Sunday, 7 October 2007
Laughing At Tasered Florida Uni Kid
Did anyone see the footage of the Florida university student who was tasered about a week or two ago? I am not here to debate as to whether he deserved to be treated like that or not. There are many blogs out there on this issue. However, I did hear from somewhere that John Kerry actually urged the student to carry on speaking and told the others to leave him alone. Anyway, what bothered me most was what I saw happening in the background while the poor guy was getting tasered away. This bloke, probably another uni kid, dressed in a peach/pink shirt (I can’t be certain because the footage was quite grainy), was actually having a good laugh. Ok, it is quite disgusting that these young Americans were sitting obediently as their peer was begging not to be hurt, but it is actually downright disgusting to see one laughing away like he is watching Funniest Home Videos. Ok, I can understand that it is not blokey to be seen crying or getting upset in a situation like that, but if he is not intending to step in to help, he should at least sit still like the rest of the goofballs around him. It is natural for many to ask the whereabouts of Freedom of Speech but I am more inclined to ask what sort of human beings are we churning out in the 21st century?
Saturday, 6 October 2007
Food Theme @ Stella's Kindergarten
Stella’s teachers virtually spent the whole of last term discussing healthy eating with the children. Among many things, they sang about food, did artwork on food, heard stories about food, talked about food, grew some vegetables, planned and held a morning tea for a Father’s Day celebration, and had lunch at a fancy restaurant. On some days, even the outdoor activities had a food theme. Here are a couple more of things they did.
The teachers supported the children in planning a morning tea for the fathers. The children chose a simple menu (including pancakes) and with the help of their teachers, a list was made of all required ingredients and equipment. To ensure smooth operation on the day, the children had plenty of practice leading up to the special morning tea. They even made trips in small groups to the local supermarket to get part of the ingredients required. On that special morning, Stella’s parents accompanied her to Kindergarten. They were very proud of her. She cooked them both pancakes and served them with cream and blueberry sauce. The little chef didn’t learn to do all that at Kindergarten. She already had plenty of simple cooking experiences at home with a woman she sees at least twice a week.
At the end of term, Stella and her classmates were all invited to lunch at a fancy restaurant. The parents of one of the little girls in her class runs a popular restaurant and they offered the children and their teachers a special grown-up experience of eating out in a slightly more formal setting. The experience was not free but the cost for each person was kept affordable so that everyone could participate. Because the venue was a restaurant, each child was expected to be accompanied by an adult. Stella went with her mum. Apparently, around half of the children in her group turned up. A few children did sign up but didn’t turn up on the day. Stella’s mum and dad had dined at that restaurant in the past and both said the food there was not bad. They have never taken Stella to that restaurant. They weren’t sure if she was mature enough to handle ‘proper’ a restaurant at her age. So far they have only taken her out for lunch at casual cafes that are child friendly. I think they also took her to a Chinese restaurant in China Town earlier this year when she saw the noisy lion dance. I asked Stella if she enjoyed having lunch at her friend’s restaurant. She told me that she really liked the prawns. I thought the restaurant or her friends’ parents were very generous to include seafood on the menu. She also told me that they got to take a peek of the busy kitchen and met the chef when they first got there. Stella’s mum said that this was only possible because the group got there well before the mad lunch rush. The chef came out to greet the children and then the mum of Stella’s friend (assisted by one teacher) took the children in small groups of three to take a peek at the kitchen. The lunch went quite smoothly. The children were better behaved than expected. Apparently, only one glass was broken when someone accidentally knocked it over the table.
It is wonderful for Stella to be taught by such dedicated teachers. This wasn’t the first time they extended the children’s education beyond the Kindergarten grounds. At the start of every term they talk to the children, stimulating them to generate ideas that they can all look deeper into. The Food theme came about in the first week of last term when the children talked about the food in their lunch boxes. On one of these discussions, food producers were mentioned and that led the children back to their visit to the children’s farm in the previous term. It is obvious that the teachers were trying to tie the children’s previous knowledge to their discussions. We, the parents (nanny, grandparents or other carers), were kept informed via casual chats with the teachers, newsletters and the child’s diary. Without that, Stella also gave us daily updates to keep track of what she and her friends had been up to. She can be quite a little journalist.
The teachers supported the children in planning a morning tea for the fathers. The children chose a simple menu (including pancakes) and with the help of their teachers, a list was made of all required ingredients and equipment. To ensure smooth operation on the day, the children had plenty of practice leading up to the special morning tea. They even made trips in small groups to the local supermarket to get part of the ingredients required. On that special morning, Stella’s parents accompanied her to Kindergarten. They were very proud of her. She cooked them both pancakes and served them with cream and blueberry sauce. The little chef didn’t learn to do all that at Kindergarten. She already had plenty of simple cooking experiences at home with a woman she sees at least twice a week.
At the end of term, Stella and her classmates were all invited to lunch at a fancy restaurant. The parents of one of the little girls in her class runs a popular restaurant and they offered the children and their teachers a special grown-up experience of eating out in a slightly more formal setting. The experience was not free but the cost for each person was kept affordable so that everyone could participate. Because the venue was a restaurant, each child was expected to be accompanied by an adult. Stella went with her mum. Apparently, around half of the children in her group turned up. A few children did sign up but didn’t turn up on the day. Stella’s mum and dad had dined at that restaurant in the past and both said the food there was not bad. They have never taken Stella to that restaurant. They weren’t sure if she was mature enough to handle ‘proper’ a restaurant at her age. So far they have only taken her out for lunch at casual cafes that are child friendly. I think they also took her to a Chinese restaurant in China Town earlier this year when she saw the noisy lion dance. I asked Stella if she enjoyed having lunch at her friend’s restaurant. She told me that she really liked the prawns. I thought the restaurant or her friends’ parents were very generous to include seafood on the menu. She also told me that they got to take a peek of the busy kitchen and met the chef when they first got there. Stella’s mum said that this was only possible because the group got there well before the mad lunch rush. The chef came out to greet the children and then the mum of Stella’s friend (assisted by one teacher) took the children in small groups of three to take a peek at the kitchen. The lunch went quite smoothly. The children were better behaved than expected. Apparently, only one glass was broken when someone accidentally knocked it over the table.
It is wonderful for Stella to be taught by such dedicated teachers. This wasn’t the first time they extended the children’s education beyond the Kindergarten grounds. At the start of every term they talk to the children, stimulating them to generate ideas that they can all look deeper into. The Food theme came about in the first week of last term when the children talked about the food in their lunch boxes. On one of these discussions, food producers were mentioned and that led the children back to their visit to the children’s farm in the previous term. It is obvious that the teachers were trying to tie the children’s previous knowledge to their discussions. We, the parents (nanny, grandparents or other carers), were kept informed via casual chats with the teachers, newsletters and the child’s diary. Without that, Stella also gave us daily updates to keep track of what she and her friends had been up to. She can be quite a little journalist.
Friday, 5 October 2007
More Lighting For The Garage
I recently whinged that the body corporate of our apartment building spent too much money installing more video cameras all over the place. I now regret doing that because the cameras did their job around 10 days ago when some dude broke into one of the garages. Unfortunately, the lighting is quite poor and the resulting images of the incident are blurry and grainy. The place does resemble a dungeon even in the day. There are fluorescent lighting but they are just not adequate. I think the next time money is spent to improve our building, they should consider adding more lights.
garage lighting
This is a Sponsored Post.
garage lighting
This is a Sponsored Post.
Stella and Lachlan’s Tower
I haven’t been blogging about my charges for a while. However, I just can’t resist blogging about what I saw last Wednesday when Lachlan came to play. I love observing the way young children play. While they learn through play, we as adults can see how they learn through play. I just find these sort of observations interesting.
We usually meet Lachlan at the big park on Thursdays. Since it is school holidays, he and his nanny came over to Stella’s house for a little play last Wednesday. The children asked to play together and we, the nannies, got the permission to do so from their parents. The arrangement was for Lachlan to come to Stella’s house first and then for Stella to go to his place for his birthday this Saturday. Stella’s mum will be taking her to the birthday party. Stella is apparently one of only two girls invited to the party. LOL. The other little girl is a cousin of Lachlan’s.
Stella didn’t nap properly last Wednesday. She was too excited. We planned to make French toasts for afternoon tea for everyone. We were in the middle of preparing the cooking activity when Lachlan and his nanny arrived. Lachlan was a little shy, behaving a little differently from when we met him at the park. As expected, his nanny was a little surprised that I actually allowed Stella to participate actively around the electric frypan. Lachlan wasn’t that interested in the cooking process. He stayed pretty close to his nanny and watched from there. Little mother hen Stella just couldn’t stop encouraging him to join in. She kept asking him to beat the eggs. She also showed him how to dip the bread in the egg mixture and encouraged him to do so. Lachlan was a little reluctant to join in. Once the French toasts were cooked and ready to be served, Lachlan came out of his shell a little more. The French toasts were gone within minutes. Lachlan’s nanny asked her charge if he would like to have them again at home and he said, “Yes, and we can make them too.”
After the yummy afternoon tea, I suggested that Stella should show Lachlan her toys or her artwork. His nanny walked off with them suggesting that they find something to do. I immediately went to work, cleaning up, before joining them. I was loading the dishwasher when I noticed that Stella was back again. I thought she was back to fetch a drink but NO! Stella was back to help me clean up! Stella really scares me sometimes. She is like an adult in a child’s body. I gently reminded her that we shouldn’t leave our guests unattended. I decided to leave the cleaning too to join our friends.
Lachlan wanted to play with Stella’s barrels of wooden blocks. He kept asking her why she has 3 identical barrels. She told him that she needed heaps of blocks to build a town. (Her parents actually bought these top quality blocks when a toy shop closed down.) Lachlan then suggested that they build a tower in the middle of the town. He wanted a very tall tower. The children started to build while we two nannies sat on the couch relaxing and chatting. At some point, Lachlan decided that the toy elephant on the window sill must sit on the top of the tower because the town they were building was Thailand. That was what he said. LOL. His nanny was in the middle of telling me about the family’s vacation in Thailand when Stella disagreed with Lachlan’s plan. She refused to let him have the elephant on the window sill. Lachlan insisted and I was about to put a stop to the bickering when I overheard Stella’s explanation. She told Lachlan that the elephant on the window sill is from Africa. She told him that she needed to fetch her Asian elephant from the cupboard to sit on this tower. Lachlan calmed down and went with her to the cupboard. There he asked if the elephant in her hand came from Thailand. This is what she said, “This one is like the ones at the zoo and the ones at the zoo are from Thailand. Have you been to the zoo? May be we can all go to the zoo together. Do you want to go, Lachlan?”
The town building continued again. Lachlan didn’t seem to like her help too much so Stella concentrated on building some kind of a park with a bridge around the tower. Before long, the skinny tower was almost as tall as Lachlan. He tried to place the elephant on the top. The tower toppled. They rebuilt it again for Stella to place the elephant on the top. We, the adults knew that the tower was going to collapse but kept quiet. Stella’s try was also a failure as expected. Lachlan suggested the idea of adding something flat on the top of the tower for the elephant to stand on. The two builders set off to work again and as before, their new plans didn’t help. The elephant fell off and the tower came crashing down. Eventually, Stella suggested a bigger tower, instead of a skinny one. This time the tower was actually wide enough for the elephant to stand on and it was up to Lachlan’s chest. There was no need to add the picture book on the top for the elephant. It stood there looking proud guarding the tower and the children declared their project a success with lots of loud cheers.
This building activity is not just play without a purpose. There is the obvious social interaction between the two children. Through their negotiations and discussions, they proceeded to solve their building problems via experimentations. It is this sort of active learning that we would like to see children engage in more. When they were building the big tower, the children ran out of the larger pieces of blocks and had to resort to the smaller pieces used for building a park around the tower earlier. Basic mathematical concepts were explored while doing this. The little engineers had so much fun and so much satisfaction to find a way to build a tower to support their Asian elephant. It was amazing how Stella actually remembered which elephant figurine was which. I didn’t think she remembered what was said during the trip to the zoo to see the new elephants so long ago!
We usually meet Lachlan at the big park on Thursdays. Since it is school holidays, he and his nanny came over to Stella’s house for a little play last Wednesday. The children asked to play together and we, the nannies, got the permission to do so from their parents. The arrangement was for Lachlan to come to Stella’s house first and then for Stella to go to his place for his birthday this Saturday. Stella’s mum will be taking her to the birthday party. Stella is apparently one of only two girls invited to the party. LOL. The other little girl is a cousin of Lachlan’s.
Stella didn’t nap properly last Wednesday. She was too excited. We planned to make French toasts for afternoon tea for everyone. We were in the middle of preparing the cooking activity when Lachlan and his nanny arrived. Lachlan was a little shy, behaving a little differently from when we met him at the park. As expected, his nanny was a little surprised that I actually allowed Stella to participate actively around the electric frypan. Lachlan wasn’t that interested in the cooking process. He stayed pretty close to his nanny and watched from there. Little mother hen Stella just couldn’t stop encouraging him to join in. She kept asking him to beat the eggs. She also showed him how to dip the bread in the egg mixture and encouraged him to do so. Lachlan was a little reluctant to join in. Once the French toasts were cooked and ready to be served, Lachlan came out of his shell a little more. The French toasts were gone within minutes. Lachlan’s nanny asked her charge if he would like to have them again at home and he said, “Yes, and we can make them too.”
After the yummy afternoon tea, I suggested that Stella should show Lachlan her toys or her artwork. His nanny walked off with them suggesting that they find something to do. I immediately went to work, cleaning up, before joining them. I was loading the dishwasher when I noticed that Stella was back again. I thought she was back to fetch a drink but NO! Stella was back to help me clean up! Stella really scares me sometimes. She is like an adult in a child’s body. I gently reminded her that we shouldn’t leave our guests unattended. I decided to leave the cleaning too to join our friends.
Lachlan wanted to play with Stella’s barrels of wooden blocks. He kept asking her why she has 3 identical barrels. She told him that she needed heaps of blocks to build a town. (Her parents actually bought these top quality blocks when a toy shop closed down.) Lachlan then suggested that they build a tower in the middle of the town. He wanted a very tall tower. The children started to build while we two nannies sat on the couch relaxing and chatting. At some point, Lachlan decided that the toy elephant on the window sill must sit on the top of the tower because the town they were building was Thailand. That was what he said. LOL. His nanny was in the middle of telling me about the family’s vacation in Thailand when Stella disagreed with Lachlan’s plan. She refused to let him have the elephant on the window sill. Lachlan insisted and I was about to put a stop to the bickering when I overheard Stella’s explanation. She told Lachlan that the elephant on the window sill is from Africa. She told him that she needed to fetch her Asian elephant from the cupboard to sit on this tower. Lachlan calmed down and went with her to the cupboard. There he asked if the elephant in her hand came from Thailand. This is what she said, “This one is like the ones at the zoo and the ones at the zoo are from Thailand. Have you been to the zoo? May be we can all go to the zoo together. Do you want to go, Lachlan?”
The town building continued again. Lachlan didn’t seem to like her help too much so Stella concentrated on building some kind of a park with a bridge around the tower. Before long, the skinny tower was almost as tall as Lachlan. He tried to place the elephant on the top. The tower toppled. They rebuilt it again for Stella to place the elephant on the top. We, the adults knew that the tower was going to collapse but kept quiet. Stella’s try was also a failure as expected. Lachlan suggested the idea of adding something flat on the top of the tower for the elephant to stand on. The two builders set off to work again and as before, their new plans didn’t help. The elephant fell off and the tower came crashing down. Eventually, Stella suggested a bigger tower, instead of a skinny one. This time the tower was actually wide enough for the elephant to stand on and it was up to Lachlan’s chest. There was no need to add the picture book on the top for the elephant. It stood there looking proud guarding the tower and the children declared their project a success with lots of loud cheers.
This building activity is not just play without a purpose. There is the obvious social interaction between the two children. Through their negotiations and discussions, they proceeded to solve their building problems via experimentations. It is this sort of active learning that we would like to see children engage in more. When they were building the big tower, the children ran out of the larger pieces of blocks and had to resort to the smaller pieces used for building a park around the tower earlier. Basic mathematical concepts were explored while doing this. The little engineers had so much fun and so much satisfaction to find a way to build a tower to support their Asian elephant. It was amazing how Stella actually remembered which elephant figurine was which. I didn’t think she remembered what was said during the trip to the zoo to see the new elephants so long ago!
Tuesday, 2 October 2007
Online Storage
It is amazing how it is now possible to obtain extra storage space online. At IDrive-E, a leading online backup service provider, everyone is welcomed to sign up to 2GB of backup space absolutely FREE. This can be used for storing photos, media files or other documents. It is easy to use, secure and reliable. There are no backup & restore restrictions or bandwidth limits or file type restrictions. This caters to people’s different needs.
At IDrive-E, they also offer IDrive-E Pro Version to people requiring larger storage space. This version is not free though. For only $4.95 (US Dollars) per month, this version offers families or small business operators unlimited storage space. To make management easy, one central account can be created for multiple users within a family or small business. And it is possible to monitor the actions taken by every additional user from the central web based console. The additional users can also be further grouped under different departments for easy identification.
The services offered by IDrive-E seem easy to use. It is as easy as just dragging and dropping the files from point A to point B. They provide ‘Continuous Data Protection’. This feature recognizes changes made to files/folders and backs them up approximately every 10 minutes. IDrive-E also offers phone support for those of us who needs the extra guidance. The handy thing about online storage space is that one can easily access files away from home or when the poor computer at home crashed. By login online, one can view any files stored there or to retrieve and restore any that needed to be. There is no need to cry when someone cheekily deleted the photos painstakingly taken over years.
online backup
This is a Sponsored Post.
At IDrive-E, they also offer IDrive-E Pro Version to people requiring larger storage space. This version is not free though. For only $4.95 (US Dollars) per month, this version offers families or small business operators unlimited storage space. To make management easy, one central account can be created for multiple users within a family or small business. And it is possible to monitor the actions taken by every additional user from the central web based console. The additional users can also be further grouped under different departments for easy identification.
The services offered by IDrive-E seem easy to use. It is as easy as just dragging and dropping the files from point A to point B. They provide ‘Continuous Data Protection’. This feature recognizes changes made to files/folders and backs them up approximately every 10 minutes. IDrive-E also offers phone support for those of us who needs the extra guidance. The handy thing about online storage space is that one can easily access files away from home or when the poor computer at home crashed. By login online, one can view any files stored there or to retrieve and restore any that needed to be. There is no need to cry when someone cheekily deleted the photos painstakingly taken over years.
online backup
This is a Sponsored Post.
Monday, 1 October 2007
Australian Made Sandpit Toys Set Found!
I ducked into Big W at QV to have a little look before shopping for groceries at Safeway on the weekend. I don’t know why but I have been feeling like shopping for Christmas lately. Anyway, I found this set of Australian made sandpit toys. I think they are made by a company called Fountain Plastics. Unlike the flimsy individual pieces that I blogged about earlier, the items in this pack are actually pretty sturdy. From memory, I think the set includes a sieve, a few moulds, a rake and probably a spade or a sand ladle. All of the items are simply packed in one of those mesh wrappers that are normally used to hold oranges. All this costs less than $8.00! What a great gift idea especially if you are a thrifty nanny?
I am pretty sure that I have blogged about Australian made, individual pieces of sandpit toys from Big W, a while ago. I am not sure if those flimsy ones and the set mentioned above are from the same company.
Finding this set of Australian made sandpit toys proved that Australian made toys have not gone entirely extinct as of yet. I am aware that they are some small local manufacturers out there making pieces of top quality toys. It will be so nice if someone will bring all Aussie toymakers together to exhibit their products to the public. This will educate the public, letting them know that there are Aussie choices available. If parents can see before their eyes the sort of Australian toys on offer, they (especially the ones who can afford the higher price tags) are less likely to have to choose Fisher Price, Barbie or Hot Wheels. There are parents out there who are looking for well made toys and equipment for their children. Many, like Stella’s mum, are simply not attracted to toys that are linked to licensed characters.
I am pretty sure that I have blogged about Australian made, individual pieces of sandpit toys from Big W, a while ago. I am not sure if those flimsy ones and the set mentioned above are from the same company.
Finding this set of Australian made sandpit toys proved that Australian made toys have not gone entirely extinct as of yet. I am aware that they are some small local manufacturers out there making pieces of top quality toys. It will be so nice if someone will bring all Aussie toymakers together to exhibit their products to the public. This will educate the public, letting them know that there are Aussie choices available. If parents can see before their eyes the sort of Australian toys on offer, they (especially the ones who can afford the higher price tags) are less likely to have to choose Fisher Price, Barbie or Hot Wheels. There are parents out there who are looking for well made toys and equipment for their children. Many, like Stella’s mum, are simply not attracted to toys that are linked to licensed characters.
Extra Storage Space Required!
September has gone and Spring has already been here for a month! This nanny is slowly cleaning her apartment. There are things that need to be thrown out. There are also things waiting to be sorted out and stored away. There are things in boxes that have been waiting for months to be taken to our rented storage facility. This nanny is fast running out of storage space within her small apartment. She is simply hoarding too many things.
There are a couple of foldable easy chairs and a couple of bikes hanging on the bike rack at our car spot in the communal car park. Other people store things at their own spots too. Despite the recent break-ins, it may still be a good idea to add functional storage space if we are careful with our selections. This nanny might find the idea of some robust metal cabinets with good locks useful. Things that are not required immediately can be stored in the garage to create more space within the apartment while bulkier things that are not required all the time can continue to be stored at our rented storage facility.
garage storage
This is a Sponsored Post
There are a couple of foldable easy chairs and a couple of bikes hanging on the bike rack at our car spot in the communal car park. Other people store things at their own spots too. Despite the recent break-ins, it may still be a good idea to add functional storage space if we are careful with our selections. This nanny might find the idea of some robust metal cabinets with good locks useful. Things that are not required immediately can be stored in the garage to create more space within the apartment while bulkier things that are not required all the time can continue to be stored at our rented storage facility.
garage storage
This is a Sponsored Post
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
