Aren’t these cute ? Found them at the Chatuchak Weekend Market. They came all the way from Chiang Mai.
I am hiding them from the kids for the time being. This will be their new toys when school break begins … in about 24 hours. I’m putting together a felt play mat so that they can play the wooden animals on them and not all over the house.
is on until August 22nd. We went there two Sundays ago . It wasn’t very crowded then so we pretty much stayed there the whole day. This fair is geared towards the locals, so most of the presentations are done in Thai. Booths the kid enjoyed are the Science Lab ( she disappeared for 1.5 hrs there ), the Galapagos Experience , and the zone where there are mini science experiments to try out. There is an area for younger kids to play in next to the Science Lab. We didn’t get to check out the Dialogue in the Dark booth. I heard that Nong Ig-Q is one of the guides there. ( Nong Ig-Q was a freshman who was blinded in a ” rup nong ” hazing event ) . For the mommies, there is the Oriental Medicine booth by Rangsit University. They are selling their famous herbal weight loss pills, which they claim one could lose 2 kgs in a week with no yo-yo effect.
I think most parents here are following this story where a 19 year-old stabbed a taxi driver to death in an attempted robbery, a la GTA style. I watched a kid play this game several years ago. I thought he gamed over when he got clobbered to death. Then I realised that he was doing the clobbering. Of course, being lacking in social skills, I opened my big mouth while the kid was doing rampant shootings and said, ” You know, kids in the states shoot their classmates because of games like this.” which embarrassed the parents. Oh well.
As usual, someone has to die before something gets done here. This game , Grand Thief Auto, actually received its license by the Office of National Cultural Commission. Is this a joke ? They should know that granting it an online versions license means it will be made cheaply available for all to play, rated or not. Internet cafes here charge 15 - 20 bht an hour. The “ethical” ones will not allow kids in school uniforms to enter their shops. The unethical ones couldn’t care less. Once they are inside, it’s money making time and kids hooked on games are a steady source of income.
These shops have become an alternative baby-sitting service for some low income families. 50bht is enough to cover 2 hours and a meal plus some assurance that they’ll know where their kids are and not out on the streets. I really doubt that the parents of that teenager have a clue about what games he’s been playing. When we parents think of shooting games, we think of police-catching-criminals games not playing as The Criminal, like what kind of freaks think up a game like that ?
Today’s news said zoning laws will be introduced, no internet cafes allowed within 500 meters of schools. Think it’ll work ? When the dust settles, everything will just be back to business. As usual, parents are left bewildered every time news like this hit us again.
… to pop your eyeballs … This is what the K2 did as a finale to a particularly rough day ( “rough” here , meant for us ) …
This was after I stomped out of the room feeling pissed at myself for being tricked into giving her pork floss along with her dinner which she has been trying to finish for the past 2 hours eating just a grain of rice at a time.
I handed the kid a blank canvas ( buy 2 get 1 free , I scored ! ) She thought for a moment, then said , “I’m not going to draft , I’ll just paint it. I need blue, green, red , and white paint.” A little later, she has painted some flowers layered behind some grass on a snowy day. How does she do that ? I spent my high school taking art class and the most dreaded assignment is a blank piece of paper. All other assignments where we were asked to replicate a drawing, I can do. When it comes to drawing from my own imagination, the brain just went blank.
I’m beginning to understand what the art teacher was talking about. We chose this art school because it was near our house and the owner was , well, interesting. Let’s just said that, if you see a man riding a bike with today’s oil prices attached to it, it’s him. At that time, he told us that we should not show our kid how to draw. If she draws a tree that you have drawn , you are DESTROYING her creativity. If she wants to color her tree pink, let her do it ! It is HER tree ! That was very puzzling then, and it make us feel very apprehensive when the kid said she doesn’t know how to draw something and ask if we will please show her how.
Anyways, the way they teach art is to give the kids a topic. After they have drafted it out in pencil, they show it to their teacher. The teacher will then give them advice, for example, this part is too blank , go add something to it. After the draft is okayed, the kids then add color , pastel, watercolor or acrylic , depending on the course level.
The kid’s drawing is not neat, even today. During the first course, she came back with a color pencil drawing of us, and we thought “How much did we paid for this ?” But now we understand. Their goal is to foster kids imagination. It is not necessary to draw a realistic tree at this age. It is more important to imagine your own tree.
At last, a new museum ! We are so tired of the never-ending Princesses thing going on at the Children’s Discovery Center. The Museum of Siam is located between the Pharachawang Police Station and Wat Po. It’s an old government building ( Ministry of Commerce ) that has been converted into a museum, so there are antique tile floors and wooden stairs that makes one feel … cultured ? Well, this is what this museum is about. Where did Thais originated from ? Where is the real Suvannabhum ? As you weave through each room you travel from the past to present . Lots of multimedia tools used to get the message across. There is a cannonball game where you steer a canon to shoot your enemies on screen. The kid was glued to the windows watching a movie projected onto a model ( The movie is about the fall of Ayudthaya , I think. I was very distracted by the K2. ) Much , much more that I can write about . There’s no entrance fee and parking is available. Weekends are crowded, go during weekdays ( closed on mondays ) if you can. Map here.
I heard at a seminar in the kids’ school. The seminar’s called ” How to prepare your child for Mor 1 ( grade 7 ) examination ” and they invited some parents of past graduates to share their story. The elementary section is fairly new, there are just 2 years of alumnis freed into the wild so far. There was a dad whose son got accepted into a gifted class. This caused quite a stir amongst the parents because parents here are worried that their kids are not academically competitive with kids from other schools. ( This is a child-centered school so they don’t overdo the academic side of learning. )
The dad’s story was his son started school in the regular school system. He was ranked number 38 out of the 40 students in class, almost bottom of the class. The dad then transfered his son to an international school but tuition fees soon turned into a financial burden. He looked for alternatives and found this school. The way he put it was , the school’s system created a healthy core for his child. Instead of just throwing textbooks and homeworks at his son, it gave time for his brain to be ready for them. When he started grade 5, his dad started preparing him for the mor1 exam. What he did was, he look for weekend cram schools located around the high school that he planned to send his son to. The purpose was not to study for knowledge, but to familiarize his son to doing timed exams and to practice doing different style of questions.
I was very impressed with this dad’s story ( along with a hoard of other moms who sat around him during tea break like he is a guru of some sort ) . He completely overturned his son’s fate of being labeled an underachiever into a gifted child. How cool is that !
Okay, I’m back, feeling relieved after settling with the principal, the teachers , and the mom. They agreed to move the K2 to another class after she got stabbed on the head with a pencil by a Special kid ( have autism ). This kid has been hitting her since K1. The teachers and the mom have been telling us that this special kid likes the K2 ( and another boy in the class ) very much. However, he does not know how to show affection gently. He’ll bear hug the K2. When she doesn’t want to play with him, he hits her. AND I tell you that he doesn’t hit like ordinary kids ( we found that part out recently, with our own eyes ). He really swings at her. We’ve been very patient about this whole thing, trying to teach the K2 how to protect herself ( from telling the teacher, to yelling at the special kid to STOP , to running the other way when he comes near ), and complaining to her, then, K1 teachers . Well, it didn’t work and lately the K2 does weird things , like she’ll bring several handkerchiefs to school. When asked why, she said she needed the handkerchiefs to wipe away tears when that special kid hits her. There’s also the twisted idea that it’s okay for a friend that likes you to hit you. People who likes you , does not hit you ! Don’t teach children that ! I have so much reprogramming to do.
So, the past 2 days I pressured the teachers for a decision. When the promised ‘ talk with the principal ‘ didn’t appeared the next morning, I told them through gritted teeth that I am not letting my child study in the same classroom with that kid and I am bringing my child home. I think the mom heard me. shit. It was said to get results, not to hurt her feelings.
The outcome was, the K2 gets to move to another class. The special kid’s mom have to go to school with him. I wasn’t completely happy. No apologies from the principal. She accepted a kid whom the teachers cannot control and hurt my child. Now, my child have to readjust to new classroom, new teachers, new friends all over again.
End of Story.
Super easy and a very good way to use up fabric scraps . I am feeling very smug that I didn’t buy the fabric button kits from Tang Hua Seng .
Does your children tell on each other ? Today the K2 said the following :
” I don’t want to name names, but the person wearing a green T-shirt, blue jeans, with her hair tied in red rubber band DID NOT finished her breakfast. I ate all my French toasts . See ? The person wearing a green T-shirt, blue jeans, with her hair tied in red rubber band still have lots of pieces left. “
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