How to teach your kid to ride a bicycle

Recently we rewarded the girl with a bicycle without training wheels for doing well in her studies. She was very eager to learn how to ride a bike.

We found this article and video on how to teach your kid to ride a bicycle very usefell and effective. This is different from the traditional method of running beside the bicycle and holding on to it until the child becomes stable before releasing. I learned the traditional way with my sister pushing me in the back street behind our house. It was a harsh stone gravel road. Oh, how I fell and how back aching it must have been for her. :)

In the method shown on the video, it breaks down the learning process into separate steps... balancing, pedaling, riding in a straight line before turning. The child starts to learn to ride a bike on a grassy slope before riding on level ground.

When her daddy first asked her to try this method, I was afraid to look. The slope that was available to us did not look so smooth like in the video. It was rough and wet with branches strewn on it and higher too.

However, after the first trip, the girl was able to balance on a bike. On the second trip, she was able to balance with her feet on the pedal, followed by pedaling a short distance and even turning.

Next trip, we will try on flat ground. It is a great method and like they said... Learn to ride a bicycle without pain, teach bicyling without strain. Absolutely.

Teachers, the good and the bad

I do not meet up with my girl's primary school teachers very much but from what she tells me, I know which ones are good, which ones are not, which ones work hard and which ones are lazy.

For example, I know that her Standard 1 English teacher was very lazy. There was hardly any work. Whenever he was in class, he used to play with the kids. Play with rubber bands, knocks playfully on their heads, plays play doh, do paper folding with strips of coloured paper etc, anything accept English. Mind you, he carries a rotan (cane) and has a rather loud voice but none of the kids are afraid of him. When he comes, they talk even louder.

Her Std 1 Malay teacher used to tell them all sorts of scary health stories. I think she meant well to try to teach the kids about personal health but I think she is overdoing the scare tactics for 7 year olds.

Her Chinese and class teacher from last year was strict, walks, talks and moves fast. Professional but not much rapport with the kids.

This year's English teacher is a bit better. She is a bit more innovative and quite strict so the kids are afraid of her. However her lessons are a bit more fun. Her lessons are not very evenly spaced out though. Sometimes there is no work and sometimes they have to complete an entire chapter of work in a day. Hmmm....

The Malay teacher teaches at a tremendous speed. Perhaps it is not really her fault but the fact that she has to rush through the syllabus to complete a school text book and activity book plus several other activity books. Most of the times she comes in the class and starts her lesson by talking or writing really fast and the kids have to copy really really fast or get left behind. Most of the time my girl comes home with perfectly copied answers and As but when I ask her what she has learned, she says she does not  understand what is going on.

When my girl is absent for a few days and asks the teacher for help on missed lessons, she says "later, later" then forgets all about it so absent days means missed school work unless you are good enough to borrow from a friend to copy on your own but who would want to lend you his or her book when they do not know when he or she needs it? They may need it for school work or to pass up to teacher.

The best teacher so far is my girl's chinese teacher and class teacher this year. Maybe it is the fact that she is the class teacher. She is very diligent in her work. Once my girl missed some work because she was sick, the teacher spent 30 minutes with her and another girl going through with them the work that they missed. She makes sure they do their missed homework by getting another child to lend the book to them for copying when she knows that the child does not need to hand in the book on that day. She is strict but kind and approachable. My girl is not afraid to ask her when she does not understand something because she says "teacher will always explain to me till I understand."

I wish for more teachers like this for my girl and boy. They are a treasure, so hard to find.

Another one going to Primary School

Today I went to register or rather confirm my boy's placing for Standard One at his sister's school. As before, I did not know how to write his Chinese name but this time I have a little helper. Yup! His sister wrote his Chinese name on the form for him. :)

How quickly the time has flown. Next year I shall be one stressed and harried mother of two Primary school children in a Chinese Primary School. Wish me luck! :P

Chinese school has not turned out to be the horrible place I had envisioned. Apart from the homework, the teachers are not the fire breathing dragons with talons that I had feared. They are hardworking, diligent and approachable, so far. I hope it will remain that way. It all remains on the teachers you get. This year my girl is fortunate to have a very kind and understanding class teacher. That really helps a lot!

The kids in her school are a happy lot who are quite disciplined. So far so good. :)

A Little Boy with a Conscience

"Mummy, I accidentally drank the toothpaste. Now you won't give me the toothpaste anymore"

I knew it could not have been an "accident" because he particularly loved that brand of toothpaste given by the dentist because of its smell and taste compared to the normal mint toothpaste. So I pulled him aside and told him this...

"Did you purposely or accidentally drink it? I was not there to see so I don't know. Only you know. Only you know whether you did the right thing or wrong thing."

I pointed to his chest and told him...

"Good people know when they did the wrong thing and they will feel very bad inside and sorry. Only bad people like thieves and robbers sometimes do not feel that what they have done is wrong, they do not feel bad or sorry inside."

A moment later, he ran to me with tears in his eyes.

"Mummy, I am good inside. I purposely drank the toothpaste. Now you won't give me the toothpaste anymore."

I gave him a hug and said that it was very bad to purposely drink all the dirty brushing teeth water along with the toothpaste but he is indeed a very good boy to know that what he did was wrong and feel sorry.

Now.... the question is...... should I still give him the toothpaste????

Free Online Music Theory Course

My girl will be sitting for her first music theory exams this year. She will be sitting for Grade 2 because her teacher thinks that Grade 1 is too easy for her. However, she has a lot of catching up to do in order to sit for her Grade 2 Music Theory exam.

I hadn't realised that, otherwise, I would have preferred that she sits for the exam next year instead. When it comes to music, I wish to let her take it at a pace that is enjoyable and comfortable for her. There is no hurry to complete the grades.

Anyway, I found this really delightful site for her to learn music theory online. Unfortunately, she has no time to use it! I will use it though to learn ahead of her so she can come to me if she has any questions. She often delights in the fact that she can "teach" me Mandarin and Music Theory. "Look mummy, my music theory or my mandarin is so much better than yours now. I can teach you now!"

Back to the site. It is very simple to use and understand. Each topic in the syllabus is clearly explained and easily accessible with related links. I love the interactive exercises with answers when you scroll over or rollover the questions with your mouse. Unfortunately at the moment there are free music theory courses for Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 5 and Grade 6 only but it does say that more will be added soon.

I am too lazy to write my own review about it, so I shall just give a very brief summary or excerpt of what I found on the site. :P

Free Courses in Music Theory Online for Everyone!

Mymusictheory.com - gives online lessons in music theory designed to help you pass the Music Theory exams run by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM). At the moment it has complete free online courses in Grade One, Grade Two and Grade Five, with Grade Six in progress.

About the Online Music Theory Course - Each course is designed to take you step by step through everything you need to know for each grade of the music theory exams. Each tutorial has a set of practice exercises which you can use online; you can also print off the complete exercises for each grade so that you can work on them offline.

I hope this post is useful for parents whose children are studying the music theory exams run by the ABRSM.