Some updates...

It has been such a long time since I last updated!

Ethyl is progressing well in terms of academic, though still room for improvement, I am pretty happy with the current results I see from her. Encouraging her is something I do until…she started saying “because I am smart”. Well, I am a little not too comfortable when she gets to think too highly of her achievements. Why? I do not want to nurture a proud or arrogant little girl, thus I have to think twice about using the right words to praise.

These days, I would say, “good job” instead of “well done, girl!” I am praising the action instead of her. I am also toning down on using words like “clever”, “brilliant”, “smart” etc. She still gets her well deserved praises when a good job done, like I mentioned, it is only praising the task she did well in, and not about her.

Her pro-activeness in learning does help makes teaching easier. Her weekly spelling tests, homework etc. I guess it’s all about making her understand the need to be enthusiastic about learning in life and in everything she does. Even if she were to fail, at least she knows she puts in effort.

The tedious and pressurize phase of her life is creeping nearer, the education system here is not the most friendly system we have but we still have to put out children through it. Nevertheless, she still gets to enjoy gaming and her quality time whenever she needs. Teaching her to start planning and prioritizing her own time is what I am coaching her with now. She needs to decide what she wants to achieve ultimately.

As for Brayden, he still can’t speak in proper sentences, however we have noticed he started counting and recognizing numbers on his number card. He is also about to count from 1 to 10 in both mandarin and English. He can spell “DOG”, all thanks to the spelling app on iPhone! He enjoys playing the educational games on my iPhone and has been picking up little things.

All these little achievements mean so much to me. It is really a blessing to have these two cute ones at home…they are such a joy!