Thankful Jar

We just ended a week of Thanksgiving. To advocate the spirit of thankfulness, I've been conversing with Js about the things that we are thankful for. I know thankfulness should be within our soul, heart and mind, all the time. But it was in the atmosphere that led us into this subject of conversation.

We did a Thankful Jar. A jar where we put our thankfulness within. Js told me about the many things they were thankful for, I wrote it and they dropped it into the jar individually. As we went along, we realized there are just so many happy things around us, be it little or big. They were even thankful for the Christmas tree set up in our house. We may not have all the goodness and richness of this World, but we were never in lack. For myself, I'm eternally thankful for the past 1 year plus, where we had this opportunity to shift home to a much much bigger country, with so much explorations and treasures. My time with the man and kids had been so memorable. So little time here, so much to bring home. Yes, we are packing up soon! 

 

Thankful for his Toy cars!

Our thankfulness within

 

Above the things they possessed, they drifted to thanking for the flowers and leaves that recently blossomed in our backyard. And for the things that are yet to be possessed or seen, Jare claimed them. He's thankful for a turkey! That convicted me to bake one for him, and I did it with Mummy D! My inaugural turkey, with stuffing made from scratch. It certainly helped with 2 pair of hands and minds. Our turkey tasted awesomely good! Thankful for the great turkey making experiment and simple pre-thanksgiving dinner we had with mummies, daddies and kiddies! 

 

Our 11 pounds turkey

 

Now, I think I'm hooked on baking a turkey! Will definitely bake one back in SG. Hopefully the birds there aren't too exuberant.

Homeschooling can be fun

The creative part of my mind is always challenged when it comes to Jare and learning. It's extremely tough to get his attention on academics. I have to constantly excite him, with an attempt to make learning an ultimate pleasure for him. My best thought was to get his cars and planes involved. His all time favourite. 

 

Placing the cars and planes upon my number call

 

Jare can count almost perfect to 20, but when it comes to recognising the numbers, he's probably not quite there yet. And when I'm in the right mood to sit him down for learning, he seemed to prefer setting his eyes on some other distraction. A total different personality from Jazz, who always seemed hungry for new knowledge. 

I used his cars and planes to help identify the numbers. Asked him to put 'Dusty' on 1, and 'Woody' on 5, and on and on, he could score perfect. I affirmed that homeschooling him requires a variety of fun. How intensive is that for his mama?!! I hope I've exemplified the meaning of learning through play.

Then we moved on to numbers tracing. I got him to move a car along the writing direction of the number, he could do it well, as if the car was on an imaginary race track. After which, he did pencil tracing and counting. He usually misses a count or two during counts, especially when distracted. When it comes to counting his cars, it was easy peasy. What an astonishing chemistry, boys and cars! 

 

Diligently tracing 6

Going through 7 and counting cars

 

And, I started him on paper cutting! Taught him some scissors skills, position those fingers and ready... open and close, open and close. He did a great maneuver with his first successful piece of work. It was with minimal assistance. Under close supervision, no harm was done to any of his fingers. Proud of this little boy.

Excellent attempt

 

Like most mums, I get my dose of frustration when it comes to teaching Js. I breathe in and out countless times, to keep anger away. My homeschooling tips are all about:

1. Patience, loads of it!
2. Enjoy the process.
3. Perfect time, when both are into the flow.
4. Drink lots of water! It boosts concentration.
5. Think of creative ways to capture attention and interest.
6. Don't get too perfect on them. That crooked A or B is perfectly imperfect.
7. Encouragements. Healthy self esteem. They do better when they feel better.
8. Set a routine. It can be abrupt to stop play or an act to get into the serious stuff. 
9. Praises and rewards. I'll paste a sticker or stamp on each completed work. Js love it!
10. Know when to stop. Signs of fatigue or listlessness indicates it's high time to stop and relax. There's no hurry, to each at their own pace. We know every child is uniquely different.

Homeschooling can be challenging, but we have choices to make teaching and learning interestingly fun.

Family game nights

Games stimulate little minds and build family bonds. I love it that we do family game nights, be it board games or self invented games, I love every part of our play. More importantly, I like the values and skills set that can be taught in different games. 

We learn to play games by rules, create rules and sometimes with compassion, play out of the rules. The kids pick up game ethics, they learn to wait, take turns, cheer on each other and experience the emotions of victory or lost. Jazz grew from a bad sport to a good sport after umpteen times of games playing. She couldn't face defeat, but now, she knows its not about the end result, but the journey.

We house many board games, some of which were inherited from my kind neighbour who shifted out. Other than age appropriate board games, here are some easy, out of the board, games we play with our time together. 

1. Hot or Cold

Js love it when I hide a treat or an object that requires effort to search. I'll define a specific area for them to comb. When they get near, I'll hint 'Hot, which means they're near the target. 'Cold' and it means far away. They'll form their task force, discuss their strategy and begin search. And of course, to not ruffle much with tidiness, make object an easy search. Then, we take turns to hide.

Objectives: Reward comes with effort. Patient and teamwork.

2. Memory

Gather a few small items and hide it under a blanket. Open up and give them about 10 seconds to remember the items, then cover up again. Test their memory with what they saw. They always outshine me in this. As their memory gets better, mine deteriorates.

Objectives: Memory builder and concentration

 

Working their little brain

3. Guess me

Our favourite road trip game. I would have a thing in mind, and do up a riddle for it. For example, I've chair on mind, I'll go,"People sit on me, I'm always found with the table and I've 4 legs." Be surprise with their replies. They are sure excited to get it right. For Jare, I'll go for a really simple one. I love playing this game not only because it works our thinking cells, it also helps build their knowledge, vocabulary and sentence structure when they hear the riddle. And when they build their own riddle, I'll either be impressed or depressed with their knowledge and structure. A mother, a teacher.

Objectives: Creativity,  Academics - Language, general knowledge

4. Scissors, Paper, Stone
Place a target or treat at the end of a flight of steps. Start from the top or bottom. Play the traditional scissors, paper, stone. Winner takes a step down or up towards the target. Whoever reaches the target wins or keeps the yummy treat. I usually play few rounds, till both child gets their fair treat. This is when you know compassion rules the game.
Objectives: Reward comes with effort, patient

Jazz leading the game

5. Hide and seek

This is old school, but we know its fun! Play too often, and you'll run out of places to hide. So play this once in a long long while. Kids love repetition anyway. Js loves this game and they can be really good hiders at times.

Objectives: Hide in teams for team work, learn to stay quiet and count while waiting

Remove skills and values out of the objectives, playing games as a family not only makes everyone happy, it also creates meaningful lasting memories. Have you some nights set aside for games too? All you need is a little fraction of some daily time. We know they won't want to play with us forever.