Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

Toy guns! Our little one simply loves them.  Ha!Ha! He also loves striking poses with them.

“I want to be a police” repeated Darren. So it is not difficult to guess that his liking for guns arises from a wish to be a police or is it the other way round? *hehe*.

A suggestion for parents: When a child enjoys a certain ‘healthy’ topic or item, parents can tap on his/her interests to encourage him/her to express it through :

- writing

- drawing

- a play

- story telling or ’show and tell’ (schools here are exposing children to ’show and tell’ too)

This helps a child in his/her expression and creativity. It expands his/her knowledge as well.  In addition, it aids the child to feel motivated when parents are engaged in his/her topic of interests.   With parental guidance, young children can also start finding out more about the topic or item through internet search.

Actually for us, we went a step further as our boys gave us the idea of creating a “library, museum or shop concept” to showcase or market their creations (as a playtime at home), topic of interest or even ‘researched’ topic for our older boy.  It gives our boys many opportunities for teamwork too.

[This concept is educational and fun and we will share this in another post.]

For our boys, they get interested with different topics and objects at different stages. While Brendan fancied toy cars when he was young, Darren has been keen on toy guns since a year ago. We explained to him that a “real gun” is not like a “toy gun” and that police does not use his gun without discretion.

See how we enter into Darren’s world of police and toy guns through his drawings, ’show and tell’ and role play where he plays the police while mommy is the lady villain:)

Expressing his newly gathered knowledge through drawing

Expressing the difference through ’show and tell’

Our brave policeboy on duty in pyjamas *haha*

With interests and time from parents since our children’s young age, I am sure our children find it exciting and fun to invite the parents into their world WHILE parents gain much insights and bonding moments too - through the eyes and minds of our young ones.

I always learn something new and informative from our boys.

Don’t you?

This S$5 green note would look very familiar to most Singaporeans:) 

 The tree featured on the S$5 note is not any tree but a heritage tree in Singapore.

I have posed with this heritage tree “TEMBUSU” many times before but since our boys have yet to see it, we brought them to Botanic Gardens to view this special heritage tree and other heritage trees. Haha! Seeing is believing:)

This special tree has “attractive” long low lying branches that attract visitors to take a peep or snapshot even if they have no idea that it is specially featured on Singapore currency.

Haha! Mommy the photographer and Darren the model are unknowingly captured in someone’s else photo shot:)

Brendan also striking a pose beside the tree which stands strong despite the long exposure to rain and shine

This is another heritage tree “Saga Tree”. I used to play with its bright red seeds when I was young when these trees were commonly found in my kampung. Interestingly, the saga seeds were traditionally used as standard weights and by goldsmiths in the Middle East in the past.

 Saga Tree

You may want to check it out at the Botanic Gardens for other heritage trees and for an educational trip for the young ones.

As parents, are you shy to talk about sexuality issues to your children?

Talking about sexuality issues to children is often awkward for parents.  In fact, adults often find it embarrassing and do not know how to convey the explanations to the younger ones.

I know. I understand. For me, I have not been pro-active in talking about sexual topics to our boys unless when I am asked.

Recently, the frequencies of me being cornered into answering related questions have increased and I know I cannot avoid educating our boys especially when our elder one is going on to 12 years old soon.

 ——

Since last year, Brendan has heard much about sexuality issues in school through his Science and Health Education lessons.  So, they covered the knowledge on sperms, eggs, how babies are produced and the functions of the reproductive organs. 

Being inquisitive, he decides to learn more and often comes home seeking further explanations from his parents.   At times, his questions go really detailed  into child delivery process, trying to figure how the reproductive organs work, and other times he wants to know more about how a male would feel.

[You can imagine how I nearly fell off the  chair, SURPRISED, when my innocent wide-eyed boy suddenly looked at me mischievously squeezing an answer out of me].

To make matter worse, Darren often chooses to join in the surprised conversations and I usually have to handle the questions tactfully since both boys are of different age groups after all.

Trust me. Children nowadays are not satisfied with the ancient reply eg. they are delivered like the “passing of motion” or mysteriously conceived or ” I will tell you later” kind of answers. At least not for long.

Like most parents, I have been basically indirect. I have been sharing with Brendan about the expected body  developments in boys and girls to prepare him for puberty but not really that ready to go any further into other sexuality issues.

So, when our boy started to say out terms like “vagina” etc and talk about related topics openly, I know that today’s children are less conservative than before and exposed earlier to sex education in school. 

Then, I learn something useful…that we should walk out of those days when our parents would also avoid these related topics.

As parents, instead of avoiding, we can start learning to talk to our children more openly but with objective of preparing them for adulthood and also sharing with them the right set of moral values and responsibilities.

It is better than to let them learn from friends or even on internet!

 ——

In fact, I am surprised when I learn that parents could consider to start talking about sexuality issues to their children as young as 4 years old.   The details shared with children get more in depth as the children grow.

 As a parent, you are the best person to provide sexuality education to your child. By being open and honest, you are telling your child that sex is a natural thing and not something to be ashamed of. Here are a few tips to keep in mind:
- Discuss with your spouse what you want to teach your child about sex.
- Be prepared with answers to questions relating to sexuality. If you don’t have an answer on the spot, tell your child you’ll get back to her later and make sure you do.
- Don’t be afraid to tell your child if you’re embarrassed; honesty is the best policy.
- Give simple and straightforward answers; keep the discussion open.
- Find opportunities to discuss sexuality by using every day events and situations.

Source: Singapore Health Promotion Board

So, parents do play an important role in the sex education of our children. Frankly, I was hesitant to write this post at first but I thought it is useful to share the role of parents in sex education.  Looks like I have to start coming out of my shell and share more openly with our boys when appropriate.  If you are in doubt, here’s a great resource for parents. Start reading by clicking HERE.

As parents, how direct have you been in discussing sexuality  issues with your children? How young was your child when he/she initiated the topic with you?