Primary School Workbooks For SJKC Giveaway Contest

If you are a parent of a SJKC student in a primary school in Malaysia you would be familiar with SJKC Workbooks. Many parents buy workbooks for their children to practice when guiding them at home. I find the workbooks very useful since they come with answers especially the Chinese ones since I do not know a lot of Chinese. What I know is what I learned from my children's books. I usually look for those that come with very comprehensive answers for example in a multiple choice question, the answer sheet would explain all the multiple choices, the correct one as well as why the others are not the answer of choice. Those are great for teaching.

Another workbook which I find really useful are the Resource Books or Buku Sumber by Hup Lick Publishing (M) Sdn Bhd. These resource books are reference books for the vocabulary used in the children's text books for the language subjects, Chinese, English and Bahasa Malaysia. They follow the subject text books closely chapter by chapter. Learning and expanding vocabulary is one of the most important things when learning a language.

Here, let me show you the inside of these books so you have some idea.

 Here is the Buku Sumber Bahasa Cina. It shows the words used in the text books, the meaning of the words, the pinyin, the Chinese radicals, stroke order, synonyms, antonyms, sentence construction and more.

 This is the Buku Sumber Bahasa Malaysia. It includes the definition, the English and Chinese equivalents, the "suku kata", "kata seerti", "kata lawan" and "ayat".

In the English Resource Book you will find the Chinese and Malay equivalents, the plural and singular forms, antonyms, synonyms and sentence examples.

They are excellent for SJKC kids since they are trilingual.

Please note that I am not doing a book review here. However, I do believe that a good thing is meant to be shared. That is why I am really pleased that KSSR Online bookstore Peekabook.com.my has kindly agreed to this giveaway contest on this blog to giveaway these Resource Books to ONE lucky winner.

ONE lucky winner will win a set of the Buku Sumber Workbooks of their choice. For Std 1 to Std 4, the set is the Resource Workbook which I just mentioned. Std 5 will get a set of UPSR based exercises while Std 6 will get a set of UPSR model questions workbooks. The winner gets to choose which set he/she wants. Shipping is free.

Now for the rules of the contest. Please read this carefully and follow the instructions. Here is what you will need to do for a chance to win.

1. Leave a comment in the comment box below. In your comment, please...
    a. State which set you would like to win
    b. Share what you think about shopping for SJKC Workbooks online with an Online Book Retailer like Peekabook.com.my

2. Like Peekabook on Facebook.

That is all. ONE winner will be picked by random. The contest is open to all Malaysians (from East and West Malaysia) from 21 January 2014 and will be closed at  7 am, 24 January 2014.

THIS CONTEST HAS ENDED. CONGRATULATIONS TO BEE LENG LOW FOR WINNING THE SET OF WORKBOOKS FOR STD 1

Sneak peak at the prize. If you win, you can choose from ANY ONE SET from the following sets of SJKC workbooks. Please note that these workbooks are tailored for SJKC kids, however you are free to enter this contest even if your child is not from SJKC if you would like to win a copy of these books.

 Set 1 for Std 1

Set 2 for Standard 2

Set 3 for Standard 3

Set 4 for Standard 4

Set 5 for Standard 5

Set 6 for Standard 6

Kids Project - How To Make Your Own Recycled Paper At Home

My children wanted to make their own recycled paper at home during the school holidays. So we got to work. We got the instructions from my daughter's text book. 

Here's what you need to make your own recycled paper:

1. Newspaper or any other recyclable paper

2. A container

3. A fork

4. A sieve

5. A rolling pin or bottle

6. A piece of cloth

7. An iron

Here are the steps on how to make your own recycled paper at home. It is very easy. Kids can do it with some supervision.

Step 1: Tear your newspaper into strips and soak it for several days. 

If you are wondering what the other spare container in the picture is for. We used it for pouring water into the container filled with paper.

Step 2: After a few days, use the fork to mash the paper into tiny bits.

Step 3: Use the strainer to get rid of access water from the mashed up paper. Note that you are not supposed to push the paper through the strainer. It is only for separating water from the paper or drying your mashed up paper.

Step 4: Use a rolling pin or glass bottle to roll out the mashed paper into a flat piece. We didn't have a rolling pin or bottle so we tried to improvise with an empty cylinder shaped biscuit can. It didn't work. In the end, we found it a lot easier to just shape the paper with our hands. After this you should put the paper away to dry for a day.

Step 5: Put another cloth over the recyled paper and iron it to flatten it nicely.

Step 6: Tadaaa... you've got yourself a homemade recycled paper. My daughter cut hers into four pieces. She wanted to make a card with it and decorate it.

This homemade project for kids on How To Make Your Own Recycled Paper At Home is an excellent way to teach kids that waste products can be recycled and reused. 

6 Christmas Craft Supplies Essentials For Kids

Christmas or any other holiday season and celebration is a good time to be crafting with kids. Crafting is fun for children and it also creates a bonding time for parent and child especially if you do it together. I've been doing Christmas crafts with my kids for years. We've got Reindeer Crafts, Santa Crafts and lots of Christmas tree crafts. We also made many homemade Christmas Cards. You can get lots of free templates or ideas from all over the internet for all sorts of Christmas crafts to do with kids. However, it would be really good if you had some Christmas Craft Supplies for kids. They will make your crafts really festive with just a little creativity.

Here are 6 Christmas Craft Supplies Essentials For Kids. You can use these Christmas Craft Supplies for kids to make all sorts of kids christmas crafts including homemade Christmas ornaments, Christmas cards, Christmas stockings and more. 

6 Essential Christmas Craft Supplies To Make Better Crafts That Come Alive During The Holiday Season:

1. K&Company Designer Paper Pad by Susan Winget, Penguin Christmas

Christmas themed paper are great for Christmas Crafts of any kind. You can use them for making Christmas Origami Projects, Christmas bookmarks, Christmas Cards with your kids. You can also use Christmas themed papers for your own Christmas scrapbooking projects.

2. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY SCRAPBOOKING STICKER ASSORTMENT
Holiday Stickers are great for little kids who are making Christmas crafts. They can add the Christmas stickers onto cards, bookmarks and other Christmas crafts easily to instantly get a festive holiday craft with little effort. The Christmas craft will look great and your little one will be proud of his or her achievement. Christmas stickers are easy to handle and use and recommended for very young children doing crafts. You can use the left over stickers for your holiday scrapbooking. Christmas Stickers are also good for sealing wrapped up gifts.

3. 50 Assorted Christmas Stamps

Christmas or Holiday stampers are another easy to use medium for little kids. They are fun and will liven up any Christmas craft project by a child. Christmas stampers also make good Christmas Stocking stuffers for children.

4. Clever Lever Xtra Giga Craft Punch, Multi Shape Christmas
Christmas shaped craft punch or holiday theme punch are lovely for adding to projects. You can use the Christmas craft punch to punch out beautiful Christmas shapes on colorful Christmas papers and add them to your Christmas Crafts with kids. I love this holiday craft punch which punches out multi Christmas shapes with just one punch!

I also like the Martha Stewart Crafts Punch, Arctic Snowflake or the Christmas tree or gingerbread men shaped Christmas Craft punch.

5. 500 Fabulous Foam CHRISTMAS Self Adhesive Stickers
Like the other Christmas stickers, Christmas foam stickers are excellent for craft projects for children because of the delightful 3-D effect they product for the Christmas crafts by kids. I love foam stickers because they are easy to use and they turn out beautiful when applied to various kids crafts.

6. Adhesive Back Jewels
Finally, I like to add adhesive 3D jewels for my kids craft projects because I love bling bling. These bunch of adhesive jewels and gems will surely brighten up any craft project or holiday drawing with some bling bling fun.

Apart from the above 6 Christmas Craft Supplies Essentials For Kids, naturally you will also need the basic pen, paper, ruler, glue and scissors plus the optional glitter pen or glitter glue or jagged edge scissors, colored construction paper, pom poms, googly eyes, buttons, pipe cleaners, ribbons and more. With these Craft supplies stashed in your house like mine are in our craft cupboard, you will never run out of things to do on a rainy day indoors.

All these 6 Essential Holiday Craft Supplies For Kids are nice as Christmas Stocking Stuffers too.

Happy Crafting!

If you prefer a make your own Christmas Craft kit that comes with everything, then check the following holiday craft kits out. Here are a couple of my favorite make your own Christmas Craft Kits for kids including make your own Christmas Craft kit, make your own 3D Christmas Kit, make your own Christmas charm bracelet kit, make your own Christmas ornament kit and more.

Have you done your Christmas Shopping yet? You still have time. Here are my shopping guides for 2012.

Christmas Gift Guide For Whole Family

Christmas Gift Ideas For Kids 2012

Life Cycle Of A Butterfly Experiment For Kids

We often have a lot of caterpillars in our garden. However, I never thought of doing this little science experiment before till someone in my Facebook group suggested it. This is a fun and easy science experiment you can do at home with your kids to teach them about the life cycle of a butterfly. The butterfly goes through 4 stages to become an adult. They are egg, lava, pupa and adult.

This wonderful little science experiment is so easy to do and is an excellent way to teach young kids about the life cycle of a butterfly. This is what you will need for your experiment..

1. A see through container
2. Plastic cling wrap and rubber band
3. A caterpillar

First, you will have to catch a caterpillar. What type of host plants are butterflies attracted to? From our experience the Butterflies usually lay their eggs on host plants with leaves that give out a strong odor like lime leaves or curry leaves. They have also laid their eggs on a large fern like plant we have in our garden. Look for caterpillar droppings. This is a sure sign that the caterpillar is somewhere hidden among the leaves. Check for newly nibbled leaves. Then look for the caterpillars either on top or just under the leaves.

Once you find your caterpillar, pluck the leaf where your caterpillar is attached on and place it together with some other leaves in a see through glass or plastic container. Place cling wrap to cover the container and secure it with a band. Then poke some holes to let in air. The young caterpillar is brown and black in color.

Change or add new leaves every day and watch the caterpillar grow. My kids were surprised to see our brownish black caterpillar turn a bright green as it grows. 

As the caterpillar gets ready for the next stage in its life cycle which is the pupa stage, it will cling onto the side of the container and curl up a little. During the pupa stage, the caterpillar will be encased in a  silk like chrysalis. It is fascinating to watch the life cycle happening in real life. My kids and I check our caterpillar daily. 

Soon the caterpillar forms a chrysalis, then you wait for your butterfly to emerge. We waited for one and a half weeks. 

Finally the caterpillar turns into a beautiful butterfly. Here is a view of our butterfly from the side.

While, here is a view of our butterfly with its beautiful wings spread open. It is amazing to note and watch the changes unfolding. 

Finally here is the empty chrysalis. As soon as we removed the cling wrap, the butterfly took off and flew high up in the sky. We couldn't even have a chance to take a little picture of it. 

Pin the following image if you like this experiment. You can show them the butterfly quote too. "Just When The Caterpillar Thought The World Was Over, It Became A Butterfly" to teach kids to persevere and not give up just like how this experiment requires patience and waiting for the butterfly to emerge from its pupa.

Life Cycle Of A Butterfly Experiment

Your kids can still do the life cycle of a butterfly experiment even if you do not have a garden. You can do so with the Insect Lore Butterfly Garden. With this butterfly growing kit, you will receive a pop up mesh basket, 5 live caterpillars and food for the caterpillars so kids can have their own live butterfly garden of Painted Lady Butterflies. 

Tips For Buying School Bags

Here are a few quick tips for buying school bags. These tips for buying school bags should be especially useful for parents who are buying school bags for their children who are entering grade school or primary school for the first time.

1. Buy the right size - Remember to bring your child shopping and choose the right size. Not too small till it can't fit in enough books yet not too large for him to handle. It should also hold just the right amount of books and not more than that to protect his back. 
2. Check the school layout - Check the school layout and logistics before buying. Is your child going to be in a classroom on the ground floor or higher up. Consider roller bags for ground floor to take the weight of your child or a backpack for higher floors.
3. Consider the weight - Consider the weight of the bag with books and water tumblers. As a general guideline this weight should not be more than 10% of your child's weight. Get a lightweight bag. The weight of the bag itself should not be too heavy without books inside.
4. Choose the right kind - Roller bags or trolley bags, messenger bags or backpack? Choose the right kind of bag for your child after checking the school layout and with safety aspects in mind. Don't pick just any bag your child likes. 
5. Protect your child's back -  Get an ergonomically designed bag. Usually the back of the bag has a stronger and harder support. A waist strap should also be present to distribute the weight. Teach him the proper way to carry a bag pack. It should be carried using both shoulders and not on one side. You may even need to get two bags to distribute the weight. A backpack and a hand carry one.
6. Check the zippers - Sometimes this simple act is forgotten. Check the zippers and other parts to make sure they are all in good order before you buy.
7. Look for useful features - The bag should have enough compartments for water tumblers, pencil cases, or different places to keep exercises books, workbooks and textbooks.
8. Have comfort in mind - If buying a backpack, look for wide padded straps that are comfortable that won't press on or hurt your child's shoulders.
9. Durability vs price - While considering your budget, consider also the fact that bags that last for many years sometimes end up cheaper than changing cheaper bags regularly. Some better brands have warranties that allow you to change parts that come apart from wear and tear.
10. Long lasting style - Resist the urge to get the latest cute cartoon like the minions etc for your young child. You may have to change it when it goes out of style even though the bag may still be in good order.

Lastly, happy shopping for your child's school bag.

Summary of the above school bag buying tips can be found below.