Creating a maths game

As part of the independent research study, our boy has to design a game. Over a full day learning journey, they learnt more about game mechanisms, techniques and steps in designing their games. Their homework is to prototype the game and play test with family and friends.

Last Friday evening, we brainstormed on the game title and general rules of the games. We decided on the game components to make- a game board & cards. We started the project on Saturday evening, cutting cardboards, deciding where to place plus and minus signs. Along the way, we made adjustments to the placement of the signs so that meaningful addition and subtraction sentences can be made.

Generally, his game, Number City, goes like this- Each player draws 8 cards and start to create maths sentences with each turn until he finishes his cards. To add challenges, we designed special cards eg. Swap, draw 2, exchange, to spice up the game. He has not decided whether to use a "magic" card to clear the board totally and start from an empty board.

In play testing, we subjected the game to different scenarios that will never been known if it remains in concept. He learnt how to explain his game creation with rules he set and answer questions on decisions he made. Tough for a P1 but it is indeed a learning journey, for both mother & son.

Raising Independent Kids

Completing a task for a child is usually faster than waiting for the child to explore through trial and error. It takes time for a toddler to self-feed and toilet train. Along the journey, there will be messes to clear and frustrations. Many parents will give in and wait for the child to be "ready" before retrying.

My children are taken care by their grandparents when I'm at work. There are different ground rules set at the 2 households. MIL tends to give in and feed the child even if the child is ready is self-feed. Her reason being she will rather feed the child than clearing the mess that will be left on the table and floor as she has housework piling up.

When we pick our children home after work and over weekends, we adopt the DIY approach at home. If the child doesn't keep their toys, the mess will be left at it is or thrown away after a few warnings. I'll rather live with the mess than having irresponsible children.

Children adapt to different situations quickly. They are ready to be independent when given the chance. Given the time and space, the child can learn at their own pace. Failure is part & parcel of growing up. Observing how my children behave under different caregivers, I can see how the environment can mould the future of a child.

Daily Reports

I work long hours but make it a point to talk to my children everyday, 1 to 1, eye to eye, for at least 5 min, unless they are asleep by the time I reach home. My children know that mummy is interested to know what they learnt in school and the daily tidbits of their classroom activities.

It is usually easier to dish out juicy stuffs from mei. You see, she's the class monitress calibre- helpful otherwise busybody. She will tell me who has been naughty and talkative, how many times can her friend bounce the ball and who fell down/ vomitted/ made teacher angry etc. After the daily reporting, I'll prompt her to tell me a new word she learnt (Chinese or English) or new song she sang. If she forgot the lyrics or melody, she will pay more attention in class the next day and complete the song the same evening.

For gorgor, he will reply that nothing unusual happened. Instead he will tell me how much he spend at each stall during tea break and lunch, how much chilli he added in his laksa and about catching and monkey bar he played in school. Recently, he has been selected to join the school art CCA. But he's still reluctant to share more even though he was excited to go for the CCA after class. I have to nudge him and persuade him by telling him mummy didn't have a chance to join school art CCA (then called ECA) during my school days (which is true). Slowly, he opened up and told me about the Popsicle group project they have done for the 1st session.

The idea behind this activity is simple. Mummy no longer have time (& energy) to prepare materials for crafts everyday. By replacing with a simple conversation, I kill 2 birds with 1 stone by getting 1st hand information of what they did in school and they get a chance to practice their reporting skills by verbalizing their thoughts.

That's our daily bonding activity, what's yours?