The Seven Habits Of Highly Effective Parents

By Jim Brackin

Despite the thousands of books written on the subject, kids don't come with a 'how to' manual. As with all relationships, creating a strong bond takes time and effort. Being a Mom or Dad is a tough, demanding and time consuming job, but there are certain habits that seem to make the job a little easier.

1. Give your love, unconditionally

Demonstrate that you love your children every day, whatever their age. In fact it's probably more important to do this at the times when they least deserve it. . It's not just what you say it what you do that counts. A simple smile or hug at least three times a day goes a long way toward developing and strengthening a relationship.

2. Understand their personality

Many websites provide help based on personality profiles. Just Google keywords like 'personality profiling UK' and your find sites like personaliteye.com which offers a free report titled "What sort of parent are you?" The report tells you if your children are likely to see you as a 'boring ogre or relaxed and fun' and more importantly what to do about it! It's useful because the personality based report highlights your unique strengths and weaknesses as a parent. The report also gives tips on how to improve your communication skills to strengthen your relationship with your children.

3. Spend time together

You have probably heard the saying "To develop their children parents should spend half as much money and twice as much time". So spend time and interact with your children, ask them for their help and when possible eat together as a family. Remember, with children there is no real quality time. There is just time and preferably lots of it.

4. Have defined rules and stick to them

Stability and certainty are important for any developing child. They should know where the boundaries are and the consequences of going beyond them. Typically a 'three strikes' policy works the best. First remind the child of the rules. Secondly remind the child of the rule and reinforce the consequence of breaking it. And if that doesn't stop the behavior then take the necessary action. This helps the child to understand that they are responsible for the consequences of their actions.

5. Be yourself

Let your children see that you are human. Children learn many of their core behaviors before they reach seven years old. So it's important for them to see you how you react in different situations. Show them that it is OK to laugh and cry, to be serious and silly or angry and sad. If you make mistakes share them, remember you don't have to have all of the answers.

6. Have special children days

As parents we enjoy trips, visits and special events, so why not create the same thing for your children? Set aside a day where they can decide exactly what the family should do. Whether it is a trip to a playground, catching a movie or a day gardening, let them make the choices and decisions. You'll often find that it is often these family times that are the most memorable.

7. Respect their choices

You don't have to like or agree with their choices, but you do have to respect them. Children have a strong need for independence and autonomy at a young age. As parents we should encourage those decision-making skills by giving our respect and support.

Most parents gain their experience 'on the job' and by the time they have it, it's not longer of much use. So perhaps using some of the highly effective habits will help you gain the experience whilst you are still able to use it. Enjoy the journey.

Develop Your Child's Thinking Skills

By Cheng Cheng Tan

We have to differentiate between information and ability to think. In this day and age, we have an information overload. However, does that mean that a person who is very knowledgeable can think well? Our education gives us information but does not really teach us how to use and apply them. Our ability to think is to apply knowledge we have on new situations and circumstances and sometimes even modifying them to suit the situation.

This is one way we can do it. For example, my son wants to buy a watch. How would he know which brand and type to choose? He probably wants to buy the watch that Peter has because it looks cool. We can give him other factors to consider. He should think about the cost (involve mathematics), durability, purpose and usefulness. After taking all these factors into consideration, let the child explain why he decided on that particular choice. He can then apply these same questions when he decides to buy something else e.g. handphone, shirt.

Edward de Bono, founder of the Cognitive Research Trust program, uses the PMI technique. PMI stands for pluses, minuses and interesting points. For any question that arise, note down all the PMI for that question. This helps you to decide on the better answer. Try it on any question. Remember you and your child get better with practice. The obvious answer may not necessarily be the best answer.

Kids have to learn how to decide too. They have to know that regardless whether it is a right or wrong decision, they have to be responsible because they made the choice. They have to be accountable too!! I am not saying they have to decide on everything but they should be given the chance to do so. Learning to make a decision is an art too.

Nobody can make right decisions all the time. However, we must have the courage to decide and be responsible for it. Surveys were carried out and found that managers who were promoted or not made roughly the same number of correct and wrong decisions. Those who were promoted simply dare to make the decision and take responsibility even though it is wrong. Those who were not promoted did not have the courage to decide because they were afraid to make the wrong decision.

Practice as often as you can. Ask questions like 'What will it be like if Chinese is the only language the world speaks and learn?', 'How different will my life be if I were born in Australia', 'If the light bulb was not invented, what do you think you could invent?'. The best thing is you can do this anywhere and you do not need any equipment at all. Remember to use PMI (pluses, minuses and interesting points) .

How's A Mind's Profile Comes To Be?

Multiple forces interact to determine a child; strengths and shortcomngs. Parents are in a pretty good position to influence most - but not all - of these forces. There are 7 factors or forces which could determine the profile of a child's mind.

1. Genetic factors.
2. Family life and stress level.
3. Cultural values.
4. Influence of Peers.
5. Health.
6. Emotions.
7. Educational experience.

Genetic Factors

Many strengths and weaknesses appear to be inherited - either completely or in part.

I think it is quite normal for us sometimes to exclaimed that "I had trouble with the same things he did!". For example uneligible handwriting, if your handwriting only eligible to yourself, it could be passed to one of your off-spring. So, you children need to know this problem. It is much easier for them to know that they had inherited this from you or your parents and they had done their level best to live with it, just as long as the weighty influence of genetic factors do not prevent us from working on our weak spots, especially if we decide they're worth working on.

Family Life and Stress Level

Billy's family has been so overwhelmed with financial, marital, and other domestic problems that his mother has not been able to help him with his schoolwork. She complains, "I have all I can do to get by, to earn some money, to keep our place looking decent, to feed the kids the right food, and to make sure the dogs get some exercise." She herself have a hard time in school and never got through ninth grade. Billy has not interest in school and derive little if any postive feeling from learning. Clearly when families feel as if they are buried beneath the stresses and strains of daily existence, it may be hard to foster a stimulating intellectual life through shared experiences and high-level discussions at the dinner table regarding current events.

Cassandra's is a very different story. Cassie has a mother who is a dermatologist and a father who's a trial judge. At home there are frequent discussions about the world of ideas. Both parents love to read. They value their intellectual life and share it abundantly with their only daughter. They have infected their daughter with intellectual curiosity. Cassies excels academically and has an unquenchable thirst for a new knowledge. Contrast her with Billy.

Socioeconomic realities exert powerful influences on a child's development. Poverty has its risks, as does being overprivileged and overindulged. The neighbourhood, the community, and local resources of many different kinds impinge upon mind's eveolving strengths and deficits.

Cultural Values

Suzie comes from a family recently emigrated from Hong Kong. Her family has always had a powerful work ethic dating back generations. All of her Chinese friends share the same background, one that takes education seriously. Suzie comes home from school and works for four to six hours without a break. She assumes that this is the way people are, even though her classmates are out playing volleyball and planning weekend's parties. Suzie's neurodevelopmental capacities keeps on getting stretched, perhaps even stretched to the limit. She has developed extraordinary powers of concentration and can exert mental effort whenever she needs to. Her theacher has marveled at Suzie's tenacity, as he comments, "This girl is the ultimate plugger. She wont give up ever until what she has produced is of the highest quality no matter how long it takes her." Her flawless honour grades testify to this.

A student's cultural background may help determined which neurodevelopmental strength gets stronger and which one does not. In some cultural settings athletic prowess is considered valuable; in others sports are deemed trivial pastimes. Whether or not a teenager reads novels, does crossword puzzles, repairs jeeps, attends Italian opera, engages in household chores, or hunts white-tailed deer vividly reflects the culture in which he or she is growing up. These activities, in turn profoundly influence a child's profile of strengths and weaknesses.

Influence of Peers

Friends play a dominant role in shaping the brains of their friends. Children who have no intellectual interests become negative role models for one another. Learning and succeeding in school may be perceived as some kind of social taboo. On the other, there was one boy, aged thirteen year old from New York, whose friends and he have a strong interest in politics. They worked on a local campaign last summer and are incessantly talking politics, discussing editorials in the New York TImes, and debating raging political issues. In the meantime, they are developing extraordinary language, critical thinking, and reading ability, bolstering their minds profiles. Their parents are in awe of these boys and girls. One mother confessed, "Half the time I dont even understand what they're talking about, but it sure sounds impressive - and a little intimidating. I love listening to them. I'm proud of them all. I think they are becoming the leaders of the future. They are really lucky to have each other and we paretns are so fortunate to have them as our children."

Health

Deanna suffered a viral meningitis when she was 14 months old. Following her illness she developed a seizure disorder, one that has been difficult to control ever since. She is delayed in reading and math. There is a strong suspicion that her medical history played a role in weakening certain neurodevelopmental functions inportant for acquitting basic skills. Deanna has noticeable gaps in language function and in certain parts of her memory, and she becomes frustrated in school. Her older sister, Beth, worries about her all the time. Dr. Mel wrote that Beth always accompanies Deanna when she comes to see him in the office. Beth informed Dr. Mel once, "Deanna really feels dumb. Between her seizures and her trouble at school she feels like she just cant do anything right. I feel so bad for her."

Numerous medical factors either foster or impede brain development during the school years. Nutrition, certain illnesses, and physical trauma all may play a role in the shaping of a profile.

Emotions

Geraldine has been depressed all year. Her paretns got a divorce, she broke up with her boyfriend, and her grandmother dided last summer. Her parents feel guilty, as they worry the have damaged their daughter permanently. Geraldine feels sad much of every day. She's lost interest in school, her grades show it.

Students with anxiety or depressed feelings often lose all interest and become inhibited about performing in school, which they begin to stunt their academic and neurodevelopmental growth.

Geraldine has closed her mind to new learning during a period of school in which kids ordinarily develop their ability to absorp and think about highly abstract terms. If her mind stay absent from school, this important growth spurt in higher-order thinking may fail to take place.

Emotions and neurodevelopmental functions are like two-way street. Emotional problems may weaken the functions and weakened functions can cause emotional turmoil.

Educational Experience

Arturo had been in first and second grade classrooms in which there were 42 students with one teacher and only occasional aide. His parents are utterly frustrated. His mom complaine, "Arturo is lost, totally lost in that school. He's the kind of kid who doesnt make trouble for anyone but you might not even notice he's around. And he'll never ask for help. He pretends he does understand when he doesnt get it half the time. But the school's so big; that they dont see that he's getting nowhere. I'm so nervous about him." Arturo's reading instruction was inadequate, and he fell further and further behind in math as well. Now in sixth grade he remains seriously delayed, lost his drive, having given up on himself. He is starting to get some individualized help, which is just beginning to make a difference in his performance and his self-esteem.

The quality of a child's teaching most certainly affects his or her mind profile. In fact, recent studies using sophisticated brain scans have shown vividly that good instruction an actually result in postive changes in brain structure. It is possible to see increases in brain tissue when parts of the brain get properly stimulated after having been neglected. Also, a child's educational track record profoundly affects motivation, as kids like Arturo, who have failed over and over again in the past, may be sapped of motivation and sink even further into failure. Success, on the other hand, has away of breeding more success.

Having read this, I am sure that we know most of the school in Malaysia are facing the last pointer - there are simply too many students in a class. And the case described in Arturo's story is a very classic one; my own daughters are having the same problem, that is why we are taking measures to help them at home especially with their maths. I hope these information will help us to monitor our children neurodevelopmental growth and we could detect early in case something went wrong.

Start Early

Last Sunday, there were 3 students who absent from the class but the class went well. I pancing dengan choc cake and nuggets..hehehe..sekali-sekala buat that is okay. I cakap, kalau sapa nak makan choc cake, kena la belajar elok2..fuhhhh..memang elok jer lah depa belajar, nak-nak yang kecik2 ni...

Kami buat "cut and paste"; lepas tu buat "swap letters"; tang ni memang ada yang lemah - maklum lah spelling, lain kali kena buat byk lagi exercise camni. I pikir nak buat reading session kat kelas, tapi nak kena carik reading materials dulu ni; member2 dok cakap, Peter and Jane would be the best. Nanti nak kena survey lah..

Lepas tu, untuk kelas pre-schoolers, nampaknya si cilik Amir dah boleh control sikit dah pencil dia tu..ada lah progress, sebelum ni memang dia nak pegang pencil pun tak reti; umur dah masuk 4 tahun. Maka, I nasihatkan rajin2 lah galakkan anak2 kita pegang pencil, biarpun sekadar menconteng; biasakan dulu tangan dan jari anak2 pegang pencil. Heran jugak aku tengok Amir sebab dia ada sorang abang dan sorang kakak; biasanya kalau orang ada older siblings ni, sikit sebanyak mereka akan tiru gaya siblings mereka yang lebih tua, so masalah pegang pencil ni sepatutnya tak timbul; tapi siapalah yang tau what's actually happen in their household kan? I cakap macam tu sebab my little Feryal kat rumah, Alhandulillah pegang pencil dan fasih, even she's just 2 yrs and 5 months. Memang dia kerjanya menyonteng je lah, but that's good enough for her to mimicking her sister doing homeworks.

Harapnya nanti Amir akan lebih mahir.

Phonic session was good with 5 and 6 years children; yang 3 - 4 years old ni challenging betul nak ajar.

Sekarang ni nak distribute flyers dah macam kena hold dulu, banyak benda berlaku lately, this coming Saturday pun full - nak bawak Kakak pegi jumpa Dr and t/hari tu ada majlis Aqiqah kat rumah abang ipar kat Shah Alam. Tiga orang cucu dia di qeqahkan. Malam sebelum tu nak hantar maid ke Pudu. Ya Allah, mintaknya Dia permudahkanlah urusan kami dan dikurniakan segala kebaikan disebalik kejadian yang menimpa kami sekeluarga.

Peluang dan Cabaran

Semalam kami tak datang pun. Lepas Nina dah berenti kelas, saturday sekarang dah free lah since anak2 lainnya ambik kelas hari ahad. So pagi ni kami keluar agak awal drpd biasa sebab nak berkemas, mop lantai dsbnya. Mula-mula ingatkan ramaiyang tak datang. Alhamdulillah sorang je tak datang hari ni, masih kat kampung agaknya...tak apalah...kadang-kadang aku jadi heran jugak sebab depa dah bayar tapi kelas kejap datang, kejap tak datang..mcam tak serius..yang betul-betul serius so far ada 2 bradik ni, parents dia kalau betul2 ada hal baru lah absent, dan setakat ni boleh bilang dgn jari dan depa jugaklah antara students pioneer hinggalah sekarang. Selain mencari sumber rezeki sampingan, aku sebenarnya nak menolong anak2 seagama supaya lebih maju kedepan; tapi masih ramai parents sendiri yang ambik mudah tentang pendidikan anak2 mereka. Well, it's their choice and kitaorang pun tak boleh claim that we are the best.

Kelas hari ni buat pre-analysis tentang vocabs bulan lepas, nampaknya ada lagi 2, 3 orang yang masih tak fasih...untuk game seek and see tu boleh tahan jugak, aku pun ada typing error satu dua kat paper tu..fishing games still the best...4 year olds had a good time...next week ingat nak buat cut and paste..ada a few games yang tak sempat nak main hari ni sebab masa dah terambik buat pre-analysis..next week, untuk pre-schoolers ni kena buat writing skill nampaknya....tadi nampaknya budak2 enjoy kecuali ada sorang from 2 beradik perempuan yang agak ketinggalan, kelas tinggal 10 minit, aku panggil dia and teach her one to one - slowly..these 2 sisters mmg from start agak pemalu dan suara pun sooooo soft ajer, now the elder sister not so bad dan ada byk kemajuan cuma tinggal lagi dia nak kena bagi lebih semangat dan motivation.

Lepas kelas dah jam 1 petang, tunggu solat zohor lepas tu singgah kejap dekat supermarket yang baru bukak..kabarnya semalam baru bukak...baguslah..elok jugak, menambahkan meriah tempat 'jin-bertendang' ni..tak de lah sunyi aje..

Flyers yang kita orang distribute last week tu belum ada sambutan lagi nampaknya, semalam tak sempat nak distribute coz my sleeping partner tu ada kerja kat office, lagipun flyers byk lagi yang tak habis lipat. InsyaAllah next week lah pulak...mudah2an apa yang dirancang diberkati Allah.

Semalam petang pun ada someone called pasal education jugaklah, offer program apa ntah lah..banyaklah yang dia bercerita tu tapi aku tak sure boleh ke tidak pegi seminar depa tu...kedengaran macam bagus (biasalah kalau mula2 dengar ni); nak kena risik-risik dengan member2 seangkatan - pasti ada yang dihubungi jugak ni. Kalau ikutkan memang hati dah suka kat education line ni tapi sama ada boleh bertahan ke tidak, berdoa aje pada Yang Maha Kuasa. Mudah2an Allah sentiasa membimbing dan memperbetulkan niat..

My plan, insyaAllah kalau berkesempatan ingat nak tulis sikit pasal factors yang menyumbangkan kepada perkembangan profil anak-anak...dengan izin Allah lah tu.

Flyers

Masa mula2 nak distribute flyers ni dulu bukan main risau kami sebab tak pernah-pernah buat kerja macam tu kan. Malu memang lah masalah utama. So, kami tahankan aje perasaan malu and then distribute form house to house - macam2 yang terjadi. Me and spouse separate kan kerja so kasik lagi cepat tapi bila problem datang, dia tak boleh nak cepat2 tolong. Ada sekali tu nasib baik tak kena gigit anjing! Lepas tu, sekali tu kena follow ngan sorang mamat naik van ni, takut giler!!! Nasib baik masa tu sebelah pagi and ramai orang kat luar pagar rumah running errands. Terus je tekan phone and mamat tu lari. Pheww! Tapi I noticed that bila kita keluarkan keringat sendiri tu, insyaAllah most responds that I get are positive. Alhamdulillah. Then bila dah start kelas nak distribute flyers agak challenging lah kan. One time, we upah orang for 1,000 flyers he took RM50 upah. Just imagine, only one person called and itupun negative result. So, hari ni kami planned nak distribute sendiri flyers since Saturday dah tak ada kelas ni, boleh lah buat. Berdoalah kami agar dipermudahkan urusan.

Pagi tadi, spouse said biar dia sorang je buat lagipun ada sikit je flyers - 200 lebih je sebabnya yang lain tu tak habis lipat lagi. So, off he went leaving me with kids at the centre. I started cleaning and mopping and I belum habis lagi basuh bilik air dia dah balik. Aiikkk? cepatnya?? Mulanya memang nak plan distribute flyers kat depan pasar dan nak letak dekat mini-market and other shops or restaurant, tapi takkan cepat sangat. So, I sked him, he said masa dia beli paper tadi, AhPek tu kata dia boleh masukkan dalam paper. So, he asked him to put inside The Star and Utusan. Upah dia 4 sen untuk sekeping so tadi bayar RM8. Okaylah tu..Alhamdulillah, nampaknya Allah dah permudahkan urusan.

Walaupun tak tahu lagi feed back camaner...berdoa ajalah.

Brain Games

Saya nak berkongsi cerita berkenaan bagaimana kelas Genius Gym memberi kesan kepada seorang kanak-kanak. Ini diceritakan oleh salah seorang centre operator yang membuka pusat GG di Penang. Mrs. N is a tuition teacher for almost 40 years before she opened a GG class. One of her student was a kiasu student. Selalu nak dapat markah 100%. Mula-mula tu memang anak ni selalu lah score 100% maklum Tahun 1 dan 2 tak lah susah sangat. Bila dah naik ke kelas 3 dan 4, syllabus dah susah sikit dan banyak kali jugak dia tak dapat markah 100% tapi markah yang dia dapat tu pun bukannya teruk. Setiap kali dia tak dapat markah penuh, dia akan hantukkan kepala dia dengan botol air. Kadang-kadang dia hantuk kepala dia kat dinding. Mrs. N hanya boleh nasihat ajelah. Dia jugak selalu stress kerana Mrs. N memang perasan dia ni selalu sakit kepala - dalam sebulan tu ada 3 atau 4 kali dia sakit kepala ataupun sakit perut. Bila kawan-kawan dia ikut kelas GG, dia tak ikut sebab mak dia tak kasi. Kemudian, salah seorang kawan rapat dia ikut kelas GG dan bagi tau kat dia yang kelas GG best - seronok, dia pun join jugak. Tak berapa lama, Mrs. N nampak perubahan yang ketara pada anak ni, iaitu dia tidak lagi stress - sakit kepala atau sakit perut. Dia lebih relax belajar. Walaupun tak score markah penuh, dia tidak lagi menghantukkkan kepala dia ke dinding atau menggunakan botol. Anak ini menjadi anak yang lebih ceria.

Ada lagi testimoni mengatakan anak2 yang sebelum ini susah nak mendengar kata parents bila masuk kelas GG mereka behave very well, even offer ambikkan air untuk parents. Actually ada banyak lagi testimoni yang akan dimuatkan kedalam website nanti.

GG juga akan memperkenalkan sessi Brain Games. Anak-anak boleh datang kemana-mana centre yang terdekat dan parents boleh pilih package yang sesuai dengan mereka. Dalam sessi Brain Games tak ada kelas formal seperti kelas GG biasa. Anak-anak datang dan hanya bermain pemainan yang boleh stimulate brain mereka. Sekarang kan anak2 kita ramai yang over-stress dek kelas dan segala macam tuition. So Brain Gym classes are for the children to distress.

Kalau ada sesiapa rasa nak bukak centre kat tempat mereka tu - tak kiralah kat mana di seluruh Malaysia ni, bolehlah contact Onde untuk pertanyaan lanjut. Onde dulu mulanya nak pegi dengar kot-kot boleh membantu anak2 Onde tapi melihatkan GG ni mempunyai potential yang baik untuk maju maka Onde pun ambik keputusan bukak centre sendiri. Bukan itu aja, kalau kerja-kerja part time lain agak susah kita nak libatkan anak2 secara langsung but this one will give the opportunity for you to involve you own children directly. InsyaAllah, disamping tu kita juga nak beramal jariah, disamping mendapat imbuhan secara monetary, saham kat akhirat pun kita nak jugak kan. Pada Onde ini lah satu cara yang convenient. Tapi tentunya, segala benda yang baru kita lakukan memerlukan banyak kesabaran dan pengorbanan. Tapi kalau kita usaha dengan ikhlas dan tawakkal insyaAllah. Macam Onde sendiri student ada baru tak berapa kerat tapi Onde boleh rasa keberkatan rezeki bila diusahakan dengan hati yang gembira dan ikhlas, InsyaAllah - sikit tapi sangat2 bernilai bagi Onde. Bila melihat anak2 didik kita tu maju kehadapan, dan mata mereka menggambarkan rasa gembira apabila mereka berjaya dalam setiap aktiviti - masyaAllah! tak ada kata yang boleh digambarkan perasaan tersebut. Betapa seronoknya. Of course, ada masa mood mereka pun tak selalu ceria tapi dari situlah Onde belajar bukan saja mengenali pe'el perangai anak2 tapi juga sikap dan perangai Onde sendiri. Ada banyak lagi yang perlu Onde pelajari dan Onde berdoa mudah2an Allah jadikan ini sebagai wadah untuk Onde mencari rezeki disamping menjalankan tanggungjawab sebagai seorang Muslimah, InsyaAllah.

Itu saja nak share kali ni..InsyaAllah lain kali Onde tulis lagi.

How Does It Started

It all started when I saw one posting in UkS egroup and it's about this seminar relating to a brain developments for kids. Thinking that it might benefits my children, and after a discussion with my husband, I went to the seminar and immediately I was so impressed with what I've learned during the 2 days course. Again, after much deliberation, I took up a challenge to open up a centre same like the HQ is having and on August 2005, the first class had started.

Before that, I tried out the call up brain exercises on Fathini and Faeqah. Coincidently, at that time, Fathini had just her second term exam and her Math result was not impressive at all. With 59% percent, I was totally shocked. So, we tried out on her daily and each time before she study and do her homework. Besides that we also changed out style of teaching. From the seminar, we knew that scolding and yelling are not certainly way to teach your children. You've got to accept that each child is different. From there, I also took my own effort to read up about child development, educations and the like and what I have found out was a total eye opener. It also helped a lot that a few years back, I already been exposed to some knowledge about parenting thru my readings. So I could relate many things from what I read and from what I've just learned.

To teach your children, you need to have that patience and you've got to search your child's profile. You've got to learn some details about his/her behaviour, learning habit, preferences, body language and many other things. Mine was discovered thru try and error and I am sure yours are like that too, but it is essential for parents to equipped ourselves with the basic knowledge on how to educate our children. Dont become too ignorance on any signs that you child might have shown. Always be alert.

Back to Fathini, on her next term, she scored 89% on her Math. To me it was very good improvement, from 59% to 89% and she scored her other papers straight As. I know that she's only 7 years old at that time and I might sound kiasu, but I was so worried about her Math (still worried) that her first result has taken me aback. With Faeqah, previously she has problems reading with punctuations. Where she supposed to stop, she just get on and on. Furthermore, she need FULL supervision each time she does her homework. After the first exercise, I immediately test her on her reading and I was in awed that she actually stop and pause at the right place. She was also able to answer the questions for that comprehension quite well. Although now she still needs LOTS of supervision while doing her homework especially! but in a way she has shown tremendous progress on her last exam at her Kindergarten. We have yet to observe her result on her Primary One this year.

As for other children in my classes, ALL of them had reported a very encouraging feedbacks and results. There was a 12 year old student in my class whom previously always getting her English mark not more than 40% and her BM not more than 60% but after 3 months of GG class, she scored 60% for her English and 80% for her BM. Two sisters who extremely quiet and had a very soft voice on the first day they attended my classes now are become more confident and less shy. They also picked up lots of vocabularies. The biggest challenge that I have right now is I have one girl aged about 10 years old who have difficulties to read and she has many signs of a dyslexic children. So with her I am currently going back to basic and teach her phonics and Alhamdulillah now she seems to pick up things quite well though a little bit slow.

Dealing with children, we need to be lavish with praise and dont easily condemned with bad words. "You are stupid" is a BIG NO NO. And children will pick and absorb information best when they are happy. So, parents need to always be creative in teaching. We need to cultivate that learning is fun, thus they wont feel like they are formally learning something. I am sure with a little bit of research, parents will find many interesting ways on how to teach their children.

That's all for now, will share more later on..

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