Toys Lesson 13

Hi folks, another eventful week for me. Amanda ( my eldest, 15 plus ) participated in the 30 hour famine organized by World Vision last weekend. She had to fast from 12 pm on the Saturday to 6pm on Sunday. She did it! I am mighty proud of her. The event was at Stadium Putra, Bukit Jalil. They had to spend a night there. When I collected her on Sunday evening, there was thousands of people, mostly youth in the stadium. My heart was touched....there is still hope for Malaysia. These youths are the future of Malaysia and for them to have such compassion for the poor and under privileged....there is still Hope for our country. Alex ( my second, 12 plus) can't wait to do it next year. I forbid him to do it this year because I was being over protective mummy! You see, he is 12 plus and only weighs less than 35 kilos....he looks like he is a underprivileged kid with not enough food to eat....how to fast for so long? So I told him next year......with the condition that he puts on weight! My daughter sms me while she was there. She said "mum, you wouldn't be able to do this because you will succumb to your chocolate cravings!" Mmm....she knows me well :-)

Anyway, let's not get distracted by food here. Lesson 13 of Toys. Unbelievable that time passes so quickly. Now I have spoken to some mums last week about your kids graduating from Imagine That level and moving on to the next. For some of you who have any questions, please feel free to write to me, call or speak to me after class.

This lesson will be the last in our train series so most songs will be ones that we have done before though the mode of learning will be different.

Choo Choo Train, the kids really had fun with this activity. If we have time, we will do it again during parent sharing time. This activity calls for using various 'train' instruments to represent the different sounds of the train - the tracks, the whistle, the bell. I quote from the Teacher's guide, this activity involves integration of several learned skills such as:

- sense of timing, sequencing and anticipation.
- interactions structured within a social setting.
- actions and motions that are desribed through language.

Down by the Station, again this activity emphasize the different types of voices of the station master. The children learn that our voice box can project different types of voices. Awareness of different types of voices helps develop language and speech in children.

Choo Choo Choo, where are we going today? This song develops rhythm awareness as we pat on the choo choo choos while we explore different places and what we can do there. We used a map the last time we did this activity. This time we will use flashcards of different places.

Standing On the Platform - will be using the drum to pat to steady beat, and then change to walking, running, tip toeing on the platform. Apart from different ways of beating the drum, we will also get suggestions from kids on what to pack. The last time we did this activity, I gave them the ideas, this time around it is their turn!

The new activity this week is Riding the Rails, a song that reviews fast and slow movement concepts. Children demonstrate their understanding of the music concepts of fast and slow as they coordinate their movements in response to this fast and slow piece of music.

Lastly, we are going to have FUN with Train is A-Comin' during parent sharing time. Be prepared to move and groove! C'ya all in class!