“When the fun goes out of play, most often so does the learning. “  - Joanne E. Oppenheim (20th century), U.S. educator, author. Kids and Play, ch. 1 (1984)

Some people think of play as the opposite of work. To many, play is often associated with laziness, underachievement and frivolousness. This is probably why we, as parents, often jam-pack our children with activities, in and out of school, so that they could spend their time more ‘wisely’.

Today, as I cradled my darling daughter in my arms and gazed at her peaceful sleeping countenance, I was overwhelmed by a profound sense of maternal love. As I touched her face gingerly with my fingertip, tracing her face contour starting from her hairline, down her eyebrow, her eyelid, touched the tip of her cute button nose and the outline of her lips, a silent tear rolled down my cheek. A tear of deep gratitude - for this precious miracle of life lying asleep in my arms.

Just earlier in the day, I had given her three hard spanks on her palm for being rude to me. Though she was upset for being disciplined and looked as if she was going to cry, she did not. I know this child is strong-willed and probably has a stubborn streak in her. The fact that she held her tears and refused to cry also shows that she is rather headstrong and has a lot of pride. She doesn't want to show her vulnerable side to others, not even in front of her mummy.

A Letter to my Daughter

Dear Dotty,

U hate my Nagging. I know that. U think it is the worst thing on earth. I know that too. U think that it is my favorite time-pass. I know that . But that is not why I do it. Read on …

U see, Nagging is a part of the job description of a mom. As a mother, I find it the most effective tool, in getting things done. The fear that “Oh no, I don’t clean up, she will get started again. And God knows when it will stop….”, is an extremely powerful motivator. Fear of nagging will empower U to overcome ur laziness to do ur work, temptations to watch the idiot box, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Just picture this - ur mind flashes the image of mummy (monster) in full nagging mode, triggers u into action mode and viola ! the seemingly impossible work is done.

As parents, we worry about all kinds of Qs, IQ, EQ, NQ(nutrition quotient not "No Q"), SQ(Social quotient) etc.....  the list of worries goes on..  I am a parent who particularly cares about EQ or VQ(values quotient) because I feel that this forms the basis of several decision process and decision-making is a major part of our lives.

Recently I visited my favourite mobile "bookstore" and chanced upon this set of books for EQ.... Instinctively I realised there would be hope for those who missed the "幸福的种子".   This set of books is equally colourful and fun for children to flip.  The authors of the original stories are from European countries, translated into Japanese and then to Chinese.

I heard of ortho-k lense 4 years ago. At that time, my daughter's myopia just started with 50 degree at K1, then jump to 100+ once she entered to p1. I refused to let her wear the normal spectacle as I believe that would make eyesight even worse from my past experience (Did you see anyone with myopia getting better or myopia being controlled by wearing normal minus lenses? The answer is No.) so I did research and tried many methods to improve her eyesight, such as bates method, eye massage, see the wall chart, eye exercise, let her eat the eyefood and worn plus lenses for a years, etc.

Just read an article today on parents sending their kids for tuition. With the GEP selection tests this month, some even send their kids for $200 a session to get trained for them.

Speaking as a mom who has a kid going through the first year in GEP, I would like to share my experiences and why I strongly advise against training for these tests in order to get into GEP.

My child was highly excited about the GEP selection tests, not because we had put any emphasis on it, but more from his peers in school at that time. I suspect it was a measure of 'how smart they are' when they compared among themselves.

Part 1: An overview of the 5 major categories of learning abilities a child needs

Part 2: An analyse of the learning process based on example questions

In this final part, we will provide parents with some behavioural indicators that they can use to carry out a ‘DIY’ assessment of their child’s level of learning abilities.

(Do NOTE, however, that these indicators are not meant for any diagnosis purposes, but rather to provide parents with a better understanding of the area(s) of learning their child may be having difficulty with)