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.
Comments