She play puzzles!

I have put up a couple of puzzles on the shelf for babydoll since she was like 10 month old. But she would just take out the each puzzle piece and strewn them all over the floor.

Recently, i discovered she can do something new!

She has learnt to put the puzzles into its right places by matching the pictures! I would pick out a piece and ask her 'where do we put this?' or i might say 'where is the pig?' (whichever animal piece i am holding). She would find the matching picture (there's a corresponding picture under each loose piece) and promptly put it in its place. Most of the times, she can't quite fit the puzzle into the slot but at times, by some magical luck she can.

This is another puzzle that she loves. Her favourite pieces are the grapes and strawberry! Like the above puzzle, she's able to match the pieces to its place.

YAHOO!

All about babydoll @ 14 months old

Her favourite word: mama, mama mamaAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!! (Yes in that exact manner). She first uttered 'mama' at 10 month old.

Her favourite things are 'ba ba' which can mean 'balloon, ball and birds' all starting with 'B'!

Her other favourite thing is 'ka ka' for shoe.

She loves shoes and would insist i try on shoes for her when we're out shopping at the shoes department :I.

She also says 'na na!' for 'No, no'

She says 'ge ge' (or something like that) for 'kor kor' (big brother)

She understands two-step instructions like 'pick it up and put it back' or 'put it back and close the (drawer, door)'. I am loving this because i get to engage her help at times!

She points to things that attracts her; she can point to her body parts & fruits etc when asked.

She understands when i say 'Mama is going to the toilet', she would drop all that she's doing and start walking & pointing at the bathroom where i'd do my business.

She knows to head toward our reading corner when i say 'read book time!'

Or when i say 'let's go', she would wave and start to head toward the door or to me.

Recently, she seems to tell me after doing her 'big business'. She would look at me and say 'baba' while pulling her diaper.

Awwww, my baby is growing up too fast!

I am also a tad dissapointed that she isn't showing signs of reading (yes, i can see all you people rolling your eyeballs, here let me help pick them up for you).

:D

 But that's because i realised sonshine recognised a list of words at 14 month old. I know, i know, each child is different. I do realised that i have unconsciously put on sonshine's cognitive learning curve on her. Here, i have to remind myself that it would be a different route with her. I have had it too easy with sonshine since he absorbs information very fast & effortlessly.

So my journey with babydoll might be alittle different, ok maybe even difficult. :I

But then again, to be fair to her, i haven't put on the same diligence on teaching & reading with her as i had with the boy. This i blame sonshine's school! I am spending my time ferrying him up & down; it really breaks any momentum.

Anyway, time to buck up mama! :)

Poem

I love poems! I was introduced to poems during my secondary school days and i fell immediately in love with it. I love the rhythm and the rhyme.

So although I was skeptical about making sonshine memorise poems but i decided to give it a try anyway.

The first poem is 'The Caterpillar' by Christina Rosetti

First, i read the poem to sonshine and we talked about the content. Then i made him remember the first two lines of the poem. But to my surprise, he remembered the entire poem effortlessly all in one night.

But that's not the point. The key thing is, both mother & son had such a blast reading & reciting the poem! Sonshine enjoys reciting this poem and insist that i take turn to recite too! We really had alot of fun! Did i tell you we had A LOT of fun? Yes, it was THAT fun. :))

Some of the side activities i did as we read/recite this poem

1) Comprehension: i asked him simple questions like 'What color is the caterpillar?', 'Where is the caterpillar going?' etc

2) Speech & articulation: as he recites i work on his tone, speed of reading and pronunciation. He tends to rush by it. But i dare say he is near to perfection now! I don't know why, but it was such a proud moment having the boy stand in front of us reciting this poem so perfectly. Awww, that's my baby.

Marble Paint!

Pinterest to me is like an encyclopedia of great ideas! This is one of the cool things i picked up from Pinterest.

Place a piece of paper in a tray. You'll need some paints and marbles for this art.

Drop a few paints of varying colors randomly on the paper.

Put the marbles in.

Let the kiddo twirl the tray away!

Our final masterpiece!

It was waaaaaay too fun. Even i had a ball! :P

'First Language Lessons for the well trained mind'

I was looking for a grammar curriculum and decided to adopt 'First Language Lessons for the well trained mind, Level 1' by Jessie Wise. Here are my thoughts.

I would recommend it..NOT.

I was quite shocked by how slow the lesson plans are. Imagine it takes 41, a whopping FORTY-ONE (almost half the book), lessons just to teach about common & proper nouns. I was yawning my way through while reading the lesson plans. I took just 10 minutes to teach sonshine both concepts.

I picked up a locally written grammar book

In this book, it took about a 2-3 pages to explain the same things. This is right up my alley. I don't know. It could be the Singaporean in me that makes me want things to be quick, fast and good! Oh and cheap too! This local book was like $20 cheaper then Jessie Wise's book!

That said, there are some thing i like about the book:

1) I like it's usage of famous paintings for the narration exercises. Take a painting and ask the child questions relating to the picture. It helps in their oral skills and at the same time exposes the child to well-known art works.

2) Although i don't exactly follow the lessons but it did gives me alot of ideas on how i can conduct my lessons.

3) I like the idea of introducing poems to the child but i am undecided about the memorising bit.

Overall, i don't think it is worth to purchase this book. It is way too slow even for the average learner. Although, it is great that each lessons are very short (less than 10 minutes) and it's lessons are very clear & easy for a pre-schooler/kindergartener to understand.

More Spelling

We continued our spelling with words with 'ay' in them (i am starting with words with the long a sound).

The mini booklet i made for sonshine.

It includes words with the 'ay' in them. He has learnt to spell simple words like 'day', 'say' etc and other words like 'pray', 'play' and 'stay'.

I have done away with the moveable alphabet because i realised he really didn't need them to help him spell.

I wanted to speed up our spelling and try to cover as many words as possibe. So since i have the Five in a Row books sitting nicely in my shelf, ive decided to use them for our spelling lessons too.

I made a mini booklet; inside are all the words that can be found in the book.

He has learnt animal words like 'goose', 'goat', 'bear' etc.

Biblical copywork

*spelling error alert*

I only realised after i posted this! Goes to show how bad my spelling is. :P

I am sticking to copywork.

Not so much for creative writing but more for honing sonshine's penmanship. What better 'phrases' to copy than the bible verses? I am hoping that as he copies, the verses stick to his mind and someday, he can readily recall the verses when in need.

First passage i am going to have him copy is Psalms 23. Today, he copied part of the first verse.

On another note, if there is only one thing i want my children to know about the Christian walk, it would be this; that it isn't about who they will become in future, it isn't about their 100% attendance in Sunday services, it isn't about how many hours of prayers they can clock, it isn't about how many souls they can save for Christ and certaintly not about how much money they can give.

It is not about how much they can love and sacrifice for Christ.

But it is about how Christ love and sacrificed for them.

There is nothing they can do to earn that love.

There is nothing they can do to make Christ love them less.

Because the love of God is free, it is unconditional. No, it is not cheap. It came with a price, with Jesus's blood. That is the grace of our God. That despite our evil selves, He still loves us & took our punishment on the cross so that we earn the right to His kingdom. Unfair? Yes, that is the grace of God. That is the essence of the christian walk.

Let no man tell my children otherwise.

I will gnaw at any man who tells my children that their worth in Christ is measured by how much they can offer to Christ.

*Fangs and claws shooting out*.

....Right, now that i have regain my composure...in other news...

If you are seriously thinking about homeschooling your child, i suggest you pick up this book:

But be warned, it is a very thick book because it covers from preschool years to higher grades. It spells out exactly how you can teach your children, with what resources and even how long each lessons should be. But not everything is applicable, pick out only the things that suit you. What i like about this book is that it has a list of homeschooling resources. I've picked up a few curriculum from this book. I say, borrow from the library- not necessary to buy.