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One of the many issues surrounding working mothers is that they do not know how to balance their time. Mothers who need to work or finish an upcoming project often do so, but they occasionally feel guilty about missing out on quality time with their children or their romantic partner.  It can also be the other way around, as well.  Many working mothers are afraid to, essentially, put their family first in certain situations, in fear of losing their jobs.  If these are issues that you have dealt with or if they are issues that you are currently dealing with now, you will want to continue reading on.

One of the many ways that you can go about balancing a family and a career is by setting aside time for both your family and your important career.  For instance, if at all possible, you will want to try and establish hours just for work or work related tasks.  If you have to work overtime, it is advised that you do so, especially if your job may be at risk.  That is often what is difficult for many mothers, when relying on their income, it can be fearful to put work second.  With that in mind, it is important that you leave work at work.  This gives you the opportunity to put your family first, especially when you are at home with them.

As with having set hours for work, it is also advised that you create a schedule for your family time as well. While your days don’t have to be planned out hour by hour, it is nice to at least develop a little schedule. This schedule could include days of the week when you may want to take a trip to the zoo with you children or days that you may want to spend visiting family.  By having your plans already made and in place, you are more likely to follow through with them.  Your family, including your children and your partner, will likely be pleased with this follow through.

Although raising a family is often associated with spending time with your children, that is not all that motherhood is about.  For that reason, you likely have a full plate.  That plate may include grocery shopping, the preparation of family meals, as well as house cleaning. To reduce the stress associated with many of these tasks, as well as give you more quality time to spend with you family, you may want to consider hiring assistance. Whether you choose to hire a professional housekeeper or a landscaper to mow your yard for you, this extra time may come in handy.

The above mentioned points are just a few of the many ways that you can go about balancing a career and a family. Although it may seem impossible to do right now, especially if you just recently got a new job or had your first child, it is more than possible for you have a great career, as well as happy and healthy family life at home.

Creative Art Corner. Spend quality time with gal gal Junling~~

Baby Moon is concentrating on the learning

Learning New Word! *Wave*

Ok, Times Up! She feels tired! Haa..

Stop to let your kids learn when they feel tired or lost concentration. Learning is the same as playing. Don’t let them feel that learning is difficult. As parents, we should let them feel that learning is always fun!

Oh.. Little Reader is user friendly.. Capture a screenshot for you to take a look!

I’ve get the discount voucher from BrillKids to share with my friends here so that you can get a good rate for this program to your kids too! If you yet to get the discount voucher from me, get from me now. If you already have the voucher, just go their site to find out more and of course you can always use their free trial! I’m sure your baby love it too!

Get 10 Ebooks + BrillKids Voucher NOW! (It’s valid from 1st Sept to 30th Nov 2009)

Take a look at this video:

Also, they have lots of free stuffs and you may use their free trial!

Click here – BrillKids.com

Another good news! I’ve get discount voucher from them and especially to share with you! If you want the voucher, just fill up the form below, you will get 10 free Ebooks and the Voucher. If you already subscribe to it earlier, don’t worry, just check your email, I have sent out the voucher to you.

Get 10 Ebooks + BrillKids Voucher NOW! (It’s valid from 1st Sept to 30th July 2010)

Hope you enjoy!

From as young as 4 months old, babies are capable of learning to read – and they do it by learning whole words. Whole-word reading describes the process whereby a person recognizes a word at sight, without sounding out the individual letters.

According to Kathy Hirsh-Pasek and Roberta Michnick Golinkoff, coauthors of Einstein Never Used Flash Cards, “[Whole-word reading] is simply memorization and has little merit beyond the performance.”

This conclusion is drawn at the end of an anecdote from Hirsh-Pasek about a reading toddler. The child read a set of words shown to him by his mother, but says Hirsh-Pasek, when asked to read some different words, he became flustered. Write the authors, “He had learned how to memorize words, perhaps from their shape… but he had not really learned to read.”

Critics of early reading tend to pit whole-word reading (”bad”) against phonics-based reading (”good”). Hearing their arguments, you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a case of either-or. In reality, almost all children learning to read depend on both strategies. Whole-word reading is easier, so most children learn their first words this way, before they know the sounds letters make. Many kindergarten and lower-grade-school teachers teach some sight words before starting on phonics.

When children learn to read whole words at what is considered a normal age, no one criticizes them. But some people find it unsettling, “wrong” even, for a very young child to be reading – and so they attack the method in order to prove that the child isn’t “really” reading.

Whole-word reading is just the first rung on the ladder of learning to read – as we can see from an analogy drawn by another early-learning critic, David Elkind. Elkind compares reading whole words to understanding the concept of nominal numbers (numbers as names) – the first rung on the ladder of learning math. He compares reading phonetically (sounding out words) to understanding the concept of ordinal numbers (numbers as part of a sequence), and reading phonemically (recognizing that letters can be pronounced differently depending on context) to understanding the concept of interval numbers (numbers as abstract concepts).

There comes a point at which reading cannot progress without phonics – there are just too many words to rely on memory alone. Children must move on to phonetic reading followed by phonemic reading in order to become successful readers. But just as we do not criticize a child who reads phonetically but has not graduated to the phonemic level, so it seems unfair to pour scorn on the abilities of a toddler who simply has not graduated from whole-word reading to phonetic reading.

Another concern expressed by critics of whole-word reading is that children will not know to read words from left to right. When choosing a TV- or computer-based program for your child, be sure to select one that includes an arrow for indicating the direction of reading. If you’re using cards or books, it’s a good idea to run your finger under each syllable of every word as you read out words.

Amazingly, babies taught to read whole words often begin figuring out the rules of phonics for themselves – in much the same way as babies learning their native language spontaneously figure out grammar rules. A new teaching-reading system for babies includes a specially designed phonics program aimed at facilitating the young child’s natural ability at decoding words. More proof that when it comes to teaching reading, it’s not a case of either-or – you can teach whole words and phonics right from the get-go.

Please visit BrillKids.com to learn more about teaching your baby to read.

Most of my friends know Baby Moon is my precious daughter but don’t know the word “babymoon” has special meaning, that is to have the last enjoyment with the partner before welcoming the newborn. In fact, I only came across the meaning of the babymoon when I tried to google “babymoon” one day. The meaning is so special and hence I was thinking to let more people especially moms-to-be get to know about this word and its special meaning.

When I talked to some of my friends, quite surprising they told me they actually travelled during pregnancy but they didn’t know there is such a special term for the travelling. I asked them to share their experiences and stories so that more parents-to-be know about this term and this was the first step for the babymoon ebook.

I also did lots of researches about babymoon travelling and it really took long time for the completion of the ebook. I appreciate the support from all my friends and thanks for their patience.

The baby in the logo is my daughter and this is also my gift for her! Heehee..

Come take a look at My Babymoon Travelling Information Guide, I have included lots of bonuses for you too!

Also, don’t miss the chance of earning 55% commission by just referring this information guide to your friends. Just sign up a FREE account and I have provided you various promotion tools such as logos, banners and emails for easily recommend this ebook to your friends.

Join Free as affiliate here: http://babymooninfo.com/Affiliates.html

Enjoy!

Be A Great Mama - Be a Great Mama is a packed 29 page guide with advice and creative ideas for being the best mom you can be.

• Being a Role Model
• Showing Unconditional Love
• Being Consistent
• Protecting Our Kids
• Giving Them Choices
• Playing with Your Children
• Giving them Praise
• Avoiding Bribery
• Controlling Your Anger
• Listening to Your Kids

Find The Time Mama - Tired of Drowning & Feeling There’s No Time for Yourself? Find More Time for You… Without The Guilt!

• Why you need to find the time for yourself
• How to find that time
• Does being a mom mean having no life?
• Dealing with an unsupportive partner
• Getting rid of the guilt
• Fun ideas for a mom out on her own

Hot Mama Makeover - Step-by-Step and Easy-to-Follow Guide For Moms Who Need to Feel Just a Little Bit Sexier & A Whole Lot More Confident.

• It’s no secret. We’re all busy moms and you’re no exception. Some of us are dedicated stay at home moms, others work outside the home and some of us work from home – and whatever we do, it always seems like there isn’t enough time in the day.
• Despite your role as mother, wife, cook, cleaner, chauffeur, career woman, etc. etc….you are still a WOMAN and that woman needs to be taken care of. So, how do you do that?
• You take a little time for yourself to make yourself feel good and start using the Hot Mama Makeover. It’s a 6-step easy-to-follow program that can be incorporated into any moms schedule.

Hope you enjoy the above freebies!

I have all these questions in my mind early when I was expecting my Baby Moon. I was thinking what language I should focus on her and talk to her since young. I have seen many young parents from Chinese educated talk with their children in English and I was wondering this is a correct method of raising the kids especially we are Chinese.

I always understand English is an important language and it becomes more important when kids grow up and enter into corporate world. Like many other parents, I also hope my children good in English, not only good but excellent. However, I have decided to speak Mandarin with my girl instead of English. These are some of the reasons of mine:

I’m from Chinese educated and not really good in English conversation especially come to casual talk at home. I don’t want to “input” her with improper English (in Singapore, called Singlish) and affect her later study of proper and formal English. Besides, our friends in different nation are so keen in learning Mandarin, I should not have reason not to let my girl master our own language.

When the first day Baby Moon went to nursery, I had a bit worry she couldn’t understand what her teachers were speaking to her. All the while, she only chance to “get in touch” with English when watching her favourite “Barney” and “Hi 5”. After seen her well behave and likes to attend school, I believe she copes well and just need more time for her second language.

Of course I also hope that she can do better with English, but recently she is picking up more words and sentences in Mandarin. I don’t want to confuse her, so I insist to teach her words in Mandarin and speak proper Mandarin.

I’ve done some searches in Google and found a very good site about Multilingual Children. It gives me lots of information about raising children in multi languages, you should also read their articles at Multilingual Children Association:

• The Pros and Cons of Raising a Multilingual Child
• 10 Myths You Will Be Told About Multilingual Children
• Language Systems and Why Your Family Needs It?
• 10 Steps to Raising a Multilingual Child
• When is The Best Time to Start?
• How to Start Older Kids on a Foreign Language

Benefits of Preschool
Children who go to effective preschool are:

• More likely to become good readers in elementary school. Preschool gets kids ready to read.
• Less likely to be placed in special education or held back a grade. Preschool gets kids ready to learn.
• More likely to graduate from high school and attend college.
• Less likely to need public assistance as adults.

The Benefits of Preschool When Starting Kindergarten
Also, there are many benefits for your child if he goes to preschool before starting kindergarten. Below a few of them are discussed in further detail to give you a good idea of why preschool can help your child prepare for kindergarten.

Social Skills
Sending your child to preschool really helps him develop social skills. It might not seem like a big deal, but once your child is in kindergarten and interacting with other kids all day long it will become evident why social skills are so important. Enrolling your child in preschool, even if it is two or three days a week, will allow your child to make friends, learn how to share, learn to follow directions, and become a social butterfly. This is not to say that kids who dont go to preschool wont be able to socialize well in kindergarten, just that kids who go to preschool already know how to socialize when the arrive in kindergarten.

Basic Knowledge
A good way to prepare your child for kindergarten is through preschool. Most preschools teach the basics like the alphabet, numbers, colors, days of the week, and more. If your child has these basics when he enters kindergarten then he will have more confidence and be able to learn faster. This is really important and your child is the one who will benefit. Kids who don’t go to preschool will still learn in kindergarten, its just that their learning curve wont be as accelerated as those children who attended preschool.

No Separation Anxiety
Another benefit of children who attend preschool is that they get over their separation anxiety earlier or at least reduce it significantly. If your child is accustomed to being with you all day long every day and you just all of a sudden drop him off at school for an entire day he may have some serious crying and tantrum fits and a big case of separation anxiety. However, if your child attends preschool and gradually learns that when you drop him off that you will return he will understand he is not being abandoned and can have fun at school.

Well, by reading the above benefits and advantages of preschool, I have finally decided to enrol Baby Moon to a half day nursery. Full day nursery is too long hours for my Baby Moon and for me. I would like to have more time with her and not only the few hours left at night.

I believe next week is going to be a new chapter and new environment for Baby Moon and I’m going to experience something new too – Her first day in nursery!

Singapore Zoo is a very fun place to go with children. It opens 365 days a year and is a must see destination on every visitor’s attractions list. The opening hours is from 8.30am to 6.00pm and the entrance fees is Adult S$18.00, Child (3-12 years old) S$9.00.

Yesterday was Sunday and when we reached there at 10.30am, there was a very long queue for tickets. While waiting for Daddy to get the tickets, we took some photos in front of the Zoo.

There are many animals inside the Zoo. We took the photos as a teaching materials at home. Enjoy some of the photos!

Tips on Enjoying the Zoo If Go With Children

• Protect you and your children from sunlight. Apply some sunblock or skin protection for your children to avoid the sunlight. Some areas are exposed to the sun which your children may expose themselve too much under the hot sun.
• Rain. You may want to bring an umbrella or raincoat if there is a sudden rain. However, don’t worry too much because many parts of the zoo are sheltered.
• Insect repellant. You may want to bring the insect repellant with you to make sure the mosquitoes stay away from you and your children.
• Map. The zoo map is always available and make sure you get a map as you enter. There are many presentations, token feeding sessions, photography opportunities and many activities that sure you don’t want to miss out.
• Drinks. You can always get foods and drinks inside the zoo. However, if you are going with your children, it’s a good idea to bring drinking water and feed them regularly as the weather is warm and they sweat a lot during the walk.
• Tram. When you are tired walking, take the tram and enjoy the ride.
• Strollers and wagons. Zoo has provided strollers and wagons which parents can rent for their children.

It’s so much fun and We would definitely bring Baby Moon to Singapore Zoo again!