Digital Stories

We went to the Victoria State Library last weekend. Mom had signed the kids up for the Sparky Stories event. I just tagged along not knowing or expecting much. The children were supposed to tell a story and make it into a DVD. They started by drawing (a plot) on paper and then recreating that on the computer. Phoebe's already a pro at drawing on the computer so she didn't really need much help. She did took sometime to figure out what story she wanted to tell. Ernest, on the other hand knew from the start what he wanted to talk about. Dinosaurs! His favorite subject. We had a great time, and plenty of excitement was generated when the whole family chipped in at making this production. In short, we walked out from the event feeling very pleased with ourselves. Then mom decided that we should all go shopping next...

Phoebe told a story about Santa on Christmas. It's a charming story with some action from Rudolf.

Ernest had a go at making his own digital story too. He started wanting to talk about dinosaurs at the beach, but ended up with a brave fish helping a wounded shark.

note: Thanks to the kind and patient staff at Experimedia, Terry and Mandy, who made it all possible.

Learning to ride a bicycle

Some weeks ago, Phoebe managed to ride on two wheels on her bicycle. That was after one week of me pushing her on the badminton court.

She learned really fast. To be fair, she had a bit of practice before. But her determination and grit to succeed must surely be commended. They were wobbly at first, but eventually she managed to go on two wheels.

2008 Christmas and 2009 New Year's Card

Following a very, very long absence, I decided to put one post in this blog. An old friend of mine has been urging me to dust off the webs and start blogging again. Well, since I had just finished this year's New Year's card, maybe I should put that up on the web for the world to see. With this post, hopefully more will follow. I'm not sure where to start since moving to Melbourne from Nara. It had been a draining experience for me to say the least. But the kids seem to enjoy it so far. And since this blog is about the kids, I think I should start blogging about them again. Let's see how things goes...

Choo, choo train...

... all the way to school.

At long last, I have found a wonderful solution to get my hyperactive kids to go to school. By making it into a fun activity, of course. Now, why hadn't I thought of that. For years, we were defeated by the kids, and arrive at work beaten and exhausted. Now, with the simple steps that I am going to tell you, no longer will taking the kids to school be a chore.

All I have to say to the kids is, I'll be the head (of the train) and they follow me from behind. And off we go choo, chooing all the way to the car. I get to work on time and spend less time dragging the children to school. And when they get tired playing train, I think I will switch to a cock, bear, mother goose, or something interesting.

Finally, parents score 1 point! Hurray! and ばんざい！to that.

CNY celebration at home (Kuantan)

Where else would you be allowed to ride a bicycle indoor, other than at grandma's place

The kids had a great time back home visiting their grandparents, cousins, uncles and aunts, next-door neighbors, pop's favorite barber, somewhat-average-fishball-soup noodle stall owner, and everybody in between.

This Lunar New Year was especially meaningful for us, as we missed the previous family reunion twice in a row. And we made it a point to prepare a special compartment in our belly for all the New Year goodies. Sorry, no after meal photos.

Friendship forever hug, signed Eager Beaver and Bubbly Froggie

Train + Sleep = Learn

Do you recall the many times when your classroom teachers told you that having enough sleep is really important. That not having enough sleep and not eating healthily are just as detrimental to the body of a young boy or girl, as not going for all those piano lessons or extra-curricular activities. Yes, I do remember. But what I remember more vividly were those life-sapping marathon burn-them-midnight-oil sessions right before exams. Yes, during those very hard times, all words of wisdom were forgotten, as happy-go-lucky days were turned upside down.

Well, did you know that there is a scientific reason for needing that golden sleep. In my previous post, I talked about how punishment reinforces learning. Apparently that's not the whole story. In trying to expose the secrets of the brain, scientists have found that sleeping actually plays a major role in helping us remember what we have learned during the day [1].

Unlike the computer hard-disk or flash memory, which can save information in an instant, the brain needs time to process and carve our experience as memories. For the brain, this happens when we are asleep. So just when you thought that sleeping is needed only to regain physical strength, out comes a revelation that it is good for mental growth as well.

So, in case your 6 year old finds out about this little article and tries to be a smart alec when questioned about his/her excessive sleeping. Just tell them that, "No sleeping doesn't make you smarter. First of all, you must put in the effort to get those information in the brain (for sleep to do any good)".

[1] G. Cacalano et al., "Neutrophil and B cell expansion in mice that lack the murine IL-8 receptor homolog," Science, vol. 265, pp. 682-684, Jul. 1994.

Should I expose my 6 year old daughter to video games?

There have been many arguments going back and forth about the effects of video games on young children. I was blissfully ignoring this problem, until now. Phoebe, who will turn six soon has been bugging me to get her a DSlite, ever since last Christmas. Should I get one for her? What do I do? At wits end, I turn to fellow gamers for advise. I found a lively discussion on the internet regarding putting a gaming console into the hands of a young child. And I agree with this poster that the parent should remain in control of how their children spend their time. I quote,

Now, I know for a fact that she would love to play Animal Crossing on the DS. But whether or not she will love it is not the point. She would love to eat potato chips and ice cream for every meal, but being a responsible parent is not about giving your kid what makes them happy moment to moment...

What insight. How can you disagree with that. But then, I cannot agree with the same poster regarding the ill effects of electronic games on the development and creativity of young and impressionable kids. Yes, the time spent on playing games takes away the time for other "more productive" activities like drawing, writing and reading. I myself being a young gamer, was exposed to computer games at a young age. I feel that computers is a modern tool, just like how the pen and brush was to children many ages ago. I think that computers should be explored and taken seriously, even for a six year old. In the past, they say that the pen is mightier than the sword. But if we look into the future, I see that the keyboard will definitely be greater than both.

As such, I have decided go ahead and get her that DSlite for her 6th birthday. It will surely make Phoebe (and me?) happy, I hope...

Children + Alcohol = Dopeys

I was curiously sniffing the Guinness Beer can that my dad left on the table when suddenly I heard grandma barked, "Drink that and you'll become stupid!" When I was young, I often hear my parents preach to me about the evils of alcohol. Alcohol makes children stupid, is a phrase I hear all too often. I never really understood and just take their word for it. Not until today. I finally found out a scientific reason for this old adage.

A recent research article [1] pointed out that there is a direct link between alcohol consumption and brain damage, or more specifically neurons (brain cells) being wasted. Scientists have found a direct correlation linking alcohol content in the body to neuron degeneration. The non-too surprising finding revealed that the younger a child is exposed to alcohol, the more severe the effects are on the developing brain. And this effect is very pronounced even before the child is born. So expecting mothers, please listen to your doctors when they advise you against drinking.

Although the study was based on laboratory rats, being mammals, we have to only extrapolate the results to figure out the effect of alcohol on human beings. It was mentioned that various parts of the developing brain of the rat fetus, a few days before and after birth, suffer from deleterious effects of diluted ethanol injected into the blood stream. Let's assume that a day in the life of a rat is roughly equivalent to a year for a human and you will see why a child should not be consuming alcohol before he is old enough, at least not until the brain has fully developed.

Now you know why there is a law prohibiting sales of alcohol beverages to under-aged kids. And you thought there were only social consequences. That was my impression, until I read the article. As for the effects of alcohol (read, beer and accompanying tit-bits) on adults, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Just look at Homer Simpson's waistline, or the mirror. I know, I know who wants to be a 60 year old super model, right. So go ahead and indulge yourself, just don't let the kids see you doing it.

[1] C. Ikonomidou, et al., "Etanol-induced apotoptic neurodegeneration and fetal alcohol syndrome," Science, vol 287, pp. 1056-1060, Feb. 2000.