The JG Lessons - Sat (28/11)

As Friday was a public holiday, the last day of the holiday class was held on Saturday. That meant that most parents could join their kids for the lesson - but not that many turned up though. Anyway, my hubby went along that day to experience the lesson for himself.

That day, as it was the last day of the course, there was no art segment but we had a puppet show in place of it. It was fun for the kids who love soft toys like Alicia (those who didn't ended up crying through the whole puppet show) and at the end of the puppet show, they were allowed to go up and play with the puppets. Alicia, if i remember correctly, took the baby owls and trotted back to us happily.

After that was snack time and they had crisp brown rice. This was a new snack to her but she still ate it rather happily. She ate so slowly though and she was last to get ready for water play. As we were afraid that she would catch a chill if she were to only wear her diapers and play with water, we let her participate in the activity with her dress still on. She had a whole tub of water with toys to play on her own as not many children wanted to participate in the water play that day.

Here's Alicia playing at the end of the water play session:

The kids weren't supposed to enter the tubs of water but since alicia had the whole tub to herself, when she climbed in, the instructors were ok with her doing so. She even helped to keep the toys in her tub. Haha...

We really had an enjoyable time that week at Julia Gabriel and we're looking forward to PlayClub next year! :)

The JG Lessons - Thurs (26/11)

The fourth day at JG was another challenging day for me - outdoor play that day was SWIMMING. I've never handled her alone when she swims so I was a bit apprehensive about how I would cope. Anyway, she was the only one who was donned in full swimwear for the outdoor play session. I was afraid that she would catch a cold if she wore just her swim diaper in so I let her wear her thermal swimsuit (which she usually wears when she goes swimming). Anyway, she was more reserved than usual during the swim session - I guess it's due to the fact that she had to share the tub with a couple of other kids. She usually has a large area to wander around in the baby pool but that day, it was just a simple tub with toys which she could play with. Handling Alicia after the swim proved to be ok after all as the instructor helped me while I changed her. Yet another exciting day at JG!



Art that day was challenging too. The children were asked to paint with their bare hands and the main task that day was to blend the colours with their hands. Earlier on in the course, they used the sponge and a feather, but that day, they were asked to use their hands so that they could have a new sensory experience. It was a HUGE mess - and I guess no one needed a crystal ball to foretell that. But well, I let her do it. She did well I must say and she blended the colours really nicely on the pre-cut flamingo. Here's a picture of all the art pieces she did at JG for the holiday course (and as you can tell already, the flamingo's my favourite):

The JG Lessons - Wed (25/11)

The 3rd day at JG holiday class was the most exciting day of all as it was an excursion to Jurong Bird Park! Unfortunately, my hubby couldn't get off from work that day so I had to bring Alicia on my own. That was quite a challenge for me as Alicia is kinda difficult to handle these days. As she doesn't like to sit still in the stroller for long, I decided that I'd fare better without it - otherwise, I'd have to carry Alicia and the stroller, and that would be a real nightmare. And so I set off with a big Deuter bagpack on my back, a baby carrier dangling in front and a mischievous toddler in my arms.

That morning, hubby sent us to JG @ Evans Rd early in the morning so that we could follow the schoolbus to the Bird Park and he went off to work after that. The bus trip was enjoyable for Alicia as the instructors sang songs and it so happened that the guitarist sat right behind us so she had a great time watching him strum on the guitar. There were also quiet moments where she just sat quietly in her own seat and looked out of the window at the vehicles zooming by. It has been a long long time ago since I last brought her for a bus ride. The last time I brought her on a bus ride was on the shuttle bus to Plaza Singapura and she fussed quite a bit on the bus - and that was the first and last time I took a bus with her, until that day. As you can imagine, I was quite apprehensive about the bus ride to the Bird Park but things turned out fine. Phew.

Then the next hurdle came. I tried to put her into the baby carrier before we alighted from the bus but I had a difficult time trying to buckle her in as it was too tight. Finally I managed to squeeze her into it but I think it was too tight so she made noise after awhile - we were still waiting to enter the Bird Park. And so it was. I had to carry her for almost the whole time in my arms as I was not confident of her ability to walk properly with shoes yet. But as it turned out, a couple of days later I tried letting her walk on her own with shoes and she did very well. Darn. Should have just let her walk more that day. Hahaha.

Anyway, first stop was to take the panorail to see the Lories. Taking the panorail's not just a new experience for her, but for me as well. However, the panorail wasn't that fascinating after all and it was quite difficult to get her to see the birds from inside the panorail. Here's a photo of us in the panorail - the only one we took together for the whole of the JG holiday class - taken by a nice grandpa.

She looks so serious here...

The Lories happened to be the first stop on the panorail line so we alighted quickly. I didn't manage to capture any photos of the Lories as I was busy with Alicia but here's a pic of a lory I downloaded from the web:

Lories are quite small actually! And they make really loud squawking sounds.

We were allowed to purchase food to feed the lories at $3. As I had my hands full already, I decided not to feed the birds so we just took a walk around the treetop walk and admired the lories which were flying around and some were eating the food which others had purchased. I allowed her to walk on the safe areas (safe areas = floor that would not cause cuts if she fell) and she was happy to roam about and watch the birds.

After that, we went back on the panorail and headed back to where we had come from and we were given some time to take a look at the flamingoes before joining the group for snack time at an open area near the flamingo park. Alicia didn't eat the teddy puffs provided that day but she did eat the muffin which I had packed along for her. After snacks, we gathered round to sing the usual songs. I tried to take videos of Alicia during that time as she was following what the instructors were doing. However, every time by the time I took out my phone, she would have drifted off and was off to do her own thing. Rather disappointing actually.

Anyway, here are a couple of really short videos of her wandering about that day:

After the songs, we went to see the penguins and Alicia had a great time looking at the big Emperor Penguins which swam by as she stood watching by the glass panel. We happened to choose a great spot to view the penguins so Alicia had a really good view. She waved and said "hi" to the penguins when they swam by. Too bad I didn't have any free hands to take a video of her coz i had to hold on to her.

The bus trip back to JG was a bit more challenging as most of the kids were tired out and napping on the bus so there was no singing. That meant that I had to keep her entertained somehow. Fortunately, the instructors played with her and so time passed quickly and we were back at JG in no time. While waiting for hubby to come pick us up, I brought her to the outdoor play area where she thoroughly enjoyed herself. Somehow, after that day, she totally warmed up to the place and she was very much her usual self thereafter for the rest of the lessons at JG. :)

What a tiring day it was for ME!

The JG Lessons - Tue (24/11)

On the 2nd day of JG class, Alicia was still behaved and slightly less wary of the surroundings. She sat still during story time and was friendly with the puppet of the day - three little blue birds in their nest.

Art for the day was painting with a feather. This was messier than Day 1 as I was splattered with paint by both Alicia's feather as well as other kids' feathers. Nevertheless, I let Alicia fiddle with both colours and do some painting before bringing her to clean up in the toilet next door. She splashed some paint on her face and lips even but becoz the paint's non-toxic, I wasn't worried at all. I just had to clean her up a little more than the day before. :)

Outdoor play was sandplay and this was a new experience for Alicia as we have never let her touch sand before. The instructors had prepared 3 sand pits (of varying textures of sand) for the children to play in. Since Alicia was new to sand, we went to the sand pit for beginners. Even then, Alicia didn't like the sand and after sitting in the sand for awhile, she climbed out of the pit and clung on to me. I put her back in several times but each time she climbed out and clung on to my neck. Finally she cried so I decided to let her just watch the others play with sand. We have decided to bring her to the beach some time this December to let her experience sand again...

Overall, the second day at JG was less stressful for me than the first day as I knew exactly what to expect. I really like the lessons at JG!

The JG lessons - Monday (23/11)

Alicia had a great time at JG for the week and I think she probably misses going to JG. If she could speak, I bet she would ask me why she isn't going to 'school' anymore...

On the first day at JG, as expected, Alicia was a little wary of the surroundings and people so she wasn't her usual self. She did play and move around during Free Play time but I'd say it's nothing compared to the way she plays at home. And she kept her eye on me and occasionally came to give me a hug - or maybe she wanted a reassuring one.

When class started and it was time to greet the puppet of the day, almost every kid shied away from the puppet coz i think it looked a little fierce as it was a hawk. But coz she has a soft spot for soft toys, she wasn't as afraid as the rest of the children and she went on to pat the hawk and touch its beak.

She kept really still during storytelling time - nothing like how she behaved at Bukit Merah Library's storytelling session. I think she was intrigued by the way the instructor told the story - lots of animation and even occasionally bursting into song. That should be the way that stories are told! I definitely learnt a thing or two about storytelling techniques from the experience at JG!

Art on the first day was to use a stencil and a sponge to dab paint to make a picture of a bird. I allowed her to play with the sponge first then i held her hand and dabbed it into the bowl of paint then allowed her to dab the paint all over the place while i kept the stencil in place. I would say that this is the day with the least amount of mess made! Most children didn't get to participate very much in the art session as I think the parents/ helpers were afraid of the mess. But I think it's quite an experience for her and I didn't want to rob her of the chance to explore new things: isn't that what JG is all about anyway? :D

Out of the 5 days she attended class, I think she was the most keen to eat the snacks on the first day. They served Teddy Puffs on Monday - a snack that she hasn't eaten in ages since she last refused it. I was about to re-introduce it to her as I still have an unopened pack at home, waiting for her to like it again. When I saw it was Teddy Puffs being served, I was rather apprehensive as the last I remember of her reaction to the puffs was her spitting them out and giving a disgusted expression. Fortunately, she was happy to see the puffs and stuffed 6 of them into her mouth consecutively. I was afraid she couldn't handle them and would spit them all out as they are rather hard but she managed to chew and swallow all of them and she continued to eat some more and even had a second helping.

She was a little apprehensive when we went to the playground for outdoor play but well, that lasted only for the first day. :) Actually it's her first time at the playground proper coz I haven't really brought her to the playground downstairs before. She also had fun playing at the play area where there were little toy cars that she could sit in and she had fun "cooking" at the "stove" too.

She enjoyed the song and movement segment of the lesson though I think she was the most reserved on the first day. I guess she wasn't used to the music and movement segment at first coz it's rather loud I think if one's not used to loud noises.

After the lesson was over, she was rather quiet and I guess she was still thinking about her lesson at JG. But when she reached home she was really ravenous and wolved down her lunch. I'd have thought that the snack time might have affected her appetite for lunch but it seems that going to JG somehow worked up a bit of an appetite too as she continued to eat her lunch most happily for the rest of the days that she went to JG for lessons!

Julia Gabriel Holiday Class Overview (23/11-28/11)

It's been a really long time since I've blogged coz I've been busy with stuff, and among them it's bringing Alicia to Julia Gabriel Holiday Class (PlayNest) in the last week of November 09.

It was an eye-opener and I must say that Alicia and I enjoyed the lessons there. The theme of the week was "Birds", so stories, puppets, art and craft and even the excursion revolved around Birds.

The only thing regrettable is that I hardly took any photos or videos at all throughout the week as I had no hands to do so as only one accompanying parent is allowed and my hands were tied just looking after her!

Here's a summary of how the lessons are like:

For her agegroup, the lesson usually starts with Free Play (20min) to let them warm up to the place and the instructors. I think this is actually quite good as young children need time to get used to a place first before they can settle down to learn effectively. Also, I see it as buffer time in case we are late that day, though parents/helpers are encouraged to attend class on time - and for the record, I was always early for class! :) During this time, they are allowed to play with the toys the instructors have taken out and scattered all over the play area in the room. Storybooks are also within reach so the children can flip through them if they are not interested in the toys. After that, the kids would be encouraged to help the instructors keep the toys and prepare for class.

After the toys are kept, the instructors would start by singing some songs and after that introduce the puppet of the day to the children. The songs sung at this point are the same everyday so that the children can recognise the routine. Of coz the puppets were also birds since the theme of the week was Birds. After they take turns to greet the puppet, the puppet will be kept and it would be getting ready for storytime (there's also a routine before we get down to storytime).

After the story, it would be time for the Magic Box where children get to take turns to tap on the box (which is actually filled with the art materials for the day). The instructor would then demonstrate what to do then the kids will go to the little tables and chairs in the room to start on their art. This was actually very challenging i think, becoz the instructors required the children to do painting (with hands and other materials) so a big mess is only to be expected. :) It was fun nevertheless. After that, we'd bring the children to wash hands and get ready for snack time. This is where the children would sit on the little chairs at the tables again and await their organic snack provided by the instructors. Each of them would have a tupperware (with a lid which they are supposed to remove on their own as part of training of psychomotor skills and it comes with a suction bottom so they can't fling it about) in front of them and after they remove the lid, the instructors will come round to fill it up with organic snacks/ cookies. For this agegroup, no spoons are provided as I think they want them to have practice eating finger food using the pincer grasp.

After snack time, the children would prepare to go out to have outdoor play (this is supposed to train the gross motor skills). After outdoor play time, it would be washing up and going back to class for song and movement. There would be someone playing the keyboard or the guitar while songs were sung and there's also some movement involved so the kids really like this part of the lesson. Finally, it would be time to say goodbye and JG does this by singing the song "Goodbye Bubbles" and an instructor would be blowing bubbles while the kids go wild chasing them. :) Then it's really time to say goodbye at the door where the kids will take turns to say goodbye to the instructors and the puppet of the day. Alicia never fails to want to give an extra hug to the puppet! :)

And that's how a normal lesson goes for PlayNest. :) It may seem like a lot of play but I do see Alicia pick up things that are taught in class even though the enrichment class was only for 5 days. Alicia will be joining PlayClub next year as she will be turning 18mths in Jan 2010 so lessons will be a little different. Plus next year she'd be attending the Bilingual PlayClub so I guess that would be another adventure for both Alicia and I!