My friend forwarded me this interesting article...definitely has some points in regard to cultural differences, though some are on the extreme side. ThoughI think some of the beliefs are partly due to the economic state of China and being an immigrant in another country, i.e. survival of the fittest.
It explains sometimes why I have a hard time over riding my own cultural background while living in the States and reading about schools like Sudbury Valley or some of the other alternative schools. I still believe there needs to be a balance in everything though balance can certainly be elusive at times.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Finally!
After 1 year and 2 month, J's 6th tooth finally came off. Yeah! Her adult tooth has been waiting patiently for a long time for it to move out of the way. Glad our dentist choose not to pull it off.
Over the Christmas season, W's 2 front tooth fell off within days of each other.
Over the Christmas season, W's 2 front tooth fell off within days of each other.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Lego bug
I brought W a big set of Lego, over 1,600 pieces. Both kids have caught the Lego bug and have been building and creating and playing. Sometimes, they try to replicate a design in the brochure, but most of the time, they make their own creations. Then they play and build some more.
We keep the creations and their Lego world on our coffee table. It's a joy to watch them and sometime I join them. :) But house duties calls. I wish I had a house cleaning and organizing fairy to help me.
We keep the creations and their Lego world on our coffee table. It's a joy to watch them and sometime I join them. :) But house duties calls. I wish I had a house cleaning and organizing fairy to help me.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Changes
After reading "Free at Last" by Daniel Greenberg, a book about Sudbury Valley school in MA, I'm making some radical changes to our homeschooling.
I'm letting the kiddos take their own responsibility for their own learning. We have had a talk about what it means and they are off!
It's a little too early to tell how long this will lasts, but so far it's going pretty well. They actually pace themselves pretty well. The first day, W clean up his room in the morning. Mostly he vacuumed. I also noticed both kids make their own beds every morning even though the rest of the room esp. their clothes could still use some organizing instead of piling on their bed.
J, out of her own initiative still wants to do her math when she have time while W plays, draws, and reads. Even though W dropped his math worksheets, he made improvements in telling time. And he frequently wants to add the money (bills and coins) in my wallet. They also still out of their own initiative, practice their instruments, and their dance. They haven't watched any TV but did want to play some computer games. Even that was very telling. I tried to encourage W to just explore the different buttons on computer assuring him nothing disastrous will happen if he presses some wrong button.
They also determine when they want to eat and make their own breakfast and lunch. If they need help, they ask. W made coffee for me all by himself this morning. When he took a little long, I was a little anxious and almost asked J to go down and see if he needs some help but he showed up a little later all smiles upstairs with my coffee.
J had an idea about Chinese today. She said we can speak English during the day, then from 4:00-4:30 learn Chinese and then speak Chinese for the rest of the night. We'll certainly give that a try.
I'm going to just take one day at a time and enjoy the ride and see where this leads us.
I'm letting the kiddos take their own responsibility for their own learning. We have had a talk about what it means and they are off!
It's a little too early to tell how long this will lasts, but so far it's going pretty well. They actually pace themselves pretty well. The first day, W clean up his room in the morning. Mostly he vacuumed. I also noticed both kids make their own beds every morning even though the rest of the room esp. their clothes could still use some organizing instead of piling on their bed.
J, out of her own initiative still wants to do her math when she have time while W plays, draws, and reads. Even though W dropped his math worksheets, he made improvements in telling time. And he frequently wants to add the money (bills and coins) in my wallet. They also still out of their own initiative, practice their instruments, and their dance. They haven't watched any TV but did want to play some computer games. Even that was very telling. I tried to encourage W to just explore the different buttons on computer assuring him nothing disastrous will happen if he presses some wrong button.
They also determine when they want to eat and make their own breakfast and lunch. If they need help, they ask. W made coffee for me all by himself this morning. When he took a little long, I was a little anxious and almost asked J to go down and see if he needs some help but he showed up a little later all smiles upstairs with my coffee.
J had an idea about Chinese today. She said we can speak English during the day, then from 4:00-4:30 learn Chinese and then speak Chinese for the rest of the night. We'll certainly give that a try.
I'm going to just take one day at a time and enjoy the ride and see where this leads us.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Future career choices
I'm always interested in what children want to be when they grow up, so I ask J and W that question last night.
J (8) previously wanted to be a (kindergarten) teacher, now she is changing her list to midwife, actor, dancer and daycare provider. She was a little shy in telling me her choices, but actor is the one that surprised me. I think after seeing a 10, maybe 12 year old play Annie, she feels she would like to do that too. This morning, she also added, "explorer". What kind? I asked, "of the world", she said with a smile.
W(6, almost 7) still sticks to his gun with (computer) Engineer (adding an if clause: if he can do those really hard math problems correctly) or Artist (now narrowing to comic strip artist).
J (8) previously wanted to be a (kindergarten) teacher, now she is changing her list to midwife, actor, dancer and daycare provider. She was a little shy in telling me her choices, but actor is the one that surprised me. I think after seeing a 10, maybe 12 year old play Annie, she feels she would like to do that too. This morning, she also added, "explorer". What kind? I asked, "of the world", she said with a smile.
W(6, almost 7) still sticks to his gun with (computer) Engineer (adding an if clause: if he can do those really hard math problems correctly) or Artist (now narrowing to comic strip artist).
Saturday, January 1, 2011
A boy named Alexander
We found out few days before Christmas that we are having a boy. Even though that is not a total surprise, since when I asked the baby, he told me he is a boy. But it still feels surreal that it was true. Now when I asked, Alex told me more details so we'll see if it comes true.
We even have his Chinese name picked out and it will be Kai-Xiang, similar to his brother Kai-Xuan.
Alex has been getting lots of kiss from brother W while sister J has been teaching him though my tummy. I mostly listen to some bedtime lullaby in hopes that he'll sleep longer times than his brother and sister who woke up every 2 hours and wore mommy and daddy out very fast.
We even have his Chinese name picked out and it will be Kai-Xiang, similar to his brother Kai-Xuan.
Alex has been getting lots of kiss from brother W while sister J has been teaching him though my tummy. I mostly listen to some bedtime lullaby in hopes that he'll sleep longer times than his brother and sister who woke up every 2 hours and wore mommy and daddy out very fast.
Happy New Year
J and W had a fabulous New Year Eve. They went to three separate events on New Year Eve, ringed in the New Year 3 separate times and had lots of fun. They stayed up past 1 o'clock playing with their friends until the adults were ready for bed. I have been pretty tired out even though I'm in my second trimester. So even though camera was in my bag, I completely forgot or didn't care enough to take any. This morning, they both got up at 10am while their friends were still snoozing soundly at 11:12am. :)
Anyway, here is a toast for a fabulous 2011!
Anyway, here is a toast for a fabulous 2011!
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