End of Abrakadoodle reise

I meant to share on IZ art lernen-reise in Abrakadoodle earlier on, but have not got a chance to sit and write to it. How and why I chose Abrakadoodle in the first place? Please read The Start of Our Art Lernen-Reise: 25th Aug'12.

The lessons started with greeting song, if I remember correctly; there were 2 that I’ve heard. One of them is the “This is the way..” and the teacher would make the actions out, eg. “This is the way we draw our lines”, we draw an invisible line using our fingers from top to bottom, etc. Then she would tell a story related to the art & craft for the day. Upon completion, there would be a show & tell session.

IZ is really into drawing and painting, so, why did I pull him out?

Oh well, he is really into drawing and painting.. but Abrakadoodle is not just about drawing and painting. They do cutting, pasting, stamping, which are the least of IZ’s interest. I'm not saying they are not good. ;-)

So, what does he do in the class?

He would be interested in the vacuum cleaner kept at a corner. He would meddle with other materials, NOT on his own desk. He would open up the drawers to cabinets and wow about all the things he could see there. Considered lucky he didn’t break the clay artwork in there. He would be playing with balloons in the class, but not exactly the work.

Why?

Coz he only loves DRAWING and PAINTING, that’s WHY..

If there was no paint or brush or crayon introduced that day, fat hope he would stay for 5 mins at his desk.

I survived 1 term there. I could still feel my face burning when he disturbed the show & tell session by crawling and sitting or lying right in front of the teacher or pointing to the poor kids’ art and started babbling. And he would want to sit right in front of the teacher when she was demonstrating. I felt so sorry to the other parents; I wish I could dig a hole and bury my head in there.

Thus, to cut story not exactly short, I’ve decided to pull him out. To cut the story short, our lernen-reise ended in Abrakadoodle somewhere in Nov. I would teach him how to cut at home (in which he cut our helper’s finger), paste on the sticker books (he would prefer to stick everywhere else but the book)..

At one point, I asked myself if he is a hyperactive kid?

Although we stopped attending art class, we’ve been doing arts at home most of the times. Coz he loves to draw. He would ask to “glue and pat” whenever he feels like it.

Below are some of the work we’ve done together, mainly did by him messily, while I helped to complete every now and then. He gets the idea, and chose the colours while I helped to put them up together..

I must say the presentation is really nice. The classmates were from very decent background, speaking very proper English (most of them are expatriates so much that I felt inferior coz I speak Malaysian-Singorean English.. not that I'm ashamed of my command of English.. inferior.. that is.. haha!) and IZ enjoyed going to the classes.

PS: Meanwhile, my search for suitable art class for him continues.. I really do not wish to deprive him of any chance to enhance his passion for drawing. :-)

Lesson B for Bear: 19th Jan'13

I've been doing lessons with him pretty frequently this week as IZ is quarantined for HFMD. For those of you wish to know more of his ordeal and tips, you can read the post IZ & HFMD.

So, hubby asked him if he wants to do lesson with Mommy, he said yes.

We started with greeting song and he participated actively. I think the song is catchy and he likes it very much.

Then I took out the feely and asked him to trace. I was a little surprised as he started tracing the right way.

Then I took out the feely and asked him to trace. I was a little surprised as he started tracing the right way. I then produced the extra magnetic pen we have from the broken mini board we had, as IZ likes to trace with pen as well.

Cheeky boy tracing feely

We listened to the rhyme for B but I couldn’t take out the board to write the word Bear as he would insist on drawing and then the lesson will go down the hill.

He excitedly wanted the treasure bag and took the B items out one by one and said the name out, except the black bean. Amazing how he doesn’t know the box, and the bus just the other day, he could remember now. He still refused to put in the items into the treasure bag, but he wanted to play with them. Just as well, as the most important thing is, learn through play.

Knowing most of the B items

"Eating" banana, one of his favorite fruits

As we’ve done a bit of the art supposedly to make a bear face mask collage, I produced the same thing, and asked IZ to add more brown paper. He likes to glue & pat (as taught in Abrakadooddle Class). But this time, unlike the Lesson B for Bear: 24^th Jun’12, he refused to put on the mask. So, I put on the mask instead and marched while we watch Bear Went On The Mountain video.

Glue

and glue

who's the bear?

Then I tried to spell the word bear, but he wasn’t interested.

As the lesson was a little short, and he said he wanted painting, I took out the bubbles pack and cut a few small pieces for him to play paint and stamp.

Painting.. his passion!

The artwork

Putting up on the wall

We've done A & B!

He insisted the mask to be on his bookshelf

Past Lessons:

Lesson A for Apple: 14th Jun'12

Lesson A for Ant: 18th Jun'12

Lesson B for Bear: 24th Jun'12

Lesson A for Apple: 13th Jan'13

Lesson A for Ant: 14th Jan'13

Lesson B for Bubbles: 17th Jan'13

You can also follow IZ's Lernen-Reise on Facebook for more personal and up-to-date learning fun

End of One Week Quarantine

Although one week is up, we'll have to seek clearance from doctor before sending him back to school. I think this is a good SOP.

Anyway, last night, upon seeing IZ looking to restless and pitiful after staying home for a week, hubby suggested to bring him out for a stroll at somewhere with not many people.

We were driving to the Changi Beach Point when I suggested we should pray at Tua Pek Kong temple first, in case IZ would get too tired after the stroll.

IZ kicked his legs happily when hubby parked the car, and excitedly we got down. From far, we saw a family with a very small baby. Our hearts skipped a little. We didn't pray using joss sticks, we did only with our hands and rushed back to our car,

It was really sad that when we arrived at Changi Beach Point, the car park was full and when we finally managed to find a lot, we realized the point was closed for public due to upgrading or what. They built walls around. :-(

We managed to stroll just near the car park so IZ could get some fresh air. He refused to get back to the car thenafter.. We had to coax and reason with him that the place was dark and it was closed. There was nothing we could do. But he kept saying "I want go out". My poor son..

He inherited my genes! My can't-stay-at-home-more-than-a-day genes! Hahaha!

And so we told him if the weather is good tomorrow (which is today), we'll bring him to the beach and let him play with the sand. He agreed, but his expression was blank on the way home. It was a complete switch from the ride out.

And then it dawned upon me that hubby is working today! Which means I do not have the car. So much of "we", I have to do it myself.

But instead of sneakily bringing him out later, I've decided to bring him to doctor and see if he can already get a clearance.

Initially I wanted to bring him to doctor on Mon or Tue when his spots are gone. They have crusted for days but they are not disappearing yet despite my diligent calamine lotion. Although I have to admit the spots did reduce.

So, I'm crossing my fingers and hope we could get clearance later.

Edited at 3pm:
Doctor says there are still spots on palm that are turning black, look pinkish, and not completely charred, so he can't give any clearance. Even if he does, the school will not clear him WOH.....

Added:
IZ & HFMD
A week after recovery
Adult gets HFMD too
IZ Back to School

IZ & HFMD

I’ve heard of HFMD (aka Hand-Foot-Mouth-Disease) for the longest time, and I’ve always pitied children who contracted it, especially friends’ kids. I’ve heard of the pain, and the torture they went through, but I was far from seeing it for myself.

Day 1

IZ started having fever on Sun late noon, after a playdate at our place on Sat. I gave him paracetamol and the fever subsided. Then it came again past midnight, fiercer. The fever was at one point 39.2degC and then hovered around 38.5dgeC although I gave ibuprofen and paracetamol, at duration of course.

Cheeky boy recovering from fever

Day 2

The fever just came and goes, and I thought he was recovering when the daylight came. But I let him skip school although parts of me are reluctant as he‘s just gotten used to Kinderland. I thought of letting him rest and recover properly since he didn’t really sleep well the night before.

I was sure glad of my decision later in the afternoon when I gave him his milk before naptime. He complained pain when he tried to suck his milk. I asked where the pain was, he pointed to his mouth. I searched for One Doctor clinic in Nex and gave them a call asking if they could take phone appointment while we make our way there. They say no phone appointment; we’ll have to go there physically. So Thank goodness of this clinic, which is so near and not crowded most of the times, we arrived in minutes.

While we were making our way there, I saw another missed call from a number seemed like Kinderland’s to me. I called back, and the receptionist passed the phone to Ms. Fizah (IZ’s class teacher). She told me she called earlier on to ask about his absence in class. So I told her about his fever. And then she informed me that there was a HFMD confirmed over the weekend. So she asked me to watch out for it.

I started to panic, although I was quite sure IZ did not get the disease. I last checked his hands and legs when I bathed him before his naptime, I shouldn’t have missed any symptoms right?

So it was our turn to see Dr. Jasper. This was the second time IZ saw him. IZ likes him. He is a young but very friendly doctor. IZ was very co-operative to show let him listen to his heartbeat, front and back (thank goodness for all the doctor-patient pretend play at home), and when he asked IZ to open his mouth, IZ obediently did so. Dr. Jasper confirmed right away that IZ contracted HFMD, and showed me the ulcers on his tongue and the red spots on his throat. Then he pointed to his fingers, there they were, SPOTS that I didn’t notice an hour earlier! And they appeared like MAGICAL SPOTS! We were told he can’t go to school for a week, and we’ll have to go back for review.

So I called the school again and told the receptionist of the confirmation. Then, I received a call from Ms. Fizah, and I told her the same thing. She told me we’ll have to get clearance letter from doctor when we are cleared and going back to school. But of course..

On the way home, I went to a medical hall to get herbs for drinking/bathing and many types of cooling tea. The next thing I know, IZ refused to drink coz he was in pain each time he tried. It was really difficult to make him drink, the moment he saw you are with a spoon or cup, he would scream and cry. My poor son..

It didn’t get any better, and I started to get real worried about his almost NIL liquid intake, and he wasn’t co-operative when we wanted to feed him medicine, although just a day ago, he happily opened his mouth to be fed paracetamol.

Managed to drink a little of milk using straw

Day 3

On Tue morning (I took childcare leave), before hubby left for work, he coaxed IZ to take some milk, and he took 240ml of milk spoon-fed. We were relieved.

I went to Nex to get more recommended stuffs. I’m willing to try EVERYTHING just so he can take SOMETHING.

I bought Pigeon medicated powder from Isetan, GAIA diaper rash powder from Guardian, Yakult and ice-cream from NTUC and also a floating balloon from the florist.

Everything was worth it when he saw the balloon. He was really happy seeing I brought the balloon home. And he took some ice cream, I was so relieved.

But he refused anything else after.

He still didn’t want anything till the end of the day, and hubby was working real late, thus, no one was able to coax him better.

Slight spots on his face, forced a smile for the camera



The start of all the rashes and blisters



Recommended Pigeon Medicated Powder: S$8.90 (before discount, there was a 20% discount for Pigeon that day)



Recommended GAIA nappy rash powder: S$14.75



Ice-cream and Yakult too



Floating ballon from XpressFlower



Wanted to be carried all the time



They got worse within hours, within the same day

Day 4

On Wed morning, I had to get back to work. Hubby tried feeding him some milk but he took only a little, claiming pain.

At work, my bro updated me that he brought him some purple Strepsils, and he managed to drink 2 bottles of milk thenafter. I was so glad of to hear that although I felt like a failure. My friends say it probably coz IZ was actually already recovering, not just because of the Strepsils.

The miracle

He managed the third bottle when I reached home from work, and he looked more energetic. He refused to take milk just before bedtime with my presence, so I had to hide while Ah Nah fed him and we went to bed.

Managed to nap for 1.5 hours and 4 hours on this day



Cheeky boy managed a great smile



Even posed.. :-)

Day 5

On Thu, his blisters looked so much better, they were drying up, except for some Mega ones. I guess Calamine lotion worked too. He was back to his usual self, except for the occasional scratching of his hands and legs. He took some porridge too.

And I think the ulcers in his mouth are no longer around, as he could take kumquat aka mini mandarin orange. Imagine citrus in full of ulcers mouth. He also asked for noodles we were eating.

I’m so glad he is recovering, I’m sure within days, and we’ll be able to be cleared of this irritating disease. But then, this is just one strain.. there may be 1001 types out there, who knows..

Drying up

Sign of drying, even the mega ones

This post shall be updated again, upon recovery.

BTW, drooling all the time, doesnt JUST means they're teething! :-/

Suggestions during this painful period (please take this notes at your own discretion):

1)      Strepsils Max!!! (depending on the age of your kid I guess, IZ is 25 mo, we’ve never tried giving him any candy before, but he sucked well.. ½ at a time)

2)      Feed ice-cream to numb the mouth before feeding anything (ice-cream was welcomed but not for feeding other food/liquid coz he refused)

3)      Yakult – well recommended by SIL’s friend (worked for while, before he felt the pain and refused any offer for Yakult thenafter)

4)      Rice water – boil rice with a lot of water and feed as water / put in milk for the nutrients (Ah Nah says they grow up drinking rice water and not milk as they had no money to buy milk (worked well on Day 3 onwards when he could take milk, he refused rice water by itself)

5)      Calamine lotion - I somehow thought of this when I saw him fast asleep at night with blisters on his hands and legs (I thought it worked wonder as the blisters started drying the next day – I only applied them at night after he’s asleep for fear he would scratch and put his fingers into his mouth)

6)      GAIA nappy rash powder – to be applied on blisters at butts (used it every diaper change)

7)      Pigeon medicated powder – to be applied on other spots (applied it whenever I saw IZ scratching, also after wipe-down)

8)      We didn’t really bathe him the first 3 days, but we did wipe him down with the herbal water we boiled followed by the powders above.

9)      Chrysanthemum + a type of herbs (my mistake for not taking photos of them) – supposedly for drinking and bathing, but he refused to drink any, so, they were all used up for wiping and bathing.

10)   Boil barley + green bean + brown sugar (he refused to take any – ended me taking all of them)

11)   Boil apple + plum (I didn’t try this)

Added:
End of One Week Quarantine
A week after recovery
Adult gets HFMD too
IZ Back to School

Lesson B for Bubbles: 17th Jan'13

My poor son was down with fever on Sun, and confirmed with HFMD on Mon. It was so terrible, he cried in pain every now and then. There were a few ulcers in his mouth, and not to mention all the rashes and blisters on his hands and legs. Nevertheless, I’m glad the worst is over. He didn’t eat nor drink much on Mon and Tue, I guess I wouldn’t want to eat nor drink too. Since Wed, he was showing sign of recovery. His blisters were drying up; he could drink milk and had diluted porridge for dinner.

And so, he has been absent from school for few days. I asked if he wants to learn the letter B. He says yes. So I brought out the materials. Yes, this time, I’m well prepared!

He was so excited and wanted to dig into the items bag immediately, but I made him sit and sang the greeting song. This time, he swayed to my singing and he also chipped in when I sang “hello issac hello..” and he sang “hello mommy”. I’m so sure he would enjoy the lessons by the day.

I told him we were going to learn the letter B and produced the feely. He was “impressed” by my feely and touched it. I guided his hand to trace the letter and then let him do it. I think he’s doing great. I told him B for bubbles, and he repeated.

Tracing letter B on feely

And then we listened to the rhyme for letter B. He wasn’t that patient, by the time the first round finished; he sneaked behind me to get the items bag. Maybe I should give it a name, like “treasure bag” or something. I managed to keep the bag till the song finished.

He was very excited when it’s time for B items. He took out one by one and he could tell all of it except the bus that I do agree it doesn’t exactly look like a bus. Haha! I was pretty satisfied with myself as I prepared blue block, blue ball, basketball.. hahahaha!

Excited about the B items

Feely and B items

The thing about our lesson is his powerful energy, flowing all the time, he could hardly sit still without jumping on to everything. I have to keep up with his energy and go with his flow, for learning should be in a fun way.

I brought out the magnetic board to write, he refused to let me write on it. He got hold of it and started drawing Humpty Dumpty in circles, and heeding Jann’s advice, I helped him to add one line over his circle to make it looks like B. I guess he was amazed. And then he took over the whole board and started drawing Humpty Dumpty. When I say, let me teach him how to spell bubbles, he refused at first, but relented. So I wrote the word under the wall.

Insisted on drawing Humpty

Somehow managed to spell out for him, under his Humpty

Jann’s guide was to play bubbles, but I’ve decided he’s not in the best condition to play bubbles late at night and then wet his blisters and all. So, I managed to brainstorm an idea, to let him play bubbles pack! Hahaha.. I kept 2 types of bubbles pack for lesson use, and I asked him to step on them. The smaller bubbles popped but not the bigger ones. What a disappointment, but I took it as giving him a comparison, one with sound and one without sound. He followed the same and say “have sound” and “no sound”. At least mission accomplished, note to self, to bring him to a park to play bubbles after his recovery.

Popping bubbles pack

 I guess he doesn't understand why I asked him to trace using finger, while only pens leave trace. He used his magnetic pen and traced the letter himself. Maybe I should change to tracing using a pen? But using fingers are what feely is for right?

He initiated to trace using his magnetic pen

When asked during bedtime, what B is for.. he says BUBBLES.. the lesson was indeed a good one!

Past Lessons:

Lesson A for Apple: 14th Jun'12

Lesson A for Ant: 18th Jun'12

Lesson B for Bear: 24th Jun'12

Lesson A for Apple: 13th Jan'13

Lesson A for Ant: 14th Jan'13

You can also follow IZ's Lernen-Reise on Facebook for more personal and up-to-date learning fun

1st Week in Pre-Nursery

IZ ended his lernen-reise in CS Montessori in Nov. It has been my intention to do a half-year in CS and continue his journey in Kinderland. Towards the end, I felt very heavy hearted as he enjoyed going there and learnt a lot from his favorite teachers. His Chinese progressed tremendously, so much that I couldn’t believe my ears when Ms. Chen told us that he spoke to her in Chinese in the class, something he has never done before at home.

Anyway, this post is meant to talk about IZ’s adventure in Kinderland.

Day 1: 2^nd Jan’13

After the long wait, we have finally started in Kinderland yesterday. The school fee is just that tad difference compared to CS, but at least it’s a 3 hour programme (but hold on about this!). IZ and his friends (Si En and Kay) are in the same class, Creative 1, in Studio 6. Theirs is called Pre-Nursery.

We went for an orientation on 1^st Dec’12 to familiarize with the school and teacher. But having been away from classes (CS and enrichment) for some time, I guess IZ just had to re-start his engine to get himself going.

With his new classmates

aka playdates

IZ couldn’t wake up early in the morning; we had to literally drag him out from the bed. We walked to the school as it is just a 5 mins (adult walk), 15-20 mins (IZ walk). We reached the school at slightly past 8. He hardened when we queued for temperature check. The PIC told us not to rush him, let him be if he doesn’t want to. I talked to him again, telling him what I’ve told him days before, that he has to let his temperature taken, just like in CS and also have his mouth and hands checked. He agreed to do it. And we proceeded to the sanitizing machine. Place your hand under it and it’ll dispense within a few seconds. Cool! Think IZ was impressed too. :-D

We walked him to the classroom, wanting to drop him and go, but gosh, he was the first to arrive! We put his bag into a shelf and I took his water bottle and placed beside the bag. Ms. Fizah (the class teacher) held out some toys and IZ played with some blocks. Then more children came into the class.

On the way to school

Busy snatching

I attempted to leave the classroom a few times, but IZ never failed to notice and cried his heart out. :-(

Children were crying, and I think Ms. Fizah and Mdm Sok Huay didn’t do a good job to manage and control the “crowd”. First day of school I figured, but yet, something could have been done better.

Ms. Fizah tried to tell a story, but I couldn’t even hear the soft-spoken her from where I stood, near the shelves. I wonder how the kids would be enticed to join her in her storytelling. And she then moved to body parts, I figured that would be the theme for the term. IZ was proactive in naming body parts and also helped to stick a piece of ear onto the face on the wall.

I waited till Ms. Fizah took out crayons and asked them to draw. IZ loves drawing to max, and suddenly oblivious to my presence. And I sneaked out again for the 3^rd time. This time, hubby and I decided to just leave him there and we went for breakfast. 

Engrossed in his fave activity

I was told by a friend that he cried on and off. I guess it’s exactly the same thing he was experienced in CS, forgot about crying when he was busy with activities and started crying again when he was doing nothing.

I wish the teacher has more experience and she should have just moved on with all the activities, so the kids would join her and forget about crying.

Towards the end, IZ cried for me. Dismissal was a mess in here. The kids were crying at the glass panel (which we do not understand why they are transparent glass and the kids could lookout and saw the parent) and it was an early dismissal, at near 10.40am.

3 hours is a little too long for the crying kids, 30 mins for a subject that is not interesting would be like forever. Their concentration span, I think not there yet.

Day 2: 3^rd Jan’13

Today I brought IZ to school as hubby had to go back to work. He refused to put on the t-shirt, we had to somehow force him in.

He cried when I left him, and again during dismissal, and intermittently during the class.

Crying

Perfectly fine after school

Day 3: 4^th Jan’13

He refused to put on the uniform again. It did make me feel if the school is any good for him. I shall persevere.

But he showed tremendous improvement, didn’t cry much except for drop-off, and definitely not when I picked him.

Feeling it was a great accomplishment on his side, I brought him to a shop nearby to choose a sticker, but he chose to get a ball instead.

Exploring after school