Tuesday, 27 March 2012
Impressive Frunty
Frunty is not going to school today. But he immediately told us that he had to hand in his project so he would not let his group down. He cares about his group and I am so proud of him. Remember a time when the character of a child was more important than good grades?
Saturday, 24 March 2012
Friends from Bangkok
Friends who are like family visited us from Bangkok and we had a great time! We enjoyed a huge feast at HY California at Marina Bay and a light and sound show afterwards. I love Singapore at night and Pit said it was the best night of his life. Frunty loved the vanilla, walnut and green tea icecream! Hope to see them again soon!
Bali means...
packing a big suitcase full of clothes and kids' stuff and giving the entire thing (suitcase too) to a village near Amed...
getting their own room at the Novotel that has a play station...
meeting up with our former French babysitter, Chloe, who now lives there and enjoying a cabaret together...
and doing absolutely nothing and loving it!
Frunty and school...
Frunty is having a hard time with and at school. While we try to fix this situation, we are happy that we have found some fun ways to learn. Frunty has some great times learning outside of school: Berries for Chinese, French at Agnes', Karate with Sensei Cindy and Math with Melissa. Papa and I also try to make learning enjoyable and give Frunty lots of breaks during homework. If he needs to stand up, that is fine too! We did not understand Frunty's learning style but now we do! Sorry Frunty that times have been so hard recently. It is all going to get better!
Above is a picture of Frunty with Melissa, our Math tutor. During break time, we all enjoy Mandarin together with Pit and me joining in too. Frunty cheers when Melissa comes each time. She is a university student and lives near us. She is in a band and brought her little drum to show us one time. She has invited us to a concert. Can't wait.
Last week our block (collection of flats) was being fumigated so we moved our studies to the nearby Starbucks. What a special treat for us all to change venue and have some tasty treats and funky music with Melissa. Learning without pressure...that's super nice! Good job, Frunty! And to you too, Pit. We are very proud of you guys!
Some new photos...finally!
We enjoyed our family holiday to Bali during the boys' school break! It was fun to fly KLM! We went to Tulamben, Amed, Ubud and Benoa.
Frunty enjoys playing floor ball a few times a week and made the school team which will compete in the Nationals.
The three of us are learning the recorder and starting to practise Christmas songs so we are ready to entertain family and friends this holiday season.
Frunty is excelling at typing with both hands and all fingers. This is a gift Gramma gave to me and I want to hand it down to our boys. Pit has started too! (bbc.com)
Papa is passing along his enthusiasm for scuba diving. Both boys tried it in the pool in Phuket. This time, Frunty wanted to do his bubble maker class and Pit enjoyed playing with the sharks instead. He was only given 40 minutes of air but somehow made it last for 1 1/2 hours. (maybe the yoga we have done together has helped keep him relaxed.) The instructor had never seen anything like it!P.S. Yes, I am on another computer and making the time between karate, Little India and dinner out at Marina Bay with our friends from BKK to add some recent pictures of the Bello Boys. Never a dull moment...the understatement of a lifetime!
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
Melissa M&M
Melissa is our new math and Mandarin tutor and the boys cheer when I say she is coming over. We met her at the bus stop one Friday on our way to French. I would post a photo of her but my computer can no longer do that properly. Anyway Melissa is a university student and is doing a great job to inspire our boys to learn Mandarin (finally!) and for Frunty to practise math! They want her to come for three hours not just two!
Wow! So some nice news to share in the education department which has been quite stressful lately as Frunty struggles to wrap his brain around the challenges of P4. He is in one of the top classes so pushed to do even more. Or should I write, "stretched". He gets run down though and his sleep deprivation leads to poor health which means days at home to recover. During those days, who keeps us company when she can!? You got it, Melissa! And that is enough to make any child feel better!
It has taken me many attempts to find someone like Melissa. I know she wishes to move to France one day. I hope it won't be for awhile!
Wow! So some nice news to share in the education department which has been quite stressful lately as Frunty struggles to wrap his brain around the challenges of P4. He is in one of the top classes so pushed to do even more. Or should I write, "stretched". He gets run down though and his sleep deprivation leads to poor health which means days at home to recover. During those days, who keeps us company when she can!? You got it, Melissa! And that is enough to make any child feel better!
It has taken me many attempts to find someone like Melissa. I know she wishes to move to France one day. I hope it won't be for awhile!
Sunday, 4 March 2012
Scouts
Periodically I have asked the boys if they were interested in Scouts having described what is involved. In November, they heard about some friends in Brussels doing Scouts and then they saw some classmates here at TPS wearing their Scout uniforms at school. One day, Frunty came home and said he would like to try Scouts.
Thank goodness for google. Within minutes I found an open Scout group in Singapore called Viking Cub Scouts. I phoned and got some more information from several moms. I received welcome emails and a phone call to receive more information. Very quickly, we were welcomed into the world of Scouts. I reinforced to the boys that we would try Scouts. No pressure. They have enough pressure from other sources. So we went to Scouts yesterday with open minds.
After a few hours of compass and map reading and completed a treasure hunt with the other children ranging from 5-11 (co-ed) both our boys are hooked and can't wait to get the uniform! It really feels great when you see your children doing something they thoroughly enjoy. I had that feeling last week with Berries Chinese and I am grateful for these various activities that are fun and educational.
Stay tuned for some photos which I will post from another laptop that hopefully works!
Thank goodness for google. Within minutes I found an open Scout group in Singapore called Viking Cub Scouts. I phoned and got some more information from several moms. I received welcome emails and a phone call to receive more information. Very quickly, we were welcomed into the world of Scouts. I reinforced to the boys that we would try Scouts. No pressure. They have enough pressure from other sources. So we went to Scouts yesterday with open minds.
After a few hours of compass and map reading and completed a treasure hunt with the other children ranging from 5-11 (co-ed) both our boys are hooked and can't wait to get the uniform! It really feels great when you see your children doing something they thoroughly enjoy. I had that feeling last week with Berries Chinese and I am grateful for these various activities that are fun and educational.
Stay tuned for some photos which I will post from another laptop that hopefully works!
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Chinese Learning Journey
The journey began with Jennifer in Brussels. I met my new friend and her daughter, Josephine, from Taiwan at the park across from our school in Chant d'Oiseau. We started an informal Chinese-English exchange and taught each other how to cook various dishes on top of playing with the children, going on long walks and goofing around together. Frunty started picking up some Mandarin and could identify characters very easily.
Through Jennifer, we met her friend who lived with us for a short while between homes. She taught us how to cook and also spoke Mandarin to Frunty. After awhile, we started a Chinese club at Yoshinobu's home with his mom, also from Taiwan. By then, Pit had been born and came to the informal classes as a baby.
When we got to Singapore, we hired Shea from Shanghai to come to our home and teach the boys Mandarin, in order to prepare them for school. Once school started, we had hoped that the one hour a day would help our boys really flourish in Mandarin. Unfortunately, their levels were too low and the teachers could not help them. Pit picked up a minimal amount in K1 and K2 and Frunty basically has learned almost nothing in his two years. Actually the Mandarin class was too big so he got moved to the Malay class. He says it is a very nice language and he is trying to learn it! Yesterday he sang a song to me in Malay! What the heck! It's all good and if it is fun, that's the main thing!
But back to our Chinese Learning Journey. This year, we decided to start at Berries as I mentioned in the last post. The amazing thing is that they have had enough exposure over these few years to be able to pick up the language quite quickly. This makes us very happy. Both boys are able to say the words using the correct tone which is a difficult skill as a child grows into an adult. Starting when they were very tiny paid off indeed.
Our journey will continue with Berries which is a lot of fun and I have found a teacher from China named Rita. She will come over on Saturday and work with the boys to cement what they learn at Berries. Even though China will probably be the biggest English speaking country in the world one day, it is good fun and exercise for the brain to try learning their language. Frunty and Pit will become our secret detectives when we go to Beijing to hike on the Great Wall one day. We will get them to tell us in Italian or French what was just said in Chinese! It'll be awesome!
Through Jennifer, we met her friend who lived with us for a short while between homes. She taught us how to cook and also spoke Mandarin to Frunty. After awhile, we started a Chinese club at Yoshinobu's home with his mom, also from Taiwan. By then, Pit had been born and came to the informal classes as a baby.
When we got to Singapore, we hired Shea from Shanghai to come to our home and teach the boys Mandarin, in order to prepare them for school. Once school started, we had hoped that the one hour a day would help our boys really flourish in Mandarin. Unfortunately, their levels were too low and the teachers could not help them. Pit picked up a minimal amount in K1 and K2 and Frunty basically has learned almost nothing in his two years. Actually the Mandarin class was too big so he got moved to the Malay class. He says it is a very nice language and he is trying to learn it! Yesterday he sang a song to me in Malay! What the heck! It's all good and if it is fun, that's the main thing!
But back to our Chinese Learning Journey. This year, we decided to start at Berries as I mentioned in the last post. The amazing thing is that they have had enough exposure over these few years to be able to pick up the language quite quickly. This makes us very happy. Both boys are able to say the words using the correct tone which is a difficult skill as a child grows into an adult. Starting when they were very tiny paid off indeed.
Our journey will continue with Berries which is a lot of fun and I have found a teacher from China named Rita. She will come over on Saturday and work with the boys to cement what they learn at Berries. Even though China will probably be the biggest English speaking country in the world one day, it is good fun and exercise for the brain to try learning their language. Frunty and Pit will become our secret detectives when we go to Beijing to hike on the Great Wall one day. We will get them to tell us in Italian or French what was just said in Chinese! It'll be awesome!
