the new age parents feb mar 13

feb/mar2013

My Child Just Doesn’t Get it!

Feature Interview with

Felicia HooProgramme Director of ThinkersBox

Helping Our Children To Have

Some Serious Fun

Purposeful

Play

Reignite Your Passion

2013 Snake Babies

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Auspicious Chinese Names for

2 The New Age Parents

table of contents

Contents6 Editorial Note

8 Editor’s Picks

Let’s Get Brainy

10 Pregnancy

Eating Well: A healthy and well-balanced post natal diet

14 Chinese New Year Special Auspicious Chinese Names for Snake Babies

Chinese New Baby

20 Feature Interview Feature Interview with Felicia Hoo

24 Kid’s Gallery

Music Dance Action!

26 Holiday Feature

Cruise Away!

28 Play

Purposeful Play: Helping our children to have some serious fun

30 Activity

Magic and Fun with Learning

32 Special Needs All About ADHD

36 Dental Getting to The Grind: Teeth Grinding in Children

38 Valentine’s Day Special What is Love to You?

Love in a Mother’s Words

42 Blossom Creative Centre ‘U’nique Letterland Lessons: Incorporating Blossom’s Triple Track and Learning Styles

44 Photogenic Baby Contest

46 Finance Planning Your Financial Priorities

48 For The ParentWhen Love is no longer Sweet

Reignite your Passion

52 Editorial Team

Our ExpErtsPLAY RELATIONSHIP

SEXOLOGY

DIET

SPECIAL NEEDS

DENTISTRY

FINANCIAL PLANNING

Selene Diong Selene Diong is the Principal Instructor of Gymnademics Early Enrichment Centre. The centre focuses on children from five months to five years old. As the Principal Instructor, Selene is responsible for creating a fun and engaging curriculum, to help young children learn through play. She also promotes a strong engagement with parents, working

with them to develop a more meaningful and fun time with their little ones. For more information, go to www.gymnademics.com. You can contact Selene at [email protected].

Tammy M. FontanaMs. Fontana is the founder and therapist for Babysleepfairy, helping parents manage their children’s sleep through an evidence-based approach of sleep and sleep training. She has been doing sleep consulting for more than four years, both to families in the U.S and in Singapore. Ms. Fontana is also a relationship counsel-

ling expert. For more information, go to http://babysleepfairy.com.You can contact Tammy [email protected] or 9030 7239.

Dr Martha LeeDr Martha Lee is Founder and Clinical Sexologist of Eros Coaching in Singapore. She is a certified sexuality educator with AASECT (American Association of Sexuality Educators, Counselors, and Therapists), as well as a certified sexologist with ACS (American College of Sexologists). She holds a Doctorate in Human Sexuality from

Institute for Advanced Study of Human Sexuality, as well as certificates in practical counselling, life coaching, and sex therapy. She is available to provide sexuality and intimacy coaching for individuals and couples, conduct sexual education workshops, and speak at public events in Asia. For more information on Eros Coaching, go to www.eroscoaching.com

Suzanne KhorSuzanne Khor has been practicing as a clinical dietician for the last 11 years. She obtained her undergraduate degree in Dietetics with honours from the National University of Malaysia and postgraduate de-gree (Masters of Health Science Education) from University of Sydney Australia. Prior to this, Ms Khor was working as a senior

dietician in KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital for 7 years. Her special interests are nutrition in feeding difficulties, diet therapy for neurological disorders, eating disorders and weight management.

Practice Address:Thomson Paediatric Centre (The Child Development Centre)10 Sinaran Drive#09-04 Novena Medical Centre Singapore 307506Email: [email protected]: 6397 6627/ 6397 6966 (hotline)

The Children’s Therapy Centre The team of speech-language and oc-cupational therapists at The Children’s Therapy Centre are dedicated to helping children with special needs

participate in their community as well as supporting parents, caregivers and teachers on ways to play, teach and connect with their child. They aim to maximize the skills of children in the areas of communication, self-care, play skills, socialization, literacy, and handwriting.

For more information, log on to www.moraltherapyservices.org.sgTel: 6397 6627/ 6397 6966 (hotline)

Dr Sara Song OKDr Ok earned her Bachelors of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology at the University of Washington. After earning her BS, she continued her education at University of Washington School of Dentistry whereshe earned her Doctorate in Dental Surgery.She loves seeing children as she feels they make the workday more enjoyable with their un-

abashed honesty and are always full of surprises. Dr Ok advocates prevention at a young age, as not having to do treatment is better than getting.

Practice Address:One Orchard Boulevard17th FloorCamden Medical CentreSingapore 248649Tel: (65) 6733 1388 Email: [email protected] Dental Services: (65) 6398 5578

Winston TanWinston Tan is a Chartered Financial Consultant, with 11 years of experience in the financial industry. A soon to be father, his business is focused on Risk Management Insurance Planning and Retirement Planning for young families and individuals. For any queries, he can be reached at [email protected]

The New Age Parents 3


contributors

The New Age Parents contributors:

DOrOTHea CHOw

Dorothea is a dedicated Christian

homemaker, mum to two darling

little boys and wife to a wonderful

and supportive man. She loves to

plan fun learning times with her

toddler, read to her sons, and hang

out with them at playgrounds, parks

and shopping malls, in the company

of fellow mummy friends. Baking,

writing, scrapbooking and shopping

are some of her favourite pastimes.

Whenever she has a moment to

spare, she enjoys curling up on the

couch with a chocolatey snack and

a good read. She also runs a small

home-business, Dottieshop

( www.facebook.com/dottieshop)

creating customized paper cards

and art pieces for birthdays, wed-

dings and other occasions.

YvOnne CHee

Yvonne is a Social Worker who is

currently a stay-home mom to a

9-month-old baby boy, Samuel.A

strong marriage and investing in a

child’s foundation years by being

there for them are two things she

firmly believes in. She finds great

strength in her son’s smile and never

thought she could love a little hu-

man being so much until her son

came along. Besides enjoying her

new life as a mother, she also loves

to rock climb and enjoys mak-

ing cloth plush toys (or buntings).

You may find out more about her

creations on her Facebook page,

Imperfections Made Beautiful

(http://www.facebook.com/Imper-

fectionsMadeBeautiful)

SOm Yew Ya

Married for 5 years with a young

son, Yew Ya has worked in the clini-

cal research field for several years

but she is now on a sabbatical

looking after her son and pursuing

some part-time studies. Ever since

she became a mother, she has

been relishingmany books about

parenthood.Her love for writing

was nurtured at a young age and

she believes writing with The New

Age Parents is great way to con-

nect with other parents.

editorial note

Dear Parents,

Gong Xi Gong Xi! Do you smell freshly baked New Year cookies

and pineapple tarts?

In Chinese new Baby, Dorothea Chow shares some point-

ers for parents who are spending their first New Year with their

baby. Expecting your little one this year and haven’t thought of a

Chinese name? Check out our list of auspicious Chinese names

for 2013 Snake Babies by Master Jo Ching.

This Valentine’s Day also happens to fall on the fifth day of Chi-

nese New Year. Love, In a mother’s words, Yvonne Chee shares

with us how her definition of love has evolved and changed

though the years. Dr Martha Lee also shares some simple tips on

how you can rekindle and reaffirm your love with your partner in

reignite Your Passion. But what if when Love Is no Longer

Sweet? Our relationship expert Tammy Fontana sheds some light

on the necessary requisites for a healthy marriage and knowing

when is the right time to let go.

Recently, I attended a talk on Happiness and came across this

quote, “Love, not change. Care, not cure.” I think this pretty much

sums up what love should embody, at least for me.

Love can mean so many things. Why not take the opportunity

during this Chinese New Year and Valentine’s Day to seek forgive-

ness from your parents, spouses, and maybe even your children

(if they are old enough to understand).

Show your appreciation to your family, friends and colleagues

too; for love is not love, till we show.

Wishing all our readers a very prosperous Lunar New Year, and

a blissful Valentine’s Day!

Yours truly,



Heguru Education Centre @ EunosA heart-based brain development program that maximises the limited window of opportunity for right brain development during your child’s first 6 years, Heguru Education is an effective and proven early childhood educa-tion programme that is developed by Heguru Japan over 30 years of extensive research and practi-cum, emphasizing

BRAINYLet’s get

BRAINYLet’s get

Did you know? Your brain never stops changing, even at adulthood. How one’s brain develops is a combina-tion of genetics and environ-ment. Here are some brain development programs for children in Singapore.

imaginative exploration and critical think-ing in a fun-filled learning environment.

Whole Brain Activation Academy

Providing specific whole brain activa-tion for kids aged 5 to 12 years old, WBA utilizes multi-dimensional whole brain activation technology, motivational tech-niques, sound technology and games to activate these young individuals through a

editor’s picks


fun and exciting environment. As a result, their brains get stretched and their brains gain more flexibility, allowing them to achieve optimal performance whenever needed.

BrainFit StudioFounded by a dedicated team of health-care professionals passionate about maximising one’s potential and improving lives, Brain Fit programmes are developed based on neuroscientific principles, targeted at the 5 brain fitness systems: Memory & Attention, Auditory & Language Processing, Visual & Spatial Processing, Sensory Motor

Coordination and Social-Emotional Functioning (EQ).

iGeniusA learning centre specializing in programmes that develop your child’s potential. iGenius believe that each child has untapped potential and can learn to harness his brainpower to the fullest, as well as to groom other important

life skills that will allow him to stand out from the crowd with guidance and nurturing in a conducive environment.

Right Brain TotsRight Brain Tots™ bilingual brain develop-ment and char-acter building programme is specially developed for children aged 6 months to 5

years. Their curriculum emphasizes on your child ’s cognitive, language, social and emotional development, helping him to learn through play, and experi-ence success in accomplishing mean-ingful tasks.

Singapore Brain Development Centre Singapore Brain Development Centre (SBDC) offers the latest scientific brain-training programs for enhancing underlying learning and processing capabilities, to make learning easier and faster. Helping children to build underlying learning skills and give

them better tools to help them func-tion far more effectively at school, work and play, Singapore Brain Develop-ment Center works closely with the U.S principals, to regularly revise and update our cognitive training tech-nologies to offer the latest in cognitive development.

Genius leaning HubTMGenius Learning Hub™ specializes in helping children develop and build the right attitudes, skill sets, confi-dence and learning abilities to meet tomorrow’s challenges. Understand-ing the kind of education that a child ’s growing up needs in order to excel and compete, their

core value lies in bringing out the best of every student and ensuring that they have fun throughout the entire process.

Happy Train A holistic brain-training programme conducted in a tri-lingual environment to enrich children’s growing minds through a va-riety of games, hands-on activi-ties and guided play. Lessons are conducted in English, Mandarin and Japanese, to help children develop rich neuron con-nections that are critical for optimal brain growth. With hand-made teach-ing materials, children are motivated to explore concepts and ideas through experiential learning.

My little Genius @ Jurong East and HougangAn enrichment program that specialises

in Whole Brain Development for chil-dren 6months to 5years old, My Little Genius unleashes the genius in every child through the Multi-Dimensional Whole Brain Stimulation Approach. Their program stimulates children through highly effective Multi-Dimen-sional techniques together with the important early exposure to English and Chinese.


pregnancy

For mothers who have just given birth, you need to eat well to replenish your strength. You can use this time to re-evaluate your nutritional needs. Remember: An adequate diet is especially important to help ensure your health and to supply you with the en-ergy necessary to breastfeed and care for your new baby.

By Suzanne Khor, Senior Dietician at the chilD Development centre (an affiliation to SBcc BaBy & chilD clinic)

Eating WEllA Healthy and Well-Balanced Postnatal Diet

recommended vitamins and minerals in Your DietvITamInSIdeally, you should obtain your nutrition from food, not supplements. If you are eating a balanced diet, you probably will not need to continue with prenatal vitamins. However, you may continue to take your prenatal vitamins after birth and when breastfeed-ing. Check with your health care provider for recommendations. If you are anemic, gave birth to twins, or have had any other medical problems, consult your health care provider regarding the need for nutritional supplements. Special note: Mothers who are vegetarians and avoid all animal products will need to take vitamin supplements.

CalciumYou need to consume adequate calcium to prevent osteoporosis. Good sources of calcium are milk, yogurt and cheese. If you don't consume dairy foods or other calcium-rich dairy foods, consult your health care provider or a dietitian regarding a calcium supplement.

IronIf you had a significant blood loss as a result of delivery, you may feel especially weak and tired, short of breath, and you may have a poor appetite. Try to eat foods high in iron to assist your body in forming new red blood cells. Vitamin C will enhance iron absorp-tion, so consume foods high in vitamin C at the same time as you consume foods high in iron. Avoid drinking black tea. Tannic acid, which is naturally found in black tea, will decrease iron absorption. Iron-Rich FoodsLiver OystersLean beef Beans/ lentilsOatmeal/ fortified cereal


nuTrITIOn FOr THe nurSIng mOTHerWhat we eat affects our health and breast milk. While breastfeeding, it is important that you eat a well-balanced diet as you did during your pregnancy. Some babies may become fussy or cry more when a mother eats certain foods. Some babies react to spicy, gas producing foods (e.g. onions or garlic.) eaten by a nursing mother. If your baby responds this way, try to recall what foods you had eaten that day, and avoid or limit them while you are breastfeeding.

DIeTarY neeDSAfter delivery, you need an extra 500 kcal per day to produce breast milk for your baby. Most women have an increased appetite and increased thirst. It is important for you to eat nourishing food and drink enough liquids to support your health and your body's production of breast milk. A well-balanced diet contains foods from all the food groups: Bread and cereals, fruits, vegetables, milk and other dairy products, protein foods (such as meats, poultry and eggs)

Most women need approximately 8-10 glasses of fluids a day while breastfeeding. Water, soup, or milk can provide the liquid that you need. Breastfeeding is an excel-lent form of weight loss for the mother besides being the best source of nutrition for your baby for the early years of life. While breastfeeding, your weight loss should be gradual and consistent, about ½ kg per week. Practice address:10 Sinaran Drive, #09-04 Novena Medical Centre Singapore 307506Tel: 6397 6627 Email: [email protected]: www.healthwayspecialists.com

Food to avoid or take in limitationsLimit your caffeine intake as it may pass through your milk to your baby. Some beverages high in caffeine are coffee, tea, cocoa and some energy drinks. Limit coffee to 2 cups per day. Most commercially produced herbal teas that are pur-chased at the grocery store are safe. Be wary of teas found in health food or alternative stores, as they can contain herbs that may be harmful during breastfeeding.Limit your alcohol consump-tion. Excessive alcohol intake has been shown to affect the let-down reflex and may cause poor growth and devel-opment in your newborn.As part of a balanced diet, fish should be included weekly to provide Omega-3 fatty acids. Omega 3 fatty acids have many health benefits for mom and baby. To avoid pos-sible mercury contamination, avoid king mackerel, tilefish, shark or swordfish. You can also get Omega-3 fatty acids in certain eggs and other products.Some prescribed medica-tions, as well as herbs, may not be safe while breastfeed-ing. Talk to your doctor before consuming any medications or herbs.


chinese new year special

Are you feeling excited that you are going to be a parent soon in 2013? Then, I be-lieve that you must be also planning and thinking very hard about what Chinese names you want your newborn to have. In this article, I would like to share with you some interesting insights into this millennia-old auspicious Chinese Name Selection system particularly on how by choosing the right names in accordance to one’s date of birth, it can create a posi-tive impact on the various aspects of our life like studies, career, wealth, health and relationship with parents, peers and etc.

What is actually encrypted in our Chinese Names? Typically, our Chinese names are made up 3 segments or Chinese characters comprising the surname, the 1st name and 2nd name. See picture below. There

are people, although lesser, who have 4 Chinese characters with the first two being the surname like Si Ma, Ou Yang and etc. There are of course those that only have a single name besides the surname. To go a bit deeper, our surname governs our childhood and adolescence. It has an effect on our study luck, upbring-ing, supports from parents and ability to enjoy good recognition in society. Therefore, babies who are born with 12-animal sign that complements with their surname will see themselves enjoying better parental and grandpa-rental love and supports. They are also likely to perform better in their studies. Generally, according to the principles of the Chinese Name Selection system, it would be preferable for snake babies to be born into families carrying surname like: 马，冯，许，郑，王，陈，张，黄，刘，吴，谭，翁，彭，方，吕 and etc. It does not favour surnames such as: 徐，孔，李，孙，郭，洪，江，沈，温，潘，岳，游，卢，汪 and etc. However, if it is found that the snake babies are born with surname that does not , we will need to make sure that the 2nd and 3rd Chinese names are carefully calculated to harmonise the impact. The second Chinese character or middle name represents one’s relation-ship with spouse, romance and rapport with peers. For a lady, it is not advis-

Auspicious Chinese Names for Snake Babies

able to have a single name (单名) for instance a name like 江平. This implies that the middle name is absent and for a lady, she will experience relationship issues like sense of emptiness and com-munication gap with her husband. Last but not least, the last name has a direct impact on a person’s career, wealth and children luck. The approach to selecting good names for your baby is a rigorous and holistic one because not only there is a need to ensure the names complement the baby’s destiny chart , individual Chinese character within the name must also contain the right strokes, right sound, right shape that ultimately create the right result for the child. It is quite common nowadays that many children and adults are seeking help from name experts to enhance or improve their

SURNAME

1ST NAME

2ND NAME

study, romance, career luck and even one’s behaviour.

What Chinese names are suitable for baby born in the year of snake? Let us first try to understand some of the intrinsic characteristics of snake so that from there we select Chinese characters that are favourable for people born in snake year. In our study, snake is considered as a small animal among the 12 Chinese Animal Signs and is also known as small dragon. It is carnivorous, usually hibernate or rest inside caves or holes. When it is awake, it moves around in grassland or paddy field as it finds comfort in doing so. In terms of the 5 ele-ments, snake belongs to the fire element and hence, it is in conflict with water element. In addition, snake is afraid of people and it hates to be exposed under the sun. The following Chinese characters or radicals are some examples that are considered auspicious for people born in snake year：1. 容，台，可，名，如，合，君，呈，周，品，嘉，安，宇，富，国 (good to see shapes like「口」，as this implies snake is resting and recharging in the cave）2. 彬，彩，祖，祥，祺，福，巾，希，市，珍，礼，裕，彥，常，裳（good to see「糸」、「衣」「示」、

「采」radicals as this implies snake will rise to become dragon）3. 木，本，未，杰，杏，杉，材，東，松，桐，楓，森，楚，楊，柏（good to see「木」because snakes like to climb and coil around the tree which implies increase in status）4. 羽，西，金，兌，姚，鳳，飛，牛，生，隆，妞，鹏，翔，鸿，鹃（good to see「酉」、「丑」radicals，because it means having a lot of helpful people）5. 思，由，申，男，甸，界，留，華，番，畫，當，福，迪，惠（good to see「田」，because snakes like to move around in field and this implies snake is well positioned and protected）

On the contrary, below Chinese characters are considered inauspicious for people born in snake year：

1. 豪，豫，家，毅，朱，亥，孩，核，刻（no good to have「猪」or「亥」radicals because in the study of Chinese metaphysics, pig and snake are in conflict）2. 晶，旭，升，明，昌，易，晉，皓，晨，耀，光（no good to have「日」or「光」radicals because snake does not like to be exposed to sunlight）3. 永，泰，洋，洲，浩，清，季，孟，孝，承（no good to have「水」or「子」radicals because snake belongs to fire element and it is in conflict with

water element）4. 俊，倫，倩，健，仁，今，介，伍，伯（no good to have「人」radicals because snake does not like to bump into human beings）5. 豐，禾，秀，秋，黎，秉，科，秦，麥，米（no good to have「禾」，「米」or「豆」radicals because snake only likes meat and not wheat for instance）The above information serves to give you some insights and new perspectives on the Chinese Name Selection system. I would encourage you to seek profes-sional advice if you are contemplating of picking auspicious names for your child to have a smooth-sailing path in future. With this, I would like to take this op-portunity to thank you for reading this article and wishing you a prosperous and healthy 2013!

Master Jo ching is the founder of DestinyAsia Global Consultancy and Mas-ter Trainer of Destiny Academy. Besides providing professional advices to clients on their home and office feng shui, destiny analysis and auspicious Chinese Name selection, he also conducts professional feng shui courses and corporate talks. He is fre-quently interviewed by media like Lian He Wan Bao, Asiaone, RazorTV, Yahoo and etc. You are welcome to visit his company website or contact him at: Website: www.destinyasia.com.sgEmail: [email protected]

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By Dorothea chow

And if this is your first time celebrating the Chinese New Year with a brand new baby, you’re probably scouring the stores for that perfect little outfit and anticipat-ing (finally!) the receiving of ang pows towards his education fund.

There’s probably also that niggling doubt about whether you’ll be able to pull off the daunting feat of bringing baby out for full days of visiting. It’s fairly common to have up to 6-8 homes to visit over the first two days of the New Year. In fact, if

chinese new year special

“Dong dong qiang” season will be upon us in just a few more weeks! It’s time to get the house into some semblance of order. Time to wash the curtains and change the cushion covers and stick bright red deco-rations on the walls.

New BabyChinese


we’re keeping it real here, you probably have moments of utter panic as you envi-sion all that could go wrong during that time. You’ve never been out with baby for more than a couple of hours, not to men-tion the whole day – add to that the many new faces she will encounter, and all that travel time to and fro from home to home, and it’s no wonder you’re quaking in fear at the thought.

Fret not, faint not! Here are a few suggestions to chase your fears away and get your Chinese New Year off to a happy start!

#1 Plan ahead

Planning is the key to success! Map out what your visiting days are going to look like. Don’t just imagine it in your head – write it down, or at least talk to your spouse about it. Think through the order of home visits, how long it will take to get from place to place, how much time you will spend in each home. Then try to shift the timings around so that baby’s schedule isn’t too majorly affected.

For example, if baby typically takes an hour’s nap at 10am, and you have two places to go to in the morning, you could try to get to venue A about 930am, let her socialize with the relatives for a bit, put her to nap there, and then leave for venue B as soon as she wakes up!

Alternatively, if baby naps well in the car seat or in the baby carrier, you can schedule your travel times to coincide roughly with her nap times, so she can get her beauty sleep that way and arrive at each destination refreshed and happy to play!

If going with the f low is your common approach to life, then all this

detailed planning this might seem a tedious and unnecessary task to you, but just give it a try!

#2 Pack in advance

It’s almost like going on holiday, since you’ll be expected to feed, nap and change baby’s diapers on-the-go throughout the day. With that in mind, be prepared for all eventualities.

Be sure to pack a change of clothes, even though you hope she won’t soil her brand new dress. (It would be wise to bring a change of clothes for yourselves too!) Bring extra diapers, tissues and wet wipes too. If baby is on solids already, decide if you will cook and bring her meal, or prepare the food in the home you are visiting. If there’s any space in your bag, bring along a few engaging toys, for those moments she may be bored or fussy.

If you are traveling by car, lucky you! Pack two bags – one big one with everything you need for the day, and a smaller one which you can repack with the essentials each time you leave the car for a new home visit.

#3 PrePare your sPeech

Ever y where you go, people w il l have opinions about your baby and child-rearing practices in general . You may f ind yourself easi ly frustrated, irri-tated or plain annoyed at some of the things they may say or hint at .

Like “Don’t need to nap him today lah, let him enjoy the New Year!” or “You shouldn’t put him in the carrier l ike that! Next time he’ l l be bow-legged when he starts to walk!” and lots, lots more.

To be fair, such comments are not only heard on Chinese New Year for sure, but given that you might be feeling pretty tired from caring for an active baby while on-the-road, you might overreact to some of these things.

Which is why we recommend that, as far as possible, prepare yourself to answer the plethora of questions that may be fired your way during the Chinese New Year by well-meaning, but insensitive or uninformed, relatives and friends. This will help you keep your cool and an-swer graciously and politely under most circumstances, without compromising on your principles.

#4 PurPose to have fun

Last but not least, although all the above sounds like a lot of hard work, make it your aim to HAVE FUN! After all, Chinese New Year only comes but once a year, and it’s your child’s first time experiencing all the festivities, receiving ang pows and be-ing the star of the show!

Let go of some ‘rules’ for the day – such as letting baby nap that little bit later so that his cousins can have the joy of making him giggle and wiggle with glee! Don’t expect him to nap as much as he does on his usual days either – he probably won’t, with all that’s happening around him. And if he doesn’t want to finish his porridge, don’t force him while everyone else looks one – just let him drink more milk later in the day to make up for it.

At the end of the day, remember to savour those previous moments with your family and friends, even as you have baby’s needs constantly floating around at the back of your mind. Enjoy yourselves, and have a very happy Chinese New Year!

Brighten up your wardrobe with these vibrant maternity / nursing frocks from The Birth Shop. Classy and fuss-free, you can never go wrong with these simple silhouettes.

Clean&Chic kristal tunic

natalie dress

alexa dress

Mavis dress

christmas special

There has been a lot of talk going on about raising ‘critical thinkers’. In your opinion, what defines a person as a critical thinker?A critical thinker is someone who is able to see beyond the given circumstances and allow the possibility of solutions outside the most obvious and also someone who is able to ask questions to challenge the given solutions

In your opinion, what are the 5 most crucial skills for a child who is going to Primary School? Based on the different cohorts of students


A Cognitive Learning Specialist, Felicia was personally trained by Dr. Robert Meeker (co-founder of SOI Systems) and holds an Advanced Associate status using SOI’s Cognitive Assess-ment Tools and training methods. Her passion lies in helping children achieve their true learning potential by equipping them with strong cognitive skill sets. With 10 years of experi-ence teaching children from 4 - 12 years old, she shares with Michelle Ang, on what makes a person a critical thinker and how parents can develop their child’s cognitive skills.

Feature Interview with

Programme Director of ThinkersBoxFelicia Hoo

Felicia conducting a workshop for parents and educators


feature interview

we have assessed and trained, we realise the most crucial skills for effective and engaged learning in the classroom would be: Sustained Attention and Focus to be able to take in and absorb as much learning as possible Capacity for Retention to be able to store knowledge that was taughtStrong Relational Thinking to be effec-tive in making connections and grasping learningGood Visual Skills to ensure accurate read-ing and carefulness during work Effective Verbal Skills to ensure the child can follow the teacher's explanation and teaching and communicate by asking the right questions

The above are just some of the crucial skills our children need to get ready for school, however, it is important to under-stand these are not the only skills they need and that there are a wider spectrum of abili-ties to look into when we analyse a child's learning

How do these thinking skills carry on to a child’s life as they grow, from secondary to tertiary education, and on to their work life?The above skills listed do not just apply for children entering Primary School. In fact, if you look into the application and impact of each skill area, we will realise that through-out the different phases of our lives; we will still greatly need the ability to focus, remem-ber, relate ideas, be observant and careful and understand what is the situation around us. I would say these thinking skills actually become more important as the child grows where the reliance on textbook knowledge reduces as they grow up and they become better in applying the knowledge in real-life scenarios.

What can parents do, to foster such skills in their children?Besides spending time to drill on subject content and school tasks such as spelling, parents should also take time to build the right fundamental skills for effective learn-ing for their children, such as improving their attention span, teaching them to be observant, help them to form connections, etc. Parents may read our free e-books for such recommended activities.

ThinkersBox program is not content but process based. Can you tell us more about what goes on during the process?The learning process is driven by the student's efforts and not what the teacher is teaching them. We do not cover subjects nor have curriculum-type lesson plans, rather every child is provided targeted activities in the form of modules to help them push up and improve their learning

capabilities (or what we call their cogni-tive skills) Since no two child is the same in their learning, we need to then under-stand them as individuals and pace their improvements according to what they need and not based on comparing them with their peers.

In your experience, what are some of the common problems you notice children face as they progress from lower to upper primary?We see an increasing number of children facing visual difficulties as they progress and this results in carelessness in work, reluctance to read or generally not an effective reader because they are missing words or skipping lines. We also notice children not growing and developing in their vocabulary capacity as they progress through their learning. I believe this is be-cause school work and other commitment increases as they move towards the higher

Leaning skills through games at ThinkersBox

levels, thus lesser time and opportunity is provided to do reading outside of school work; and our kids grow stagnant in their language growth. This can have a long-term impact in their career choices, communica-tion skills and personal growth.

Can these problems be prevented? How so?Yes, of course! Parents can set aside time every day to read with the child and try to read books from a wide variety of topics so the child can be exposed to higher levels and vocabulary in varied contexts. The em-phasis is on read 'with' the child as children enjoy an activity more when their parents are actively engaged with them. Build this habit from young and we would help our children set a strong foundation and love for reading throughout their life.

Parents should also keep a lookout for the amount of time our children spend on computer games and watching television. We are at a time where it's near impossible to restrict our children from these activi-ties, but it is still important to ensure that these fast-moving, colourful visual stimulus is well-balanced out with exposure to black-and-white, static information (such as when reading text). This is because our eyes have different photo-receptors for coloured and black-and-white information; so we should ensure our children receive stimulus and engagement in both forms of visual stimulus.

What are some common misconcep-tions parents have with regards to a child’s learning process?We meet parents who tell us their child is

not motivated or not trying hard enough and that they just need to focus in order to get better results. However, when we assess the child's learning abilities, we find that many times the child may be trying as hard as they can but still experience difficulty with school and learning because they are simply not equipped with the right skills to learn.

For example, a child who is distracted or has short attention span very likely has poor auditory attention skills and therefore this results in their 'lack of focus' behaviour. Or when a child makes careless mistakes on their work, it is highly possible they are not good in visual discrimination ability so it results in them not being able to be care-ful or observant about the details in their work (no matter how many times parents remind them to check their work!).

Every child is curious and excited to learn by nature. Remember how they used to ask questions about everything when they were younger? Children start to lose their 'interest' and 'motivation' over time if they do not experience success in their learning, just the same way we will lose in-terest in playing badminton if we can never serve right or play well, yes? So, it is very important that we ensure our kids are given the right skills to help them learn effectively and successfully because only when we are successful and good at something, then only will we strive to become better at it.

Any last piece of advice to our parents?Focus on the long-term investment for your child's learning and not just what they need to learn for this year's topics or examination; because learning is a process and it needs to be self-driven by the child's innate ability to learn, to be curious and to enjoy the journey!


Teaching Your Baby Emotions

feature interview

Felicia conducting a workshop for parents


DO YOU FACE THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS?Your child dislike veggies?

Your child has constipation?

Your child fall ill easily?

kids' gallery

Who says children can’t do musicals? We

followed 6 year-old Ashton, as he and his

classmates learns and perform the beloved

musical, "Peter and the Wolf". Here’s a

peak to what goes on during class…


Music, Dance, Action!

PreParIng FOr THe muSICaL

"Before rehearsing for the musical, we read

the story of Peter and the Wolf. After getting to know the storyline

and the different characters, we picked our roles and I chose to play Peter and the

narrator."

warm uPS"Before the start of each session, we learned new songs and vocal exercises

to get our lungs and body warmed up. My favourite warm up was the parachute game!”


In Kids’ Gallery Musical Theatre program, children 3 years and above are taught songs, lyrics and choreo-graphed dance steps to songs of well-known and beloved musicals.

Through drama games, kids are introduced to basic theatre skills such as role-play. Kids’ Gallery Singapore is located at 391B Orchard Road, Ngee Ann City Tower B #13-03.

For more info, call 6235 5993 or go to www.kidsgallery.com.sg

“We even made our own props. As I was Peter, I had to make my own fiddle. I drew it, cut it and painted it!” To inculcate a sense of ownership for their own things, children make their own props for

the musical.

THe PerFOrmanCe“On our eighth lesson, we invited our mummies and daddies to watch us perform. Before performing the

musical, we told them the story in the form of a rap!”

MuSiCal TRiviaWritten in 1936 by Russian Sergei Proko-fiev, Peter and the Wolf is a musical symphony for children. Spoken by a

narrator ac-companied by an orchestra, each character in the story has

a particular instrument

and musical theme.


holiday feature

Cruise away! By Som yew ya


Babies and Kids ahoyInfants 6 months and above can board both Star Cruise and Royal Caribbean. Cots may be requested during reservation subject to availability. For passenger fees, there is no child rate for Royal Caribbean, but for child between 6 months and below 2 years old, in-fant rate may apply. You may just get that time you need for some couple time or ‘me’ time. Nursery services are available and charges apply in accordance with the type of arrange-ment requested.

Pools and ProgramsThere are activities for kids which are compli-mentary during the cruises. Royal Caribbean provides the Fisher-Price Royal Babies and Tots Programs for parents and children. The Adventure Ocean® Youth Program is available for kids 3-11 years old. For Royal Caribbean, most vessels have the children’s pool with the exception of “Vision Class” vessels. Some Royal Caribbean vessels sport a teen lounge and disco for added fun and entertainment.

Star Cruise holds its own with a wide variety of activities for kids as well as entertain-ment lounge for kids below 12. Starkids club membership applies for Star Virgo. For Star Cruise line, only Star Virgo provides children’s pool – Neptune’s Wet ‘n’ Wild alfresco playground amidst expansive indoor/outdoor children’s activity area and 100m water slide.

Its childcare area consists of play area and ball pool. There is also a video games arcade and starlight cinema for older kids.

animation ExperienceThe Dreamworks experience serves to enchant kids and adults alike with meet-the-characters, character meals and Dreamworks films. Take a photo with the Madagascar penguins; dine with Shrek or Kung Fu Panda. Complimentary on several vessels of Royal Caribbean (Voyager of the Seas), the Dreamworks experience will be unforgettable for any child!

Look out for various special themed events by Star Cruise catered for the holidays, some cartoon animation characters might just be on board! For example, Nickelodeon at Sea was launched on Virgo and Libra during the recent Dec holidays featuring Nickelodeon themed rooms, activities and character mascots such as SpongeBob SquarePants and Dora the Explorer on Board.

adventure on boardThere are such a variety of sports available on board your young teenager will be spoilt for choice! Both cruise lines provide basic sports amenities such as fitness centres, jogging cir-cuits and basketball courts. Mini golf courses and rock climbing walls are available on most Royal Caribbean vessels and on Star Virgo.

With the March school holidays looming, it’s just enough time for a few days get-away minus the school stuff and extra curricular activ-ities. If you want to just have a short family get-away without much travelling hassle – read itinerary scheduling, route planning… it just may be time to consider a cruise. Here’s a quick peek into what Star Cruise and Royal Carribean cruise lines have to offer.

For an ice-skating experience, an ice-skating ring is available on bigger vessels of Royal Caribbean (Voyager of the Sea) but not on Star Cruise.

*note: This article takes a look at the activities available for a family trip. It cannot be used to compare which cruise line is better than the other as many other aspects are not included in the focus such as adult-oriented amenities or services for travellers without children e.g. Casino facilities, theatre show range, adult services – beauty and sports amenities, dining options and so on. Services and program hours vary based on vessel and itiner-ary. The article is meant to be used as a general reference. Please check with your respective booking agent for specific services, applicable charges and seasonal programs.

Travelling with kids in

tow can be chal-

lenging but there’s

something on board

the ship for everyone!

When booking with your

agent, remember to clarify any queries

you may have or make requests ahead of

time, such as your need for cot or special

dietary requirements etc. If your child

is very young, you may need to bring

formula (if applicable) or some back-up

food etc in case your child does not like

the food offered on board. There may

be certain restrictions on outside food

you may bring on board, so check with

your agent first. Lastly, once on board,

it would be good to review the daily

schedule on board, as some activities

may require prior booking eg. Dream-

Works Character Breakfast has limited

seating so booking has to be done in

advance to guarantee a seat.

Tips


play

During the early years of life, the brain makes trillions of new connections between nerve cells in response to their experiences. These connections will determine your child’s intellectual and physical abilities as well as the development of social skills.

How then can we help enhance this de-velopmental process during our child's most precious early years? Let them play! With the right environment and method, a child can be engaged in the serious business of learning even when they are relaxed, having fun and enjoying their childhood. In fact, to a child, learning is playing and learning is fun.

There are many different kind of play ac-tivities that your child can engage in together with you:

Physical PlayEngaging your child in good physical play ac-tivities provides an opportunity for your child to develop their gross muscle strength, nerves and brain functions. Young children must

By Selene Diong, principal inStructor of gymnaDemicS early enrichment centre

HElPing Our CHildrEn TO HAvE SOmE SEriOuS FunPlAY

PurPOSEFul

have ample opportunities to develop physi-cally, and motor play instills this disposition toward physical activity in young children. So don't procrastinate further, allocate a good amount of weekly outdoor physical play time for your child and yourself as a start to enhanc-ing your child's overall learning abilities.

attention PlayAttention games are a good way to engage a child without boring them. Such activi-ties help them improve their focus while learning something new in the process. The activity also helps our little ones develop an appreciation for the importance of following rules and instructions to enjoy the game. To make the games exciting, we could make use of colours, shapes, movement and music to engage the child. Starting with simple and basic instructions before progressing to more complex details of the game will also help your child gradu-ally appreciate and enjoy the game.

tactile PlayDriven by curiosity, our little ones makes wonderful scientists, as they constantly ex-plore, investigate and draw conclusions on anything and everything that comes their way. Tactile play draws upon this innate desire to learn and engages the sensorial pathways of our little explorers as they make use of their different senses to collect data and unravel the mysteries of the items they encounter. In addition to honing their sensory skills, tactile play also helps them build language and social skills.

There are many categories of play that our child can explore. The next time you come home and see your child engaging in their play activities, you can rest assure that they are working the brains a lot more than a worksheet activity. Play is the work of the child. Let them play.

In our next article, we will share more about your role as a parent in our little one's play activities.

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The Plus shape with endless possibilitiesBuild a house, create a car or make your own spectacles. From accessories, gadgets, to mosaic patterns and 3-D structures, this open-ended simple construction set has endless of options for your child to build and play with. Who knew a shape of two + signs combined together could reproduce so many creations?

One shape fits allMade in Denmark and free of PVC and phthalates, Plus Plus® Mini and Plus Plus® Midi is suitable for children aged 3 - 12 years old. Of course, adults who love to create and build can join in the fun too.

Each Plus Plus® piece is made to pre-cision and fits perfectly, making it easy for the little ones to connect and piece together. With a picture book available in each Plus Plus® set, you and your child can replicate designs or create new ones together!

Plus Plus® Midi available in 8 dif-ferent vibrant colours, and sold in sets

A Plus

PlAyfor

of 20s or 100s. Plus Plus® Mini (smaller version of

Midi) is available in two colour palettes; basic and pastel, sold in sets of 100s, 300s, 600s, and 1200s.

Join them, stack them or fix them. Whether it is 2-D or 3-D, Plus Plus® is the tool to play and create any structure or shape they desire!

"He keeps the Plus Plus pieces in his little bag and brings them along wherever he goes. He said that he loves playing with the Plus Plus pieces as they were colouful and he is able to cre-

ate and build many different things based on his imagination!”

- Parent of Foo Jun Wei, 8 years old

Plus Play® Pte Ltd 195 Pearl's Hill Terrace [email protected]

Ministry of Baby 10 Anson Road #02-82/82A International Plaza

Smart Alley 176 Orchard Road #04-03 CentrePoint

ToyTag 1 Maritime Square #03-58 Harbourfront Centre

Tony Buzan Learning Centre 90 Hougang Avenue 10 #05-07 Hougang Mall

Plus Play® is proud to be the exclusive distributor of Plus Plus® products in Singapore and Malaysia. To check out their other products, go to www.plus-play.com or like them on Facebook www.facebook.com/PlusPlay.toys

Where you can buy them:


activity

activity Duration: 45 minutes –

1 hour

age: 3 – 5 years old

introductionYour child will learn the following skills:

observing, listening, playing, exploring,

questioning, experimenting, and stimu-

lating most of his/her senses (i.e. touch,

taste, smell, vision and hearing).

By poppletotS

Magic & Fun with LearningSTEP #1

Parent’s task – Preparation of resource

STEP #1 Parent’s task – Preparation of resource

STEP #2 Getting your child involved Recognising child’s name

Purpose:�Create a fun and explorative way of

learning alphabets, names, or words

��A sense of surprise and discovery is

incorporated in this activity

�Parent and child bonding session

Improves fine motor skills

�Creativity

Imagination

materials needed:

Drawing paper

Sequins

White crayon

White craft glue

Colour pencils or crayons

�Water colour

Paint brush

Craft foam letters

�Decide on the topic, word, or letters in which you want to introduce to your child

�Using the white crayon, draw or write down the objects related to the topic, words, or letters

Decide on the letter in which you want to introduce to the childOn a drawing paper, draw out the outline of the letterDetermine which words or letters are to be hidden from the child, and use the white crayon to draw or write on the drawing paper

�Allow your child to use water co-lour paint and brush to paint over the drawing paper

�As he/she paints, it will slowly reveal what you have prepared for him/her

�To re-enforce your child’s learning, provide craft foam letters to the child so that he/she can identify the words/letters/name and use the foam letters to decorate the draw-ing paper

A different vAriAtiontEAChINg A spECIfIC LEttEr tO A ChILd


STEP #2 Getting your child involved

Recognising a specific letter

STEP #3 Relating the letter with daily objects

�Start the activity with a simple craft of pasting

�The child will use craft item/items related to fill the space in the letter

�This enhances both hand and eye coordination

�For example, I choose the letter F, thus flower sequins were used for this craft activity

�It is important to relate what you are teaching for this incidence the letter F with daily objects, so that the child could see a relationship to what he/she is learning. (e.g. is for Five, Four, Fish, Flower and Frog)

�Allow your child to use water colour paint and brush to paint over the draw-ing paper

�As he/she paints, it will slowly reveal what you have prepared for him/her

�After the child has finished painting the drawing paper, recap with your child on the day’s topic by having a causal conversation about the letter and the daily surroundings

About Poppletots: Started in 2010 by a mom who left her job to be spend more time with her child, Poppletots aims to provide unique, fun and useful children related products such as educational kits and apparels. Within 2 years, Poppletots has be-come a fun-going cosy community for reviews and parents to exchange ideas. Find out more about Poppletots at www.facebook.com/poppletots

What is aDHD?Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Dis-order (ADHD) is a neuro-behavioural disorder that usually affects school age children (for a diagnosis the symp-toms must appear before age 7). It was previously referred to as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) but ADHD is the preferred term as it refers to the primary aspects of the condition. Re-search has now shown that ADHD is not a disorder of attention, rather, it is a failure in monitoring inhibition and self-control. This loss of self-reg-ulation hinders other important brain functions crucial for maintaining at-tention. A child with ADHD may have trouble paying attention, be overly ac-tive and/or may act on impulse with-out thinking. These ADHD symp-

toms will be more apparent during an activity that requires focused mental concentration and effort.

How common is aDHD?A recent worldwide study estimates that 5.29% of the population has ADHD. In 2009, Fung & Lee per-formed a survey of 2400 children aged 6 to 12 years in Singapore showed that 4.9% had disruptive behaviour disor-ders. ADHD behaviours can present differently in boys and girls; boys are likely to be hyperactive and fidgety, whereas girls will frequently remain undiagnosed as they tend to be qui-etly inattentive and daydream-making them less obvious to identify. ADHD can also occur in tandem with other conditions, e.g. learning disabilities,

oppositional defiant disorder, anxiety and depression, etc.

Risk factors for ADHD include but are not limited to: maternal exposure to toxins; smoking, drinking alco-hol or using drugs during pregnancy; a family history of ADHD or other mood/behavioural disorders; low birth weight.

Does my child have high-ener-gy or an attention problem?

Most young children are active and reluctant to sit still for long periods of time, so how do parents know if their child is just high-energy or a child with ADHD?

Parents may suspect ADHD if they notice consistently inattentive/hyper-active/impulsive behaviour that;

All AbouT


special needs


Lasts more than 6 months Occurs in more than one setting(E.g. home and school)

Regularly disrupts play, school and other daily activities

Causes problems in relationships with adults and other children

Impulsive-acts and/or speaks without thinking

Having a hard time paying attention and

frequent daydreaming

Easily distracted from schoolwork or play

Forgetful

Needs to be in constant motion (fidgets)-unable

to stay seated

Excessive talking and often interrupting

Unable to play quietly or stay seated

Symptoms Of

ADHD

Does not seem to listen

Some of the symptoms of aDHD include:

special needs

What does aDHD mean for my child? ADHD can cause difficulties for chil-dren;It can cause struggles in the class-room particularly with academic cur-riculaChildren with ADHD tend to have more injuries and accidents due to im-pulsivityIt can cause difficulties with social-ising and interacting-both with peers and adultsResearch has concluded that chil-dren with ADHD who do not receive intervention are at a higher risk for

drug and alcohol abuse along with de-linquent behaviours

How is aDHD diagnosed and treated? There is no single test to confirm ADHD and a lot of other diagnoses have similar symptoms. Steps involved in the diagnos-tic process may include;A medical examAn ADHD symptom rating scaleA detailed history from parents, teachers, etcIntegration of any psychological assess-ments, speech-language therapy assess-ments and occupational therapy assess-ments

Child observations in different environ-mentsExclusion of other conditions which mirror the symptoms of ADHD, e.g. lan-guage problems, mood disorders, effects of medication, etc.

As yet there is no “cure” for ADHD but the symptoms can be treated to reduce their effects. The two most common treat-ments for ADHD are behaviour modifica-tion and/or medication (e.g. Ritalin and Adderall). You can also make changes within the child’s environment, for sugges-tions see below. There are several professional who can help in the treatment of ADHD;


PROFESSIONAL WHAT THEY CAN DO

Developmental Paediatricians

diagnose ADD / ADHD prescribe medications if necessary

Psychologists diagnose ADD / ADHD help individuals to explore their feelings provide cognitive-behavioural therapy

Occupational Therapists set up behaviour modification programs at school, work, and home establish concrete goals for behaviour and achievement help families and teachers maintain rewards and consequences

Speech-Language Therapists

�tailor a program to meet the child’s specific speech/language needs

focus on self-regulation teach specific strategies to aid in learning information advise on any assistive technology needed provide social communication groups

Teachers and educators teach techniques for succeeding in school help children obtain resources from schools adapt classroom to meet child’s needs


STRATEGY SUGGESTIONS

1. Be affectionateIt can be easy to focus on the negative aspects of your child’s behaviour but this can be damaging to the parental relationship and their self esteem. Look for posi-tive behaviour which you can reward rather than having to scold as frequently.

2. Be patient Keep your cool-even if your child is exhibiting behaviours-remaining calm will help your child to calm themselves too.

3. Be realisticKeep things in perspective when making your goals for improvement-it may take a long time and a lot of effort from both you and your child before you reach your ideal.

4. Try to see the positives Make time to be one-to-one with your child. Make an effort to enjoy your child’s positive personality traits and give them some form of positive attention daily.

5. routine

Routine is hugely important for children with ADHD. As much as possible keep regular sleep, meal and play times. This will help your child regulate and ease tran-sitions between activities. Help them to organise their school assignments and keep their environment un-cluttered.

6. Sleep Make sure your child is well rested to reduce stress. Keep to a bedtime routine.

7. Difficult situations Identify situations which are difficult for your child and try to avoid them (e.g. shop-ping, crowds, long periods of sitting, etc).

8. rewardReward good behaviours and use timeouts/loss of a privilege to discipline your child. The idea is to intervene and stop the out of control behaviour. Timeouts should be short but give the child time to calm.

9. experience success Use your child’s interests to build their self esteem, e.g. art, dance, sports. If they experience success in these areas it will help to reinforce their confidence.

10. Simplify and repeat When giving your child directions try to simplify your language and keep your instruction specific. Make eye-contact and speak slowly to your child.

It can be stressful caring for a child with ADHD so remember;Structure your child’s lifeProvide positive disciplineStay calm and set a good exampleAim for healthy family relationshipsGive yourself time to rest and relax

Remember, although there is no proven way to prevent ADHD, early identification and treatment can re-duce and curb many of the associated issues.

Trudy graduated from University College Cork (Ireland) in June 2011

and has been working at The Chil-dren’s Therapy Centre as a speech and language therapist since January 2012. She works both with children in the centre and with children in Lighthouse school for the deaf and visually impaired.


dental

Teeth grinding is actually quite common in children. It is known as brux-

ism in adults. According to The Journal of Dentistry for Children, 38% of

children grind their tooth - that’s almost 4 out of 10 kids. The good thing

is that the habit is usually not a problem for their teeth and most children

stop grinding when the permanent front teeth begin to erupt.

Why do we children grind their teeth?There can be many reasons for grind-ing. Sometimes it can be to relieve the pain of teething or an earache. If they do seem to be having trouble with any pain, giving them children’s pain med-ication, such as Paracetamol to help re-lieve the inflammation and lessen the grinding. It can also be because their teeth are not aligned properly and they are having trouble biting, which is often relieved once the adult teeth begin erupting. The grinding may also be stress related, perhaps a test coming up, a new teacher, or problem with friends. In these cases its helpful to help the child wind down before go-ing to bed by taking a soothing bath or reading a book to ease them into sleep.

Preventative MeasuresBesides these preventative measures there is not much else that can be done. An appliance, such as a

night guards are rarely used on a child due to the rapid changes that are hap-pening in the mouth. A night guard could impede and disrupt the growth pattern of the jaw and face and lead to more serious complications for the child. A new night guard would have to be made al-most monthly. If the child is still grinding when they have fully matured dental-ly, the dentist will usually fit a mouth guard at that time.

Treatment Luckily, very rarely is grinding a se-vere enough issue that any

Getting to the Grind

By Dr Sara oK , Dental Surgeon, t32 Dental centre

Teeth Grinding In Children treatment is needed. However for some children the grinding is more severe and they grind much of the tooth away were the pulp and nerve of the tooth are almost exposed. In that case we will do fillings on the top surface to protect the nerves of the tooth, or very rarely use a night guard.

If your child is having facial muscle aches or soreness of the jaw and/or teeth, bring them into the dentist to have a check-up. Oth-erwise teeth grinding in children rarely cause any problems except maybe for the ones who have to en-dure the sound.


valentines day special

Love is… freely given from the giver; it cannot be earned, is not justified based on one's circumstance, neither does it require one to qualify for it.SOm Yew Ya, wrITer, THe new age ParenTS

Love is… knowing when to hold on, and when to let go.mICHeLLe ang, eDITOr, THe new age ParenTS

Love is… holding me close and letting me cry in your arms, even those time when I push you away.DOrOTHea CHOw, wrITer, THe new age ParenTS

Love is… letting go of your ego and giving unconditionally with a big heart.eLaIne Lau, markeTIng manager, THe new age ParenTS

Love is… not being an-gry and yet waking up in the middle of the night to change your baby's diapers and feed-ing baby with milk even when your husband is asleep. - YvOnne CHee, wrITer, THe new age ParenTS

Love is... like art on can-vas; with passion, you can cre-ate a masterpiece with everlast-ing memories.eILeen YeO, exeCuTIve DIreCTOr OF kIDS' gaLLerY SIngaPOre

What isLoveto you?

Love is… giving more than receiving unconditionally.eSTHer LIm, CeO & FOunDer OF LeaP SCHOOLHOuSe

Love is… saying no to my ipad games when my wife asks me for help to feed my child.JOHnSOn CHee, FaTHer OF One


valentines day special

lovE, in a MothEr’s Words

“Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead.” – Oscar Wilde

When I was in high school, love was something I needed to find and to gain, even with friendships. Teen-age love tends to be dramatic; it is ex-citing and romantic like the Taiwan drama series, “Meteor Garden”, where the leading actor fights for the love of the leading actress. However, when we don't feel all excited for that special one anymore, we think love isn’t pres-ent anymore and it would be time to hop on to the next love.

When I was in University, love was

something I needed to find; a person to love me for who I am even at my ugliest. I try to find my identity in the midst of the relationships I was in, but sometimes I found myself becoming someone else’s image, dreams or iden-tity and ended up almost losing mine.

Love became something more en-dearing and accepting when I came to know the Lord in 2004. Love isn’t something I needed to fight for, to strive for, but something that is freely given even when I didn't deemed to

By yvonne chee

earn it. The Love I’ve learnt is patient, kind and not self-seeking, something extended in grace and in faith.

After I got married in 2008, love is something I needed to protect. To keep my marriage sane and healthy, to ensure that my husband and I are con-stantly communicating and nourish-ing our marriage with time and efforts and not taking each other for granted.

But then, just when I thought I knew everything, Love became a to-tally new concept in 2011 when I be-came a mom. Love is seeing how my firstborn, Samuel, enjoy laughter and acknowledgement from us, hearing him squeal with joy when we play hide and seek with him, and savouring his smiles when he is filled with his milk at the end of the day. Love is having the acceptance of who you are and being contented with what you have.

By Yvonne Chee


At Blossom Berry Kidz Centre, we vigorously adhere to fulfil our commitment towards providing a safe and enriching environment for our children wherein they can develop to their full potential.

Incorporating Blossom’s Triple Track and Learning Styles

‘u’nique Letterland Lesson

We seek not only to mould their minds but as well as their character by compassionately nurturing them and to be involved in each and every step of their development. To achieve this, we have a unique way of caring for these young ones as we acknowledge their individual differences and enhance their abilities to be independent and life-long learners.

Thus in our everyday lesson, the teachers always seek to incorporate Blossom’s 3 learning tracks (Basic, Standard, Advanced) and 3 learning styles (Visual,Auditory,Kinaesthetic) which recognise every child’s needs, ability and progress. It is an effective way of facilitating a meaningful learn-ing experience for the children.

Let’s now take a look at how we in-tegrate these learning tracks and styles into a fun and engaging time with the Nursery 2 during one of our English

‘u’ for umbrella. “Does my umbrella look unusual?”

Language lessons for letter ‘u’.First, the picture code card of ‘Uppy

Umbrella’ was introduced to the class. This is geared towards the visual as-pect of motivating and teaching our children the letter shape of ‘u’ and

recognising the capital letter ‘U’. Then, associating the sound with

its Letterland character as the chil-dren sing Uppy Umbrella’s letter song to learn the short vowel sound for ‘u’ and the Vowel Men song for ‘Mr. U’

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For (S) Standard Track, the aim is to identify the letter shape and letter name of 'Uppy Umbrella'. In this track, the children not only learn the letter shape but attempt to identify the let-ter name of ‘Uppy Umbrella’. Likewise, they also learn the short vowel sound for ‘u’. A variety of activities are incor-porated to the lesson like playing allit-eration game, using sound bag, picture-coding, and sorting of pictures that begin with Uppy Umbrella’s sound. In addition, children create an umbrella craft or use different mediums like macaroni, dough or paint to form the letter shape of ‘u’. For letter writing, the children in the standard track show in-terest in writing and follow dotted lines reasonably well.

Lastly, the (a) advanced Track is geared towards introducing the

long vowel sound for 'u'. Activities in-volve presenting the picture of Mr. U, the Uniform Man where the class that identify words that begin with long vowel sound for ‘u’ like uniform, uni-corn, united. When it comes to letter writing, the children in the advanced track show great interest in writing and attempt to write without assistance of dotted lines.

Indeed, it is a fun and interactive way of learning as the activities carried out by the teacher cater to every child’s developmental ability.

to recognise the long vowel name of ‘u’. The song lyrics are very catchy and the children gain auditory discrimina-tion as they differentiate the long and short vowel sounds for ‘u’. Likewise, al-literative story sentence is appealing for the children as they create their own al-literation such as ‘uppyumbrella does unusual things like being upside down and sleeping upstairs’.

Next, the children play a game where they name and sort pictures that begin with short vowel sound ‘u’ such as uncle, undershirt, under, up and long vowel sound for ‘u’ like unicorn, uni-form. They also engaged in letter writ-ing practise through an enticing hands-on letter play as they bend the wiki stix or pipe cleaners to form the letter and say the sound of ‘u’. In this kinaes-thetic learning, the children not only use their sense of seeing and hear-ing but learn by doing.

The children were engaged in a va-riety of music and movement activities too as they moved and sang along to the music while holding an umbrella for ‘Uppy Umbrella’.

Meanwhile, Blossom’s Triple Track (B-Basic, S-Standard, A-Advanced) is integral in carrying out the curricu-lum. Its rationale is based on the belief that every child is unique and learns at different pace. For Nursery 2 English Language, the (B) Basic Track is to recognise letter shape of 'Uppy Um-brella'. The children engage in activities that reinforce letter shape recognition such as singing the handwriting song, playing a letter hunt game and doing tracing activities. When it comes to letter writing, the children in the basic track show interest in writing but need the assistance of dotted lines.

“Look, I can name objects that begin with uppy umbrella’s sound ‘uuu’...”

“matching pictures with words that have middle sound ‘u’ is fun and easy!”

Congratulations to the Finalists ofthe Photogenic BaBy contest!

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What type of plans should I buy with a baby on the way?

Planning Your Financial Priorities46 The New Age Parents

By winSton tan, chartereD financial conSultant

finance

Many parents may have this big question on their mind when they discover they have a little one coming along: “What type of financial plan should I buy for my little one so that he/she can get a head start in life?”

Besides the usual “kids’ menu” of the following: Life Insurance, Hospitalisation & Surgical Insurance (aka. Health Insur-ance), Endowment, Personal Accident and Investment-Linked Life Insurance Plans, many parents may have neglected the importance of ensuring that both par-ents should have adequate coverage before they embark on taking up plans for their little ones. Remember the old wives’ tale of: “If given only one choice, who should you protect - The Golden Goose or the Golden Egg?”

In my professional opinion, the finan-cial planning priorities of a family should include:

Coverage for parentsHospitalisation and Surgical Insurance (aka. Health Insurance) with cash rider (that takes care of deductibles and co-in-surance)Critical Illness Protection (Having a lump sum to offset alternative medical treatments, possible renovation of home to accommodate critical illness care, daily living expenses due to no-pay leave to re-cuperate at home, etc)Family Income Protection (Leaving a stream of income for your loved ones should one prematurely decease before the average mortality age)

Disability Income Protection (Having a lump sum and stream of income to offset disability treatments, possible renovation of home and car to accommodate for dis-ability, daily living expenses due to the fact that one may not be employed in the same capacity as before the disability)

hospitalisation & surgical Insurance with cash rider for your little onesWhen a baby is born in Singapore after 2011, he/she is by default under CPF’s Medishield insurance, unless the parents have opted out.Parents are strongly encouraged to change to a Private Integrated Shield Plan as these plans are more comprehensive.1

tertiary Education planning for your little onesCurrent tertiary fees for a university de-gree costs between S$7,460 to S$21,740 a year (depending on the degree one is pur-suing) for a Singapore citizen. 2

In year 2032, a university degree is es-timated to cost between S$16,664 to S$48,560 a year. It is prudent is start saving for your little ones as early as possible, as the savings amount will increase exponentially with each passing year where one procrastinate.

Critical Illness planning for your little onesMany parents may have neglected the significance of Critical Illness Planning for little ones. In most cases when a child contracts critical illness, one of the parents will most likely quit his/her job and stay at home to take care of the child full time. This may reduce a significant portion of the family’s disposable income.

By doing proper critical illness planning for the child, the impact of a reduction in disposable income can be minimised.

personal Accident planning for your little onesA personal accident plan may be bought once a child reaches 6 months of age.Being a child who is active and be-ginning to understand and explore the world, accidents may occur anytime. It would be prudent to purchase a per-sonal accident plan that covers outpatient treatments of your little ones.Some personal accident plans that are more comprehensive also provides cov-erage for Avian Flu, Chikungunya Fever, Dengue Fever, Hand Foot Mouth Dis-ease, etc.

retirement planning for you and your spouseAfter all the above Financial Planning objectives have been provisioned, it is time for you and your spouse to sit down and start thinking about how you would like to live your retirement!

In my upcoming articles, I will explore in more detail on each of the above Finan-cial Planning Objectives.

references:1 Ministry of Health http://www.moh.gov.sg/content/moh_web/home/costs_and_fi-nancing/schemes_subsidies/Medishield/Comparison_of_MediShield_and_Pri-vate_Integrated_Plans.html)2 NUS Tuition Feeshttps://share.nus.edu.sg/registrar/info/ug/UGTuitionCurrent.pdfNTU Tuition Feeshttp://admissions.ntu.edu.sg/Undergradu-ateAdmissions/Pages/FeesTuitionGrant.aspx



for the parent

By tammy m. fontana, all in the family counSelling

when Love isno Longer Sweet

Prevention Is Better Than CureTo ensure a successful marriage, start early. Prior to your marriage, you may want to attend relationship or marriage counseling to learn some important skills in effective communication, man-aging differences and learning to meet each other’s needs. While it may seem odd to get help when you are happy, it is actually the best time to learn new skills.

Don’t Let It SnowballIf you are already married and starting to feel dissatisfied, do not hesitate to seek professional help. Too often couples rely on ‘hope’ or ‘magical thinking’ in their marriage. Hoping or thinking that your problems will ‘magically’ disappear without doing anything is wishful think-ing. Research shows that couples often experience 6 years of decline and unhap-piness in their marriage before seeking help. However, sometimes even with professional help, it won’t be enough to salvage a marriage if couples sit on the matter for too long.

Even if you have been experiencing a long period of marital happiness, do not wait to get help, even if you partner doesn’t want to come. You can go on your own and learn how to improve your relationship. Before ending a marriage, most couples would want to work things

The reality of marriage is this: it requires a lot more than loving your partner or loving your children to make it work. It requires skills; to communicate effectively, manage conflicts, discuss each other’s expectations and coming to a com-promise. The skills that make you a good employee, boss or parent, might not necessarily make you a good husband or wife. The lack of effective marital skills may lead to the loss of love and feelings in a relationship.


out and ensure they have tried and done everything they can to save it. So it is possible to work your way out or into a marriage with or without your partner.

When Is The Right Time To Let Go?

For couples who have been unhappy in their marriages and are in a dilemma whether they should stay or let go of the marriage, here are some reasons you should NOT have for staying in a mar-riage.

However, do consider to save your marriage when…� You can still remember positively all the reasons why you decided to get married to your partner�You still can find good in your re-lationship and value what you’ve cre-ated together�You still feel motivated to try and make things better�You still like your partner�You are willing to focus on chang-ing yourself to be a better partner and take responsibility for your part in what is not working in the relation-ship regardless of what your partner does�You are willing to put your relation-ship above all the needs and issues to make it better.

unHeaLTHY reaSOnS TO STaY In a marrIage

FOr THe kIDS. This actually places a huge burden on your children. Divorce will not hurt your children as much as two fighting parents (regardless if you are married or not), who hurl vicious comments at each other.

STIgma. Staying with some-one in order to avoid shame won’t make for a happy union and will lead to resentment.

TO keeP YOur ParenTS HaPPY. Again if you are in a relationship for anyone other than yourself, it won’t work. You will feel a lot of anger and resentment and there is no love in that.

mOneY. Often people fear the loss of financial stability. However, this again creates a power imbalance and can cre-ate many power struggle fights.

Fear OF CHange. Change is inevitable, and staying in a bad situation is not enough to make a marriage work.


February brings us Chinese New Year followed by Valentine’s Day. While we can choose to just dismiss this date as one which stems from commercialisation, we can also opt to use this as a reminder about the need to take care of our primary relationship – that with our spouse. Why not take this opportunity to employ some ancient wisdom so as to spring clean your house and keep the flames of pas-sion burning strong and bright at the same time?

By Dr martha lee, founDer anD clinical SexologiSt of eroS coaching

Here are some simple tips which might seem basic, even trivial, on first read, but I strongly urge you to carry them out for some quick improvements to your sense of well-being for both at your home and in your relationship:

1LIgHTen uP. According to Feng Shui specialist and author

of Make This Your Lucky Day, Ellen Whitehurst, you can illuminate your

reignite Your Passion

you turn it on often or not! So let’s see who’s getting turned on regularly!

2 DO THe DIrTY. White-hurst also advocates clearing

the clutter in your Relationship and Romance sector of your house (back right-hand corner of either the main floor of your home, or the same in your bedroom). This can activate your rela-tionship energies. If you kept anything there that reminds you of your ex or old

flame, toss those items away, give them away, bury or even burn them but get them out of your relationship area! You need to be both physically and mental-ly clear for your relationship to blossom even further.

3 weLCOme THe new. In Feng Shui, pink is the main

colour of romance and two is the number associated with it. Therefore when placing anything in this sector of your bedroom, or in the Relationship area of your home, try to place objects in pairs and preferably in pink. For in-stance, two ceramic candlesticks with two pink candles and lighting them as often as you wish especially when you’re preparing for a rendezvous with your beloved.

4 geT LuCkY. The Chinese believes that the symbol of the

fish is awash in energies of abundance, wealth, harmony and marital bliss. The

double fish is considered one of the single luckiest symbols on the whole of the ancient Taoist or even Feng Shui pantheon. So place a pair in your bedroom to denote the profound joy experienced in a physical relationship between two people who truly love and desire each another. Alternatively, you can carry it in your wallet as a charm of sorts that promises to protect as well as to bring more money. Double your pleasure and fun at one go!

5 Be graTeFuL. There is a saying, “Where intention is, en-

ergy flows”. Some call it Law of Attrac-tion. When you acknowledge the abun-dance and blessings you already have, you are creating more of same. Univer-sal Law says that when you act 'as if ', you are planting the seeds for manifest-ing in your reality and in your physical world – this includes your financial situation and state of your relationship. Therefore, watch your thoughts and consciously replace all doubt, worry and/ or fear with any of the tried and tested affirmations that resonate with you. Making positive self-talk a habit and see your life transformed!

Want more tips and resources? eros coaching is running a month-long online educational campaign about love, sex and relationships called Febulove at www.Febulove.com. Subscribe and re-ceive daily lessons into your mailbox ab-solutely free!

sexology


relationship by placing a bright light in your bedroom. Perhaps the main light-ing in your bedroom is already strong enough to light the room on its own, but a brighter, more luminescent light will lead to a brighter, more lumines-cent and effervescent love life. Appar-ently, increasing the wattage of the main bulb in your bedroom also promises to create a bright and positive future for you and your perfect partner - whether

In Feng Shui, pink is the main colour of romance and 2 is the number as-

sociated with it.

EDItOr: Michelle Ang

ExPErtS: All In The Family Counselling, Eros Coaching, The Child Development Centre

(affiliation of SBCC Baby & Child Clinic), T32 Junior Dental Centre, The Children’s Therapy Centre, Gymnademics & Winston Tan

rEgUlAr CONtrIbUtOrS: Dorothea Chow, Yvonne Chee & Som Yew Ya

CONtrIbUtOrS:Poppletots

Art & Design

Art DIrECtOr: Elaine Lau

Marketing & Advertising

bUSINESS DEvElOPMENt MANAgErJess Tee

Web Administration

WEb DEvElOPMENt DIrECtOrSeow Poh Heng

If you wish to contribute to the magazine, we will love to hear from you.Do email us at [email protected]

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While every care is taken in the production of the magazine, the publisher,

editor and its team assume no responsibility for any inaccuracies and omission,

which might arise. Opinions by the contributors and advertisers are not necessarily those

of the publisher and the editor. The articles in the magazine are for references only.

If you have any queries on any health condition for you and your child, you should seek

professional medical advice.

editorial team


the new age parents feb mar 13

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