Everyone Loves Everyone

I put up a white board in our beside my daughter's study table months ago.  I play teacher most of the time to my daughter.  I couldn't afford a tutor, that's why.  I make my daughter's education my responsibility.  She is not excelling in any of her subjects unlike other kids but I'm still happy with her progress.  

I kind of blame myself when there is something she don't know that she ought to know.  However, it doesn't show because I resort to scolding her during study period at home.  And I always regret it.

I should always keep in mind that our home is her refuge since school is hard enough as it is.  It's unbelievable what they're teaching 5-year old these days.  I'm actually scared for my kid. 

The white board was supposed to be an aid to my after-school reinforcement plans.  However, my markers dry up not because of all the studying that we do but because of the drawings she always makes every single day.  

A couple of days ago, instead of seeing stick people and animals on the board, I saw words of how she feels about her family.  The upper most photo shows how she misspelled the word "LOVE".  It didn't matter because she knew the very essence of the word.  She knew that we have a lot of that here at home.  

I came home today to find the photo below it.  She correctly spelled the word "LOVE" this time.    

In our home, we say "I love you" a lot of times.  And I hope, the meaning of these words will grow with her, give her strength and courage in this lifetime and the next.  

No, Thank You.

My five-year old daughter frequently says "no" with a "thank you".

It wasn't intentional but I think I taught her that by example.

She can be so polite at times even with the little things.

However, there are times when I don't want to hear those words especially during exam week.

Me: "Are you ready to study?"

Via:  "No, thank you mommy."  (Without even looking up)

If you must know anak, I'm not offering you anything.  I'm actually ordering you to get ready for crunch time.

Kids and iPads

My daughter is a fan of You Tube for years now. I don't really know how much she spends in front of the iPad since I spend all day at work. When I get home, I muster up all the energy that remains to play with her and her toys. We try to read books instead. She goes straight to bed after that. She's hands off the iPad when I'm around. 

Her iPad is a substitute for a playmate. She's an only child and she stays inside the house most of the time (Thank God). iPad is her window to the world. However, there are so many things in You Tube that are not appropriate for her age. For example, Katy Perry. Her songs are great but her videos are of course, on a different level of understanding. Even those Lego videos are a bit dark for my taste and so, I tell her to stop watching those. 

I put on the filter in the You Tube account that she's using. And now, she can only watch toy videos which is also bad enough because all she can think of is having them all. 

I tried downloading the educational apps but she's not even using them. I paid for Homer which we use to help her read before she even started reading. There are some good and bad outcomes in using the computer (iPad in my case). However, we need to use it with them. We are still parents and there's no substitute for that.