June 23, 2012

Supermom 101 – My Personal Reflections

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views Series, supermom

How many people do you know who are a supermom? What is a definition of a supermom? Every person definition defers based on their personal knowledge and perception.

Supermom: – an exemplary mother; also : a woman who performs the traditional duties of housekeeping and child-rearing while also having a full-time job ( Taken from Merriam Webster Online dictionary)

I personally do not classify myself as a supermom even though many friends of mine frequently refer to me as one.

I believe that every mom is super as she is able to cope to the best of her ability in any given situation. A mom is one who is resilient and able to adapt to constant changes in her environment.

This week I have been reading a lot about Supermom’s over at the SMB Facebook wall and how most women struggle to keep everything together.

It is not easy being a working mother, main care giver and household manager all in one.

Many ladies have asked me how I manage to do it all- kids, family, house and work from home at the same time.I certainly don’t claim to know all the answers to be able to handle the kids, household and also hold down a job at the same time .

It has been a struggle for me at times however I’m still doing the best that I can and will continue to give it my best in balancing everything. The dynamics of every family is different and each one’s capability, tolerance level and resources will also vary.

It has taken awhile for me to fine my balance and a routine which would compromise the needs of anyone in the family. R and I have agreed on before we had kids that he would be the main breadwinner while I focus my energies on the kids and family. However given the fact the no job is an iron rice bowl I feel that it is necessary for me to continue supplementing the family income even though I am home with the kids.

What’s your secret? How do you manage to do it all?

Scheduling and setting my goals and plans have helped me function. I’ve set my resolutions for 2012 and do monthly goals for each month. I also set up to-do list to be done with each child both academically and non-academic related.

I use Google calandar and Sticky notes for all blogging related tasks and assignments.

The kids appointments/ test dates are set using the Reminder Fox Add On which I have on my Firefox web browser on my laptop. Important appointments are also sync into my HTC phone with the necessary alarm reminders. All these apps help me keep on top of things and help me remember all the necessary things which I do need to remember.

Having kids of different ages from 8 to 1 yrs old there is a lot of juggling to be done regarding coaching them in age appropriate activities. I try to make a point to have one-to-one interaction with my 3 kids so I can focus on their areas of need. At present I focus on Monkey boy in the morning before he goes to school, Tiger girl in the afternoon when both her brothers are away and Monkey boy in the evening when he comes back from home. I schedule lunches with R during the weekday if his work schedule permits so I can spend more time with him as he too needs my attention.

How then do I schedule in blogging and personal time for myself? I let you in on a typical “workday” for me in a subsequent post. 🙂

Supermom 101- Starting Up and Setting the Pace

Posts on this series

– Supermom 101- My Personal Reflections

– Supermom 101- Starting up and Setting the Pace

–Supermom 101- How to Maintain Focus and Rhythm

June 7, 2012

Engagement in Mandarin Media Moguls at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre

Dominique Parenting and Kids, Parenting Views, Recommendations, Reviews Mandarin Media Moguls

Chinese Camp

This week Monkey boy was off to Chinese camp. He was invited to try out the week long Mandarin Media Moguls program for P1 to P3 students at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre (Julia Gabriel Education). This program is one of the program offered specially for the week of 4th to 8th June as part of their Mandarin holiday programmes.

Aim of the program

This program was carried out 3 yrs ago and recently revised and re-launched this holiday. The students in the class were given a script and made to dub the dialogue and become the leading characters of the cartoon, following the exploits of a fairytale mole.

Students learn how to express themselves in Mandarin with colour and creativity as they work individually and in themes during the drama activities and literacy games sessions.

The program aims to enhance the child’s listening and oral skills and building up their confidence to read and write Chinese in the process.

The Centre

Housed at Rochester Mall there are several classrooms where lessons are carried out. There is also a library where students can borrow Mandarin storybook to read or huddle up at one of the cozy corners within the library to read their selected books.

library

The library at Chengzhu Mandarin Centre

playground

There is a small playground outside the classroom which Monkey boy was in. It was an attraction for Tiger girl as she waited for her brother to finish the class when we were there to fetch him after the 2.5hr session was over.

The programme

Monkey boy was really interested in attending the camp as he has always loved drama and acting. This Media Moguls program seems to be an excellent fit for him this June holiday. I personally got a chance to experience the programme when I sat in during the lesson on during the week.

teacher play acting

The teacher acting as a tourist visiting the Night safari. The students were play the role of the mole, lions, pelican , elephant, rabbit and dog. This was a warm up activity to get the students into character. While one of the teachers was playing the role of the tourist the other teacher present drummed up the mood by playing relevant music on the keyboard.

Monkey boy as a lion

At the end of the activity the teacher used a clapping ditty to get the attention of all the students as some of them were rather distracted and started talking among themselves. The short 10 min warm up activity was followed by the teacher giving a recap of the story line which the students had been working on.

After a session of play acting as animals the students were lead a breathing exercise to exercise their mouths and strengthen their diaphragms. This was in anticipation of them doing the voice over for the characters in the cartoon. They were taught the different expressions which they could use to express delight, dislike, surprise and curiosity when given an imaginary sweet by the teacher.

doing the voice over

The main activity was getting each student to speak the dialogues based on the character they were portraying in the cartoon. Each child was given the script and was expected to say their part when they see their character appear on the screen. close up of the voice over A student saying her lines into the microphone which is being held by the teacher as the cartoon is being shown on the screen.

Once the students have run through the whole script as least twice the teacher took the first group of students into the recording studio to video them introducing themselves and the character which they will be portraying.

at the recording studio

Monkey boy saying his piece through the microphone. He was acting as the tortoise in the script. He was very confident and was able to say his piece in one take. I was very impressed.

Doing up the poster

The students were having an open session on Friday and all parents were invited to view them doing their voice overs. They were doing up a post with their names and characters which they were acting as to be pasted outside their classroom as the last activity for that day.

My thoughts

I found that the teachers were able to fully capture the students attention and skillful in leading them through the various activities that have been planned for the day. Having two teachers in the room also allowed for more flexibility when the group had to be broken up into smaller groups or when they were doing differentiated activities.

Time management and the movement from one activity to another was also well coordinated with the students being fully engaged in the learning process. The teachers were very encouraging and constantly gave praises to the kids to encourage them.

Monkey boy truly enjoyed his time attending this Mandarin Media Mogul program and it was a great experience for him.

I certainly recommend this program to parents who would like to immerse their child in a fun Chinese environment during the school holidays.

To find out more about the other holidays programs or to get information about their next holiday programs you can visit their centre or call them up.

Chengzhu Mandarin Centre

35 Rochester Drive

#03-01 Rochester Mall

Singapore 138639

Tel: 67375348

Disclaimer: Monkey Boy was sponsored a place in the Mandarin Media Moguls program. All opinions expressed are 100% my own.