Category: Kids’ learning and resources

Bedtime Ritual


Alycia and Sherilyn reading on my bed. Note : Sherilyn busy counting away with her fingers.


Sherilyn reading her favourite book.


Alycia learning to read from her Leap Frog.

On most nights before bed, I will either read to Alycia and Sherilyn or sometimes the gals prefer to ‘read’ on their own and Alycia will tell me to go to my room to do my own things and not to kacau them. You see, so young and they already want their own space and want me to get lost :shake head:

The gals can sometimes ‘read’ independently an entire book, especially if it’s their favourite books. I think it’s more of them memorizing the pages. Anyway, I am glad that my gals have acquired the love for books and hope that this will be their lifelong love as there is no better and cheaper way to broaden one’s horizons than to keep reading, always.

No. of times viewed = 258

Using TV As Babysitter

Do you use the TV to babysit your kids? I do and I limit my gals’ TV viewing time to between 1 – 2 hours a day. I only allow them to watch educational programs on TV or educational VCDs whenever I need to get some work done or take my baths. I’ve had my fair share of heart attacks when I let my maid babysit my kids when I had my bath. During these incidences, my 2 samseng gals got themselves hurt. My maid is the type who does not have foresight and just cannot predict if accidents can happen to toddlers. So, I prefer to let the TV babysit my gals. My 2 gals will behave so well, sitting quietly or dancing and singing whilst watching their favourite VCDs.

Each night when I need to have my shower, I will lock Sherilyn the samseng up in her cot and I will tell Alycia to jaga her sister. I will then leave the bathroom door ajar whilst I have my quick scrub, peeping into the room to check on them every now and then. My gals also learnt to sing most of their nursery rhymes thru these VCDs. So, using TV as babysitter ain’t that bad an idea after all, as long as there’s a limitation to using it, right?

No. of times viewed = 201

Learning Through Food

Kids learn best when they are having fun and in a relaxed and non stressful state. Recently, SIL got the gals a pack of organic alphabet biscuits. They love it whenever I play the alphabet game with them. I will ask them to tell me the letter on each biscuit and whoever guesses it right gets to eat the biscuit. We all have so much fun playing this game and eating the biscuits at the same time. This is really another great way of feeding info to your kids, thru food of course.

No. of times viewed = 206

The Love For Reading

Alycia and Sherilyn love ‘reading’ books. Every morning after drinking their milk, they will sit on the potty to do their little poopy business whilst I read to them or they read themselves. I think it’s good to start inculcating the habit of reading to kids from young so that they will have a life-long love for books and reading. It’s much easier to nurture and shape kids from young.

No. of times viewed = 196

How Alycia Finally Recognizes Her Alphabet and Numbers

I have been teaching Alycia to recognize her alphabet and numbers since early last year. As she is the type who can’t sit still when I teach her, I bought numerous educational VCDs for her to watch. These VCDs only helped a little and she still occasionally got her alphabet and numbers all mixed up. When it comes to recognizing numbers, no matter how many times I had shown her the number on the flash cards, she still could not recognize them. Each time I showed her the flash cards, she displayed little or no interest at all, which made me really geram. One day, I decided to stick and hang the alphabet and numbers flash cards everywhere in the house and bedroom so that I can point the cards to her throughout the day. She found this fun and challenging. Within weeks, Alycia finally recognizes the numbers 1 through 10. This is how I made the learning fun :

Me : Alycia, what letter is this? (as I point to the flash card with the letter ‘A’ stuck on the wall)
Aly : Big ‘A’
Me : Good job. Alycia is so clever.

I then point to another flash card stuck on the door.

Me : Alycia, what number is this (as I point to the number 9 on the door)?
Aly : Number 9
Me : Very good. If you turn number 9 upside down, it becomes number 6. Alycia is so clever. Mummy is so proud of you.

I then give her a hug and wah…. Aly feels so happy and proud of her achievement. Kids…. they really love praises, words of encouragement and hugs and I think that’s the best motivation a mother can ever give.

Alycia can now recognize all the letters of the alphabet (capital and small) and numbers 1-10. She can also write a few letters, numbers, draw shapes and ‘stick people’. I am so proud of her.

No. of times viewed = 228

Homemade books

My gals love ‘reading’ books but commercial books are full of attractive pictures that easily distract kids. Whenever I read story books to my gals, I will most often than not end up feeling really cheesed off by them coz they (esp. Alycia) will not focus their eyes on the words as I point the words to them. Instead, Alycia’s eyes will start wandering off to the pictures and she will imagine herself being one of the characters in the pictures. She will then start her “why, why, whys” and will ask me loads of questions pertaining to the pictures in the book.

With some ideas from the www.childbrain.org forum, I made my own books using pictures of the gals printed from my home printer and wrote stories about them. My gals love the books as the stories are all about them. I could have made more for them but because of time constraints, I have also printed out some from the childbrain forum, which my gals love too. All you need are some A4 size papers, plastic protector sheets and a plastic fastener to bind the pages as shown in the pix above.

No. of times viewed = 201

Learning To Read Through Nursery Rhymes

My gals love nursery rhymes. I play them nursery rhymes CDs, let them watch Barney’s Mother Goose nursery rhymes and karaoke nursery rhymes VCDs whilst the 3 of us sing and dance together. Alycia can sing and recite more than 10 rhymes. Recently, my mum bought the gals some nursery rhymes posters and I stuck these posters on the wall at our dining area. On most days, I will sit the gals on the floor with me in the middle holding on to a pencil/ruler as pointer and I will point to each word on the poster as we sing together. This is truly a very fun and effective approach in teaching my gals reading.

No. of times viewed = 190

Homemade Flashcards


I’m a firm believer that babies should and can be taught to read. I started making my own flashcards Glenn Doman style since Alycia was a few months old. Till today, I am still flashing cards to my gals, though now I have to modify my approach in flashing and showing the cards to them. What works well for Alycia for now is I hang / stick the homemade cards (which are actually A4 size papers printed from my home printer and placed into plastic protector sheets) everywhere in the house and bedrooms.

I gathered most of my knowledge from this fabulous website, www.childbrain.org which is a Glenn Doman inspired website with parents round the world participating and providing resources. Do check out this website.
Ok, my gals are jolted up from their naps by the sickening drilling sounds from my neighbour who is renovating her house. Shall blog about my homemade books, Glenn Doman style soon.

No. of times viewed = 235

HEALTH FREAK MOMMY