Today is the last day of the holidays! We have an ordinary weekend and then Monday, the first day of school, is here. I think we all have mixed feelings about this. Kyle doesn’t want to do all the writing related to First Grade but wants friends. Hannah doesn’t want to leave my side but wants to play. I want them to go out and start life at school and have some time away from me, but I want them to stay with me, too. So, today we will spend our last day of the holidays together at Happy Bear gymnastics, the play area, and MacDonald’s.
Kyle is still shining in the area of language and literacy – so far only the English language. His Chinese has some catching up to do. Kyle is reading up to four chapter books a day, and I am ever-thankful for the Taipei City Library for its extensive English-language section. The English area of our Muzha branch library is bigger than my hometown’s library, and we also have access to all the books at the many other branches in the city. Parents have asked me how I taught him to read, and even though he is naturally talented in this area, I would like to share a few good books I found for parents to use.
How To Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons – I followed this book step-by-step, ten minutes a day, over several months. We didn’t use the book everyday but we did every lesson. It covered all the foundations of the mechanics of reading. I am now using it with Hannah, and she is also learning quickly with the book.
Wise-Bauer’s series of books on literacy – Wise-Bauer follows a more classical approach to teaching. Each lesson has clear steps to follow and should be easy for parents even without any teaching experience. Writing With Ease Strong Fundamentals: Children only have to write one or two sentences each day, and through this they gain confidence in their ability. Kyle was unsure of his writing and unwilling to try, but after several lessons he started to write spontaneously without prompting.
Bob Books (Readers) I used these to support lessons in How to Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. The stories are quirky and appeal to most children.
I was a bit concerned about Kyle’s preparation for his Chinese pronunciation classes. My friend sent me a link to a number of very nice Chinese language sites for children. Here is the link to a woman's blog, that you can click through to find more that your children might like.
I am also using a daily practice series of books to support science and math. The children love these as each day’s lessons are very short and to the point.
Finally, Hannah has been using a set of Kumon books that introduce concepts such as shapes and time, and provide practice cutting, pasting, and coloring. This series encourages children to work independently at their own pace. It’s working for my determined, independent little girl.
I hope some of these books are helpful, or at least start a search in a direction that saves someone time and money!
Monday, August 30, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Joy of Giving
I just came back from a very nice evening out with a good friend. I know she is a good friend because I could sit in a coffeeshop with one coffee and talk for literally hours! It's not easy to get me to sit like that for so long with one cup of coffee.
During the evening, we talked a little about charity and giving, and I have been inspired to write about my sponsored child.
When Kyle was born, I decided to sponsor a child. I found a child just two years old through Child Fund (Formerly CCF). Rajkumar is in India. When I started with this sponsorship, I didn't realise how attached I would grow to Rajkumar and his family, nor how such a small gift from me could mean so much to them. Each year I give the family 50USD to spend for Christmas and birthday. With that money, they buy their family of four new clothes, new bedding, school supplies, grains and meats, prepare a birthday party, AND save a little for their future needs. This giving has also made me look at our own children and what we give them. This year, I decided to buy them one gift each, and not from me but from the Birthday Fairy. The whole idea of the Birthday Fairy was more exciting than the presents, and the buildup lasted weeks. I am putting the "saved" money toward the cost of assisting Rajkumar and his family. It is truly a joy to assist this family. Even if we can't make a giant impact on poverty in general, we can do a little something now and then.
During the evening, we talked a little about charity and giving, and I have been inspired to write about my sponsored child.
When Kyle was born, I decided to sponsor a child. I found a child just two years old through Child Fund (Formerly CCF). Rajkumar is in India. When I started with this sponsorship, I didn't realise how attached I would grow to Rajkumar and his family, nor how such a small gift from me could mean so much to them. Each year I give the family 50USD to spend for Christmas and birthday. With that money, they buy their family of four new clothes, new bedding, school supplies, grains and meats, prepare a birthday party, AND save a little for their future needs. This giving has also made me look at our own children and what we give them. This year, I decided to buy them one gift each, and not from me but from the Birthday Fairy. The whole idea of the Birthday Fairy was more exciting than the presents, and the buildup lasted weeks. I am putting the "saved" money toward the cost of assisting Rajkumar and his family. It is truly a joy to assist this family. Even if we can't make a giant impact on poverty in general, we can do a little something now and then.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
It's funny where you end up...
When you are looking for a gas station. Or at least, it's funny where the kids and I end up. This afternoon, I took the kids to buy some supplies for their birthday party to be held this Saturday. I had tried to get them to nap at noon but they didn't, so of course they fell asleep and slept for over an hour, which meant flagging the trip to the store that sells the party gear. They woke up as I was diverting to the highway toward the cottage. I realised we needed gas, so I got back off the highway and drove along to Xijr. Kyle was hungry so I decided to find somewhere to stop if we couldn't find a gas station. Of course, I couldn't (I have a GPS but it listed 20 in no particular order or direction, so I gave that up). We ended up at Cathay Hospital. It's like a huge community, and behind the hospital is the start of the cycleway along the Keelung River. Walking along, we found "叮呱呱", the Taiwan Fried Chicken chain. The kids hadn't been there before, so we ordered our takeout and sat at the park, eating our picnic dinner. Our family verdict is, Ding Gua Gua is way better than MacDonald's. Is that getting too local? We were quietly eating when Hannah yells, "There's a cow!" (She takes after me, suffering from the odd case of animal misidentification.) Coming up to us was this giant pig, with a collar on. It had smelt the chicken and came to ask for some. It was the cutest big pig I had ever seen. It was talking to us, and put its head on my knee. The owner of the pig came over and said sorry but he loves the smell of chicken. It was fine with us. It was certainly a "first time" moment for me. Kyle decided he never wants to be a pig farmer as they "have to chop those gorgeous animals up", and Hannah declared pigs "fantastic". Funnily enough, less than five minutes later, a man walking his cow walked past. Now, please note that we were not exactly in farmland, but right next to a highway and large hospital.
(The bikeway itself is currently 12km long, and eventually will connect to Taipei's bikeways. It's in really good condition and not crowded at all.)
We then walked back to the carpark, stopping at the local community park. The children there were very friendly, and both kids quickly made new friends. But, the promise of a daytrip tomorrow convinced the kids to come back to the cottage when I asked them.
We got back here and painted the paper clay models we had made a few days ago. At first they were all painted beautifully, but then the kids decided BROWN was the way to go, and now all the animals are one color. The kids were quite brown themselves so I had them jump in the shower and head off to bed for stories.
Talking of brown, I was saddened to hear Hannah tell me she is not happy that she is too dark, and not white enough. And to tell me I am too fat to be a mermaid. Taiwan media has so much to answer for. Even if I don't let her watch shows like "美人女" (Beautiful mermaid, a superhero story for girls, with 3 beautiful cartoon mermaids doing cool stuff), even Disney channel shows ads for the mother, selling whitening products, slimming products, and anti-aging products. There is no control over advertising at all. Hannah is only four years old, and she is already worried about her skin and her waistline! I'm going to have to restudy my "advertising ethics" paper materials and educate the little girl before she develops issues she shouldn't have at four years of age!
(The bikeway itself is currently 12km long, and eventually will connect to Taipei's bikeways. It's in really good condition and not crowded at all.)
We then walked back to the carpark, stopping at the local community park. The children there were very friendly, and both kids quickly made new friends. But, the promise of a daytrip tomorrow convinced the kids to come back to the cottage when I asked them.
We got back here and painted the paper clay models we had made a few days ago. At first they were all painted beautifully, but then the kids decided BROWN was the way to go, and now all the animals are one color. The kids were quite brown themselves so I had them jump in the shower and head off to bed for stories.
Talking of brown, I was saddened to hear Hannah tell me she is not happy that she is too dark, and not white enough. And to tell me I am too fat to be a mermaid. Taiwan media has so much to answer for. Even if I don't let her watch shows like "美人女" (Beautiful mermaid, a superhero story for girls, with 3 beautiful cartoon mermaids doing cool stuff), even Disney channel shows ads for the mother, selling whitening products, slimming products, and anti-aging products. There is no control over advertising at all. Hannah is only four years old, and she is already worried about her skin and her waistline! I'm going to have to restudy my "advertising ethics" paper materials and educate the little girl before she develops issues she shouldn't have at four years of age!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Sunday Morning at the Cottage
It's been just beautiful up at the cottage the past couple of weeks. The good weather has brought our neighbors into the 'hood, and this morning was definitely a hive of activity. I woke up at 6am to the sounds of:
I decided to go and see exactly what the dog was barking about, and get a bit of exercise at the same time. A TV crew had set up at the restaurant at the bottom of our hill. They must be going to shoot a few scenes down by the river. The dog did not like their constant movement, and barked everytime somebody spoke or walked. After saying hi to the dog, I set off on a little walk along the road. There were a few groups of hikers out enjoying the sun, too. There were a few rustlings in the grass by the road, and I assume they were little snakes or lizards slipping away from all the noise. I got a couple of kilometers down the road, decided I was hungry, and came back again. Everyone was still asleep, so I had a chance to enjoy a "quiet" coffee before the day really began. It's now almost 9am, and I think it is too hot for everyone, as there is no dog, no Buddhist music, no chirping birds, and no little girl calling out to her mother. We are left with the gentle hum of locusts and a view of dragonflies darting by as they look for their mates. Bliss.... oh wait, here is Hannah, cuddling me and declaring, "I love you, squashy mummy!"
- The great big labrador at the bottom of the hill barking nonstop
- The meditation group playing their Buddhist music at full volume, just up from the dog
- The little girl below us and her mother having rather loud dialog between the inside and outside of the house
- The gentle hum of locusts
- The occasional tweet and chirp from the resident birds
I decided to go and see exactly what the dog was barking about, and get a bit of exercise at the same time. A TV crew had set up at the restaurant at the bottom of our hill. They must be going to shoot a few scenes down by the river. The dog did not like their constant movement, and barked everytime somebody spoke or walked. After saying hi to the dog, I set off on a little walk along the road. There were a few groups of hikers out enjoying the sun, too. There were a few rustlings in the grass by the road, and I assume they were little snakes or lizards slipping away from all the noise. I got a couple of kilometers down the road, decided I was hungry, and came back again. Everyone was still asleep, so I had a chance to enjoy a "quiet" coffee before the day really began. It's now almost 9am, and I think it is too hot for everyone, as there is no dog, no Buddhist music, no chirping birds, and no little girl calling out to her mother. We are left with the gentle hum of locusts and a view of dragonflies darting by as they look for their mates. Bliss.... oh wait, here is Hannah, cuddling me and declaring, "I love you, squashy mummy!"
Saturday, July 17, 2010
It seems just yesterday that I was dropping Kyle off for his first day of preschool. Now, we are getting ready for first grade! And, Hannah will become a preschooler. It's hard to get my head around some days, that here I am in Taiwan, sending my kids to local school (getting even more "local" in September when we move to the cottage fulltime so they can attend the school out here), where they get a Taiwan education and I have to help them with homework written in Chinese. Facebook has made it even more strange to me, as many of my Taiwanese friends have moved abroad and their children are being raised to attend English-language-education schools. The world really is an interesting place these days.
We started our summer vacation early, with Kyle's school closing because two kids in his class had the entereovirus. It is very contagious, and the more serious strains can be life-threatening, so they are pretty cautious. This threw my "plans" into turmoil, but we are still having some fun. I have been driving the two kids around, trying out different places like the Science Museum, Riverside Park Children's Festival in Ilan, Happy Bear's gymnastic classes, and a number of different swimming pools. Fitting my business around the kids is kind of exhausting and it's hard to focus, but last week I met someone who is going to change my life forever - a drop shipping company! So, come September I hope to be doing minimal shipping myself, offering a better service, and focusing on developing markets and retail sales. And of course, spending more time caring for and educating my kids. Exercising. Making exotic coffees... well, one can dream, maybe I will even mop the floors!
We did manage to enjoy Kyle's graduation ceremony. In Taiwan, graduating students get a fancy book of photos, which you pay about about 30USD for. Here are a few pictures - two from the book and two from the day:
Hannah is of course her gorgeous, color-coordinated self. She seems to have my sister's flair for fashion. A couple of pictures of the girl:
We started our summer vacation early, with Kyle's school closing because two kids in his class had the entereovirus. It is very contagious, and the more serious strains can be life-threatening, so they are pretty cautious. This threw my "plans" into turmoil, but we are still having some fun. I have been driving the two kids around, trying out different places like the Science Museum, Riverside Park Children's Festival in Ilan, Happy Bear's gymnastic classes, and a number of different swimming pools. Fitting my business around the kids is kind of exhausting and it's hard to focus, but last week I met someone who is going to change my life forever - a drop shipping company! So, come September I hope to be doing minimal shipping myself, offering a better service, and focusing on developing markets and retail sales. And of course, spending more time caring for and educating my kids. Exercising. Making exotic coffees... well, one can dream, maybe I will even mop the floors!
We did manage to enjoy Kyle's graduation ceremony. In Taiwan, graduating students get a fancy book of photos, which you pay about about 30USD for. Here are a few pictures - two from the book and two from the day:
Hannah is of course her gorgeous, color-coordinated self. She seems to have my sister's flair for fashion. A couple of pictures of the girl:
I look at Hannah and ask myself, "What did I do to get such a gorgeous little girl?"
She is seriously funny, creating songs all day long that keep the whole family laughing.
Hannah and Kyle have been roleplaying lots of boy-girl situations recently. For example, they "went to a party" where there were a lot of girls. Hannah sent all the girls home, as nobody could be prettier than her. Prince Kyle chased them all out to make sure they wouldn't come back and Hannah had the choice of boys at the party! I guess I read Cinderella to them once too often.
Kyle has bronchitis. I took him to the doctor today. I think I have a bit of it myself, tonight. The kids got up at 6:30 this morning, and Richard had been out, so I did the kid duty for the morning. I was feeling a bit feverish myself earlier this evening and was almost asleep, but Richard woke me up. Now, everyone is asleep and it's getting close to midnight. It seems to be fairly common that the husband gets to sleep and the wife doesn't. I guess we have a lot of things we have to organise and remember, and it's just harder to shut our brains down. And, we tend to think of the husband more and let them sleep, keeping the kids quiet. From discussions with friends, it seems a pretty cross-cultural thing, were the men will wake up the women just to have them help find something or to ask a question, whereas the women will try their best to solve any problems themselves, and keep the kids quiet, too. Anyway, I won't be surprised if I wake up with a bit of a cough in the morning, having had looked after Kyle through his coughing last night.
On that note, I should try to get to sleep before witching hour!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Going Home, Coming Home
I'm standing on two shores,
My tongue flicks Chinese, English,
A change of station.
I sympathize with both parties.
East Meets West,
My feet are on hot coals,
Jumping from shore to shore.
I wrote this in Singapore airport whilst waiting for the plane back to Taiwan, about ten years ago. It's still hard for me to grasp that I have been Taiwan over 15 years now. Last month, I took the children home to my parents' place for five weeks. I got to celebrate my first birthday with my parents in 20 years. Having left home at 17 to attend university, and then coming to Taiwan at 21, birthday celebrations at home just didn't work in with the schedule. I have to say, it was very nice celebrating with my parents. It just deepened the feeling of being split between two places, though. The children's desire to stay and play in New Zealand didn't help the tearing of the heart when stepping onto the plane at the end of the trip.
We've been back in Taipei almost a week. It's OK. It's just, sometimes you hope things change a little and you come back to new and exciting possibilities. So far, it hasn't been like that. We are still split between my inlaws' place and our cottage, and my business is still in need of attention. I still need to get into exercise and general healthy living and eating. There was no magic CHANGE FAIRY waving her wand while I was away. And, my heart hasn't all come with me this time. Maybe it will catch up and love Taipei again in a little while.
My tongue flicks Chinese, English,
A change of station.
I sympathize with both parties.
East Meets West,
My feet are on hot coals,
Jumping from shore to shore.
I wrote this in Singapore airport whilst waiting for the plane back to Taiwan, about ten years ago. It's still hard for me to grasp that I have been Taiwan over 15 years now. Last month, I took the children home to my parents' place for five weeks. I got to celebrate my first birthday with my parents in 20 years. Having left home at 17 to attend university, and then coming to Taiwan at 21, birthday celebrations at home just didn't work in with the schedule. I have to say, it was very nice celebrating with my parents. It just deepened the feeling of being split between two places, though. The children's desire to stay and play in New Zealand didn't help the tearing of the heart when stepping onto the plane at the end of the trip.
We've been back in Taipei almost a week. It's OK. It's just, sometimes you hope things change a little and you come back to new and exciting possibilities. So far, it hasn't been like that. We are still split between my inlaws' place and our cottage, and my business is still in need of attention. I still need to get into exercise and general healthy living and eating. There was no magic CHANGE FAIRY waving her wand while I was away. And, my heart hasn't all come with me this time. Maybe it will catch up and love Taipei again in a little while.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Dancing, Traveling, Rambling
Sitting here at the computer, listening to "Rave Anthems", put on by DJ Kyle, looking out at the hills, and drinking a nice cup of coffee, with sounds of Hannah and Kyle playing drifting down the stairs, I think this defines "Nice Family Sunday". Richard is silent, as through all of this, he is trying to pretend he gets to sleep in. Anyway, I am going to try and sneak in few minutes' worth of updates before chaos inevitably overtakes the day.
Kyle is still taking dance class. Recently, he has been reluctant to go to the class, but he still enjoys it during the actual class time. On Friday, the head teacher had a chat with him and found out that he finds some of the stretching difficult, and that he wants to learn some MANLY dance actions. So, yesterday, I took him to the school's hip-hop class. Wow! I havent' seen Kyle so high since we attended the insanely intense Gymboree exercise class when he was a year old. (His little friend got so overstimulated that he passed out halfway through the 50-minute class, and my friend and I had ringing ears for a couple of hours after the class.) He would do the actions, run to the side and do a somersault or some other move he had learned in other dance classes, then come back and continue. Even during break, he was dancing around. The poor teacher came out of the class in quite a sweat. The moms said they had never seen the teacher so excitable. Kyle was happy all through the day, dancing and laughing right through to bedtime. Actually, Kyle is too young to attend that class but we wanted to show him that guys dance and guys can teach, and that after you learn the basics, you don't necessarily have to become a ballet dancer. He told the teachers he wants to continue with dance class now.
When everyone came out of class, one of the girls told everyone, "好憐憫,清松要去紐西蘭找老婆". I thought a long time and then realised he meant, "找外婆"
(He said, "I am going to NZ to find a wife." He meant, "I am going to NZ to see my grandmother.")
You can see some information about Kyle's dance school here:
http://www.wenindance.url.tw/en/about.htm
Hannah is one smart little cookie. She has an answer for everything, in both Chinese and English. And, she knows what she wants. On Friday, we had her gymnastics class. Half-way through, she wet her pants. I only had a skirt for her, and a pair of Kyle's underpants. I knew before I offered them to her that she would not readily accept it. She flat-out refused to wear them, and I refused to let her do tumbling without pants, so she gave up that and our Friday lunch together, to go back to grandma's and get her own clothes. Going out yesterday, she had to change her whole outfit because she didn't have a jacket to match her skirt. At least she can dress and undress herself, so I just let her change, as long as she puts everything else away. Hannah is ready for school, and I am looking forward to letting her go to daily kindergarten in September. It will be great for her to have some new friends her age to play with every morning.
We are leaving for New Zealand early May. We looked at Jetstar but the ordeal of booking over the phone and trying to work out how to get there was too much, and we ended up going with Air New Zealand. The travel agent I used is the first that has given me great service, and fast, for a long time. Their information:
http://www.martin.com.tw/ (Zora is the agent that helped me out.) They are the agent Singapore Airlines recommends to you if you call their Taipei office.
We've been reading some great books lately. One that has helped get the kids thinking about life balance and other habits is "The Seven Habits of Happy Kids" . It's fun to refer to the characters and ideas in the book rather than just nagging the kids to do exercise, turn off the computer, and so on.
Well, the CD has finished and dirty laundry is calling!
Kyle is still taking dance class. Recently, he has been reluctant to go to the class, but he still enjoys it during the actual class time. On Friday, the head teacher had a chat with him and found out that he finds some of the stretching difficult, and that he wants to learn some MANLY dance actions. So, yesterday, I took him to the school's hip-hop class. Wow! I havent' seen Kyle so high since we attended the insanely intense Gymboree exercise class when he was a year old. (His little friend got so overstimulated that he passed out halfway through the 50-minute class, and my friend and I had ringing ears for a couple of hours after the class.) He would do the actions, run to the side and do a somersault or some other move he had learned in other dance classes, then come back and continue. Even during break, he was dancing around. The poor teacher came out of the class in quite a sweat. The moms said they had never seen the teacher so excitable. Kyle was happy all through the day, dancing and laughing right through to bedtime. Actually, Kyle is too young to attend that class but we wanted to show him that guys dance and guys can teach, and that after you learn the basics, you don't necessarily have to become a ballet dancer. He told the teachers he wants to continue with dance class now.
When everyone came out of class, one of the girls told everyone, "好憐憫,清松要去紐西蘭找老婆". I thought a long time and then realised he meant, "找外婆"
(He said, "I am going to NZ to find a wife." He meant, "I am going to NZ to see my grandmother.")
You can see some information about Kyle's dance school here:
http://www.wenindance.url.tw/en/about.htm
Hannah is one smart little cookie. She has an answer for everything, in both Chinese and English. And, she knows what she wants. On Friday, we had her gymnastics class. Half-way through, she wet her pants. I only had a skirt for her, and a pair of Kyle's underpants. I knew before I offered them to her that she would not readily accept it. She flat-out refused to wear them, and I refused to let her do tumbling without pants, so she gave up that and our Friday lunch together, to go back to grandma's and get her own clothes. Going out yesterday, she had to change her whole outfit because she didn't have a jacket to match her skirt. At least she can dress and undress herself, so I just let her change, as long as she puts everything else away. Hannah is ready for school, and I am looking forward to letting her go to daily kindergarten in September. It will be great for her to have some new friends her age to play with every morning.
We are leaving for New Zealand early May. We looked at Jetstar but the ordeal of booking over the phone and trying to work out how to get there was too much, and we ended up going with Air New Zealand. The travel agent I used is the first that has given me great service, and fast, for a long time. Their information:
http://www.martin.com.tw/ (Zora is the agent that helped me out.) They are the agent Singapore Airlines recommends to you if you call their Taipei office.
We've been reading some great books lately. One that has helped get the kids thinking about life balance and other habits is "The Seven Habits of Happy Kids" . It's fun to refer to the characters and ideas in the book rather than just nagging the kids to do exercise, turn off the computer, and so on.
Well, the CD has finished and dirty laundry is calling!
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