Kiddie Treasures

Read Write, Inc, Phonics Series

2011-12-01T10:05:00.002+08:00

With Josh, there wasn’t any “Yay, he’s reading!” moment. We would read with him every night at bedtime. I vaguely remember trying to get him to sound out letters in a word; he was not interested. I didn’t push it. Then one day, it seems, he was reading and that was that. I don’t remember doing phonics with him. Zoë (4yo), on the other hand, had been doing letter sounds whenever she

Workbook | Language Arts (Spectrum)

2011-03-22T07:08:00.000+08:00

With 60* students in Josh’s class, I don’t expect the teachers to be able to always give each child individual attention. I am not complaining; I think his teachers are doing a fantastic job and they have my utmost respect for what do on a daily basis. I supplement at home once in a while. We borrow books from the library, I buy books. I also buy workbooks. No, I don’t make him do the

The Encyclopedia Brown Series by Donald Sobol

2011-03-17T07:08:00.003+08:00

I remember loving the Encyclopedia Brown series when I was small. I was impressed with how smart he was, how he could so easily pick out inconsistencies and solve the mysteries. Why, he even helped his dad, the chief of police, solve some of his cases! I remember dreaming of setting up my own detective agency, just like Encyclopedia Brown did. I don’t remember why I suddenly remembered the

My Weird School Series by Dan Gutman

2010-12-30T19:00:00.001+08:00

With kooky titles like Miss Daisy Is Crazy! and Mr. Klutz Is Nuts!, how could Josh resist? I chanced upon this series at the library and decided that Josh might enjoy reading them over the holidays. From a stack of books that I’d picked up, he just zoomed in on Miss Daisy Is Crazy! and started reading it on the drive home, chuckling and laughing out loud at certain parts. I had to ask him to

The Book Depository

2010-11-30T07:08:00.000+08:00

Why haven’t I heard of The Book Depository until just recently? This surely has to be one of the best-kept secrets. Free shipping on books –to practically all countries worldwide! The Book Depository was recommended to me by Josh’s school librarian when I asked where I could order certain sets of books that I’d been told were not available on Amazon. She mentioned that that’s from

Aussie Nibbles and Aussie Bites | Age-Appropriate Content for Proficient Early Readers

2010-11-17T09:44:00.001+08:00

What do you do when you have a child who has learned to read early and who has gone beyond the “Look at Timmy. See Timmy. See Timmy run.” books? Josh loves Star Wars and would devour any material related to Star Wars. I am okay with that, even though I find the material a tad violent. Josh assures me that “It’s all just pretend, Mommy!” My problem with the Star Wars books is that they

CSN Winner!

2010-11-17T08:08:00.000+08:00

Congratulations to Casey from Bumpin’ Along the Road Less Travelled for winning the US$40 CSN Giveaway! Caseybumpinalong said... I voted for you on Top Mommy Blogger Please email me at buckeroomama (at) gmail (dot) com so that I could email you the promo code. Congratulations again! A big thank you to all who entered the giveaway. I hope to have more for you soon!

Our Very First Giveaway - US$40 CSN Promo Code!

2010-11-09T10:59:00.002+08:00

CSN Stores is sponsoring a giveaway on Kiddie Treasures –yay! It’s fun doing giveaways and it’s doubly fun when it’s sponsored by CSN Stores. I’ve done a number of giveaways with CSN on my other blog, Mamahood, Among Other Things… and each time it’s been really fun. It’s just so exciting to browse through CSN site and go through their many online stores (they have over 200!). You can find

The Red Book

2010-06-26T15:16:00.005+08:00

The front cover / The inside page Josh had received The Red Book (a 2005 Caldecott Honor book by Barbara Lehman) as a birthday present. As a mom, I think books make perfect gifts. Whether to give or to receive. Do you notice anything about the front cover of this wonderful book? No words, no title. Yup. Well, apart from the inside

On the Night You Were Born

2010-06-12T16:16:00.003+08:00

On the Night You Were Born by Nancy Tillman is a must-have for your child's library. It's one of those books that I'd bought and had forgotten about... Josh asked me for a "surprise" book one night when he was 2.5 years old and I dug this out. We sat down to read and it was such a 'magical' session for both of us. I won't ruin the surprise for you, but suffice it to say that it is a very

Face-Painting : Creative Expression for Mommy and Kidlets

2010-06-09T21:08:00.002+08:00

If you have been over to my other blog, you would know that we have been doing plenty of face-painting lately. I kind of got into it because my friend was having a party for her daughter and I’d sort of promised that I would help out. I did tell her that I’ve never really done face-painting before, but she was kind enough to bring along a kit and we both practiced on her daughter and on Josh

Sharing a Shell

2010-05-07T00:45:00.004+08:00

Written by Julia Donaldson / Illustrated by Lydia Monks.. This was our very first Julia Donaldson book. Not The Gruffalo, not The Spiffiest Giant in Town, not Room on the Broom. Not any of her more popular books. In fact, when I bought this book, I had never heard of Julia Donaldson before. Yes, Josh was almost 3 before I’d even heard of Julia Donaldson. Mommy fail. I’d picked up the book

Mrs. Goodbee’s Interactive Dollhouse (Caring Corners/Learning Curve)

2010-04-05T20:49:00.004+08:00

Zoë got a new dollhouse and I have to tell you, it’s been so great since we set it up. She and Josh have been busy playing with it for hours almost every day. We’d gone days without them asking to watch TV or play on the computer --now isn’t that the greatest? From the website -- Using helpful hints, playful prompts, silly songs, and sound, Mrs. Goodbee Interactive Dollhouse nurtures

Clever Castle: Clue-Solving Game

2010-03-05T20:49:00.003+08:00

Yes, another ThinkFun game. You all know that I am a fan. This one the first single-player ThinkFun game that I’d bought. I thought Josh might be ready for some “solitaire” type game. Clever Castle is essentially a pattern matching game. It comes with -- 1 playing board 9 tiles (3 of each: Knight, Princess, Dragon in red, yellow, and blue) 40 Mind Challenge cards in a spiral

S’Match!

2009-12-31T14:56:00.004+08:00

No, this was not one of the Christmas presents that Josh and Zoë got. It’s actually from the stash of toys/games that I bought earlier this year. I tend to buy, on-the-spot, toys/games and even clothes that might not be right or age-appropriate at the time I buy them. So, yes, I do have a stash of toys and games for “emergencies” –e.g. for trips, last-minute presents, when they get bored

No-Sew Quilt

2009-11-16T20:47:00.002+08:00

I did some early Christmas shopping this year and spotted this: Alex Knot-a-Quilt Fleece No-Sew Quilt Kit It said on the bag that it was 6+. There are no 6+ little girls in my life right now, but I got it anyway. Because I thought Josh and Zoë would love the colors… and to be honest, I thought it would be fun to make my own quilt. Heh. Yes, I got myself a present designed for 6-

Brain Quest®

2009-09-24T09:59:00.003+08:00

When we were going away for the summer, I had meticulously packed a whole Trunki full of activity books, stickers, simple games, snacks, puzzles, coloring pens, crayons… well, basically anything that I thought would make the long-haul trip more fun (for the kids) and bearable (for us!). Included in the stash was a set of Brain Quest® cards that I had bought. I was actually very pleased with

Time’s Up!

2009-09-21T19:44:00.002+08:00

I don’t know how I am going to get through the day without this. This timer here is the voice of authority around here. When it buzzes, my children know that it is time. Time to turn off the TV. Time to stop playing and (get dressed, eat dinner, etc.). It’s amazing how a little inexpensive digital timer like this can help so much with setting limits. I can tell Josh and Zoë to stop

Mighty Mind® / Super Mind®

2009-07-04T13:36:00.002+08:00

Sorry for the long period of silence. I’ve just been busy with other stuff. I’ll try to do a post at least once a month (or more!), starting again in September, as July/August will be busy months for moi. Thanks for visiting! ~~--~~ I remember having fun with tangrams when I was growing up. Only seven pieces of flat shapes, but endless possibilities. Very challenging, although at times

Help-Yourself Book Boxes

2009-05-13T16:48:00.009+08:00

For the longest time, the books in the children's room were held together by bookends. But I had to constantly put books back and rearrange them, forever tightening the bookends so that books stay upright. Because the kids could only see the spine of the book, sometimes they would pull down several books before getting to the one that they want. And then I'm left with books strewn all over the

Starfall

2009-04-25T11:23:00.020+08:00

I learned about Starfall from two online friends (JC and JRC). They were discussing whether or not Starfall is useful, etc. I got curious and checked it out... and loved it!It is a very simple, straightforward site that helps children learn to read, using phonics. There are different "early reading" programs out there. I haven't had a chance to research them all, but the main categories that

Leapfrog Fridge Phonics

2009-03-25T17:32:00.007+08:00

I'd almost forgotten that we had this until the kids, in one of their rummage rampages, dug this out from under a pile of other toys. We were given this by my sister-in-law when Josh was around one year old.This is a great toy for keeping your toddler occupied for at least 30 minutes. She'll be busy manipulating the different letters in and out and pressing them to hear the different letter

Shangri-la Value Vacations

2009-03-17T17:39:00.010+08:00

Whenever we plan our holidays now, the first thing we check is if there is a Shangri-la at the destination that we're thinking of going to.Our first holiday with two kids under 3 years old was to Cebu and we stayed at the Shangri-La Mactan. We didn't go for any of the package tours that the travel agent recommended, but instead opted to book the plane tickets and the hotel separately. We had

Fenugreek

2009-03-16T18:29:00.004+08:00

This is what helped me to get my milk supply up again after having been hospitalized for almost a week and not being able to breastfeed Zoë.I've tried papaya soup, fish soup, Mother's Milk tea, but as a galactagogue, nothing worked as well as fenugreek, for me anyway. I decided to give fenugreek a try upon recommendations from friends and also after reading about it at kellymom.com (a wonderful

Braun Hand Blender

2009-03-12T14:33:00.007+08:00

A question from a new mom at one of the mommy forums: I saw some "special" kit that sells various utensils for making baby's food, are those necessary or any use at all? What do you use for making your baby's food?-----Well, the one thing that I have found to be useful back when Josh and Zoë were babies, just starting solids, is the Braun hand blender. This is one of the few things we bought

Learn-to-Dress Monkey

2009-03-11T11:30:00.007+08:00

We love this Learn-to-Dress Monkey by Alex Toys.I first saw it at the Komodo showroom, but held back from buying as I had already bought a big stash. When I went back around Christmas, I saw it again and I just had to get it. So I did.The monkey was our Christmas gift for Zoë.She and Monkey are best buddies now. Monkey is a 22" plush toy (no batteries to replace, no annoying noises!) that

Badger Anti-Bug Balm

2009-03-10T18:27:00.009+08:00

I am a bug magnet. Whenever I go to the beach at DB, I always end up coming back with over 20 no-see-um bites up and down my legs and arms. Ugly, disgusting, and oh-so-very-itchy!!!Now, I always have a small tin of Badger Anti-Bug Balm with me and I smear on the balm whenever I go to places where I think there's even a remote chance of me being bug bait.What I like about the Badger Anti-Bug

Knuffle Bunny: A Cautionary Tale

2009-03-10T10:43:00.010+08:00

I initially bought this book by Mo Willems because I could use it in my workshops to help illustrate how infant sign language could alleviate frustration and enhance communication with pre-verbal children.Of course, when Josh saw this book lying around, he wanted me to read him the story. It very quickly became one of our favorites. Then when Zoë was old enough to sit through bedtime stories

Olbas for Children

2009-03-09T21:42:00.005+08:00

I hate it when the kids get sick. I feel so helpless when they're so miserable.Zoë has a runny nose now and poor thing, she has difficulty breathing when she sleeps. Now, we've been warned against Vicks, even Baby Vicks, about how it's not good for kids under 2. Good thing we have Olbas (for infants and children over 3 months).Olbas Oil apparently originated from Basel, Switzerland over 100

Someday

2009-03-06T12:04:00.009+08:00

What a wonderful, wonderful book.The mother in this book (by Alison McGhee) walks her child through the milestones in the child's life, from infancy (One day I counted your fingers and kissed each one) to the future when she grows bigger, becomes an adult, has her own child (Someday I will watch you brushing your child's hair), grows old (Someday, a long time from now, your own hair will glow

Fun With Feathers

2009-03-03T17:04:00.008+08:00

We got some brightly colored feathers in a craft kit and while Josh was busy gluing some of them to make a collage, one feather drifted off and fell on the floor. A slight breeze blew through and the feather lifted gracefully off the floor and moved a few inches.Zoë saw this and went, "Wow!" And that gave me an idea.I went down on all fours and started to blow on the feather. Zoë followed

Food Scissors

2009-03-01T22:00:00.008+08:00

This is the one thing that I have to have with us whenever we eat out with Zoë (and Josh, when he was younger). The couple of times that I'd forgotten to bring it, I wasn't a happy camper. True, I could just as easily cut the food with a knife, but having used the food scissors to conveniently cut up food into bite-size pieces for the little ones, I've become quite spoiled.I bought my first

The "Naked-Baby" Class

2009-02-22T08:43:00.016+08:00

If we ever have another baby, I would definitely do PEKIP again. I wish I'd known about it when Josh was little, but I only learned about it when we had Zoë.We started doing PEKIP when Zoë was five months old and we continued until she "graduated" at 12 months. For me, it was one of the more worthwhile mommy-baby classes around.PEKIP, run by Anne Knecht-Boyer, is an educational child

Socatots

2009-02-20T19:14:00.011+08:00

Josh has been doing Socatots at the YWCA since he was 3 years old. I have to say that it's his favorite after-school activity. At one point, I asked him to rank his after-school activities according to how much he likes each one and without missing a beat, he said that he likes Socatots the best.What we love about Socatots:It's great that Josh gets to run around and burn off some the

The Hong Kong Public Library (HKPL)

2009-02-18T17:31:00.013+08:00

One of the things I love about Hong Kong is its public libraries.I can get almost any book I want from there (for myself or for the kids) and what they don't have, I could always fill up a form to recommend that they purchase it. I've suggested a few books that I wanted to get my hands on, but was too