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Christmas happiness Enrichment Going Out! Learning fun! Motherkao loves...

Oh December, you were too short

December 29, 2013

December has got to be the shortest month in the year. Time always flies whenever we’re having fun.

This December, we made some really beautiful memories together. Memories of the wet, dramatic and crafty kind.

In the first week of December, Ben and Becks were invited by Little Harvard International Preschool to join their ‘Christmas Crackers’ Speech and Drama Holiday Programme. We were told that the programme would be conducted by Daniel Jenkins, one of the executive directors of The Little Company and associate assistant directors at the SRT. I’ve heard of the name Daniel Jenkins in the theatre circles for a long time, and know that he’s a legend in his own right. I couldn’t wait for Ben and Becks to meet him and learn from him, and so to Little Harvard International Preschool at Jalan Gelenggang we went for the Speech and Drama Holiday Programme every morning for four days.

And I have to say, this was the best holiday programme we’ve ever attended. Ben and Becks loved it so much, they were ready and raring to go every morning. They absolutely loved Daniel Jenkins, or ‘Teacher Dan’ as the kids address him (or the uncle with the grey hair, as Becks endearingly call him). He makes them laugh, he plays fun games with them, they do craft together and get to pretend to be elves and reindeer. And he does that every day to the point they lament the fun at class is too short and wish they could go back for speech and drama “every day forever”, or so Ben says.

They were no tears, no need for long and sad goodbyes every morning when they were dropped off for the programme. And it was so wonderful I got two-half hours of me time for a few days!

For four days, they learned songs, did craft and practised for a mini concert on the last day. Every child got to play elf, reindeer, fairy or snowman, and all of them helped Santa spread the Christmas cheer!

So, I was really glad it was a drop off programme!

It was indeed amazing to see Ben stand confidently, deliver lines and get into his role as an elf. And even more amazing to see Becks do the same. You’re talking about Becks, who’s almost always too shy to greet a person with confidence. She was one happy bouncy reindeer at the performance!

Introducing Ben the Elf, with his two other elf friends

And Reindeer Becks who would be helping Santa with his sleigh

LittleHarvard_Christmas Crackers Performance 1

The children sing, “Here comes Christmas our favourite time of the year!”

LittleHarvard_Christmas Crackers Performance 2

And do a “Ho Ho Ho!” with a huge leap in the air!

And best of all, it got the kids excited about Christmas, this being the first week of December. With their craft work, we got decorations up and an elf and reindeer in the house all ready to spread the Christmas cheer. What an awesome job Daniel Jenkins did, and I must say, he’s really a legend indeed!

Everyone, meet the legendary Daniel Jenkins

On the second week, the kids were also invited to Artz Graine, a leading arts studio, for their Art Eureka Holiday Programme. In the hour they were there, they made Christmas stockings to put up so that Santa can leave some presents in them.

Of course, these kids are too smart to know that Santa doesn’t exist and their stockings are too small for any presents.

But all in the name of good fun and just cos’ it’s Christmas!

Our family also headed to Festive Hotel for a staycation on the third week of December. I’ve heard so much about the hotel’s deluxe family suite and when I chanced upon a 50% offer on the room rates, I had the suite – complete with a pull-out sofa bed for two, a loft bed and a king-sized bed – booked immediately. My favourite parts of the staycation had to be eating at Chili’s and spending the morning exploring the Hard Rock Hotel’s poolside that had water play features, a child-friendly slide, a jacuzzi and an entire area filled with the finest Australian beach sand.

There’s nothing not to love at the Hard Rock Hotel’s Poolside!

The kids are into getting wet now and not as fearful of spraying water features and wading pools as they were before, so it was all very fun, fun, fun!

Two days of swimming at the Festive Hotel Pool and the ones at Hard Rock Hotel

And just when we thought we’ve gotten enough of getting wet, Port of Lost Wonder at Sentosa sent us an invitation for a day of getting wet and to join them in their Christmas Joy activities.

Our tickets to fun at Port of Lost Wonder

Oh how we missed you, POLW!

We had ourselves another crazily fun, wet day at POLW, running around and in and out of the huge pirate ship, making Christmas candles and gingerbread cookies when we wanted a break from the spewing waters, and running around and in and out of the huge pirate ship again when we were done exploring the various activity stations.

Making Christmas candles

We made some gingerbread cookies for our snack!

We all got a couple of sun kisses that day, but hey, we ain’t complaining cos’ God gave such beautiful weather to play!

Lovely weather to play all day

And to end the month on a sweet note, we had the most awesome Christmas party with the awesomest of company. They came, we ate (or rather, pigged out) and carolled. So spontaneously and melodiously.

P/S to my friends: So I wasn't allowed to put on youtube to make you all overnight singing sensations but you guys didn't say anything about being on my blog. Haha. Everyone's sketched so you shouldn't be too recognizable, yes?

P/S to our friends: So I wasn’t allowed to put you all on youtube to make you overnight singing sensations but you guys didn’t say anything about being on my blog. Haha. Here’s the only picture I have of everyone singing.

And so ever happily. We are truly grateful for such wonderful friends and family in our lives.

December was NO WORK, ALL PLAY. One can never get enough of December!

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Becks Kao Ben Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews

Learning the Eye Level way

December 14, 2013

When I received an invitation from Eye Level to learn more about their programmes, I almost wrote back to say that my children did not have myopia (thank God!) and wouldn’t be needing programmes to help them improve their eyesight.

I mean, a place called Eye Level must have something to do with helping children tackle their vision woes, no?

Clearly, I was mistaken. And boy was I glad not to let my assumptions get the better of me.

Prior to their international rebranding last year, Eye Level Learning Center was widely known as E-nopi. Eye Level is a leading enrichment education provider that has its origins from South Korea and operates in 15 different countries with over 2.5 million students. It has established a significant presence here in Singapore since 2011 with 9 centres around the island and an enrolment of over 900 students providing enrichment in the areas of Mathematics and English for children between the ages of 4 and 14.

Eye Level holds steadfast to the educational principle of seeing things from a student’s perspective – hence, eye level. The name is inspired by a story about a teacher who was found kneeling down to look up at every painting he saw at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC. His reason for appreciating art on his knees? He was an elementary school teacher and would be bringing his students to the museum the next day, so he wanted to know how they would enjoy every painting from where they stood.

At Eye Level, students learn at their own pace and are taught the invaluable skill of self-directed learning. Programmes are systematic and individualised to cater to each child’s learning needs and abilities, and customised using their unique methods of teaching and learning.

I was really curious how this would all translate into actual mastery of skills and concepts for my preschoolers, and since I almost never say no to outsourcing (a tired home-teaching mom also needs a break, yes?), the Kao kids (Ben and Becks) and I accepted their invitation to find out more about what this enrichment centre has to offer. The teacher in me also badly needed to know how it’s possible to get my three- and four-year-old to do self-directed learning.

We visited the Eye Level Learning Center at City Square Mall which I have walked past several times thinking it was an optometry shop with a designated play area for kids (yea, I thought that was really cool). What I immediately liked about the place: the environment was bright and cheery, and space appeared to be well maximised. I liked the bright colours, the fact that it wasn’t claustrophobia-inducing like some learning centres I see in some malls, and the cosy play area outside the centre with math games and English books that were within reach. The classrooms were spacious and the environment looked inviting enough for a child to sit down to learn.

I learned also that there’s a lot of flexibility and individualised learning taking place in each classroom. At Eye Level, there is no structured lesson where the teacher conducts teacher-talk. The uniqueness in their programme lies in the quality of their materials and the fact that each student’s learning is customised for them by the levels determined by these materials (more on that in another post). The student turns up for the time slot he or she has chosen every week (or twice a week) to complete the assigned work with a certified instructor who would then guide and provide feedback. This means that a range of students of different ages can be in the same classroom but the students are all doing different assignments acquiring different skills and concepts. There would be no more than 8 students for the older age group in a class at one time but students as young as Becks (3 years old) would usually get one-to-one attention.

What is also interesting is that there is also no fixed duration for each lesson. Every week, work is assigned (with a skill / concept to master) and the child will be trained to do self-directed learning (with guidance from the instructor available) according to his or her own pace. The activities in the materials are designed to be completed in an hour, but there is no rule that says the student has to leave after one hour or stay till the hour is up. Each lesson is flexible in that it follows the child’s pace, and keeps the big picture in mind: that the student has a concept / skill to learn and that the objective of the lesson is that the student learns it well no matter how long it takes.

Ben and Becks enrolled in Eye Level’s Math Programme and Play Math Progamme respectively early this December after taking their diagnostic tests (that is why you are seeing pictures of them in the classrooms!), and I am pleased to be taking on ambassadorship for Eye Level and to be sharing with you more about Eye Level, come next year. I will also be writing updates on the Kao kids’ progress, as well as show you a glimpse of some of Eye Level’s very excellently designed learning materials.

The kids have gone for two lessons now, and so far, it’s been something they look forward to this holidays. They are, surprisingly, getting very proactive in their learning, which I’m glad for, and picking up some mathematical concepts which is otherwise quite difficult to learn from their math-dumb mom (another post, another time about my inability to handle numbers). We’re all looking forward to more meaningful learning next year, so do watch this space!

More details:

For more on Eye Level’s Math and English Programmes, visit their website or connect with them on their Facebook page. To find an Eye Level Learning Center near you, check out the locations of their centres here.

AND JUST FOR MOTHERKAO READERS:

Eye Level is extending a promotional offer to all Motherkao readers! For $10 (usual price $60), your child can take the diagnostic test, attend a trial lesson (30-45 min) and get a complimentary study skill analysis.

Simply quote [Motherkao] to enjoy this offer via walk-in to any of the Eye Level Learning Centers island-wide. You can also leave a Facebook message on Eye Level’s Facebook Page or make a telephone enquiry to any of the Eye Level centres.

Disclosure: Ben and Becks have been invited to attend Eye Level’s Math and PlayMath for a term of three months. Motherkao has accepted sponsorship for her reviews of their programmes and endorsement of the centre. All opinions here are Motherkao’s own (with input from the two Kao kids).

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Enrichment Homelearning fun Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reading fun

An Alphabet Zoo by Julia Gabriel [Book Review + Giveaway]

December 3, 2013

Phonics plays a very crucial role in helping a child build his literacy skills. Phonics teaching is very important because it teaches a child the links between the sounds of speech and the letters, and letter groups which are code for those sounds. Systematic and incidental phonics learning help equip a child with alphabetic code knowledge and forms the basis for the technical skills needed for reading, spelling and writing.

Here at the Kao household, besides getting their phonics instruction through the lessons in their kindergarten, the older kids also learn from watching educational programmes like Word World and LeapFrog. I don’t exactly know how to deliver phonics instructions, and so I usually outsource this part to the experts.

Last month, the folks at Julia Gabriel Education very kindly sent us their very own book and CD set titled An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear. In true Julia Gabriel style, this book was created by her to teach children aged 3 to 4 the most common sounds of each letter in the Alphabet and to give them a start to phonemic awareness and decoding letters into sounds with lots of songs and story telling.

An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear

The CD is voiced by actors and teachers representing characters in the book who use Standard English, and is a good resource to play even on its own, like in the car. It has catchy tunes and familiar refrains with carefully distinguished sounds pronounced clearly and proficiently.

The book can be read with the CD or without the CD, and Julia Gabriel herself provides a guide at the beginning of the book to help parents use the book and CD set with suggested activities and prompts. Each page in the book is like a huge hide-and-seek activity, with captivating illustrations by Kathy Creamer of animals and things related to each letter in the Alphabet.

Captivating illustrations of things starting with the letter F

The older kids love the book, especially for the fascinating pictures which allow them to find and identify. They talk about each page with me and between themselves when we read it together, which also allows them to develop their language proficiency.

Lots of things to look for for each letter!

Check out the letter S with Santa and a woman in sari!

An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear is a great book that takes the little ones on a lively journey through the Alphabet Zoo and making the letters of the Alphabet come alive for young minds that are ready to get acquainted with phonics.

*And we’re hosting a GIVEAWAY on the blog!*

Julia Gabriel Education is giving away THREE sets of An Alphabet Zoo Phonemic Adventure with Rainbow Bear book + CD set to three of Motherkao’s readers, so you and your child can journey through the Alphabet Zoo too!

To stand a chance for the randomised draw, simply leave me a comment here telling me who you’d like to win it for, with your name and email address. Giveaway closes on 16 December 2013. It’ll be a neat Christmas gift for your little one, that’s for sure!

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

Thank you everyone, for participating! Congrats to the winners! You’ll hear from the folks at JGE soon!

Disclosure: We received the book and CD set from Julia Gabriel Education for the purpose of this review. Motherkao received no monetary compensation for reviewing this and all opinions here are my own.

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Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews

Gymnademics is at the ARC! (+a giveaway)

November 7, 2013

If you’ve read my earlier posts (here, here and here), you would have realised that Gymnademics isn’t your typical early childhood gym. Nat was invited to try their programmes out for a term earlier this year, and had it not been for timing constraints, we would be glad to have him continue lessons weekly.

Gymnademics adopts a holistic approach towards early childhood development, with a curriculum that comprises of a series of physical and intellectual activities specially designed to help the little ones (5 months to 5 years old) enjoy the process of discovery and learning.

Here’s some good news to share: Gymnademics has a new centre at the Alexandra Retail Centre (ARC) at 460 Alexandra Road, #02-25, Singapore 119963! Spanking cool, isn’t it?

And as part of their opening promotion, they’re waiving off registration fees and giving away a complimentary session when you sign up at the ARC:

*GIVEAWAY JUST FOR MOTHERKAO READERS*!

I’m giving away TWO trial class passes for classes at the ARC to two lucky readers of this blog! Simply Like Motherkao’s FB page (if you haven’t already done so) and Gymnademics FB page, and leave me a comment here with your name and email. Two winners will be randomly picked when the giveaway closes on 12 November. Trial passes are valid till 30 November 2013.

I assure you that there will never be a dull moment for you and your child at Gymnademics. Every hour that Nat attended class presented him with the opportunity to be engaged in as many as 14 activities that are mentally and physically stimulating. It’s been a few months since his last lesson, but I tell you, this little boy remembers his Welcome Song and hand actions for do-re-mi till this day his teacher should be proud (hear, hear, Teacher Selene!). Both of us remember his classes with fondness because it has been so much fun!

UPDATE: AND WE HAVE 2 WINNERS!

Congrats, Erlina and Serence, you won the trial class passes to attend Gymnademics with your little ones!

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Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun!

Learning Chinese the fun way [Chengzhu Mandarin Centre Voucher Giveaway]

October 16, 2013

One of the things to do to help pre-schoolers learn a language is to make learning fun and exposing them to the language in their daily lives in the most organic way. Ever since Becks attended Chengzhu Mandarin Centre’s Holiday Programme (成竹华语中心) in June where I picked up a tip or two to help pre-schoolers develop a love for learning the Chinese Language, I have stopped structuring Chinese lessons for the kids and started reading stories and speaking more in Mandarin to them to make learning Chinese fun and unobtrusive.

Becks isn’t exactly speaking more Mandarin, but one thing for sure, she’s definitely listening to more of it, now that Ben and I sometimes converse in Mandarin and play word search games.

*GIVEAWAY*

And as promised, I am giving away 3 x SGD$50 vouchers to be used at any of the holiday programmes that will run its course from 2 to 6 December 2013 at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre.

There will be a total of 9 programmes catered to children from aged 6 months to 9 years to help your child discover the joy of learning the Chinese Language through drama, stories, music, art, creative writing and performance. The school holidays will certainly be filled with much fun and adventure! You can check out details of the programme here.

To win the voucher I am giving away, simply leave me a comment here with your name and email address and the programme you wish to sign your child up for. Giveaway ends 30 October 2013.

UPDATE: Julia Gabriel Education will be giving away the $50 vouchers to all who indicated their interest by leaving me a comment! Hope your little ones would have fun at Chengzhu’s Holiday Programme, Angie, Ann, Meifen and PC!

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Becks Kao Ben Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Milestones and growing up Reviews

heART Studio’s Little Masters Workshop Review

September 19, 2013

During the September holidays, Ben and Becks were invited to heART Studio for their Little Masters “Monsters” Workshop Holiday Programme.

I’ve finally found a place who would take in kids their age for art class on an ad-hoc basis. I was a little worried initially if Ben and Becks would do ok in a 2.5-hour drop off class – you know how sticky and whiny they can be without me – but my worries were unfounded because of three impressive factors: experienced teacher, small class size and engaging tasks broken down into parts suitable for young children.

For two and a half hours (including a short 15-minute snack break in between), Teacher Syafiq and his assistant were able to shuttle around effectively to guide the class of 6 children, all aged 3 and 4. Under the teachers’ guidance, they were given clear instructions and specific tasks throughout the session.

I was peering in from the window and this was what I gathered they did for the entire workshop: choose monster, learn about colours, choose background colour, paint background, dry background with hairdryer, paint monster in parts (head, body, eyes, teeth, etc) under guidance – teacher outlines and gets child to paint inside the lines, dry what they’ve painted in parts, and wa la!

Ben and Becks chose a monster and then proceeded to paint part by part

Ben and Becks chose a monster and then proceeded to paint it part by part

And this was one of those very rare times I saw how focused and engrossed my little girl was!

Monsters on canvas, that’s what they got!

Ben with Teacher Syafiq, who was extremely patient and encouraging, and very good with kids!

The little painters and their masterpiece

Ben and Becks loved what they did at the workshop and couldn’t help but to show off their masterpiece the whole day long. They came home and told Fatherkao, Little Nat and the helper that “we painted all this by ourselves, you know” and wanted to display their monsters prominently for everyone to see. They can’t wait to paint again, and are looking forward to doing more art pieces next holiday!

I’m just really glad that had a good time and I didn’t have to clean up any mess.

heART Studio LLP is located at 101 Soo Chow Walk Singapore 575385 |Tel: (65) 6554 7563 | Fax: (65) 6554 7562 | Email: info@heartstudiosg.com | Website: www.heartstudiosg.com

Disclosure: Ben and Becks were very kindly invited to join the Little Masters Workshop in September. We received no monetary compensation for this post and all opinions here are my own and based on the kids’ experience at heART Studio.

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Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun!

heART Studio’s Little Masters Workshop [Giveaway]

August 26, 2013

I’ve been trying to sign both kids up for art lessons at the community centres, but most of them tell me they usually take in 5 years and up.

Then I got to know about heART Studio, an art studio that provides quality art education for the little ones. I hear their programmes are designed for children as young as three years old, and are focused on cultivating their creativity through technical art skills. Boy, am I glad that this September holidays, both Ben and Becks will have a chance to get some creativity going with heART Studio’s September Holiday Programme Little Masters Workshop. They’re going to canvas draw and paint some monsters. How cool!

heART Studio Little Masters Sept Holiday Programme

heART Studio Little Masters Workshop

The good folks at heART Studio are giving out three passes to their Little Masters Workshop on my blog for the September Holidays. To be precise – I’m giving out ONE PASS EACH for the following workshops: Hello Kitty, Ballerina and Outer Space. The schedule for these classes are here:

heART Studio Schedule for Sept Holiday Programme

Schedule for heART Studio’s Sept Holiday Programme

If you’d like to win a pass to the workshop for your kid, simply LIKE heART Studio’s FB page and mine (if you’ve not done so), and leave me a comment here saying who you’d like to win it for and the session (time and date) of the workshop (Hello Kitty, Ballerina or Outer Space) you’d like your child to attend.

Giveaway closes 1 September. The randomizer would pick one winner from each workshop category and results will be announced on 2nd September. Let’s have some fun painting!

P/S: If you’d like to win passes to the Young Masters Workshop for ages 5 and 6, hop over to my friend, Connie’s blog – she’s doing a giveaway here!

UPDATE: And I’ve got the winners for the three pass to heART Studio’s Little Masters Workshop Holiday Programme! Here goes:

1) Outerspace – Ondine

2) Ballerina – Pmbabe

3) Hello Kitty – Lynn (there wasn’t any toss up!)

P/S: Sarina, sorry I couldn’t toss you up in anything cos’ Monsters isn’t what we’re giving away!

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Becks Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Milestones and growing up

Operation Ballerina

July 26, 2013

I am of the opinion that every little girl needs to learn ballet.

But that’s just what I think cos’ I am one of those unfortunate few who didn’t. Have you seen how clumsy and chor-lor (loosely translated: sorely lacking elegance and poise) I am? And if you haven’t already noticed, I’ve also got two left feet and a back that’s pretty hunched.

I’ve always associated being trained in ballet with helping a girl develop good posture, elegance and composure, which is a great investment for her future. Ballet is a form of dance that relies heavily on physical strength and agility, strong concentration skills, an understanding of music and rhythm and a love for movement. That’s why I am on a quest to get our resident tomboy to LIKE ballet and go for classes.

My little girl turns three this month. Since the day she started sitting up, she’s been sitting like an ah-lian (loosely translated: an unsophisticated Chinese girl). When she started talking, she’s discovered that her vocal chords could be used to shout and holler like a drill master and has been doing that every single day. And oh yes, because she’s growing up with two brothers, she also secretly wishes she was a boy, and actually thinks she will be one when she grows up. Which explains why she hasn’t put on a dress for the whole year, and pees standing up.

I don’t know of any cure for all these except to put her through ballet classes.

So we’ve gone for a couple of trial lessons to get Becks interested in pre-school ballet. When she was two half, we were invited for a trial at KiddieWinkie School House. After the trial, I concluded she was too young (and too sticky) to be learning something so foreign to her, such as tiptoeing and prancing, and so we decided to wait till she’s three to start again.

Just this month, we were invited to the Metropolitan YMCA for their pre-school MY Ballet classes on Saturday mornings. I was thrilled. For her. I think I was even more excited than her. I showed her Youtube vids of ballerinas her age dancing to classical tunes. I even bought the Tyrell Katz ballet bag and tried to interest her with the pretty pictures of ballerinas on it.

Alas, she’s at the stage where she dislikes pink (her favourite colour is now green). She hates princessy things and the only doll she has (a Disney Mulan now looking completely disheveled and more like a slave girl than a princess) has been banished to a corner on the shelf to eat dust.

So what does a desperate mother do to begin Operation Ballerina? She bribes the little girl with vitamin pastilles so she would participate in class.

And this is my little girl trying to participate, after much coaxing and pleading, and two sugar-coated gum drops:

As you can see, she doesn’t seem very into this ballet thing.

The first two lessons were new and a refreshing change from our usual routine on Saturdays, and so they were still quite fun to Becks. But by the time it got to the third week, she was begging me not to go. She started negotiating for more candies and asking if she could be learning swimming instead.

Urgh.

Gonna have to adopt a wait-and-see approach again, and introduce her to ballet when she’s more ready. I still think she needs to learn it, but perhaps not now.

Till then, thank you, Metropolitan YMCA, for offering Becks a chance to participate in July’s MY Ballet lessons and allowing me to sit in with her too!

*If you’d like to sign your little tot up for MY Ballet at the Metropolitan YMCA, you can email programmes@mymca.org.sg to enquire. Motherkao readers get a 5% discount off term fees!*

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post or review. Becks was invited to try out pre-school ballet at the Metropolitan YMCA. All opinions in this post are my own.

P/S: Yes, and I do also know she doesn’t need to pick up ballet to learn to be lady-like. Perhaps if she had a role-model who would teach her how to be graceful and gentle, that would pretty much fix some of our problems, yes? Umm, have you seen Becks’ mother? Hurhurhur.

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Becks Kao Enrichment Invites & Tryouts Learning fun! Reviews

Learning fun at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre [Review]

July 5, 2013

If you don’t already know, my children speak little Chinese and the Mandarin they use in speech is so poorly pronounced it sometimes puts me, the student who used to ace Chinese from primary school to JC, to shame. My children think it’s funny to converse in Chinese, although their nurturing Chinese teachers in kindergarten are slowly changing their minds about that.

As for me their mother, I am quite helpless, really. They think Mama’s telling some joke when she uses Mandarin to speak to them.

So I would gladly outsource teaching the Chinese Language to anyone other than me.

During the second week of the June holidays, Becks was invited to attend the Holiday Programme at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre (成竹华语中心). Titled Kaka’s Teeth (卡卡的牙齿), the 5-day programme was designed for preschoolers aged 3 and 4 to immerse them in the world of Kaka, the friendly dinosaur, who helped his animal friends crack open nuts of all sorts with his strong teeth.

Becks was, of course, initially very frightened to be suddenly surrounded by people who spoke in Mandarin in a wholly Chinese environment on the first day. She was initially reluctant to go for class, until she stepped further in and saw this:

Spacious play area

The school, located at Rochester Mall, is designed so brightly and cheerily to reflect the richness and uniqueness of the Chinese culture. I was awed by the details that were in the classrooms, hallway, walls and even the toilets!

A very bright and cheery learning environment that highlights the richness of the Chinese culture

Needless to say, my little girl was too happy to embrace their play before work philosophy:

Getting around in her Little Tike before class

Getting around in her Little Tikes before class

When it was time for class, we joined 7 other children (whom we would spend the next 4 days with) and Teacher Zhang Ping to explore the world of Kaka from the story, Kaka’s Teeth.

Becks at her first lesson

Over the next few days, we met a squirrel, a monkey and a cat from the story, all needing help from Kaka the Dinosaur. Kaka‘s strong teeth helped them crack open the hard shells of pine nuts, walnuts and the tough husks of coconuts.

We were also introduced to new words from the story through games, songs, flashcards and experiential learning.

Building vocabulary through flashcards, games and songs

Teacher Zhang Ping even brought food mentioned in the story to class to help the children make meangingful connections and relate to the story. So the kids got to try coconut juice, walnuts, pine nuts, and even tasted bittergourd, chilli sauce and lemon as they were learning words like 味道, 椰子, 核桃, 松子.

Making meaningful connections through tasting!

Making meaningful connections through food tasting!

They were plenty of speech and drama and storytelling bits incorporated within each lesson, which I hear, is Chengzhu’s niche. The teachers are all native speakers who spoke very well and are very experienced with children. Teacher Zhang Ping and her assistants were always engaging the kids with songs, puppets and lots of dramatic play. The kids also looked forward to the hands-on part in each lesson where they would create their own “storybook” of Kaka’s Teeth, by pasting slips of cut-outs that matched the illustrations.

Becks got to make a few pages of her "storybook" by sticking slips of paper to the pictures. The children then ran aloud with the teacher after the "storybook" was done.

Becks got to make a few pages of her “storybook” by sticking slips of paper to the pictures. The children then read aloud with the teacher after each page of the “storybook” was done.

Of course, Teacher Zhang Ping also constantly encouraged parents to help the kids retain what they learned in class by revising what she taught that day. She gave parents a quick briefing before dismissal every day on how to do just that.

Becks had a lot of fun, and actually spoke A LOT of Chinese that week! She remembered the songs, the dramatic play and the phrases that were taught, reinforced and repeated from each day’s lesson. It was great to finally hear accurate pronunciation from her. I am now more convinced than ever that I need to keep using the language with the kids, no matter how odd I sound to them. Persistence, Motherkao! Persistence!

All in all, the 5 days of learning the language was fun (and not funny, like she used to think) for Becks who thoroughly enjoyed “going to school” during the holidays. She now reads her “storybook” with pride and even went home to teach Ben what she’s learnt!

More details:

At Chengzhu Mandarin Centre, children and their families can look forward to being immersed in the Chinese language and Chinese culture, as well as holistic, meaningful and long-lasting learning experiences. The centre runs regular Adult Accompanied Programmes, Preschool Programmes and School Years Programmes throughout the year, as well as Holiday Programmes in the month of June and December.