天下

Nadine has been complaining that she didn't understand anything in Chinese class, that Chinese is tough, and she didn't like Chinese. Getting her to learn her 听写 is a pain, but surprisingly, she has been doing well for her 听写.

But, a month ago, her Chinese teacher wrote a note in her journal, in English, saying that Nadine didn't seem to understand anything in class, and didn't even respond to her Chinese name. Teacher suggested that we could try and help her by speaking Mandarin to her at home.

So I tried, but the stubborn girl wouldn't respond to any of my Chinese, and was even angry with me. Didn't talk to me for a whole night. Next evening, I explained to her that she really needed to improve her Chinese, and it's either I speak Mandarin to her at home, or she goes for enrichment class. She chose enrichment class.

So since then, she's been going to 天下, the closest school to our home that has a suitable time for us.

She came out of the first class saying that she enjoyed herself. And after a few lessons, she brought back a pretty good assessment report.

However, as warned by friends, 天下's syllabus is tough. Their 听写 includes short sentences!

Yesterday, she refused to learn her 听写 and refused to go for class. Wailed and kicked up a fuss. After 20 min of scolding, nagging and coaxing, we finally struck a deal - she would finish the term, try to improve her Chinese, and then we're done with 天下. It was that, or quit immediately, but no tv, music in the car (she loves playing dj in the car) and playing downstairs for 2 months.

Well, she does seem to want to keep her end of the deal. This morning, the moment she woke up, she took out her Chinese vocab file and started reading! I sure hope she keeps up with that!

Nadine skipping

Skipping seems to be a very big thing in PLMGS. Every girl is issued with a skipping rope, and they do it a lot during PE lessons.

Nadine's gone from not being able to skip to skipping more than 20x, and she's so pleased with herself for that progress.

Nadine's fairies

Nadine spent a day in her March holidays drawing fairies, influenced by one of her current fave show - Winx Club.

March 2016 school holiday

Other things that we did this holiday, and did not take any photos of ....

Wednesday was the only day that Daddy and I could take leave. So we brought the kids to Adventure Cove.

I was expecting Nadine to go wild on the slides. But she was super reserved and timid, and did not try a single slide! Both Daddy and I were disappointed, coz it meant we didn't get to try the slides too. She went on the Adventure River once, and that's it. We spent most of the time at the wave pool.

Aaron, on the other hand, enjoyed the Adverture River so much that he made Daddy go on it 3 times with him. And then, he joined us at the wave pool.

It was quite a waste of money, but still nice and relaxing.

The next 2 nights, we brought them out for movies: Kungfu Panda 3 and Zootopia.

The kids loved Kungfu Panda 3. Zootopia was a bit scary for them, but Daddy and I thought the storyline was excellent. Very realistic. Not the usual "you can be what you want", "dreams can come through".

iLight Marina Bay 2016

Another few firsts scored during this March vacation - our first iLight Marina Bay, Nadine's first time traveling on the MRT with her newly-issued school TransitLink card, our first time walking on the Helix bridge, and our first time walking from Marina Bay Sands all the way to Esplanade.

The iLight show had spots of lovely shows, but I think without the amazing Singapore skyline as the backdrop, the show wouldn't have been as spectacular.

The kids were not too impressed by the light show. But certainly enjoyed walking along the Helix bridge.

We ended up at Esplanade, where there was a World Water Day art installation. The kids recognized Water Wally immediately, and wanted to taken photos with him.

Disney on Ice

We kick-started the short March school holiday by going to our very first Disney On Ice show. Was expecting a kiddy show, but no! We were totally blown away! It's like Olympic figure skating + Cirque du Soleil + lovely Disney characters and songs! Super entertaining!

Chinese New Year 2016

It's become a tradition that we invite our good friends from church over for CNY gathering. We usually start pretty early, with mahjong for the adults, games and swimming for the kids, and then dinner.

The boys before going for their swim - all with an electronic device, and Aaron with his bowl of lego.

The girls, all dressed up as princesses. The other mums were amazed at the number of princess dresses Nadine has - and the fact that all the girls of different sizes could fit into her dresses!

The friends who had grown up together. Most of us had known each other for more than 20 years! I love it that 20 years on, we're still serving and growing together, including growing our families! And now our children are growing up together. I pray that the kids will be that great source of friendship and support to each other, just like how their parents were to each other! 

National Art Gallery

On my birthday this year, we went to the newly-opened National Art Gallery. It was huge and we didn't go to all the halls and exhibitions, but had a nice relaxing time just walking around the very tranquil building.

There were a few sections that were just for kids, which Nadine and Aaron enjoyed tremendously.

 

The view of the CBD from the roof top was quite nice. Not as stunning as from one of those high-rise buildings in the area, but can see enough of the key monuments of the city landscape.

It was a very nice and rare Saturday afternoon out. And visiting the art gallery was a good idea - educational, entertaining for all, away from the crowd, and in air-con comfort!

Nadine roller-blading Part 2

One and a half month after getting the roller blades, and some amateur coaching from Daddy, Nadine's moving confidently. Lacking a bit of grace, but it's really not bad, since she practised mostly on her own. Proud of her!

Lego prince

Aaron never gets tired of his lego. He can play with them for hours. 

This jeep was made in the morning. He left it for the whole day ....

Then in the evening, decided to transform it into a car transporter.

And tonight, he enlisted Daddy to help him build an autobot.

When Daddy took a little break to scratch himself, Aaron repeated numerous times, "Dad, I need your help!" ... and when Daddy didn't get back to work, he said, "Dad, what happened to us building together?"

My 4, almost 5-year-old knows sarcasm! Hahahahaha .....

Fairies and brides

Nadine's been watching some modern day fairy day cartoons - Ever After High; and has been drawing the characters. Here's one, with more details than any of her previous drawings.

She loves drawing brides too. It's amazing how much details she can remember from the photos she see in my album and magazines, and can actually draw them out. And I love how she tried to spell words that she didn't know.