Nikitin Material

 

 

I saw Niktitin Block game splashed all over on the Internet quite long ago but i gave no thought to it. I think only parents whose kids attend Shichida school would know about this. But recently, i was looking for some pattern block game & this came to mind. I decided to give it a try despite not knowing what exactly it is about.

 

 

 

This particular set is probably the easiest of the lot. There are 16 cubes in all. Each cube comes in 6 different colored sides; blue, red, yellow, white, half red-white and half blue-yellow. There are 4 levels (if memory didn't fail me) in this series. The first level, being the easiest, requires the player to use 4 cubes to build a 2-D, 2 cubes by 2 cubes model, progressing to 9 (3 by 3) cubes at the second level and 16 cubes (4 by 4) at the third. The last level requires the player to build alphabet letters using the cubes. This is the toughest level because there is no telling what framework to use.

 

 

The first level is relatively 'no sweat'. But it gets a little challenging especially when you need to use those half colored sides and when the number of cubes increases. I got visually confused (if there is such a term) as we tackle the higher levels.

 

But, i love it! I love the visual stimulation and challenge. This game is not meant for kids only, it is also for the young at heart. In fact, i would think its a great game for senior citizens who need some brain challenge.

 

I would say this series is relatively easy for the adults. With a little patience and persistence plus a little trial & error, one would be able to conquer each level. I think its particularly addictive as one clear each level, you just want to do more!

 

For the kids, i think its quite challenging but not impossible. Sonshine was alittle put off at the first play. I had to stack it away, out of sight, out of mind for a few weeks so that he would forget his dislike for it. :P Somehow, at the second try, he got hooked. I learnt that it is important, very important, to let the kids do the easiest first. With some encouragement and guidance, sonshine got the hang of it. Although, whenever he feels that its too difficult, he would lay back and let me do all the work.

 

That said, i don't think it is worth to pay SGD $70 for it. You can easily create this game at home with a little creativity, using lego bricks or colored blocks you have at home. I decided to let the money fly away because i just had no time to DIY.

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.

Montessori vs mass teaching

I've sent the boy to a Montessori school and now a typical school where teaching it's done in a mass. Which one do I think is better? I say the former.

Montessori teaching is very individualized, the kids learn at their own pace and have one on one coaching from the teacher. Actually there's no lessons, they typically work on materials. By observing them, the teachers are able to asses each child's learning level.

In a typical classroom setting, the teacher conducts a lesson using one method for all. There's little one on one coaching, and every child do the same work at the same pace.

I find in the latter setting, it's more difficult for the teacher to know exactly where the child's standing is. When n was in Montessori school, the teachers would report to me his exact standing I.e. He knows how to add, read etc. But in this school, there's no such feedback. He's like any other child in the school who's learning his Phonics and counting. I've not received any report from the teacher about his learning stage. She was even surprised when I told her n could read on his own- she claimed he was just memorizing the books they read in school. In other words, she hasn't discovered where N is on his learning ability. I don't blame her, it's the teaching style that they used. Moreover, it doesn't help that the boy keeps things to himself, he doesn't exhibit his knowledge openly. He needs to be pried openly carefully and slowly. Hee.

I kind of miss the Montessori school and I'm worried that this school is limiting his learning. It's dawning on me more each day that I can no longer teach him as liberally as before. That said, n is happier in this school. He enjoys the other non curriculum stuff like the singing during assembly, the gym etc. But.... But....

At 3.5 years old...

Warning: The following is abit mundane but erm, it's my personal journal to track N's development. I want to be able to look back next year at this time and be able to see how much he has progressed. I did something similar last year here and i am glad i did. I can see how much my baby has grown this year and the things he has forgotten! PAH!

Language:

- has a sizeable bank of vocabulary

- can read a book on his own but still wants mama to read aloud for him

- can read the instructions on a worksheet on his own, understands and excutes it.

- can spell words like bus, egg, flower, plane, bee, coffee (learnt on his own by playing iphone!), frog, no, mama, papa, Singapore, Malaysia, Christmas, his name...and others that i am not keeping track of

- can finally write alphabets 'i', 'j','u','o'

- can decipher the begining and ending sounds of a word

- has learnt collective nouns on animals i.e. a herd of elephant, a mob of kangaroos..

- knows when to use plural words correctly i.e. one bird, two birdS

Chinese

- can read simple mandarin sentences and hence simple books independently

- learnt from school the chinese writing strokes, is able to write out the strokes independently

- cannot converse in mandarin!!!

Maths

- can count up to erm 1000 i think.

- understands the quantitative values of numbers

- recognizes the numbers in words i.e. seventeen, thirty, eighty etc

- understands the concept of greater and lesser, more and less

- can skip count in 2s, 5s, and 10s, and i think 100s & 1000s but may not necessary understand the concept for instance, he may not know that the multiples of 2 are 2 digits apart i.e. 2, 4,6

- can add sums i.e.

• x+10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90 where x= numbers from 1 to 9,
• y+100, where y =1 to 99
• z+1 where z=1 t0 1000 (and maybe more)
• p+10 where p = 10 to 90

- can substract i.e. w-1, where w=1 to 1000

- knows volumeric shapes

- knows the names and number of sides of polygons

Geography

- still recognises world flags and can match them to the countries

- knows the capital cities of China, USA, Italy, Germany, Malaysia and Indonesia

- knows where these landmarks can be found : Dome of the Rock, The Kabah, Statue of Liberty, Great wall of China, Taj Mahal, Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef

- knows which continents some countries belong to i.e Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Mexico...

- can sort animals by continents

Others

- can tell the time by the hour i.e. 9, 10, 12 o'clock

- knows the days of the week (and has been asking us 'where are we going on monday, tuesday....friday?)

- begining to count money (dollar notes)...still working on it and recognise the value of each coin

- knows the terms for animal youngs i.e. kitten is baby of a cat, calf to an elephant...

-understands the concept of before & after, oppossite words

- can recite and remember 4 bible verses 

Speech & Social

Apart from the academics, N has also improved alot in his speech and social skills. It seemed he woke up from his deep slumber after he turned 3 in July. First half the year, he was horribly quiet but now he is noisy and nosey (keeps asking as where we are going, what we are doing and eating). He couldn't pronounce alot of basic words in Jan this year like 'monkey, zebra' and even 'mummy'! But now he can and speaking in sentences. Only weeks ago, he started to properly pronounce the 'n' sound. Previously he would drop the 'n' sound in words like 'no, banna, china' etc. Now he can say these words very clearly.

Socially, he has also grown out of his shell. He is begining to reply to strangers although selectively and softly. He is also begining to enjoy playing with other children when there are no toys to distract him that is.