The minds of a 3 yr old versus a 5 yr old

A picture tells a thousand words. I think the drawings by the girls give an insight on their different characters too. ;)

Bold, messy, not into details. 粗枝大叶、性情豪迈。

Detailed, Colourful, but complicated. 心思细腻，敏感脆弱。

First spelling & 听写

RaeAnne had her first 听写 on Thursday and spelling on Friday. Blur mummy did not check the communication book so I did not even know spelling n 听写 are starting this week. Neither RA nor I saw the 听写单 n spelling list. I only found out because Teacher Samantha told me on Thurs evening when we picked up the gals that English spelling was postponed to Friday. I thought RA failed 听写 for sure. But luckily, the first 听写 was quite easy. Just 一,二,三,四,五. So she got full marks though she did not study at all.

English spelling was challenging though. There were only 4 words: man, moon, mouse, mother. She knows how to spell man and moon without coaching. But mouse and mother were beyond her. I let her copy each word 5 times. Then I did a mock test. But she cannot spell mouse and mother. Teach her the catchy M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E jingle from my time. Then ask her to do correction for mouse and mother 3 times. Then do another test. She still doesn't know how to spell mother. So ironical that it is the word that is most difficult for her. After correction, I ask her how to spell Mother. But she is still stuck after M-O-.... Grr...

Finally, I asked her why after so many times, she still cannot spell mother but she knows M-O and she said teacher never taught 't' yet. Duh. So I went to check her phonics book. True enough, they stopped at letter 'L' for June. So 'M' is probably just learnt last week. Asked my mummy friends with kids in zoophonics and they said it should 'Mmm - oorh - Th - R. I have never learnt phonics so I don't know how to teach her to blend.

Decided to ask Teacher Sam in the morning. When I asked her, she told me 'th' sound will only be taught in K2. huh? Then why test this word? No wonder she never got beyond M-O... Teacher Sam said they have taught the 'M' words including Mother. But I told tcr Sam that it will be difficult for them to try and spell Mother phonetically if they have not even learnt the 'Th' sound yet and she got my point and said she will revise with them before giving the spelling. Teacher Laila has taken over English lessons wef 1 July so Tcr Sam is not very sure what was taught in class.

One of my teacher mummy friends subsequently told me that actually 'mother' is a sight word. That means children should learn how to spell it with constant exposure. No need to use phonics, just need to read more. Hmm, hardly see the word 'mother' in P&J nor scholastic reader books. In fact, if the word is Mummy, I am sure RA will have no problem because she is drawing and writing cards to me and hubby.

Anyway, with Teacher Sam and my drilling, she finally learnt to spell Mother. Conclusion, I think her Chinese std is ok so I really need to help her with English. My mummy friends gave me tips. Some showed me what English reader books to borrow. I need to be consistent to point out word by word as I read to her. Then give her chance to read to me too. Her son who is born in Dec 07 can read JS books by himself. RA cannot even read JP books. :P

It is so difficult to juggle studying and playing. Since the gals have 8 hrs of school everyday, when they came home, I usually leave them be and let them play whatever they want or bring them to the playground after dinner. But now, looks like I got to allocate more time for academics. :(

New study desk for Raelynn

I have been shopping at Qoo10 quite frequently since I was introduced by my friends in end April. So much that I qualified to be their VIP member recently in fact. Most of the time, I buy home organisation stuff but yesterday early morning, I ordered a study desk for Raelynn. It was just delivered at 830pm. Talk about fast service.

We have bought assessment books for the gals during Popular book fairs. But we have not been giving them seat work to do. The books are there on their kiddy bookshelf and they can take and do it if they feel like it. Recently, RaeAnne has been more diligent to do work and then mark on her own. RA will also ask Raelynn to do her assessment books then she will mark. Maybe she aspires to be a teacher.

RaeAnne has a study desk which we bought for her early this year. But we often find Raelynn lying on her tummy on the bumper mat doing her 'homework'. Posture is bad and lighting is poor in the dining area. She has been asking for a table for some months because I told her I will buy her a table when she needs to do work like Cheh Cheh. But I cannot get her the similar table from Casa Kidi because her room is cluttered because she still insists on sleeping on her baby cot and the ikea baby changing table is still in the room, on top of a wardrobe, a single bed, and a foldable sleeping mat.

So when I saw this ergonomic table and chair set from Qoo10 at $157. I was tempted cos the height of the table and chair can be adjusted and the angle of the table can be adjusted for reading, or drawing. Raelynn is only 95cm tall so the table and chair are still set at lowest height. But we can adjust it slowly as she grows up.

It is not a big table, just 45cm by 65cm. Similar to a normal classroom table in fact. Though you cannot put a lot of things on the table, I think it is good cos it forces the kid to organise. Things that are not needed should go into the drawer below or into the school bag. There is even a hook at the side of the table just for hanging the school bag to keep it off the floor. This is great for people like me. I hate to see bags on floor because I will always end up tripping over them at night after 'lights out' for the gals.

I wasn't sure if Raelynn will like this table because it was so different from RA's. Much smaller and there is no cartoon or castle design. But my worries were unfounded. She likes it and quickly protested when Cheh Cheh tried to share the chair. I guess as long as it is in pink, we are quite safe. Haha.

First homework for RA

RaeAnne finally has homework from school last Friday. There were 1 pg of chinese, 1 pg of english n 1 pg of maths homework. Some of my friends' kids started having homework since they were 4 years old especially those studying at more academic focused schools eg. Zoophonics. It's no big deal.

But RA is at full day childcare so all along they have been doing their work in school so no need to bring work home. RA's chinese teacher saw my jaw drop when I opened the homework bag and took the chance to remind me that they will be starting spelling n 听写 soon too. Haha. She knows Mummy is lazy to coach homework.

On Saturday I had to nag RA to do her homework cos she did not do it though I reminded her on fr night. Her chinese and maths homework was still ok but she stumbled on her English homework. Only found 1 word when she is supposed to find 6 words. I had to guide her to use a ruler row by row to find the alphabets and words.

Sheesh, looks like my many years of nagging and coaching homework have finally started. I better add a new 'Academics' posts' label too. Haha.

Ballet open house - Video clips

The gals are moving onto their next level for ballet lessons this week. So last Fri, Crestar had an open house so parents were invited to watch what they have been learning so far.

We are not hoping that the gals will become professional ballerinas. It is ok for me if they don't want to learn this for long. From what we can see, they are having fun. As long as they are enjoying ballet lessons, it's enough for us. Once RA enters P1 in another 1.5 years, I will be cutting down on her enrichment programmes because I know she won't have time. School and homework will take up the bulk of her time. So I am hoping that she can choose one that she enjoys best, whether it is piano, ballet or art, that she can enjoy throughout her primary school years.

We took many videos during the two 45 mins lessons but I only posted two on youtube (links below) cos it will be too long to upload everything. haha.

RaeLynn's Bebe ballet class


RaeAnne's Pre Primary Foundation class