Primary Prep - essential items to prepare for the big day

My oh my oh my…. It’s exactly 12 days to the start of school. Exactly 12 days before EV starts her Primary One journey! Panic mode! 

Well, I think this mummy is more anxious than panic. Anxious because her little baby is growing up too fast, as I had shared here and here.

Anyhow, what has to come has to come, and I’ve been busy preparing her for the new journey, preparing her room and getting all her things prepared.

Here’s a list of what I’m putting together.

Ergonomic backpack

So every backpack claims to be ergonomic, but I think the real test is when books are in and the kid has to carry it around. While buying this, we had a few backpacks in mind. I stuffed several books inside and got EV to carry the various backpacks around. Doing this actually emulates the actual weight that EV might have to carry when she heads to school, and in my opinion, is a better gauge of how ergonomic the backpack is and how comfortable it is to carry. 

EV decided on the backpack with a better lumbar support and is more comfortable to her lower back. And of course, she chose pink, because they didn’t have purple.

Easy to open pencil box

Pencils & erasers, with additional for standby

Sharpener & ruler

An easy to open pencil box is, in my opinion, quite important. On one hand, the box (in our case, it’s more like a pouch) needs to be secure enough such that the things inside don’t drop out easily. On the other hand, it needs to be able to be opened wide enough, so that it’s easy for the kid to reach in and search for what she needs. And on top of that, it has to be extremely light, so it doesn’t add unnecessary weight to her back pack.

Pencils and erasers, sharpener and ruler. I selected a sharpener with a simpler and flatter design, so that it’s easy to fit into her pencil box. Extra pencils and erasers are always good, as I foresee many misplaced ones.

Pencil caps

This is to put over the pencils, so they don’t stain the pencil box. I foresee this item being misplaced quite often too, so I got them from Daiso. $2 for a pack of 18. Very good value.

Wallet or coin pouch

Some recommend getting a wallet in the kid’s favourite character. I’ve tried looking for one, but none of the designs seem suitable. I mean, all have slots for notes and cards, but really tiny coin pouches. 

At Primary One, I think the kid might need something with a bigger coin pouch. So, we opted for a coin pouch from Daiso instead. EV chose this one. It’s big enough for coins with a separate compartment for putting notes. But importantly, it can open wide so it’s easy for her to search for her coins, rather than keep digging for it.

Drawstring bags or plastic zipper pouches

Sometimes, the kid might have to go to a different classroom for a particular lesson. So instead of her having to search for that subject’s books in her bags, respective subject books can be put into various drawstring bags or plastic zipper pouches. The bags or pouches can be colour coded, so she just picks the correct bag or pouch for that subject and her pencil box and go.

Small notebook

Some schools provide journal, some don’t. Whatever it is, a small notebook is useful to let the kid take down homework, or teacher’s instructions. The good old small blue ones are light and handy, which can be bought from Popular for just under $3 for a pack of 10.

Plastic wrappers and name labels for school books

I think this is quite important to help identify belongings, which can be easily misplaced, and for protecting the books.

Hair accessories

In the permitted school colours. Otherwise, just keep to black, which is an extremely safe colour. I also got black hair pins, to keep stray hairs at bay.

Water bottles, at least one on standby

This is another item that can get lost easily, so we have one on standby. Both are labelled with the kid’s name and class very clearly.

Analog watch

This is helpful in honing the kid’s time telling skills. One that also shows the time in digital format is beneficial too.

Lunch box

One that’s light and not too bulky is a good choice, because the last thing we want to do is to add unnecessary weight to the kid’s bag.

A good pair of white shoes, at least one on standby

A comfortable, light, easy to wash pair of white shoes is what we opted for. We are also going to buy another one before the holidays end, just to be on the safe side.

If you have a child heading to Primary One next year, I hope this list is helpful. Fret not! There are still 12 days to prepare!

If you have any other tips on what to prepare for Primary One, do share!

Do check out our earlier Primary Prep Series, and do stay tuned for more.

Preparing for Primary One - inculcating values
Preparing for Primary One - inculcating life skills

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Thank you for reading. If you like this post, please do connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so I can share our fun adventures, thoughts and exploits with you. 

5 Cooking tips for quick and no-fuss meals (when the babysitters are away)

December is usually the time when I clear my leave, so I can spend more time with the kids. We didn’t plan any long extended trip this year, just a short getaway to Malacca. The rest of the time, I sent EV and AA for inline skating and Mandarin speech & drama lessons at community centres, where such lessons are priced more economically. 

This is also usually the time when the usual babysitters who look after EV and AA while I’m at work take their break. So for the last couple of weeks, I’ve been solo parenting throughout the day, until DaddySay returns home from work in the early to late evening. 

I must say that I enjoy this hectic experience, of being able to be with the kids the whole day, caring for them, cooking for them, guiding them in their work and play, guiding them in little ways to be independent, and do the housework.

Here, I’d like to share some cooking tips, which I felt have been helpful.

Plan ahead and get the ingredients early

I try to make sure that think ahead and plan what to cook, at least one day before. I’d check that I have the necessary ingredients. If I don’t, I’d bring the kids with me to the nearby wet market, or plan a lunch date with the kids to the nearest mall to dine and visit the supermarket. 

Sometimes, I try to use the same ingredient for two meals. For example, I used a 600g piece of pork loin for two meals. Half of it, I sliced and stir fried with vegetables for dinner, and the other half, I cut into cubes for fried rice the next day. I prepared everything beforehand, and so on the day when I cooked fried rice, it was extremely convenient as I only needed to take the marinated cut meat out of the fridge, and then I could begin cooking.

Defrost frozen meat the night before

Planning early also means that if frozen meat is being used, then it can be taken out the night before and set to defrost in room temperature. Then I can get up the next morning before the kids awake, and start the preparations early.

Prepare the ingredients and marinate the meat early

I usually cut and marinate the meat in the morning after the meat has defrosted. Or if I had bought the meat the day before, then I would have prepared the meat the night before. This allows the meat to be better marinated, and, I hope, better tasting once I cook it. :)

I also try to get vegetables that are easy and quick to prepare, such as broccoli, cauliflower, chinese cabbage and so on. I would cut them early too, and leave them aside. So when cooking time arrives, I just need to toss them into the wok. The only ingredient that I usually prepare just before cooking is garlic, which I prefer to dice finely.

Opt for quick cooking methods such as stir frying, steaming, braising and oven roasting

I didn’t try anything adventurous during this period. It is hard to, I guess, when I’m the only one minding the kids. I needed to use quick cooking methods so that I can attend to them immediately if the need arises. 

Get the kids to help

This is definitely a great idea. It inculcates in them a sense of duty, responsibility and empathy for the one who is cooking, but it also helps in their finger dexterity. It’s simply another form of play for them. Who doesn’t like to play with food? 

These simple tips have helped me to multitask, and made cooking meals more manageable. They allowed me to spend more quality time with the kids, instead of just putting them in front of a screen. I hope you will find them useful too.

Here are some of the dishes that I prepared, using the above tips.

Braised pork with egg and stir fried vegetables (chinese cabbage and broccoli)

Minced pork with button mushrooms and stir fried vegetables (cauliflower and snow peas)

Honey chicken wings with steamed broccoli

Stir fried lean pork with chinese cabbage and carrot

Fried rice with edamame, diced pork, diced ‘lap cheong’ and egg

Stir fried diced pork with edamame and mushrooms

Cauliflower and tomato soup

Thank you for reading. If you have any cooking tips, do share!

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Thank you for reading. If you like this post, please do connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so I can share our fun adventures, thoughts and exploits with you. 

Primary Prep - inculcating life skills

My little big one is heading to Primary 1 officially in about a month’s time. As shared in this post, we had actually started preparing her early. Kiasu? Nah… more like worried parents who want their little darling to be mentally, emotionally and physically prepared. 

In our last post, we shared about inculcating values. Today, let us share a little about what we have done to inculcate life skills.

Establishing a routine and setting a timetable together

Establishing a routine is essential, and this is something that EV and I have been doing together for over a year now. I get her involved in planning out her activities for the day and for the week. Other than her designated school and homework time, she designates her free time with her favourite colour, pink. 

This, I tell her, is when she can have her ‘quiet time’, which has to come only after she has finished her homework, whether at our home, or at her grandfather’s home. She can do whatever she wants during this period, whether it’s read or play. 

The only activity that is not allowed is any activity that has to do with a screen. Yup, I keep quite a tight reign on my kids’ screen times. All for good reasons - to protect their eyes, to develop their focus and to encourage face-to-face communication. So usually, they either get no screen time, or they get about 30 minutes of screen time a day, the most. And by screen time, I mean anything that has a screen, TV and mobile included. 

This is an example of a timetable EV and I did together for this year. AA has his own version too. We usually do them on the computer using Excel, print it out, then put it up in a prominent place, for example her bedroom and the living room. So far, she’s been quite diligent to follow the timetable. Of course, she doesn’t always follow it exactly; there are days when she does slack a bit. However, overall, she has reached an understanding that she must do her homework first before she gets her ‘quiet time’. And that, I think, will put her in a good stead when she heads to formal education.

This month, we’ll have to work together to prepare her timetable for next year. I’m glad to say that she’s quite excited about it.

Managing money

‘Money money money, must be funny.’ Eh… not really. Not when you’re dealing with a little tiny being.

A while ago, DaddySay and I started discussing with EV about needs and wants, and guiding her in distinguishing what is a need and what is a want. We hope that with this knowledge, she can make wiser decisions when spending money, and not just do so without thinking.

Which brings us to an important part about managing money and making healthy money choices. Three key habits come to mind: saving for the future, sharing with others and having a spending plan.

We have a coin box from Daiso with several slots. We allocated some slots for each day of the week; this is where the daily pocket money goes. Then there are two other slots for Saving and Sharing. 

When EV receives her pocket money, she decides how much she wants to save, how much she wants to set aside for charity. She is also asked how much she plans to spend. Through this, she learns to set aside a certain percentage of her pocket money for saving, sharing and spending.

At the same time, she also learns to plan for her spending, understanding how to compare her intended expenses to her available pocket money, thereby deciding whether what she wants to spend money on is a need or a want, and then finally deciding whether to spend the money.

Here are two resources which I’ve found useful in coming up with ideas to teach financial literacy to EV: Making Smart Money Choices and Budget Basics. Best part, they are free!

Telling Time

This is quite crucial, so that EV is aware of the value of time, and how much time she has spent on doing a particular activity. At home, we use the analog clock and the digital clock to teach her how to tell the time. 

We also use Kumon books to help her. These colourful books teach the skill of time telling step by step, with each step increasing in complexity. The activities are repetitive, so that the kids’ skills are honed well. I think that the fact that the graphics in the Kumon book are so colourful and well designed, it makes it more interesting for kids to do the activities. EV does like doing these activities and it boosts her confidence; she is usually  so motivated that she wants to do them again and again.

Packing her own stuff

This year, she had to bring her own pencil box and purse to school, as preparation for Primary 1. To teach her to take care of her own things, we also get her to arrange and tidy up her own study table every time she finishes doing her homework. She also has to clean up after herself every time she reads or plays during her quiet time.

In addition, she needs to pack her own bags. For our day to day outings, she has a little sling bag that she uses to put her water bottle, jacket and maybe a book or two. For our recent holiday, we got EV to think of what she needed for the trip, from clothes, to toiletries, to her own reading books. She gathered everything together, and then put them in her little back pack, which she needed to take responsibility of. 

Of course, there are a lot more life skills that EV needs to learn and hone as she grows up. These that I’ve listed here are just some basic crucial skills we think are important to help her in her Primary 1 journey. Definitely, DaddySay and myself will be there every step of the way to help her, in her Primary 1 journey and beyond.

Do check out our earlier Preparing for Primary One Series, and do stay tuned for more.

Preparing for Primary One - inculcating values

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Thank you for reading. If you like this post, please do connect with me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, so I can share our fun adventures, thoughts and exploits with you.