27th Nov 2011.
Brought the family to Malaysia Air Festival 2011 from morning till noon. Kids got to board a military chopper and enjoyed the static display of aircrafts and aerobatic shows.
Malaysia Air Festival 2011
November 27, 2011
Warriors
November 21, 2011
21st Nov 2011
My daughter likes cats. We don’t have real cats but only soft toys for her. From time to time, when I look up books for her I will keep an eye on books or series of books about cats. A year ago, I had already come across this series of books by Erin Hunter named Warriors at Kinokuniya KLCC. I browsed through some of the books in the series but decided not to get them for my daughter at that time because I felt the books were more suitable for secondary or teenage level. Early this month, when we visited Borders at The Curve together, I decided to ask her to have a look into chapter one of the first book in the series. It seems she could understand the story, so I decided to get her the first book in the series to give it a try. To my big surprise, she actually finished the book in a few days and asked for more, the rest in the series. She said she enjoyed the story very much. So, me and my wife had to then went out to get the rest in the series for her and it was really a challenge to find the complete set, searching from Kino to MPH to Borders, from one book store to another. Luckily after a few attempts, we actually got the complete series.
A look up in Amazon indicates very good feedback from most of the readers about this series, mainly 5 or 4 stars (out of 5). A look up in Wikipedia also indicates Erin Hunter is actually a shared common name used by three authors of the series, very interesting.
One personal advice, if you plan to get these titles, try to obtain the complete set in a series before you introduce them to your kids to avoid the headache of books hunting later. There are usually six titles in one series and the latest series is the 4th series.
My daughter now reads one title in the series a day on average, and always ask for the next title!
Kid’s Talk
October 18, 2011
1st Jun 2011
Wednesday 11th May, on the way back from school, my son was sharing with me his Q2 exam results for 3 subjects. Before reaching home, he said “Let me plan, which subject I am going to report to grandma first, followed by which one being the 2nd, and then the 3rd one.”.
The next day, Thursday 12th May, on the way home as well, after discussing with me his other 3 subjects’ result, which he just got to know from his teacher on that same day, he continued to plan, “I will first tell grandma the score of this subject, then followed by this being the 2nd one, and then… from the lowest score to the highest.”!
This caught my attention. I asked him, “Why do you have to plan to inform your results from the lowest to the highest? They are all above 90, and most are close to 100. Just say the one in sequence which comes to your mind.”.
He said, “No, I will inform grandma, starting from the lowest to the highest. Grandma will be happy, and even happier, after she listens to me informing her the results from lowest score to highest score.”.
I said, “You are good. Who taught you that?”.
He said, “I just figure it out myself.”.
He then said, “The other day, grandma taught me, the same message or meaning, when communicated in different order of sequence, will carry different outcome. Just like if you say 屡战屡败, it means the chances of winning is getting slimmer, but if you say 屡败屡战, it means the person is brave and have courage to continue even after defected a few times.”.
Kids today are smart.
SIM
June 12, 2011
12th Jun 2011
If you have kids who are fond of music, one credible music center in the Klang Valley is SIM (Selangor Institute of Music). The center has branch located in Section 19 Petaling Jaya, Taman Tun as well as Ampang. More details:
Courses for all sorts of musical instruments are offered here, including piano, violin, guitar, drum etc. as well as the Kindermusik programme targeted at children age 0 to 7 (see my other post).
This center offers courses which are affordable with experienced teachers and friendly staffs.
12th Jun 2011
A very good learning programme for introducing music to young child from the age of 0 to 7 is Kindermusik. There are a few centers in Klang Valley and the one in Section 19 Petaling Jaya, SIM (Selangor Institute of Music) is a credible center. The center has teachers with experience in conducting this programme. Our two kids graduated from SIM and I strongly recommend this programme to parents.
More details:
12th Jun 2011
PERMATA Pintar is the national center for the identification and development of gifted and talented children in Malaysia. Launched back in 2009 by the Prime Minister’s wife, the programme is still in its infancy. More details:
http://www.permatapintar.edu.my/
As the committee member of NAGCM (see my other post on NAGCM), I have the honor of visiting this center recently, which is situated within UKM (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia), Bangi, during the 2 days Australia Malaysia Gifted Education Forum 2011 (see my other post).
My personal experience and take back from the site visit:
1.
Following are some photos taken for sharing:
1. The main building.
As there is too much information to share, I will slowly document down from time to time. Please continue to watch this space.
12th Jun 2011
As the committee member of NAGCM (see my other post on NAGCM and I strongly encourage parents to join NAGCM as member), I have the honor of attending the first Australia Malaysia Gifted Education Forum 2011 held over 2 days at Cyberview Lodge Resort & Spa, Cyberjaya. The forum was very informative for parents whom care for their children’s education as well as very interesting. There were many Malaysia, Australia and US speakers from the education domain. The forum also ended with a half day site visit to PERMATA Pintar campus in UKM. PERMATA Pintar is the national center for the development of gifted and talented children in the country (see my other post on PERMATA Pintar). More details:
http://www.malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/Events_SIA.html
http://www.permatapintar.edu.my/
My personal experience and take back from the forum:
1. Beside the documented general characteristics of gifted children (see http://nagcmalaysia.wordpress.com and http://www.permatapintar.edu.my/default.pintarcerdas.aspx), gifted children prefers competitive learning.
As there is too much information to share, I will slowly document down from time to time. Please continue to watch this space.
12th Jun 2011
If you believe in subconscious mind programming, Innertalk can be a good choice. There are a few titles suitable for young children including the following:
Using Both Halves Of The Brain
Genius Power
Creative Writing
Developing Compassion
I Can: Building A Child’s Esteem
Respect And Good Manners
The above are all our favorite ones.
The concept of subconscious mind programming is quite straight forward. The hidden positive messages embedded into the CDs are channeled into the right brain hemisphere during the subconscious state of the brain when the left brain hemisphere’s defense mechanism is not active as the left brain only hears background music from the CDs.
We have been using the above titles since many years ago and still constantly use them. In my opinion, I think they work, although I cannot prove it. If you are interested, my suggestion is to try out by starting with one or two titles. In Klang Valley, you can find these in most Popular book stores.
More details:
In my recent visit to the Australia-Malaysia Gifted Education Forum 2011, I had the opportunity to chat in person with Dr Louis Downs, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Counselor Education, California State University. I asked him whether he himself heard of and believe in subconscious mind programming. He said he doesn’t deny the effectiveness of this and believe they are credible. He said we can even make these CDs ourselves without buying one. Nevertheless, as professional, he will not promote or market the products himself.
12th Jun 2011
MIQ, a good educational game for kids, mostly IQ related sets. You can find these in most Popular book stores. In my visit to the Australia-Malaysia Gifted Education Forum 2011 recently, there was a demo for participants to try out themselves the UKM1 test, which is the first screening test for entrance into the PERMATAPintar programme. I took the test myself and one set of the questions are quite similar to the logic in MIQ, not 100% similar, but close. They were primarily the pattern identification and matching ones.
One advice though, get one or two sets if you are interested as usually the sales person will try to convince you to buy a few sets, and they are not cheap.
More details on similar product:
http://www.brainet.com.my/new%20WEB%20concept/AMIQ/AMIQ-intro_eng.html
Melaka Planetarium
June 10, 2011
10th Jun 2011
For those who enjoy space and astronomy, don’t forget to drop by the Melaka Planetarium when you visit Melaka. Newly completed back in 2009, Melaka Planetarium is situated in a 4ha roundabout in the heart of the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC), Ayer Keroh. The planetarium has 20 high technology equipments for public to see. It also houses a 15m internal dome and has a theatre capacity for 190 visitors per session. Ticket price is adult MYR8 and student MYR5.
The one our kids enjoy the most is the space-themed show projected on the internal dome, an amazing experience! We have been here a couple of times and will surely go back again.
More details:
http://www.melakaplanetarium.com/
10th Jun 2011
Menara Taming Sari, located just next to Dataran Pahlawan, the tourist hot spot, is also a ride not to be missed when you visit Melaka. It is also very close to the Melaka Duck Tours hop on site (see my other post on Melaka Duck Tours). Our kids love this ride, I am sure your kids will as well.
Melaka has lots of attractions. Plan your journey well and you will enjoy with your kids and have great fun!
More details:
http://www.menaratamingsari.com/
Melaka River Cruise
June 8, 2011
8th June 2011
Another amazing ride in Melaka is the Melaka River Cruise. The cruise will take you upstream along the Melaka River and back to the jetty where you boarded the cruise. Along the cruise, one can enjoy the scenery and many facets of the old Melaka town as well as many buildings with unique architecture and history values. The whole ride is close to an hour and kids will certainly enjoy the cruise. If you enjoy the cruise, try it another time at night. The scenery and experience will be totally different. My advice, this is an experience not to be missed! We have tried it once and will certainly go back.
More details:
http://www.malacca.us/river-cruise.htm
8th June 2011
If you happen to be in Melaka for holiday, don’t miss the duck tour ride. We brought the kids to experience the ride before and they really enjoyed it. The whole ride lasted for more than half an hour and will take the passengers from land to sea and back to land again, an amazing experience. One advice, seats are limited and there is only a fix number of ride a day, so be early or buy your tickets in advance. Check out the following website for more details.
http://www.melakaducktours.com/
National Geographic Map Collection
June 2, 2011
2nd June 2011
If you are looking for poster size maps collection for educational purposes e.g. to hang on the wall of your kids’ room, National Geographic Map Collection is a good choice. Most of the maps contain a handful of fine details and facts related to the topic. Moreover, all the maps are very appealing to the young minds.
If your kids like space and astronomy like mine, there is even a “Space & The Planets” series which include The Solar System, The Milky Way, The Universe, Mars Revealed, Earth’s Moon, Star Map of the Heavens and etc.
More details:
http://www.ngmapcollection.com/
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/print-collection-index.html
http://maps.nationalgeographic.com/maps/print-collection/planets-celestial-family.html
2nd June 2011
Another horrible series, Horrible Histories is fun to read for kids. Read like fiction, but the books are loaded with nonfiction facts. Try to obtain the box set or the 2 in 1 titles, as these are cheaper compared to the single titles, almost half the price (for 2 in 1) or even less than half the price (for box set). We got our box set from MPH 1 Utama. If they are out of order try to get the MPH customer service to order on behalf.
Suitable for kids 8 to 15.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Histories
http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/zone/book_horr-histories.htm
http://horrible-histories.co.uk/
Box set:
2nd June 2011
A series of great books for kids to read. My daughter likes reading these and according to her, these books read like fiction, but the facts they carry are nonfiction. Very interesting!
Nevertheless, an advice from me is try to look for the 2 in 1 titles, as you only pay slightly half the price of two books combined, compared to if you buy the two titles separately. Another alternative is to get the box set, like the one we got for the Horrible Histories series (see my other post). You may ask the MPH customer service department to order on behalf if you cannot find the box set in the local bookstores.
Suitable for kids 8 to 15.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horrible_Science
http://www5.scholastic.co.uk/zone/book_horr-science.htm
http://www.horrible-science.co.uk/
2 in 1 titles:
Single titles:
Who Moved My Cheese? For Kids
May 31, 2011
31st May 2011
Spencer Johnson is known for his 1998 motivational book, titled “Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life”. It has stayed on the New York Times Bestseller list.
He also wrote a children version titled “Who Moved My Cheese? for Kids”. A great book to introduce to your kids the concept of change is constant and we all have to adapt to change to be successful in life and work.
We got one recently.
Get your kids to read!
http://www.amazon.com/WHO-MOVED-MY-CHEESE-Kids/dp/0399240160
31st May 2011
A book in the 7 habits series by the Covey family, written by Sean Covey, son of Stephen R. Covey, whom wrote the very popular book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”.
This is a great book for kids.
http://www.seancovey.com/books_7kids.html
NG Kids And NG Little Kids
May 25, 2011
25th May 2011
Clearing up my emails, manage to find subscription information for National Geographic Kids and National Geographic Little Kids.
From what I gathered, NG Kids is suitable for children 6 to 14 years old while NG Little Kids is suitable for children 3 to 6 years old.
You may order by post. See here.
25th May 2011
Homestar Portable is a great educational application available on the PSP platform. It is actually not a game but a planetarium application which supports the use of star chart to view and study the night sky on a particular day and time. Although the default location is set to Tokyo, Japan, one can set the location to others in the list including KL, Malaysia.
Personally, I find Homestar Portable being really a great application, as it also comes with short educational videos on various stargazing topics including learning the night sky of the four seasons (spring, summer, autumn, and winter sky), solar eclipse, meteor shower, summer triangle, solar system and etc. One can view these short videos again and again and eventually become familiar with the night sky. These videos are my favorites and also my kids’ favorites. I am beginning to learn about the night sky and various constellations by season using a technique named star hopping guided and shown in the videos.
Nonetheless, the application is in Japanese but there is also a translated version in Mandarin. Hence, you will only be able to enjoy this application if you can understand Mandarin using the translated version. I do hope the creator will eventually release the English version as this application is one of the best of the best.
http://kotaku.com/#!190756/homestar-psp-yeah-its-full-of-stars
Diary of 2 Cats-Loving Kids 