Bring Up Kids
Inter-Disciplinary Project Work (“IPW”)
Mar 5th
What does it mean when your child told you that he is having IPW week in school instead of his usual class routine?
“IPW” stands for Inter-Disciplinary Project Work and it seems that our primary schools are putting in more effort in promoting inter-disciplinary learning today. IPW allows students to understand a subject or topic in depth not through individual learning but through team work. Through research, discussion and brainstorming, it hopes to allow students to see things from different viewpoints.
According to my son, this is how I think IPW works:
- Grouping of members followed by appointment of leader by the team members.
- The team brainstormed on the topic they want to research and write on.
- Once the topic is decided, roles are assigned to individuals (e.g. editor, reporter, researcher).
- The team then works on the timeline & deliverables.
- Team members start work on their respective areas. • When at home, team members continue to do research (e.g. surfing the web).
- At next meeting, team members shared with one another on the information and materials they have collated.
- Team leader is to check and ensure timelines & deliverables are on track.
- Team to submit write up and do presentation on project on D-Day to teacher and class.
Sounds pretty similar to what we have done during our school days right? Yes indeed, just that the children today start to “work” earlier.
How to Hold a Pencil
Mar 4th
My friend who is in the teaching profession sent me this picture when I told her that my girl’s teacher commented that my girl was not holding her pencil in a right way. This picture clearly indicates the way we should hold a pencil and what we should avoid to do when holding one. In case you are keen, here you go … the correct method of holding a pencil. Cheers!
Source: http://www.drawyourworld.com/index.html
A blog on Mathematics in School
Mar 1st
A friend shared with me this blog by Dr Yeap who teaches at National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, which I personally find it useful and informative. It’s a platform to help parents and international teachers understand the way Mathematics is taught in Singapore schools.
An example of the question asked and answer by Dr Yeap as below (verbatim):
Question: A car needs 7 hours to travel from Town X to Town Y. A motorcycle needs 8 hours to travel from Town Y to Town X. The car leaves Town X for Town Y and the motorcycles leaves from Town Y to Town X at the same time. How long will it take for the car and the motorcycle to meet?
Answer by Dr Yeap: Speed Problems are frequently brought up. The earlier entries discussing Speed Problems. See below: So, how long will it take for the car and the motorcycle to meet. The standard joke is that we hope they don’t! That aside, we need to assume that the speed of the two vehicles are constant. If that is so then in an hour, the car travels 1/7 the distance in an hour and the motorcycle travels 1/8 the distance in an hour. The problem is solved when the distance travelled by the car and motorcycle add up to 1 whole. In an hour, total distance covered by both is (1/7 + 1/8) of XY. This works out to 15/56 of XY. In 2 hours, it is (2/7 + 2/8) of XY or 30/56 of XY. In 3 hours, 45/56. In 4 hours, 60/56. They would have passed each other in 4 hours. Can I leave it to you to complete the last step of the solution? It is by no means trivial but there are enough leads already.
If you have questions about mathematics learning, you can also send your questions to banhar.yeap@nie.edu.sg and the replies will be posted on http://www.askyeapbanhar.blogspot.com/
Hope you find this blog useful.
Choosing a Preschool
Feb 25th
What are the criteria you look out for when choosing a preschool for your children? Costs, distance, curriculum, teachers, environment?
My 3 years old Genz Kid is now in attending preschool in my neighbourhood. My 10 years old Genz Kid used to attend private preschool which required him to do some travelling. Why the difference, you may asked?
Well, the 2 main reasons are (i) there’s no good preschool in my neighbourhood; and (ii) since my son was the one and only then, my domestic helper can help fetch him to and from school. It’s a bit tricky now that my son is in primary school. I need to take into consideration a number of issues when sorting out my daughter’s preschool arrangement.
The advantages of the neighbourhood preschool? It’s cheaper and within walking distance. The disadvantages? They do not offer 2nd language for Nursery 1 so my girl is not exposed to her mother tongue (i.e. Mandarin) in school, they changes teachers too often and sad to say, their teachers do not speak proper English (my husband once thought he was talking to an admin clerk when in fact he was talking to a teacher). To make matter worst, my girl does not enjoy going to that school. If you asked her if she wants to go to the school opposite, it’s a firm “No” but if you ask her if she wants to go to her weekend Chinese enrichment class, it’s always a firm “Yes”.
I recently asked my son what’s so great about his preschool, he said he liked the teachers (whom I am still in contact with) and the environment. For myself, it’s the communication and professionalism of the teachers that impressed me.
I believe that in order for you to do / learn something, you need to have a liking in that thing first. Once you have the interest , you will naturally enjoy doing that thing. Same philosophy applies to going to school, you need to enjoy going to school first before you enjoy attending the lessons and learn.
Now, I’m really contemplating whether I should put my girl in my son’s preschool even though it means more money and require her to take school bus (the journey is about 20 minutes one way). On bright side, I can be assured that she would be in good hand with professional and experienced teachers.
Which would you choose if you were me?
For reading, http://preschool.sg/ (a website where parents shared their views and experiences on preschools, childcares, kindergartens & early educations in Singapore)
Respect your Parents
Feb 7th
My friend, who is seldom in Singapore is facing some family problem – her brother and his wife are chasing their father out of the house. They instigated their children not to call their grandfather and ignore his presence. Worse of all, they scolded and shouted at him in front of their children.
I could not help but ask if this is the way we should behave and to teach our children to show their respect for the elderly? How do you expect your children to treat you with respect when you are treating your parents like “dirt”?
Children learn through role modeling. In school, they role model their teachers. At home, they role model their parents. If you treat your parents with disrespect, I do not know how you could teach your children to respect you as their parents. How can you justify that? Can you simply just tell them that they have to respect you because you are their parents and you brought them up, give them you best and you love them? They would probably answer you that they are treating you like how you have treated your parents!” Indeed, they are not wrong … this is how you treat your parents, so don’t expect your children to treat you with respect when you do not know how to treat your parents with respect.
Of course, there are bound to be disagreement between adults. You can disagree with your parents. You may, occasionally, argue with your parents. BUT PLEASE, don’t do it in front of your children. You might think there are too young to know what’s going on. Believe me, they know what’s going on even if they do not understand what you are talking but the tone you used tell it all. Children are sensitive creatures!
So parents, next time before you disagree with your parents, think twice. Make sure you don’t do it in front of your kids. And please, don’t tell them to “disregard” their grandparents as if they are nobody. You won’t want them to do that to you in future!
Remember the golden rule – “Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you”.
Talking with Teenagers – How to Have the Tough Conversations
Feb 6th
Sometimes teenagers aren’t given enough credit. They’re smart and, with the proper knowledge, they can make informed decisions just like any adult. The trick is having the wisdom to know when your teenager is ready to learn certain lessons.
Talking To Young Adults
Photo by Waechor
It’s easy to forget that you shouldn’t treat teenagers like children. When you eye their every move and talk down to them, you’ll eventually lose their trust. When you allow them to be themselves and, at the same time, nurture them when they need it, they’re more likely to open up to you.
One reason why conversations with teenagers can be so difficult is because it’s challenging to walk that fine line between treating them like an adult, while still exerting some parental control. It’s also tough to watch your children make mistakes that you think you could’ve prevented. The only thing you can really do is give them advice when they are open to it.
These tips may help you strike a good conversation with your teen:
* Make an extra effort to talk to them, but don’t push the issue. It’s normal for a teenager to withdraw from communication from time to time.
* As long as you have no reason to be suspicious of them, you should respect their privacy.
* You can wait to have certain conversations with them until they’re ready, but on the other hand, you don’t want to wait too long.
Talking About Sex
Sex is a topic that you may naturally feel awkward talking about, no matter who you’re having a conversation with. With your own teen, it can be especially tough to have an open and honest talk.
Chances are they already know a great deal about this topic. However, if they ask you questions, be honest with your answers. It’s actually better for them to be getting information from you. You’ll know that what you’re providing is accurate, and you’ll be building a lasting relationship with your teen that will grow into adulthood.
While there are certainly differing opinions on the subject, try to get your perspective across without being judgmental.
Talking About Drugs
The topic of drugs is another important one. It’s best to be educated early on this topic. Children should be taught to avoid drugs, so it’s certainly a topic you should bring up with your teenagers from time to time.
If you’re involved in your teen’s life and have no reason to believe they’d be involved with drugs, you probably have nothing to worry about. However, if your teen acts withdrawn and you don’t know their friends very well, there might be a problem.
Trust your instincts. If you think something’s up, then strive to be more involved. You may be dealing with a tough situation and, therefore, you should make the extra effort to discuss the issue with your teen.
Trusting Your Teen
It all comes down to the issue of trust. Remember that trust is a two way street. If you maintain a good level of trust with your teen, they’ll feel comfortable having conversations with you. This will hold true even if it’s one of the tougher conversations. Just make sure you remain open to your teen, and they’ll come to you for advice.
Help Your Children Develop Independence
Dec 29th
When your children are young, they depend on you for their every need. Sometimes it’s difficult for you to sit back and watch them develop their own independence. It might be tough but when you allow your child to make his or her own mistakes and learn life lessons early, they’ll grow into happy and healthy adults.
The best thing you can do is to find a balance because you don’t want to allow your child too much independence too early. You want to be able to watch your child develop independence from the sidelines so you can step in when needed.
Consider these tips as you nudge your child towards an independent life:
1. Let them make choices. While you don’t want your children making all the decisions, it’s important to allow them to make certain choices from time to time. Even as young toddlers you can give them opportunities to choose and develop independence.
* Allow your children their own meal choices.
* Let them pick some family activities.
* Let them choose toys and pursue their own hobbies.
* Allow them to dress themselves as long as their choices are appropriate.
2. Work on social skills. A large part of independence is learning how to effectively communicate. Improper communication skills can hold your child back. Children of all ages can work on developing better social skills.
* Reinforce the idea of sharing with young children.
* Teach your children appropriate ways to make friends.
* Teach them how to be polite and to use good manners.
3. Life lessons. It’s always a good idea to work on life lessons. This can be done early as well. Your children don’t need you to treat them as if you’ll always be there to take care of their every need. While you should always be there for them emotionally, teach them that you won’t solve every problem for them.
* Assign age appropriate chores to your children.
* Provide them with rewards for a job well done.
* Teach your children time management and problem solving skills.
Young Children
When you create a good learning environment for your children right from the beginning, they’ll start to develop independence on their own. They’ll learn to crawl to you and walk to you.
It’s important to give them opportunities to learn on their own early on. If they attend daycare, they’ll work on these skills during the day while you’re at work. If not, it might be a good idea to attend a local playgroup so your child can get to know others their age.
During these opportunities, let them do as they please while you watch from the sidelines. Let them play and only step in when needed. If your child begins to fight with another child over a toy, step in momentarily to reinforce the idea of sharing.
Whenever your child shows positive social skills, remember it together and reward them for their good behavior.
Older Children
Older children present a different set of parenting requirements. You might be scared as they face life’s tough decisions, but in the end you need to trust that they’ll make the right choices. After all, you can’t make decisions for them, but you’ll probably realize that your kids are smarter than you think!
In these circumstances, all you can do is work to keep the lines of communication open. As your children are growing up, have the tough conversations with them and let them know that you can be relied upon for your love and support.
Trust your children, but monitor them closely if you do have suspicions of negative activities. You shouldn’t encroach on their personal space, but there are still things you can do, such as keep track of their online activities and ask them where they’re going, with whom, and when they’ll be back. Set rules and curfews to help them make good choices.
Follow these tips and you’ll be rewarded with joy and pride as your children grow into capable, confident adults.
What, Wait and Later
Dec 21st
I’m sure all parents find their kids adorable and are fascinated by the things they say. Remember when we were their age, we would just do what our parents asked us to do and no question would be asked. Today’s kids are so different and they are oh so smart. They always amazed us by the things they do and the words they say. In the past, if our parents asked us to go to bed, we would obediently do so. Today, if you ask your kids to go to bed and they are not willing to, you would most likely be engaged in a “words battle”. Sound all so familiar, right?
My “battle” is not just with my 9 years old son but also my 2½ years old girl. I realized that the 3 words that she commonly used nowadays are “What”, “Wait” and “Later”.
If I am talking to her elder brother or her daddy, she would poke her cutie face in front of me and asked “what”? When I asked her something she didn’t understand and pretend not to understand, she would also say “what”? This time, with a blur look on her face.
When I asked her to do something which she doesn’t want to, her standard answer is “wait, later.” Shower time when she was watching tv is a “wait, later.”, sleeping time when she was playing with her brother is also a “wait, later.”
Guess what would immediately catch her attention and her answer would be “yes”? The answer? “Do you want ice cream.” ;-p
How to Help Your Children Develop a Positive Outlook on Life
Dec 12th
When you equip your children a positive outlook, you’re setting them up for a happy and successful life.
Don’t believe me?
Well, who do you think would be most successful?
a) The person who believes he can achieve anything, become whomever he wants, and follows up with swift action, or:
b) The person who complains about anything, is indifferent about everything, and gets nothing done out of feelings of hopelessness.
Obvious, huh?
You see, children have such an amazing ability to learn. They’re babies one day, and the next they’re learning language and life skills at a rate much faster than any adult can. This gives us, as parents, a very important and sometimes overwhelming duty: to teach our children every day.
There are many things you can do each day to foster a positive outlook in your kids, but having a positive outlook yourself is the most important thing you can do to help your children grow. Let them know they make a positive difference in your life and love them unconditionally.
Keep the following tips in mind to help your children develop a positive outlook:
1. Lead by example. From a young age, your children pick up on more than you know. While you may live by the notion that you should always put your kids first, you also have to concentrate on your own self-development. Because, when you think positively, so will your kids.
2. Watch your reactions. Just as with leading by example, you must watch your reactions, especially when things go awry. If someone gets hurt or you learn some bad news, fight the urge to have a negative reaction. If you yell or outwardly worry, you’ll affect your children.
* Teach your children that sometimes things don’t go our way, but eventually the tides will turn.
3. Find the silver lining in challenges. As your children learn and develop, they’ll be faced with all sorts of challenges. Some of them will be easy, while others are more challenging. Be sure to point out the silver lining in any challenge your child may be facing. It’ll help them to see your point of view when they’re facing challenges alone.
4. Help them change their thinking. When you’re child is in the midst of a tough challenge, he may bring up the idea of giving up. Do your best to bring wisdom to the situation to know when your child simply needs to be pushed further. Perhaps there’s an angle to the problem that your child hasn’t tried yet.
* Nudge them in the right direction until they find the success they seek.
5. Promote laughter. Laughter breeds happiness and positive feelings. Your children will each have a unique sense of humor. Play into your child’s humorous side by promoting situations that your child finds funny.
* You can play games, go to shows, or simply have a good time together as a family.
A Happy Healthy Home
When you remember to treat your children in a calm and loving manner, they’ll be more likely to do the same. If your child tends to panic, don’t scold them for this behavior. Put them at ease as best as you can and show them that there’s a solution to their problem. If you panic, the situation may spiral into an unhealthy cycle.
In the end, there’s no right or wrong way to raise your kids. Do what’s best for your family in the way you know how. When you maintain a happy and healthy home, your children will learn to have hope and think positively!
Banding in Primary School
Dec 8th
After streaming in primary school has been scraped, primary schools band their students based on their abilities and results at year end. For my son’s school, there’s no banding in Primary 1 & 2. Banding starts when they are promoted to Primary 3. What the school does was to place the best 40 students in 1 class and the next 40 in the 2nd class. Rest of students will be of mix caliber. From then on, students would be “classified” based on their final year results. As such, for example, if you are in the 1st class in Primary 3 but your overall position is no. 90 in school, you would be demoted to a “mix ability” class. I can’t help but question “would the child’s confidence level and morale be affected?”
Frankly, I’m not sure if this is a good way of “classifying” the students. The teacher also pre-warned the parents before the school reopens that because the children are the “best” in their level, they would be “drilled” to do better. My son commented that his class was too competitive and some of his classmates are very proud because they think they are the best. Some of these students even called those who didn’t score more than 90 marks for their test / exams “stupid”. Is that what the school aim to achieve? In addition, I felt that the students in the top two classes are placed with lots of unnecessary stress and pressure. Is the school concentrating too much on their best students and “ignore” the rest?
While I understand that every school wishes to produce good results students especially top students in PSLE, shouldn’t we remember what is the main purpose of educating these children?