Age appropriate: 3 – 5 years old

Introduction:
Your child will learn the following skills: observing, listening, playing, exploring, questioning, experimenting, and stimulating most of his/her senses (i.e. touch, taste, smell, vision and hearing).

Purpose:

• Create a fun and explorative way of learning alphabets, names, or words
• A sense of surprise and discovery is incorporated in this activity
• Parent and child bonding session
• Improves fine motor skills
• Creativity
• Imagination

Materials Needed:

• Drawing paper
• Sequins
• White crayon
• White craft glue
• Colour pencils or crayons
• Water colour
• Paint brush
• Craft foam letters

Step 1: Parent’s task – Preparation of resource

• Decide on the topic, word, or letters in which you want to introduce to your child
• Using the white crayon, draw or write down the objects related to the topic, words, or letters

Step 2: Getting your child involved – Recognising child’s name

• Allow your child to use water colour paint and brush to paint over the drawing paper
• As he/she paints, it will slowly reveal what you have prepared for him/her
• To re-enforce your child’s learning, provide craft foam letters to the child so that he/she can identify the words/letters/name and use the foam letters to decorate the drawing paper

A different variation – Teaching a specific letter to a child

Step 1: Parent’s task – Preparation of resource

• Decide on the letter in which you want to introduce to the child
• On a drawing paper, draw out the outline of the letter
• Determine which words or letters are to be hidden from the child, and use the white crayon to draw or write on the drawing paper

Step 2: Getting your child involved – Recognising a specific letter

• Start the activity with a simple craft of pasting
• The child will use craft item/items related to fill the space in the letter
• This enhances both hand and eye coordination
• For example, I choose the letter F, thus flower sequins were used for this craft activity

Step 3: Relating the letter with daily objects

•  It is important to relate what you are teaching for this incidence the letter F with daily objects, so that the child could see a relationship to what he/she is learning. (e.g. is for Five, Four, Fish, Flower and Frog)
• Allow your child to use water colour paint and brush to paint over the drawing paper
• As he/she paints, it will slowly reveal what you have prepared for him/her
• After the child has finished painting the drawing paper, recap with your child on the day’s topic by having a causal conversation about the letter and the daily surroundings

By Poppletots
About Poppletots: Started in 2010 by a mom who left her job to be spend more time with her child, Poppletots aims to provide unique, fun and useful children related products such as educational kits and apparels. Within 2 years, Poppletots has become a fun-going cosy community for reviews and parents to exchange ideas. Find out more about Poppletots at www.facebook.com/poppletots

This article was first published in The New Age Parents Feb / Mar 2013 e-magazine

Launching at the Resorts World Sentosa – Festive Grand™ Theatre this June Holiday season 6th – 9th June 2013, the Bubble Legendary Show promises to be a captivating and interactive show suitable for audiences of all ages, perfect to spend time as a family this June holidays.

Collagen Punch™ is a healthy collagen supplement that is completely pure (no-sweeteners, flavorings, or anything else added). When Collagen Punch™ is taken daily, your body is assured of getting maximum absorption of 100% natural collagen essence. This is unlike other collagen products that are heavily mixed with additives or unnecessary ingredients. Collagen Punch™ contains purely 18 types of amino acid that are needed to keep body functioning & youthful.

Collagen Punch™ comes in silky smooth collagen powder with a neutral taste, and is specially packed in air-tight powder tubes for hygiene & easy consumption. 1 box of Collagen Punch™ contains 30 powder tubes with bountiful 5,000mg per tube. That can last for a month!

25% Off! Exclusive for The New Age Parents readers | 24 May to 31 May 2013

To promote lasting skin & body health to the new age parents, we are giving a one-time 25% off with purchase of 1 box of Collagen Punch™. Enjoy this promo price at $66 (usual $88). Free delivery.

*Not applicable to 2-box & above.

Order online at our website
1) Enter $66 if you are paying via PayPal.
2) Otherwise, you may pay with NETS or cash upon delivery.
3) We also accept bank transfer to our OCBC business account no. 528-840424-001.
Just inform us at our website using “Contact us” page.

Free sample of 2 powder tubes. Exclusive for The New Age Parents readers

Simply send in your request at our website using “Contact us” page.

Website: www.collagenpunch.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/collagenpunch
Phone support: +65 9820 4677
Email: info@collagenpunch.com

STELLAR YOUNG PTE LTD
Address: 10 Anson Road #26-04 International Plaza Singapore 079903

Be Part of Our BrainFit Revolution

Brainy Open House
1 June 2013 (Sat)
9am – 12noon
193 Thomson Road, Goldhill Centre

1 Jun Only!
• $60* OFF Brain Profiling
• $100* OFF 20-sessions pkg
• $200* OFF 40-sessions pkg

9.00am-12.00nn : Brainy acitivities, Magic show, Balloon Sculpting & Popcorn

9.30am-10.30am : Workshop: P1 Readiness – It’s more than ABC & 123
(Suitable for Parents of Pre-School Children)

All workshop participants will get a Goodie Bag and a FREE copy of the book “Fit Brains Learn Better – A Chronicle of 12 Years of Brain Fitness Training” by Ms Cheryl Chia, Founder & Director of BrainFit Studio

To Register For Our FREE Parent’s Workshop, Call 6737 3511. Seats are limited. (*Terms & Conditions Apply)

Visit us at www.brainfitstudio.com

The New Age Parents is inviting TWO families to join us on an exciting trip to check out the June Holiday Programmes at Sentosa.

Entrance fees are complimentary! Plus each family will also receive a special goodie bag from Sentosa.

Sunday 2 June Programme, 3.00 – 6.00pm
- Dance Musical by Tanglin Arts Studio
- Little Hands and Minds Activity
- Pizza Making
- Puppet Master Musical
- Photo-taking Opportunity

Tuesday 4 June Programme, 3.00 – 6.00pm
- Story time (The Dragon Prince, Hansel & Gretel)
- Little Hands and Minds Activity
- Kid’s Meal
- Photo-taking Opportunity

All you have to do is to like us and fill in the form below on the preferred date and time.

1. Be a fan of The New Age Parents

2. Fill in this simple form below:

Hurry! This special invitation will end on the 29 May.

The two selected families will be contacted via email and phone.

10 – 14 June 2013
9 am to 6 pm
For Primary School Pupils (Age 7 – 12)

Let your child enjoy a balanced and fruitful school holiday. They will spend the mornings revising Semester One’s school syllabus and the afternoons enjoying various activities held at various parts of Singapore. Spend the holidays making friends, learning new skills, developing creativity and most importantly, having great fun!

The holiday programme includes
• Half-day academic revision
• Breakfast, Lunch, Tea Break
• All necessary teaching and activity materials
• Transportation to the various activity venue

About Us
Dewdrops is a Student Care Center located at 34 Haig Road. We provide distinctive student care services for discerning parents throughout the year. We ensure pupils use the afternoons fruitfully by providing homework coaching, assessment preparations, well-varied learning activities. We do provide full-day student care during Week 1 and Week 4 of the June holidays. If you need our assistance to ensure your child stays fruitfully and meaningfully engaged during the upcoming June holidays, do speak to us.

Website: www.dewdrops.com.sg
Email us at revitalise@dewdrops.com.sg
Tel: 9389 7227 or 67477 806

Question: “Hi, my 7 year old daughter still can’t read well. Somehow she can’t blend the words. How can I help her?”

Answer: From your query, we sense your concern over your little one’s lack of fluency with reading. Many times, a couple of things could be at play (for the lack of fluency in reading).

Consider the following as fodder for thought:

1) Pictorial cues
Good books should have strong association between the word/vocabulary and the illustrations. Emergent readers hinge on these pictures to gain context and meaning to print. The implication here will be to get reading material that hinges on strong illustrations.

2) Word count
Whilst a 7 year old should be able to read a good number of words, the exact range differs due to extent of exposure at an early age to print, interest etc. Use the 5-finger rule when choosing a book. If your child can read a page with no hindrance and stopping for “every- 5″ word chunk, then the levelling of the book will be about right.

3) Sound vs word
The thing about learning to read is that not everyone starts from associating what they “see” with how it should “sound”. Some children are just whole word learners. This means that they are more likely to pick up the reading skill by picking up the learning of the word visually and not by auditory ( ie through phonics). The road to learning is definitely harder for whole word learners but their strength is that they have a strong sense of what they are reading as compared to readers who decode phonetically.

For whole word readers, exposure to wide range of reading materials and loads of reading aloud opportunities is essential. Point to them the words as you read with them. This explicitly “forces” them to look at the words read.

Above all, loads of patience and encouragement works wonders.

LEAP Schoolhouse has an ‘Ask and Learn’ section every Thursday. If you have any questions regarding language or literacy development, feel free to drop your questions in the comment box below, or post them on LEAP SchoolHouse Facebook page.

In this Ask The Expert section, we asked Esther Lim, CEO and Founder of LEAP SchoolHouse, about language and literacy development in children. Born and educated in Singapore, she holds a Master Degree in Education (NTU/NIE), Bachelor Degree in Arts (NTU), Diploma in Marketing – Top student for the year 2000 (Chartered Institute of Marketing). Esther has more than 10 years of teaching experience and has taught widely in both Secondary and Primary schools. She was also involved in curriculum planning and development work for the primary unit at MOE for several years. Esther has also conducted workshops and talks for educators, locally and overseas. Besides all the above credentials, Esther is also a mother of three children.

For more info, visit leapschoolhouse.com.sg

Click here for a larger view

Are you looking for some holiday fun for your little ones?

Happy Willow’s got them all sorted for you. From Music & Drama, Balloon Twisting to learning Mandarin the fun way, our Happy Holiday workshops also include UNLIMITED PLAY so register today at play@happywillow.com.sg or 6466 6300!

Website: www.happywillow.com.sg

Chinese.

The word itself sends shivers down learners’ spine. Not only does it affect the learner, but also the parents who are just as clueless as to how to help their wards. As an educator, I have been thrown the question umpteen times – “How can I help my child to learn Chinese at home?” My answers are always the same – start from basics; speak the language and read the books.

Speak Mandarin Day at Home
To be able to write fluently in Chinese, one has to be able to converse in Mandarin fluently. This is the case with all other languages because speech is the fundamental element in mastering any language. Dedicate two days in a week as your family’s “Speak Mandarin Day”. Involve everyone in the family and whoever fails to converse in Mandarin will get a forfeit. The whole idea is to make it a fun learning day, and most importantly, to get your child to speak the language without duress.

Reading the right books
Undeniably, reading is the next fundamental element. Start young with your child and start off by reading to them. As you read, your child will pick up the proper pronunciation, the sentence structures and grammar rules subconsciously. Choose big picture books because they can best capture children’s attention and you can even discuss the pictures with your child as you read.

As your child enters primary one, choose books that come with hanyu pinyin and get them to read to you. Do not fear that they would be overly-dependent on the hanyu pinyin because the main focus here is to get them engaged in reading and to be able to understand the story. Remember, through reading, children will be able to pick up grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures along the way. As they progress to upper primary, get them to pick up books of their choice. Ask them to share the story with you.

With these two simple activities practiced consistently, the love for the language will be sowed and they will definitely reap the fruits of their labour soon enough.

This article is contributed by GRAM’s Learning Centre

Premiere! Julia Gabriel Centre PlayClub Bears and ToyBox Extravaganza!

Date: Saturday 1st June 2013 | Sunday 2nd June 2013
Time: 11.30am to 5.30pm
Venue: Forum The Shopping Mall, Basement 1
For two days only!

The talented duo from ToyBox joins the PlayClub Bears from Julia Gabriel Centre to bring you a two day extravaganza of performances, storytelling, music, songs and plenty of hilarious antics!

What happens when ToyBox meets a family of singing, dancing bears for the very first time? Ahh! And what colour PlayClub Bear family will it be? Come down to Forum to find out. There’s bound to be a few surprises in store as well as art and craft activities, goody bags, and loads of fun and excitement for all the family.

Sign up for any Holiday Programme during this event and receive a Dinosaur Discovery Book Set FREE. Rainbow Bear Hand Puffet at only $14.90*

* Terms and conditions apply.

Like us on www.facebook.com/JuliaGabrielCentreSingapore
Tel: 6733 4322
Email: enquiries@juliagabriel.com
Website: www.juliagabriel.com