Tiger girl fixing a puzzle

Tiger girl is really into puzzles these few days. She loves fixing the 3-6 piece pre-loved puzzles that I received from a friend a few weeks ago. Initially she took a while and lots of guidance to fix each small puzzle. Now she is able to fix all of the puzzles without assistant.

Looking at her gleeful smile when she completed a puzzle reminds me of the power of determination. With determination and diligence Tiger girl mastered the skills needed to fix a puzzle. It was a challenge which she manage to overcome and she was celebrating in the success of the accomplishment. We applauded her success and encourage her along to try more difficult and complicated puzzles that were in that set.

Among the set of puzzles that she has some had missing pieces and she started to get frustrated when she realised that she couldn’t complete those puzzles. I had to explain to her that it doesn’t matter. Those puzzles cannot be fixed/completed as there were missing pieces. She can work on the completed puzzles instead.

Like our own lives there are many different pieces which make up our own puzzle of life. Some pieces may fit in perfectly while others drop off and leave gaps in the structure. We may constantly find other pieces to plug up the holes or be contented with the puzzle as it is.

For me if the piece doesn’t fit I rather have it discarded and leave a gap there. No point hanging on to the rough edges and hoping that a square peg will fit through a round hole. I will be teaching her and her brothers to hang on to the things that fit and would complete her life while to discard the items that do otherwise.

February 4, 2013

Holistic Learning With Dominique

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Recommendations Education, Holisitic Learning, kids

From this month I am starting the kids on a slightly different journey. We will be focusing on each individual child and their personal journey together with me as I put together a customized program for each kid.

The kids

For Monkey Boy

He will be starting work as a Budgeting Accountant and will have to work for his allowance. There will no pay if he doesn’t complete his work. I will be focusing on the following skills with him

Cash flow management/budgeting ( Mathematics~ 4 Operations, %, fractions)
Analytical and critical thinking
Report writing and presentation.
Time management

Values incorporated: Self-discipline, understanding delayed gratification and diligence.

For Doggie Boy

I will be focusing more on building up his auditory skills and memory. Based on the assessment by Thinkersbox.

He will be starting his apprenticeship as a junior chef at home. I will be teaching him how to make simple dishes and bakes.

I will be focusing on

Strengthening his ability to follow instructions.
Listening to a string of instructions and comprehending them.
Calculating proportions (Mathematics- 4 operations)
Time Management
Presentation skills (Visual and spoken)

Values incorporated: Self-discipline, understanding delayed gratification and diligence.

For spiritual development I will be using a combination of three books for the kids.

There are many differentiated activities inside the books which can be use alongside each other. We will have the bible activities.

For Tiger girl

We will be doing a lot of hands on activities like music and art and crafts. I will also be introducing her to the piano proper and also the basic rudiments of music.

I will kick of these series with an introduction to Monkey’s boy’s new job and in subsequent posts follow up with their progress in the different areas.