Chinese New Year!

Once upon a time in China, there was a monster called "Nian".

Every year before the Chinese New Year, he will come into the village and destroyed the village, sometimes even taking the little children away with him. All the villagers were scared. Every year before the Chinese New Year, they would go into the caves to hide from the monster.

One day, an old man visited the village. He told the villagers that they should not be scared. "You are many and he is but one. Surely he could not swallow all of you." he said. He told the villagers that the monster was afraid of red colour and loud noises.

So that year, all the villagers worked together. They hung red decorations on the walls of every house. They bought new red clothes to wear. They played loud music on the streets. They played the drums. And when "Nian" appeared, they lit the fire crackers. "Bam! Bam! Bam!"

"Nian" was afraid of the loud sounds and red colour seen all over the village. He turned and ran away. Every year, the villagers wore red clothes and hung red decorations and played loud music and played fire crackers during Chinese New Year.

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This is just a simple story I told my two-year-olds. It was a multicultural lesson. They made ang pows (red packets), even putting coins inside, made Chinese New Year cards, made red lanterns, learnt Chinese New Year songs, played the drums as they sang, watched Lion Dance performances, made lion dance masks, made dragon puppets...And had lots of fun in the midst of learning!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Gong Xi Fa Chai!

Hurdles are obstacles; but you jump over them

I am a relatively new teacher. I entered the field of ECE in 2007 when I started teaching the 6-year-olds in the Sunday School Programme in my congregation. I was the assistant teacher then. In 2008, I was the assistant teacher in the 2-3 class. In 2009, I became the main teacher of the same class. (Of course, now they are 3-4 years old.)

I was awfully comfortable teaching these children as I've been with them for two years and I had lots of fun with them. I thought I have already moved past the Survival Stage and entered into the Consolidation Stage (Lilian Katz's developmental stages of Preschool Teachers)

But I suppose it's just not that easy! This year, I have a new batch of students to teach. They are two to two and a half years old. I was looking forward to teaching them but admit I did not foresee the challenges ahead.

Last year, I usually told the children a Bible story and gave them some crafts or activities to do which is related to the story (Sunday School is only about 1 hour). So, during the first class, I went to class armed with a story book, but as I started telling the story, the children's eyes wandered off to other areas of the classroom and they told me they want to play toys and they went around the classroom taking everything from toys to colour pencils to sharpeners... Knowing that children this age are curious about the environment and I shouldn't have expected them to sit still in the first place, I relented and let them play the toys, putting the storybook aside. It was back to the Survival Stage all over again.

So, for the next few weeks, I put in extra effort in preparing more hands-on activities for them.

My theme is: God Gave Me My Senses

A simple puzzle to match the senses to the correct places.

A texture book for them to touch

They enjoy touching the sand

Making the shakers to hear the sound

Playing play doh

Playing with the animals

It is certainly rewarding as I watch them learn in a way that is meaningful to them. I admit I am not the best teacher yet, but I am learning =)

*Permission obtained from the parents of children in the pictures published.