Learning Journeys

The class has outings once in a while, some 3 months or so there'd be one outing.
It is nice to be going outdoors with classmates, they visited the neighbourhood and also had some snacks at a retro setting cafe.

Jurong Bird Park (9th Sept 2015)

 The school laid synthetic grass in place of the old, muddy field. 

 Briefing before outing 

 Ceiling at the entrance. 

 Flamingo

 scarlet ibis' feather 

 Penguin

 questions and answers (school's worksheet)

 Snowy Owl

Ostrich 

 Stork 

 Art piece of the Mandarin Duck 

Guess the Bear

We made up our own games, now Colin joins in. KiCo enjoys this and it's funny to watch them "lun" that their bears are safe.

First, we distribute 6 bears to each player. Bears in - red, orange, blue, green, yellow, purple.
Next, each player places one colour of his choice bear into his egg shell. (out of sight from other players).
Seal the egg shell with his choice bear inside.
Pass the egg to the player on his right/left (alternate routine every three rounds)
Make a guess on the colour of the bear in the opponent's egg.
Player gets to keep the bear if he has made a correct guess.

First of all, it is not easy to guess correctly. 1 out of 6 is... 16.666666% chance of getting it right.
However, the kids being kids, sometimes I can guess their choice bears.
For example, when Colin makes a guess on Kiki's bear, eg: he guesses 'red',  more often than not he has placed a 'red' bear in his egg.  LOL! very young mind huh?
As for Kiki, she will always try to give me a 'green' bear and hopes that I guessed it correctly.

I see Beauty on the Floor

 I was going to my acupuncture and cupping session on Sunday morning when I observed that the shadows cast from the gates I pass are kind of nice. I've always found reflections and shadows more interesting than the object itself as shadows, imperfect reflections leave you some room for interpretation. So, I wrote a poem that goes:-

I see beauty on the floor

I see beauty in everyday things;

look no further, shadows giving hints. 

I see passerby trotting down the street, 

missing intricate designs under their feet. 

Hey, wait up! Don't walk too fast, 

look at what the gates have cast. 

Check it out, look on the floor, 

patterns next door, look! There's more. 

I see beauty on the floor. 

Now that my tummy fat is loose, the cupping did not hurt as much as the first two times. 

Also, the dark, violet marks have lightened and I experience less "bloated" feelings at the stomach these days. I guess maintaining good health is a lifelong project.

School's Outing

The school organised a trip to Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. 

(while there, my cell phone changed service provider and read "celcom". our neighbouring country is in sight)

 

One section of the park was closed for maintenance, so our nature trail was shortened to an hour instead of 1.5 hours. No body minded the shortened walk. We are to submit 3 sketches / briefs / drawings / paintings of 3 different flora / fauna / happenings / we've observed from the trail.

The Nursery class teacher distributed handmade coloured viewers which the N2 children made in class.

The real Mudskipper surely ain't cartoony nor adorable as depicted but Kiki was delighted to see it blink. 

(I also saw it blinked)

Sketch of Mudskipper

The school prepared our lunch. 

I sketched this for Colin to submit

Kiki sketched this for her own submission. The Fly that was caught on web says- "Spider!"

(we referred to a mural painting at the park, hence, the outline is similar)

 Rachael's Squirrel (above)

My Squirrel (below)

We spotted a few Squirrels while there. It is always delightful to watch these nimble animals. 

I know you might have heard of this story, so bear with me please.

The Squirrel had brought me a friend. 

There was a period of time, I had not spoken more than what was necessary. 

At work, I ostracized myself.

One day, a Squirrel fell from a tree and it scrambled across my path and flew up onto the nearest tree. 

I had to tell somebody! I turned around and saw a colleague. I exclaimed- Did you see that! It's a Squirrel! And that colleague smiled and told me she sees them every other day. (squirrel). 

Since then, we became very good friends. Till this day. So I say, the Squirrel brought me a friend. 

This self-exclusion happened for years. 

In Pre-U, I generally had not talked to my classmates (except 2 of them) for 2.5 years. 

It was until the last 6 months that I broke my silence. 

I think I had a problem. But really, it isn't a real, real problem. 

I just didn't like to (1) gossip, (2) pretend, (3) talk about my problems. 

I sketched this as a bonus for her teacher. 

A Dragonfly that had yellow/black stripes flew to and fro across our path. Initially, we thought it was a bee.