The day in the life of a mum!

My son Adam has lately got into this habit of sticking out his tongue at people whom he feels has done him any wrongs. Most of the time the victims are his dad, mum, older sister and older brother. He doesn't do an outright sticking out tongue act but it is done in a very sly way - just a bit of tongue sticking out at the corner of his mouth - his way of rebelling. He knows he gets into big trouble with us for doing that and he has stood in many a corners just for that act of rebellion.

Anyway, he did it again to me yesterday. Can't remember what the matter of contention was but I saw it...a tiny pink tongue sticking out!

I asked him, are you sticking out your tongue at me? ( stupid question by the way, haven't I learn after three kids?)

Guess what he said, and said in a indignant way mind you....I am NOT sticking out my tongue at you, I am WETTING MY LIPS!

Don't think he got away with that answer but in hindsight, I must say he came up with a pretty reasonable excuse in a very short time!

Cities! Lesson 14, 15 and 16

Hi all, I won't be writing a detailed lesson plan from now till the end of semester which is three lessons away. This is because we will be reviewing and reinforcing old activities, the ones that I feel the kids may not have fully grasped.

All in all, it has been a very good semester and all the kids have done really well. The new kids in class have adjusted very well. The older ones are steady and some ready to move on to the next level.

Thank you again for all your support.

As you know, we are moving to our new location so Feb 1st will be the first day in the new place. Don't forget!

See you all in class!

Proud Mummy Moment!

Today is the 2nd day home with a sick child. Thank God he seems to be on the mend. Temperature is no longer 39 - 40 degrees, which was worrying. Spoke to the doctor this morning and she said, if the temperature doesn't go down by today ( he has had high fever since Friday evening), then he has to be hospitalized! Praying that the temperature stays down today. So far it has been OK.

Anyway, the proud mummy moment. We were watching Tarzan on TV. Well, he was watching, I was reading the Kite Runner ( the second time!) Adam was telling me that Tarzan was caught in a net by some bad guys.

I thought, aha....a teaching moment. I asked him, how do you know they are bad guys? You know what he said....I know they are bad guys because they did something bad to Tarzan. Then he said, you won't know a bad guy by looking at their faces, because the bad things are hidden in their hearts! ( that's my proud mummy moment)

Being a boy and the topic of bad guys and good guys are often raised in our house, I'm glad that he finally understood what I have been trying to teach him all this while. Appearance of a person doesn't show who you really are, its the intentions of the heart.

So, I'm happy today ;-)

Are you for real?

My son Adam who is turning 5 in April this year is down with a very bad throat infection, coupled with high fever. Naturally, he has to take medicine to control the fever. Being sick and cranky, he is not the most cooperative patient at the moment. The mere mention of medicine will cause him to collapsed in a pool of tears and whinyness ( I know, no such word but you know what I mean!)

Anyway, last Saturday at 3am, he was burning up so I woke him up to give him paracetemol. He started wailing and protesting. Then he asked me a very strange question. Can I scratched your chin?

Huh? Scratched my chin? Well OK....if that makes you happy.

So he reached out and gave my chin a tickle and then said....OK, you are for real! You are not a mean person in disguise!

Then only it occurred to me what he was doing. He thought I was wearing a mask and was checking by scratching my chin to see whether there is indeed a mask!

Either I looked so frightening in the middle of the night or I was being so 'mean' to him that caused a overactive imaginative burning up boy to think that the lady lying next to him in his bedroom is a mean witch pretending to be his mummy!

Cities! Lesson 13

Hi all, hope you had a good week. We are already at Lesson 13. As I mentioned in class, I will be contacting some of you soon to discuss about your child's graduation to the next level. The last few lessons of this semester, I will be doing mostly review activities. This is a way to reinforce the musical concepts, and at the same time provide me the opportunity to observe how your child has progress this term.

Lesson 13, I will be concentrating of Rhythm. We will go through the songs that have of different rhythm pattern and playing steady beat with with bilateral and alternate movements using the resonator bars.

The songs we will be using are I got a letter this morning, Sorida, Down Our Street ( book), Walk to the Cobbler Shop, Hippity Hop to the Barber Shop, Down to the Baker's Shop and Sing your way Home.


You know, initially I thought this semester's lessons will be a difficult for the children to grasp, the concept of city life, and jobs....I was a bit concerned the younger ones will have difficulty understanding. But, we overcame the hurdle! I can see all the kids participating and understanding and most importantly, learning and having fun. So again, I am mighty proud of your children!

Thank you mums and dads for being so supportive. I truly appreciate it.

I see you all in class. Ciao....

Cities! Lesson 12

Hi folks, hope you had a good week. My kids went back to school this week, all three of them so it's peace and quiet in the house....alas! well, at least in the morning before Adam finishes kindy at noon. Most of you would have read the newsletter, about the music school moving to a new location. Most people naturally don't like changes but there are some changes that are for good and I believe this change of location is a good one. It is a more conducive and cosy environment. I know some parents will miss the convenience of shopping in the mall but look at it this way....we are helping you save money! :-) Seriously, when you come and have a look at the new place, I think you will give it a thumbs up!

I hope you have been reading the lesson plans that I faithfully prepare and write down each week. Actually looking at my site meter, there are people all over the world reading this blog and I know some of the Kindermusik sites have also linked this blog to theirs. It's really nice to know that people who are like minded are benefitting from this.

The kids had great fun writing and mailing their real letters last week. Hope that the letters have arrived in your post box this week and the kids get a thrill receiving their own letters. Do let me know!

Back to the lesson plan this week. It's already Lesson 12! I know I keep on saying this but time really do zoom pass so quickly.

We will introduce a new book today, Down Our Street. In this book, the kids will be introduced to people who lives in the city and the different jobs they have. The focus of this activity is musical ( as they learn the rhythmic phrases) and dramatic ( with hand movements) enactment as we go through the book. I quote:

Musical and dramatic enactment of a story is one way to expand children's creative experiences by bringing together elements of guided imagery, music and movement, and the visual arts. Creative enactment is an important process for developing self-awareness and self-expression. Through it you and your children can expand the imagination, develop skills in body movement, gesture, and practice verbal and nonverbal communication.

- The Creative Arts: A Process Approach for Teachers and Children, 2nd Ed, by Linda Carol Edwards

We are going visiting to three different shops this week; the cobbler, the baker and the barber. As we stop at each shop, we will be learning about what they do and learning the rhythm of the rap, the roll and the snip! Each of these song: Walk to the Cobbler's Shop, Down to the Baker's Shop, and Hippity Hop to the Barber Shop - are new to the kids so we will be taking our time to sing and understand what we are singing.

Last week I introduced the concept of accelerando ( going faster) to the kids as we Pass the Shoe to each other as we sit in a circle. We will repeat this activity again this week to reinforce the concept.

For parent sharing time, we will be dancing to a American fiddler tune called All Around the Town. Let me share with you about this song:

All Around the Town is an American fiddler tune. American square dance tunes, as played by fiddlers who have learned them by ear, have a distinctive type of rhythm. They differ from the jigs, reels and hornpipes of other countries. Most of the American tunes have a definite ending and repeat. The same class of dance tunes in other countries, especially Scotland and Ireland, play round and round ad libitum, or to the end of the dance.

- Traditional Music Of America by Ira W.Ford

Righty ho....I'll see you in class. Bye....

Cities! Lesson 11

Hello, hello, hello.....today is the 1st day of the year 2008. May this new year bring good health and much joy to all of you. Hope you all had a good holiday over Christmas and New Year. We as a family had a good time eating, catching up with old friends ( from all over the world!), and more eating coz the Christmas and New Year parties continue till this weekend! My kids don't start school till next Monday so we are all still in zombie mode in the Shiew household.

But full speed ahead for our music lessons. All classes are resumed and hope attendance of students will picked up too.

We have been practicing playing our resonator bars with one hands, alternate hands and both hands ( bilateral). This week we are going to review again the progress of each child as we sing and play our hello song while we play the bars with both hands in a steady beat. A bilateral movement is simultaneous movement of corresponding body parts, such as two hands or two feet.

We introduced the song Roll that Ball last week. This week, after becoming acquainted to the rhythm of the song, we will use our bodies and then later drums to move and to tap to the first beat of the verse. Learning all the different rhythms of the different songs from Cities these past few weeks develop awareness of the children to the varied rhythm patterns in songs. We will continue to do this right up to the last lesson.

The new song this week is I got a letter this Morning. Musically, this song is sung in a minor key which is not too common in children's music so it's good to expose them and also to encourage them to sing. We will also be learning about the postman and what he does in context with occupation of people in the city. It's going to be fun as the kids will get to mail their own 'letters'!

We will continue learning about jobs people do when we introduce Mr Cobbler to the kids, and learn the rhythm of how he raps his hammer when he mends shoes for little feet! And talking about mending shoe, we are going to have a Pass the Shoe singing game while we learn the concept of accelerando ( becoming faster)

Lastly, we will be taking a walk, run, tiptoe and maybe even flying around the city ( Here we come a walking) as we spot what other jobs that people do in the city. Children inherently love to move about and we use this to our advantage as we instruments to represent 'walking', 'running' and 'flying'. So we are using our eyes, our ears and our bodies ( integrated learning) when we participate in this activity.

Parent sharing time: I have put off this activity Mirror Dancing till later in the semester as I am concern it might be too difficult for the kids. This activity, as the title suggests, involves mirroring. The kids ( with your help) are going to be my mirror image. This activity encourages the kids to imitate and be aware of their bodies, and also to exhibit self control as we move in response to the music. Let's give this activity a go this week and fingers crossed!

See you all in class....