Sri Emas International School Open Day 27 & 28 April 2019

This post is brought to you by Sri Emas International School.

Our philosophy in teaching isn’t just about delivering the syllabus but at the end of the day, it’s about ensuring that they’re enjoying what they’re learning by incorporating elements that are relevant to kids these days. With that, we like you to experience what we mean in our upcoming Open Day.

Date: 27 (Saturday) & 28 (Sunday) April

Time: 9am – 4:30pm

Venue: Sri Emas International School

Itinerary:

10am-12pm: Open Day workshop

12pm-1pm: Skills Enhancement Workshop

1pm-1:45pm: Lunch

1:45pm-3pm: Principal/Founders’ Talk

3pm-4pm: Classroom Experience For Parents

Title: Get involved with our Open Day workshops and other complimentary activities with only RM20!

RSVP here: http://bit.ly/SEOpenDay2019

Open Day workshops (Max 30 pax/day) *Pick one only

Chem-mystery

A challenge created by a few of our Science teachers, where one of them happens to be a forensics scientist, you’ll be stepping into the shoes of a detective for a day to solve puzzles and unravelling the mysteries behind them using scientific concepts.

Mozart from the future

In today’s ever-changing world, ICT has become an essential part of our repertoire. Come check out how we incorporate rapid prototyping and problem-solving skills by teaching our kids to build a mini-electronic piano from scratch!

Skills Enhancement workshops (Max 30 pax/day) *Pick one only

Sound Wave Dance workshop

Do you know that over 60% of students are kinaesthetic? This means, they retain information a lot better via bodily movements. Join us for a “Step up” and experience how we incorporate dancing to teach our kids about soundwaves in Physics.

A leader with attitude (Drama) *Only available on 28 April (Sunday)

Get involved with our Drama workshop and see how we transform a regular individual into an outstanding, expressive leader that shines with confidence!

Art.C’s Hirameki workshop *Only available on 27 April (Saturday)

Inspire and expand your imaginations by joining our Hirameki workshop! Translated as “Draw what you see”, the Hirameki is brilliant in teaching students about looking at the things from different perspectives by getting them to doddle on random blobs, colourful splashes, and smears.

Classroom Experience For Parents (Max 30 pax/day) *complimentary

If you’re wondering what goes on daily in our classes, come check out our Classroom Experience for Parents where you’ll sit in a class as a student and experience our way of teaching!

Subjects on that day: English & History

Other complimentary activities:

·         Principal/Founders’ Talk

·         Campus Tour

RSVP here: http://bit.ly/SEOpenDay2019

Important:

*Workshops are on a first come first serve basis only.

*Attendees are required to make the payment during the day itself where failure to do so will result to a voided registration.

Fun With Phonics

Phonics can be confusing for parents who didn’t learn to read and write English that way, and many parents are uncertain how best to help their children, but rest assured there is a lot you can do. 

Believe it or not, there really is a system linking English spelling and pronunciation together and phonics teaches children that system. Rather than teaching them letter names, phonics teaches them the different sounds that individual letters and groups of letters make when they’re written down so that children can blend the units of sound together to read whole words. This is a tried and tested method. By the end of primary school, children who learn to read with phonics can attain a reading age 3.5 years ahead of those who do not. 

The Best Way To Help Your Children Is To Learn With Them

Phonics may seem a bit overwhelming to you at first but the best way to help your children is to learn with them. Check which sounds they’ve been learning in class and start by watching some phonics videos online with them. This will refresh their memories and show you what and how they’ve been taught. The Alphablocks is an excellent BBC series of phonics videos available on YouTube as is Geraldine the Giraffe – a series made by a British school teacher. 

Help Your Child Practice Using Their New Phonics Knowledge

After watching a video, set your child a task to help them practice using their new phonics knowledge. First, they need to practise saying the sound and identifying words that contain it. So you could send them on a treasure hunt where they have to find things around the house that begin with or contain the correct sound. For example, if they’re practicing /p/ as in paper you can ask them to find five things that begin with the same /p/ sound. As they collect items, encourage them to say what they are to check if they begin with the correct sound. You could also ask them to draw five things that begin with the sound or to make five models out of Playdoh of things that begin with the sound.

After saying the sound, children need to practice writing it



After saying the sound, children need to practice writing it and at this stage it’s important to refer to the written form as a letter shape rather than using its letter name which can be confusing. So, you might say something like “Can you write the /p/ letter shape?” while making the /p/ sound - as in the beginning of the word paper.

A variety of arts and crafts activities can make this stage fun and stimulating. For example, you can use a glue stick and some dry rice or glitter and ask your child to write the letter shape with the glue stick then sprinkle on the rice/glitter to reveal it. You can ask your child to make the letter shape with Playdoh or you can fill a tray with shaving foam and ask them to write the letter shape using their fingers. Equally, you may want to make letter shapes that you can keep so that you can help your child to practice reading simple words when they reach that stage in their phonics journey.

Download some phonics apps onto your smartphone

If your child enjoys technology, you could download some phonics apps onto your smartphone. Both Jolly Phonics (the British state school standard phonics system) and the Alphablocks available both for iOS and for Android devices have fun and well-designed phonics apps. If you are not familiar with the letter sounds yourself then these apps can help you to learn phonics skills as well, so you can support your children.

So, learn with your children, get creative and try to choose practice activities that your child will enjoy. Good luck!

These tips were brought to you by British Council Malaysia. British Council Malaysia provides Phonics courses at the KL and The Curve branches. Further course details can be found at https://www.britishcouncil.my/english/courses-children/phonics

To learn about our courses for children aged 5 – 17, visit British Council at https://www.britishcouncil.my/english/courses-children

Join the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 Today!

Are you passionate about writing poetry and public speaking?

If the answer is yes, the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 is the perfect platform for you to showcase your talents!



The 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 will be held at the 13th Private & International School Fair in Kuala Lumpur on 22 & 23 June 2019 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre. The competition aims to promote the creative use of the English language through the medium of poetry.

The competition is divided into two stages which includes an online submission of poems and live performance. Participants first need to submit a poem revolving around the theme, People Who Inspire Me. Those whose poems meet the requirements will be shortlisted to perform at the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 in front of a live audience.



The competition is open to individuals and groups in two categories, Category A (11 to 12 years old) and Category B (13 to 14 years old). Last year, the inaugural PISF Poetry Slam received over 150 entries from almost 40 private, international and national schools in the Klang Valley.

Send your entries for the 2nd PISF Poetry Slam 2019 today and stand a chance to win attractive cash prizes!

Find out more about the competition below:

http://www.privateinternationalschoolfair.com/events/13th-private-international-school-fair-in-kuala-lumpur/contests

Watch the highlights of the inaugural PISF Poetry Slam 2018 below:



This is a sponsored post.

Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2019

Recently I won two tickets to the Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta 2019.

The tickets were sponsored by OPPO Fans Club Malaysia. They also had a balloon at the festival.

The 2019 Putrajaya Hot Air Balloon Fiesta was the 10th. I had always wanted to go but never found my way there because of fear that the crowd would be too large, the parking and jam would be real bad etc. Those were my thoughts.

I wanted very much to bring my kids but since the next day was a back to school day and they would be having tests etc, I went with my sister, my brother in law and their Taiwanese friend instead. It was a good opportunity to show him some Malaysian sights and eat Malaysian food.

The Putrajaya International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is open to everyone for free. However, you can purchase tickets to be at the launch pad (called the Blue Zone). At the launch pad, you can observe the pilots set up their balloons from close up. They may even oblige by letting you climb into the baskets for a photo or two.

You can purchase the Blue Zone tickets for morning or evening. For the morning tickets, you can watch the pilots set up and see the balloons take flight (RM20). There are two types of evening tickets, one that comes with a kit of night glow sticks (RM50) and the other without (RM30). We got the RM30 one.

Our tickets were the night glow tickets. What time should we go? Since we were very much afraid of the jam, we decided to arrive there at 5.30pm.

Upon arrival, we found that there weren't enough signages to point us to the Blue Zone and ticketing area but it is very straightforward. You just park your car when you arrive at the location and keep walking and asking. You will find it. It was quite a long queue to get the extra tickets and by the time we got it, it was just nice to watch the pilots set up their balloons. It was really fun and quite an experience. Kids should enjoy this very much. Even adults too.

After the balloons were up, we went for dinner. There were many stalls set up nearby at the eating area. They also provided lots of dustbins and sinks with water taps so the place was clean. There were plenty of choices and stalls.

Finally we went back to the blue zone for the night glow activities. Unfortunately, there was a strong wind blowing and they had to call off the balloons. Only the gas lights and fireworks at the end remained. We didn't stay for that.

With hindsight. in future, I would go for the morning show. In the evening show, the balloons were on parade but they did not take off but hot air balloons belong in the sky don't you think? We would definitely want to experience the excitement of watching them take off one by one after the set up.

Another note. There were 20 balloons but we managed to see only half of them because the zone cannot fit all of them at once. The other half was being set up half way when the winds arrived so too bad, we didn't get to see them.

It is worthwhile to get the tickets as the launch area is less crowded and you can watch the activities from very close up.

Future plan: Plan to arrive around 6.30am to avoid jam. The parking is not so bad when you plan to arrive early. There is ample parking. Purchase tickets online to avoid queue.

Enjoy watching the balloons set up and take off, followed by brunch. That is half day of fun for the family.