Archive for August 2012
《我真的要和他共度此生嗎？：決定交往、結婚、分手前的50個觀察題》
This is another book by 吳若權 , another author in my favourite list, a book that I would like to recommend,
and to my girls, please read this book before you want to start dating.
When I read it, hubby was beside me watching his sport show on tv. I shared with him parts that I find it so true, parts that I want to teach my daughters, .. and parts that as if the author was talking about him, like below:
“Only want to make love, but not washing dishes”
“Some men, whether lazy or not, depends on places, situation and the person he is dealing with.”
“Only lazy towards his own family members, but with others, he is totally opposite and very attentive.”
“Only lazy with tasks assigned by wife, but very passionate and hardworking on things he desires.”
I read the above two to him, and hubby pretended to raise and making a move to kitchen, saying “OK, now go wash the bowl lo…” (in cantonese) … hahaha..
…
And this one I would like to dedicate to parents who have sons especially:
“As a parent, we must teach our children to do house work from young, regardless of son or daughter, must be treated equally !”
And this one is for my girls, when choosing your life partner, must also find out the mentality of his parents regarding the upbringing of their children. Beware of those that serve their son like king and the son is waived from any house hold chores.
Thanks
Posted on: August 28, 2012
Did MRI on last Friday. Not good. Went through CT-aided biopsy the next day.
Shoulder still in pain. Still panicked and had to pull myself hard to think positively.
Thanks to my hubby and my sisters for always be at my side to cheer up and encourage me.
My hubby helped me took bath and washed my hair when I first came back with a big patch at my shoulder back.
We talked and reconciled on things we need to change for a healthier life; stop being perfectionist; stop getting mad for others wrong doing; must 看开; start doing routine exercise;.. then the rest just let the doctors do their jobs.
Then he and my mother in law brought me to 拜拜 at an old temple near Central Market, worship the God of 华佗 (Chinese famous ancient doctor). Ya, to boost my confidence psychologically.
And my sisters for sharing and discussion on what I should do next, seeking advice from their friends. And my elder sister for awakening me that I should enjoy my sick leaves, doing things that I am not able to do, instead of thinking nonsense, wasting time panicking.
:
Ya, I must be positive after seeing what all have done. Shouldn’t act like a sick baby. Que Sera Sera…
:
Girls, please do take good care and respect your daddy, 大姨 and 小姨 A LOT when you grow up.
The Flash Cards:
The Cut-&-Paste:
The revision practices:
My turn?
Posted on: August 22, 2012
As everything is settled, went for a check up for my aching-shoulder.
The night before, I asked my hubby to be prepared for bad news. I guess he tried to cheer up by saying “I am always ready.”
After the X-ray, guess what, doctor said my bone got ‘thing’. Though doctor said can’t tell if it’s the big “C” until the MRI result is out Friday, … sigh …
Even though I considered myself already prepared, but the first thought hitting me was my girls are still so young, and I couldn’t help crying all the way home in the car.
When reached home, I cleared my tears, put up a smiley face. The girls greeted me with “Mummy, how are you? “, “Is your shoulder still pain?”
Ya,.. they are such adorable, doing their homework by themselves, practising their piano, and not creating any trouble to my housekeeper who was busy cooking and cleaning up (after the long break).
Will wait for detail result on Friday.
Girls, Mummy loves you.
Like Daddy said, will fight this together.
As a result of not being able to go anywhere due to daddy is sick, I watched this movie together with my girls: Dr Seuss The Lorax.
Though I haven’t read the book, I am glad that they make a film out of it.
The story started in a walled city called Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity (and the girls laughed seeing how they ‘pump’ up a tree). A boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. . .
And I like the message they put in the ending, which I read aloud to my girls:
“Unless someone like you…cares a whole awful lot…nothing is going to get better…It’s not.”
Sigh, as one of the book review I got:
Long before saving the earth became a global concern, Dr. Seuss, speaking through his character the Lorax, warned against mindless progress and the danger it posed to the earth’s natural beauty.
窗边的小豆豆 Totto-Chan
Posted on: August 21, 2012
Don’t have a chance to go to the Book Fest 2012 @ KLCC yet. Just came back from sending my mum home and hubby fell sick. I felt bad, hubby was called in for a night job the day before we departed, and worked till almost midnight. Next day morning we left as schedule, as my mum was too ‘home sick’. Guess he must have been over exhausted and caught the flu.
Sorry for side tracked.
Just want to recommend this book by 黑柳彻子, a Japanese author, who was appointed UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador after the book got the hit , not just made Japanese publishing history by selling more than 5 million before the end of 1982, but also translated into 33 languages including English and Chinese.
I recently finished reading this book and I would mark it as something I would like to read for my children when they are in Primary school. And I think it’s a good, relaxing reading for parents and teachers too. Some chapters of the book are extracted to be in the Japanese primary school text book.
After reading, I just wish for more headmasters/teachers/educators who have the same noble heart as Mr. Kobayashi 小林宗作; I wish for schools like 巴学园 Tomoe Gakuen in this world.
And also something to learn from Totto-Chan’s mother, Totto-Chan didn’t know that she was actually being expelled from the public school when her mother brought her to this 巴学园 Tomoe Gakuen, where she met the headmaster Mr. Kobayashi who spent 4 hours listening to her wholeheartedly. She only found out her expulsion when she was 20 years old. (reminded me of the Italian movie “Life is Beautiful”)
Here is the book synopsis from Wikipedia:
The book begins with Totto-chan’s mother coming to know of her daughter’s expulsion from public school. Her mother realizes that what Totto-chan needs is a school where more freedom of expression is permitted. Thus, she takes Totto-chan to meet the headmaster of the new school, Mr. Kobayashi. From that moment a friendship is formed between master and pupil.
The book goes on to describe the times that Totto-chan has, the friends she makes, the lessons she learns, and the vibrant atmosphere that she imbibes. All of these are presented to the reader through the eyes of a child. Thus the reader sees how the normal world is transformed into a beautiful, exciting place full of joy and enthusiasm. The reader also sees in their role as adults, how Mr. Kobayashi introduces new activities to interest the pupils. One sees in Mr. Kobayashi a man who understands children and strives to develop their qualities of mind, body and heart. His concern for the physically handicapped and his emphasis on the equality of all children are remarkable. In the school, the children lead happy lives, unaware of the things going on in the world. World War 2 has started, yet in this school, no signs of it are seen. But one day, the school is bombed, and was never rebuilt, even though the headmaster claimed that he looked forward to building an even better school the next time round. It was never done and this ends Totto-chan’s years as a pupil at Tomoe Gakuen.
Character Determines Success
Posted on: August 17, 2012
Last week, Sin Chew newspaper had two coverage on Homeschooling. They interviewed two families who home school their children. You can check out the articles from the link shared below.
按照孩子天賦能力施教‧在家教育栽培優秀生（上篇）
[Teach based on a child’s talent and gifted ability, producing excellent students at home]
http://mykampung.sinchew.com.my/node/203775?tid=6
學習中心輔助家庭教育‧上課時間較短‧教導方式彈性（下篇）
[家庭教育資源中心（Home Schooling Resource Centre）或學習中心（Learning Centre）, shorter studying time, and more flexible teaching method]
http://mykampung.sinchew.com.my/node/203897?tid=6
What caught my attention is the sharing of one parent, who believe in Character is more important than academic achievement. And he pasted a poster at home, “Character Determines Success”, which list down 40 good characters, which he wanted his children to always remember and hope to instill in them.
Here is the list of the 40 Characters that determine Success:
Alertness vs. carelessness
— being aware of what is taking place around me so I can have the right responses.
Attentiveness vs. distraction
— showing the worth of a person or task by giving my undivided concentration.
Availability vs. self-centeredness
— making my own schedule and priorities secondary to the wishes of those I serve.
Benevolence vs. selfishness
— giving to other’s basic needs without having as my motive personal reward.
Boldness vs. fearfulness
— confidence that what I have to say or do is true, right, and just.
Cautiousness vs. rashness
— knowing how important right timing is in accomplishing right actions.
Compassion vs. indifference
— investing whatever is necessary to heal the hurts of others.
Contentment vs. covetousness
— realizing that true happiness does not depend on material conditions.
Creativity vs. underachievement
— approaching a need, a task, or an idea from a new perspective.
Decisiveness vs. procrastination
— the ability to recognize key factors and finalize difficult decisions.
Deference vs. rudeness
— limiting my freedom so I do not offend the tastes of those around me.
Dependability vs. inconsistency
— fulfilling what I consented to do, even if it means unexpected sacrifice.
Determination vs. faintheartedness
— purposing to accomplish right goals at the right time, regardless of the opposition.
Diligence vs. slothfulness
— investing my time and energy to complete each task assigned to me.
Discernment vs. shortsightedness
— understanding the deeper reasons why things happen.
Discretion vs. simplemindedness
— recognizing & avoiding words, actions & attitudes that bring undesirable consequences
Endurance vs. discouragement
— the inward strength to withstand stress and do my best.
Enthusiasm vs. apathy
— expressing joy in each task as I give it my best effort.
Faith vs. presumption
— confidence that actions rooted in good character will yield the best outcome
Flexibility vs. resistance
— willingness to change plans or ideas according to the direction of my authorities
Forgiveness vs. rejection
— clearing the record of those who have wronged me and not holding a grudge
Generosity vs. stinginess
— carefully managing my resources so I can freely give to those in need
Gentleness vs. harshness
— showing consideration and personal concern for others
Gratefulness vs. unthankfulness
— letting others know by my words and actions how they have benefited my life
Honor vs. disrespect
— respecting those in leadership because of the higher authorities they represent
Hospitality vs. loneliness
— cheerfully sharing food, shelter, or conversation to benefit others
Humility vs. pride
— acknowledging that achievement results from the investment of others in my life
Initiative vs. idleness
— recognizing and doing what needs to be done before I am asked to do it
Joyfulness vs. self-pity
— maintaining a good attitude, even when faced with unpleasant conditions
Justice vs. corruption
— taking personal responsibility to uphold what is pure, right and true
Loyalty vs. unfaithfulness
— using difficult times to demonstrate my commitment to those I serve
Meekness vs. anger
— yielding my personal rights and expectations with a desire to serve
Obedience vs. willfulness
— quickly and cheerfully carrying out the direction of those who are responsible for me
Orderliness vs. confusion
— arranging myself and my surroundings to achieve greater efficiency
Patience vs. restlessness
— accepting a difficult situation without giving a deadline to remove it
Persuasiveness vs. contentiousness
— guiding vital truths around another’s mental roadblocks
Punctuality vs. tardiness
— showing esteem for others by doing the right thing at the right time
Resourcefulness vs. wastefulness
— finding practical uses for that which others would overlook or discard
Responsibility vs. unreliability
— knowing and doing what is expected of me
Security vs. anxiety
— structuring my life around that which cannot be destroyed or taken away
Self-control vs. self-indulgence
— rejecting wrong desires and doing what is right
Sensitivity vs. callousness
— perceiving the true attitudes and emotions of those around me
Sincerity vs. hypocrisy
— eagerness to do what is right with transparent motives
Thoroughness vs. incompleteness
— knowing what factors will diminish the effectiveness of my work or words if neglected
Thriftiness vs. extravagence
— allowing myself and others to spend only what is necessary
Tolerance vs. prejudice
— realizing that everyone is at varying levels of development
Truthfulness vs. deception
— earning future trust by accurately reporting past facts
Virtue vs. impurity
— the moral excellence evident in my life as I consistently do what is right
Wisdom vs. foolishness
— seeing and responding to life situations from a perspective that transcends my current
circumstances
** I think I would like to make a flashcard out of these… but too long my wish list..
I got to know this little angel from Taiwan via Sin Chew newspaper – a little girl who forgot her right hand. (She was born with a premature right arm – missing hand)
Whenever people asked “What happen to your right hand?”.
She replied, “When I was born, I must be too eager to meet my parents, that I forgot to bring it.” She is just 9 years old, and she lives an optimistic life.
She will be @ the coming Book Fest @ KLCC , Friday 24-Aug-2012, 5pm-6.45pm.
Thinking to bring my girls to meet her.
And other agenda of her visit this time is as below, she is visiting Puchong, Klang and Melaka as well:
“Invest in Teachers”
Posted on: August 9, 2012
I got attracted to this article “Invest in Teachers” http://coopcatalyst.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/invest-in-teachers-the-art-of-teaching/
by this quote: A teacher is someone who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework – Lily Tomlin
Very nice piece of article. One of the things it mentioned which I couldn’t agree more:
According to an article written in 2009, Invest in teachers to raise achievement, “Children in classes taught by the best teachers learn four times faster than those in classes taught by the poorest ones.” Professor Dylan William of the Institute of Education, London says “Children in the most effective classrooms will learn in six months what students in an average classroom learn in a year, and students in the least effective classrooms will take two years to learn it.”
I doubt how many from those in the Ministry of Education department read this and understand this. Instead of pushing the schooling age to start from 5 years old, one of the most urgent task to me is: train good teacher.
And the article also do a detail analysis on teacher’s development in two top high-achieving countries, Finland and China.
One of the thing that caught my attention is this:
Freedom: Regardless of what school you go to in Finland, you’ll be offered the same equal academic opportunities. This consistency is a result of strong curriculum and good teachers that believe education is a human right and should be given equally to all students.
Shame to say, here, policies and all sort of tactics are used to make certain type of schools fail, like don’t provide enough infrastructure, over-crowded classroom, and worst of all, don’t provide enough teachers based on students size.
One of the newspaper cutting I kept (very heartbreaking when reading it) : Chinese schools there are shortage of classroom/schools, and shortage of 1874 teachers; whereas for there are excessive classrooms by 3802, and an excess of teachers by 58409 for the national schools !!!
Is it just poor management (very very poor indeed) or some “mean” tactics used to oppress the other non-mainstream schools. So obvious isn’t it? Sigh…
Some other quotes I like from the article:
“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” – Ignacio Estrada
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.” – Mark Van
100 Ways to Failure
Posted on: August 8, 2012
This is a funny book from a Thailand writer cum DJ 🙂 “100 Ways to Failure”
Quite suitable as a bed-time book, not for the girls, for myself, where I can get some good laugh from it.
The author shared 100 ways which according to him, if you follow and do it exactly as what he said, you will sure become a failure in your life. Ya, a book to advocate all those How-to-be-successful books which are selling like hot plate in market.. hahaha… funny guy indeed.
For e.g.
Rule 3: Lazy to do
– as long as you are too lazy to do anything, I guarantee you, you will fail for sure ! This rule I don’t think need any further elaboration, right?
Rule 10: Start tomorrow
– This method to failure is very simple. As long as for all the things that you need to work on, that you must do, .. you just need to say:
Work … let’s start tomorrow.
Homework …. let’s start tomorrow.
Bring the car for repair … let’s do it tomorrow.
Health check …. let’s do it tomorrow.
………. all let’s start only tomorrow.
When tomorrow comes, you just need to repeat the above. Make the above some daily stuff you do, and practise it every day non stop. At the end, you will achieve the failure you are looking for, for sure, in a perfect way.
Little Nobel
Lorna Whiston Study Centres
Tadika Vista Cemerlang
Tweedle Wink
Yamaha Music School
宝贝阅读乐园
愛心樹家庭成長中心Loving Tree Family Development Center
BrillKids Free Download
British Council Learn English Kids
Global Chinese Language and Culture Center
Learn_Chinese_Everyday
My_favourite_Chinese_Online_Dictionary
8notes.com_Music_Theory
No_Time_For_Flash_Cards
Scholastic Book Club Malaysia
Life long sharing . . . 