I know that she still needs to learn her math skills.  So I scoured the Internet for a more child-friendly yet affordable and effective homeschool math program.  Thankfully, I found Life of Fred

Although my 11-year-old daughter has learned about multiplication, division, fractions, and decimals before, I want her to try “unlearning” them first, learn about them again in a more pleasant and effective way.  So after a few weeks of refreshing her memory of the (dreaded) multiplication tables, she recently started on Life of Fred: Fractions.  She’s been working on it independently, doing one to two chapters a day.

I’m happy to know that even though she sometimes finds the questions in the book to be tricky, she eventually figures them out and mostly gets them right too.  And thanks to Fred, she seems to actually be enjoying math now   I think that is the best thing that Fred has given my daughter (and me).  Hopefully, this is only the beginning of a beautiful learning journey.

Life of Fred: Fractions

The chapters are short enough to manage within 15-20 minutes, including answering the 3-5 questions at the end (Your Turn to Play).  Short enough to not be tedious. He also likes checking his own work.

The story is engaging and entertaining for my son and even for myself.  My son loves role-playing and making up stories with his toys so he can appreciate Fred’s interaction with his doll Kingie.

The first 3 chapters talk about simple addition, e.g. 3 + 4 = 7.  My son went through these chapters smoothly.  What made me so happy though was how he really understood the concept and applied it spontaneously, outside of “doing schoolwork.”  When we were out a few days ago and I said, “There’s four of this and four of that.”  He quickly  and excitedly commented, “That’s eight, Mama!”  Talk about a proud and happy Mama

In Chapter 4, at first he couldn’t understand what counting forward by fives meant.  When I drew a number line on a white board and showed him how we skip numbers to count 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, etc., he immediately grasped the concept and was then able to continue skip counting by fives to 100 all by himself   We both had big smiles on our faces after that!

I’m so glad I discovered Life of Fred, thanks to the many homeschooling forums and reviews all over the Internet.  It’s an accessible, affordable and engaging way to learn math.  Looking forward to more chapters, more books and more learning with my son!

Life of Fred: Apples

“Diwali involves the lighting of small clay lamps (diyas or dīpas) in Sanskrit: दीप) filled with oil to signify the triumph of good over evil.^[8] These lamps are kept on during the night and one’s house is cleaned, both done in order to make the goddess Lakshmi feel welcome.^[9] Firecrackers are burst in order to drive away evil spirits.^[10][11][12] During Diwali, all the celebrants wear new clothes and share sweets and snacks with family members and friends.” – Wikipedia

Last year, when we did a unit study on Deepavali, we read about the epic story Ramayana, and learned a bit about Hanuman, the Hindu Monkey God.  In line with this year’s celebration of Deepavali, my kids and I are going through this interesting take on Where’s Wally? –  a book called Where’s Hanuman? written by Alister Taylor and illustrated by Christopher Woods and Ben McClintic. We’ve only gone through the first two scenes, Sita’s Wedding and Rama’s Battle with Parasurama, so far.  My 11-year-old daughter quite easily found Hanuman and the other hidden characters and items.  My 6-year-old son, however, struggled with finding the tiny images amidst the crowded scenes.  So I teamed up with him and we eventually found Hanuman.

Where’s Hanuman? is a fun and easy way for my kids and I to remember and learn more about the epic story Ramayana.  If you enjoy look-and-find books and challenges and want to learn about Hanuman and the Ramayana story, this book is a great find.

Where's Hanuman?

This was the first time the exhibit was presented in Southeast Asia.

Here are photos of some of these well-detailed and well-preserved terracotta figures that were buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor of China.

At the entrance to the exhibit, there was a beautiful installation called Life After Death by Singaporean artist Justin Lee.

It was a fairly small (manageable in 2 hours) exhibit.  A good see if you’re at least 8 years old and are interested in Chinese history and/or ancient Chinese sculpture/art.  It was a shame though that there was a school field trip when we came, so it was too crowded for us.

A nice bonus for the kids was the free trivia “worksheet” that they filled in just by going to 6 stamping stations scattered around the exhibit and having your sheet of bookmarks embossed with different images related to the exhibit   I think that was the part my kids enjoyed most.

There was also a cool free interactive Terracotta Warriors exhibit iPhone app that you can download right there in the museum (using wireless@SG).  Unfortunately for people like me who don’t have the latest iPhone models, the app only works for iPhone 3GS or newer.  So we didn’t get to see the dancing terracotta warriors

After husband got his cheese at Cowgirl Creamery and I got my chocolates from See’s Candy, we headed to indie bookstore Alexander Book Co. Husband saw some good book titles he hasn’t seen anywhere else and I picked up a cool California trivia book for a steal.

Outside the bookstore, we stopped to look at our map, get our bearings and figure out where to go next. While my husband and I were talking, a very nice couple (who I assume were San Francisco locals) approached us to offer their help. They asked if we were looking for a particular place. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where the Cartoon Art Museum was (the man remarked that that probably wasn’t a good sign ). Still, they offered to help us find any other place and even suggested that we might want to visit Chinatown – which is probably a typical tourist must-see. Since we live in Singapore where most places are “Chinatown,” we said we’d rather visit a good local coffee shop. They did recommend Blue Bottle Coffee but we missed it at the Ferry Building and they didn’t know any other nearby location. They advised us to walk along Sutter and Pine Streets and around Chinatown, saying we may find some small cafes there. We bid each other goodbye and went our ways.

Of my many brief but precious memories of San Francisco, that very kind and helpful couple who took time out to stop and offer us help is one of my favorites. People in San Francisco seemed so nice and relaxed. I’m guessing that people fall in love with San Francisco because of the beauty of the place and the warmth of its people. I know I have

We took recipes from various books, websites and product packaging (for La Brioche):
Shortbread cookies and bread - The Baking Book
Candy Bar Pie – Keebler Ready Crust
La Brioche – saf-instant Dry Baker’s Yeast (back of packaging)
Cinnamon Rolls – The Usborne Children’s Book of Baking
Cream Cheese Frosting (for the cinnamon rolls) – simplyrecipes.com
Vanilla Cupcakes (our best output so far, thanks to the simple, easy-to-follow recipe) – cupcake-creations.com

After learning about the various baking tools, how to measure ingredients, how to mix, whisk, knead, etc., my children have been bitten by the baking bug (seeing parts of Junior Masterchef Australia has also added to the spark ).

They want to keep baking, and now my kids know they can bake some really nice tasting and looking cupcakes and breads from scratch (no more baking from a box). Great!

Lapbooks are done But the baking will continue…

 
Whether homeschooling, unschooling or attending school, we are always making choices to fit in or stand out, to go with the flow or to go against it. What matters is if the outcome of our choices brings us closer to our better selves, contributing to a better world.

For my 6-year-old son, it was his first time doing the kids course. My earlier fears were allayed as he enjoyed taking on the course obstacles, even the trapeze walk and the zip line, without flinching or fidgeting. Of course, doing it with a few friends made it more fun Good thing we were able to bring someone along to take his photos, since my husband, daughter and I were doing the adult course at the same time.

For my 11-year-old daughter, my husband and I, it was our first time doing the adult course. My daughter was excited to finally be able to move up after having done the kids course at least twice before. It wasn’t as easy as we initially thought it would be. All those rope ladders to climb and the pulleys and carabiners to keep putting on and taking off throughout the course made my right shoulder and upper arms quite sore the next day. As a group of 3 adults and 4 juniors (children below 18 years old), we had to move slow and steady, always making sure the juniors followed safety procedures.

Some tips before you go on the Forest Adventure adult course:
1. Be well hydrated. It can take 2-2.5 hours to finish, maybe a bit longer if you have several kids in your group. You can’t bring a water bottle with you during the course. If you have a companion who’s not doing the course, ask him to stay nearby with your water (and camera too, if you like).
2. Bring rain gear, just in case. We’ve been caught in the pouring rain once while at Forest Adventure, and it’s a 10-minute walk without cover (except for tree shade) to the nearest car park, road or bus stop. (Forest Adventure will give you a voucher if you can’t finish the course due to rain.)
3. Be ready to get sweaty and sandy. At the end of the zip lines (4 in total for adult course), you land on sand pits. The longer and higher the zip lines, the harder you will land. Also, it gets harder to control your landing. Even if I was trying to maneuver to land on my feet, I would end up crashing on my bum.
4. Although the minimum height requirement for the adults course is 1.4m, some of us who were just a bit taller than 1.4m found it difficult at some points to reach the ropes to attach our pulleys or carabiners. It would be better if you had someone at least 1.6m tall with you on the adult course to help you.
5. Bring your own food/snacks. No cafes, restaurants or kopitiam nearby. Just a vending machine with drinks and some tidbits.

“I am always ready to learn, but I do not always like being taught.” – Winston Churchill

“The founding fathers in their wisdom decided that children were an unnatural strain on their parents. So they provided jails called school, equipped with tortures called education.” – John Updike

“Education is the state-controlled manufactory of echoes.” – Normal Douglas

“School days, I believe, are the unhappiest in the whole span of human existence. They are full of dull, unintelligible tasks, new and unpleasant ordinances, and brutal violations of common sense and common decency.” – H.L. Mencken

“There is too much education altogether, especially in American schools.” – Albert Einstein

“In times of change…learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.” – Erik Hoffer

And my favorites…

“I never let schooling interfere with my education.” – Mark Twain

“You cannot teach a person anything; you can only help him find it within himself.” – Galileo

Last night (March 11),  at the opening night of the Mosaic Music Festival 2011 at the Esplanade, we first went to see Riduan Zalani and Ramu Thiruyanam at the concourse.  Their blend of music was unique, almost experimental.  Aside from playing on their instruments, they also did some improv rhythms using just their voices and their bodies. Quite cool.

Afterwards, we went to the outdoor theatre to see the Singaporean orchestra named Summertimes Big Band (I’m a fan of big band music).  With the evening backdrop of Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore skyline, listening to big band music outdoors was BIG FUN!  I especially enjoyed their performances of I’ve Got You Under My Skin and It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing (with vocalist Kelvin Kong), Big Spender and Lady is a Tramp (with vocalist Annie Wilson), and My Favorite Things.  The humorous rapport between conductor Dale Cheong and vocalist Kelvin Kong just added more fun to their already fun-filled and fabulous big band music.  I’m already looking forward to seeing Summertimes Big Band again in the future.

Even though we only went to see 2 free performances, opening night of the festival seemed very promising.  There were many people in the Esplanade last night, no doubt enjoying the free and paid performances.  Here’s to more good fun and great music at the Mosaic Music Festival 2011, March 11-20 at the Esplanade.