Friday, March 23, 2012
AY2011/12 Semester 2 Sessions 1-3 :)
Hello there! We're back! :D How's everyone?
It's been a great 2012 for YRS so far :) Not only have we held 3 sessions of YRS for our children so far, we have also just had our volunteer get-together where we had pizza, played games and htht-ed!
With one of our kids!
At the get-together: "The pizzas look nicer than us!"
This semester, YRS has revamped the syllabus of the mass sessions. Every session, there will be a short skit depicting a certain social behaviour/interaction acted out in front of the children.
For instance, in session 1, our focus was on 'Getting Along' -- the plot being a pair of brothers fighting over a game because of each brother's unwillingness to share.
Session 2 -- You Cannot Get Whatever You Want
Session 3 -- Honesty
Watching the skit!
After the skit, the children would be split into smaller groups for group discussions on whatever they had seen earlier.
Volunteers leading the discussion...
Pausing for a picture!
Over at YRS, we definitely believe that building character and integrity is just as important as learning your ABC's! :)
Speaking of ABC's, after the mass sessions are our usual reading sessions with the children. It sure is satisfying for us to know that these weekly sessions will go a long way in helping the children develop their language skills -- and of course when they thank us after the session!
Everybody's hard at work~
"You got it!"
We can't wait for the next 5 sessions, the consolidation party and of course, the outing that will take place at the end of the semester!
Here's a picture from our get-together to end off the post!
"Want some pizza?"
Toodles for now,
YRS x
~Yishun Reading Stars~ 12:45 AM
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Session 7, 20 May 2011: Patience
Apologies for so few pictures! We were pretty shorthanded today and things were a bit messy, so we apologise for that. Nevertheless, thanks for making the session great anyway! :)The topic for today was "patience", teaching the kids how to wait and not give up.
The story goes that a busy king wanted to hire an assistant to ease his load. So, he devised a selection test. Whoever could use a leaky pot to empty his pond would get the position.
The kids also got their hand at picking sweets out of a box full of newspaper. After the time limit, they would have to queue again. Many were pretty frustrated when they couldn't get their sweets on the first attempt!
"Don't count so fast, don't count so fast!"
"If I weren't patient, I'd punch you!"
Random: artwork by V! :D
Next week will be the final session before the consolidation party! Do turn up, and stay tuned for details of our outing on 4th June :)
~YRS Comm :D~ 9:28 PM
Session 6, 13 May 2011: Contentment
Today, we welcomed back the volunteers and children after a long 3-week break for the exams! Things picked up just where we left off, the period of absence wasn't an issue :)
The theme for the day was "patience". The well-known childhood fable of "The Golden Finger" was told :) Long ago, there lived a greedy king whose greatest wish in life was to have all the gold in the world.
In fact, he had so much gold that he could buy many, many packs of mamee!
So, a fairy decided to teach him a lesson by making everything that he touched turn into gold.
And the king soon found out that having all the gold in the world wasn't what he really wanted.
Today's teachers were Daniel and Sharon :D
The kids learnt about prepositions through a short game of helping King Greedy spot coins in his room. ("The coin is on the bookshelf!")
Then, it was reading as usual. Everyone was especially camera-shy today...
"Nonono I'm not camera shy! Take me take me!"
"I'm the king, why should I bother?"
"Teacher, give me more points leh. I don't have gold to buy mamee :("
So many times, being content is easier said than done, but just look around, and you'll find that even the smallest things are worth being grateful for :) Keep smiling and see you next session!
~YRS Comm :D~ 9:18 PM
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Session 5: Respect, 15 Apr 2011
Time really flies! It's reading week already! We had our final session before taking a break for exams.Waiting for the program to start :)
As usual, everyone wanted to raise the flag ("pickmepickmepickme!!!")
"Oh no, who should we pick?"
"Hehe it's my turn today!"
YRS anthem, F is standing beside Daniel in hopes of becoming a teacher one day too :P
We swopped the order of the program today based on some volunteers' feedback that it was hard to get the kids to settle down and read after the skit/activities. So, the kids got more time for reading today :D
S loves teacher Wanyan!
"I'm smiling 'cos I don't know the answer hehe"
"Hmm let me think about what I'm reading"
"But I'm really not sure"
"Never mind, teacher will help me!"
"We can all learn together!"
After everyone had packed up, we started our skit for the day!
Once upon a time, there were three rude dwarves who always laughed at an old man. One day, a mighty wizard decided to punish them, so that whenever they insulted the old man, the things that they mocked him for would happen to them instead.
"So children, you must respect others okay?"
"Okay, so what's the answer for this?"
J: "Mmm, let me think about it..."
Teacher Jiaqi: "Psst it's the other one!"
The kids also had to complete a group activity by spotting spelling mistakes in a letter written by the dwarves :D
Not forgetting it was D's birthday too! We were so touched when we heard that he wanted to come here instead of celebrating with his family *awwww* Here he is, distributing tidbits to the other kids (:
"I wonder if I can steal the whole bag since he's not looking?"
That's all for today! We would like to thank all volunteers for coming down week after week and being so patient with all the kids :) All the best for your exams, see you in 3 weeks' time on 13th May!
~YRS Comm :D~ 12:38 AM
Session 4: Diligence, 8 Apr 2011
Today's theme was diligence, something we thought the kids could apply to daily aspects of their life (e.g. doing homework)"Homework? Noooo!!!" *hides behind the wall*
The grammar topic for the day was punctuation too, so we incorporated it into story-telling by getting the kids to do actions or make sounds according to the punctuation marks shown when they appeared in the story.
"Okay everyone, when you see a comma, give me one clap! For full stop, say "mmm." If you see an exclamation mark, say "ah!". For question mark, say "huh?" and do this squiggly twitchy thing with your fingers when you see quotation marks. Okay?"
The story for the day was about a lazy farmer boy who happened to chance upon a rabbit which crashed into a tree. He was delighted because he managed to sell it for money without having to harvest crops. He then decided to wait under the tree every day in hopes of getting money in the same way.
Jing Rong and Martin getting very excited about earning money.
The kids then got to choose their own endings to the story:
- He should continue to sit under the tree and wait for rabbits
- He should go and hunt for rabbits instead
- He should return to the fields to harvest crops
Depending on which ending they chose, they had to line up behind different gift boxes, and those who chose options 2 and 3 got a pleasant surprise :D
Moral of the story: Be hardworking! (but don't work like a dog. We're not sure who made that shadow hehe)
And of course, we also learnt not to put photos of celebrities as our wallpapers.. It made the kids rather excited :x
"Is she your girlfriend???"
And posers caught in action during reading!
That's all for today :D See you again next week!
~YRS Comm :D~ 12:29 AM
