Growing Up

Childhood in Singapore is abstract. The children nowadays count enrichment centres as part of their growing up years, which I think is sad. Having said that, the 2 boys are still put through Chinese enrichment classes with Berries and no plan to terminate their classes in near future.

The children are put through accelerated learning in my opinion. They have to know their alphabets, their numbers 1-20 by K1 and this is very basic for a Kindergartener. As much as I try to balance learning, studying and playing, we still ended up buying new assessment books for the boys. The hubby felt that it is more structured this way for their "studying" hour.

new books for Jonathan

Not forgetting Matthew

So now, our lesson time will consist of revision of Berries lesson, phonics (reading, writing) and Maths for the elder boy.

example #1 of lesson for Jonathan

writing & constructing sentences

We usually need about 45minutes to complete one full study cycle and I know it is hard for a 4.5 year old boy. So I try to make each learning point as interesting as possible. For example, doing up my own exercises for him.

number bond of 10

I got in these wooden cubes from TaoBao as mathematics manipulation so he could grasp concept such as number bonds easier.

Source

Then of course, we are still struggling to complete the 12 books series from Heguru even though it was years ago we last attended Heguru. Besides those newly purchased books, I am hoping we could finish these existing books as well.

reserved for Matthew to finish

received these as part of goodies bag last year

I do feel sorry for my boys that at such tender age, they have to do so much because I remembered at the age of 5, I was bored to tears at home. But it was not always work and no play. The boys were invited to a birthday party last weekend and they also made a trip to the dentist. I must admit I am thankful that they did not fuss at the dental clinic and opened their mouths readily.

birthday party last weekend

Matthew's 2nd visit

Jonathan's 3rd visit

Over the last weekend, we also managed to bring the boys up to my colleague's place to play with her pet dog. The boys adored the dog and I love the family picture with Oreo.

Happy Oreo!

4+1

I hope while being buried in mountain of assessment books, they still have some fond memories of growing up playing and enjoying each other's companionship.