Starfall

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 I know of are the ones that use flash cards and the ones that use phonics. Both approaches have their own "fans." My own path to reading started with phonics in kindergarten and it's something that I know works. I remember my own eureka moment with the word carpenter, that if I just sounded out the different letters and mini-words that I could read long words, too. After that, reading was a cinch. And a JOY.

Because of my own experience with phonics and because Josh views clicking on the computer as a fun activity, I decided to try and see how he would take to Starfall. It didn't take him long to familiarize himself and find his own way around the site.

There are four "steps":

1. Starfall ABCs - Teaches letter-sound relationships
2. Learn to Read - Uses systematic, sequential phonics. Has rows that feature a different vowel sound. Each row has a PLAY component, a BOOK part, and a SKILLS section. Under PLAY, the children can listen to and manipulate different letters to form different words. The BOOK part reinforces the vowel sound and uses the same words that the children had "played" with. The SKILLS section either has fun mini-movies, mini-games or videos that further reinforce the lessons. It also teaches digraphs (sh, wh, th, ch), the 'silent E,' Y as a vowel, etc.
   
3. It's Fun to Read - Fun stuff with tongue twisters, games, an art gallery featuring famous painters (Van Gogh, Chagall, Gaugin, et al.), music by famous composers (Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, et al.), simple poetry, riddles, etc.)
4. I'm Reading - Features short, simple stories that the children can read, including fiction/non-fiction, Chinese fables, Greek myths, folk tales, and little plays.

While it is recommended that the child progress sequentially, it is okay for them to go explore and click out of sequence. I pretty much let Josh go where he wants. If he comes across a word that he doesn't know, he can always click on it and it will be sounded out for him.

There is such a wealth of interesting and fun learning activities in Starfall and children learn about a whole host of topics beyond just learning to read. You can even download printable activity sheets to work on.

Oh, another thing I like is that at the end of each activity, the child gets asked his opinion. "Did you like this ___?" He gets to pick from "Yes," "Kind of," or "Not really." Josh mouses over all three options, but I've only ever known Josh to pick "Yes."

While it doesn't exactly say on the site when you can start your child on Starfall, I sometimes let Zoë sit with Josh while he plays around with Starfall. Sometimes I sit her on my lap and we play the "Who Am I" game on the site; that's her favorite. We always have a good laugh over her choices. What's more, it always makes for good give-and-take conversations with Zoë.

There is so much more that I can tell you, but I'm going to stop here, because it would be better for you to go to the site and check it out yourself. Seriously. I urge you. Go do it.

Click here to go to the Starfall website and have fun with your child!

Leapfrog Fridge Phonics

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 names and sounds . Don't expect your toddler to immediately pick up alphabet sounds from just one or two turns at playing, but the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics does provide a fun way for her to get familiarized with the different alphabet names and sounds. Because everything is magnetized, you can also bring the whole set into the kitchen with you to let your toddler play with them on the fridge door, allowing you to keep an eye on her while you prepare meals.

The Leapfrog Fridge Phonics comes with a magnetic letter reader and 26 big, magnetic letters that are easy for little hands to grasp. When you put each letter into the letter reader, the letter reader "sings" a fun phonics song that teaches the letter name and its sound/s.

The Leapfrog Fridge Phonics is available at Toys R Us for HK$199.90.

Shangri-la Value Vacations

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 specifically wanted the Value Vacations offer that Shangri-La had on their website.

Our travel agent didn't know about this offer, even though it is a groupwide offer that Shangri-la does. Fair enough, as this is something that Shangri-la doesn't really promote to the travel agents, because they get direct bookings for these most of the time. We could have booked directly online, but because we were bringing our helper along and wanted her in the same room with us, we decided to let our travel agent do the work in checking this and that for us.

When we got there, the King bed that we had requested turned out to be ginormous! It might have been two Queen or King beds put together. The whole family could sleep there with plenty of room to roll about! There was another pull-out bed in the room, next to the balcony, which opens up to a lush, green lawn.

The Value Vacations deal offers free daily buffet breakfast and buffet dinner, which was sooo convenient, especially if you are traveling with kids. There was a great variety of food to choose from and I didn't have to stress over what food to give Josh and making sure that he would eat whatever we ordered. For me, what made meals so wonderful were the yummy ripe mangoes that were just there for the taking. I totally feasted on them. Some have been peeled and sliced up; others were whole mangoes that I've seen some guests take plenty of to bring to the beach or pool side with them.

The Value Vacations rate includes:

• Late checkout at 3pm
• Complimentary breakfast
• Complimentary buffet dinner
• Free buffet meals for children under 6
• USD 20 credit for recreational facilities
• Free use of water sports facilities (non-motorised)
• Unlimited laundry - This is great, because (1) you won't have to bring so many clothes with you and (2) you won't be lugging home a suitcase full of dirty laundry.
  
• Complimentary broadband Internet access
• A minimum 2-night stay is required

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Note: We went to Kota Kinabalu and stayed at the Shangri-la Tanjung Aru. Same deal, but this property was less flexible about the number of people they allow into each room --maximum of only four, including the kids. Also, the King bed was much smaller. I guess after the beds at the Shangri-la Mactan, one gets spoiled for any other!

Fenugreek

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 resource on breastfeeding!).

I tried several health stores before finding fenugreek capsules at CitySuper in Times Square (the little pharmacy next to the supermarket section, actually). At the time, I got it for HK$168 for a bottle of 90 capsules (500mg).

All I needed was a bottle (actually, less even!) and there was marked increase in my milk supply. I took a total of 9 caps per day --3 at each meal. I'd read that there are possible effects which include sweat and urine, breast milk and breastfed baby possibly smelling like maple syrup, but luckily I didn't experience any nasty side effect.

For more information about fenugreek as a galactagogue, please click here.

Braun Hand Blender

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?
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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 that have "extended" usefulness beyond the baby years. I still use it now and I still find it a great help in food preparation not just for the kids, but also for regular stuff for ourselves. With the hand blender, we've made baby purees, smoothies/milk shakes, dips, soups, etc. And the good thing is that it's quite compact and store away very easily.

We bought ours from Canada, but I've since seen the same model at Fortress (around HK$600). Ours is exactly the same as what you see on the photo here. It came with a hand blender, chopper, metal whisk, and covered beaker (great for those yummy milk shakes!).