Giselle's Reading Ability

I have introduced "Keywords with Ladybird" series a few months ago and I realised that Giselle could memorise and read the words quite well.

Now she is into Book 3a which seems a little more difficult with more words but I believe with constant reading and practising with her, she could handle this book as well.

For Chinese books, on and off I will still play chinese flashcards games with her. That is to put all the cards with the chinese character on the floor, then I will say out a word to let her find. Of course, I have to pretend that I am searching for the words with her to create competition and motivation. Most of the time, she has no difficulty in remembering the words that she has learnt before.

With the June holiday of fun & relaxation, I also became lazy at times that I didn't do the practices with her when I have the time.

New term starting tomorrow and also means I must go back to the original routine.

A Pop Band on the Rise?

It was a graduation night for some of the students from Percussive Arts and Music School and Adrian was invited to grace the ceremony.

Me and Giselle tagged along and it seems Giselle enjoyed the performance :) There after, we had a tour of the studios where the kids took the classes and Giselle had a go with the kid's drum. She likes it and told her daddy that she wanted to attend the drum classes...

http://www.pac-sg.com/courses/main.htm

June Holidays Coming to an End...

I could say Giselle really kept me busy during this period when I have to face her 24 hours most of the time. However, this month has gave me the opportunity to bring her out for more one-to-one dates which both of us enjoyed :)

The bond between us seems to get even closer now so much that she is beginning to climb on my head and shit on it.. haha.. Joking.. Sometimes Giselle can be very sensible, talking like an adult. And I have to use adult language to counter this gal with lots of questions...

Besides the holiday classes that I have signed her up. I realised that I have more time to do baking with her or bake for her until she did complain that why I am always baking....

One of the sweetest thing that happened during this June was that Giselle came to know the 2 sisters, Kalista jie jie and Kaerna jie jie. Other than Giselle playing downstairs or doing rollerblading with them, the 2 sisters would also pop to my house to help me finish the cakes that I have baked. Luckily both sisters like my cakes which gave me more courage to try the slightly more challenaging ones like using chocolate ganache for the next attempt... :)

Anyway, with the reopening of school next Mon, my housewife/maid routine will start again...

Looking forward to the next break...!!! ;)

Some Shots Taken while she was blading with her Friends...

After blading for a while, Giselle's friends, Kalista and Karena thought of flying a kite white blading... I was like "Wow!!! Sounds really fun, but such challenge really not for a auntie like me!". haha...

Anyway, all of us had alot of fun "flying the kite"... In fact, we spent most of out time really to make the kite fly high up in the air... :)

Monsters Vs Aliens

To keep my promise to her, I brought her to Shaw cinema at LIDO orchard to watch this show. Thought I can't use the complimentary tickets I had on hand but I still went ahead to purchase the tickets.

This movies is screening with 3D effect and hence was considered a premium movie. 2 tickets cost me a real $20. Hence, I told Giselle to open out her heart and enjoy the movie. Told her please don't ever say want to get off out of the cinema half-way...

I had brought her to Ratatouille movie 2 years ago and she was screaming to get out the cinema when she heard the loud noise from the movie.

Luckily enough, Giselle enjoyed the movie very much even though the 3D glass were too big for her. She practically has to hold the glasses throughout the movie. She kepting telling me she likes the "one-eye monster" very much and he is her friend. Haha!

Besides Giselle, this is my first time watching a movie with her. Seeing how she enjoyed herself also gave me alot of enjoyment.... :)

My Lovely Darling...

Outing @ Pulau Bukom

After Giselle has finished her swimming class today, we rush to Pasir Panjang Ferry Terminal to join Adrian's co for a chalet outing at Pulau Bukom.

Yes, this island is mainly for Shell plant but they do have some recreation for their staff and ex-staff. It happened that Adrian colleague's FIL is a ex-staff of Shell and he was able to make the arrangement to bring us over to make use of the facilities there.

Actually this was Giselle first time there and she has been very excited about taking ferry. She enjoyed the swimming, BBQ there. If have more time, we would try the bowling alley as well. hehe.

Most of the ladies at Adrian's co. was very helpful to prepare lots of food for the BBQ and they even thought of the kids.

To contribute something to this outing, I woke up early to bake a Apple Crumble Cake. I was really happy to when the crumble was finished within 15mins!!!:)

Mandarin Early Readers @ Julia Gabriel

Giselle attended this week long of chinese classes at Julia Gabriel and I could see that she has alot of fun with Fang Lao Shi (main teacher) and Zhang Lao Shi (Asst Teacher).

Through this unique five-day programme, the kids are equipped with skills that enable them to read simple storybooks, understanding the relationship between pictures, words and speech.

Activties included:

Drama games, Sharing Books and Colourful stories, word recognition games, Structuring simple sentences, Reading aloud individually and in small groups.

I was observing Giselle most of the time outside the class through their bamboo blinds. During the first 2 days of the lessons, Giselle was quite to herself, didn't really participate in the dances and movement. However, for the remaining days, Giselle started to dance and move according to instructions which I was quite glad.

Everyday she would tell me that she wants to go Fang Lao shi class. As compared to English, I can sense that she really love learning Mandarin...

Triple Celebration, Triple Happiness!

Today calls for a grand celebration of Nicole's 2nd birthday, Bernard's 3rd Birthday and Jayden + Sheila's one month old... :)

Botak Jones was the caterer for this occasions and it was a western cuisine for a change :) The set up was very nicely done!

The kids were having alot of fun hitting the pinata as prepared by the Teresa. Too bad Giselle was not able to join in the fun as she had blading class.

Adventures with Baloo the Bear

Giselle has been attending this June Holiday Programme at Julia Gabriel during this week and I must say it was quite a interesting Speech and Drama class. This was held Mon-Fri, 9am - 11am at the Forum Shopping Mall.

It was a adventurous week of fun and discovery, as the kids survived the vast Madagascan jungle. They trusted Baloo the Bear to guide them along the way.

The children has fun with songs, games, moving and speaking rhymes and catchprases, that help to stimulate the imagination and enhance communications. Listening and cognitive skills are engaged as they learn about survival skills, through the use of stories and drama. In addition, the little adventurers engage in art and craft and literacy activitives to develop their fine-motor and concentration skills.

Teacher Fiona said Giselle, though as little quiet has been speaking well during class time. During the last day of the lessons, parents were invited into the classroom during the last 20mins to hold a "press conference" with the kids and we parents, were asked to act as reporters posting questions to the group :)

LadyBug Tales @ BM Library

i have signed up Giselle for another library programme held at Bukit Merah library and the theme for today is about "LadyBugs". The library staff read 2 stories about Ladybug and then the kids were asked to do a Ladybug craftwork as a Fathers' Day gift.

Giselle did hers quite nicely and of course with the help from me. But one wing of the ladybug got dropped off during the journey home :(

Her 1st try with Roller-Blading

Giselle has been telling us that she wants to try Roller-Blading after seeing the class in session one of the weekends. So we enrolled her in a trial class today and she had fun trying them out with her friends, Ethan, Brennan & Bernice.

Initially she had difficulty gathering her legs together to stand up but after a while she got better. Of course, there were times that she felt frustrated that her blades and legs were not listening to her and she kept falling down. But I feel it is good to let her get used to falling so that she is not afraid to fail her tasks.

Coach Daniel is the instructor for today and I have requested him to be around for the following classes since the kids like him. After the class, he stayed back for a while to play with the kids. He blades around the basket ball court and the kids enjoyed running behind him :)

After 1 lesson, Giselle could skate pretty well for a 1st timer. We went to Carrefour later in the day to get a pair a roller-blades for me and her. Yes, for me too as I am supposed to learn to skate with her daddy and her :(

Tried skating with the blades and I really skate like a ugly mother duck!

Fun Session with Thomas & Friends

Since Marina Square has the Thomas & Friends Meet & Greet session, I brought her there as what I had promised her earlier this week. Giselle has been really looking forward to it.

We reached there at about 10.30am and she was so excited when she saw the stage. I told her we need to eat something first before the Thomas Train appear. The queue started at about 12nn and I brought her to join the queue at about 12.15pm after she finished the Thomas Train ride on the 3rd level.

Giselle told me she would go up the stage herself and let Thomas Train signed on her storybook that she brought along. Anyway I suggested to her that I should hold the book for her while she goes up the stage to take photo with the captain.

After the Meet-&-Greet session was over, she proudly told me she went up the stage herself. Haha.

We headed to the Bookfair and Kidzacademy exihibition held at the Suntec City after this. It was really an enjoyable "outing" with Giselle today. She enjoyed herself alot and kept telling me that she didn't want to go home.

Walnut Butter Cake

Since I have some walnuts at home, decided to try this Chef Judy's recipe again as I remember it to be very yummy when I did it in class with Stephanie.

However, maybe due to my age, I forgot to add in baking powder as required in the recipe. Luckily the cake still turns out to be very light and soft.

Dinosaurs Exhibition at Plaza Singapura

Brought Giselle to Plaza Singapura for lunch and by chance saw that they have the dinosaurs exhibition at the Atrium. A pleasant surprise! :)

Initially Giselle was pretty afraid of getting near them but after some coaxing, she began to adore them...

FairyTales Hunt @ BM Library

Bukit Merah Library has organised some programmes for kids and since today activity was suitable for Giselle's age, I brought her there for some fun.

It was held on the 3rd level of the library and there were many kids participated. Giselle made some new friends there since they were older than Giselle, the 2 lovely girls helped me to take care of her the whole time.

The programme started with a story telling by the host and the children were all so excited about it. Next came the "treasure hunt" when the kids were asked to search for pictures from the various fairytales. Luckily Giselle managed to find a picture card after some hint from me. hehe.

After that, the kids were asked to particpate in the acting of the 3 little pigs and with so many kids around, they were asked to act as the materials for the 3 houses. So cute!

The activity ended with some colouring time for all of them and Giselle told me she wanted to go again the next time.