Just a month ago, I felt like I couldn't stand another car ride of singing "Let it Go" and "Into the Unknown". The kids were belting the high notes, even at home repeatedly, and I often question what are they gaining out of this shouting for two months. Yes sure, language skills, listening skills - …
Encouraging child-directed turn-taking and waiting
When I was observing the Montessori class, I was wondering why I don't see snatching or pushing. Everyone is doing their own work peacefully, only gleeful laughters and chatters coming from the children playing outdoors. I did catch a couple of whiny complains about someone else interrupting their tasks which the teacher dealt with softly …
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Learning About Play (2): Stages of Play
Do play look the same to you when you walk into a room of children engaging in activities? Play (child-led work) has many holistic benefits to a child's development. Understanding the stages of play will make us be more aware of the cognitive and social development stage they are at so we can better manage …
Learning About Play (1): Types of Play
I remember back in the first year of being a student-teacher, we were being thrown into the discussion of "What is play?" and the long list of definition and purposes of play to memorise for our exams. There are so many theorists and big names behind the definition and purposes of play. The motivation to …
Cleaning Up After Play
Honestly, I find it really difficult to make my kids clean up after their play. I am always on a lookout for suggested tips and activities to get them to keep their toys but those don't work most of the times. Occaaaaaasionally my kids do clean up when I'm not looking. So when I returned …
Teaching Phonics (As a mum)
"Phonics" This is a popular topic when we talk about enrichment class for young children. Is the word that seems to pop out once in a while in mummies' WhatsApp chatgroups ever since M was 2 years old. Before I go on, please note that this blog post is meant to target at Singapore parents, …
Playing Responsibly and Sustainably
This was supposed to be just a post on Facebook, but it got so lengthy I decided to do a blog post about it.. There are countless of ways you can do to save the earth as a parent; from using cloth diapers to buying organic products. Here, I will share what we can do …
Supporting the Schemas in Play
The past few months I have been trying to understand the reasons behind certain behaviours my children exhibit. I came across the term "Schematic Play" and I thought it gives me a clearer understanding why my children do the things they do. Schemas are pattern of behaviours that help young children to make sense of …
Creating the play space
This is how my house looked like five months ago. I had a play yard but no kid wanted to go inside. Just so you know, this picture was taken AFTER the decision to revamp the play area, so it was much messier before these pictures were taken. In the Reggio education system, the environment …
Parenting Matty: From competitive to collaborative.
Ah... Being a mumma Matty... Where to begin? A very, very active boy who don't sleep and eat well. I received a lot of feedbacks that he is a super active kid. Even taxi drivers were amazed (or maybe irritated) at his energy level. You know a good health and a good sleep is beneficial …
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Children Love to Play 