fancy gadgets usually don't)
3. Does it assist him in integrating his life into adulthood and the world around him?
4. Does it inspire an awe and wonder of life, the universe and all of Allah's creations? (this you can get a lot from nature actually)
5. Can it surpass the test of time (and siblings and age)?
The list is not exhaustive of course; I just like to have not more than five points at a time and depending on context, my questions change. However, mainly I have these questions in my head when I shop(having to think helps to shut out the whinings,complains and squabbles surrounding me).It is thus helpful to know your child's developmental stage as a guide and some theory of learning.
Ok, my close friends would know I am a Daiso fan; so with your questions just throng through Daiso stores and find stuff. For those in Jurong, you can also go to Japan Home at Jurong Point . I personally try to avoid Popular, it's so indoctrinated (although I am more agreeable with it's sister store, Harris)and if you've got more dough; go to Muji.
Of course you cannot forget art stores,and if you have very little time like me, go to Art friend. There is also an art store at Takashimaya near the Art Friend branch there which has good stuff, unfortunately I can't remember the name. The toy store beside it is nice too but the prices are steep. I believe it is at the level where the library use to be.
Then there is always the library, because I live in Choa Chu Kang, I frequent the one at Lot 1 which has greatly improved since they moved. I love story books that teach concepts.
They have a limited number of dvds though, and I go to Woodlands or Jurong West for this as they have a wide range of educational dvds. I don't like the Jurong East branch for psychological reasons, the children section is underground and gives me a claustrophobic feel and the architecture is cold.
Ok, this is all I can say for now, need to get ready for school .Next time, insyaAllah, I'll talk about more technical resources.
Mummy-teacher
I think one of the most difficult thing about homeschooling is how do you do it most professionally with the personal touch that only you can have as the mother of your children. How you deal with a difficult child in the home should not be any different than in the Montessori classroom or whatever school of thought you hold on to and in the most Islamic environment that they deserve. I struggle with it everyday and not a week pass by where I wonder whether a professional teacher can do it better.
I especially marvel at teachers who deal with great compassion and intelligence,sprites and upstarts, believing in their ideal of a caring learning environment. Sadly, most schools here do not hold on to a uniting philosophy or ideology of what is education but instead practice curriculum implementation.
I had to do some major cleaning today before school. It was a beautiful rainy day and we stayed in. Ihsan finished reading his biography on Marie Curie and did a book review on it. Umayr had to be 'conditioned' into revising his continents (basically that means not letting him off not wanting to do school, contrary to popular belief, Montessori is not about letting a child do whatever he wants but freedom within discipline)Sofiyya did her objects with small movable alphabets.
We did an experiment on finding out what are the best conductors of heat together. The kids were a little difficult on doing their own work today; I had to 'encourage' them a bit and that means trying to find a hook to make them interested; no, I didn't want to share with them the chocolate truffle cake from The Royals that my husband bought for me in place of the Chocolate Decadence from Secret Recipe that I wanted as it was out of the way...LOL...
I managed to slot in time at the library and borrowed some beautiful books; one on Antoni Gaudi , one on different types of families (human, animal, plant, numbers....), one on shapes with a reference to the mooncake festival, one on different cultures and greetings around the world and one on Peter Pumpkin finding a place to call home, I think...
Is it going to be Friday already?
I especially marvel at teachers who deal with great compassion and intelligence,sprites and upstarts, believing in their ideal of a caring learning environment. Sadly, most schools here do not hold on to a uniting philosophy or ideology of what is education but instead practice curriculum implementation.
I had to do some major cleaning today before school. It was a beautiful rainy day and we stayed in. Ihsan finished reading his biography on Marie Curie and did a book review on it. Umayr had to be 'conditioned' into revising his continents (basically that means not letting him off not wanting to do school, contrary to popular belief, Montessori is not about letting a child do whatever he wants but freedom within discipline)Sofiyya did her objects with small movable alphabets.
We did an experiment on finding out what are the best conductors of heat together. The kids were a little difficult on doing their own work today; I had to 'encourage' them a bit and that means trying to find a hook to make them interested; no, I didn't want to share with them the chocolate truffle cake from The Royals that my husband bought for me in place of the Chocolate Decadence from Secret Recipe that I wanted as it was out of the way...LOL...
I managed to slot in time at the library and borrowed some beautiful books; one on Antoni Gaudi , one on different types of families (human, animal, plant, numbers....), one on shapes with a reference to the mooncake festival, one on different cultures and greetings around the world and one on Peter Pumpkin finding a place to call home, I think...
Is it going to be Friday already?
Wednesday, October 07, 2009
Playdoh Day
I have been neglecting my lesson reviews;i.e. the blog for the past week. Busy with Hari Raya and cleaning up before my parents and brother come stay here for a while till they get the keys to the new flat.
As of today, I am still partly through the year plan; doing it slowly but surely, I hope I don't finish only next August! Anyway, we've been unschooling, just doing whatever comes up, almost. My planning has been skeletal but with children, things always come up as their curiosity about life is always there.
I bought playdoh yesterday; it's been a long time since we played with clay. In the past, I think I did not manage how the children use the dough; yesterday I set ground rules- no mixing of the colours,playing only on the mat and no violent use. We set aside a container for any dough that got mixed up though, it happens.
So the children spent a good fraction of the morning and afternoon with the dough. Did I get any teaching done? Of course not, it was very difficult letting go of my plans but the children were engaged and there is something zen about working with clay that I find even myself being intrigued by it. Furthermore, they may not be having lessons per se but they are building up concentration and creative skills.
I decided on a science theme; Iconic Scientists for this month based on the books that the children chose from the library. I think the cultural subjects are areas which I have not been giving enough focus on. Maybe it's got to do with the emphasis of my own education on language and math and my own phobia of science or the lack of interest in.
We are currently using The Magic School Bus'and the Science Fair Expedition which introduces children to Scientific thought and a few famous scientists like Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Louis Pasteur and Marie Curie.
I also bought, but have not used the Eureka book produced by the Straits Times which not only introduces children to famous scientists but characteristics that make them successful. A possible off-shot of the governments' focus on the sciences in education and trying to promote creativity and moral education but hey if the tool works, why not use it?
We have been taught to view science too academically I think, with the loads of formulae to memorise, the periodic table, the anatomy....we lost the fun in learning it through experiments and direct observation. I live with these to this day, finding experiments too troublesome to do and I am still trying to debunk that thinking in my head.
Ihsan suddenly told me today that Marie Curie didn't die of natural causes but from exposure to radioactivity. Apparently, he has already read the storybook on her which I have displayed for the theme. I printed out the table of elements when he asked me how many there were and wanted to look for radium. Now mummy really has to revise her Chemistry.
He then proceeded to write Japanese characters from the book 'Mieko's Seven Treasures' and did that for almost two hours. Maybe it was the effect of working with the playdoh earlier...hehehe...
Earlier this week, we read 'Under the Night Sky' something one of the kids borrowed from the library, a story about a boy's experience watching the Aurora Borealis, a phenomenon that occurs only in the northern and southernmost hemispheres where the sky almost seems to light up with the most beautiful colours and patterns ever due to interaction between solar flares and the magnetic field of the earth; I hope I got that right.
As a follow up, we made patterns with Colour Box 3 and watched real live footage on youtube. The next day, we did a watercolour painting of what we observed. It was a good way to revise the colours in German that we learnt from the Hansel and Gretel theme just the week before.
Ihsan also started fiddling with ratios from football scores, when I told him we can start learning ratios; he was elated! The questions on ratios in local exams baffle me sometimes, I really have to pscyh myself up. It is always refreshing learning with them though, I learnt to see topics like Mathematics and Chemistry in more interesting ways without, I hope, sacrificing the rigour.
I mean, what can be more intresting that doing actual experiments instead of just seeing the teacher do it and then trying to answer them in exams? We should have practical in PSLE in the form of a science fair or something. Hmmm, maybe we should have our own science fair, with banners and popcorns and a crazy scientist. I am also thinking of a field trip to the Science Centre and the Botanic Gardens as inspiration for their science projects. InsyaAllah, I hope it will be a reality.
The problem with educating children is sometimes, we have doubts about implementing the ideas in our heads. I'm guilty of thinking too much whether something will work and end up not implementing new ideas and having to fall back on traditional methods of teaching which in the end didn't engage the children, although traditional methods doesn't always not work, it depends on a lot of factors like your student's learning style.
On Monday, we travelled the furthest ever on train and bus; went to Ikea in the evening. Alhamdulillah, Sofiyya didn't fall asleep on the way. We took the feeder to CCK MRT, train to Queenstown and 195 to Ikea. Sofiyya played in the playground for the first time, ' Ummi, I big girl right?'I managed to get my stuff and fetch the kids five minutes early.
We went for dinner, plus the dad who met us after work, at the hawker centre opposite Queensway Shopping Centre. I discovered the cheapest and most delicious avacado juice stall, based on my husband's recommendation, and a rattan shop nearby with all things rattan and wooden; swings, tables, baskets, high chair. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my husband, we had to rush back to Ikea for Maghrib. Ha, I know where to head to next time for rattan.
As of today, I am still partly through the year plan; doing it slowly but surely, I hope I don't finish only next August! Anyway, we've been unschooling, just doing whatever comes up, almost. My planning has been skeletal but with children, things always come up as their curiosity about life is always there.
I bought playdoh yesterday; it's been a long time since we played with clay. In the past, I think I did not manage how the children use the dough; yesterday I set ground rules- no mixing of the colours,playing only on the mat and no violent use. We set aside a container for any dough that got mixed up though, it happens.
So the children spent a good fraction of the morning and afternoon with the dough. Did I get any teaching done? Of course not, it was very difficult letting go of my plans but the children were engaged and there is something zen about working with clay that I find even myself being intrigued by it. Furthermore, they may not be having lessons per se but they are building up concentration and creative skills.
I decided on a science theme; Iconic Scientists for this month based on the books that the children chose from the library. I think the cultural subjects are areas which I have not been giving enough focus on. Maybe it's got to do with the emphasis of my own education on language and math and my own phobia of science or the lack of interest in.
We are currently using The Magic School Bus'and the Science Fair Expedition which introduces children to Scientific thought and a few famous scientists like Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, Louis Pasteur and Marie Curie.
I also bought, but have not used the Eureka book produced by the Straits Times which not only introduces children to famous scientists but characteristics that make them successful. A possible off-shot of the governments' focus on the sciences in education and trying to promote creativity and moral education but hey if the tool works, why not use it?
We have been taught to view science too academically I think, with the loads of formulae to memorise, the periodic table, the anatomy....we lost the fun in learning it through experiments and direct observation. I live with these to this day, finding experiments too troublesome to do and I am still trying to debunk that thinking in my head.
Ihsan suddenly told me today that Marie Curie didn't die of natural causes but from exposure to radioactivity. Apparently, he has already read the storybook on her which I have displayed for the theme. I printed out the table of elements when he asked me how many there were and wanted to look for radium. Now mummy really has to revise her Chemistry.
He then proceeded to write Japanese characters from the book 'Mieko's Seven Treasures' and did that for almost two hours. Maybe it was the effect of working with the playdoh earlier...hehehe...
Earlier this week, we read 'Under the Night Sky' something one of the kids borrowed from the library, a story about a boy's experience watching the Aurora Borealis, a phenomenon that occurs only in the northern and southernmost hemispheres where the sky almost seems to light up with the most beautiful colours and patterns ever due to interaction between solar flares and the magnetic field of the earth; I hope I got that right.
As a follow up, we made patterns with Colour Box 3 and watched real live footage on youtube. The next day, we did a watercolour painting of what we observed. It was a good way to revise the colours in German that we learnt from the Hansel and Gretel theme just the week before.
Ihsan also started fiddling with ratios from football scores, when I told him we can start learning ratios; he was elated! The questions on ratios in local exams baffle me sometimes, I really have to pscyh myself up. It is always refreshing learning with them though, I learnt to see topics like Mathematics and Chemistry in more interesting ways without, I hope, sacrificing the rigour.
I mean, what can be more intresting that doing actual experiments instead of just seeing the teacher do it and then trying to answer them in exams? We should have practical in PSLE in the form of a science fair or something. Hmmm, maybe we should have our own science fair, with banners and popcorns and a crazy scientist. I am also thinking of a field trip to the Science Centre and the Botanic Gardens as inspiration for their science projects. InsyaAllah, I hope it will be a reality.
The problem with educating children is sometimes, we have doubts about implementing the ideas in our heads. I'm guilty of thinking too much whether something will work and end up not implementing new ideas and having to fall back on traditional methods of teaching which in the end didn't engage the children, although traditional methods doesn't always not work, it depends on a lot of factors like your student's learning style.
On Monday, we travelled the furthest ever on train and bus; went to Ikea in the evening. Alhamdulillah, Sofiyya didn't fall asleep on the way. We took the feeder to CCK MRT, train to Queenstown and 195 to Ikea. Sofiyya played in the playground for the first time, ' Ummi, I big girl right?'I managed to get my stuff and fetch the kids five minutes early.
We went for dinner, plus the dad who met us after work, at the hawker centre opposite Queensway Shopping Centre. I discovered the cheapest and most delicious avacado juice stall, based on my husband's recommendation, and a rattan shop nearby with all things rattan and wooden; swings, tables, baskets, high chair. Unfortunately, or fortunately for my husband, we had to rush back to Ikea for Maghrib. Ha, I know where to head to next time for rattan.
Friday, September 25, 2009
End of the Week Review
We are nearing the end of the month, and thus the end of the theme. As it is, I have not completed my planning for the year (I follow the Aug-Sept schedule) and now I need to plan for next month. I'm the most disorganised homeschooler ever. I feel utmost shame when I read other homeschoolers' blogs.
Today, we made castles with boxes and rolls after reading on castles and taking a virtual tour on http://www.destination360.com/europe/germany/castles. That took out half the school-time.
I finally took out my Eid storybooks from Goodword; ' Celebrating Eid Ul Fitr with Ama Fatima' gave me some ideas for activities with kids for Eid gatherings,although some are open to debate. In line with the theme today, we read 'Sleeping Beauty' in Arabic, which happened to have beautiful illustrations of castles. After school, we listened to 'I Look, I See II' and my daughter just had to dance to it. God forgive me.
We've just lost another Arabic tutor due to her heavy commitments, this is motivation for me to learn with the kids, InsyaAllah. Time to go back to http://talibiddeenjr.amanahwebs.com/arabic.htm owned by Umm' Ibrahim mother of 9 and homeschooler of 7. A true inspiration for me.
This week, I am guilty of not doing my grammar, Malay and Mathematics workbooks with Ihsan although he has been doing more work from his workplan. I am also guilty of almost total Montessori work with the juniors...hehehe...we all need the balance. I need more proper scheduling instead of the timetable in my head. We do have to do 'traditional work' at least once a week...not?
I think we need some 'green,wide,open space'; wonder whether we can fit in the Botanic Gardens in between raya visits tomorrow...
Today, we made castles with boxes and rolls after reading on castles and taking a virtual tour on http://www.destination360.com/europe/germany/castles. That took out half the school-time.
I finally took out my Eid storybooks from Goodword; ' Celebrating Eid Ul Fitr with Ama Fatima' gave me some ideas for activities with kids for Eid gatherings,although some are open to debate. In line with the theme today, we read 'Sleeping Beauty' in Arabic, which happened to have beautiful illustrations of castles. After school, we listened to 'I Look, I See II' and my daughter just had to dance to it. God forgive me.
We've just lost another Arabic tutor due to her heavy commitments, this is motivation for me to learn with the kids, InsyaAllah. Time to go back to http://talibiddeenjr.amanahwebs.com/arabic.htm owned by Umm' Ibrahim mother of 9 and homeschooler of 7. A true inspiration for me.
This week, I am guilty of not doing my grammar, Malay and Mathematics workbooks with Ihsan although he has been doing more work from his workplan. I am also guilty of almost total Montessori work with the juniors...hehehe...we all need the balance. I need more proper scheduling instead of the timetable in my head. We do have to do 'traditional work' at least once a week...not?
I think we need some 'green,wide,open space'; wonder whether we can fit in the Botanic Gardens in between raya visits tomorrow...
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