mau's reflections from april to may!
i'm sure everyone is very kind here..hahha...i shall start from the month of april! heez!! excited to blog manz!! hehe!
5th April:
unique & experiential!
that's all i can say..hahhaz..really too drama for 5 pretty girls (me, joce, sy, wen, san)! hahahz..it was raining like nobody's business...not raining but heavy downpour! hahaz! so guess wad..we were extremely late for the session..about half an hour! but thank god the children woke up late too, so by the time they settle down, it was just nice for us to join in and help them along!
from 3.30pm to 5pm, we help them with school work and revision. they were quite noisy at times but at least they get their work done. i'm quite bad at maths...i can do, but a lil' lazy to think further...heez! i enjoy helping cheryl and ching ying with their chinese work! hahaz..my most confident subject! after all their work i got a rare chance to talk to ching ying and zhi hao. i was caught in a situation that both of them were talking to me at the same time... i just take turn to look at them and smile and say "yes", "yeahz', "wow", "i understand"...yeapz...a bit giddy after that...hahahz!
after that we played word formation games with them, becoz it was still raining so we stayed longer than usual to play with them! games were really fun! cant explain with just plain words, have to experience the fun urself!
after that, while waiting for the rain to stop... the leaders went back to the volunteer's corner to have some fun ourselves by playing bingo! we played 8 times..never once i win!! urgh!
12th April:
headache &....heartache
We're supposed to play mathematics bingo with all of them..( i came up with this came after playing bingo!) BUT never did we predict that they'll be so against such challenging games!! we were stuck! my mind was blank... it just kept asking " what's next? what's next?" nobody answered. Alritez... so end up we played their favourite game!! Poison Ball!!!! hahaz.. actually that was my most hated game...but nvm looking at how they really enjoyed themselves , somehow made me like this game! i found lotza joy just by watching & observing their moves! i was particularly interested in looking at Jeremy & Chao Rui! they may seem naughty outside but they're really very focus in what they're doing..hahha!
19th April:
Surprised & Overwhelmed
today we had story-telling seesion! it was really fun! all of them were so excited about what the story was about.(those stories were chosen by carin!) guess what they did? hahha...they practically stick their whole body to the story narrator who is joce.. hahhaz! but i guess they really enjoyed it! hahahz! after that we played some board games with them! another exciting had passed....=)
26th April, 3rd May, 10th May:
Quiet & Concentrated
for this three weeks... we've decided to fully stand-down on our special programs for the children. We're gonna help them to have intensive revision in preparation for their mid-year exams!! they're really a bunch of nice and hardworking kids. i didn't get to help everyone...i was helping cheryl & ching ying with their schoolwork... they seem fine with it except some chinese words.really enjoyed teaching them! so fun!
on the 3rd, the J1s came in to take a look and have a lil' experience on how working with kids are like. it seeemed like they enjoyed it! hopefully this time round after we step down, there'll be another bunch of more energetic and enthusiastic group to take over this project and bring out their best for the children in the centre!
yeahz! finally finish everything le! is nice to blog! hahhaz!! onc ei start.... is difficult to stop! =p hahahz! who's next?
*maurise*
1:06 AM
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ok b4 i forget..
this day went according as planned. collage~! in an effort to be well.. educational.
started off rather shaky as majority of them (being young hyperactive guys) are somewhat reluctant. but e end product was rather satisfying. i loved sheryl's rabbit. so cute~! nigel took ages to think of what to draw (n he did a few sketches, forever incomplete) which is gd. kinda shows tt once they get down to doing, they really put in the effort. adriel however is just spoilt. not in a bad way but he gets very excited when someone helps him but leave him alone and he'll rather not do anything.. it's his must-win attitude.. how to change..
oh ya~! there's a new boy today. terence. he's kinda cute. as in, e way he's always so happy and stuff but then again it's kinda scary. his laughter. woo.
5/04/2006
was it raining super heavily on this day? i remembered playing bingo after the session. and i forgot what happened during the session. guess it'll come back to me soon.
12/04/2006
ah~! mathematics bingo was the intended plan but strong objections resulted to us playin poison ball instead. given past experiences.. actually with just a lil more persuasion they would have gone off with that game but no regrets in playing poision ball. it was fun~! new rules implemented to prolong each players time in the game. great idea but it also sparked off bouts of dishonesty and arguments about who was honest or not. but tt's not rrly a prob, e nxt time we'll just get a marker to keep scores. problem rectified. ^^
19/04/2006
e books were really interesting but i had to answer alot of qns while in sch as to why i'm suddenly so pre-sch, readin such stuff. but i had the last laugh. like i said the books were interestin. my classmates were all over the books. apparently the kids who seemed disinterested at first (esp marcus) found it interestin toward the end. result.. i got plastered to the wall. cant breathe. initially kept posing questions to marcus n cr to discourage them from engaging in private conversation but toward the end i had to deal with their "hey i cant see". if anyone ever has to do this again, seriously.. get a BIGger book. and maybe place some barriers so they cant corner you. =p
26/04/2006
activity-less day. plain studying to help them in their mid-yrs. but i kinda got abit hyper on this day. was helpin omar with math, occasionally turnin to hannah n constantly had to hear marcus's "help help help''. marcus was like king that day. "help help" and one of us would go over n attend to him. he's pri 3 only n he doesnt look like it. i'm really amazed when i realized he was pri 3. all along i tot he was either 4 or 5. he's rather mature in terms of doing this work unlike the others. well not forgetting playful. i could write a chinese character~! ^^ (inside story) after the whole thing went to "play" with adriel bcoz he's bein ostracized (no surprise.. like i said.. he has an "i-cant-lose" attitude.) he ended up telling me quite alot about him. he's adorable when excited. (liping's fav student. of course! ^^) couldnt remember much because of constant distraction frm e kids but adriel kept emphasizing on me to look out for his dad's car (with detailed description no less) because he saw me once on my way to sch. i bet he generalized all meridians so i highy doubt he saw me but didnt confirm that with him because he was going on and on about his school life. kids do really have alot to talk about. it'll be good if all kids had a listening ear. makes one feel better.
DONE~! quite alot of brain power used up here. cool. wonder what will happen during tomorrow's session. eh no.. today's session. wow it's late.. sch tml. nitex~
- joce -
12:47 AM
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-Carin-
8:30 PM
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FINALLY I AM UPDATING!
Dong Zhi!
we celebrated Dong Zhi with the kids that day, another project by slc regarding the theme 'chinese'. we made 'tang yuan' with the kids and i bet they had a great time moulding the dough into all kinds of funny shapes like patrick (spongebob's friend) and snowman. haha. they are just so adorable! when they were rolling the dough, they looked so cute that i forgot how naughty they were! hahaha.. but after all the fun, they refused to eat all the 'tang yuan' cuz they just want to have fun. that's so sad can! in the end, all the mentors had to finish all of them, which is 1 huge pot! nonetheless, there's always a hungry ghost like me who will always 'bu yi yu li' to finish everything. HEH HEH.
Movie (cat in the hat? was it? ahahaha)
before watching the movie, we helped the kids with their work. i was helping a boy (opps i forgot his name) and i realised he is rather weak in his work. i didnt know how to help him initially because all he was doing all along is to wait for answers and don't even bother to try! i spent some time telling him that he needs to do his work and not waiting for the answers to fall from the sky but he regarded my naggings as some auntie who is singing while putting the laundry, so sad can! hahahaha.. after that, we watched the movie and it was quite nice! however, auntie mano was rather pissed with us partly because most of the mentors were not with the kids when the movie was screening as they were having their lunch at the dinning area. the ironic truth is that, we asked her for permission. umm.. misunderstanding perhaps.
badminton!
wahahaha, i planned the activity! i wanted to showcase my skill to all the mentors because they DON'T BELIEVE that i am a school player but everything turned out disasterous cuz it was very windy that day! moreover, we were playing beside the garbage dump so it was, quite funny. ahaha.. although we didnt manage to play top quality badminton but the kids were very hyper even though they were not hitting but picking/chasing the shuttlecocks. so cute!
umm, the next session i didnt attend because i was busy with Food for Thought project in school. it was IN A MESS because we had last minute changes and last minute confirmation so we had to do everything within a very short time span. i almost died the day before everything starts because i grew so paranoid that i don't even want to go to school the next day! hahaha.. but luckily everything turned out superb! response was good, publicity was impressive, feedbacks were positive despite all the last minute stuff! thanks people for your help and co-operation! :D:D:D
today 8/3/06 (happy '3-8' lady's day!)
yes, RETREAT. but i wasn't there! i want to catch that movie to but due to something SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT THAT CONCERNS THE FUTURE OF THE CLUB, i had to give that up and stayed in school to prepare for CCA recruitment. the slides i spent hours to do was not very useful at all, because the J1 crowd is so small! i bet most of them 'pon' and went home and sleep. if it was me, i will do it too. hahahahaa.. i reached fsc at about 5.45pm when everything ended and started playing games like poison ball with them. they enjoyed every bit of it until my dearest adriel cried so bitterly! the more i see, the more hurt i was! aiyoh.. it was a very small matter but it is very MAJOR to a young kid. haha, he will learn i'm sure! :D anyway, after some discussion in the volunteer's room, we parted and went home. ANYWAY, i saw aloy, adriel and his mother at the bus stop! his mother is so friendly! when i said 'bye bye' to both the boys, adriel 'dao' me at first but his mama waved his little hand back to me! so sweet! it just made my day lah, hahaha. :D
I LOVE ADRIEL! (and luke too)
note: anyway peeps, fsc will only resume after block test end! everyone must jia you kk! good luck! :D
11:58 PM
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oops!!
Yeah!!tink we FSC having retreat nxt wk rite??haha..look 4ward 2 it..bt..i'm borke!!oh my..tis is so so bad..haha..duno will hv enuff money 2 watch movie ant..=x..haha..bt i'll try..hee..go watch movie n hv lunch b4 goin back 2 FSC 4 the games session!hee..sound so exciting..its time 2 reward ourselves abit le ba..hee..so nice..=)hope we'll hv fun..shld take more photos den??tat'll b great..haha..ya lor..den can add on 2 the FSC collection bklet ma..or else abit like pathetic leh..hehe..k la..tink i gtg mug le!!jialat lor..block test comin!!i'm so paranoid over it sia..haha..so,every1 jiayou 2!!=)
12:09 PM
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bloggin abt last 3 sessions
08/02/06
oh ya movie. we watched cat-in-the-hat. the kids were abit restless during the first half but as the show got more interestin in the second half, they started to get glued to their seats. guess kids watch movie for graphics.. not dialogue.. so it was rather dissappointin because it'll mean they din catch the morals part which was explained at the start. but the activity room looked really cinema-like wif the lights off, aircon at a lower degree and snacks for all. evaluation: it guess it's rather meaningless to organise movie sessions juz so the kids and enjoy but not benefit from it. guess we must source for movies wif lesser dialogue n stronger messages.
15/02/06
badminton day~!
was hlpin aloysious wif his math n got a kick out of bettin wif him the right answers. itz like.. he was so super confident. but he obviously lost so he owes mi a lollipop. or snacks. =p but was juz jokin abt it.
den we went out to play badminton beside a GARBAGE DUMP. ha.. it rrly stinks when u go too near it. blehx. oh ya e wind was rrly strong.. so it became more of a hit-e-shuttlecock-n-pick-it-up game. they looked rather disappointed at the fact tt e game could not be played properly but u can also see their excitement when the shuttlecock flies toward them. i rrly think we shld organize another badminton game soon n in a better environment. ^^
after e session ended, aloy went off w/o his brother~! so mean~!! n we saw chang rui's dog. super super cute. we were all fussin over it. haha. hope the dog likes the attention as much as we like it.
22/02/06
had a lil mix-up abt programmes so it became a studyin day instead of studyin cum activities day. went to aunty serena's classroom (consistin of chang rui, aloysious, nigel, adriel n zhi hao) and was caught right in e middle of a dicussion of punishments b/w aunty serena n e students. too bad we couldnt come up wif constructive punishments. but it was decided by nigel tt offenders shld stand on their chairs n complete their work.
ironically.. nigel was e first offender and there he was, standin on his chair (bein taller den mi) n tryin to write in his science answers while proppin his paper wif aloy's sci txt bk. took over as adriel's spellin teacher when maurise had to leave early n had quite a time tryin to get his attention. aloy was amusin adriel wif some magic tricks n adriel was far more interested in tellin mi abt the tricks den learnin his spellin. sighx..
chang rui n aloy kept tellin mi e same joke over n over n over n over.. lolz.. kids get amused by everything.. and as time passed.. one by one they started to leave. the room became emptier n i guess tt stressed adriel out. then he started tearin. (at least not cryin. =x ) so i came up wif another spellin mtd n i'm SO GLAD tt worked becoz his tears din flow down n he got all his words right. like finally~! but.. he was still very glum after tt. i feel so sad.. =(
- joce -
6:45 PM
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most of the kids left by the time we got back to the fsc. as usual, we gave out tidbits as a form of reward for the day. the badminton session was more of like a "anyhow play" session. maybe we should carry out a session where we really teach them the basic skills of playing badminton next time so that at least the kids will learn something and not just simply have fun. okay that's all...
-Carin-
7:23 PM
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movie session was alright ba...think the kids did enjoy the show. the group was rather small today though. nigel was super well behaved today. so surprising. guess it's coz his buddies weren't there so he didn't display his rowdy self.
okay...that's all i have to say. very tired...
-Carin-
6:54 PM
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tang yuan!!
on the 22nd, it was dong zhi!!e winter solstice festival..hee..we decided to make tang yuanz wif e kids..e flour we used smelled so nice..gt vanilla flavour de lor..haha..so special..it was e f1st time i tried 2 knead dough k..so proud of myself..haha..den joyce went 2 chop up e sugar cane sugar..hee..singying looked so motherly den..liping oso lor..i tk my hat off u 2 sia..hee..future hsewife..hee..e pink tang yuans were nicer..haha..coz more of them got sugar in it..den e kids r so creative n cute lor..got wat,patrick design,mountain design,egg,all sorts of tinks u noe..haha..n when eating dey still demanded 2 find their v own design..liping had a hard time servin all e small little nightmares..haha..bt it taste overall ok ba..thou alot of them sae ittasted bland..bt i guess some of them ate mentos b4 tat..so its like not sweet at all ba..hee..im still quite proud of myself leh..haha..=P at least charmyne liked e tang yuanz alot..=) we also had a quiz wif e kids..we played musical chairs..e kids like all so coward lidat dun dare to jus move around..bt jus keep close to e chairs,makin sure they hv a seat each..haha..loius was dere 4 e session oso..=)end up marcus n hena answered it wrongly..den we didnt do e forfeits due 2 time constraints..haha..so dey jus each answered another question n all went 2 eat tang yuanz le..hahaha...
tday,(23rd), was e captain's ball competetion..joce n singying was e referee,i was e judge,yawen was 2 make sure dey r not out..haha..i tink i super slack lor..singying so poor tink..alws surrounded by e kids 4 snatch 4 e ball..haha..n joce jus blew e whistle..haha..cool image u had dere though..hee..i jus keep track of e time ba..hee..e score 4 e 1st half was 8 to 3..boys were leading..den 2nd half, e score was 11 to 7..e gals end up catchin up v fast..i was proud of them 2..at least no vulgarities..n dey played well lor..hee..quite happy 2..=)ya lor..so mayb will hv 2 wait til nxt yr b4we get to c e noisy bunch of hyper kids again ba?=Phee..
San San
9:35 PM
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met maurise aftr work to go get ICE CREAM~!!! and yea was lookin at all the flavours.. yum yum. but of coz we couldnt juz grab everythin coz 1. they can finish and 2. no money (slc budget)
in e end got vanilla choc stberry (3-in-1) n choc mint. 4 flavours. cool~
plus bought wafer sticks to go wif e ice-cream. i like e wafer sticks. very nice~! shall go buy it one fine day n chomp it down as i watch tv or do hmewrk. (holiday assignment~!!!!!)
e day started wif catchin. e kids are crazy~! had a headache juz listenin to them scream. lolz. n it was quite scary coz they're everywhr n movin. and screamin. had a no noise policy but guess it juz cant work. kids will b kids.
den went on to rules of capt ball. kids were abit restless. i was juz enjoyin myself coz i could sit down. ha.. had a tirin day ok.. wakin up at 5.. nid slp~!
played capt ball in e activity room.. come to think of it.. they enjoyed it more in e room den out in e field (we played in e field on 14/12) think coz they get to e ball more often. luke was so cute. he was seriously enjoyin himself playin e game wrongly. i had a rrly rrly gd laugh. he was juz so kawaii.
had ice-cream after tt. ^^ choc mint~! one of my favs. thx to san san maurise n liping for bein waitress of e day. had fun tt session. but would haf more fun if i wasnt so tired.. sighx.
- joce -
10:53 PM
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wakaka! my turnn!
hehehe.. the last session is really great! although i had no voice, i still had to shout at the kids but i'm very very happy that they listened!!! wahahahaa.. that is a major accomplishment! :D we start the day off with 'catching' and i had a very good laugh, especially at Luke! he's so adorable that words simply cannot describe. here's a picture of him!
although there were some hiccups when maurise was trying to explain the rules of captain's ball to the kids, i'm glad it didn't turn out too bad. hehehe.. maurise, jia you!
the last (and the most anticipated) programme is the ice cream treat!! all the kids (including all the mentors) went nuts when we saw the ice cream! hahaha.. everyone was so happie! but poor me, the president cum maid of the day, haha!
trying to get their attention is still a major obstacle which all of us are trying to overcome but i'm sure we will achieve that soon! the kids are really excited everytime we reached fsc because we always play games with them! each session has brought me different kind of achievement and i am really enjoying myself with the kids! i'm looking forward to next year's session at fsc! all the fsc members rule! :D
Li Ping <3
12:17 AM
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so cool!!
maurise den went on to introduce e game Captain's Ball to e kids..she reali did look like a teacher u noe..=P so serious when teaching..haha..n i sat beside zhi hao wif joce on his other side..he kept talkin n talkin 2 me..haha..i tink he already noe wat e game is abt n no matter hw hard i try to make him listen 2 maurise,it jus simply didn't happen..haha..he kepy tellin me abt a story abt bombs.."*BomB!!!*hahahha.....,*Bomb!!*hahaha..." tis was wat he told me..its weird rite..haha..he jus finds joy hving some1 to listen to him..bt when maurise asked him to stop talkin n asked him 2 keep quiet in change of ice-cream(which was e most enjoyable part 4 me..=p), he started throwin temper n sae tat he cant eat ice-cream anyway..if he wans,he can jus go buy it himself..as maurise continued 2 explain abt e game, he gt so unhappy n jus sae tat he already noe e game long ago,y bother repeating all tis stuff..it was quite a prob bt i didnt noe wat to do 2 make him less angry..den he jus left after tat..b4 he left,he went outside e activity room at e window n knocked..i knew it was him..bt still,he has already left..
den we went on to practice n play out e game!!luke was e captain of e team..it was so so cute..at first i stil tot he couldnt catch e ball..bt den..it happened several times..!!it was so cute tat liping couldnt stop takin he photo!!hee..n liping was an all time fav of zi wei..haha..kept hoppin onto her back n make her piggy-back her..end up hannah oso wanaed it..haha..liping mus b such a welcomed mother os grandma in future!!ahahha..=P
moving on,we went in2 e fav part of our session!!ice-cream party!!haha..so cool..maurise n i became waitresses n served e kids wif ice-cream..while joce,a real waitress,is said 2 hv knocked off frm work,did notink!!n ordered me somemore!!haha..choc pepermint rite???haha..after tat i took vanilla 4 myself!!so nice!!*Yum Yum*hee..after all those me n liping went to wash e cups n spoons...so wei da rite..hahahha..we provide service 2 e rest k..haha...bt liping,u reali look like a housewife oso leh..hee..so cool..hee..den after everytink..we were all exhausted bt contented tat everytink went well..hee..look 4ward 2 e camp even thou only like gt me joce n yawen..haha..ya..n e briefing is on e dae b4 i go 4 my holi!!hee..hope i finish packin le den go lor..hee..nxt yr we'll hv 2 work 2gether wif those bunch of kids!!haha..hope we'll b able to handle them by then!!hee..tat's all!!^_^
San San
7:18 PM
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joce is tired..
lemme recall wad happened last wk.. ah.. it was sad too.. haha.
initial plan was to do collage and explain capt ball rules. so there we were tearin up magazines for the kids when we found puzzles. happiest moment of the day.
kids streamed in and objected to the collage idea. (well not all but there were a few violent objections) so itz like.. rather den force ourselves upon them, might as well suit to them n reinforce a better r/s. so we played games n games n games.
oh ya.. the kids tt day were more rowdy den usual. i really want nigel to stop acting so hostile. san san got hurt even before the games started. i really wanted to confiscate the rubber bands but bleh. no authority. (another way of sayin is tt e kids do not fear us)
basically we played wad they wanted to play. so started off with crocodile. it was quite fun bein the person hu says start. coz itz like they can only start playin when u say so. (sense of authority) if only it applies in real life.. like if i ask them to keep quiet, they'll immediately do so.
next had tt advance forward game. played it wif them before but tt time was wif chairs n time was the essence. this time, slight modification whereby chairs were replaced by hands n luck was the essence. apparently they haf to win a ''rock, paper, scissors'' game to advance.
then we played ''murderer''. had quite a hard time explainin to them the game. (too intellectual for them?? lolz~! juz jokin.. they're smart) instead of usin cards, i had to substitute wif my hands. so went around tappin them. (1=murder, 2=detective, 3=victim) but becoz i came up wif it on e spot i yself got confused. thankfully sing ying was there to remind mi of hu i tapped or wad i did. den came the really funny part, the kids told each other wad were their roles when e objective of the game was to find out each other's roles. sighx..
last game was dog n bone. hannah was the ''number giver'' because she refuses to play wif them (started wif the murderer game) and wif time the kids took over the whole game. modifyin the rules totally. halfway thru zhi hao left (misunderstandin. though zhi hao was wrong but i tot nigel was more at fault)
i didnt stay on to see how they dealed wif nigel but instead went to see how zhi hao was doin. kids will b kids.. at first he was really angry but once u get him started on a topic he'll rat on n forget abt his anger. which he did. ratted abt his sch life until he had to go home. he really talks alot. like wow.
went back to e activity room whr we agreed tt today's kids do NOT deserve the rewards but gave it to them anyway. i juz enjoyed throwin the chocs around. e way their eyes follow the chocs is so fun to look at. kids will b kids..
ice-cream party nxt session. woho~!
12:48 PM
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oh my...
we came up wif other games..we asked if dey wan play a,e,i,o,u..n dey all noe bt dun wan play..den we decided 2 play crocodile..as raised by Esther..haha..it was similar 2 cat n mice ba..bt becoz of tis game, Hilda accidentally hit Zi Hao in his specs n made him unhappy..later,Nigel oso accidentally hurt Hena..all e kids like so accident prone..haha..bt i reali gt v v pissed off when Nigel got rude n overboard when he kept commenting tat Hena had an extra finger..i jus couldn't tk it..=x..haha..den we played murderer..we sat dwn n Jocelyn went round tappin 2 indicate who is wat role..bt as usual,e uncoorperative Nigel,was nt obeying to wat we said..he did nt keep his eyes close n knew who was wat..he spoilt e fun!!*ArGh!!!* so frustrating!i tink e rest of e pple will agree to me de lor..haha..i'm mean..bt tats true!n i sat beside Esther..she squeezed my hand so hard, tat i swear i wont wana sit nxt 2 her lor!! i was wearin a ring n she still!!*ArGh!!!* i jus felt like killin her!!!=x i'm jus so straight-forward u c..haha..
den finally,we pulled thru n survived til 550....it was such a "long n painful" journey..haha..i jus wished 2 send dem hm..iwas totally exhausted frm all those shoutin..den we gave out e coupons 2 Cheryl n Tatiana..Tatiana's such a nice name..same as tat top model's name..=P sweet n v v obedient gal..hw i wish everyone was like her..haha..
overall,i tink mayb tis wk becoz we had less pple,n all those more vocal pple r gone...our life was so miserable..haha..n we need 2 work on gettin their attention..as usual..haha..n i tink..we hv 2 plan tinks tat interest e kids..nt tat collage nt gd k..Li Ping dun angry..haha..bt jus, dun tink dey'll sit dwn quietly n do art work ba..ya lor..dey r v active..so..haha..ya..n 4 captain's ball rite, on e dae of competition,its actually jus among those pple who actuali come dwn on tat dae..so it like, dey dun hv a specific team of pple participating in e game..so..i tink its v v diff 4 us 2 teach or coach them..so..i duno hw oso..jus mayb play wif them lor..ya..=)tday i like write super duper long rite..floodin..haha..paiseh!!=P reali emotional trauma 4 me..sobz..haha..no la..tat's all! bt still,i look 4ward 2 nxt wk wor!hee..nitez!~^_^
San San
10:33 PM
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The original plan for today's workshop was collage but the kids expressed that they weren't really interested in collage. They were more keen on playing games instead. Well, i guess kids are kids. They seem to want play, play and more play. So we racked our brains for a while before we decided on playing...a game. I forgot what game was it liao. From what i can remember (which is very little because i have a really poor memory), we played "Murderer", "Scissors Paper Stone" and "Dog and Bone".
Probably due to the small group of us present there, we weren't able to really control the kids. Their noise level was high and it was hard to seek their cooperation before and during the games. It was quite disappointing to hear a boy from the group criticising a girl. But then we must not forget that they are still children and 不懂事. But still...it gets a little on your nerve when everyone is in their own world while you and your pals try to pull them back to earth.
There were quite a few incidents today. There were cases of specs being hit, arm being scratched, kid being accused of playing unfairly, badminton racket being thrown up and down AND rubber bands being shot here and there. See? Today is a bad day...
From today's session, i've come to realise that we do need sufficient people around to make sure that the kids don't get out of hand. 1:2 is definitely a traumatising experience!
Carin
10:17 PM
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why always rain on thursday?? can't play badminton.. so spoilsport.. dunno when then we can play badminton.. anyway.. thursday's programme.. quite fun.. i like the soccer one.. and i think the children enjoyed it.. although there were some problems here and there.. but i think the boys really ennjoyed it.. the skinny boy boy with spectacles (is it zhihao?or is there such a person with this name?) he was telling me about those soccer terms which i dun understand during the game.. haha..
the captain's ball was quite fun.. haha.. i enjoyed it although i was just the captain.. the children are really rough in this game.. snatching and shouting.. then some had sore-throat in the end.. but i think liping and maurise are on par with them.. haha.. oh yah.. first time medic come into use.. haha.. so proud of myself.. haha.. but i'm not sure whether hannah's wound will get better coz only cleanse the wound with tissue paper.. hmm... hopefully will be better..
after the last game 'the cat and mice'.. when we round up the session and went off.. i think i saw a tinge of sadness on the children's face.. hmm.. they seemed a little disappointed.. but at least i think when they took the initiative to bid us goodbye, we succeeded in making it into a joyous day..
yup yup.. and i think san san did a good job last thurs.. keep it up, girl! that's quite it..
sing ying
10:18 PM
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Sorry for this late reflection. I totally forgot abt it ... Hmm...the session was really a success! The kids really enjoy themselves.Although we have few kids but it is still very fun..Hilda,one of the girls even asked her parents to pick her up later! I overheard her conversation on the phone. Haha... I tink we all really enjoyed ourselves,rite?? The games were fun,esp the chair soccer. It suits the smaller as well as the bigger kids and not too violent..good!!
I think the only prob was we ourselves are quite confuse abt the game and oso separating the kids into grps .. Or is it i m the only one blur abt the game ?? Lolx....
I think medic is really necessary for each session as well! Rite? haha... juz like henna(spell lidat??) got hurt tt dae, and her wound is bleeding... So the kids can be quite rough sometimes, and medic is really necessary.
Tink we should some enriching stuff for the kids next time. So far we have alwaes been plsying games with them only. Perhaps we should try movie screening juz like maurise has suggested??
I think tts all.And i muz say i really enjoy all the sessions so far!! Cya all for the next session!!
6:31 PM
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this is maurise
(sorry..so late then blog..=x)
Although it rain again, i think the programme on thursday was really wonderful!Shan and Carin did a really good job manz! Not only in the programme itself, but also on the proposal! i was really amazed by the proposal the two of them sent me...manz..is so oragnized and at one look i see the whole picture! hahahz! thanks for all the hardwork!
i really had a great time playing and interacting with the children, they can be a little rough at times though. I still Enjoy playing with them! Hahaz...suddenly duno what to write...i think i really got a lot to say...manz...
this week i was glad that the participation level from the mentors..as well as the children are rather high!
Oh ya...i think..it's sort of my fault that i didn explain well enough for the start of the game for the leaders during briefing time...REaLLy SORRy friends!!! i will keep this in mind...next time will make sure briefing is done well!
Another group of people i REaLLy wanna affirm is the medics...sing ying & yawen! really wanna applaud for the care and concern that they constantly carry for the children. Can really see that they will go all out to look for ways to let Hanna feel better! thanks manz!
Li ping is good! she had shown her extra-enthusiasm that the children also wanna follow...perhaps i should also increase my enthu level..hehez...
anyway...joce make a very good point about the chocs thingy...
yeahz! Once again...our worshop is successful!
pleez check UPDATE for announcements!
seeya!
maurise
11:56 AM
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this is joce
like e previous session, badminton was cancelled due to rain. and because exams are over our session started earlier den usual.
started with san san's game of ''follow e leader''. it was rather new for e kids and it can be seen that they really enjoyed it.
so my first lesson of the day was: ''kids want novelty''.
den we moved on to maurise's game of chair soccer. ah.. really really messy. as i was standin there watchin the others tryin to explain the game to the kids, i could feel the tension. basically itz coz we ourselves arent rrly sure of the game. so our confusion well.. confused the kids. and it wasnt easy settling them. they want the game started but so many doubts are unanswered. too many voices at once. it was chaotic. was on the verge of screamin for everyone to juz sit down and re-explain the game but i realize i myself might confuse them further. joyce (e teacher) ''rescued'' us by questionin the kids off their roles. itz kinda like.. instead of tellin them wad to do, u get them to tell u. this way, itz clearer.
e game commenced and it was really fun. in fact.. rather violent coz e kids were too excited and some resorted to standin up. (which is a foul)
i got freaked out by nigel (he was the goal keeper while i was e defender) coz wen i took my place beside him, he did those scary faces n noise that rugby players do to scare their opponents. and when the ball came, he stood up n defended the goal viciously. i feared for my leg. lolz..
to me.. i think itz not gd that we cant control the kids. perhaps we can be more assertive but that would strain the relationship. *headache..*
i rrly cant come up with any ideas.. if we dun drag them out of the game when they foul, they'll juz continue and climb all over our heads. but if we do, we'll spoil the fun and perhaps coz them to dislike us. sighx..
our third game was captain's ball. i like that game. =)
oh n we're to train dem in tt game, cool~
was the goalkeeper but i forgot if we won or not, was too dizzy to rmb. plus i was so high up, itz scary too. and the kids below made mi feel even higher. haha.
last game was san san's game of cat n mice. interestin. made mi felt like i was playin a video game. the kids durin this session were very active. i was glad louis wasnt arnd. he's even more energetic. i dun think i had the energy then to handle such pro-activeness.
ended e session wif rewards. bought m&m for them. hey i had a reason n i think itz a gd reason. wanna hear? ha.. tt's coz i wanted to buy smethin that looks "ample" (kids.. to them e more e merrier) and also i had to get smethin tt wouldnt melt. (i hated gettin melted chocs wen i was younger)
juz sad tt we din get to play badminton.. now e shuttlecocks i bought are wasted.. =(
10:57 PM
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the coMmuNity!!--!!As a tEam, we'LL work toGethEr to seRve
i got to know more abt the kids n they can reali get out of hand easily de lor..haha..kids easily get into the "world of their own"......amazin rite..den dey can jus dun care abt us de lor..i tried "screamin" at dem..bt i tink..haha..ya..n Carin!!!i tink u 2 gentle liao leh..so like 'tofu'!!..=x! hee..bt sometimes mus b more firm on them lor..tink we r already gettin their attention le ba..yupyup..i oso agree on sittin in btwn dem..its gd lor..so mus constantly learn ba..=)
The games are v fun as a whole lor..may we can try other educational stuff in the followin wks instead of jus games all e time..bt dey hvin holis rite..haha..captain's ball rules mus check it out lor..hee...den mayb we all brainstorm 2gether on hw to put across e rules to e kids in a clearer manner n keep them disciplined..As a whole, i'll try to improve on e way a get e kids attention la..mus learn from liping n maurise..pro lor..(Liping! mus keep ur voice..! u v imptnt k...?hee..=p)
We can oso tink abt wat rewards other than sweets n tinks to eat ba..coz like everytime sweets nt fun?=x brainstorm!!hee..ya..all e best to liping n alfred in plannin nxt wk's activities k?=) nitez!~ ^_^
12:02 AM
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my first "real" experience
Today is my first official visit to Pasir Ris FSC! Was rather disappointed initially because it was raining cats and dogs and our badminton game has to be postponed - to who-knows-when. haha.. Luckily, San San and Maurise managed to come up with some indoor games for all of us to get involved and ENJOY!
Our first game was chair soccer. Basically, the kids and us (some of the FSC members) are to be seated on the chairs and we are positioned into defenders and strikers! It was really fun and i helped my team to score a few goals! (To Maurise: Sorry if i'm too violent! Haha!) It was a fun game which i managed to know a few kids better, like Henna, John and Niger. Kids like Henna, Zihao and Niger were so excited that they cannot keep their butts on the chair! We had to tell them again and again! haha.. Although, Henna and Niger had a small argument in between the game but after talks with both of them, they are back to good terms!
The second game is Captain's ball! Oh man, the kids are more violent this time round! They will run and snatch away the opponents' beanbag no matter how far or how tall they are! At some junction, they tried to snatch it so hard that we have to implement the game of "Scissors, Paper, Stone" between the 2 teams and award the team who wins with the beanbag. This is the only way to ease anymore tension between them, haha. Sadly, my group didn't win the match but I'm sure all of them enjoyed very much!
Our last and final game is Cat and Mice. I was not involved in the game because i still don't understand the rationale and objective of the game. haha.. sound blur but that's me! hehe..
Today's session is truly an enriching one for me because i managed to know more kids and their pensonalities. However, as Maurise said during our debriefing, we are rather shaky and messy in the beginning. Capturing the kids attention is also another area which we have to improve. I've already lost 50% of my voice and I hope this will not happen next week! Haha.. And i'm planning next week's activities! Hope to get some interesting ideas.. Till then, see you guys and take care all! :D
11:07 PM
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The following game was captain ball or captain's ball or whichever spelling that is correct. Sorry for my poor language. The kids ran around while we (SLC people) were the defenders and goalkeeper. The children are young indeed, but they are definitely not inexperienced when it comes to games.
The last game for the day was "Cat and Mice". The kids are too fast for you to handle. They are actually pretty agile and alert. Like always, the session ended with the distribution of coupons and candy. It's still pretty difficult to get their attention, especially when they are all excited and hyped up about the game. Got a pack of M&Ms from Jocelyn when the session ended. Nice! Yum...
Carin
10:34 PM
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last thursday, it rained.. argh~! couldn't play badminton.. a bit sad.. the badminton rackets were a bit bulky.. couldn't find a place to leave them in my bag.. so it was quite troublesome.. haha.. then was late for the meeting.. so sorry..
anyway.. back to last thursday's workshop.. it was quite fun.. haha.. jocelyn did a great job.. as for me.. haiz.. didn't do much to help out.. sorry jocelyn.. but anyway.. back to the children.. although there were only six of them, they were still a bit out of hand.. noisy bunch.. but they play hard too.. there wasn't even enough sweets to go round as prizes.. next time must buy more to prevent this from happening and as well as for us to munch on.. hahax.. think we need some other rewards also.. maybe stationery or some chocolates.. then the kids will have more options to choose from..
the 'leader', louis.. haha.. can't forget him.. got that 'don't mess with me' look.. but he's quite friendly lah.. actually, i realise one thing.. when i spoke chinese to the children, they will want to communicate more with me.. so yah.. maybe next time can try talking in chinese.. think they feel more at ease with that..
sing ying
9:52 PM
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maurise's reflections
Thursday was really fun...hahahz..just couldn't stop laughing. i reach there quite early so i thought of helping the kids with school work....HOWEVER the "challenging problems" that Hanah wants me to help her with was indeed ChaLLenGinG!! i couldn't do them...perhaps i was really really bad with maths..i just switch off when i see maths..hahah!
Anyway yesterday was a rainy day..so badminton was cancelled... i was kinda sad..anyway we came up with a back-up plan. we decided to play telematch and pictionary(or is it called charade?)..and a game suggested by the children-Blind Mice!
I was watching the whole programme and realize that the most important thing that we should do is have sweets in hand and keep talking to them!Although it was a small group,i think we are able to know them even deeper. i had a great time running around and laughing..LOL really fun manz!
the programme that day was in-charge by jocelyn and sing ying...i think they really did a very good job! *applause* the rest have also coordinated VERY well with them. hmmz...i think that's the power of real team work bahz.... if not how would our workshop be successful rite? hehez!
Maurise
10:30 PM
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But today only got 6 kids. So the group very small. But I think we are coping better with a smaller group of kids . Perhaps,we had not yet have experience to deal with a big group of kids. Lets take a step at a time, and I believe we can do it better and better!! Hahaz..
Btw...the kids were really cute when we played the blindfolded game.(I forgot its name).Haha,one was rolling on the floor and they were quite "violent" too!! LOLx..
Anw.. I really enjoyed myself.. :)
Yawen
9:02 PM
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joce speakin..
i kinda freaked out when i saw e clouds. like die.. i forgot to plan e wet-weather programme. maurise saves e day~! suggestions of indoor games were thrown n we decided on telematch n pictionary.
e starting was a FAILURE~! i'm SO sry. i really din noe wad to say to them. itz like.. u're EXPECTED to entertain them with what u say in a way. because u're older n more experienced. so there they r looking at u n anticipating what haf u got to say. i'm hopeless in start-ups. booo..
fortunately things picked up as we moved along. had fun~! i decided to haf a boys vs. girls match coz i reckoned they will b more willing to play this way. coz frm my experience wif e kids at e centre, e gender diversification n competitiveness r rather strong. though we shld try n nullify e prob.. i think itz too soon to start. once our bonds strengthen we shld be in a better position to handle it.
girls won e match. yay~! louis was e fastest. i kinda broke him down le.. as in.. i realized he's acting so mischievously coz e boys look up to him. him being e oldest n perhaps coolest. resulting in him having this 'i cant lose' mentality. but it was super funny seeing him being shy when we commented he can draw really well. lolz~!
nxt up was pictionary. super headache~! i had to think wad to ask them to draw on e spot n e response i keep getting was 'huh i dunno how to draw' but in e end every1 did pretty well n e contestants could arrive at e answer rather quickly. amazing..
e last game was suggested by e kids. blind mice. gdness.. can tell they really enjoyed it by their screams. it was really tirin runnin arnd. so glad we din agree to block catchin. i'll die of fatigue. maybe we shld stop givin them sweets. itz like providing them wif more energy to drive us crazy. but what else can we gif.. ...
i'm so tired.. sch tml. nitex~
12:48 AM
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san san
haha..side track..sweets might b temptin..bt pple like Louis might nt appreciate or wish to get sweets..mayb after we run out of sweets, we shld tink of other rewards..
Games shld b well planned 4 e session, for both gd n wet weather..in case sometink like tday happens. Its gd to reach at 4 everytime in case there r any last min changes, we still hv time to make arrangements..ya..haha..i'm lookin 4ward 2 e nxt session..coz its led by carin n me!haha..i shld den do my best n make sure everytink runs well den..=)Jiayou for Jocelyn n Sing Ying!^-^
10:34 PM
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Carin
8:28 PM
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so we gathered in "teen haven". itz a SUPER nice room by the way. i wun mind stayin there. itz soo colourful. oh and air-conditioned wif plenty of sofas n cushions. ^^
and once the kids were done with their studies, it was OUR turn.
had ice breaker at first. i seriously cant remember some of their names and i totally cannot remember anyone's hobby. that's bad.. but hey, first "lesson" so itz pardonable. lolz.
next we had blow-wind-blow. actually, we're at an advantage.. longer legs, faster movement. we should haf strongly encouraged the guy who lost (forgot his name) to sing. it'll be much more fun.
following was story telling. the kids are POWER. we were situated in the middle of the room and somehow, towards the end, we became cornered against the wall. Rewards do drive kids crazy. but that's kinda bad.. itz like.. we're giving them a motive to behave. but oh well, what else? they're still young afterall.
Lastly we had dog-n-bone. it was funny seeing how the kids devised strategies to counter attack. the guys used 'shock tactics' lolz. that was rather entertaining. but i realized.. in FSC, the guys n girls are somewhat segregated from each other and they are very competitive in nature.. think we should try to teach them (esp the guys) that winning (and rewards) is NOT everything.
let's hope during the next session, the teachers (who were over seeing the discipline) would not have to scream as much.
finally i can go n zz now. ^^
- joce -
12:25 PM
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Yawen
11:02 PM
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Today was really fun and exciting for me! Story-telling wasn't as difficult as i thought..hehez! It's really a challenging task for me to keep the children's attention. Nonetheless i think me and jocelyn did it by rewarding the children with sweets. Man, that's the power of sweets and rewards..hahhaz!Although this maybe the first official session with the kids, everyone of us look perfectly steady with the kids! hahaz..great job everyone!!
There were 3 teachers to help us supervise the children, however there were more stress than relief..hahhaz! Rather careful when putting up all the programme, hoping not to screw up the workshop. the children were very enthusiastic and cooperative most of the time, except that they can be very very noisy..hehez!
Anyway during debrief with Joyce in the nice comfy volunteer room(it was really cozy and beautiful, there were food too!! Hahaz!), we were all glad that everything worked well. she affirmed us that we were courages...hahahz when handling those kids. felt encouraged by her affirmation.
THings which i thought could have improve is that we should spread ourselves out among the students instead of sitting together during games time.
Overall, it was really a nice and enjoyable "first time" with them!
Maurise
10:43 PM
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Carin
9:54 PM
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