The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting
The Star Online: Lifestyle: Parenting |
| Posted: The Star Online and Scholastic Books are giving away three sets of Boy vs Beast books. The Boy vs Beast series is about a 12-year-old boy named Kai whose job is to protect Earth from the beasts of Beastium. With his robotic dog BC, Kai must battle the beasts. The books are ideal for kids aged six to nine. Each set of books being given away includes the following titles: Boy Vs. Beast #1: Aquatan When dead fish covered in glowing moss wash up on the beach, Kai knows it's time for battle. Was Kai right to choose the Torpedo Bowshot to battle the water beast? Will it work against toxic jellyfish? Will it be enough to take on a wave attack? Boy Vs. Beast #2: Terradon When burning hot rock falls from the sky, Kai knows it's time for battle. Was Kai right to choose the X-Archer T10? Will it be enough to beat the Terrasaur rockbeast's hurl attack? Boy Vs. Beast #3: Infernix Can Kai get past the fire-fly splats? Will his Foam Blaster hose down the Flamaxagon fire beast's fireball attack? Want a set of these books? Contest Prizes: 3 x 1 set of Boy vs Beast books (#1 – Aquatan, #2 – Terradon, #3 - Infernix) How to enter: Email parenthots@thestar.com.my with your details (full name, IC number (new Mykad), address and telephone number) and complete the following slogan: "My child loves adventures and has great imagination because ..." (answer in no more than 20 words) Closing date: Aug 11, 2013 Rules & Regulations: 1) This contest is only open to Malaysian citizens residing in the country. 2) To qualify for a prize, however, a contestant must provide valid personal information. (ie. New IC number and name as appears on the IC) 3) Contestants may submit more than one entry. However, each person is only entitled to one prize. 4) Prizes are not exchangeable for cash. 5_ Staff of Star Publications (M) Berhad and their immediate families are not allowed to participate. 6) The judges' decision is final and no correspondence will be entertained. 7) Judges will be from Star Publications. 8) The winners will be notified either by phone or email after the judging. 9) The list of names will be published on thestar.com.my. 10) Prizes must be collected from Menara Star, No 15 Jalan 16/11, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, within a month after the winners are announced. 11) By taking part in this contest, participants expressly consent to the collection, collation, use and/or disclosure of all the above data by Star Publications (M) Berhad for the purposes of this contest and advertising/promotions related to it. 12) For further information, please email us at parenthots@thestar.com.my. |
| Lots of words, not enough substance Posted: Words You Should Teach Your Children This book was not just not practical. Preachy, yes. Plausibly pragmatic, no. I had hoped that within the 200-odd pages, there would be prescribed learning opportunities – where parents could teach their children 200 of the most essential words. I had hoped for a book that would offer insights on how some of these words could be applied in real life scenarios, actual anecdotes that would give rise to storytelling – one of the best known ways for life lessons (which child doesn't like a good story?), but alas, it wasn't. Instead, the book merely describes the words as you would find in a dictionary. Each word entry contains a pronunciation guide, its definition and a sample sentence. An 80 to 100 word "justification" then follows. The book is written in adult language, so you're just as well off thumbing through Readers' Digest's Word Power instead of reading this. It doesn't break down some of these very complex emotionally charged words, into what a child can grasp. Therein lies the fault. I can only hazard a guess that the author had novice adult English readers in mind as she has collated what she believed to be a compendium of 200 of the most essential words to embellish into a child's moral conscience. She provides information on why that particular word is one that your children should understand and embody as they grow. It is as though she is putting up a defence as to why this word was selected over its synonyms or hundreds of thousands of other moral words in the English vocabulary. Balzer goes on to say that the book "… explains important concepts that make us better people by clearly defining the words that they need to know." But just how do we teach them these words? On "envy", she says "it is important to teach your children that, while it's easy to envy what someone else has, it's better for them to appreciate what they have going for themselves, and that it's also hard to know the challenges that other people are actually facing." Agreed. But in practical terms, what demonstrations can we use to quell the feeling of envy? Perhaps I could supplement the lesson on envy with one on gratitude – a possible antonym, since contentedness isn't listed in the book. So, I flip to the section on "gratitude" – only to find that the definition is "Thankfulness to someone for having helped you." Surely there is a deeper meaning to the word. Herein lies another gap – the author does not qualify how these word descriptions were formed as there's no reference at the start of the book either on what formed the basis for these. Perhaps she conjured these definitions on her own. The life application on "gratitude" suggested is this: "Start to teach your children about gratitude by simply encouraging them to say thank you when you make them lunch or take them to the park. Soon, gratitude will be something that's ingrained in your children and they'll start to understand the effort it takes for other people to help them out." A good start, but I think the child also needs to be taught why it is important to be grateful (and not envious) for what he has. Since children learn most from what they observe their parents do, the book should have been titled "200 Words Parents Should Practice In Their Lives and Pass On To Their Children". Instead, the ethos of the book is that we should explain to our children why these words matter to us, and how it will help them in their life. Explaining a word sinks into the conscious mind. And, Balzer recommends reinforcing these concepts when we chat with our kids, interact with neighbours and live our life. A former literary agent and author of Writing & Selling Your Memoir, Balzer writes about parenting issues in many leading publications. I was disappointed with this pick, coming from someone who claims she understands what makes books (like memoirs) sell, it will sit at the top of my "sell off first" list. For a book cover riddled with rainbow colours, there were no pictures or illustrations in the pages that followed. It also lacked the right substance, application and research. |
| Using tech to have fun while learning Posted: I always make sure my children have fun while learning, whether it's while we're at home or travelling. We do travel a lot but not to cities. We prefer to enjoy the beaches. I have exposed my kids to open sea snorkelling from the time they were about three years old. They also learn new things every day. They learn how to do simple cooking, baking, swimming and counting. Everything is done in a simple and fun way. I remember, when my son asked me about whales. He wanted to see them. As we know we can't find any whales here, so I told him to find whales on the Internet. He surfed to YouTube and managed to find some whales. He now knows whales are mammals and that they breathe through their lungs. He can tell a story about whales based on all the information he gleaned. However, kids at different ages learn differently. My three-year-old son knew how to count in two languages when he was two. We made a song and puzzles out of it so that he wouldn't be bored. Here's a video of him learning: My daughter is another story. She loves to learn languages. She loves reading in either Malay, English or Chinese . To make it more fun, we use gadgets like the iPad which have attractive sounds and pictures so that she has more fun reading stories. This is how my family learns while having fun. We make use of technology but still remain close to nature. Norhayati Alai Othaman |
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