Here's what I can do at 4:

1. I can read!

Mummy's comments: YES! After teaching her phonics for the past few months, she's beginning to read. We use Reading Made Easy and Explode the Code and of course, lotsa lotsa reading everyday. She can read simple words and know most of the sight words. Mostly she reads by context and part memorization but sometimes she surprises us by reading signs that she'd never seen before. We've got a couple of Strawberry Shortcake readers and she loves to read to Levi (ok that's my trick of getting her to read aloud coz she still prefers us to read to her. If I say to read to Levi, sometimes she'll oblige.)

2. I can write!

Mummy's comments: We're still working on this. When we first started homeschooling this term, she wasn't keen on writing and it was too stressful to get her writing consistently and properly so I gave it a rest. But recently she's starting to want to write again so we've picked it up again and she's doing well!

3. I can talk to anyone about anything. Ok, anyone who would listen.

Mummy's comments: Sophie can REALLY talk. And talk. And talk! One of the best thing about being here is that everyone listens to a kid! Kids are not ignored, told off or brushed off when they speak. Or the worst, patronised. I love the way adults communicate with children here. They really listen to what Sophie have to say and she has lots to say. This has really helped Sophie to develop and form her identity. She is very confident amongst adults and older children and has no problem holding her own ground. Now I just need to teach her not to butt into people's conversations.

4. I can carry my didi!

Mummy's comments: She's doing really well as an older sister. I think it's been great to have a 4 yr gap between the two kids. Sophie has been rather patient during the times I need to look after Levi. She'll play or read in her room and wait for me. Sometimes I will just read to her while I'm feeding Levi. In the beginning it was a bit harder but 4 wks in, she's doing very well. She's been having a cough and cold this week and she's been very considerate not to go kiss Levi and remembering to close her mouth when she sneezes or coughs. But James has been really good and been very deliberate in spending more time with her and I think that really helped in the transition. I just wished I have more time to spend with her.

Things I like
1. Anything pink and sparkly
2. Princessy things, dolls, Strawberry Shortcake, ballerinas
3. Bling blings – rings, bracelets, etc
4. Cheese – I share Mummy's love for soft cheeses too!
5. Green leafy veggies and fruits
6. Fairy Tales – I still like reading a lot

Things I dislike
1. Main meals – Mum says it's SO hard to get me to eat!
2. Villains – I hate bad people or characters in movies.
3. Putting on too many layers. I don't feel cold! I'm really a summer kinda girl, give me a t-shirt, shorts and flip flops, I'm happy.

I just spent the past 2 hours trying to put Levi down for a nap. Looks like he's past the feed sleep feed sleep phase! That was fast! Woah! Now he's awake for longer and can't seem to fall back asleep as easily unless we rock him or I nurse him. Oh wells, that's the reality of having a baby ya?

But we've found a great way to help baby sleep and soothe a baby. We discovered this when we had Soph. We were struggling with Sophie's colicky phase and inability to sleep. Then we found this book and DVD called "The Happiest Baby on the Block". Of course we bought it!

The author Harvey Karp emphasizes on 5 ways of helping to soothe a baby. He talks about the Fourth Trimester and how after a baby is born, we need to try our best to replicate his womb environment. Read more about it here.

We found that the first "S" – Swaddling really worked for Sophie and we've been swaddling Levi too. They tend to sleep longer and better. Coz they can't seem to control their limb movement and the funny thing is that their own hands scare them! So wrapping them well helps them. Sophie is attempting to swaddle Levi in the picture. She's very cute, she does that with her dolls too. I found a step by step guide with photos on how to do a swaddle on Babycenter. Check it out. I also found that large swaddle cloths are better. My aunt made some for us the last time. Unfortunately we didn't bring them here and have to make do with the smaller ones.

Btw, the reason why Levi can't sleep the past two hours is probably because I've chucked all the swaddle cloths into the laundry accidentally! Silly me! Hopefully the next nap will go better with a good swaddle.

For a long time I really struggled with having to prepare Sophie for school, in case we decide to return to Singapore to put Sophie in Primary 1. Esp in the area of CHINESE! Eeeeks! I had Chinese tuition from Primary 3 all the way till JC2 and it didn’t help at all! I still hardly read or write.

I’m really thankful that James’ family speaks Mandarin at home. My mum in law is actually a Chinese teacher at a kindy! In fact, my own conversational Mandarin improved heaps when we got married and lived with them. I can even joke in Chinese now, don’t play play. Cantonese is another ball game altogether though. I still feel like I’m in another country when I’m with his family sometimes.

On our recent trip back, Sophie picked up quite a bit of conversational Mandarin because of the exposure even though most of the time my in laws spoke to her in English. Which just reminded me that language can only be really picked up if someone keeps speaking it, even if it was in drips and drapes! But it was good enough to get us going! She started answering in Mandarin if we spoke to her in Mandarin. Previously, she had refused! And guess what were her first words? NO!

Our conversations went something like this (in Mandarin, I’m not going to put my hanyu pinyin to the test so just imagine the conversation):-
Me: Sophie, would you like some bread for breakfast?
Sophie: NO!
Faint… I guess in any language, kids learn to say “NO!” first!
Argh…. Ok, better than nothing.

I was really encouraged and decided to continue doing that here.

We picked up a couple of Chinese audio CDs, videos and books from Maha Yuyi (They are located at Bras Basah Shopping Complex and they also have an online store.) and Popular Bookstore (They also have an online store). This was in addition to the storybooks we already bought in China last year. Btw, China has a great selection of storybooks for kids at really good prices e.g. S$3 per book.

Here’s how I selected them, bearing in mind that my own reading and writing ability for Chinese is also at preschool level:

For Story Books:
1. It must have Hanyu Pinyin! If it is accompanied by an audio CD, all the better!
2. Preferably only 1-2 sentences PER page. Beyond that, I can’t read fast enough and it’ll bore Sophie while I try to figure out the hanyu pinyin.
2. Stick to the plan. I figured out my aim for this year is for CONVERSATION and EXPOSURE. I’m not trying to get Sophie to be brilliant in reading and writing. So it has to be FUN and of interest to her! I simply chose story books that were of interest to her e.g. planting, cooking, dancing etc.

These are some of the books that we chose: -

Left: The Winnie the Pooh book, Two Little Cats, I can Read (the one with rabbits) and Wizard of Oz books were from Maha Yuyi. All of them come with audio CD except I can Read. Sophie loves the I Can Read book because it's stories of two little rabbits and their family. Very easy to read. The two pink books are from Popular and there are lots to choose from. Sophie and I really like these coz they are so relevant and so easy to understand and read. The fairy tale book comes in a set of stories and I think my in laws got them in China but I've seen them at Popular.

Right: This book is a treasure! I found it at Maha Yuyi. It shows how the Chinese characters were formed over the ages. Very visually interesting. Love it. It's more for me to stimulate my own interest, ha!

For Workbooks:
1. I prefer workbooks with topical sections with lots of opportunities for discussion and conversation rather than those that focused on writing and word recognition.
2. Instructions for each section needs to come with an example, in case I can’t read the instructions. HAHAHA!

This is the book that we’re using and I love it. It's from Popular. It really suits the level we’re at or I’m at (ha!). Sophie loves it too. She can go on for 10 pages at a time, which I think is pretty good! I’ve only been homeschooling her for a month or so and we’ve finished almost half the book! She can also recognize almost 10 Chinese words!

Why I like about this book
1. Word recognition through learning how the characters have been formed over the years, very visual (SO GOOD!). They even have creative ways to help the kids remember how the characters look.
2. No writing required. She just needs to draw links and do ticks or crosses.
3. Lots of opportunities for conversation and discussion. I notice that most of these local workbooks have incorporated civic and moral education e.g it is right to throw the rubbish in the bin and not on the floor (so Singaporean ah…). Very interesting and been quite good for me to teach them to Sophie.

For others e.g Media:

I just bought and tried whatever I could find. I wouldn’t say that they are the best around or that Sophie really enjoys them but seriously, for the price range that we can afford, the selection is quite limited.

These are some that we are using:-

Left: Very old school and cheena but quite good. Got that from John Little

Right: Good song selection with flash cards of Chinese characters. From Maha Yuyi.

P/s: – I also found out that it pays to be really humble at a Chinese bookshop and just tell the salesgirl that I’m really pathetic in Chinese and want find some stuff for my little girl. HELP! Oh yes, and now Sophie can say things like “Ma ma, wo yao che xiang jiao.” (Mum, I would like to eat a banana.) That’s pretty cool ya?

That is the coolest thing ever. It’s like having an endless supply of books, magazines and……. the latest thing is that you can borrow up to 2 DVDs/VCDs on your library card! You used to have to pay for a special membership to borrow the video and audio materials. Now it’s free! Woo hoo! And it’s just next door! 3 mins walk for adults and 10 mins walk for a pregnant lady with a curious 3 year old who stops to pick up plants and rubber bands (it was prob less but it felt like 10 mins in the hot sun).

Sophie and I have been hiding in the library once a week since we got back. I get my weekly dose of magazines (for free!) and she gets to browse all the books (for free!). Plus free aircon! Now she even gets to borrow DVDs like Little Einsteins, Dora, Ni-Hao Kai Lan, Bindi etc for free! Now only if we had more time to read and watch.

For Singapore homeschooling parents, the local library is such a blessing and good resource! They’ve got most of the good books that are recommended by Sonlight and Five in A Row.