Thursday 31 January 2019

KooBits Maths Digital Learning [GIVEAWAY]

1 in 2 Singapore primary school students are using KooBits problem sums to improve their Maths. That is about 8000 plus Singapore primary students. In the case of our household, the daughter isn't using KooBits in school, but the son is. Ratio of 1:2 indeed. 

KooBits develops digital tools and platforms to help children learn better. They engage children with beautifully designed software and learning content. KooBits software tools are intuitive, interactive, media-rich and highly motivating. Co-developed with top educators and experts in child development, KooBits learning contents are age-appropriate, relevant and aligned to the latest education curriculum and syllabus. One of the top Maths learning platform in Singapore.


How do you like the idea of going beyond the traditional classroom barriers? I love that we do not have to travel in and out for enrichment classes, love it for being flexible and self paced. And of course, it takes lots of independent learning. But that is where we are gearing our kids up to, isn't it?! Assignments can be assigned within KooBits by their, yours truly, Mama. As a Mum who doesn't send my kids for any academic enrichment, I love this fantastic idea. 


Such learning platform is perfect for our family dynamics. 

How KooBits help with the learning journey 
Proven Maths Learning Method: Singaporean Maths model method is highly recommended by educators worldwide. Because it helps pupils understand maths questions clearly and solve word problems effectively.

Questions breakdown and walkthrough: KooBits breaks down the question and walks through entire solving process with video tutorials so your child knows exactly what to do and feels confident implementing every step. 

Great solving details shown in the video below, a primary 3 Maths question. It breaks down word problems using bar model method learned from the video lessons. 




Every child learns differently, and we make decisions differently. This digital platform may be used as an additional supplement or even more perfect if your child isn't doing any Maths enrichment. I like that it helps reinforce what they have learned in school. It definitely helps us see the value of flexibility and potentially exclude commuting hours in our schedule, if we ever do Math enrichment.


OVERVIEW
Upon log in, you will find these tabs on the Dashboard:
- Brain games: Games that give that brain a workout and a breather from work. This mini arcade section is only available from 8am to 6pm daily. It only allows a maximum play time of 25 minutes daily. And to play, your child needs 1 Koko credit per day. That is earned by doing assignments! 



- Challenge: There are 10 bite sized challenges for complete daily. A daily task for the kids. This portion of work is only available from 6am to 10pm. Just so the kids do not compromise on sleep hours, I guess.



- Homework: I am able to assign homework and deadline based on the schedule of MOE (Quick creation) or customise (Custom creation) by selecting specific skills and questions. I prefer the latter, so I can assign based on her school's learning pace. Best part, I do not have to self mark the work. Everything is automatically marked and explained, if there are wrongly answered questions.

 

- Self Practice: This is very much self led and allows independent revision. The practices are all topical and each skill level comes with both lesson and practice. Lessons are usually short videos of detailed explanation and diagram visuals. The practices are also categorised into mechanical sums, problem sums and high ability questions. It covers a wide range of questions from easy to challenging questions, to stretch minds of the little learners. And if there is any question our child stumble upon, a video tutorial with step by step solution of models and diagrams is just a click away. 

So yes, it is a whole lot of independent learning and discipline with KooBits.





- StoryMath: A comic story that tells of the adventure of a fox. And the chapters are unlocked gradually. Just so the kids do not get to captivated with reading, and forgot about Maths practice. 




We love this whole idea of practicing Math with the element of fun. It is nicely presented and extremely enticing in engaging a child to learn Math. Even for one who has Math phobia. This subscribed package has all topics and practices covered. The subscription is only at $8 per month or $99 per year. Get a 10% discount off a year subscription if you sign up with this paypal link. After discount at $89. Readers exclusive discount! 


GIVEAWAY
We have a 2 months of KooBits subscription for giveaway to 4 winners. 2 on Facebook and 2 on Instagram. Do ensure that your child is not subscribed to the school's KooBits account to participate. Your child only needs one account for all access.

FACEBOOK
To participate, simply: 
1. Like Mum's calling on Facebook
2. Like KooBits on Facebook
3. Tag 3 friends whom you think will find KooBits useful, in the comment section of this Facebook post

INSTAGRAM
1. Follow @mumscalling
3. Tag 3 or more friends in the comment section of the post (ONE tag per comment please)

You may try your luck on both Facebook and Instagram. Giveaway ends on 08 Feb 19, 2359hrs.


Terms and Conditions:


  • Winners will be picked by random.org
  • Winners will be announced on Facebook and this blog post
  • Winners will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be drawn
  • Date and Time of workshops are firm
  • All incomplete entries will be disqualified
  • All entries will be verified before the winner is announced 
  • To be fair to our sponsors, social media accounts set up purely to take part in contests will be deemed ineligible to win.
  • Giveaway is no way sponsored, endorsed, administered or associated with Facebook or Instagram 

Tuesday 15 January 2019

CNY Delivery - Poon Confectionary

Royal Bakery is one of the oldest makers of homemade tidbits and Chinese New Year Goodies in the market. They came from a long line of family bakers, and were famous for Muah Chee and Pineapple Tarts, long before 1971. The Poon Family baked goods from home and sold them at hawker stalls in the streets of Malaysia.  
 
Poon expanded to Singapore in 2018. Keeping in line with the trend of buying goods online in today’s times, they have decided to launch operations online for the convenience of shopping and gifting. If you have tried them before you will know what to come back for, if not, hop down to their location for a time of free tasting!


FREE TASTING LOCATION
502 Macpherson Road
S368204 (Opposite Caltex)
Opening Hours: 1pm – 10pm Daily
Open on Weekends too
Contact Number: 9762 6523 / 9663 4314


We say food tastes its best being homemade and handmade. Made with natural ingredients without preservative or artificial flavours. As the years went by, many traditional bakers turned to automation and machinery to increase the volume of their goods. Poon knew that the taste of each cookie is maintained and upheld by their family tradition of hand-making each cookie by hand, with only light machinery used.

And here are some mouth watering goodies Royal Bakery had sent us.




Needless to say, we had a prelude to CNY feasting even before the actual. And here's our verdict of the cookies.


1. Golden Pillow Pineapple Tarts ($15.72)
These pineapple tarts melt in your mouth. Soft, buttery and not overly sweet. They are lovingly shaped to bite sized without being messy. I am usually one who would always opt for an opened face tarts over closed, but I realised this is not a bad option too.

2. Hae Bee Hiam Sambal Prawn Roll (虾米条) ($14.41)
This is our all time favourite! Almost hard to stop the moment you start. Sambal Prawn Roll, also known as Shrimp Roll, is spicy but filled with astonishing goodness. Each bite crunches in your mouth and fills your taste buds with awesome tasting shrimp. I find this slightly more spicy than the commercial ones. It was not too bad for me, but it sent the kids jumping up and down. If you had like something richer in spice level, this is definitely the choice.

As a side note, their prawn roll is made with shrimp but it is more commonly called a prawn roll. Most prawn rolls are also made with shrimp.

3. Green Pea Cookies (青豆饼) ($14.41)
An alternative for those who do not like almond cookies, green pea cookies are equally good. Being green pea, they are sometimes an acquired taste. I find them great tasting, but not the kids. Oh well, they remove the peas from their fried rice all the time. No surprise.

Poon confectionary assures that there is no better green pea cookie out there in Singapore! Fragrant and crunchy with a light, buttery aftertaste of green pea. This delightful cookie’s recipe was one of the first in their family tradition. It has since been perfected many times, resulting in the splendid Green Pea Cookie.  


Prawn rolls, pineapple tarts and green pea cookies

4. Salted Egg Chips (咸蛋薯片) ($14.41)
This is a must-try for salted egg lovers. It is flavourful, but we felt that it lacked some crunch and crisp. Or perhaps, we have not eaten enough salted egg chips for compare.



5. Kuih Kapit Love Letters (Peanut Butter Filling) (花生鸡蛋卷) ($14.41)
Love Letters with delicious peanut butter fillings. This was our best and most well liked at home! And you won't believe that the peanut butter is 100% Homemade by Poon, with a slightly salty, not-so-sweet taste. Soooo good!

Each love letter has been folded and baked to be buttery, slightly sweet and deliciously tasty. The peanut butter filling makes it all the more glorious. And though it looks thickly filled, it is not at all jerlat. You won't get sick of it.


Photo credit: Poon Confectionary

Kuih Kaput Love letters

This gives a good idea of the choices you can make when carting over at Poon confectionery, https://cnydelivery.com. And of course, they have many more other CNY goodies choice for your hosting and gifting options. Delivery fee is at $6.90 if your orders are less than $100. And yes, they deliver to anywhere in Singapore.


DISCOUNT CODE
Cart out with code mumscalling for a 10% discount. Happy Shopping!


Royal Bakery
Facebook (@cnydeliverysg)
Instagram (@cnydeliverysg)
Contact:  9762 6523
Email: admin@cnydelivery.com



Disclaimer: Goodies were sent for the purpose of this review. All opinions and photos, unless otherwise stated are solely ours. 


Monday 7 January 2019

Baking class with Little Bakers Lab [GIVEAWAY]

The kids and I spent our weekend baking pineapple tarts with some blogger mummies and kids over at Little Bakers Lab. Not the ordinary tarts, but cute piggy pineapple tarts to welcome the year of oink oink! The baking studio is a nice and cosy space in Serangoon Garden Way. I love how beautiful and bright its baking environment is with everything laid out neatly before putting us to task. With chef hats, aprons and takeaway containers provided, there is nothing we have to come in with, except enthusiasm.

Baking Family Fun

Check out this simple and yummy recipe we did with their founder, Janice Tan. More than the outcome, we had a fun time bonding through baking. Baking with the kids not only provides a practical experience, it is a great way to spend family time. And here, we can leave the mess out of home.


INGREDIENTS
25g all purpose flour
25g cake flour
25g corn flour
10g milk powder
9g icing sugar
1/2 egg yolk
1/8 tsp vanilla essence
38g cold butter
12 pieces of pineapple jam ball (Poon Huat)
black sesame seeds


METHOD 
1. Sieve all flour, milk powder and icing sugar together.
2. Cut in cold butter and rub with fingertips until mixture becomes coarse crumbs.
3. Make a well, add egg yolk and vanilla essence, and knead into soft dough. Place dough in fridge for 20 to 30 minutes.
4. Roll dough into balls weighing 10g each.
5. Flatten a piece of dough, place pineapple jam ball in the middle and wrap it up. Roll it in between your palms to shape it into a ball.
6. Use dough to shape ears and nose. Shape nose nostrils with toothpick and add sesame seeds as eyes.
7. Bake them at 165 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.
8. Cool completely before keeping them in air tight container.


Extra ingredient - Fun!

And Jazz arranged her piggies to be doing circle time in the oven.

Into the oven!

Baked piggies

The kids love it so much that they asking to bake more at home!

And while waiting for the dough in the fridge, Janice thoughtfully baked some cupcakes for the kids to decorate on. It was a pleasant surprise and treat for the kids!



Little Bakers Lab is a baking studio that conducts kids baking workshops, parties and events. It is less than a month to the Lunar New Year! And there is no better way to prepare for the festive season other than making our own handmade Chinese New Year goodies with our little ones. 

Parent and Child CNY Baking Workshop is now open for registration at Little Bakers Lab. Grab this opportunity to bond and have fun with our little ones by making your very own Piggy Pineapple Tarts.

Only 5 workshops available, so grab your slots to avoid disappointment!

Try too, our giveaway below. As well as these Mummy bloggers who will be/are hosting their giveaway on blog, facebook or Instagram:

Raising Faith
Family.Stay.sg
The Perfect Father
Instagram: @xincilovesyou
The Hooting Post




Piggy Pineapple Tarts Baking Workshop

Dates:
19 Jan (Sat): 10.30am to 12pm
20 Jan (Sun): 2pm to 3.30pm
25 Jan (Fri): 4pm to 5.30pm
26 Jan (Sat): 10.30am to 12pm
27 Jan (Sun): 2pm to 3.30pm

Fee:
$58 per pair (Parent+child)

Venue:
Little Bakers Lab
87A Serangoon Garden Way S(555983)
To Register:
Pm via their Facebook page or Whatsapp to 9389 6066.


GIVEAWAY
We have one parent and child (above 3 year old) slot for GIVEAWAY to 1 winner for this CNY workshop! All you had need to do is:

1. Like Little Bakers Lab on Facebook
2. Like Mum's calling on Facebook
3. Tag 3 friends whom you think will love to attend this parent and child baking class, in the comments section of this Facebook post.
For an additional entry chance:
4. Follow Little Bakers Lab on Instagram and
5. Follow Mum's calling on Instagram
(Leave me your Instagram account in the comment section of this Facebook post too!)

All the best! Giveaway closes on 15 Jan 19, 2359hrs.

This GIVEAWAY has ended. Congrats Priscilla Quek! 


Terms and Conditions:

  • Winners will be picked by random.org
  • Winners will be announced on Facebook and this blog post
  • Winners will have 24 hours to respond, failing which a new winner will be drawn
  • Date and Time of workshops are firm
  • All incomplete entries will be disqualified
  • All entries will be verified before the winner is announced 
  • To be fair to our sponsors, social media accounts set up purely to take part in contests will be deemed ineligible to win.
  • Giveaway is no way sponsored, endorsed, administered or associated with Facebook or Instagram


Friday 4 January 2019

Safari Zoo Run 2019 - Early bird registration extended!

The Safari Zoo Run is back, and for the first time, you will get to traverse through the River Safari as part of the run! The race is running into its 11th year, but we are excited for it being our first!


Safari Zoo Run 2019
Date: 24 February 2019  (Sunday)
Time: 0700hrs – 1100hrs
Venue: Singapore Zoo, 80 Mandai Lake Rd, Singapore 729826


This is the only run where participants get the unique opportunity to journey through Singapore's Wildlife parks, say hello to the animals on your way, with families and friends! New green initiatives will lead the way for runners taking part in Safari Zoo Run 2019, with Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) encouraging participants to bring their own water bottles to reduce single-use plastic. In keeping with the theme of the race—Run for Wildlife—WRS will also do away with plastic wraps for race tees and finisher medals. We applaud these moves!


A = Adult (13YRS & Above)
B = Child (8-12YRS)
C = Child (4-7YRS)
D = Child (3-12YRS)


What's New in 2019? New Race Routes & Categories!
  • Safari Zoo Challenge – Competitive run is now 2km longer at 12km! It’s time to put your endurance to the test.
  • This year, we are introducing Safari Zoo Duo Dash and Safari Zoo Junior Dash for adults to pair up with their kids to form a team, for a competitive 2km race.
  • Safari Zoo Fun Walk for those who want to enjoy a leisurely pace with the family, good for little ones in strollers too! A wild 4km stroll to appreciate nature and wildlife.
  • River Safari will be open as a route for Safari Zoo Walk! Here’s your chance to visit the river dwellers and say hi to Canola in Amazon Flooded Forest.




Early bird registration with discounted rates has been EXTENDED TO 15 JANUARY 2019. Wait no more! Promotional rates continue from 15 to 31 January 2019. Normal registration will run from 1 to 15 February 2019.

For more race information and registration, visit: http://www.safarizoo.run/

Go Green and Bring Your Own Bottles (included in race pack) as the Safari Zoo Run features a new initiative to encourage participants to be more environmentally conscious. Race pack entry collection will be on 16 and 17 February, 11am to 7pm at Velocity (Novena Square).

Save the Earth!