Happy feet

What's the definition of swimming?? Loosely speaking, it is the active movement in water, carried out by animals (i believe in all cases?).

To little ya tou, she took on a broader perspective- anything moving in the water is swimming. hehe.. So you'll hear her say this when she scoop some rice into her soup- "Mummy, rice swimming." I'll smile at her when she say this.

Ya tou, like me, does not like to be wet. Hmm.. no wonder my amniotic fluid was low during pregnancy.. :) She will protest against showering her hair everytime. So i've not been optimistic about her going swimming...

Strange as it can be.. she has been telling us she wants to go swimming, usually after finding her swimming float (while ransacking her cupboard) or passing by the swimming complex along the way to Granny's house.

Well so we granted her wish a month ago. We went to Yishun Safra but were turned away as we were not members. To not disappoint her, we detoured to Yishun swimming complex. After dedressing her bare to a just piece of panty, Daddy took her towards the children's pool. This was the beginning of a 40 minutes coaxing of Zhirui to step out of her comfort zone (the wide-spaced steps leading to the pool). She hovered between the first and second steps, refusing to go further. Daddy lured her in by playing throw-and-catch game with her float, which finally succeeded!

Once she's into the pool, she began flitting about with her float like a hummingbird. Zhirui, well done in conquering your 'self-perceived limitation'! I was not happy to tears, but was definitely beaming with joy and clicking my shutters away to capture the great moment. haha.. :D

During the second trip to the pool, that was just a week later, she took just 10mins to condition her mind.

And during the last trip, when I joined her, she didn't need any conditioning. Way to go!

Ahh.. The joy of being parents, part of it, is helping your child to be a better person than the day before and at the same time, be a better parent than the day before.

A voyage in the sea of classics

Opps i've been lagging quite behind in blogging.. Many new experiences have added into ya tou's life, many concepts have crossed my mind regarding parenting, and many funny episodes being a mother to ya tou..

Hmm.. ok let's touch on the new concepts i've learnt regarding early childhood education first. It's not the traditional kind, widely researched, proven and textbooked theories/concepts. But something amazing yet very back-to-basics.

Recently i revisited a VCD which had been in long existence in our house. It is a lecture by Prof Wang Cai Gui (王财贵) about promoting classic recitals (读经). In the beginning of his lecture, he dressed down on the current education system that is ruining our young-- forcing children to swallow down age-inappropriate knowledge/skills-- in the midst, killing their innate spirits to learn.

I relate this well, especially in Singapore context where i grow up in, children often get frustrated for not being able to grasp concepts and therefore, give up learning. They develop lots of negative feelings towards learning. Because the education system set this standard, every parent and child have to struggle to meet the mark. A Chinese proverb "拔苗助长" describes perfectly. Literally, it means pulling out the young sprout to assist its growth. How foolish! The fact is once our brain are fully developed at about 18 years old (and provided our brain are well-developed), we can comprehend things with ease. Right now, think many young brains are poisoned by stress, frustration, rejections, low self-esteem..

So what can we do about this? Well, for one, you can migrate. haha.. Or revamp the education system (guess one needs to be 'up there' to do it), or enhance your child learning capacity and buffer your child from brain-poisions (negative feelings, attitudes towards life). Negative energy shuts the brain down.

Prof Wang has a solution ie. classic recitals. Classics like The Analects (论语), Tao De Jing (道德经), The Great Learning (大学) are repositories and essence of immense knowledge and intricate language. For example, to record infinite teachings into finite documents, one needs to use a concise and accurate way of expression. In Chinese, this way of writing is known as 文言文. Reciting and memorising these classics can help to expand the neuron network of the brain. The golden period to do this is between the age of 0-13years. Furthermore, early exposure to classical music and different foreign language is also a way to make more connections. I'm also planning to bring ya tou to the art gallery for art appreciation! :)

Having said here, Marpig if you are reading, you may start to help me bring some more foreign language cds back from UK.. :)

Anyway, I've been focusing on German for past year. Got a couple of audio cds for ya tou. Well I've yet to hear any "Guten tag" slipping from her lips. Interestingly, she picked up some Spanish "Ola" and "Adios" from the 'Lots to Learn' children dvd series.

An early switch to Sping Brainy Kidz

On 30 April when I went to pick up Zhirui from nanny's house, tz confided to me that she wish to cease her babysitting service and that day shall be the last day. The news struck like a flash of lightning on a sunny day..

I fully understand the reasons behind tz's decision. Her health is getting poorer and her children must have been very concerned about this. But somehow, I felt my eyes wet when telling her "it's ok". I was sad. Not because nanny couldn't babysit Zhirui anymore, but why I'm such a bad mummy who needs to rely on others to take care of my beloved child.

Accepting all these which I've long expected, sb and I decide that it's time for Zhirui to enter a childcare centre. Ya tou really enjoys learning and we believe she'll be happy in the enriching environment.

Immediately next day (Labour day), we called up Joy from Spring Brainy Kidz about the early enrolment. We had previously inform her that Zhirui will attend the centre in mid-May or June. Gladly, she welcomed us and gave us a centre tour on the same morning. Zhirui looks happy with her new school.

On the first day of school, we were greeted by Joy and Stephanie who conducted the toddlers class. Zhirui was more interested in the kitchen toy set than teacher's class. The month's theme is creepy crawlies so there was a nature walk outdoors to find insects. Zhirui and her friends had lots fun observing ants, butterflies, grasshoppers in the garden. At about 11 plus, Zhirui started to get unsettled and asked to go home. Stephanie, the school's principal shared with me the emotional roller coaster Zhirui might experience during her transit into the new environment. To make this less traumatic for ya tou, she advised that I bring Zhirui home and gradually increase the Zhirui's school hours in the days to come.

Second day, Zhirui showed great enthusiasm in going to school again. She could recognise the school's front gate when our car drew close. Stephanie advised that I play the 'missing game' later for 2 hours and come back after ya tou's shower at 12pm. The key is to mentally prepare her by telling repeatedly mummy will be going out and will be back at a specified time to pick her. It's important to keep assuring the child. So when Zhirui was happily engaged in her art work, I bid goodbye to her and left.

When I returned, Zhirui was showering. The moment she saw me, she beamed happily and screamed "Mummy is here!" haha.. :) Stephanie said that she did asked about me when I was away.

On the third day, Zhirui somehow knew that I was going to play missing again. She refused to make eye contact with me when I told her that I'll be going away. (Stephanie said Zhirui is ignoring me, a way of expressing her disacknowledgement.. very smart child!) But i still need to go... I told her i was leaving when she's busy playing. Came back at 2.30pm (supposedly her nap ends at 3pm), to find that she's participating in the teachers' meeting. :) Again, she screamed, "Mummy's here!" when I appeared. haha..

I wanted to bring her home but ya tou was quite keen to stay longer. So we stayed together till outdoor play. There was rain so the children were grounded indoors. But when it reduced to light drizzling, I can't bear to withhold Zhirui's eagerness to play anymore and gave the green light. The air was cool and fresh. I took off Zhirui's shoes and let her run barefoot on the soft wet turf. Joy was quite amazed. She said most parents are very protective and won't allow teachers to do that. "Why not?" I thought. :)

Shame and Humility (恥)

Shame [sheym] noun
- an uncomfortable feeling of guilt or of being ashamed because of your own or someone else's bad behaviour
[extracted from Cambridge online dictionary]

Zhirui is indeed a mature toddler. Sounds contradicting? hee.. yes, I mean it, she is a mature toddler. :) For one, she knows the humility (恥).

Since the day Mummy bought her the 'Little Mr and Miss' characters panties, little Zhirui has been pretty keen in wearing them. So much so that she didn't want to wear any shorts/skirt over them. Daddy says she is 'super girl'. :D kakaka..

As we were preparing to leave the house one morning, Zhirui, proudly in her panties, refused to wear her shorts. "Shame shame, liu liu xiao..." But no matter how much we explain what the appropriate 'gai gai' attire should be, she insisted being little super girl.

Then Daddy said," O.. if you don't wear shorts, auntie will laugh at you.." Just at this point in time, a neighbour pass by. Guess she overheard our conversation with ya tou and said, "O.. shame shame.. girl girl didn't wear shorts." Zhirui immediately turned into a cooperative child and wore her shorts.

Two days later, super girl reappeared and stood firm in wearing her panties without shorts. In the midst of the struggle, a familar sound came. It's the opening noise of Auntie Miah's gate. "O! Auntie is coming out! She is going to laugh at Zhirui for not wearing her shorts." Wow, I've never seen such swift trotters. She slotted her legs into the shorts within split seconds and was done before Auntie reached our door.

Haha.. my little ya tou.. you do know how to save your face. Very smart! :P

Are you smarter than a 5th grader? <百萬小學堂> after thoughts

hmm.. can anyone or has anyone define what a wholesome education is?

I feel that being the parent of a preschooler is a visonary task and definitely more intricate than that of a primary school kid parent.

Why? Because at this age, you are setting the foundation for your child.. Any brick layed now will have effects in her future. As the brain is actively making connections now, it may be possible that inappropriate connections are made due to info she receives from her environment, and this may subsequently shape her character, values and perception. O my.. now you see why my shoulders are always so heavy. :(

The Taiwanese had their version of the US variety show "Are you smarter than a 5th grader". Just watched an episode with SB this morning at 1am. Here are some questions asked in the show.
- How many 'white' and 'black' keys are there on the piano?
- Is the composer of xxx a French?
- What is the element that make up diamond?

As we watched the show, we felt quite (annoyingly) puzzled why a school-going child has to know how many keys there are on a piano. Seems to us that the modern education system is still obsessed with knowledge acquisition. Not doubting the power and usefulness of knowledge, perhaps emphasis can be reduced more.

I remember among my friends, we used lament about this, "Why study so hard to learn integration and differentiation (math)? Don't even need to use it in work now. All the calculations are done by the computer.."

Hmm.. should there be an education revolution? I don't know.. but for sure, I won't demand Zhirui to know how many of keys there are on a piano. keke.. :P

Ya tou on steep learning curve

Seeing ya tou, i can't help being in awe at how smart young children are! My ya tou is on dangerously steep learning curve now. She acquiring knowledge and skills in speed which is quite beyond our expectation of a one and a half year old child. O well, maybe it's our ignorance. haha..

Erm, apologise if the following is boring. Just jounalising ya tou's development here.

1. same-same concept
Relating similar/same things. I can't quite remember on what context she exhibited this. But definitely she can tell me that the white horse on this book is the similar to the brown horse on that book. "Mummy, same same."

2. consolating
We borrowed this nlb book on emotions (Duck & Goose series). There's a page where the goose is crying. When reading this page, i'll always say, "The goose is sad. Don't cry, you are a brave goose." while stroking the goose. Now, ya tou does the same. She'll consolate and 'sayang' the goose and say, "Don't cry."

3. violin-ing
This is very cute. It all started when Daddy taught her the actions of playing a violin while listening to Vivaldi's 'Four Seasons'. Ya tou immediately picked it up. From then, whenever we ask, "how do you play a violin?" or hear classical music, she'll start to play her violin.

4. singing and composing
Ya tou had always love listening to songs and mummy's singing. She can partially sing songs like 'Old Macdonald had a farm', 'Itsy winsey spider', 'Ba ba black sheep', 'Do re me', 'Twinkle twinkle little star', 'Rain rain go away' (funny, she sings this when it rains), 'Xiao mi feng'.. But more splendidly, she composes! We'd heard her composing and singing her own tune. Really! :)

5. independence
A display of self-reliance, ya tou now likes to do things on her own. In the aspects of eating, hands washing, ascending/descending stairs, passing urine, bathing and even wearing panties. OMG! She can even help Mummy run errands these days. :P

6. sentencing
Arising from the motivation for food, comes ya tou's first sentence 'I want biscuit'. She has yet to say, "I want Mummy." which means my appeal is less than that of a little cookie.. what?! hehe.. anyway, good job Zhirui! Recently, she could recite San Zi Jing too. :)

Auntie is my best friend

Our family is blessed with a wonderful neighbour, Miah. She helps to inform us when we forgot to take in our laundry during rain, shares her cooking, waters our plants, washes the common corridor, picks up our slippers or potted plants when they got blown off by strong gusts or when the town council does the high-jet water cleaning.

We are even more grateful for her love for ya tou. She dotes on Zhirui as much as we do. Many times, she happily accompanies ya tou when I need to get some grocery or cook meals. The way she offers help is so subtle. When she sees me cooking, she'll come by and call Zhirui and bring her over to her home to play. Ya tou was especially facinated with Miah's guppies when younger. As if a routine, she'd pull the little plastic chair to the side of the fish tank and intently observe the swimming guppies. Now, she loves digging the toy box where Miah stores the toys pre-loved by her two boys. Catch her playing soccer balls and toy guns these days! Piang!! Piang!! O my~! :P

There seems to be a special bond (yuan fen) between Zhirui and her. Zhirui calls, "Auntie!" whenever she comes home or hears the sound of Auntie's gate opening. She is always so enthusiatic when she calls or sees Auntie. Auntie is indeed Zhirui's best friend. :)

These are some photos taken by Miah at her house.

Top: Ya tou visiting Auntie in this year's CNY.

Bottom: Ya tou sitting on the little plastic chair beside the fish tank and playing Piang Piang!!