Supplements - Probiotic

Recently I benefited by taking Probiotic supplement. When the doctor prescribed BioGia to my child, I know what it is.  If you want to know more about the benefits, please click here, here or here. 

However, I am very surprised that the price we are paying for this in Singapore.
For 30 capsules each with 100 million counts of live bacteria, I have to pay almost S$45! This is charges from a public hospital.  A check on Amazon reveals that price is approximately S$32. Much cheaper! 

  

I wonder how much the shipment would cost. But unfortunately, this product cannot be shipped overseas. There are some other brands, but the shipment cost is really a lot!

I checked the company from whom I bought my Probiotic, Vitamin World. I always buy from them whenever I go to US, or when my close friends going over to US.  Their excellent customer service is really striking. When I called last month from Singapore about a product changing color, they just shipped me a replacement although they said that the product I had was fine to consume. That's how I come to know about their international shipment.

Ok, look at the following product from Vitamn World :

Yum V's from Vitamin World (Click for the link or Find from Vitamin World's Website)

 The price is USD9.99, or S$13 at most. Shipment is about USD$12 for two bottles, plus handling fee of USD1.95), and they do ship overseas. 

The benefits of the 'good bacteria' can be obtained by taking yoghurt drink or yoghurt, or some other fermented foods with naturally occurring live cultures. I don't think my kids need this every day. But I would let them take this when there are many people in school having flu or stomach flu.  One of the main way to stay happy is to stay healthy, right?

Are my kids reading too much?

While I like my children to cultivate reading habits, one concern is their eyesight. It's not uncommon nowadays to see 5-6 years old wearing glasses. Thanks to Glenn Doman's book that I read below, I understand that children at different ages have different eyesight capability. Basically, young children should read books using larger print.

(The book is on how to make flash cards.. nothing to do with children older than 2 years old)

For example, at 6 months old, the text size should be 3", and gradually reduced to 2" and eventually 1.5" approaching 2 years old. By 3 years old, the print can be 7/8" print of the book, but if the child is less than 2 years old, the suitable size is 1" or 2".

I tried to find some research data on text size suitable for children between 3 to 8 years old from internet but not successful. Using the data above, I plotted a graph. From the graph, it seems to me at the age of 4-5, the size of the print has no significant difference. However, from my observation, I believe eyesight of a child will be affected not by font size, but how long do they read per day without rest, how far they hold the book, whether there are enough light, etc.



I think the fact that kids watching too much TV have higher tendency to wear spectacles demonstrates to us that we should watch out and not let our children reading continuously too long without rest. However, how long should each reading session should be? Without parental control, I am sure my kids can play with iPad, watch TV or read his favorite books non stop. That's not good. The fact that books tends to have lesser effect then TV is because it's less likely they can read non stop compared to TV, iPad or computers. But that does not mean they should be encouraged to read too extensively.

Another important thing is outdoor activities. When we bring our kids outside, they will tend to focus further and look further. I believe that helps. But how much? I don't know!

I do not have the answer on what's extensive enough to have impact on their eye sights. If you know any data, please share with me! But I would encourage my children to rest, look far from window after reading or using computer for 30 minutes. And if possible, bring them to play outdoor at least few times per week.

Wii, iPad, iPhone and e-games

This post is slightly different as I don't want to particular share any e-games here. There are so many of them. Rather, I would like to write down my reasoning for promoting e-games to my kids.

In fact, I choose to expose both my child to eGames at young age. I think it's easier to teach younger kids than older kids. Both my kids love iPad and iPhone games. Sometimes, I play a game together with them. From time to time, I also listen to my son's about how he scores in a game, how his friend did in those games... but I always make it clear that e-game is something that they can put aside any time! I allow them to play with my iPhone while waiting for foods to be served in restaurant. However, this is on the condition that when the food is served, they must stop and eat. Thanks to my wife's help, both of us now seldom do texting, chat etc at meal time.

There's another one rule that I strictly enforce. They can only play games after they have completed certain tasks or homework. I call this "Empower Kids" concept. If they want to decide what they like to do, i.e. play computer games, they have to earn it. It's not easy to enforce this simple concept... My children find all ways to persuade me to break the rules. I rarely did and they gave up. They know that they are better off doing something in order to earn the time to play.

Many parents do not even buy iPad, iPhone, and not to mention Wii, because they do not want their kids to be addicted to the e-Games. A friend of mine even sold her Wii console because the daughter is too addicted to the games. I respect these opinions. However, I have a different view.

Like it or now, I am sure our children will know what's "Angry Bird" when they interact with other kids. When I was in Form 2, the top boy in my class dropped from the top spot merely because he started playing computer games. I had a friend in University who always sat in front row, and always get good results. He did not turn up for classes suddenly for 2 months. I asked him about it. His answer was that he was playing with computer games day and night. He was so indulged and addicted that it took 2 additional years to get the degree. At one point of time, I was addicted to games too. I played "Command and Conquer" day and night too. I really understand how fun the game can be. But can young children resist the temptation? Or can we shunt the e-games from our kids forever?

Back to the question of whether e-games are good or bad. I think there's no answer to this. For me, I chose to use my "Empower Kids" concept, and I choose to expose my children to those games. I also persuade them to play those games that have educational value. With that, I hope that I can educate them and make them see those e-games the way I want them to see. I know that if I don't do this, I will be leaving them to the exposure at much later stage by their friends who may be a bad kid. Also, much later stage means more difficult to teach, isn't it?

So, which league do you belong? Non e-game gang or e-game gang?

Spending Quality Time.

I always spend time with my children. But I don't think I am spending enough quality time with them. Worse, most of the time I do my work in front of PC, while having my son to do his homework beside me. When he talked to me, I told him to keep quiet and concentrate on his work, so that I could concentrate on my work too. I have no choice, especially when I need to rush my work or when I need to study.

I know some people, for the whole day, punching her iphone either sms or email while spending time with kids... Guiding them to do homework should not be considered as spending quality time together too...the same can be said if we just spend time watching a movie together.... Spending quality time means be there, to give them full concentration and to do something they like..

Yesterday, I decided to spend quality time with my son. We started by cycling around the park ...



Then we played "paper aeroplane" together.... It was just a simple game to see who could throw the plane longest distance..



Finally we ended up playing football.. I wished my daughter is there but she was having a nap.






All in all, that was an enjoyable hour well spent. If you want to spent quality time with your kids, I recommend that you put aside your iphone, ipad, galaxy pad, etc.... With those gadget and distraction, no way we can spend quality time. I can tell that kids just want my simple attention and that simple 50 min brings a lot of happiness to him.

I wish that I can continue to do this at least once every week.... preferably with my daughter and their mum next week!

Slyvan School Success - Level 1

Update 2015 : This product has been discontinued, unfortunately



Inspired by the success of using "Hooked on Phonic - Learn to Read" product, I was trying to look at other advance level material for my child. I found, "Hooked on Phonic - Master Reader" and "Sylvan School Success".

To be honest I know nothing about the product when I made the purchase. I guess the best description for this product is as written in this website :

"Sylvan School Success is a comprehensive four-level program that is designed to prepare kids ages 8 to 12 for success in school. Using fun lessons on the CD-ROM and an assortment of customized school tools, kids will learn essential reading and organizational skills and test-taking strategies that can be applied to homework, book reports, and tests."

The program has 4 levels. Level one is regarding skills for reading fiction. My son has completed lessons on Level 1 in less than 2 weeks. He requested to do this whenever he is free. In Level 1, children learn the following:

Fiction
====
Predict and Confirm
Predict and Revise
Visualize
Problem and Solution
Story Plan

I like the concept here because I believe that those techniques listed above are essential in reading. For instant, the program gave a few titles and requires the students to predict.. then confirm their prediction by looking at title and drawings on front page of a story book. I am sure in real life, this skill to "predict and confirm' and "predict and revise" will help them to get a better understanding even before reading the book.

The program also helps students to be organized by identifying the story-line, to visualize the story. For example, after reading a story, the program has a game to ensure students understand the "problem" of the story, and the "solution". It's true that every story has a "problem" and that problem is later overcome - "solution". The program also trains the children to write down story plan. The program has worksheet that children have to fill up some forms, quite tedious. I will not force my son to use all these in every story book he reads, but I will apply this from time to time by having conversation with him. I know that this is just a start and I need him to practice what he has learned.

I do not have a quantitative measure on the results. But I think the battle is half won as my son is interested in this. However, I think one key point is that we need to start this at the right time. Actually we started last year but this program was too difficult for him and we almost wanted to give up.

I believe this product is not in production any more. The disk can only be installed on Windows XP machine. Check out Amazon through the link if you are interested. From what I see today, Amazon offers the best price as of today. Some other website may even offer this close to original price of USD200. I bought this at USD60 many years ago.

Lantern festival

We will celebrate lantern festival next month. I have kept the lantern that I bought last year. Please take a look at the following pictures taken last year. My kids really enjoyed the lantern. We invited my son's friend to come out together, but I know something is missing....






During my childhood time, children from the whole area would come out together. The street might be dark, those back lane that we never dare to explore, would become the destination. Our gang of 20-30 children, each carrying a candle light lantern would march around those area, forming a possession. Some big boys will even bang on "Milo" tin to make loud sound, calling out for more participants.

I think children nowadays will not have that kind of experience, but they will have a new experience. I see that even the Malays and the Indians children are carrying lanterns nowadays in Singapore. The lanterns has become more advance and more attractive. Some lantern can even sing, although those are not my cup of tea. Candle light lantern with "glass paper" is quite rear nowadays. Another difference is that children will carry lantern with their parents around, not with their friends. Perhaps I should view this as a good sign because nowadays parents have more time to care more for their children. 30-40 years back ago, I think our parents hardly had time to do that.

Another observation about lantern is the advance of technology. Take a look at this fancy lantern that I bought for my kids. It's less than SGD4. It comes with bi-color LED,and some circuitry to make the LED blinks. Unlike older designs that come with irritating music, this one produce no sound. I like this better. I think the paper will break easily. I have kept this for a year but I think it's unlikely to last until next year. It's hard for me to imagine that LEDs and electronic circuits can become disposable item. Thanks to China to make this cheap for us.

The design is really cool... someone should alter the design and sell this during Halloween in US and Europe...



There's a magnet to attach the two parts together.


In the middle of the lantern is a LED, plus a circuit and a battery...


Also, fold-able means easier to keep for next year's use... Look for something like this for your children... Hmmm.... perhaps for 2010, the lantern festival should be celebrated in the Night Safari... I wonder whether they allow that or not.. Let's see.

My daugther's favorite - Ma-ma-sak (2)

It's not anyone's birth day, but my daughter is celebrating birthday for us quite frequently.

Look at my daughter's face with her favorite birthday cake!


The cake comes with 3-4 candles, plus a lot of toppings. Such as cherry, chocolate, nuts etc. It can be sliced into 8 pieces. I saw a wooden version when I brought my rich friend from Japan to a toy shop. The shop lady showed us a wooden cake, with similar concept. It was SGD25. Wow, too expensive.

I came across this 3-4 weeks later, it was selling at SGD14.90, if I remember correctly. I like this one because it comes with "candles" while the wooden one does not. On top of that, it's cheaper.

How does the candle work?

Decorate the cake and "pull out" the "light".. The "light" is a small piece of plastic which can rest on one side.


Then blow it so that the "light" will disappear...


Then serve the cake! "Ahmm... Happy birthday"...

The toy is pretty simple, right? But from my observation, I think this toy teaches a lot of values. The cake can be sliced into 8 pieces. The act of slicing the cake and decorating the cake is a good practice of motor skills for young children. Also, later, I can teach her about "fraction" using the cake.


Above all reasons, my daughter loves this toys. She shared with a friend visiting us. Her friend loved this so much too and it's enjoyable seeing them play together.

My children's "workplace".... (1)

I think the most effective way to cultivate a child's interest in studying is to provide him with a study desk. Many of my friends whose parents are teachers have their own desk. I did not have my own study desk until I was 14.

My son was lucky, he had his own "work desk" when he was less than 2 years old. He used the desk to play with Doh and coloring. This wonderful desk cost me USD20, together with a set of "Play Doh". Now this desk is passed to his sister.



I bought this simple table and chair set for my son from Jusco when my son was about 3-4 years old. I paid RM160 for this but looking at the following pictures, I think you will be convinced that my investment paid off. He used this not only to do his works, but also to play with his sisters.






I place this small table beside my work desk so that we can do work together. However, as he is getting older, he likes to use my desk more and more often.

Now, my son likes to use the study area in his room. The furniture was installed by the previous owner of this apartment. But the area did not have enough lighting. I started with a table lamp. But I found my eyes become tired soon when I used it. Since my son is going to use this room, recently I installed a fluorescent lamp in his study area.

I am satisfied that the area is properly lit up now after SGD80 spent! From my experience, it's better to install a proper fluorescent lamp on the wall near the study area. I think table lamps are not good.





I consider the study area as an important investment for parents. I am sure most children will love it. By the way, the most expensive desk I have ever seen cost SGD3000++.

If you are considering a gift for your young one, why not a small study table?

My daugther's favorite - Ma-ma-sak (1)

My wife is against Barbie doll. She told me even before our daughter was born that she would go against the idea that my daughter owns a barbie doll. I fully agreed with her. I think that "Barbie doll encourages materialism and gave little value add".

Since the elder child is a boy, we hardly had any girlish type of games. Until I came across this "cooking play set"... I don't know what's the exact English term, but in Penang, most people called this game "Ma-ma-sak", which origins from a Malay word "masak" which means cooking.


I came across these few sets in the wet market. I bought 2 sets, each cost me less than SGD5. I am quite impressed with the quality of the "made in China" goods. It has so many varieties of fruits and vegetables. I can use this to teach my daughter about the names in both English and Chinese.


After having a cup of mixed juice (carrot + fruits), my daughter pretended that she was preparing dishes and she enjoys cutting up her fruits and vegetables.

Please take a look on these enlarged view of the fruits. The fruits come in 2 parts, stick together through a mechanism that is commonly found in shoes laces, where one latches one part on the other.


Using a plastic knife, the fruits can be "cut" into 2 parts to separate the latches.

After cutting, there's cooking time.


My daughter would serve me "tea" or "fruits". What I need to do is say, "ahmmm". And she will be happy smiling.

Visiting Workplace

Children might be curious about what their parents do at work. I enjoyed following my parents to their workplace when I was young. I found out that in my Singapore office, I am allowed to bring my son to work place. I told my son about the plan and he loved it.

The first concern was whether he could stay quietly without disturbing my work. My wife had experience bringing him to her workplace few times before. She helped me to prepare some activities for him. A night prior to the visit, my son was so excited and he prepared his "worksheet" in advance together with his mum. And my wife did a fantastic job educating him that he should not "disturb" my work.

Upon arrival, he wanted a visitor badge. But the receptionist refused to give him because children were not required to have any badges. He was a little bit disappointed, but very soon he was happy when I served him a hot "Milo", taken from the drink dispenser inside the office. Look at him here in the photo, he was a little bit nervous, but happy.



He started to do his "work" after that. He played with some stickers, and then later he did his "Jumbo Book" English worksheet. I should praise him as he was very obedient. He talked very softly such that the person in the next cubical could not have heard him. He did not even ask any questions when I was concentrating on my work. Instead, he waited patiently when I finished my work or when I happened to stop doing my work. Impressive..

I took him to cafeteria where he enjoyed a cold chocolate drink and a hot chicken pie. He continued his work after that. In total, he "worked" almost 3.5 hours continuously without disturbing me. Really Impressive! As a result, he finished doing almost 20 pages of worksheets, reading a story book, and playing a game with his sticker book. Productivity for both of us were high!

Before we left, I let him try my seat. Please take a look at his happy face?



The visit increased our father and son bonding. And his two-year-old sister said, "when I grow up, daddy must bring me to workplace, ok?" I would definitely like to do so...but I wondered whether I would be working for the same company. So, I just smiled and told her "It's my pleasure to do so, if I can."