學之園(海逸校)06K1

LydiaWong

ljsze,
Actually the art class from 5-6 is not a very good time for Preston too. We need to make him sleep earlier which may not be possible sometimes. I just give it a try and see if it's OK. Usually he sleeps till 5:30 or even 6:00pm. Anyway, see you on Friday. Will you come? I'm off on Friday (coz Preston has an eye appointment) and hope to see you there.
For the ratings, he got mostly '1' and some '2'. It's better than I expect and now I can see being a 'big' boy (born on Jan) is an advantage.

ljsze

Lydia

Does Preston sleep late in the afternoon ?  If he sleeps till 5:30 or 6pm, when does he sleep at night ?  My son usually wakes up b4 5pm during weekday.

So, if you confirm to take the class in Art Palace, will you opt for other timing ?

Basically, I will try to take him for lesson every week.  I do want to give the impression to my in-laws that I want to take over his education & development (bear in mind that I live with them).  And, I don't want them to be tired taking him around.  Fortunately, my working hour is flexible & allows me to leave earlier.

So, see you this friday.

LydiaWong

ljsze,
Preston usually sleeps at ~3:00 but sometimes he doesn't want to sleep and plays until 3:30 or even later(my maid can't push him to sleep), then he'll wake up late. That's why I'm a bit worry about the time of the class. I asks them if there is another time, preferable Sat am. She said she want to group kids with same age and Sat class are for K2 and up. Anyway, since we live very close, I hope it's OK for him, just once a week, hope it's not a problem.

Doris,
Are you interested? We can try to ask for a discount if we apply together. Hin Man will go for trial lesson too. How's Brian, is he getting used to school now? Does he like the new teachers?

ljsze

Lydia

I discovered two art school nearer to my home.  Yet, they seem to be quite okay but course content not as good (according to info posted in their websites).  I'll pay a visit there tmr before going for art lesson.  Hopefully, I can make final decision tomorrow or early next week.

My son suddenly told me that Maggie was naughty & said she cried.  Of course, he could not tell why Maggie was naughty & why she cried.

And, last night when I asked Davin what the other classmates brought to school & showed to the friends, he could tell me some.  It was good.

ljsze

are you all busy ?

LydiaWong

Hi, guys,
The kids have a lot more worksheets than last year. I have a problem whether I should keep all the worksheets and drawings. Although I do keep all his artwork since he attended playgroups and nursery, there are more and more and space is a problem.

ljsze

Lydia

I would say we keep it till he goes to primary school.  These worksheet can help us to reinforce his learning.

I've been searching some other classes these days.  I will get my son try Kids Gallery in Kln Tong next month for art lesson.  It's closer to my home.  Nonethless, I like Art Palace as you can see what they are doing.  This is quite a unique advantage.

When I look at Preston & his friend the other day at Art Palace, my son really looks like a smaller kid.  Ha !

DorisTSL

ljsze, Lydia,

I plan to let Brian join one interest class in Sats.  Gym is my preference.  For weekdays, I will be busy in the coming months that I can't guarantee that I can be on time in bringing him to the class.  Will consider later.

As for Brian's worksheets.  I just kept them in a box file.  I think I will keep them until Brian goes to primary school.

Lydia,

Brian improved a lot in a few days after the school started.  Ms. Cheng is very kind that she called me everyday in the first week to talk about Brian's performance.  Brian likes Ms. Cheng and Ms. Yvonne very much and I guess this is the reason for his quick adaptation in this year.

ljsze,

How's your preparation of flash cards going?  For me, instead of writing on paper, I choose to use PowerPoint program in computer.  Every time, I would teach Brian two new characters.  I would then mix the new characters with any 13 characters that Brian has learnt before and ask him to read each one out loud.  I will do this twice a week.

So far, he can recognize about 100 Chinese characters and I plan to let him start with English words soon.

LydiaWong

Doris,
So glad to hear that Brian is improving and I think the teachers are really nice and make them love school. Gym is a good choice for Brian to build up his confidence and be more active (I think boys are OK to be more active). I saw on TV 'Child of our time' that physcially active child are half born with and half from the environment. If we provide the environemnt and opportunity for them, they can be physically active and their health is better. Preston can swing on the monkey bar after 2 lessons and can do a forward roll (打筋斗) in the 5th lesson. It's so happy to see him doing the skills.
Brian can recognise a lot of Chinese characters. Preston can recognise about 1/2 as Brian and some words needs to learn a lot of times. Not like English he can read a simple book by himself, like the books from school (the 5 books), he can read by himself. I need to practice Chinese more with him.

ljsze,
Davine looks like his age, it's only Hin Man (the other kid) looks more mature than his age (born in Mar, younger than Preston). He's tall and strong and also talks like an adult.

ljsze

Doris, Lydia

So good that your kids can recognize quite many Chinese characters.  I haven't quite started education of word recognition so Davin has to pick up.

I've just finished making flash card & hopefully will start the first lesson tonight.

Lydia, you said that Preston could read those books by himself.  Do you mean he could recognize those words ?

Initially, I haven't considered seriously about the gym lesson.  Yet, after your comment, I think I have to reconsider.

DorisTSL

Lydia,

It's good to know that Preston can do a forward roll that soon.  Brian's motor skill is pretty weak.  I found that he does not have strong legs.  Everytime when he was playing in the playground, he had difficulty in the climbing motion.  Hope he can improve by having some Gym practice.

ljsze,

Did you also prepare the flash cards for the characters Davin learnt last year in PNA?  You may consider starting with those characters and add one or two new characters at a time.  You may need to teach the same new characters for a few days before he can really recognize them.

It's good to know that Davin can share with you about what happened in school.  I asked Brian about the sharing session held last Wednesday.  He could only tell me that Davin introduced his red car but he forgot about the others.  I guess he has a strong affinity for cars so he could remember that.  Ha!

LydiaWong

Doris,
So which gym have you chosen for Brian? The one Preston join is pretty good. They have a theme every class, e.g. safety (how to play safe), dinosaurs....So the kids can learn something each class too. And the teachers all speak English. Anyway, hope Brian can get stronger and stronger.

ljsze,
Preston can read the words by himself, like 'The busy ants' book, he can read 'It's a cake, it's an apple..." or ' What can you do' book, he can read 'I can jump, I can blow..." He recognises the words he knows. He's very keen in reading books, mostly English ( I hope Chinese as well, but oh well), even books with lots of words, he wants to read those words he recognise and keeps asking where the words are in the book. I hope he can keep up this good reading habit.

ljsze

Doris

Physical exercise is good for all people.  You don't need to worry too much.  When Brian grows up, I'm sure he'll be better.

Davin likes 'show & tell' session & keen on showing his stuff to classmates.  He's also interested in what the others got.  So, he could tell me much more.

You're right.  I made flash cards of character that he learnt last year & next year & have also prepared some others.  Last night, he was not quite interested (except 'bus').  I hope he'd like it & learnt something later.  You know sometimes you can't really push.

Lydia

Good to hear that Preston likes reading book & word.

This morning, we arrived at school at about 8:50am & only a few kids were in the classroom.  Preston took Davin's picture for Davin to stick on the board.  He was good boy.  Davin cried when Maggie drew on the paper that he was drawing & Edwin took a tissue for Davin.  So sweet of Preston & Edwin.

DorisTSL

Lydia,

I have chosen My Gym finally.  I have to work on some Saturday mornings in the coming months.  The time slot offered by My Gym on Sats is more suitable.  To be frank, Little Gym is more spacious.  Will consider it again when I am free on Sats.

I am surprised to know that Preston can read books by himself.  Well done!

ljsze,

Brian also showed little interest on the chinese characters I prepared at the beginning.  But once he could recognize the first few characters, he got the sense of satisfaction and he didn't refuse anymore.

It's true that we cannot force kids to learn.  I once tried to let Brian learn more characters at a time.  He felt unhappy and he would then lose interest in it.

ljsze

Doris

As long as the kid can benefit from the gym lesson, I guess it doesn't really matter where you go.  Under certain constraints, we have fewer choices which is normal.

DorisTSL

ljsze,

I started to let Brian recognize two English words last night.  It seems that he was less interested in English words than Chinese characters.  Will try on the same words for a few more days.  

Lydia and ljsze,

Do you often speak to your kid using English?  We used to communicate with Brian using Cantonese at home and we seldom speak English.  Brian is quite weak in English.  I guess I have to pay some effort on it.  Do you mind sharing some your experience?

ljsze

Doris

The only way to improve any skill is to practice.  So, I think he is to get more exposure when speaking English is the only way to communicate.  Maybe you talk to him more in English.  Or, you send him to some interests or learning class with native English speaking teacher.

Some parents have their kids learning language other than Chinese & English.  Well, they may have more to say in the profile.  Yet, they can't really master the language because they are only exposure to a third/fourth language during lesson (for most of the situation).

Do you see my point ?

Lydia

Do you mind sharing how to get your son interested in learning Chinese characters & English words ?

LydiaWong

Doris,
Since Preston is born, I speak to him in both English and Cantonese. I"ll say something in Cantonese and then repeat in English at the same time. So he'll learn both languages at the same time (my friend told me this method). Also, I've bought the Disney English set for him. So far Preston's mother tongue is both English and Cantonese. He can change channels without problem. He talks to us in Cantonese and then talks to my maid in English right away. But now I mainly speak Cantonese coz when he's started to speak, his Cantonese accent was so strange, like Westerners speak Cantonese. Anyway, just talk to Brian more in English and kids pick up very fast.

ljsze

Lydia

You did bought Disney English set for him ? So, you've invested a lot.  I just 'borrowed' the set of discs.  They can help but I do think practice is the most important factor.

LydiaWong

ljsze,
I did invest quite a bit. I thought of it for over half a year before I decided to buy it when he was 3 months old. Coz he just stays home with the maid learning nothing, I'd give him something more formal and proper for the maid to teach and play with him. There are more than CDs, there are DVDs (he started watching since 8 months old and still watching now, of course less frequent), posters, game cards and lots of toys( so can buy fewer toys). Also, there are some shows that we joined and so far I think it's worth it. Of course I agree with you that practice is very important and Preston needs to speak English every day with the maid. That's why I hire my maid with better English standard.