Updates on ballet & rhythmic gymnastics

My 2 little munchkins completed their ballet exams last month. Evan took his 3rd exam: RAD Ballet Grade 1 and Marissa took her very first exam: RAD Ballet Pre-primary in Dance (PPID).

Sole to Soul Dance Studio organised a trial exam and parent's day for students taking the ballet exams. Both Evan and Marissa did well in their trials! In fact all the kids in Marissa's class were so cute!

Evan photographed above with his 2 classmates and their ballet teacher: Ms Alice. The girls were wearing their character dance skirts. And all 3 of them were wearing character shoes.

Marissa in her ballet attire

Easter at The School: International Rabbit Show and rabbit petting zoo. The kids were elated to be able to play with the rabbits. There was also free popcorn, balloons and cotton candy.

For the International Rabbit Show: lots of rabbits of different breeds were on display for the judging.  At the petting zoo, the kids get to go into a barn and pet the rabbits. Limited number of kids are allowed per session. Rabbits were also available for sale at a mini booth outside the barn.

Marissa joined the identification programme by the Malaysian Gymnastics Federation (Rhythmic Gymnastics) at the National Sports Council, National Sports Complex, Bukit Jalil. The objective of the programme is to identify new talents for the development of the sport. She is currently under probation for 3 months together with a small group of 6 year olds. Her coach is Ms. Alisa from Uzbekistan. Training is for 1.5 hours per session every Saturday and Sunday…… adding on to my never-ending chauffeuring duties. She stills continues her rhythmic gymnastics classes with Ms Carolyn every Friday. 

As for me…. I have cut down on my cake orders this month of May. I hope to teach a few classes at Cake Connection SS2. Biz at The Red Cherry at Pop is improving and has expanded to include a wide range of homemade artisanal gourmet food and drinks. Do check it out if you are around PJ's Jaya One.

2nd Homeschooler's Sports Day & Fair

After the success of last year's event, the homeschooling community decided to go ahead with the Sports Day & Fair at the same venue - the field at Section 5, PJ. The weather was lovely throughout - no rain and minimal sun. All participants pay RM10 for registration. The funds collected were used to pay for the rental of the field and to purchase medals. Volunteers from homeschooling families helped in the organization of the entire event. 

This year we decided to take up a booth - only RM10 but no tables/chairs provided. We brought everything ourselves! Evan wanted to sell donuts and Marissa wanted to sell Hello Kitty. So we ended up with a confectionary stall called Sugar Rush selling jellybeans, candy, chocolates, marshmallows and Hello Kitty butter cookies which I baked & decorated.

There were lots of other booths as well selling crafts, cold drinks, home-cooked food and even games stalls a la fun fair style. Evan playing a target game at one of the stalls there.

The kids competed in various telematches in groups according to their age groups. After that they had individual sprint events. Compared to last year, the number of participants tripled! Lastly the medals were presented to all winners. Actually everyone had a medal to take home! 

Telematch

Homeschoolers' Art & Craft Day

We attended the 2nd Homeschoolers' Art & Craft Show & Tell Day earlier this month. Missed the first event last year so this time we were determined to make it. It was held in a small function hall in one of the apartments. Homeschooling family: Julia made all the necessary arrangements for the event.

At this event, the kids get to showcase their art masterpieces. Evan decided on drawing Lego superheroes for display. He even built Lego art pieces! 

Evan and his work

 Marissa's artwork

The children also get to try out various art & craft 'workshops' conducted by older kids. They can also visit the various 'booths' selling handmade items - all set up by homeschoolers. We didn't have time to prepare a booth so we just browsed around and spent $$$. Evan & Marissa tried a bead workshop.

Here, Evan tried his hand at stone painting.

Other stalls/booths include cookie decorating, finger crochet, DIY photo frame kits, design your own fabric bag, sale of homemade cookies, bookmarks, face-painting and more! It was like a carnival!

There was also an art competition based on the theme of : Biodiversity and trophies were given out to winners. Again, we didn't take part in the competition due to lack to time ;P but there were lots of entries submitted for the judging on the day of the event. 

Overall, it was a good learning experience and fun too to catch up with homeschool families. Next big event will be Sports Day and we will set up a booth!

Carolyn's School of Rhythmic Gymnastics

Marissa started rhythmic gymnastic lessons at Carolyn's School of Rhythmic Gymnastics (CSRG) this year. So far, she's been enjoying the classes! 

Ms. Carolyn Au Yong (former national gymnast) is her coach. There are about 12 kids in the class, age between 3-5. Class is for one hour. Fees are collected every 2 months. First time registration fee applies - which includes training leotard, shorts, ball, rope, bag and half shoes. 

The kids start off with warm up and stretching. After that, they do ball and rope techniques e.g. bouncing and catching the ball, rolling the ball, skipping with the rope etc. Ms. Carolyn will demonstrate the techniques and then will check and coach each gymnast individually to make sure they get the techniques correct.

Grading examinations are conducted twice a year. Depending on your child's progress, the coach will inform if she will be able to take the exam. The basic level is Baby Gymnast. The girls will perform a freehand routine (1.5 minutes) on the carpet together with a partner.  The next level up is Little Gymnast. Examination will include 3 routines: freehand, rope and ball. After that, gymnasts will go through Grades 1-5 (each grade has 6 routines i.e. Freehand, rope, ball, hoop, clubs, ribbon). Gymnasts will have the opportunity to participate in MSSD level competitions, inter-club competitions, state level selection competitions, national level competitions and also international invitational competitions.

Merry Gym Total Gymnastique

Marissa has been attending Merry Gym for the past month. So far, she's been enjoying the classes. It's a big group of over a dozen kids mainly boys, aged between 3 to 6 years. Merry Gym starts with a warm up session usually done with an obstacle course. Then the kids split up into smaller groups. Class duration is one hour held weekly every Sunday afternoon from 2-3pm at Sri KL, Subang. From next year onwards, there will be a new class on Wednesday night 7-8pm for those are interested in classes twice a week. Fees are RM100 per month, collected once every quarter. For the double classes, fees are RM180. Upon registration (RM60) kids will receive a sticker book, tee and shorts. Trial classes are available for free.

The coaches are all male but there are assistant female coaches as well. Coach Mike Ng is photographed above. There's also Coach Sam Thong, Coach Jhony and Coach Jozef Safko. Coach Jozef is in charge of the girls group. The girls do artistic gymnastics e.g balance beam, trampoline, uneven bars etc. I find that the coaches are all very professional. The children are also all very eager to learn and most importantly have fun while doing it!

Updates

The Christmas season is upon us! Brought the kids to Bangsar Village for dinner at Three Little Pigs & The Big Bad Wolf. Then went window shopping around the mall. Took the opportunity to snap some pics. 

Marissa has just joined a gymnastics club - Total Gymnastique at Sri KL Subang. Evan has yet to join the club because the timing is not suitable. So we are waiting for the new branch to be opened before enrolling him.  Total Gymnastique offers both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics. For boys, only artistic gymnastics is available. I've compiled some information here for those who are interested in gymnastics:

Carolyn's School of Gymnastics specialises in Rhythmic Gymnastics hence they only accept girls, and is helmed by former national gymnast : Carolyn Au Yong. Other coaches include El-Regina Tajuddin & Lily Lai. Another former national gymnast, Thye Chee Kiat has her own club called Pink Clubs Rhythmic Gymnastics. Sarina's Rhythmic Gymnastics Club is currently recruiting for next year. Serdang Rhythmic Angels Club is another club offering rhythmic gymnastics.

Evan attended a few fencing lessons in September but did not enrol him as the fees are very expensive. Anyway, hubby says better go learn martial arts. *slaps forehead*

For those are interested in fencing, best age to start is 7.

1) Swashbucklers Fencing Club (PJ)

2) Z-fencing (Bangsar Shopping Center)

3) International Fencing Club Malaysia (Solaris Mont Kiara)

As speech & drama classes have come to an end, both Evan & Marissa will be taking English lessons at Lorna Whiston TTDI cos I'm kinda at a loss on how to teach them English except completing some workbooks and I find that sorta boring. Well, will see how it goes......

As for myself, my last day of work is looming nearer and nearer.... now in the midst of planning and setting up my own biz cos I am now no longer designing cakes for Crumbs. Will announce here once it's up and running. 

Trip to the National Blood Bank

We visited the National Blood Bank together with kids from the homeschooling network. One of the mummies did the paperwork and organizing. There are special parking bays within the building compound for blood donors.

All of us attended a mini lecture on blood donation and then we were brought on a tour of the facilities. We saw the equipments and machinery used to process the blood.

If you are between 18-60yrs old, in good health and weigh at least 45kg, then you are eligible to donate blood. Younger children can also donate blood but parental consent is necessary.

The National Blood Bank is opened everyday except on Sundays.

Mon-Wed: 7:30am-5:30pm

Thurs-Fri: 7:30am- 8pm

Sat: 7:30am-4pm

BASF Kids Lab 2012

Evan attended the BASF Kids Lab 2012 at Citta Mall. This time, only 2 experiments were conducted i.e. Vitamin C and Sunblock lotion. 

Many homeschoolers attended the lab sessions held for 3 days at different time slots. The sessions are 1.5hrs long and opened for kids age 6 and above, totally free of charge and all participants received a door gift and certificate. Evan met a new friend, Wesley, and they were in the same group. Obviously he enjoyed himself! 

Click here to read about last year's event.

Our Homeschool Curriculum

We use a variety of resources/curriculum in our homeschool program.

History/Geography/Language Arts(English):
Hubby and I chose Sonlight's curriculum for Evan as it's essentially, a literature-based curriculum whereby there's a lot of reading done from books both fiction & non-fiction.

I purchased Sonlight's Core B program with Grade 2 readers and also their Language Arts for Grade 2 Instructor Guide. Basically the core program is 'Intro to World History'. It includes an Instructor Guide, books and CD. The core program covers History, Bible study, Geography and Reading. The Language Arts Instructor Guide is basically English Language based on the books in the core program. 

Bible Study/Devotion: We've been using various books and children's bible for devotion with the kids.

Science: We purchased Biology I from Noeo Science. The program includes an Instructor Guide, books and experiment kits. It covers topics like weather, animals and the human body. Chemistry I and Physics I will follow. However, Evan learns a lot of Science just by watching and reading The Magic Schoolbus series. We also just started using Apologia's Junior Notebooking Journal on the human body and Ein-O's Science kits.

Math: I purchased Singapore syllabus Math textbooks & workbooks (1B & 2A) from the Discover Math series at University Bookstore (S.14 PJ). Popular @ IPC also carries the same books but with 10% off for members. We also use AOP's Horizon Math which I find very systematic and easy to understand. So far, Evan has completed Maths Grade 1 and is now in Grade 2. Marissa is also doing Horizon Math at K level.

Bahasa Malaysia: This is one tough nut to crack. Not much good literature around.... only workbooks which are so boring. So, for the moment, BM takes a back seat. 

Mandarin: I managed to get some nice picture books with large Chinese characters from MPH and Popular. I purchased Rosetta Stone's Chinese Language program for homeschool, Levels 1-3. So far, Evan has shown interest in learning Chinese. For me, the goal is to be able to appreciate Chinese culture and also learn basic conversational Mandarin. Reading - at least basic characters will be good enough. Probably may consider sending Evan & Marissa for some Chinese language edudrama program next year.

Art & Crafts: Evan's favourite subject. We do some art projects on and off. Evan and Marissa also enrolled in Joy Arts Center for arts & crafts (10 lessons) under a Groupon promotion. They will be going for a workshop on abstract art painting during the Raya break.

Sports: Evan has swimming lessons every week. The kids also love going to the play gyms. Other sports which we intend to do is cycling - after they graduate from scootering. Evan will also be going for trial classes in fencing. I also intend to enrol him for gymnastics & football next year if time/budget permits.

Music: Evan started his music appreciation classes at Ann Perreau's in February. He also started his piano lessons in May at Ann Perreau's as well. We also attended a series of concerts at the MPO and will continue to do so. I intend to start Marissa on music classes next year.

Dance: Marissa is joining baby ballet at STSDS while Evan continues with his Primary ballet syllabus. This year, we managed to attend 2 ballet concerts at Istana Budaya and a ballet appreciation session at the Esplanade Singapore.

Speech/Drama/Theatre: We joined Gardner & Wife (see previous post) as members. So far, we've enjoyed 2 theatre shows at PJ Live Arts. Evan & Marissa were both attending Blubrick's Speech & Drama classes at Hobby Hop In for a term (10 weeks). After that, they continued at KLPAC for a term of 10 weeks. 2nd term is scheduled to resume in September.

Homeschooling FAQs

A lot of friends and family have enquired about which school that Evan is attending.

When the question is directed to Evan, he will reply "homeschool." (HS)

We decided on HS because we feel that it's the best way for Evan.

This is an FAQ of some of the questions we've encountered.

Q: Are you sending Evan to a homeschool centre? or are you guys teaching him, yourselves?

A: 'Homeschooling' in a centre is akin to private schooling. In the truest sense, HS means parents educate their child(ren) at home (as well as outside our homes), rather than at a public or private learning institution. So, we are the main educators for our children. Thus, Evan stays at home instead of heading to a centre.

Q: By homeschooling, can Evan take public exams and enter university later?

A: This will depend on what he is interested to do in future. Of course, if he is interested to take up a course at a local university, he can sit for the SPM or STPM as a private candidate. Anyway, you don't need a university degree to be successful in life or to earn megabucks. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg is an example! Evan can choose to go to seminary or university - either way his choice will be dependant on his passion. By homeschooling, we hope to help him discover his passion. 

Q: Isn't HS boring for Evan? He won't have many friends at all.

A: Evan gets to socialize with people of all ages wherever he goes. There's church, cell group, ballet class, music school, field trips with homeschoolers etc. So, I am not too worried. Plus, HS will not be boring cos I've got lots of activities planned and lots of field trips in store too!

Q: Is HS legal?

A: Yes HS is legal in Malaysia. The Education Act 1996 states that primary education is compulsory and parents or guardians who do not send their children to school nor educate them in any way will be fined. Homeschoolers need to apply for school exemption from the Ministry of Education. However, more often than not, their applications are not successful. The authorities will allow HS for children who travel a lot with their parents due to the nature of their work and also if the child is gifted or has a learning disorder. Even with permission to HS, parents and guardians must ensure that the child is taught the KBSM syllabus and a progress report must be submitted.

Q: What's wrong with our schools now? We all went through the system and turned out OK.

A: Instead of elaborating on this, perhaps it's better if I just include the links to 2 talks by Sir Ken Robinson. The main points in the talks are:

- education in schools as we know it are outdated & outmoded. 

- traditional schooling do not cater for individual learning styles or take into account their talents, giftings and inclinations.

- schools and universities do not prepare our kids for the unpredictable future (the new world and new economy). 

Sir Ken Robinson 1

Sir Ken Robinson 2

Sports Day 2012

The Malaysian Homeschooling Network group organized a Sports Day on 28th May 2012. Lots of hard work and effort went into organizing this event - kudos to the organizing committee! My two kids and I had a great time.

About a dozen stalls were set up by various families selling food, drinks, snacks and handicraft.

 The event kicked off with a pom-pom dance for the kids to warm up.

After that, the kids competed in various events and races. Marissa had to roll a huge ball and Evan had to use chopsticks to pick up sweets!

They both won silver medals for their team effort!

The kids had a tug-of-war towards the end of the program. 

IBU Family Bazaar : Young Chefs Academy

IBU's 10th Family Bazaar was held at 1Mont Kiara mall from 14-19 May 2012. 

Many activities were lined up throughout the entire week. We attended the Young Chefs Academy cooking class where the kids learned how to prepare a frittata.

I also set up my stall on the last day of the bazaar - and met with lots of mummies and daddies who bought lots of books! Sorry no pic cos was busy!

A short skit

To mark the end of the term for their Blubricks Speech & Drama class at Hobby Hop in, the kids presented a short skit. It was also Evan and Marissa's last class there. 

They wrote the script themselves! It was really short like 5 minutes?  Anyway, Evan was a prince and Marissa was a queen (although she insisted that she was a princess).

Good turn out by the parents to witness their kids' performance. Photo credits goes to the parents of the little wizard in pic above! 

MPO Family Fun Day Peter and the Wolf & Babar the Elephant

We attended MPO's Family Fun Day concert on 15th April - the day hubby turned 37. After the concert, we went to Madam Kwan's for a scrumptious meal - too bad the chicken satay was sold out..... anyway, back to the subject at hand, the B reserve tickets were booked online. If buying at the box office, the RM2 surcharge per ticket is not applicable.

Took some pics at the Dewan Philharmonic Petronas, KLCC. Afternoon tea available at RM7nett per person. Program book on sale for RM3 per copy.

Program :

1) Peter and the Wolf (opus 67) by Sergei Prokofiev

2) The Story of Babar, The Little Elephant by Francis Poulenc

Harith Iskandar was the narrator as the MPO performed the delightful pieces under the baton of Alessandro Crudele.

After the show, Harith Iskandar very kindly autographed Evan's program book! 

Buying a used Upright Piano

Evan will be starting on piano lessons next month so we went around searching for an upright acoustic piano for him.

First stop was Yamaha HQ. The entry level piano model JU109PE costs RM7990. very compact continental style at 109cm in height....the touch is very light. Made in Indonesia. Made in Japan models are very expensive and command a 5-figure price tag! These models are the U1, U3 and the YUS series. 

Anyway, for purchase of new pianos, Yamaha gives a 6-year warranty, delivery, 2 piano tunings (the first one will be upon delivery) and a heater. If paying by Maybank Credit Card, there's a 0% installment plan which can stretch to 3 years. Yamaha does not recommend buying used pianos. They claim that many problems can occur with the piano e.g. cracked soundboard, defective parts etc. 

 Yamaha JU109PE

We dropped by Euphony Music in IPC Mall and saw a number of recond pianos by Kawai and Yamaha. They also sell new Helicon pianos - made in China. We also went to Bently Music just beside Ikea. They sell new Steinway pianos - super expensive!

We also visited Vienna Music at Subang Jaya owned by the Hoe family. They mainly sell new Challen, Hobart and Falcone Pianos.  All 3 brands are American but pianos are made in China under the Sejung group. They also have C.Steinbert pianos (German) but again, made in China now. At the time we visited, they were having 50% off promo on selected pianos. So, a brand new piano starts RM5000 onwards inclusive of 6 yrs warranty. The usual standard package include delivery, tuning and heater. They can reduce their pricing if paying by cash. Credit card purchases by installment are also available. Vienna Music opens Mon-Sat 10am-6pm.

Grace Sound Sdn Bhd deals mainly with Kawai pianos. They have the whole range of Kawai pianos at their showroom at Tmn Mayang. Person-in-charge there is Mr. David - a Chinese man who's quite helpfull. He also sells used Kawai and Yamaha pianos. They offer a buy back guarantee of 50% within 5 years for their new pianos. For trade-ins, they will offer to buy back the piano at 55% of the original purchase price. Their standard package does not include heater because they claim that silica gel packs are sufficient to control humidity levels within the piano. If customers insist, they can still provide the heater (which is worth about RM20) instead of 6 packs of silica gel. When we were there, Mr. David offered me a good price for their Kawai KX-21 showroom model but I had to decline because it was over my budget! Credit card installments accepted here. Again, prices are negotiable. Kawai pianos come with a 10-year warranty! For used pianos, it's only 5-years.

Next, we went to Piano Station at The Summit USJ. Nothing impressive there. The lady who attended to me was not helpful. No price tags on their pianos either - possibly for bargaining purposes? Anyway, I was not impressed with the service. Piano Station sells used Kawai and Yamaha pianos.

Another place we went to was Morais & Hew owned by Dato Richard Morais - a concert pianist. The showroom at Plaza Ampang City was very rundown and shabby with a handful of pianos on display. Dato Morais only imports selected popular models by Kawai and Yamaha. He personally prefers Yamaha pianos over Kawai. He brings in containers of used pianos from Japan - mainly those with Grade A interiors but Grade B exteriors. He pays less for these pianos compared to the ones which are Grade A inside out. He has his own piano factory where they adjust the center pin (compulsory for all used pianos), re-spray and polish  the piano.  So, no problem if the piano looks old on the outside, it will be reconditioned as new! For Morais & Hew, they do volume business so they have a high turnover, hence they can offer very low prices. Just give them your budget and they will recommend you a suitable piano. What I like about them is that they offer a buy back guarantee of 100% of the purchase price of the piano when trading-in for an upgrade, within 5 years. If selling back to them within 5 years but without purchasing any other piano, you will get back 70% of the purchase price. Again, all used pianos have a 5-year warranty. Dato Morais doesn't recommends switching on the heater 24/7 but just intermittent usage will do.

Some other piano showrooms which I didn't visit:

Wagner Piano SS2, PJ - selling new & used Petrof pianos. Petrofs are made in Europe (Czech Republic)

Cristofori Subang Jaya - selling used Kawai and Yamaha pianos

YC Music Kepong - selling Young Chang pianos made in Korea

LKS Music Setapak - selling used Kawai and Yamaha pianos

Since used or recond pianos are much cheaper than brand new ones, it's becoming a popular choice for consumers.  When buying a used piano, get someone who is knowledgeable to go along with you e.g. piano teacher or piano tuner. Pay them if necessary! Check the piano condition instead of just the age as some old pianos can be in very good condition! Don't forget to set a budget and try to negotiate prices with the dealer. Exam models i.e. 121cm in height are in greater demand for beginners and sell fast. Even brand new ones - have to pre-order in advance.

In Malaysia, Kawai and Yamaha pianos are in high demand. Malaysia imports used pianos from Japan and reconditions them locally. The Japanese usually like to buy brand new pianos as it's very affordable over there. Almost every household will have a piano and the Japanese are meticulous with piano maintainance hence the reason why there are some old pianos which are in such immaculate condition!

Used pianos usually have superior tone as the hammer felts are seasoned through usage compared to a brand new one. 

My SIL saw some piano brochures in our house and she commented that her uncle (also my dear hubby's uncle) is a piano tuner! He also sells used pianos! So, hubby called him up and we arranged an appointment with him at his showroom in Kajang. He recommended us a Petrof but I wasn't very keen cos the piano looks dusty and dirty. Then he brought us to a huge piano warehouse in Balakong. There we found a Kawai upright grand (52") in polished ebony, model US-50 made in Japan.  The 52" is the highest upright piano, top of the range quality. Upright pianos which are higher produce better sound compared to the smaller ones and sometimes their tone can be better than a baby grand piano. Upon checking the serial number - it's manufactured circa 1983. Grade A inside out. Nice tone but it will slowly improve as the years go by. Package price comes with 5 years warranty but no buy back guarantee available but it's ok cos I am sure if I need to sell the piano in the future, I will have no problems fetching a good price for it. Package price of RM7500 also includes the following: delivery by lorry, low wattage heater adjustable piano bench, white piano cover and first tuning (done on the day of delivery). I called up other places and double checked the prices : Morais & Hew quoted me RM8500, Cristofori RM8800, LKS Music RM9900 and Piano Station RM11000. We have reserved the piano and it will be delivered in 2 weeks just in time for Evan's lessons.

We initially wanted a white piano but there are none unless new. If there are any white ones, it's usually because it's re-sprayed and not the original color. Well, at least we have the white piano cover! I hope Evan will enjoy playing the piano - can't wait to see him perform at his music school's inhouse concerts held from time to time.

Kawai US-50

Speech & Drama Class at KLPAC

Both the kids started on their first term of Pre-school Speech & Drama at The Actors Studio KLPAC. Decided to switch them from Blubricks Speech & Drama because.... the fees at KLPAC is much cheaper at RM250 per term compared to RM380. I didn't sign them up for KLPAC's classes earlier as they were only during the weekends i.e. Sat/Sun mornings and we can't make it at that time. Moreover, the weekend classes are now full (max 15 kids).

When one of the homeschooling mommies decided to approach KLPAC to start a new class on weekdays specially for homeschoolers, I was thrilled! The kids were also looking forward to their new class at KLPAC Sentul Park cos they get to feed the fish at the pond! See pics below:

Here's a pic of the class - 8 kids (the minimum requirement). Teacher : Ms. Kimmy Kiew. Evan was the oldest kids there. Actually he should be in the Beginners class instead of Pre-school but not enough quota so he joins the younger ones. Next year I will have to enrol him for the Beginners class - hopefully there will be more kids to form a class.