Sleeping Giant awakes!

It's been a month since I started volunteering @ Small Wonder. On Monday I was told to stand in for teacher Ivy and Marlene as they need to shop for materials for the concert. Damn, I know what it means now to be driven up the walls. There were about 10 kids in my class but oh boy it feels like a zoo with hundreds of wild animals and you were given the task to tame them to be house pets. This little boy Krishern in particular was just too hyper and went around disturbing the other kids. I had no idea what to do....I left the kids with their phonics reading book and creative writing. Undisputably, some kids are really gifted with their imaginations.

It was time for outdoor play and the kids went crazy on the swings and were fighting their ways up and down the slides. Thank God no one was injured and that was my only concerned.

Yesterday after lunch, I got into the main hall and saw some kids running around. So i thought of a sleeping game to calm them down. I turned off the light and lied down on the floor pretend to be sleeping. I told them I was a sleeping giant whom wakes up looking for boys whom are not sleeping to eat. All the kids lied down and except for this little girl Hajar who stares at me sitting upright. There I came the sleeping giant roaming the room and I came to Hajar and made a scary face. I carried her on my arms and guess what, she started crying! Some teachers rushed in from the dining room wondering what happened. I felt so embarrassed.

Placement @ Montessori School

Will be starting my placement @ the Small Wonder Children's House SS19 tmr. How this came about was I called up the principal Pn. Jelita if I could work there for free to gain some experience. She told me she never had any male montes teacher before but I could go to observe and see if I like it. So there I was today.

It's located at the corner house of SS19/5F. From outside it's hard to imagine the premise has got more than 6 classrooms. Pn. Jelita took me on a tour. The outdoor area was a sandpit, some swings and a cage with 2 giant iguanas in it. There is also a cage with a few rabbits where the kids can feed them with carrots. They also sometimes bring fruits from home to feed them. One of the iguanas was actually placed indoor for the kids to play until it got a bit bigger and parents go a bit weary. You got to see the size of the iguana to really appreciate why the parents felt that way.

In total there were 11 classrooms. Classrooms on the upstairs are for the 5-6 and downstairs are 3-4.

During the Circle time I had an opportunity to meet all the kids. This week was Pn. Jelita's turn to do circle time and she was teaching them about vegetables. I was sitting behind a malay boy whom at first wouldnt stop admiring my watch. Then when Pn. Jelita explained about cili he once again turned to me and said "Pedas". Then they make the buzzing bees to form into lines ready for lunch. The little boy saw me still sitting on the circle and he came to me trying pull me with him to join the line "Datang lah uncle". I told him I would join him a bit later. He frowned and walked away.

It was lunch time and kids were having yong chow fried rice. The school has strict dietary requirements for breakfast, tea, lunch and afternoon tea (if the kids go full day). Pn. Jelita was kind enough to invite me to have lunch with her and her husband.

Well, starting my first day tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

The Birth of "Little KidsVille"

Went to The MALL to register for my business yesterday. When registering for a business you are required to give at least 3 names choices. My first was "KidsVille". I came across this site in US with the same name and thought of adapting it (yeah, call me a copy cat). Well, guess what business name cannot be 1 word. So the officer told me what about "Kids Ville" but after checking on the computer someone already bid me into it. It is also a kindy based in KL. Anyways, I didnt quite like "Kids Ville". My second choice was "Little KidsVille" which on second thought is actually a cuter and better names. I didnt have a third one so I went ahead to register the name. Well, Little KidsVille is registered under the category "Management Services" to manage I hope a chain of tadikas.

Actually it was a waste of time queuing up for 2 hours. Could have done it online if I knew earlier. At least when I renew next I will be smarter to do it online.

The Joy of Learning: Development Required Before a Child Can Read

The Joy of Learning: Development Required Before a Child Can Read

Spell to read and write

DIY: Practical Life Exercise

PLE Exercises that use the "whole hand" (5) Large Tongs

Materials:
2 baskets
Pair of tongs
Medium to large pom poms






Presentation:
1. Invite the child or group of children.
2. Go over to where the work is kept and take it to a table.
3. Put the basket with pom pom on the right and the empty basket on the left.

4. Pick up the tongs and examine them. Open and close them.
4. Pick up a pom pom with the tongs.
5. Place the pom pom into the empty basket.
6. Admire your work.
7. Reverse the process and remove the pom poms with the tongs.
8. Return the work to the shelf.
9. Invite a child.

Variations and Extensions:
1. Use different objects to tong
2. Use a different separated container to tong into
3. Use different sized objects to tong

Points of Interest:
1. Seeing the tong open and close on an object.
2. Seeing the tray full of pom poms.

Control of Error:
1. No pom poms transfered.
2. Can’t make the tongs work

Aims:
Eye hand coordination, order, concentration, preparation for cutting and writing, etc.


Age:
2 ½ and up

Language:
Tongs, grasp, release, inside, compartments, etc.

Story Book- Pink Scheme