Saturday, February 12, 2011
Climbing Mt. Everest
Yes, it is winter where we live. Here are the only pictures I have from this winter. This is one day when W was playing outside and he's pretending he's climbing Mt. Everest. It is freezing. I think only kids want to be outside longer than 10 minutes. The adults would all rather be inside. One thing we have loved doing is sitting by our front door when the sun streams in usually during lunch time. And that's where we have our lunch.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Pretzel making
We finally got around to making these AA's pretzel.
Rolling the dough was fun!
Look, it does look like a pretzel.
So proud.
Yum!
Almost all gone.
Rolling the dough was fun!
Look, it does look like a pretzel.
So proud.
Yum!
Almost all gone.Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Keeping busy
J and W has both been sick. Today, they finally seem to be getting better, no more cough. The absence of it's sound is very sweet. I'm hoping we can run some errands as we have pretty much stayed inside for many days. We are still unschooling and the kids keep themselves plenty busy. Sometimes, when I get a little nervous, I ask them to do a little math practice or little grammar. But I think they are happier learning on their own and doing what they like to do.
W has been drawing and reading a ton. He can probably do that all day and the concentration is just amazing to watch. I think the boy is happiest when I leave him be with spurts of hugs and kisses. He also requested for some animal books and reads them as soon as he can. We also read a couple of Enki fairy tale at his request and he enthusiastically retells it to me the next day w/o me asking.
J is similar though she has been lying on the couch resting for a lot of time. If she feels not so drained, she likes to design, color or draw. I can tell when she's not well since she didn't ask to go outside and she's not putting on music to dance. When she's just resting, she'll ask me to read her a Chinese story. Other times, she watches Chinese cartoons. She has requested ballerina books, and her favorite dancer after reading many is Alicia Alonso. She also wanted more Sherlock Holmes books. Today she is making soap on a rope.
One thing they are not is bored and asking me what they should do.
I have been working hard to speak Chinese to them, though there is still a lot of English spoken. I guess this will be a work in progress for me. I was surprised they liked writing Chinese characters. I guess it's a little like drawing.
W has been drawing and reading a ton. He can probably do that all day and the concentration is just amazing to watch. I think the boy is happiest when I leave him be with spurts of hugs and kisses. He also requested for some animal books and reads them as soon as he can. We also read a couple of Enki fairy tale at his request and he enthusiastically retells it to me the next day w/o me asking.
J is similar though she has been lying on the couch resting for a lot of time. If she feels not so drained, she likes to design, color or draw. I can tell when she's not well since she didn't ask to go outside and she's not putting on music to dance. When she's just resting, she'll ask me to read her a Chinese story. Other times, she watches Chinese cartoons. She has requested ballerina books, and her favorite dancer after reading many is Alicia Alonso. She also wanted more Sherlock Holmes books. Today she is making soap on a rope.
One thing they are not is bored and asking me what they should do.
I have been working hard to speak Chinese to them, though there is still a lot of English spoken. I guess this will be a work in progress for me. I was surprised they liked writing Chinese characters. I guess it's a little like drawing.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Why Chinese Mothers are Superior....WSJ article
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.
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.
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.
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