The Good, The Bad and the PSLE - Trails of an Almost Kiasu Mother ( Inspired by Real Events)

This is one book, The Good, The Bad and the PSLE - Trails of an Almost Kiasu Mother by Monica Lim, that I recommend for parents of Primary school going children. Even if your child /children is/are not in the primary school yet. This is a good read. It gives some insight of what to expect for Primary 1. Some of the stories are extractions from the author's blog. I find them rather amusing and funny.

If you find the name Monica Lim familiar, that's because she is the co-author of the Danger Dan series whom she wrote together with her daughter, Lesley-Anne Tan.

I could relate to Ling, the main character of the story, partly because she is a mother of a Primary One (P1) child, Noah. She is also the mother of  April who is in Primary 4 (P4). The story covers the course of 3 years, which meant that it covers the experience of a mother through somewhat 6 years of a Primary School life. I totally can relate the happenings in Year 1, Term 1. The first day of school. The inability to count money. The struggle with Chinese. The homework battle.

I could not stop laughing whenever I read the book though I tried to muffled my laughter when I am in the public places. I truly enjoy various chapters, just to mention some, they are "Irregular English", "A State of Disorder" and "Just the Way You Are". These issues mentioned in the book are day to day issues, problems we faced as a parent and yet the author finds ways to introduce humor into it. What I like is one of the advice given: When you don't take yourself too seriously, you're more likely to enjoy life to the fullest.

Hiccups in school, such as friendship woes (I can see it coming even though my girl is in P1 this year.) and issues such as whether there is a need for tuition? How about some moms with high expectation? Being a parent volunteer in school? All these sounds familiar, aren't they?

In some ways, my girl is akin to Noah. She is big hearted, blur at times, happy go lucky and she submits work that looked like kiam chye despite that she has a file and uses it. (unlike Noah). Hence, it was truly enjoyable reading material. It was somewhat like reading about my own child. Yes, the book makes me relook at my attitude towards disciplining and academic chase in this rat race.

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50 Below Zero

I am going to introduce another e-book. 50 below Zero by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Michael Martchenko. The one accessible in Overdrive is a Read Along book.


What is a Read Along Book?

A read-along book is a illustrated book for children with accompanying recordings of the books being read.

Personally, I like read-along books because children can learn how to pronounce words by listening to the recordings. When Little One was younger, I would usually sit beside Little One while playing the CDs, pointing out the words to her. After playing a few times, I could leave her alone with the book. She knew when to turn the pages and followed along the story.

Read along e-books are even better, I do not have to be present at all. The words will be highlighted automatically on the computer screen. (see below) All Little One has to do is to sit in front of the computer and let it read to her. She will pick up words along the way.

To use, just click on the "start narration" button, the audio will load, read and load the pages automatically. If you or your child need to take a break, just pause the narration. Should there be a need to stop reading and continue another day, it can be done too. The e-book will load the last page that you have browsed.

Synopsis

A little boy, Jason, has a father who sleepwalks and ends up in unlikely places. Find out how he keeps his father safe, especially when his father walked out their house when it was freezing cold outside.


Review

A very unlikely story because if the father were to be in the cold in just his pajamas, he would probably had frozen to death. Moreover, I doubt Jason had the strength to pull his dad up the stairs. However, in the eyes of children, especially those who has not experienced winter cold, this story is probably believable.

Initially, we borrowed the e-book. However, Little One enjoyed the book so much that we borrowed the hardcopy from the library. I am not sure whether there are 2 editions but apparently, the hard copy I borrowed was a shorter version. It is very simple and I believe is suitable for pre-schoolers.

The read along version is an Andrew Craig Production. It is longer and with repetitive sentences. Suitable for bigger children in the lower primary. Personally, both Little One and I love the voice narrating the story. It is emotional, energetic and engaging. While the background music and sounds are a nice touch to the story, sometimes, it is tad too loud at times that we could not hear what the narrator is saying. The other issue is sound words such as glug, bump and scritch are truly only sounds in the Read Along edition. I prefer that the words would be read though.

Tip for Read Along Books,

You can ask your child/children to read to you without starting the narration . Treat it like a normal e-book.

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QingMing in Bukit Brown (26 March 2016)

Last month I joined a tour conducted by the Brownies to Bukit Brown again. It had been quite some time I last visited Bukit Brown. This was the first time ever since the old cemetery access was not available. From the Bukit Brown website, I noted there were actually 2 entrances to the cemetery. That day the meeting point was at a platform after passing through Lorong Halwa.

(credit: Bukit Brown)

As Qingming (in fact, the actual day was yesterday according to Chinese calendar) was around the corner and the cemetery is bustling with activity again.  I joined the tour because I wanted to have a close-up look of families visiting the graves of their ancestors with offerings, and tombkeepers busy themselves with sprucing up graves ahead of the descendants' visits. I have never been to a cemetery during Qing Ming period.

Upon arrival from the bus, immediately I smelt smoke, which reminds me of the haze we had last year. This smell is pretty common especially when joss papers and offerings are burnt. Upon navigating around, I saw smoke spiraling from one spot near the bridge over Lornie Road. Someone had already paid a visit to their ancestor.
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Besides visiting a new grave cluster, the family of Lim Chong Pang, I learnt something new on this trip.

Cars and vehicles were slowly getting into the cemetery. This road is pretty narrow. There was a jam right ahead.

Quite a number of families were seen in the cemetery that day.

2 Earth Deities?

Offerings to the ancestors, includes food, joss sticks and candles. Before these were done, the descendants have to pray to the Earth deity. This is located on either side of the tomb. (see the pair of candles on the side) Joss papers are burnt last.

I learnt, there are male and female  Earth deities (indicated by the arrow). Almost every tomb has a Earth Deity. (either the male or the female)

The male Earth Deity

The female Earth Deity

Mass Grave?

During the Japanese Occupation, it was told that there was mass grave for civilian bodies near this stream.  I don't think these bodies could survived under such a condition, unlike the those on the hills.

Busy Tomb keepers 

This period of time is the busiest time for the tomb keepers. The services they offer are quite a handful. However, during this period, they would be offering cleaning or grass cutting services before the descendants come to pay their ancestors a visit. There are families who engage their services to maintain the tombs throughout the year for a fee.

Tomb keepers in action

One of the permanent makeshift tent for the tomb keepers.

Nature

This morning, it was the first time I spotted lots of living things besides the horses. Below are just some. One of the group member pointed out there are curry leaves too!

Red dragonfly

Black butterfly

The appearance of horses made some children squealed in delight

Other offerings

Flowers such as chrysanthemum is being offered

A more elaborated offering.

Orchid and drinks as offering. 5 colour paper on the graves are not meant to be burnt.
过 路钱,a small stack of beige rectangular shaped paper with three holes punched onto them.are being thrown around too. It is believed to be the ‘money’ used by the deceased when they travel from places to places in the underworld. Sometimes, these were scattered on the trees. These are meant for the wandering spirits. I forgot to ask why these aren't burnt.

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