Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji"

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:48:03 GMT

janet88 — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:48:03 GMT

starting is always difficult…when they get the hang of intro, the ideas should flow easier.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:38:54 GMT

buds — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:38:54 GMT

Yes, janet88. I feel so too. Back during those days when my girls started in their journey with journal entries, first question was \"What to write?\" For my girls, what started out as my initial ploy :evil: to start them on a habit of writing; slowly emerged into a love for writing, even till today.

For younger children, the entry starter is one thing but keeping to the topic was another. Chubs initially gave ideas on writing about say his day and second line he wanted to write about stuff totally different like dinosaurs or Transformers. :rotflmao: Cute la! :love:

So, I'm hoping these writing efforts will also help to channel their active thoughts into a more centred direction for expansion of ideas..

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:26:39 GMT

janet88 — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:26:39 GMT

daily journals is a fun way to build up on writing sentences. with some prompting, the child can expand ideas. when it comes to composition, most kids have problems beginning.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:23:36 GMT

buds — Wed, 09 Sep 2015 02:23:36 GMT

jedamum:
i would love to hear stories of boys who love to write daily journal....buds ever consider #3?

btw, very neat handwriting you have there.

I found your post, jedamum!

I wasn't given the option to consider at all when I had #3 (chubs), plus ambushes on weak fort resulted in now having #4 (lil' draon_boi) :oops: Your post will be my motivation going forward..

Let's see how our writing efforts will pan out in time to come. :xedfingers:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:02:38 GMT

buds — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 15:02:38 GMT

It was fun reminiscing on our old discussions in this thread, when we were sharing ideas and our children's work. If any of my old buddies are reading this, I just wanna tell you, I miss you, okay!

I encouraged my two elder girls to keep a diary when they started writing. I personally don't fancy repetitive penmanship practices. http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php Writing entries in a journal seemed a better alternative to encourage the writing process, plus the children could get creative, thinking up stuff to write about. I'm thankful the girls' learning journeys are still here for me to revisit and look back on the wonderful moments we've had as they were growing up...

How to encourage a child to write a diary (Part 1)
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/conte ... keep-diary

In Part 1, the girls had already completed half of their Montessori reading programme with me at home, the pink scheme (3-letter phonetic words) and the blue scheme (blends). While their reading was at a pretty competent level, they have yet to start any formal writing practices. As a start, the girls were given free reign on what they liked to write about and draw. It didn't have to be a daily entry although very much encouraged. Their flow of ideas and creativity gradually improved. It was also how their love for writing began. They were in preschool, when we first embarked on this writing journey (4+ years old) and they still love writing today.

How to encourage a child to write a diary (Part 2)
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/conte ... ary-part-2

In Part 2, both the girls were in primary school. As part of revision on the Montessori Math we carried out, we included a record of their savings from what they didn't spend from their school pocket money, apart from their journal entries.

Now that chubs, (my #3) has also completed half his Montessori reading programme at home, here I am again; on yet another journey of writing.

The first step when embarking on this journey of journal writing is to first find the right stationery. It's always easy to find stuff for girls, if you get what I mean... there's like a hundred princess-themed stationery you can choose from. Yes, a tad exaggerating but just think of it. There's Cinderella... Snow White... Elsa then princess, now queen... Sophia... ohhh the list just goes on!

It is challenging to find anything nice for boys, like seriously! Either that or I didn't look into the right places or as the local saying goes \"eyes got stamps\".

Imagine our sheer delight, when we chanced upon a proper notebook suitable for writing, to get for chubs.

http://i59.tinypic.com/o09hna.jpg\">

I found an Avengers-themed stationery corner (yes, hidden corner!) and must admit that I went a tad overboard, by getting not just the notebook (as planned), but hmmm... a couple of other things as well. Oh well, I validated those purchases with the excuse that they would be something new to inspire chubsy's writing journey. We tried looking for Thomas... or perhaps BayMax... or anything dinosaurs... but na-dah. Nothin. So, when chubs quickly associated his excitement with the Marvel characters in Avengers, his eyes lit up. Yes, that was THE notebook. The first notebook, to be his chubsy's first diary.

This is another phase of writing for chubs. Very special, very sentimental...

The girls still have their diaries from their younger days. At times, when they feel like revisiting their childhood, I will find both the girls huddled in bed; giggling while reading one another's entries.

When they are all grown up, these will be precious mementos for me...

http://i58.tinypic.com/wjvrwp.jpg\">

The loot.

Guess-timation on cost of loot.
From left... $8.90 + $1.20 + $3.90

Totalled up to : $14.00

A pretty cool stationery set for a boy.

http://i57.tinypic.com/2dmdkh.jpg\">

Chubs wrote the words that he could spell phonetically; on his own and for the other words, I spelt them out for him.

http://i62.tinypic.com/30hvsk5.jpg\">

For chubs' first entry after we brought the book home, he wrote...

Friday, 4 Sept 2015

It is Teachers Day.
My Mommy is my teacher.
I like to do work with my Mommy.

... and that was it. Chubsy's first entry in his notebook diary. :love: I asked him what he would like to draw; to remember this entry.

Chubs drew a picture of me and himself, holding hands. He added a heart on the side. When I asked what the heart was for, chubs replied... \"The heart is there, because I always love you, mom.\"

An awwww moment, surely. :love:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:54:49 GMT

buds — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:54:49 GMT

Reviving a dusty thread, where my old buddies used to come chat.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:53:14 GMT

buds — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:53:14 GMT

EN:
Her diary is a burst of colour and happiness. Sorry can't share. Since it was her first day writing, her name, her school, all her good friends names were inside. She's willing to share to the little brother too who was awed and inspired by it. (Opppsssyyy, the competition thingy will start soon).

YUP! Understooded! :salute:

Those i uploaded here, i made
sure there were none of those
\"clues\". Hehee...
[quote] Well, it is kind of a long sentence to correct... unless if you dun mind erasing it and re-doing all over again... .[/quote][quote]They write without supervision while I'm at work. I think it's a joy killer, if a writer full of emotion writes the second time round. It would never be the same as in the first one. (DS was writing how his water bottle was stolen twice in school). [/quote]I agree!

Especially for writing something
as personal as one's own diary..

But for DD2, she's all for erasing
the lines and redoing it till she
gets it neat and right. Funny
hor! :lol:

So that's why i started the entry as...
\"depending on a child's character...\"
[quote]When the kiddies were younger and we used to have those magnetic
letters on the fridge, i wud have word of the day games with them..... [/quote][quote]Tried before but died down. Even if I use \"chem\" words on my everyday conversation, it goes into one ear and out the next. [/quote]Ours died down too only now.
Guess older variations are now needed. :lol:
[quote]I am hoping that when they read my comment, the \"chim\" vocab, I'll use pretty colour pen to grab their attention. My dd draw around a word with coloured pen to show how much she loves her best friend. So, I am taking some ideas from her.[/quote]Great idea! I'll do that too!
We learn something new everyday yeah!
And we definitely learn and grow with our
children as well...

:celebrate:
[quote]One question:Would you want someone to feedback on your diary.. Hee..

But however, it could work if instead of working it like a seemingly
commentary feedback..... it can also be done in a manner that you
are actually commenting on his entry that day...

Say...

*\"Dear son, your entry today reminds me of my days when i had to......\"
\"Thanks for reigniting my happy childhood memories...\"
\"Know that i love you more today than yesterday...\" [/quote][quote]Good that you point that out. DS was disappointed that there is no feedback from me. I was hesitant/ dont know to write comment or correct the grammar/spelling error. So, I'll proceed to writte commentary for him. But for dd, she is a big girl. Might not be appropriate at all. Thanks for pointing it out loud and clear.[/quote]Loud arh? :oops:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:34:37 GMT

en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:34:37 GMT

Thanks buds for your input.

[quote]Depending on the character of your child(ren)....
It is fine to positively correct those grammatical errors.
If the reflection on that error is done in a positive mode
my kiddies usually don't mind. But if in a condescending
tone and being authoritative, then no lah.. It is after all THEIR
diary, right? [/quote]DS cringed when I reached out for pen. Had not even say anything. He's sensitive to the core. Dd more open but since she is a big girl, I was taken aback by her ability to write. Her diary is a burst of colour and happiness. Sorry can't share. Since it was her first day writing, her name, her school, all her good friends names were inside. She's willing to share to the little brother too who was awed and inspired by it. (Opppsssyyy, the competition thingy will start soon).
[quote] Reading the \"weird\" line over and over... simultaneously correcting it together... verbally... can ease the feeling of pin-pointing the said error. And cos it is verbally done, it does little of inflicting the ego of
the child and it also can come across as hey, mummy oso not sure..
and we're checking it out together. [/quote]Hooookay. I'll try that.

[quote] Well, it is kind of a long sentence to correct... unless if you dun mind erasing it and re-doing all over again... .[/quote]They write without supervision while I'm at work. I think it's a joy killer, if a writer full of emotion writes the second time round. It would never be the same as in the first one. (DS was writing how his water bottle was stolen twice in school).

[quote]When the kiddies were younger and we used to have those magnetic
letters on the fridge, i wud have word of the day games with them..... [/quote]Tried before but died down. Even if I use \"chem\" words on my everyday conversation, it goes into one ear and out the next. I am hoping that when they read my comment, the \"chim\" vocab, I'll use pretty colour pen to grab their attention. My dd draw around a word with coloured pen to show how much she loves her best friend. So, I am taking some ideas from her.

[quote]One question:Would you want someone to feedback on your diary.. Hee..

But however, it could work if instead of working it like a seemingly
commentary feedback..... it can also be done in a manner that you
are actually commenting on his entry that day...

Say...

*\"Dear son, your entry today reminds me of my days when i had to......\"
\"Thanks for reigniting my happy childhood memories...\"
\"Know that i love you more today than yesterday...\" [/quote]Good that you point that out. DS was disappointed that there is no feedback from me. I was hesitant/ dont know to write comment or correct the grammar/spelling error. So, I'll proceed to writte commentary for him. But for dd, she is a big girl. Might not be appropriate at all. Thanks for pointing it out loud and clear.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:13:40 GMT

buds — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:13:40 GMT

EN:
Hi. Joining in late and have just started to get my kids to write diaries as well.

Better late than neva, i always say!

EN:
I am hoping to improve their mother tongue since they are not able to articulate their thoughts fluently. I hope by writing diary daily, will help them feel comfortable with the language.

:ugogirl:

EN:
One question though. What do parents do when they spot spelling or grammartical error or incorrect sentence structure?

Depending on the character of your child(ren)....
It is fine to positively correct those grammatical errors.
If the reflection on that error is done in a positive mode
my kiddies usually don't mind. But if in a condescending
tone and being authoritative, then no lah.. It is after all THEIR
diary, right?

You can lightly tap on the correction by saying...

\"I like what i'm reading here, but somehow something somewhere
in there sounds weird or seems to sound different than what you
actually mean... Shall we go through that together?\"

Reading the \"weird\" line over and over... simultaneously correcting
it together... verbally... can ease the feeling of pin-pointing the said
error. And cos it is verbally done, it does little of inflicting the ego of
the child and it also can come across as hey, mummy oso not sure..
and we're checking it out together.

If it is a loooonnng sentence, somehow reali ma-fan (troublesome) to
erase everything and re-write... you can also try to use this approach.

\"Well, it is kind of a long sentence to correct... unless if you dun mind
erasing it and re-doing all over again... But if not, in future you can
make a mental note that if you want to express your thoughts similar
to this, you can (NOT YOU SHOULD!) write it in the manner we have
gone through together and plus it makes more sense too, doesn't it?\"

Or, in future if the child is unsure but already have the thought in mind....
can always verbally say out the sentence and go through with you before
putting it in print.

However, if your child can take it... by all means you just go right ahead
and tell him/her that it is not correct. :lol: And that it should be corrected
so that he/she will know not to make the same mistake again.

EN:
How to encourage my children to use new vocabularies that they come across?

Game lor.

buds and her endless gaming schemes.. :roll:

When the kiddies were younger and we used to have those magnetic
letters on the fridge, i wud have word of the day games with them.....

Once it has been used in any of our conversations that week, anyone
can replace the word of the day to another. This way, they learn how
to apply new words they have learnt. Knowing what the words mean
and knowing when to apply them are 2 different things.

For older kids like yours EN, you can have this exercise/activity with
a small magnetic chalkboard or whiteboard and say this is for the
\"New word of the day/week\" and explain how it works.. (as per the
above)

It works easier for adjectives and verbs for this activity cos it can be
used in daily conversations.

If you're thinking of reward(s) system... you may include that the prize
or the perks of someone using them is one activity they'd like to do with
you and you alone at a time when you are free to do so... The prize can
be for the individual or it can include other family members as well... Dis
way, you can tell if they're the sharing and pro-family type.. Hehee.. :lol:

But beware though, that your hubs can use this game to HIS advantage. :evil:
If he's anything like mine.. :roll: :lol:

EN:
I was thinking of writing a feedback at the bottom of their journal. In my comment, I will write down what I feel if I am in the same situation too. By writing back, my children will read my comments and will take note of the correct spelling. I will include a new word in my comments too. For eg, if ds wrote about a naughty boy in school. My comments will be, \"the boy is mischievous because..\"

How about grammar or sentence structure? I don't like the idea of correcting on their diaries. I did it yesterday and I saw ds face cringe.

One question:Would you want someone to feedback on your diary.. Hee..

But however, it could work if instead of working it like a seemingly
commentary feedback..... it can also be done in a manner that you
are actually commenting on his entry that day...

Say...

*\"Dear son, your entry today reminds me of my days when i had to......\"
\"Thanks for reigniting my happy childhood memories...\"
\"Know that i love you more today than yesterday...\" :hugs:

In the *first commentary, you can input in the correct structure for that
sentence with the error you noted..

Dunno if this will help, but these are just my sharings.

Cheerios!

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:16:25 GMT

en107rn.01056yahoo.01056com.01056sg — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:16:25 GMT

Hi

Joining in late and have just started to get my kids to write diaries as well. I am hoping to improve their mother tongue since they are not able to articulate their thoughts fluently. I hope by writing diary daily, will help them feel comfortable with the language.

One question though. What do parents do when they spot spelling or grammartical error or incorrect sentence structure?

How to encourage my children to use new vocabularies that they come across?

I was thinking of writing a feedback at the bottom of their journal. In my comment, I will write down what I feel if I am in the same situation too. By writing back, my children will read my comments and will take note of the correct spelling. I will include a new word in my comments too. For eg, if ds wrote about a naughty boy in school. My comments will be, "the boy is mischievous because…"

How about grammar or sentence structure? I don’t like the idea of correcting on their diaries. I did it yesterday and I saw ds face cringe.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:56:26 GMT

buds — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 07:56:26 GMT

mama_mia:
Buds

I am impressed after reading what you had shared. I am very motivated to start with my girls now. Thanks!

Heyya mama_mia, managed to get it started yet?
Come back here and update yeah.. Post up pictures too.
Motivate more parents to encourage children to write.
Encouraging the writing process is more the objective
when the kiddies start at an early age.

Parents can work the kinks out with grammar, vocabulary,
input-flow (etc)... later on. At least if they write, we can
observe where to come in and guide. Looking
forward to hearing from you soon.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:47:08 GMT

buds — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:47:08 GMT

Heyya mama_mia...

Thanks! :celebrate:

How old are your children?
Your profile states 8 May 09...
:idea: So, i thought i should ask
you personally instead.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:00:15 GMT

mama_mia — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 06:00:15 GMT

Buds

I am impressed after reading what you had shared. I am very motivated to start with my girls now. Thanks!

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:43:23 GMT

buds — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 07:43:23 GMT

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:06:18 GMT

Busymom — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:06:18 GMT

Hi buds

You are always full of encouragements. :salute: Your kids are lucky to have a mummy like you. :love:

Oh, but DD does get her sequence quite wrong too... heeheehee. The journal entry about going to the Botanical Garden with her brother, apparently she crossed the bridge first but it had come out last in her journal!

Hmmm... I guess we are going to have another thread on how to nurture creative writing soon?

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:26:05 GMT

buds — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 06:26:05 GMT

buds:
In my opinion, she is doing great especially with you constantly

supporting her & encouraging her. Your effort is extremely fantastic
for a full time working parent....

Busymom:
no lah..., there are many others here who are doing so much more. I pale in comparison already. :oops:

Just like how we shouldn't compare our any of our children with
their own siblings or with others... we also should not compare
our efforts with others, Busymom. You see... different families
have different lifestyles, routines and spare time. What you can
do with your children and what you have shared so far, is oredi
to me a HUGE effort. I know of a handful of parents who are
totally hands-off. But that's because they are dead tired from
work. So, whose to say who does better at what... or who does
more for whom... ya know what i mean.

Pat yourself on the back for your effort, Busymom.

You CAN choose to put your feet up and catch up on TV once
you get home, ya know...

So, GOOD JOB.. okie!

buds:
Another thing is also being able to read the words may
not necessarily mean automatically having the ability to write it... on
her own.

Busymom:
Unfortunately, this very true in the case of DD.

Dun worry unduly. She will pick up as she grows and as her
developmental progress grows with her. You will see a lot of
difference from what she could do @ N2... to now at K1 &
later on, when she will go up to K2. The maturity in her reading
& writing on top of the many other things that is... will show.

buds:
I :salute: her creative ideas in her diary entries..
Hope she can keep it going, aye!

Busymom:
Thank you for your encouragement! To me, it's just a recording of things that had happened in the day for her. Her ability to create stories is still largely non-existent.

Just to share with you.. Not all children are able to extract a day's events
on their own! Her ability to narrate her day tho' may not seem as a story
creation out of imagination is a great start on its own. I had to dig up more
information on my kiddies' day when i first started.. cos they can get the
sequence all mixed up. Here's an example...

DD : Mummy, what to write?

Me : Tell me what you did today..

DD : But i dunno. I dun remember.

Me : Ok, first... What did you do when you reached school?

DD : Oh okay, i know that! I played games with my friends.

DD : Oh wait a minute... i think that's later part. I think we did
some work first... uhhmm... or was it we sang some songs first..
wait, lemme think...

Me : :roll: Ok, take some time..

A diary IS the recording of daily stuff that happened, feelings
over what occured within the day... or any thoughts that come
to mind. Her creativity here stems from the manner of how she
puts her thoughts across of what she had done in the day... how
she relates her day to you to put in print. Some kiddies oredi nd
help at this initial juncture.

The ability to create stories... we can do in another new thread,
okie dokie?

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:40:07 GMT

Busymom — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:40:07 GMT

buds:

Have you heard of the Dolch's List?
Let me direct you here to my fellow
Grandmaster Jeda's link to her article
on sight words... Think you may
find this helpful and useful.

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/sight-words

By the way, your DD is in K1, right? :

Yes, she is indeed K1. The link to Jedamum's article is great! Will start with spelling using that list and see how it goes. :thankyou:

buds:
In my opinion, she is doing great especially
with you constantly supporting her & encouraging
her. Your effort is extremely fantastic for a full time
working parent....

no lah..., there are many others here who are doing so much more. I pale in comparison already. :oops:

buds:
Another thing is also
being able to read the words may not necessarily mean
automatically having the ability to write it... on her own.

Unfortunately, this very true in the case of DD.

buds:
I :salute: her creative ideas in her diary entries.. Hope
she can keep it going, aye!

Thank you for your encouragement! To me, it's just a recording of things that had happened in the day for her. Her ability to create stories is still largely non-existent.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:02:47 GMT

buds — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:02:47 GMT

Busymom:
She comes out with the topic and the sentences to write each day. We would just be at the side helping her with spelling and correcting her grammar (like past tense instead of present tense), and reminding her on the bad handwriting. See how she would write her \"g\", \"p\" or \"y\" way above the line even after numerous reminders? :stupid:

My 2nd DD going P1 next year liao, but when left without supervision
though the work gets done.... the handwriting can make me :faint:!

Busymom:
She loves you two gals' work too, especially the drawings (and the part about counting money, hee hee)! :love: :love:

Thank you, dear. I'll let my DDs read your comment when they wake up
tomorrow, they'll be thrilled! The money part reali helps build up
the foundation which my DD1 now in P2 can do without my assistance...
And though she doesn't exactly like doing the operations like addition &
subtraction stuff, she likes counting money... :lol: so it still helps me with
the purpose of the recording of her pocket money.

Drawings wise DD1 is usuali the neater of the two, and also the creative
one. DD2 gets influenced by her jie-jie's artistic skills & does get inspired
to do her own most times.

Busymom:
Oh, but she really can't spell for nuts. Think maybe must start getting her to learn some spelling, especially sight words. Her school recently gave out a list of 100 sight words. The purpose is for the children to know all these words by sight, I suppose?. While she knows how to read all of them, I don't think she could spell them all. Do you think that is a good place to start - i.e. to learn how to spell those words by heart? I am only concerned if I could cause more harm than good by getting her to do that. Or is she supposed to know how to spell since she knows phonics and has been reading a lot? Can help to enlighten please? :?

Have you heard of the Dolch's List?
Let me direct you here to my fellow
Grandmaster Jeda's link to her article
on sight words... Think you may
find this helpful and useful.

http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/content/sight-words

By the way, your DD is in K1, right?

In my opinion, she is doing great especially
with you constantly supporting her & encouraging
her. Your effort is extremely fantastic for a full time
working parent....

To answer your question, I suppose she is not simply
supposed to know how to spell/write the words cause
sight words cannot be decoded using Phonics. So you
still gotta introduce her the words. Another thing is also
being able to read the words may not necessarily mean
automatically having the ability to write it... on her own.

I :salute: her creative ideas in her diary entries.. Hope
she can keep it going, aye!

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:31:27 GMT

buds — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:31:27 GMT

Heyya Busymom, do update your

profile when you're not ermmm...
busy. :lol: ( Cos ur nick is busy-
mom mah... ) Cos it states
your children are born in July 2009!

:!: Can't be right? :lol:

I wanted to reply to your post
appropriately and couldn't recall
your DD's age, so went to check
out your profile and i got a shock
for a moment there.. :lol:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:00:58 GMT

Busymom — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 06:00:58 GMT

buds:

Does she need your help or can she manage
on her own already? Post up more, yeah! I
love reading them.. cannot wait to show my
two girls later! They're sure to love it too!

She comes out with the topic and the sentences to write each day. We would just be at the side helping her with spelling and correcting her grammar (like past tense instead of present tense), and reminding her on the bad handwriting. See how she would write her \"g\", \"p\" or \"y\" way above the line even after numerous reminders? :stupid:

She loves you two gals' work too, especially the drawings (and the part about counting money, hee hee)! :love: :love:

Oh, but she really can't spell for nuts. Think maybe must start getting her to learn some spelling, especially sight words. Her school recently gave out a list of 100 sight words. The purpose is for the children to know all these words by sight, I suppose?. While she knows how to read all of them, I don't think she could spell them all. Do you think that is a good place to start - i.e. to learn how to spell those words by heart? I am only concerned if I could cause more harm than good by getting her to do that. Or is she supposed to know how to spell since she knows phonics and has been reading a lot? Can help to enlighten please? :?

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:39:18 GMT

buds — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:39:18 GMT

Busymom:
It has been almost a month since DD started writing her journal. Just want to report back that she is still at it, and with lotsa enthusiasm too. Sometimes, I could be the one tellling her it's ok to skip a day; as either we have other things that we need to do for that night, or that we have gotten home late. :oops: She would always be the one insisting on writing though. :love:

YEEEAAIY!! :celebrate:

Busymom:
Thank goodness, she hasn't run out of things to write yet. It's amazing how each day has been different for her; for without this journal writing, we could have easily thought otherwise. I also had doubts initially if she would loose her interest after a few weeks, but so far so good, and she is really proud of her journal.

Yes, Busymom! It IS amazing isn't it?

I LOVE her work! She's so creative
with her short and sweet entry each day...
Does she need your help or can she manage
on her own already? Post up more, yeah! I
love reading them.. cannot wait to show my
two girls later! They're sure to love it too!

Busymom:
Thanks, Buds, for your encouragement and numerous postings on this topic that got me inspired! :lovesite:

You're always welcome, Busymom! :hugs:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:16:35 GMT

Busymom — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 12:16:35 GMT

It has been almost a month since DD started writing her journal. Just want to report back that she is still at it, and with lotsa enthusiasm too. Sometimes, I could be the one tellling her it's ok to skip a day; as either we have other things that we need to do for that night, or that we have gotten home late. :oops: She would always be the one insisting on writing though. :love:

Thank goodness, she hasn't run out of things to write yet. It's amazing how each day has been different for her; for without this journal writing, we could have easily thought otherwise. I also had doubts initially if she would loose her interest after a few weeks, but so far so good, and she is really proud of her journal.

So, here are a couple of pages from her beloved journal.

http://www.postimage.org/

http://www.postimage.org/

http://www.postimage.org/

Thanks, Buds, for your encouragement and numerous postings on this topic that got me inspired! :lovesite:

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:39:58 GMT

daisyt — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 08:39:58 GMT

My girl started writing diary since P3 or P4, I couldn’t remember exactly. Now she has a stack of diaries and she is still writing now. Sometimes, she would take out the old diaries to read them and find her old self very amusing and unbelievable. When she entered Sec 1, she wanted to have a new diary to symbolise the start of a new life and we get her to choose one. She is very worried I peep into her diary and puts in her school bag, brings it to school.

She also has a blog. The difference is, blog is for more open topics and diary more personal issues and feelings.

I also created a "Treasury Box" for her to keep all the memorable stuffs in her primary school life. Letters from classmates, name tags exchange with classmates, souveniors from schools, and many more.

Reply to Weekly diary and "Zhou Ji" on Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:08:01 GMT

Busymom — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 11:08:01 GMT

jedamum:
Busymom:

Why do you think it is not appropriate for your boy?
i read a few pages online and didn't quite like the way the wimpy kid thinks.

I too have now read quite a number of pages from the online link that you kindly provided (thank you!). Like you, I don't feel very comfortable with the way he thinks or certain things that he did. What if my DD ends up thinking or behaving that way too, especially since she is still so young? Told her over the weekend so that she would stop bugging me to buy that book.

However, for older children who are more matured, I guess they would know that this is just a book and not take it too seriously.