Gogoprint - Your "Go-to" digital printer for personalised printing!

Amongst my own circle of friends and contacts, I have noted that increasingly, we are getting more entrepreneurial as many are dabbling into small businesses. With that, having ready simple collateral such as business cards, tags, and even brochures are important in communicating the services and products we carry.

I, for one, definitely should look into the printing ofbusiness cards for my blog, something that I have put on hold for the longest time. But with the kiddo’s party, that’s another story altogether. I find planning for her parties easy as they are usually theme bases are you can read more about a “Frozen” party here and a “How to train your dragon” art jamming party here.

I have been doing self design for the invitation cards as well as gift tags etc, for the last few years where I print them at a digital printer in Bras Basah. But this year, I decided to try out Gogoprint's online service as it even provides door-to-door delivery! 

Gogoprint is a leading online printing marketing and technology firm, which has the distinct vision to make ordering printing products easy and cost-effective, thereby helping small- and medium-sized businesses to market their businesses and to grow. From popular promotional materials such as flyers, brochures and folders, to business cards and digital booklets, choices are aplenty. So this year, I decided to try out Gogoprint where everything is done online, with just a few clicks!

Gogoprint’s products are listed on the mainpage where at one glance you can click and enter into the dedicated product page where you can then specify your requirements by choosing:

• Size
• Materials
• Finishing
• Quantity, etc

In the case of our gift tags, we can even opt for the position for them to punch the hole for us to loop in the strings!

As Dumpling’s birthday theme this year is on Star Wars, we decided to print a booklet in addition to some gift tags and sticks using similar artwork like what we did for her e-invitation.

The party booklet which turned out gorgeous. The print was crisp and the matt lamination looked really great with the black!

Check out our stickers and thank you gift tags! We could print round shaped stickers with Gogoprint! Something that I couldn't do with my previous printer! 

Best of all, the order was done in just 3 steps! 

Here’s a walk through of how simple it was to order:

:: Step 1: Choose my options

So this is where I get to customise on materials, size, finishing (glossy or matt) and the number of pages for my booklet. What was useful for me was the short description for the under “materials” which helps me make better choices on the type of materials to choose.

:: Step 2: Choose Quantity and Delivery Speed

 The website shows very clearly the various price range for different quantity and different delivery dates. For my 8 pp booklet, I noticed that the incremental difference for non urgent orders is only about $1+ per booklet!  

 :: Step 3: Upload File

And just like that, I was brought to the next section to upload my file (free for pdf files). (For my artwork, I used both powerpoint as well as Canva to create them.) 

And once the file is uploaded, I was then prompted to checkout where I can make my payment via credit card. 

 

:: What about delivery?

The delivery was prompt as per the date indicated in my cart and the booklets were gorgeous! The printing was crisp and sharp and the paper, as per what my order was (I opted for a thick paper for the cover). Check them out! 

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored conversation where Dumpling and I were invited to review the Gogoprint's digital printing service so that we can share our experience on it. All views expressed are entirely mine and does not represent the organisation that I work for.

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Primary School: Chinese Oracy Preparation

With the last post on the a new series where I share on Primary school resources, here's the second post on a guide that I found useful.

The book comes in a set of 4 from the same good people that brings us the Chinese magazines 新朋友。

:: Contents Page / Format
The book essentially is divided into 3 main sections - "read aloud", "picture talk" as well as some "show and tell" sample topics / presentation.

:: Read aloud

What I like about the "read aloud" is that it does not come with HYPY so for children who are already starting to recognise words, this would be a good guide for them to use. The read aloud passages are kept quite short (the kiddo told me that school is about the same) and the stories are on simple plots that the children can identify with. 

:: Picture Talk
The book is of quite good quality where the pages are thick and the illustration bright and colourful. The picture is also of A4 size which I personally prefer. (Some titles I have flipped through are in black and white and A5 in size which I feel totally unappealing).

Importantly, in the following page, a helping word list is provided. What I really like is that with each of the "item/term", there is HYPY, English term as well as a picture of the item and this will be really useful for parents as a reference.

But the part that is useful for most parents would be the suggested answer for the picture description which is "broken down" into 4 sections: introduction, an "overview", the flow proper and the conclusion. By providing a sample flow, I feel that this would aid the parent and child in planning out the stories. 

:: Show and Tell

For Dumpling, part of her oral assessment includes Show and Tell and I have previously shared on some show and tell tips for P1 here. Among all the guide books which I purchased, this is the only one that comes with a sample on "Show and Tell". I find this section a good reference in the provision of ideas / flow.

Importantly for me, as the publisher also publishes Chinese magazines 新朋友 which Dumpling's school uses to supplement her Chinese lessons, I do find the topics covered in this book in line with what school is testing them on, at this point in time. These books are also compatible with a reading pen which the publisher sells. This will be useful for children who requires additional assistance where they can use the pen to read out the passages, anytime and anywhere.  

I have previously written a post on nurturing a love for the Chinese language before and you can read more about it here:

Part 1: Read Read Read (books of a different kind)
Part 2: Speak it, Use it!
Part 3: Watch it!

Part 4: Play It! 

Part 5: Write it! (小书 Small Book) 

This is an ongoing series on documenting my learning and Dumpling's Primary School journey. 

Edit: Here's a sharing by Susan from A Juggling Mom on resources for Chinese Oral too! 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

Primary School: Chinese Picture Talk!

If you have not already heard, it was announced a while ago that the PSLE Chinese Oral exam will be updated where children will now watch a video recording and then record their answers using a voice recorder from 2017. This will effectively replace the good old “Picture Talk” – 看图说话。

Having said that, many schools are still starting the children with看图说话 especially in lower Primary which I think is good as it allows the younger children to cement their foundation in terms of appropriate vocabulary, stringing a sound sentence and then work on improving their description.

Like many of my friends, we do not speak enough Mandarin at home though I try hard to inject bits and pieces of it while we are driving / running errands where we describe our surroundings, etc., in Mandarin. But when it comes to assessment time I get all iffy and worried about the kiddo. So, I did the Singaporean thing and bought a few guide books to help myself help her. LOL.

Here’s sharing the first one which I find useful. I chanced upon this book when I was at Popular bookstore waiting for pick the kid up from her workshop. I am sharing on this book first as I feel that it serves as a good introduction to the various themes and the appropriate words to be used for each of those themes:

The topics are introduced thematically. I like that the topics are something the children are able to relate to and can understand; and that many are in line with the topics in their textbooks (which I did a comparison between the old and new Chinese syllabus here)

:: Contents page 

(P1 textbook)

The words introduced in the guide book are "everyday" words and scenes which are also relevant in Primary 2. 

:: Format

For parents who are not eloquent in Mandarin, the book is a bilingual title where the English words are written next to the Chinese words and the book also includes the HYPY of those Chinese words. 

In short, it is almost like a thematic "dictionary" but with colourful illustrations which is a plus point in attracting the children.

Each topic spans over 2 pages and includes a "read-aloud" section as well as a "conversation" （会话）section.

Some of the items / words below are also in the Primary 2 syllabus where food items were taught in one chapter.

For parents who struggle with knowing what to ask or what to discuss with your child, the questions in 会话 section would be useful for you.

The read aloud sections (fortunately or unfortunately depending on your preference) have HYPY at the bottom. Personally I prefer for the paragraphs not to have HYPY as they do not have it in the actual tests but I think for children who are just starting off, this may be less intimidating. 

The book was priced at SGD12.75 when I bought it last year and comes with an audio CD which basically reads out all the words in the chapters including the read aloud 读一读 and 说一说 sections. 

This will definitely be useful for non Mandarin speaking parents, for parents who are busy or for parents who wish to improve their children's pronunciation (though I must add that the narrator's way of pronouncing 我 sounded a tad weird to me :p). 

I have previously written a post on nurturing a love for the Chinese language before and you can read more about it here:

Part 1: Read Read Read (books of a different kind)
Part 2: Speak it, Use it!
Part 3: Watch it!

Part 4: Play It! 

Part 5: Write it! (小书 Small Book) 

Looking for more sharing on the Chinese syllabus, I recently interviewed a friend who is an MOE Primary School Chinese teacher on Chinese Composition which you can read about here too. 

This is an ongoing series on documenting my learning and Dumpling's Primary School journey. 

If you have enjoyed this post, please follow me on my Facebook Page where I share my parenting thoughts, food photos (be prepared for tons of them!), early shout outs for giveaways and interact with you, my readers! You can also follow me on Pinterest and Instagram!  

What's in a speech therapy session?

Some time ago, I brought Dumpling to a speech therapist. I have always been sensitive to diction and pronunciation and being phonics trained, I realized that Dumpling was stuck in a rut with a habit of sticking her tongue out between her 2 rows of teeth.

We did as much correction as we could - tongue placement and getting her to sit in front of a mirror to see and then mimic me. We were progressing well but I wanted to seek for professional help as I feel that it could be corrected faster and I wanted a professional assessment too. Interestingly, after a FB shout, I received many comments on my visit with many citing that they were very surprised to know that Dumpling needed to see a speech therapist as Dumpling seems very articulate. Over the next following days, I also received quite a few private messages that poured in asking me why, what was 'wrong' and some who also reached out to ask me for our experience and what to look out for.

That got me thinking a bit - why is seeing a speech therapist seen as such a big matter where there must be something 'direly wrong'? Why is it that articulation is seen to be the same as 'speech production'? And based on the responses, there seems to be a stigma towards seeking such assistance. 

For that, I am pleased to share that the Speech Therapist who assessed and guided Dumpling has agreed to an email interview which I will be sharing in a upcoming post. For this post however, I thought to share a bit more on what some of the more common questions that I received.

:: Assessment

The first session was an assessment for Dumpling which I sat in too. Our therapist, Joanne, introduced herself and chatted with me first. She asked for my input on what my concerns are, my observations and what we've been doing at home. All these while Dumpling was playing / reading for a while on a mat.

Once we were done, Joanne spoke to Dumpling on what she was going to run through with her - she took out some sheets with pictures inside and told Dumpling to tell her what those items were. The pictures were to get a sense of Dumpling's grasp of articulation (all her beginning sounds, ending sounds, consonant clusters) fluency, etc. 

After her assessment, I was relieved to know that I was spot-on: Dumpling basically needed a bit of guidance in one area and that was just on the contraction of her muscle and tongue placement so that she can feel the dip in the tongue the right sound for letter S.

:: Hands on 'exercise'

The next part of the session was focused on guiding Dumpling to let her feel her muscle and how it should contract (for e.g. when she smiles ~ below pic) and then saying the sound.

After that was done, Joanne wrote out a series of S and then open vowel 'sounds' where Dumpling had to work through with Joanne on - S, Sa, Su, See etc. Each time she gets it right, Joanne will stamp a print on that 'word' so Dumpling can see her progress and this encourages her on.

At the end of the session, Joanne advised on 2 things. One, was that I am to practise with Dumpling everyday on those isolation and open vowel sounds like how she did it in the session and she wrote it out on a sheet (as shown in above photo). The second thing that she did was to work out an agreement with Dumpling on the list of sounds she needed to do with me (basically to get her 'buy-in') and where Dumpling basically signed her life away on her very first 'agreement'! :)

:: Follow up session
I was asked this question a lot. In fact, all the FB PMs which I received ask about this. Is it necessary? How often would the child need to see the therapist? How many sessions of 'follow-up' are needed? Is home practice necessary?

Based on my understanding, follow up sessions are necessary since first session is really to assess. How many sessions thereafter and how often will depend from person to person and what the corrections are. And yes, if the therapist suggests for home practice, then it is recommended.

For Dumpling, it was quite a straightforward case of just one sound, tongue placement / contraction as well as habit correction. With the home practices after our first session with Joanne, Dumpling progressed a lot. So for the second session, Dumpling showed Joanne the 'homework' she did with all the sounds and Joanne basically moved on to the next step where it was to encourage Dumpling how to self-monitor.

This was a major concern for me at that point. If Dumpling were to think about it, she'd be doing the sounds right but the moment she started to get animated and speak really fast, she'd forget and start making the wrong sounds and placement out of habit.

One of the techniques taught was using a 'reward and cutback' method as shown here in this clip. Now, the 'surprise' sprang on me was that straight after this clip was taken, Joanne wanted me to do a 'live' practice (so that she can guide us along if we need to) where I had to work with Dumpling just like how they were doing the exercise in the clip below. :p

After our second session, Joanne felt that we did not need to visit her anymore as long as I continue to work with Dumpling from home on this, gentling reminding her. I am happy to share that Dumpling has improved tremendously where mummy friends have also spotted the difference (thank you Jen!). 

In an upcoming post, Joanne will be sharing with us on some of the 'hot questions' which I received: what are the regular speech and language milestones, when should parents be concerned and have their child(ren) assessed, etc., so please stay tuned! 

Note: Dumpling and I attended the speech therapy sessions as a regular paying customer and I am not compensated for this post. My sharing here is based on our own experience at The Speech Pathology Centre and also to address the concerns, questions which I have been receiving on this topic. Should you wish to find out more, the centre's details are as below:

The Speech Pathology Centre Pte Ltd

19 Tanglin Road

#05-29/31

Tanglin Shopping Centre

Singapore 247909

T: 6235 0037

www.speechtherapy.com.sg

For the fun and love of reading - Chinese books: 小小孩影院

As most of you are aware, Dumpling attends Chinese classes and I homeschool the rest. However, like all languages, I believe in the 'use it or lose it' phrase so I am also very mindful that the home environment plays an important part. Hence we read and read a lot and I do try to read 1-2 Chinese titles with her daily (on weekdays) to support that exposure with simple titles such as this when she was young. 

Through reading, I believe that Dumpling builds up a wider range of vocabulary. These days she is more expressive and says things such as "我用我的牛力，他向着我扑过来"，etc. Hence I believe in stocking up on good books. 

I personally like fairy tales as the stories are usually fun and interesting. In this post, I would like to share with you a series of titles that Dumpling enjoys ever since she was young. 

This series consists of many titles and includes many of the famous tales such as:

《皇帝新衣》Emperior's New Clothes
《木偶奇遇记》Pinocchio
《白雪公主》 Snow White
《小红帽》 Little Red Riding Hood
《拔萝卜》The Enormous Turnip

《三只小猪》Three Little Pigs, etc. 

What Dumpling enjoys are that the stories are short and simple yet the illustrations, bright and colourful. Instead of the usual drawings, the illustrations are actually that of clay figurines, giving it a 3D feel. :)  

The figurines also spot cute features - Grandma with a toothy grin, wolf with big googly eyes, etc. Though I am not a big fan of Han Yu Pin Yin, for parents who need a little help along, it has that above the text. 

The storyline is also kept simple and easily digestible so that young children are able to grasp it easily...

What I also like is that in the series, it consists of lesser known titles such as:

《渔夫和金鱼>>, <<司马光>>

which explain on values such as perseverance, contentment, etc. 

I feel that this series is suitable for even up to 6YO: as a read aloud resource when the child is young and for the child to attempt to read during the K1/K2 years. 

In case you are keen to find out more, I bought this series of titles from Dangdang and went through a Spree Organiser as the collection point is very near my place. 

Till my next post, "Happy reading and have a blessed  week ahead!"

VeggieTales Lapbook!

I chanced upon VeggieTales quite by 'accident' when Dumpling and I were at the library. I was captivated by the title and the illustration and took a second look. I then saw a post on A Journey Through Learning on the lapbooks that they created on VeggieTales titles and I decided to try it out. To my pleasant surprise, I actually enjoyed it as much as Dumpling!

The title which we picked up was titled Pistachio, the Boy that Woodn't. Dumpling was the first to notice that there was a pun on the word 'woodn't' and laughed about it. We played the DVD as soon as we can. The entire VeggieTales series is based on Christian faith but delivered through a cartoon format and importantly, children are engaged with familiar fairy tales / stories. In this title, it is a tweak of classic tale: Pinocchio.

There was corny humor in the show - Geppetto was renamed as Gelato and of course, Pinocchio as Pistachio. The story started with Gelato carved out a boy named Pistachio who took on the similar adventures as the classic story. But what I liked about the show are the catchy songs (some definitely corny) and the way the story was able to bring a certain biblical message down to a level where it is digestible. The DVD discussed 'obedience' and why we must 'Honour our Father and Mother' through the mishaps that Pistachio faced along the way.

The lapbook elements consisted of pockets of activities around character and traits discussion...

(Overview of some of the activities from the lapbook)

We also had a chance to discuss about the role of parents in Dumpling's life and the lessons which we have taught her. It was a very interesting and enlightening session for me just to hear it from Dumpling's perspective!

Dumpling giving it some serious thoughts before replying and discussing her views 

with me...

And then writing it out... 

Having a think about Gelato and his role in the show and in Pistachio's life... 

We then did some verse reading and discussed the commandment below

Included in the printables pack was a parable told by Gelato which is turned into a sequencing exercise

There are a few more activities from the printables pack which I did not include in this post. Here's a trailer on Pistachio to share:

Interestingly, the DVD did not touch on being truthful which to me, is one of the most obvious topics of discussions. Having said that, Dumpling enjoyed the story and I like that the DVD and the lapbook provided me with a chance to discuss values in an applicable and more importantly, a lighthearted manner with Dumpling. As I am not very much into TV time so we took the opportunity to revisit and read the classic Pinocchio too. We have since there reserved 3 more titles from the library so no prizes for the right guesses as to what we will be doing over the next few weeks. :) 

Advent Activities - A Christmas Title for Kids: Mortimer's Christmas Manger

As part of the Advent Activities series, Jennifer and I will be sharing some Christmas titles and reviews. To kickstart, I am excited to share on "Mortimer's Christmas Manger", a title which I chanced upon. 

 

A recent title which Dumpling and I read, I really did not know what to expect though I saw a few preview pages and read the reviews. I did not expect to enjoy the story and thought it to be yet another Christmas title but I was pleasantly surprised. 

Mortimer's Christmas Manger is a simple yet heart warming story told from the viewpoint of a little mouse and is written by Karma Wilson (the author of the popular "Bear Snores On" and "Bear Stays up for Christmas"). The tale tells of a mouse's search for a new house and finds his way into the Nativity scene where he creeps into a manger every night. During his little adventures, he learnt about Baby Jesus and realised whose house he was sharing. 

With all the commercialism of this season, this book shares, in a gentle manner, the spiritual aspect of Christmas which is certainly a nice change. I especially like that the author, chose a seemingly small and insignificant animal to spin the story around, very much like Jesus who does not discriminate.

We especially like the ending where even Mortimer... well, I will not include any spoiler here. :) 

We read this before bed and strangely, I felt touched and humbled. It was certainly a nice story to end the day with. 

Now, since the story centers around the stable and the entire nativity scene, here's some extension activities to share! :) 

Extension Activities Suggestions:

1) Re-enact the Nativity Scene with your children using these printables:
From Activity Village (For older children who are able to colour)
From Gospel Hall (No colouring involved but will require parental assistance in cutting and folding. Cool factor: Includes a 3D stable print out!) We did this last year and it looked amazing!  

2) Nativity Calendar Printable

3) Nativity File Folder Games (Colour introduction for the young)

4) From 1+1+1=1: Nativity Preschool Pack

5) Nativity Pre-K Pack from Over the Big Moon

ENJOY!!!! :)


This activity is part of an Advent Activities series where we aim to share on a daily basis the various activities we are doing as we lead into Christmas! 

Head over to my partner-in-crime Jennifer to see a really cute spiral craft she made! PLUS, have a go at some Trivia questions she researched and posted up! Do you know that the sleigh is pulled by 9 reindeers - why the odd number? What other the other reindeers besides Rudolf? All this and more! :) 

<center> <a href="http://beanienus.blogspot.sg/search/label/Advent%20Activities"><img border="0" src=" http://i1155.photobucket.com/albums/p541/Beanienus/Picture1.png " /></a></center>

If you have any posts where you can share on the spirit of giving (gifts), joy of sharing (resources/tips/ideas) or the importance of loving (musings/parenting thoughts/values, etc.), please do link up and grab our badge! 

Birthday Blast!!!!

I love love love theme birthdays and I love planning for them too! 

I always look forward to the sourcing of cakes, goodie bag items and love the whole idea of creating it from scratch. So I reached out to some creative blogger mummies who totally rock with their birthday ideas! From Mickey / Minnie to beach parties, from Under the Sea to Poolside Carnival themes, these mummies will be here to share with us their birthday planning ideas and tips! 

Stay tuned for more updates! :)

Update:
2013
A Crafty DIY Hello Kitty Party!
It's a McDonald's Party!

2012
Mickey Mouse birthday party by Delphine Tan!
Beach Party by Adora Tan!
Under the Sea party by Justina Tey!
A Meeska Mooska Mickey Mouse birthday party by Susan Koh!
Howdy Cowboy Affair by Elisa
A Poolside Carnival Party by Angeline!
Transformer Party - Singapore Kampong Style by Sarah Lee-Wong!