Good News For Mommies in Malaysia

I just got an update from Pn Halimahton, the author of the ebook 'Genius in 28 Steps' (you can register for newsletters/updates at the website www.learnerade.com). I copied the email here, and it is really something that mommies out there should grab now.

I'm delighted to say that we have now returned to Malaysia. We've
spent the last month settling in, and it's been very interesting to see
how things in Malaysia have changed over the years and how it
differs from the UK.

Genius Preschool Programme

We've just launched the Genius Preschool Programme in KL/PJ,
which is a series of interactive workshops for parents with children
aged 0-5. These classes will be focused on teaching the basic skills
that will give your child a substantial head start in the crucial first
five years.

Among other things, I'll be showing you how to teach your baby or
toddler to become excellent at reading, writing, and basic maths.
For example, many people ask us how exactly they can get their
child to read and write before age 3 -- and we'll be demonstrating
how to do such things in the classes.

As in my book, we'll emphasise teaching in a way that is fun for the
child, with learning activities that are built upon your child's natural
curiosity. We'll also discuss practical issues such as what to do
when your child doesn't want to learn, how to teach a highly active
child, and so on.

If you'd like to know more about the Genius Preschool Programme,
check out the website. Or just call us on 012-355 8792 to book a
free appointment (we live near 1 Utama and the Curve in PJ), so we
can discuss what is possible with your child.

New payment methods for Genius in 28 Steps

Many people have asked us about other payment methods for my book,
Genius in 28 Steps. I'm happy to say that it's now possible to pay for
the book via Maybank or CIMB bank transfer; click here for more
details. If you want to pay any other way (e.g. by cash or cheque), just
contact us and we should be able to figure something out.

Free sample chapter

We've also uploaded another free sample chapter to the website on the
important topic of feedback. In this chapter, I talk about the importance
of listening to your child, whether you should praise or criticise your child,
how to respond to your child's questions, and so on.

Don't wait anymore! (Now I wish I'm in Malaysia...)

Genius in 28 Steps- Fundamental Skills (3)

I know it has been a long time since I last reviewed this book. I finished reading it before Abid's birth so to write this review I need to read it again. Actually last month I had the opportunity to meet the author but the event was canceled. I also found out that we actually went to the same secondary school in Seremban.

The other 2 fundamental skills are writing and independence.

Writing

Of course it is an important skill. Benefits? to a young child?- he will be able to express himself, take pride in his work and build his confidence. Also writing can improve memory, concentration and attention to detail--if you remember, this will help him in acquiring the first skill, FOCUS.

Exercise:
1. Copy a passage from a book
2. Write about his hobbies / interest
3. Write shopping list
4. Write letters or cards
5. Write about holidays / major events

I remember my parents got us siblings to write essays after every holiday when we were still very young. Frankly , it is quite difficult to get Adam to write what I want or make him copy a passage from the book. But he loves writing cards. I guess because he sense that there is a purpose to it, rather than just copying passages. I think I will try him songs next. Just bought a lined notebook for him because his writing keeps on getting bigger and bigger.

Ammar? He still conteng-conteng.

Independence

To be honest, I don't know how to summarize this topic with my own words. I had to reread it many times. But the gist is that for the child to be independent, he has to be self-motivated. It is a long process, but vital. Some ways that the author suggested:

1. Give your child his own free time which he can choose to do whatever activity he wants to (ni macam terlebih je bagi kat Adam- "mainlah apa nak, mama nak masak")
2. To instill self-motivation : try put him with other children that do well in their studies to motivate him to work harder.
3. Slowly delegate tasks to him- increase his responsibility of a task over time.
4. Give him a clear goal- this will motivate him to work towards the goal.
5. Give him hints, instead of guiding him to full solution.

Now is the summer school holiday. 6 weeks Adam will be at home all the time. So I made him a timetable, just a simple daily activities and aims- no specific time or duration for any activities. But surprisingly he is quite motivated to follow the timetable, and wants me to fill up the blank boxes of his achievements (eg. Monday 3/8/09 - read Little Red Riding Hood, Jawi-page 8 Muqaddam).

The next part of the book is teaching techniques. Till then!

Genius in 28 Steps- Fundamental Skills (2)

The next fundamental step is reading. At first I thought I want to combine this entry with the other 2 fundamental skills (writing and independence) but I decided that reading skills deserves its own entry.

I quote the author "the ability to read will increase the rate at which your child can acquire new information.."
There are many good points, so to make things easier, I 'm going to write in point form (also easier for me to refer).

1. Your child must be make familiar with books, so that they don't view books as alien, and this should start from when he is a baby. Suggestions: read out to him a lot, put him in the environment where other people is reading, let him turn the pages of the book (just get your infant to familiarize himself with books).

2. As he gets bigger, get him to read cereal boxes, signposts, maps, toy boxes etc.

3. Early acquisition of this skill, will turn it into a habit. Reading will become instinctive to him.

4. To help form this habit, set good example by showing that you love to read as well (everything begins at home). You can read while your child is playing, watching tv or reading himself (don't feel guilty ok). You can also bring him to the library and let him borrow books that he choose, and he can see for himself that other people reads too.

5. Make books easily accessible to him (not locked in cabinets or high shelves).

6. Let your child read fictions too so that this also becomes an entertainment to him, as well as developing creative imagination.

7. Reading stories regularly will help him improve his vocabulary and help him focus.

8. Encourage your child to view books as his first port of call whenever he wants any information eg football, computers, cartoons that he likes, animals etc.

9. Get books on whatever topics that interest him (this is when the library becomes handy because you have a lot of choices).

There are 3 strong reasons why you need to get your child to read (early..if possible) :

1. You can foster independence into him as he occupies himself with books, and this will give you more time for yourself!

2. If your child reads for pleasure, boredom will become less of a problem to him (you know the endless list of kids/teenagers do when they are bored)

3. Books are cheap entertainment!


Putting knowledge into practice...

So, (regretting that we started late with Adam), I am determined to get Ammar to read as soon as he can...

Among the tools I'm using..

Magnetic alphabets (brilliant!-memang Ammar suka)


Alphabet interactive toys... (Thomas tu fav dia)


Simple picture books...


Magnetic sketcher (dah hampir rosak sebab diusung ke sana kemari)..


Books in low open shelves..(sebenarnya belum cukup budget nak beli pintu Billy Bookcase Ikea ni...)...senang je budak2 nih nak punggah bila nak baca...satu hari 10 kali kena kemas..



Alphabetic fridge magnets (sebab Ammar suka menyebok kat dapur, so belikan dia ni- sambil kita masak dia susun2 huruf)




Walaupun cakap pun tak betul lagi (W=liu, Q=kuu, S dan X pulak tak dapat dibezakan)...tapi Ammar dah pass A-Z..

Adam pun excited adik dia dah tau ABC "mama, mama give Amai stickers bcoz he is a clever boyy!!"

Penganugerahan sticker oleh Adam kepada Ammar...




Dua budak dgn sticker masing2....

Genius in 28 Steps-Fundamental Skills (1)

Sorry for the delay in reviewing this book. Apart from moving house and holidays and just lazying myself, I need to sit and concentrate to write the review to do justice for this book. And the Fundamental Skills chapters (chapters 13-19) are Fundamental (no other word to describe it).

There are 6 fundamental skills:

1. Focus
2. Comprehension & Listening
3. Speaking
4. Reading
5. Writing
6. Independence

In this part 1 review of fundamental Skills I will only touch on the first 3. It is because I would like to focus on Focus (!) and in part 2 I want to concentrate on Reading. Personally I think these 2 elements are most important.

ALL these skills should be second nature to your child, but please don't rush him ok, after all you are giving him a tool of life.

FOCUS

Increasing your child's attention span is a gradual process.

What are the author's suggestions?

First, the child must be interested in the activity. You have to attract his attention and it has to be something enjoyable.

When he is attracted, to maintain his focus you must minimize the number of distractions in his environment. Just by doing these 2 things (enjoy the activity and minimize distractions) consistently will encourage him to focus longer.

Then you need to teach him one important value- PATIENCE (sabar weh sabarrr). You must make sure that your child does not experience instant gratification in everything he does. Teach him to wait, say he will only go to his fav section in the supermarket after you finish your shopping.

Another suggestion is to give him a simple task (with minimal time to complete) and then to give him a small reward, then gradually increase the task (time and complexity) and give him bigger reward. So he will learn to focus longer to get bigger reward. I think a jigsaw puzzle can do this trick. First you introduce him to the 12-piece ones then to 24, 60, 100. And colouring pictures too.

Some things can be harmful to your child's focusing ability. One is TV cartoons and another is a toy that has too many features (flashing lights, sounds, or other gimmicks). TV cartoons are typically short and rapidly changing, and having too many extravagant toys will make your job harder in the future to convince him that books are interesting. These 2 things should only be in moderation.

COMPREHENSION & LISTENING

This start as soon as your baby is born. So TALK to your baby. All the time and not just baby talk. The quicker he develops his language skills, the quicker he can learn other things. And you must be expressive (your tone, actions should indicate your message).

SPEAKING

This is so that your child can express himself clearly, and will allow him to ask questions to satisfy his curiosity. Again, TALK to your child often, use wide variety of words and for older child, get into more discussions with him especially about the things surrounding him (TV programme, journeys, trips etc)

GENIUS IN 28 STEPS (CHAPTER 9-12)

I actually have finished reading these 4 chapters many days ago but did not have the time to write the review. I'm happy that my first review has benefited some readers and even the author of the e-book had generously dropped comments, so we all can learn more.

I was thinking what is the best way for me to write the review of these further chapters, because I think they have more substances than the initial introductory ones. I decided to tailor it to best fit a busy working or studying mother, because that is what most of my friends are (who have been loyally reading my blog-thanks people!). I obviously will omit a lot of things so if you think you want to read the whole book you can go to www.learnerade.com and buy it using paypal-it's very easy. In a couple of months other payment methods will be available too.

Chapters 9-10 are about making learning fun and informal learning (actually you can get chapter 10 free on the website). Obviously very important because we are talking about educating small children, who don't know what they are learning are actually important skills for the future (like maths skills). If you can make learning enjoyable your kids will develop the attitude that learning is not a chore and they will have the willingness and drive to learn independently (ye lah sampai bila pulak kita je nak sorong2 dia suruh belajar)

But first, you yourself have to be interesting-lah! (gaya2 tak siuman yg bebudak suka tu ha ni lah masanya nak gunakan). See the child's feedback, ok..(jangan syok sendiri je). And don't forget to go down to his level.

Some of the author's suggestions are:

1. Use ordinary daily activities to teach him-like when you bake a cake you can talk with him through the chemical reactions involved (aiyyyaa-susahnyaaa sebab sendiri pun tak tauuu!!)- but last week I was cooking when Adam came into the kitchen and asked "are you cooking rice, Mama? can I help you?" (Adam memang suka sibuk2 kat dapur-especially kalau buat donut dia nak main tepung). 2 weeks ago I would have shooed him away, but this time I thought, this is my chance. So I made him scooped out the measurements, stood on a chair by the sink and watched me wash the rice and measure the water and put it on the rice cooker. He enjoyed it because he gets to play the water (which is a big no from his father) and surprisingly after the task is finished he stayed in the kitchen. He sat at the dining table and watched me cook other things and bombarded me all questions about rice and water (penat jugak nak jawab sebab balik2 soalan yg sama je-rasa dah jawab dah tadi).

Since we are all busy parents, you might want to grab any chance of stimulating your child (don't just wait for you to have the time to sit nicely on a table when you or him are not sleepy...) no, do it in the car when you are sending him to the baby-sitter (eg reading road signs or describing pedestrians), when you are cooking (put your baby on a high chair and describe to him your actions), counting the oranges that you just bought etc...

In summary- turn everyday activities into opportunities for learning (I like this one, easy to do, once you start you can never stop- I will stick to this even if I won't remember the rest of the book).

2. Challenge and reward him. Or play learning games or compete with you in a say, spelling game.

3. Involve your older child in your own activities- eg make the shopping list with him, teach him how to find things in the supermarket, compare the prices etc (hey, I think this is a good idea, never thought of this before). Similarly get him involve in planning your holidays / trips.

OK those are the suggestions that I like....

Chapter 11 talks about using holistic approach- basically it says that you cannot only focus on learning activities, your child needs play, good food, enough sleep etc. Your child needs to be generally happy and content-easier to teach!

Chapter 12 is about communicating often-regardless of what you talk about, frequent conversations will benefit both of you. But you need to have constructive conversations (or informal discussions).If you have a very small baby, just keep talking to him even if he does not understand yet because this will develop his language skills. For older children you can discuss about the cartoon episode that he just watched, or if there is thunderstorm outside you can discuss why you see the lightning first before hearing the thunder etc.

Ok will move on to more serious chapters next time (chapters of Fundamental Skills). Hope this review did help!

GENIUS IN 28 STEPS (CHAPTER 1-8)

Time for another book review!

This time it is an e-book, written by Halimahton Yusof, mother of 4 child prodigies.

Thanks to Anis who introduced me to Halimahton Yusof's website www.learnerade.com, the official website that sells this e-book.

Maybe it is worth giving a little bit of Halimahton's biodata and the story of her children. She grew up in Muar and had formal education in Malaysia, Singapore and UK. She majored in chemistry but stopped doing her PhD to raise her children. She home-schooled all her 5 children; Sufiah, Iskander, Aisha, Abraham and Zuleikha. Sufiah entered Oxford Univ at age 13 to study maths, Iskander went to Warwick Univ at age 12 (graduated at 15 with first class honors), Aisha entered Warwick Univ at 15 to study maths (now doing her PhD) and Zuleikha received grade A in A-level maths at age 9 (now at age 14 has completed courses from Open University in biology and astronomy). No mention of Abraham, not sure what happen to him.

Chapter 1-8 are basically introduction to teaching your child. To be honest, quite disappointing because generally most of the points are what you already know. Like, you have to know your child and have good bonding with him (of course!), parents have to set good example and be patient and consistent etc. I mean, all good parents know that, and only good parents with enough time to spare (like me) will read the book. I actually had higher expectations from the author. Maybe that is my problem. But maybe it is too early for me to actually say anything, because the book has 28 chapters. So bear in mind, this review is ONLY for chapter 1-8, not the whole book. This series of book review is a present to all my busy friends out there who do not have the time to read yourselves (aku boleh bacakan :D)

The author actually did suggest that some readers may find only a few of the chapters are useful, it really depends on what you are looking for. Well, you cannot satisfy everybody.

Having said that, I actually did learn a few things. I tried really hard to look between the points (memanglaa dah takde keje lain); am I really not getting anything? There must be something in Halimahton that makes her special, that makes her different from any other parent. But before I go into what I managed to learn, I must say that I am actually quite happy with the author's goals for the book- to name 2 of the most important (at least to me):

1. To develop the love of learning in the child that will stay with him throughout his life (I agree, what better tool can you give to your child?).

2. To develop a high attention span and ability to concentrate hard on a single task (I think this is a very important skill indeed-in this world of many distractions, that's why many students sleep in lectures, they can't concentrate enough)

I don't want my children to be supergenius (genius je cukuplah, hehehe)- no, Alhamdulillah if they can become successful people in life and InsyaAllah in the afterlife, but I do hope they posses those 2 qualities above.

So, new info / reminder that I manage to gather from Chapter 1-8 are:

1. Empathize with your child! Try to be in his shoes and imagine him having limited knowledge and understanding of the world around him. I think this is an aspect that many parents take for granted, but many grandparents understand (kan orang tua selalu cakap: alahh..budak memangla macam tu). Parents are usually impatient and cannot understand their children behaviour, but maybe the children are just confused. (patutla Adam selalu tanya; "why? why Mama? why got 2, why not 3? why j has dot above it? why Z has 2 horizontal lines?" ....peningnyaaa nak jawab)

2. Avoid placing restrictions on what you think your child has the potential to learn. Well, have to admit that I do this a lot (budak ni mana tau, dia takkan paham punya..). Maybe this is the BIG difference between me and Halimahton.

3. Removing distractions from the learning environment is more important than it might seem. Only the resources that are relevant to your child's current learning activity should be in his immediate vicinity. Because children are very easily distracted. If a child learns to use a toy or a book one at a time, he will gradually develop a longer attention span. (Kitorang semua benda kat dalam hall yg kecik ni, Adam baca buku tv pun bukak, laptop pun ada je kat sebelah, biskut tak boleh tinggal, Ammar pulak main train).

4. Even a simple toy has numerous characteristics eg colours, textures, shape and the possibility of using it in an imaginative play. So don't disregard a simple toy. If you can explore the possibilities of a simple toy with your child, he will develop the ability to pay attention to details. (aiiyaa..ini memang selalu buat, tak mainla toy2 kodi nih, nak yang canggih je)

OK..that's what I can gather from the earlier chapters. I'm sure there are a lot more that we can learn in the next chapters, well I bought this book because I was attracted to the later chapters, not the earlier ones. But because I'm sooo skema I naturally have to start from the beginning.