Have been searching for a Chinese enrichment for Seth for a while but him being #3, there are many considerations i.e. logistic clash with his bro and sis. I would have happily settled Seth to Berries if not for the fact that there is no vacancy.

By chance, I found that Julia Gabriel has consolidated their Chinese Division and opened ChengZhu Mandarin Centre at Rochester Mall. Both Shan and Sky had attended edudrama class at Julia Gabriel during their pre-schoolers days and even to-date, they still fondly remember their enjoyable time there. I had considered enrolling Seth to Julia Gabriel but there's no perfect timing for us to commit. Not to mention that Shan and Sky still lack of confident to converse in Mandarin, I thought I better give Seth a headstart in Chinese rather than any other type of enrichment.

Two Saturdays ago, Seth had a trial Mandarin enrichment @ Bibinogs located at Serene Centre. I was enticed by the fact that Bibinogs incorporated Hanyu Pinyin in their Mandarin class as young as 1yo.

It was a 1.5hr session and we were slightly late but the kids were still doing free play. The free play lasted for about 15-20mins before the proper lesson start. The lesson started with intro and Seth was able to pronounce his Chinese name (with some prompting from me of cos!) and pasted his name against his preferred car. They went on to do a few rhymes and story time before proceeding to the table to do some art & craft.

Seth had been attending Shichida for a year already and he has been enjoying it to the bits. Along the learning journey, he acquired ESP, image training, linking memory skills and many more. He had come far from when he first started (when he was about 15mths) and he was then not able to sit still while teacher was doing flash card. After Term 1, he was able to sit still throughout the flashcard session. Term 3 onwards, he was able to remember and recognize some of the linking memory cards until at Term 4, he was mostly correct. I'm so proud of him!! There's one thing that remained unchanged though. From day 1, Seth simply do not want to sit by himself. So, he had been siting on my or Daddy's lap while attending lesson.

It was actually very sad to end his Shichida class and Teacher Marge too can't bear to see him go. However, Shichida's schedule kinda conflicts with Sky and Shan's schedule and their holidays break are always outside of the school's holidays. Hence, we decided that a year was good enough. Mummy would have to be more hardworking to flash to Seth and do some linking memory stuff at home then. Cross fingers!

Seth's two other classmates were absent that day :(  Seth with Jerraine and Katie

For the longest time, i had wanted to let the kids try out the ACT 3 drama workshops and never get to do it as they were in CC. So, during the 1-week March Holiday, I signed Shan up for the workshop. I was on leave for the whole week and enjoyed my "me time" at borders while Shan was having her class. At the end of the week, the kids presented on stage on what they have learnt throughout the week (the theme was Aesop's Fables). They were also given a certificate.





She enjoyed the workshop very much and asked me to sign her up for the holiday workshop.

Kindergolf opened a branch beside Jitterbugs. Since there's a promotion, brought Sky for a trial lesson to see what the lesson consist of. Too bad, no photos allowed. Sky was the only student with jie jie (waiting for her ballet lesson to start). He listened to instruction well. The lesson includes some theory lessons on Golf and Golf ettquette. Besides that, he did putting and chipping. An interesting one-time experience.

Don't like the idea of Shan cruising through December doing nothing. Thus, we signed her up for a 5 days Chinese holiday programe which started today. Looks like she enjoyed it! Was sharing with me about the toy shop she visited today and the things she ate. Hope she enjoyed the week ahead!

Sky's edudrama class had a "carnival" day on the last day of the term last Sunday. They had face painting & "visited" another class who performed a small drama. Likewise, they did a bubble gum act. To celebrate early X'mas, they had "Santa Claus" walking around the centre.

Sky requested for a tiger during the face painting session and da-dah...here's one


In the midst of the "bubble gum" act

Considering the fact that she may be bringing virus from CC to home and affecting Sky's health, we had been wondering if it would be a better idea to put Shannon in a playgroup instead. Today, we brought Shannon to a trial playgroup at BJG. This playgroup uses flash card techniques (glenn doman philosophy), science experiment and coupled with daily gym activities.

I have heard of GD program but felt that it's sheer memorizing and does not edify to the well-being of the child's mind. Boy, what amazed me was when the teacher flashed the "wonders of the world", "Presidents of US" and Maths Dots card to the kids at lightning speed.. Most of them (including Shannon) could identify the correct card when they were questioned individually. I'm really amazed! Shannon could actually identify "Leaning Tower of Pisa" and Jimmy Carter (I don't even knowthe existence of this guy!). Out of so many dots in the card, Shannon could point the correct card when asked which is "7".

Due to distance, we are still considering whether to place Shannon there. But what's going on my mind is should i really invest in this GD prog?? As a working mum, I definitely can't find time to flash card for the kids 3x/day (in order to make this GD works). I wasn't interested with flashing card to the kids but looking at the result rubs some excitement in me. On the other hand, i don't want to be a KS mum and add stress to the kids' childhood. Hmmm, i'm still pondering..

Today is the last lesson of Term 1 for Shannon's JG class. Jenita (the teacher) observed that Shannon has settled well into the class routine and joined in the activities well. However, there's still some holding back since it's a new environment to her. Well, looks like she does enjoy her class and decided to go for another term.

Today's on jungle theme and Shannon emerged as a pink cheetah after a face painting session :)