I'm a full-time mummy

In October this year, I brought our 3 years old Alyson to her 1st Sunday school for age group 3-4 years old. Children in this age group are supposed to be independent and parents can leave them in the class while they attend the main service. However for new children in this group, parents can hang around in the class (at the back, not participating with child) so that they can slowly adjust to being in the new class.

She was quite nervous and had separation anxiety at first and clung onto me not letting me go anywhere. So I sat next to her throughout the class, gently telling her how other children enjoys the class, dance and sing and do their crafts.

When it was crafts time, I sat behind her and slowly guide her to do the activity for the day. At first, she happily doodles away on a coloring paper. And then she got distracted by the many color pencils there. She started playing with the color pencils there.

So what is a mother supposed to do when her child gets distracted?

I decided to use the opportunity to teach her. Don't let any moment slipped away and waste a good teaching moment.

I saw her arranging the color pencils by the color group. So I taught her the colors. I also counted with her the number of color pencils in each group. She can count up to 10 so far so it was pretty fun for her to be counting instead of coloring at that moment. As for the coloring activity, she didn't continue on but she did continue to sort the pencils by its color group.

In this situation, she gets to continue playing while I get to include some teachable moments for her. Win - win?

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Do you know that 57 million children around the world have no access to education? Millions of children who stay in remote places (high up in the mountains, way deep in the jungle or so on) are practically cut off from schools.

Horlicks announces the launch of the "Horlicks School Journey Initiative (HSJI)" programme recently. It is an ambitious new programme to help champion the cause of addressing children’s lack of access to education to ensure they can reach their full potential.

Horlicks believes that every child, no matter where they are in the world, is born with unique talents and abilities. By nourishing their potential, they will have a better chance of living a self-reliant and fulfilling life and for this, access to education is a fundamental part of this journey.

The "Horlicks School Journey Initiative" partners with communities and NGOs to help address the challenges which prevent children from gaining access to an education.

Go check out this video now and help to spread awareness of such causes across Malaysia!

** Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. All thoughts, opinions and words are 100 % my own.

I remember blogging about our 1st kiddo having pretend play at 3 years old. And now, our 2nd kiddo is following suit, also at 3 years old. It started when I printed and laminated some princess paper crafts for our girl to play with. The paper crafts didn't last long (due to everyday being played with) and after I saw one of those McDonalds' Happy Meal that came with free mini Barbie toys, I can't resist myself to get one for our girl.

And weeks later, hubby's turn to fell into the temptations and got our girl her 2nd mini Barbie toy from the Happy Meal. So, with the 2 mini Barbie toys, I noticed everyday she will be having pretend plays with them.

Cooking, dancing, playing house and all. Together with her brother's soldier toys and whatever toys that come in handy at that time hahaha...

If you have some time to spare, do read up on the following articles:

"Young children learn by imagining and doing. Your child is using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. But this pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas. ~ The Importance of Pretend Play"

"We often use the terms pretend play or make-believe play (the acting out of stories which involve multiple perspectives and the playful manipulation of ideas and emotions), that reflect a critical feature of the child’s cognitive and social development. Over the last seventy-five years a number of theorists and researchers have identified the values of such imaginative play as a vital component to the normal development of a child. ~ The Need for Pretend Play in Child Development"

"Engaging in pretend play (also called symbolic play, imaginative play, dramatic play, or good old make-believe) means your toddler understands that she can choose one object (the block) to represent another (a camera just like Mommy’s). That’s a big concept, and a valuable one. Just think: Numbers and letters work the same way, with unique squiggles and shapes standing in for concepts of number and language. ~ Toddler Pretend Play: Tips for Boosting Your Child's Imagination"

** Note: I have disabled the commenting feature on my blog engine thanks to all the spammers who happily spam my blog every day. If you wish to ask me any questions, you can find me at my Facebook page (I'm there almost everyday) or just drop me an email if you wish to maintain some anonymity.