(2006/01) Jan 2006 MTBs

hi SY, i have PM you my blog.
i brought my mum along so she was bringing the 2 boys to the merchandise store to play while we hurrily go up for a ride. since there was no queue, it was pretty fast. some ppl even persuaded the staff to let them continue for another round. haha...

there are pros and cons in going early. firstly, no crowd as i think they limit the tickets to i think 3000 per day during the soft launch. there are rebates on dining and retail per ticket.

disavantage is that there are few rides still not open. one of which is the madagascar boat ride and the central water show.

otherwise, if your boys have yet to hit 4 y/o. good time to go there since it's FOC for now.
 


SSF
Ha ha the boys and girls in this thread all turned 4 liao lah. Born either 2005 Dec, Jan 2006 or even our youngest princess Kaelyn is 4 in Feb liao.

Only the didi and meimei of 2006 babies are not 4.

Hb is thinking of getting Annual Pass so this is Charmaine's reward if she "do her homework regularly without prompting" ha ha. See how it goes for us.

Heard hb telling daughter, buy annual pass, if today rain, we can come back another day. Today no madagascar can come another day too. I want to faint.
 
Yippee, i'm going to USS tomorrow. :p pray that it won't rain.

The advantage of being small: C can pass off as a 3 yr old easily. Finally something good is coming out from this. haha.

got the test results of his growth hormone stimulation test. He had suboptimal growth hormone levels. Not good, but not deficient either. So told dr that we'll monitor further and see how. Now that he's no more allergic to chicken and milk (Double hooray!!!!), we're pumping him with lots of fatty stuff. Been told by dietitian to add oil/fats and stuff to everything he eats.
 
A fren just went and she too said USS is small but good.... CL, not cheap for annual pass and now primary school liao cannot just skip and go ... I would love to go onto the roller coasters ride but older one is still too short n he's rathe upset if he doesn't get to go, n going alone is very sian... still waiting for a good promo to come up, anyone knows if any coming? i'm hoping to pass my K as under 4 if we do go... he doesn't take a lot of rides and no point we pay tons for nothing much.

.ky.
 
CL - oh ya ...blur me. Jan babies wat. haha....ya we are also thinking of getting the annual pass. will see how things go. so far C hasn;t been pestering me to go universal yet. maybe harder to pronounce compared to zoo. LOL. wow ur hb siao ONz.

mashy - ya actually i was like knocking my head for being so honest. haha...cos C can also pass off as 3 yrs old. hee.. hopefully the weather will be good else dun worry, buy disposable poncho...$2.50 each. has kids' size too
happy.gif
i have pm you my blog addy. enjoy!
 
hi gals

went USS today. Very disappointed that BSG was closed! Anyway, will tell u more tom when i'm refreshed.

Just wanted to share with u what happened there which i thought was so funny:

Caeden was very excited when he saw the memorabilia at 'The Mummy'.

'Mummy, that's your name!'.
 
mashy - ya i read that one of the roller coaster ride was closed. so sad...if ya planning to sit. For me, i chickened out. Didnt have guts. The weather turned out great after all right? C is so cute...my C is also still confuse when hb calls me dear which is deer to him. LOL.

I hope ur boy enjoyed the park after all
 
Tks mummies for the inputs. SSF, I m thinking of the branch at kovan. Gerald is on wait list now for the Saturday morning class.

SY
I hope tt Gerald grows out of writing in the mirror image. He can do it for A now as he writes his name quite often in school.
 
krissie - i went to white sands branch today and realise that parent is not allowed to sit in. so disappointed as i know J will not want to be alone. the timing is also pretty good. 10am for him and 11am is C's music class. what a pity!
sad.gif
 
<font color="0077aa">hello all
Long time no "see".. hehe thanks CL for remembering the youngest here is kaelyn..Indeed, she has turned 4 and just now when I surf ON website looking for 6T clothes... I realised she is no longer under the "Baby" catoegory...
She is a big girl now... wow wee...

As mentioned the other day... I hope we can have another by the beach/picnic event again like the old old time.. when our "babies" was just only 18mths..I think it will be very nice to see all the children again.. :D

Anyone keen?</font>
 
<font color="0077aa">Queen
I wanted to start Kaelyn on some music lesson too, she was very insistent on Violn at first at 3yr ++, whenever we asked her what would she like to learn, answer is always Violin not flicker at all. But I thought it's too young then to enrol her in anything.. so I waited..now she seems not much "feeling"

I'm thinking of starting her with some Yamaha or Critopheri(wrong spelling I think) or siempi...just to test water and see her reaction but couldnt make up my mind...

Anyone here has anything to share on this area?</font>
 
Cookie,
same here, I wanted to start e on piano but he changes from piano to cello to violin?? So I cant decide..

Picnic anyone??
Good Friday ?
 
Cookie
hee hee now that Charmaine is doing piano. I am thinking of starting Aden on Violin. I likely will try for NAFA since it is easier for me to bring him on friday then wait for daddy to pick us up.

Now waiting for registration and audition first in May first.

But ha ha Aden told me he wants Guitar.
 
cookie,
Keenan is in Siempi. Has been there for nearly 2 years already and is enjoying it a lot, except for the piano practices at home. Got to bribe him into it. I feel they are all very similar, where they all teach music fundamentals like rythm, theory, etc, with 10-15 mins of class time on the keyboard. Ethan went to Christophori and they used Mozart Mouse and Beethoven Bear stuff toys and workbooks and home CDs to teach. Siemp uses games and flash cards and workbooks. Have not seen Yahama but I would think its similar.
Will be starting Declan there in April too, as he's always asking to go.

CL,
Keenan and Ethan are at Nafa but doing art classes there on Fridays. Hope to bump into you then. And Declan, of course, was asking to go for art class, but still too young for admission there. He would pack his own 'art bag' and insist that he was going to class too. Poor boy. I found an alternative clay class for him at Funan and the same timing on Fridays for him instead to keep him occupied and happy.
 
Denmy
I was also eyeing the art class for friday but of course Aden is not of age yet lor.

For me it is the convenience since I am working at Cityhall and his cc is at middle road. All I need to do is just walk down since I knock off earlier on Friday and daddy is always late in picking us up
 
<font color="0077aa">Hi Rena
Good Friday I will be working le
sad.gif
sob sob
I wonder if a Sat morning will it be good but afraid many children will have class?
Or else... weekday morning, I will try to take leave :D

Hi Denmy
Which teach is Keenan with? Actually I tried a trial at PP before perhaps that teacher I'm not impressed at all and din want to sign them up.
Perhaps I will just sign K1 and K2 up since WhiteSand has 2 slot just right for them...
April.. oh maybe K2 if have slot will be same class as Declan
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CL
NAFA I heard is very tough, my friend's boy is there. He used to be from Christophri and I think he is rather gifted so was recommended to NAFA.
He had a Kawaii piano and NAFA teacher says not good enough... imagine not even pass grade one, they asked him to buy a Grand piano! now they have a Grand Piano at home.. wow wee...

</font>
 
my gal has been learning violin for about 3 months already. but the teacher is leaving for further study soon. sigh... and my gal told me that she didn't wanna learn violin anymore and wanted to learn piano.

how? should I listen to her and look for piano teacher? or i should insist letting her go for violin class with other teacher 'cos when she said she didn't wanna learn violin, it's with quite strong tone? *headache*
 
cookie
that is why i never put charmaine with NAFA. ha ha i cannot afford leh. So hor violin safer ha ha how "big" can they upgrade ha ha

Sunny
let me share with you my experience with Charmaine. at 3 years old charmaine wanted ballet. After 6 months she complain leg too tired so request to stop. Then she ask for Yamaha Class. After 6 months she complain fingers too tired and so mah fan to use 2 hands. So she stopped again.

Thereafter she requested at age 6 again and this round as she is older I start her on piano. So far so good. Now I engage a teacher to teach her at my mum place and she likes this teacher a lot.

That chemistry between the teacher and the student counts too. Why she prefer this teacher to my friend who is actually quite nice too because ha ha this one will make her feel so good if she done well.

Maybe find her a new place let her try and then see how it goes.

If you decided to let her try piano, can send her to Charmaine's ex teacher who is staying at quintet near your place.
 
<font color="0077aa">CL
so it's true har.. all NAFA kid must have grand piano.u are so right.. Violin seems more affordable for a starter..
I feel a good teacher whom can handle young children well is important more than skill set since lower grades are elementary, getting the kids intereste is more important.

sunny
personally i feel at their age.. they hasnt developed kind of "passion" in if they want to learn piano or violin life long kind of stuff.
I know it's tough cos the investment in piano can be big even if it's not the grand piano still a few K. My bro tend to tell me since i have 3 kids so can even out cost haha.. I'm still thinking.
Perhaps I might just let her try out and see how on different stuff...but I'm not so readily just buy any piano just becos she want to learn for fun for 3-6 mths...heehee.. so I need to monitor somemore...sigh...</font>
 
Sunny, u have invested in a violin I suppose? How abt doing 2 instruments for a while and see where her interest/talent head? U'll prob see more light after half a year? True what Coookie says that young kids have not develop the passion ... it could be they see, they like what they see/hear but when it gets challenging, they tend to want to back out bocs it gets a little boring to practise the same pieces everyday ... so as parents, we need to motivate and emphasize with them. But again each kid is different, some kids are very opinated and they really know what they want and don't want ... some still blur blur. I have chosen convenience coz my boy wants everything! He does both Electone and piano coz he can't bear to let go of Electone but at the same time, he loves piano too ... Some Yamaha teachers are very passionate about teaching young kids ... n I choose it for the convenience. btw, the new term of yamaha should be starting this week or 2.... the one at Limbang does conduct piano classes in group setting

.ky.
 
cookie
ha ha I dun have in the east lah. I stay in west mah. But I think I enquire from a mummy in forum before and she is teaching. let me check if she is still teaching
 
Hi Cl,

If the teacher do teaches in the East, i am keen too.

A has been asking for piano and swimming lessons. But i hesitate in getting a piano due to same concern - what if she gives up after a while.........

Any suggestion?
 
Yuki
I sold my piano when I moved house. In the end, I went to second hand shop to get a digital one at $500 only. The shop owner's kids are all taught on such digital piano and they are playing well.

So for now Charmaine's piano teacher is using that to teach her and she will update me when she is more stable and ready to change to a upright piano.
 
haha, all of u are talking abt what music lessons to send your kid to or has already sent them. My boy still belongs to the 'blur blur' type.

That day we went into the violin shop in Marina Square and he just pointed around and said violin. Asked him if he wanna learn, he looked away. That's his way of saying 'no'. He doesn't answer u lor. sigh. He seems more interested in the guitar like Aden but I think Guitar no need to send to class now. Next time they'll learn from their peers in their teenage years.

Actually violin also expensive leh. I saw some basic ones going for $10k! The good ones if they advance to higher level can go to hundred thousand! I think piano is cheaper....
 
BP

wow, free violin class!!!

Re: piano teacher
My cousin is teaching piano leh. Wonder if he's good with kids though coz i find him very quiet. Maybe if C wanna learn, i'll try him out. :p
 
CL
what's Charmaine's ex piano teacher's teaching style? strict? lively &amp; cheerful? or etc etc?
probably i should look for another violin teacher... not easy though.
 
cookie-C is with seimpi 'music in me' at white sands. He has been there since aug last yr. The teacher is Jasmin. Not bad...C likes her lo. Else teacher Fiona is not bad too. see ya ard...
 
Hi mummies,

Heehee, back to music lessons again.
Let me share my own story...

I started piano lessons when I'm in P1 or P2... cannot remember liao. My mother did not ask me whether I want to take piano lessons. She just went ahead to buy a 2nd hand piano and engaged a private teacher and told me to attend lessons. That was it. She probably felt that what did a 7 or 8 year old girl know about what she want to do... Anyway, so I took lessons. I don't think I showed great enthusiasm or talent for piano, but I dutifully went through the lessons and exams till Grade 4 when suddenly I was just so sick of practicing daily, again and again the same set of scales, the same few pieces for exams. So I told my mom that I want to quit. She literally blew her top and told me she had invested too much money in my lessons for me to just quit. So I was forced to carry on. So I carried on... and managed to get my Grade 8 in the end. Now, I will say 'thank you' to my mum. Cos eventually, though I'm neither talented nor very passionate about the piano, I learned to appreciate it and classical music in general. I think I have developed discipline through the music training as well. It takes a lot of discipline to practice almost every day for 1 to 2 hours!
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So what I'm trying to say here is, not many kids at 4 to 7 years old. will show the enthusiasm or natural propensity / talent for any type of music instruments that we as parents like to see, unless the kid is naturally very talented or shows signs of being a prodigy. The point is, I feel, is to expose our children to music and formal training for at least few years, more for personal development than anything else. The type of instrument to pick up is secondary. Once the kid is able to like music and like to learn about it, he/she will naturally decide on an instrument that he/she likes best. But we have to start somewhere with an instrument, piano and violin are the most common and easiest to find a teacher.
 
I asked Isaac whether he wants to learn music, he says 'no'. But then I expect this from him... cos right now, he hasn't shown great enthusiasm for anything except for XBox games. Hahahah. So if I ask him whether he wants to take lessons in Xbox, I'm sure he will say 'YES!'.
Anyway, I told him to choose from Violin, Piano and Cello. He says Violin. Sometimes he will say Cello, but then again, he will say "Cello, maybe later when he is 'bigger'". So I guess, it'll be violin for him. I intend to start him on formal lessons only end of this year. I don't think he is ready now.

But I'm looking around to buy a piano. More for myself then for my boys. After starting work, getting married etc. I think I have lost touch with piano, and sometimes I miss playing. I still have my old piano at my parents' but thinking of investing in a better piano. No digital piano for me... Digital piano feels different to the touch and the tone is just not as rich.
 
Denmy,
How does Siempi teach rhythm and theory? I wonder how the kids will learn or understand this rhythm / music theory by just spending 10 to 15 mins on the keyboard? Maybe I'm a bit 'old school' but I remember when I first started learning the piano, my teacher used actual beginner music pieces and taught me how to read music notes and notations while getting me to play on the piano the same time.
 
CL,
Ya hor, technically Aden is 4 this year and Keenan 5, being born in 2005. So if you are interested, do put the children's names on their mailing list. They'll send out a letter to inform you of the registration date sometime 3rd quarter of the year and it's 1st come 1st serve basis. The course is so popular that you'd be shocked to see the number of ppl on the registration day itself! Was advised by frens to go early but I was 1 hr late and was #530+ for my queue no.!

Cookie,
Keenan's teacher is Marcia, a filipina. Declan's class is due to start in Apr only if they can confirm 1 more kid. So far its Declan and another boy (the younger brother of Keenan's Siempi classmate). They are actually opening up a class for us on Tuesdays 430pm. The teacher will be Hara, who's from Funan. U can or not at this timing? Anyone else in the east interested?

Yuki/cookie
Btw, if you r looking for piano teacher, there's one who teaches from home at Ocean Towers, East Coast Road, and cheaper than outside plus she's very good with children. I dunno her name and contact, only heard from a mother fren whose 5yo boy is attending there. If u interested I can find out from her the contact.

Queen,
Becos the kids are still very young, percussion instruments like maracus, clappers, even squeezy rubber toys, are used in class for the kids to play along with the music. They sing action songs and also clap their hands to the beat, as well as the notes values shown on flashcards. Note values also taught thru' other hands on games like bowling where the pins are stucked on with printed cards. Musical terms with corresponding pictures will also be flashed. The 10-15 mins is only the practical part where the kids will play from a piano book.
 
Denmy, I nearly signed up my son for NAFA Arts 1.5 - 2 yrs ago ... found out incidentally there are slots for Friday afternoon class, but the vacancies were taken shortly after a few days ... but is the class really that good? I couldn't get any much feedback on how the classes are like.

Queen, I also did not ask my sons if they want to learn music and which instrument to pick. I just said let's go to the class. So far, they have not asked to learn other instruments ... and perhaps coz #1 is into the routine, it affects the #2's wanting to go on a practise routine too.

Just my opinion, there are 2 general types of music programme one may want to embark the young kids in - 1 is more of a music appreciation prog and actual playing of instruments prob takes abt 25% of the prog, though it gets more eventually, 1 is straight into focusing on mastering a musical instrument as well as focus on the technicalities of music (like note reading, playing of scales, etc). Someone has told me that she's doing 2 different paths for her girl (now a teenager) and boy (P1) and that's coz how she view the developmental capability btw the 2. Girls develop faster in terms of maturity and motor skills and so is more suited for the latter form of music training whereas boys are more adaptable to a play kind of environment. I've sort of hung onto that kind of thinking too and that's what I'm doing now.... but there are many others who have chosen to go into training on a musicial instruments with private teachers at the age that they feel the kid is ready. There are pros and cons of both but I still feel that it's good to let the kids start with a fun environment to learn music ... they don't really have much time to have fun coz the prog change drastically after 2 yrs and at that time, they are already used to the fundamentals and would not push off practiste ... that's just my personal experience.

.ky.
 

ky, my gf's boy is w nafa sat class.
she said her son love the class more than the previous one @ rc/cc. teacher @ nafa more prof and let the kids to try their creativity.
the registration is by mailing list only.
as for their music class, my gf told me only gifted children are in their class, can't 'suka suka' join one.. LOL~
 
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