Downunder - Perth!

I was looking through my FB photos and I realised that my last decent family holiday was about 1.5 years ago! Granted that we did a staycation recently but unfortunately, I was down with gastric flu and OMG, it was a horrible horrible experience. :/

When I first started planning for the trip, I was stumped over where to bring Dumpling to. Anything too long on the plane (read: 6 hours or more) is a no-no for me. I was also not keen on any place which is crowded. Availability of food choices, etc., was also a great concern as Dumpling was on half solids and half milk then.

We finally shortlisted Perth and though it was a short trip, it was enjoyable. Now, depending on what you look for in a holiday destination, Perth may or may not be for you. It is definitely a much slower-paced country but I wanted to get out of a city landscape. At the same time, I was very keen on going to somewhere which has lots of space for Dumpling to just roam and run about. What I wanted very much to do originally was to try a farm stay but as I booked it too late, they were all taken up. Nonetheless we still found much to do. 

We decided to stay in Swan Valley as it was a short drive from the airport. Instead of a hotel / resort, we chose a service apartment because I wanted to be able to cook for Dumpling if I need to and not have to worry about meals for her. This turned out to be a great choice as we enjoyed a lovely BBQ on one cool cool night (10+ degrees) and we had many pleasant meals in the apartment since Coles was just less than 15mins drive away. (Did I mention that I have an obsession with supermarkets? :p)

The service apartment we stayed in was Burgundy Retreat and these are some photos from our morning walks :) The beautiful thing about this location is that it is next to the The Vines Novotel Resort and we were separated only by a small gate. 

So beyond this gate, every morning, we were greeted literally with tens and tens of kangaroos lounging around the golf course, when we headed out for our morning strolls. The morning strolls were sometimes led by Dumpling's paternal Grandpa while I "busied" myself preparing breakfast for Dumpling. :)

We also went to some nearby vineyards where it was just such joy to watch  Dumpling run and groove around with all that open space! What can I say? Dumpling's got the moves! LOL

And of course, we had to visit the Cuddly Animal Farm!

Like most kids, Dumpling enjoyed this visit tremendously. The smaller animals were kept in an indoor "shed" and the entrance fees includes small buckets of vegetables which visitors can feed these animals with.

The free range animals like ducks / goose can be found outside while the larger animals such as the goats and ponies were kept in enclosures.

Visitors could feed bunnies at the bunnies enclosure too 

We took the chance to also catch up with some cousins who prepared a lovely dinner for us. (Check out the homemade Pavlova cake!!!!!) Dumpling had a lovely time playing with Duke which was just a puppy then while the adults had a great time chatting and catching up in the garden.

For chocolate lovers, The Margaret River Chocolate Factory is of course another popular spot. A clear glass panel on one side reveals the various stages of the manufacturing process. But nothing beats attracting the visitors to...

THE SAMPLING STATION! (The counter in the top left photo!)

Other "must-visit" places are Fremantle Fisherman Wharf for just a nice relaxing morning as well as the weekend market there. I love the bright colours, buzz and the wide choices of organic food at this market along with som really nice handpainted / handmade wooden puzzle toys for young children. I have those pics somewhere and will try to search for them and upload. But for now, I shall leave you with some of my favourite photos of us both! :)

'Coz every parent is a teacher but not every teacher is a parent :)

The title of this post (which was an annoynomous quote I saw some time back) aptly puts how I feel towards home learning of any kind.

Being a homeschooler and a FTWM, I am often asked countless times how I do it and why I decided to take such a road less travelled. I started off signing to Dumpling as a means to communicate with her when she was really young. It then later evolved where it naturally took on a life of its own where I would read, sign to the books and this later extended to crafts. 


Looking back, I think that I was never meant to be the "sit back and outsource" kinda mum. There is nothing wrong with "outsourcing" but based on my Type A and active personality, I think anyone who knows me, will definitely agree that I can never be a "tai tai". :p


Baby Signing is a beautiful journey as it is simply amazing to be able to communicate with your child before she is able to speak. Tantrums were naturally reduced and frustration was knocked down many notches since Dumpling and I do not have to play any guessing games. Even when she was starting to talk, signing helped greatly as I was able to clarify her requests - "darling, do you mean 'doll' (signing to that) or "duck" (once again signing to emphasize the animal's bill)?" when she sounded the word out as "duh". It allowed me not only to clarify but also to re-emphasize the pronunciation with her.

As Dumpling grew older, we did try out some of the weekend "enrichment" sessions but they were somewhat not what I was looking for. I also wanted to be more involved in Dumpling's learning process and not just take a backseat. I wanted to discover the joy of learning with her and be part of that discovery journey.


So, I cannot stress how important it is for parents to be involved in the learning journey with our children. As one of my mummy friends shared, she was unaware that her child (3+YO)  was not able to recognise some numbers (lesser than 20) though he goes for daily classes in a preschool until she did some home learning activities with him using the Smurf Activity Pack which I created some months back. The school did not point this out and the teachers did not bring it up during the Parent-Teacher Meeting too.

I know that while keen, some parents may be hesitant and unsure about how to home learn with your children. So how does one get started?

Here are some quick tips:

1) Read, read, read

Have some quiet time with your child(ren) daily where you read together. Even if your child is starting to read, you can still continue your read aloud time with him/her and take turns in reading. Do not be too worried with the technicalities of "blending" etc. especially if your child is very young but just use these moments to build up the child's interest and vocabulary.

2) Do age appropriate activities

Depending on how old your child is, you can always extend with crafts or outdoor activities. I often include a field trip with most of our homeschool themes. These activities are not only fun for Dumpling but, I too, learn along the way.

Some sites which I have found to be useful for crafts are as below and many have printable templates too:

http://www.dltk-kids.com/

http://www.artistshelpingchildren.org/

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/

http://familyfun.go.com/crafts/crafts-by-age/

http://www.crayola.com/things-to-do/crafts-landing.aspx

3) Child-led themes

I personally find it easiest to work around a theme and one that Dumpling is keen on. It is much more enjoyable if it is an area which Dumpling shows interest in and in turn, it is easier for me to gather resources - suitable books, printables, google for information, etc.

4) Multi-sensory activities

Where possible, I also try to include physical activities (e.g. field trips / outdoor activities) and food craft. Being a Baby Signing coach, I also have the habit of using short simple catchy songs in the Signing program where it is theme based too.

5) Google for ideas!

We are so "blessed" these days with the Internet where information is literally right at our finger tips. While homeschooling is not very common here, it certainly is not uncommon in the US.

Here's a list of websites that have free printables / downloads which I used to print off when Dumpling was younger before making my own materials:

- http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.com/

Great for tot packs and has fun printables even based on cartoons and also preschool packs

- http://http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

Free printables for titles in the BFIAR and FIAR series

- http://www.lapbooklessons.com/FreeLapbooks.html

Free biblical printables too

- http://www.homeschoolcreations.net/

One of my favourite sites :)

- http://www.2teachingmommies.com/

Free devotional printables + thematic preschool units!

- http://myplayschool.net/

Started by 2 mummies who are passionate about early childhood education, this site also has Math and Chinese printables

To end off, I wanted to add that I also had the priviledge to run some workshops and it always warms my heart to know that a mummy whom I have coached has discovered the joy of home learning / signing and that something which I shared in our sessions has made a difference in their journey. :)  

"It was a great experience to know what is Home Learning about. I have never thought that with one topic, we can have many creative ways to diversify to many areas like we can explore science together by growing some green beans, maths, logical thinking by picture patterns. I would like to commend on your efforts for the engaging activites you have come up with... It really takes time and effort to read more and to plan the fun activities... I have learnt some tips from this homelearning. Really an eye opener for me"

- Feralyn Leong, Mother to a 4YO boy

Kindness begins at... home

Part of my decision to homeschool Dumpling stems from the belief that good habits and values begin from home. That was what we have been focusing from home for a while but it was only from the beginning of the year that I had more of a structure around it. 


For the past month, "Kindness" has been our theme. "Kindness" not only in thoughts but (and by now, she is able to recite with me) in words and actions too. :p

What I'd do is to read some biblical stories and verses with her along with other books and in this case, a DVD which I borrowed from the library.

And like all our themes, we had a field trip! Guess where we headed off to last Sunday?


:) 






:):)








:):):)





:):):):)










hehe... the SPCA!


We had a really good time there. Dumpling asked a lot of questions:
- what is a pet shelter and what does it do
- why and how do people become volunteers
- why were the animals abandoned
- what is a stray (and we used the opportunity to explain to her "domesticated' animals / pets)


It was also the perfect platform for us then to explain the concept of responsibility in addition to "kindness" towards not just people but animals too. 

We pointed out these bio data sheets to Dumpling...

And were captivated by this pair of soulful eyes! Seriously, can you not melt? 

Dumpling's photography skills have improved tremendously. I will update this post with a pic that she took of the place over the next day or two :)

We are also very proud that she has confidence to enter into the Kennel and is not "iffy" about fur and all and is gentle in handling them (of course we were mindful to choose the friendlier few) :)

Then we went into the small animals area and lost our hearts to this kitten: Becca. She has the sweetest temperament and is really good with young children. I carried her for a good 10 mins as Dumpling stroked and played with her

When one friendly paw is not enough. :) (from 2 different cats)

We also took the chance to have a chat with some of the volunteers who were ever so patient with Dumpling's questions about the animals and their voluntary work. The 1.5 hours zoomed by in a flash. 

Dumpling has been asking if we could visit the place again ever since. We did speak about volunteering our time at the SPCA in future too. :) That reminds me - I will have to give them a call to ask about the "starting" age for volunteers. lol

Drive safely for the sake of your loved ones

I am always reminded of how brash and careless some drivers can be. I was heading to work and had to take a photo of this scene unfolding before me as both cars came to a stop at a traffic light. B and K both came into a merging lane. The merging lane must be about 10 - 15m in length before it narrows down to one single lane.

Both drivers refused to give way and the gap between both was getting progressively narrower and narrower (can you see the side mirrors here?) to the point that K was almost knocking into the kerb so clearly, K had no choice but to slow down and B overtook K.  

Was that the end of the story? Nope. K zoomed out right in front of me, overtook B and then immediately wrestled his way into the lane. But halfway in, he changed his mind (I think this is due to the slow moving traffic on the lane) and zoomed right back out. AND then, B decided to perhaps put his turbo charged engine to the test and tailed after K and both zoomed out of sight. Wow, all this in less than 10mins.

What has this got to do with Parenting? Loads.

1) Language
How many of us may have said something totally inappropriate while driving with our child(ren) behind, forgetting that they absorb things like a sponge?

I recalled reading a friend's status shout on my Facebook. He was turning into a lane and a car honked at him. The daughter called the driver a moron. LOL, the child was only 3 at that time.

2) Patience
Oh boy, I am not great with this as well. I did not realise I was sighing and showing signs of frustration when driving at times until Dumpling told me "Mummy, stop sighing". And then I realised that my driving style may indirectly affect how she would react to road conditions when she is older too.

3) Safety
I think in anger, many sometimes overlook the safety of their passengers. Even if we were to be alone in the car, it is good to just take a breath and let it all out because it is not worth it getting killed due to some reckless drivers on the road.

I travel on the highway daily and I still recall a fatal accident some years back. The filter lane (to another highway) was closed as the accident occurred at that spot. As our car drove past the accident scene, we could see the corpse sprawled across the road as the ambulance has yet to arrive. The victim was a middle aged motor cyclist from Malaysia. I felt extremely sad thinking about how this man may have left his home very early to ride into Singapore to work, kissed his family goodbye (who might have been sleeping then) and not having a chance to return to his family. Ever.

So let's be safe and be calm. Let us also get into the habit of strapping on our safety belts. Let's embrace life.

Our conversations - My Gawd!

Since Dumpling started speaking quite a while back, I would update my Facebook status with our little conversations. Many of them are downright hilarious. Here's some that I can recall to share and to document since Facebook now has timeline!

Do you have funny (and extremely exasperating moments like such? lol)


Nov 2010
- (overheard the conversation between hubs and Dumpling)



Dumpling: what's that Daddy? (pointing to a packet of chocolate hubs was holding in his hands)


Hubs: (w/o missing a beat) medicine


Dumpling: Oh Daddy, I am sick!


Hubs: -__-


Jan 2011

Me: Pls stop walking around. Come here & finish your dinner!



Dumpling: I am busy


Me: Can you pls stop?!?


C: I'm busy


Me: ok, what exactly are you busy with?


Dumpling: I am like a bird! Winter!!!! Migration so I fly away! (ran off leaving me with her bowl)


Me: (wanna bang my head)

PS: she is still a fussy eater
PPS: she still has a sassy mouth
PPPS: And to add, I had many people who questioned the effectiveness of baby signing? Well, it certainly did NOT delay her speech!