Monday, 15 September 2014

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J Summary (5Y6M10D) - Grace


This morning, I jumped at J for being slow. I was upset and angry. After that, I was very remorseful. But it was no excuse, the fact remained - that I snapped - AGAIN. J said that Mommy is always angry, but he never fails to extend his grace and forgive me again.

God gives me grace to pick myself up and try again tomorrow, and not let the guilt consume me.

Our children are imperfect. We are imperfect. We can only rely on the grace of God that the mistakes that I committed as a mom will not cause any permanent damage.

Photo credit: simplyblessed.heartsdeesire.com
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J Summary (5Y6M10D) - Goodbye Teddy-Bears, Goodbye Toy Kitchen...




J has been playing with the toy kitchen from 1.5 years old. Today, he told me that he doesn't play with the toy kitchen anymore, and that he prefers to cook with me in my real kitchen - that's more fun. He said that his kindergarten's friend's sister really like his toy kitchen, when they visited, and he would like to give it to her. J is always willing to share and give his toys. This is something that Daddy and Mommy can learn from J.

He also told me that he has grown up, and that he would like to give away his stuff toys to his kindergarten. But he said that he will keep Stuart, Sally, Patrick and Panda :-)

It is filled with nostalgia for me to see J out-growing his toys, and I am sobbing a little, but very happy and thankful for the privilege of walking with J through his childhood for the last 5 years. These toys hold many precious memories, and those memories will stay with us, even if the toys will not. I have taken a picture of them to immortalize it.

Looking on the bright side, and I will start to taking the toy kitchen apart and free up our prime living space.
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Chicken Stew


Serves 4

Ingredients:

1. 4-6 pieces of chicken thighs, drumsticks or any chicken parts you like
2. 1 clove garlic pressed
3. 1 clove garlic chopped
4. 1 onion sliced
5. 1 leek sliced (the white portion) (Optinal)
6. 3 tomatoes chopped
7. 3 carrots chopped
8. 3 potatoes chopped
9. Corn starch solution: 2 tsp corn starch + half cup water
10. 1 cup of frozen green peas (Optinoal)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 200° C.
2. Rub pressed garlic, sprinke salt and pepper on chicken in an oven-proof dish and roast it in the oven for 20 minutes until chicken is golden.
3. Bring 1 litre of water to boil, add potatoes and carrots and sprinkle some salt and then reduce heat to medium no. 6 on my stove and cook for 10 minutes or until potatoes and carrots a almost cooked.
4. Heat separately pan with oil, fry 1 chopped garlic, leek and onion until golden and add a little salt and water to sizzle it.
5. Add back into the pot with potatoes and carrots.
6. Remove chicken from oven (skim away some of the fat/oil that came out of the chicken if required) and pour in vegetables and liquid from the pot.
7. Stir in the corn starch solution and put back into oven.
8. Reduce the oven temperature to 150 C and bake for 30 minutes or until sauce has thicken
9. Stir in peas while it is piping hot or put it back to the oven for 10 minutes or until peas are defrozed and done. (Optional)

Additional Information:

I made this today, and it tasted really good. I love this during autumn or winter. This is a hearty meal. If you need to go and run an errand, you can turn down the oven temperature to 120 C and let it cook for 2 hours.

 

Sunday, 14 September 2014

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J Summary (5Y6M9D) - New Telescope




I have wanted to buy a telescope for J, but haven't found the time, and with the daily demands, I have forgotten about it. Today, Daddy spotted a second hand almost brand new from the fleamarket for only 30 DKK (approx. 6.60 SGD), just in time for World's Astronomy Day :-)

Sunday is set aside as a day of rest as God created human beings to be, but man often finds it hard to stop working, in particular Singaporeans. Thus, I am trying to do my very best to to keep it a no homework, no practising of piano (even though J's Danish paino teacher advice us to do so EVERYDAY), no writing of Chinese characters, no Montessori practical life, etc.

This year, I have also started scheduling in Sunday as the day for Daddy's one-on-one time with J (as part of our effort to put in the "big stones" into the jar first*). So here Daddy and J are setting it up together, when we got back. J is very excited, and wanted to use it to watch the stars immediately. But we told him that we are going to try to gaze at the stars on 4 October 2014, which is the World's Astronmy Day :-)

The plan is that we will find a spot and put up our tent. Take some comforters and blankets and make ourselves some hot chocolate and tea and gaze at the stars together as a family. So now we are hoping for good weather :-)

So do join us to watch the stars on World's Astronomy Day :-)

You can read more about World's Astronomy Day here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomy_Day

http://www.astroleague.org/al/astroday/astrodayform.html

* Advice from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families

Saturday, 13 September 2014

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Montessori Activity: Dynamic Addition with Chips - Thousand Place Value

1. Arrange the layout as shown in the above picture above.
2. Explain that the green chips represent units, blue chips representing tens, red chips representing hundreds and white chips representing thousands.
3. Invite your child to read the first equation or you can also read it together, for e.g. 2535+1566=?

AGE: 5.5 years old (after your child has tried The Bank Game and Vertical Static Addition)

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the child to dynamic quadruple digit addition

MATERIALS:

1. 19 green chips representing units
2. 19 blue chips representing tens
3. 19 red chips representing hundreds
4. 9 yellow chips representing thousands
5. 1 quadruple digit addition worksheet
6. 5 felt pieces
7. 1 pencil and eraser

PRESENTATION:

1. Arrange materials as shown above.

2. Explain that the green chips represent units, blue chips represent tens, red chips represent hundreds and white chips represent thousands.

3. Read the first equation i.e. 2535+1566=?

4. Point to the unit place value of the first addend in the worksheet and ask, "How many units are there?" Your child should answer 5.

5. Take 5 green chips and place it on the felt piece to the right of the worksheet in a vertical line.

6. Point to the ten place value and ask, "How many tens are there?" Your child should answer 3 tens.

7. Take 3 blue chips and place it vertically to the left of the selected green chips.

8.  Point to the hundred place value and ask, "How many hundreds are there?" Your child should answer 5 hundreds.

9. Take 5 red chips and place it vertically to the left of the selected blue chips.

10.  Point to the thousand place value and ask, "How many thousands are there?" Your child should answer 2 thousands.

11. Take 2 yellow chips and place it vertically to the left of the selected red chips.

12. Point to the second addend and repeat the process. (Your child should count out the unit red chips, ten blue chips, hundred red chips and thousands white chips from the second addend, i.e. 6 green chips6 blue chips5 red chips and 1 yellow chip and place them on the right felt piece below the first addend's collected chips.)

13. Add the chips together by pushing the second addend's chips up together with the first addend's chips.

14. Invite your child to count the green chips. When he reaches the 10th unit, ask him/her to exchange for 1 blue chip, saying "10 units (green) is the same as 1 ten (blue)," and place the it above the other blue chips.

15. Ask your child to count the remainder green chips, i.e. 1 green chip in this case, and write the number in the unit place on the worksheet.

16. Invite your child to count the blue chips. When he reaches the 10th chip, ask your child to exchange for 1 red chip, saying "10 tens (blue) is the same as 1 hundred (red)." and place the it above the other red chips.

17. Ask your child to count the remainder blue chips, i.e. 0 blue chip in this case, and write the number in the ten place on the worksheet.

18. Ask your child to count the red chips. When he reaches the 10th chip, ask your child to exchange for 1 yellow chip, saying "10 hundreds (red) is the same as 1 thousand (yellow)," and place the it with the other white chips.

19. Ask your child to count the remainder red chips, i.e. 1 red chip in this case, and write the number in the hundred place on the worksheet.

20. Ask your child to count the yellow chips, i.e. 4 yellow chips in this case, and write the number on the thousand place on the worksheet.

21. Ask your child to say the question, count and write the answer (if this is not written down along the way earlier), for e.g. 2535+1566=4101

22. Invite your child to try the next equation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:



REFERENCES:

4. Point to the unit place value of the first addend in the worksheet and ask, "How many units are there?" Your child should answer 5.
5. Take 5 green chips and place it on the felt piece to the right of the worksheet in a vertical line.

6. Point to the ten place value of the first addend and ask, "How many tens are there?" Your child should answer 3 tens.

7. Take 3 blue chips and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected green chips in a vertical line.

8.  Point to the hundred place value of the first addend and ask, "How many hundreds are there?" Your child should answer 5 hundreds.

9. Take 5 red chips and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected blue chips in a vertical line.

10.  Point to the thousand place value of the first addend and ask, "How many thousands are there?" Your child should answer 2 thousands.

11. Take 2 white chips and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected red chips in a vertical line.

12. Point to the second addend and repeat the process. Ask your child to count out the unit red chips, ten blue chips, hundred red chips and thousands white chips from the second addend, i.e. 6 green chips, 6 blue chips, 5 red chips and 1 white chip and place them on the right felt piece below the first addend's collected chips.




13. Add the chips together by pushing the second addend's collected chips up together with the first addend's collected chips.

14. Invite your child to count the green chips and when he reaches the 10th unit chip, ask your child to exchange for 1 blue chip, saying "10 units - green is the same as 1 ten - blue," and
and place the it with the other blue chips.

16. Invite your child to count the blue chips and when he reaches the 10th chip, ask your child to exchange for 1 red chip, saying "10 tens - blue is the same as 1 hundred - red." and

place the it with the other red chips.

18. Ask your child to count the red chips and when he reaches the 10th chip, ask your child to exchange for 1 yellow chip, saying "10 hundreds is the same as 1 thousand," and

place the it with the other yellow chips.

21. Ask your child to read out the question, count and write the answer, for e.g. 2535+1566=4101
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Montessori Activity: Dynamic Addition with Golden Beads - Thousand Place Value



AGE: 5.5 years old (after your child has tried The Bank Game and Vertical Static Addition)

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the child to quadruple digit addition

MATERIALS:

1. 19 unit beads
2. 19 ten-bars
3. 19 hundred-squares
4. 9 thousand-cubes
5. 1 quadruple digit addition worksheet
6. 5 felt pieces
7. 1 pencil and eraser

PRESENTATION:

1. Arrange the materials according to the picture above.

2. Say, "Today we are going to learn how to add dynamic quadruple digit numbers together."

3. Invite your child to read the first equation or you can also read it together, for e.g. 2535+1566=?

4. Point to the unit place value of the first addend in the worksheet and ask, "How many units are there?" Your child should answer 5.

5. Take 5 unit beads and place it on the felt piece to the right of the worksheet.

6. Next, point to the ten place value of the first addend and ask, "How many tens are there?" Your child should answer 3 tens.

7. Take 3 ten-bars from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected unit beads.

8.  Next, point to the hundred place value of the first addend and ask, "How many hundreds are there?" Your child should answer 5 hundreds.

9. Take 5 hundred-squares from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected ten-bars.

10.  Next, point to the thousand place value of the first addend and ask, "How many thousands are there?" Your child should answer 2 thousands.

11. Take 2 thousand-cubes from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected hundred-bars.

12. Point to the second addend and repeat the process. Invite him to count out the unit beads, ten-bars hundred-squares and thousands-cubes from the second addend, i.e. 6 unit beads, 6 ten-bars, 5 hundred-squares and 1 thousand-cube and place them on the right felt piece below the first addend's collected beads.

13. Add the beads together by placing the second addend's collected beads together with the first addend's collected beads.

14. Invite your child to count the units and when he reaches the 10th unit, ask your child to exchange for 1 ten-bar, saying "10 units is the same as 1 ten-bar," and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

15. Ask your child to count the remainder units, i.e. 1 unit in this case, and write the number in the unit place on the worksheet.

16. Invite your child to count the ten-bars and when he reaches the 10th ten-bar, ask your child to exchange for 1 hundred-square, saying "10 ten-bars is the same as 1 hundred-square." and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

17. Ask your child to count the remainder ten-bars, i.e. 0 ten-bar in this case, and write the number in the ten place on the worksheet.

18. Invite your child to count the hundred-squares and when he reaches the 10th hundred-square, ask your child to exchange for 1 thousand-cube, saying "10 hundred-squares is the same as 1 thousand-cube," and place the it with the other thousand-cubes.

19. Ask your child to count the remainder hundred-squares, i.e. 1 hundred-square in this case, and write the number in the hundred place on the worksheet.

20. Ask your child to count the thousand-cubes, i.e. 4 thousand-cubes in this case, and write the number on the thousand place on the worksheet.

21. Read out the question and answer together, for e.g. 2535+1566=4101

22. Invite your child to try with the next equation.

VARIATIONS:

1. Other materials can be substituted for the color bead stairs, such as buttons, counters, etc..
2. Try with vertical presentation of the equation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:



REFERENCES:



















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Montessori Activity: Dynamic Addition with Golden Beads - Hundred Place Value

1. Arrange the materials according to the picture above.
2. Say, "Today we are going to learn how to add dynamic triple digit numbers together."
3. Invite your child to read the first equation or you can also read it together, for e.g. 358+566=?

AGE: 5.5 years old (after your child has tried The Bank Game and Vertical Static Addition)

OBJECTIVE: To introduce the child to dynamic triple digit addition

MATERIALS:

1. 19 unit beads
2. 19 ten-bars
3. 9 hundred-squares
4. 1 triple digit addition worksheet
5. 4 felt pieces
6. 1 pencil and eraser

PRESENTATION:

1. Arrange the materials according to the picture above.

2. Say, "Today we are going to learn how to add dynamic triple digit numbers together."

3. Invite your child to read the first equation or you can also read it together, for e.g. 358+566=?

4. Point to the unit place value of the first addend in the worksheet and ask, "How many units are there?" Your child should answer 8.

5. Take 8 unit beads and place it on the felt piece to the right of the worksheet.

6. Next, point to the ten place value of the first addend and ask, "How many tens are there?" Your child should answer 5 tens.

7. Take 5 ten-bars from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected unit beads.

8.  Next, point to the hundred place value of the first addend and ask, "How many hundreds are there?" Your child should answer 3 hundreds.

9. Take 3 hundred-squares from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected ten-bars.

10. Point to the second addend and repeat the process. Invite him to count out the unit beads, ten-bars and hundred-squares from the second addend, i.e. 6 unit beads, 6 ten-bars, 5 hundred-squares and place them on the right felt piece below the first addend's collected beads.

11. Add the beads together by placing the second addend's collected beads together with the first addend's collected beads.

12. Invite your child to count the units and when he reaches the 10th unit, ask your child to exchange for 1 ten-bar, saying "10 units is the same as 1 ten-bar," and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

13. Ask your child to count the remainder units, i.e. 4 units in this case, and write the number in the unit place on the worksheet.

14. Invite your child to count the ten-bars and when he reaches the 10th ten-bar, ask your child to exchange for 1 hundred-square, saying "10 ten-bars is the same as 1 hundred-square," and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

15. Ask your child to count the remainder ten-bars, i.e. 2 ten-bars in this case, and write the number in the ten place on the worksheet.

16. Ask your child to count the hundred-squares, i.e. 9 hundred-squares in this case, and write the number on the hundred place on the worksheet.

17. Read out the question and answer together, for e.g. 358+566=924

18. Invite your child to try with the next equation.

VARIATIONS:

1. Other materials can be substituted for the color bead stairs, such as buttons, counters, etc..
2. Try with vertical presentation of the equation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:



REFERENCES:


4. Point to the unit place value of the first addend in the worksheet and ask, "How many units are there?" Your child should answer 8.
5. Take 8 unit beads and place it on the felt piece to the right of the worksheet.


6. Next, point to the ten place value of the first addend and ask, "How many tens are there?" Your child should answer 5 tens.
7. Take 5 ten-bars from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected unit beads.

8.  Next, point to the hundred place value of the first addend and ask, "How many hundreds are there?" Your child should answer 3 hundreds.
9. Take 3 hundred-squares from the left felt piece and place it on the right felt piece to the left of the selected ten-bars.

10. Point to the second addend and repeat the process. Invite him to count out the unit beads, ten-bars and hundred-squares from the second addend, i.e. 6 unit beads, 6 ten-bars, 5 hundred-squares and place them on the right felt piece below the first addend's collected beads.



11. Add the beads together by placing the second addend's collected beads together with the first addend's collected beads.

12. Invite your child to count the units and when he reaches the 10th unit, ask your child to exchange for 1 ten-bar, saying "10 units is the same as 1 ten-bar," and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

13. Ask your child to count the remainder units, i.e. 4 units in this case, and write the number in the unit place on the worksheet.

14. Invite your child to count the ten-bars and when he reaches the 10th ten-bar, ask your child to exchange for 1 hundred-square, saying "10 ten-bars is the same as 1 hundred-square," and place the it with the other hundred-squares.

15. Ask your child to count the remainder ten-bars, i.e. 2 ten-bars in this case, and write the number in the ten place on the worksheet.

16. Ask your child to count the hundred-squares, i.e. 9 hundred-squares in this case, and write the number on the hundred place on the worksheet.
17. Read out the question and answer together, for e.g. 358+566=924. If you haven't written the answer, do it now.
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