6 things teachers need parents to know (edited in March 2021)

The relationship between teachers and parents is an extremely powerful component in student success. Yet so many parents go through the school year without communicating with the teacher or understanding what to do (or avoid) to make the most of the year. 

I have been working in a school that highly values relationships between home-school and teacher-child, we have an open door policy and invites families into the classrooms frequently. I continue to learn about the relationship between home and school; beyond the communication, there is mutual trust, transparency, respect, interdependency, team learning and accountability. Effective home-school partnership requires conscious effort. In light of my current stand with the families I am working with, I have been reflecting a lot on trust and been sharing my perspective with others. Trust is an individual feeling, different people build trust differently. I know many people who say that they trust me, but I do not always feel that trust, it is not transparent to me. 

However, I and my (recently graduated) peers do feel under appreciated and tired from the parents' expectations and demands (using these terms loosely). Unfortunately, this sentiment seems to be becoming more and more prevalent. Today, new teachers remain in our profession an average of just 3-5 years [*personal experiences], and many of them list "issues with parents" as one of their reasons for throwing in the towel. Word is spreading, and the more negativity teachers receive from parents, the harder it becomes to recruit the best and the brightest preschool teachers. 

Thus, from the bottom of my heart, there are several things I wish parents knew before sending their children to school/group care.

1. We are on the same team

We truly care about your children and we watches them grow up in our care and we want them to be successful. The child's success is our success too. When we contacts you about a problem or something that happened at school, understand that we are trying to work with you to resolve any conflicts that may be getting in the way of your child's success. We are on the same team.

Please have a leap of faith in our feedback. Just because a child doesn't exhibit a particular behavior at home doesn't mean he doesn't exhibit that behavior in the classroom. So if we shares a particular behavior that you haven't seen before, don't rush to say, "Well, I've never seen him do that, he learnt it in school." The classroom and home environments are quite different, and often times children behave differently when forced to follow rules and work with peers. So, do have an open mind and listen to what the teacher has to say as we work together towards a solution.

2. Don't go over the teacher's head. 

If you're having an issue with us or your child, the subject matter or the classroom in general, talk directly with the teacher before going to the principal or other administrators. For instance, you discovered a scratch on your child's body and you are worried, do drop us an email or phone call. There is no need to write a complaint letter about "negligence in care" and share it with the big bosses. We feel bad when your child is hurt too, so we don't deserve to feel even worse by your comments. Children fall down and get hurt in group care settings and good teachers really invest efforts to prevent any possible physical injuries through reminders, shifting of classroom furniture etc. 

3. Norms of a group care setting

Placing your child in a group care setting means having your child sharing the teachers' attention, care and school's resources with other children concurrently as well. As much as we wish to prevent it, there are instances when your child fell down yet teachers did not managed to see the fall. This is because children are running all about within the space and teachers could be engaged helping other children or simply got block by fixed fittings to miss their fall. We are humans and mistakes happens. Further, teachers are showering children in groups, things bound to get misplaced. Children are learning to be responsible and teachers are showering/diapering/dressing up seven to ten children at the same time, have some heart.

It does sucks to have your kid's socks missing, let's be understanding. We can retrieve these missing items by checking in with other families and teachers. So, don't yell at us. 

4. Be consistent

You are a good parent and you wish to give the best to your child. But you realized that it is so challenging to make them eat vegetables at home or tame their tantrums at home yet they are angels in school. Indeed, children behave differently at home and in school. As they spend a good 8-12 hours in school, teachers can see their not-so-good behaviors and rectify it by disciplining your child. Thus, do work with the teachers to instill consistency in disciplining your child at home and in school. We are helping you and your child.

Don't ask the teacher why my 3 year old haven't start on potty learning, but ask yourself are you ready to commit to your son's potty learning? Often, parents are too focused at work and could not commit their time and efforts with their child at home (getting trainers, be prepared for wetting, extra clothes, consistent pee schedule). In the case of toilet learning, we need parents to be supportive and work with the school. Some "busy" parents, honestly, are causing their child to lag behind their developmental milestones.

5. Be involved

Speaking of "busy", I understand that parents these days are holding executive positions, exercising to look good, network for better work prospects while juggling milk bottles and diapers. Yes, work-life balance is tough, some may say - impossible. But please, be committed to your child's development by being there for them. They grow up once, and they are growing up too fast.

Do read their home-school communication file to know what is going on with the class, do volunteer your time to participate in class' activities and do spend time to talk to them about their feelings. Ask yourself what can you do more for your child.

6. Be kind

Honestly, teachers are paid to do their job and passion and gratitude does keep us going. So, there is no need to buy fancy teachers' day gifts once a year, when you hardly appreciate us on a daily basis. We appreciate your kind words like "please", "thank you so much" and "I appreciate your hard work" much much more than your expensive festive cookies and mugs. Parents ought to set good examples to children by being kind to their teachers. When children see their parents and teachers working well, they learn to pass on their kindness and empathy to their peers; making the world a better place.

When parents are quick to complain about their children's teachers, teachers are walking on eggshells. I feel sorry for good teachers these days whose hands are completely tied. In many ways, we live in fear of what will happen next. We walk on eggshells in a watered-down education system where teachers lacks the courage to be honest and speak their mind. If we make a slight mistake, it could be a major disaster. 

Hence, I would like to encourage parents to be partners instead of a prosecutor. We know you love your children. We love them, too. We need you to trust us, support us and work with us, not against it. We need you to have our backs, and we need you to give us the respect we deserve. So, lift us up and make us feel appreciated, and we will work even harder to give your child the best childhood possible.

That's a teacher's promise, from us to you.

Fighting the blues

I sort of had pretty nasty Monday Blues lately; having internal struggles of going to work. How could you not when you have worked for three consecutive Saturdays while balancing your other priorities.

I had a bad sleep the past Monday morning and I had to rush to my family doctor to get my urine tested, get breakfast and travel from city to Jurong, all before half past eight. On the way to work, my heart was tugging slightly towards the devilish side; looking for motivation and shortcuts to end the day quicker and fast forward to payday/bonus/public holiday/off days.

Then, when I arrived at the foyer at fifteen minutes past eight, I was warmly greeted by the parents and teacher who were already there. I walked a little further into the workroom and saw my closet colleague offering me my favorite junk food. After a short catch up, I picked up the courage to bear the wrath of the children, who were already high on ecstasy and loud like a trumpet, engaging in mixed-age interactions. There were louds good-mornings, huge smiles, fleshy hugs and sloppy kisses from my favorite babies. In the background, there were colleagues sharing junk food and breakfast with one another, though, I received several breakfast options, I munched onto my cold, lifeless hotdog bun. Then, there were parents who asked how my weekend was and there was a school auntie who asked if I had breakfast.

Somehow or rather, the blues vanished and the rest of the day seems really good and smooth. Thus, how can any individual fail in such a supportive work culture? Yet, how can any charcoal flourish when she is surrounding with diamonds and gem stones? 

Meanwhile, throwback to my Indian lookbook, hahahas! 

Overcoming self-doubts as a new teacher

I feel that my inexperience can bite me in the butt sometimes. I really hope that my lack of experience will not be detrimental for these children’s growth and development. After spending five year of tertiary education and merely six months of work, I noticed that I only have superficial knowledge, I possess a wide range of know-knows but I lack depth and credible examples. 

Recently, it was my first time planning a field trip (from scratch) for the preschoolers and I thought that it was challenging. I have many ideas and places to go for the older children but when it comes to thinking for the really young ones, I struggled a little. I learnt that there are many factors to consider in planning the trip, like the children and parents’ needs, timings and weathers, intentions and rationale. 

Usually on my way home, I reflect on how my day with the children, colleagues and parents went. There are days when I feel lousy, there are days when I feel satisfied (thankfully, more of the latter). Furthermore, when the self-doubts overwhelms my own thinking, I feel very depressed. I can honestly feel that I am struggling with the responsibilities, pressure and expectations as a new teacher. Even though, I often remind myself to enjoy the teaching process than to overthink, it is tougher than I expect. I like my job but I am too uptight kanchiong, too afraid to make mistakes, worry too much and scares myself with worst case scenarios. 

Furthermore, I often asked myself if “I am a bad teacher” because I am so immersed with my overthinking and self-doubts. Then again, I asked myself “What defines a good teacher?” and I always have different definitions for every different work experiences. There are days when I think a good teacher “is a creator of a well-regulated children”, “patience and understanding”, “a survivor”, “has good teaching intentions”… I really don’t know what defines a good teacher. Oh well, it is a learning process. 

Nonetheless, I often remind myself that we were not created to be perfect and no matter how hard we try we will never be. Practice may not make perfect but it makes it permanent. I need to continue to gain experience, reflect on them, and work on making it better.

Biggest takeaways from ECDA Conference 2015

Anyone who knows me know I love to go to school and study. So, I have been really excited to go to this year ECDA conference. Asides from it being a class reunion, I learnt new knowledge that can be used in my teaching. 

Three biggest takeaway

1. From "Unleashing creative confidence in play", I learnt that preschoolers' problem solving skills is better than college graduate. I am confident that my preschoolers are competent and capable individuals that can solve problems independently, but to know that they are so good at it, it makes me feels great! In the TED video, it describes how preschoolers think, facilitate and engaged in teamwork cohesively while college graduates performed teamwork aimlessly in an egocentric manner. 

Thus, I am empowered to appreciate each child's uniqueness than to embrace conformity in my own teaching. I would provide play materials that encourages openness and creativity and to encourage innovation in their play. Lastly, I shall not discipline them by subjecting them to the judgement of the other children. For instance, "When you shout and scream so loud at the mall, how do you think others are looking at you?", "What do you think your friends think about you?". When we speak to them in such a demeaning manner, they are often coerced to be someone the society wants him to be than to be themselves.

easier to build a child than to rebuild an adult

2. I learnt that there are serious implications for the very young ones who are exposed to group care. It is even worse if the educators are not caring enough. Based on "Building trusting relationships with infants and toddlers", we learnt about the importance and significance of  responsive, reciprocal and respectful curriculum for the very young ones. It reminds me to provide plenty of sensorial learning experiences and to enjoy the process of working with young children. Personally, I am observing and documenting my toddlers development on a weekly basis as I continue to understand their milestones and achievements. To be honest, it is tough to resist the urge to rush in our hurried society. I need to be patient, slow down and give them unhurried time to explore and respond.

Storigami; simplicity at its best.

3. I am a huge fan of children's literature and I learnt a new way of narrating story. How exciting! Storigami is the art of telling stories through origami. I realised that I often provide children with books filled with illustrations and words. How about wordless books? Nonetheless, we need to cultivate good reading habits since toddler hood and exposed them to a wide array of books. For instances, books with rhymes, books for enjoyments, books on managing change. 

A brief update.

As a degree graduate, we are often trained to teach the older children (4 years and above). Hence, we often step into schools with a 4 to 6 (years old) mindset. We are capable of writing term goals, activities, classroom management strategies for them so easily, it becomes an automatic thinking and reactive thinking. A fellow friend of mine took two days to cough out a term of lesson plans for her K1 class. It becomes second nature because we are too familiar with the Nurturing Early Learners and Kindergarten Curriculum Framework. But what about the infant and toddlers curriculum? How well do we know our toddlers' development and pedagogy? In my opinion, the relationship-based curriculum and birth to three curriculum has been overlooked in the diploma and degree program. And, I felt the wrath of it at work. As a fresh graduate, I struggled with my class of toddlers. I have to admit that I learnt more while getting my hands dirty with the toddlers in five months then five years of my tertiary education. I had to put in more efforts than my peers to learn and to overcome my barriers at work and I have no regrets about it. Because, over time, I fell in love with the toddlers and they inspire me each day. 

I came into the toddler classroom with nothing to offer, fear of toddlers and has evolved to a more alert, observant and knowledgeable practitioner. Having the opportunity to write the portfolios for the children has reminded me that these toddlers are very competent human beings. They have the ability to learn the class culture, befriend new companions and build relationships with strangers and address them as teachers within such a short period of time; I reckon quicker than a grown-up would take. Seeing them growing up so healthy and happy motivates me to work hard to be a better educator. 

On a side note, show some love to the Science of Play project, organised by the Lien Foundation, to advocate for play in the early years. Do take a look at their advocacy over at http://scienceofplay.sg/ . Personally, I like this website as it provides me with classroom ideas for my toddlers. The ideas provided are really simple and developmentally appropriate for young children. There were a couple of workshops hosted for families to encourage play with the underprivileged families. And, there will be more workshops held in community centres around Singapore, so do look out for them! How lovely! Such advocacy projects are a testimonial of the nation efforts to improve the early childhood education and to provide a more meaningful childhood. So, do support! 

A timely reminder

            Enculturation has given me the opportunity to know the organization in the larger scale and it was a good platform for networking and revision as well. There were many people from various backgrounds within the same room as myself embarking on this teaching profession. It was nice to see some familiar faces too.

At Enculturation, I was often asked by my peers and instructors, where do I see myself in three years? And, my answer remain the same. I want to be a masterful teacher and an effective advocate. I want to learn, grow and be challenged consistently. I intend to learn pedagogies and effective communication from my older colleagues and to read up on effective strategies and latest trends. One of the most memorable quotes shared at the Enculturation was; with or without a leader, a good teacher still carry out her tasks dutifully and passionately. It doesn’t take a leader to make her great, the heart of the teacher make herself great. It reminds me to be proactive, hardworking and maintain integrity at work at all times.

Attending Enculturation program made me found out that almost every teachers cried buckets of tears before because of all the heavy workload, expectation and stress. They have asked themselves over and over again why they are here, doing tasks that the society do not appreciate. But they said, “when children smile and say thank you to you, everything’s worth it”. And then, willingly, we continue on this journey as we cry and fall for millions of times until our souls and bodies break. Without the passion and love for children, we really wouldn’t be here. Teachers are really great. I am really honored to be in one of the world’s great profession.

It will not be an easy journey but it will be worth it. I believe that in everything I do, just be the best I can be and be genuine to myself and the people around me. People will have expectations of myself, everyone will, but as long as I try my best, I should be proud of myself. Everyone goes through the newbie stage, and the beginning is the toughest. 

SuperHero Me

"Our children today are growing up amid rising expectations and complexity. Success is no longer dependent only on grades. What they need is a stronger sense of self. To know who they are, and where they want to go. Or, in other words, to find the superhero in themselves". - Mr Lee Poh Wah 

Superhero Me is a social initiative by Lien Foundation, in collaboration with In Merry Motion and Logue, held at the Plaza at the National Library Board in late June 2015. It is a value-based craft + play event as we advocate for play for children. Basically, we are telling children that superheros are making the world a better place and there is a superhero within us. We can make the world a better place by being resilient, kind, grateful, patient and respectful to one another. 

Sharing of the five values

I love the 5 values; 

Tree of Resilience: Be it rain of shine, a tree 'never gives up' and stands firmly onto the ground throughout the year.

Cloud of Patience: In order to form clouds, tiny water droplets work together and wait patiently for the right time to rain.

Bird of Gratitude: Baby crows are well-fed and nursed to excellent health by their mothers. When these crows grow up, they return their gratitude by sharing food and taking care of their mothers till the latter passed on. 

Fruit of Kindness: It reminds me of a funny story of my mother. She told me she love to eat fish parts with bones ever since I was young. So, I always gave her the fish parts with lots of bones while I enjoy boneless fish. It took me over two decades to realized that no one likes fish with bones. They eat it out of love. Share with others your favorite food is an example of being kind.

Heart of Respect: Respect means listening when others are talking, means having eye contact to the person you are talking to, treating everyone nicely. Respect should come from the heart.

Adorable!

  

Dinosaurs made of cardboard, sweet!

Highlights

- Love the design of the entire place, very bright and lively. Its every nook of the area could easily captivates children's interest. How they utilized recycled materials as part of the decorations was amazing!

- Materials was open-ended. There were many loose materials, recycled materials, feathers, wool and more, the children loved the different textures and colors.

- Family-oriented. It makes parents feel very comfortable and welcomed. This was nicely done by sharing some strategies that parents can be engaged in, having enough space for adults to participate, effective questioning techniques.

Possible Improvements (Note: The organizers did a fantastic job, these points are merely taken from my own perspective as a classroom teacher) 

- Craft activity was not developmentally appropriate for younger children (below 6 years old). There were sample works and the organizer/volunteers encouraged them to do it a certain way. I never believe in showing sample work as it kills creativity and ownership. 

- Paint was not children-friendly. In any paint activity with young children, non toxic, washable paint should be used.

- Decoration and Sounds are distracting. There were too much sounds as many activities took place concurrently. The decorations are really colorful and nice but could be too visual overwhelming to some. There could be a balance in black and white space.

Craft work

Personally, I like this event and I could tell that the children were meaningfully engaged throughout. They could share examples of being nice/kind/respectful/grateful and they were really sweet when they told their mummies and daddies that they promise to take care of them when they gets older. The participants are really happy and had fun! It is my pleasure to work with them and I look forward to more projects!

Learn more about the event at @superhero_sg/superhero me festival. They are really talented and their photos speaks for itself. 

Graduated.

I am officially a Degree holder; the journey just begun.

Alongside with my fellow NTUC First Campus (NFC) teachers. 

I've been well-blessed with supportive family and loved ones.

I am at the starting line of the rest of my life, as ready as I ever would be.

7 things higher education never taught me for ACTUAL early childhood work [Personal Opinions]

It is a rather lengthy post to address myths and scare potential preschool teachers, yet it resonates with teachers.

1. Yes, you completed a diploma in teaching for early childhood. Congratulations. However, in reality, you actually only teach 10% of your time with children, 50% of care giving curriculum, 40% of mediation and conversations. I would suggest you spend more effort to plan child-centric, experiential learning and evaluate on your teaching consistently. If you feel too comfortable with the children you work with, you tend to be complacent and slack off in your teachings. When you do not pursue improvement, you do no justice for the children.  Reflect and document your own professional development and build an impressive resume bank for your next job.

2. You learn how to tie a basic ponytail in under two seconds.  You want a ballerina bun? Five seconds. You work with young girls who are beginning to associate their self-worth with their appearance, they want to look pretty (despite countless attempt of telling them that they are beautiful and kind). Most of them want to look like Elsa, but Mulan is the best they get from me. Not sure if Disney or the mass media to be blamed, but you know, I do tell them they are important and beautiful.

3. Your classroom is a melting pot of cultures. Not just the four major cultures in Singapore, I am referring to cultures around the globe. While German parents do not intervene in their children's fight/arguments/negotiations (no matter how the children are physically involved), Singaporeans would '(threaten to) cane' if their little ones are engaged in any misdemeanours. Furthermore, different families has different cultures. The challenge for any culturally responsive pedagogy is to embed all the different families' cultures and recreate a class culture. Easier said than done though.

4. You never get used to the smell of poop. NEVER. Well, you get used to seeing poop in diapers all the time, approximately a dump every two hours, means you might encounter four to six a day. The stench is horrible and nothing can make you feel better. I could wear two disposable face masks and some really nasty stench could still burn your eyeballs! Yes, degree holders/L2/Singaporeans/English/young teachers do change poop diaper. Changing diaper full of poop is your job so don't complain. Think if you don't change for them, no one else would. So, do some good in this world by washing their buttocks, it feels good to be clean.

5. Some of these young children who you work for with, are literally richer than you. Yes, some children are born with two domestic helpers, guaranteed termly Europe holidays, almost weekly weekend staycation at posh hotels, dressed in branded clothes and shoes, whose birthday cakes are bigger than yours. You will never be richer than them but no point being envious though. Just continuing washing their buttocks for them.

6. Teacher-child ratios matters. Please know ECDA and your company's teacher-child ratio for each age group. A proper teacher-child ratio prevents misbehaviours, accidents and well-supervision for all children. Ever heard of nasty story of how one teacher has 30 toddlers due to the lack of manpower? Think from the poor teacher's perspective, her work is really difficult and it is emotionally unhealthy for both the adult and children. All teachers deserve to live and work in a safe, stress-free environment.

7. How do you cope with children who can't sleep? If you realised five years of diploma and degree in early childhood has never taught you how to pacify a child who CAN'T sleep. I am referring to children whose body need no afternoon nap. It is tortuous (for both the child and teacher) to forcefully induce a child to sleep. Well, you can work with families so that the child sleep less at home or exhaust the child in the morning through outdoor play. I would recommend placing an eye mask over his eyes to stimulate darkness and to make his mattress as comfy as you can. E.g. high head elevation, bolster to hug. Even if he can't sleep, he needs to know that he needs to rest. 

8. Lastly, regardless if you work with children or adults or robots or astronauts, life don't sucks, you do. If your life sucks, do something about it. Get a new boss. Change your job. Travel for a while and rethink about what you like to do in your life. I have met many young fresh graduate who got a degree and bounce from job to job, simply because they can't find the one. Dude, do a gut check. I would suggest you reflect and prioritize what you look for in a job. Do you need a positive work culture, good pay, good job prospects or to work with good-looking people? There will NOT be a perfect job ever, so quit sulking or whining.

Please don't think that 'hey i am young, i can offer to explore my options than to settle down'. Word of advice: Find a stable job fast and be someone your parents will be proud of. Treat them something nice. Your parents deserve it.

For me, I enjoy working with children hence I chose a job in the childcare sector. I won't be stopping here though. I am still so fascinated with the world of children. Thus, I am dappling my feet into writing manuscript for children's books, producing creative play ideas, designing play materials and whatsoever. Trying to find my niche.

I found my passion, have you found yours?

My experience at Asian Festival of Children's Content 2015

I was very fortunate to receive a sponsorship by the Association of Early Childhood Educators of Singapore (AECES) to attend this year's Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC). Well, it is my first official professional development workshop since my appointment as a full-pledged early childhood educator. And, despite just completing five years of tertiary education in the early childhood field, I gained several new insights, from both international speakers and local speakers, that are tremendously useful for my teachings.

The keynote speakers at this year's event were Dr Rosemary Johnston on "The Significance of Children's Book in Language and Literacy Education" and Dr Dylan Yamada-Rice presented on "Digital Technologies to aid Children's Learning". 

Learning Points

Dr Rosemary Johnston 

Dr Rosemary talked about the history and importance of language, literacy and literature for our children and how these 3 'L's affects the country's social, economic and sustainability. Throughout history, education is a political tool where only the rich/not-so-poor could attain and whoever is educated is powerful. For instance, Japan has evolved from an illiterate nation to a country with high literacy rate and an economic powerhouse. Bottom-line, children's books help children to grow (up) and there should be more emphasis on smaller, indigenous cultures than just popular culture.  

Recommended authors and books: Shawn Tan's "The Red Tree", Pat Hutchins's "Rosie's Walk", Jeanine Barker's "Mirror", Anthony Browne's "Zoo".

Dr Dylan Yamada-Rice on the relationship of adults, plays and apps in the life of young children

Dr Dylan highlighted that modern communication is taking place through images than words. Early environmental print research indicated that young children's first understandings of reading and writing is based on their exposure to print in early life. For instance, children in Japan are exposed to big, colorful billboard images while children in London are exposed to more visual text than images. 

She reminded us that technology has a role in children's learning and the future of education is multi-modal. She envisions the future of learning is the perfect combination of knowledge and skills with apps through a collaboration with educators and apps-makers.

Dr Sandra Williams on Singapore Children's Books

Another memorable speaker was Dr Sandra Williams. She shared on "Reading Children's Books in Schools: What it means to Pupils". She talked about using local literature within our curriculum and to facilitate inter-domain extension activities after each book (e.g. environmental awareness and literacy). And, children loves to read about their own culture! It emphasis the role of the early educators to facilitate children to make sense of local children's literature and highly encouraged us to invite local authors into the classrooms. 

There are two kinds of books: books that are supposedly for readers to learn English and books written based on what writers want readers to know. There should be a good balance of both kind of genre in classrooms for a holistic approach. Examples of local  books: "The Naughty Myah", "Farrer Park", "The Mudskipper", "Near & Dear", "Prince Bear and the Pauper Bear", "The Red Helicopter".

Mind blown moments

As shared by Dr Rosemary, the magic of reading is amazing. It takes only 1 author to write an entire series of Harry Potter while it took a production team to make it into a movie adaption. Despite visual effects and superb acting, a reader's own imagination and perception of the book was way better than the show. 

Do you know that Harry Potter is a fairy tale? It is considered as a contemporary fairy tale with strong elements of a typical fairy tale (e.g. rivalry, good people are nice looking, woman's dependence of man, meek and submissive obedience is best). Compare Harry and Cinderalla, they are the same kind of "victims" who suffered and triumphed at the end with some help from powerful people who believes in them. 

Dr Dylan mentioned that culture makes a huge difference in interpreting pictorials. In Japan, images are emotion-sharing (e.g. pain) while in Western countries, images consists the strong meaning of "I" (e.g. I am in pain). 

Ms Lavina, captivating as always!

I learnt from Ms Lavina Chong ("A Musical Learning Journey with Children's Literature") that clapping is a relatively challenging task for young children to perform (e.g. hand-hand coordination, hand-eye coordination, hands to coincide mid-way of the body). Instead of clapping their hands, educators can encourage children to clap their hands onto their laps. This is easier as their thighs are not moving, harder to miss with their hands. Recommended music & rhymes: Doctor Foster, The Dancing Princess, Ten little fingers and ten little toes, Driving my Tractor

Reflections

There was so much learning taking place during the event and I wish I could attend them all! I had the opportunities to mingle with very talented local authors and dedicated teachers, they truly are inspiring. Furthermore, I learnt new questioning techniques for story-reading with young children. In addition to "How do you think he feels?", it can be"whose ears are these sentences for?", "who would be happy to know this?". It encourages children to see and hear in a multi-perspective. 

Michael Heyman encourages children to write in nonsensical language

The extremely whimsical Mr Michael Heyman presented on "Making Sense out of Nonsense Literature for Young People". I learnt that nonsense is a form of playful language between 'sense' and 'nonsense' and it teases readers. It provides endless possibilities and alternative realities.  A very interesting learning point! Recommended Authors: Calef Brown, Edward Goey, Michael Rosen.

In addition, I would like to implement "Slow Teaching" in my classrooms; to spend time to learn with children well, in depth than to rush through academia. Multiple papers has proved than "Slow Teaching" enables children to learn more effectively in a holistic manner. It reminds me to take cues from children's interest and learning progress than to force feed/rush chunks of academia down their throat. 

To me, the ideology of using technology with young children is highly debatable. Screen-based learning could take over hard copies of books in the generations to come. However, technology for young children should be time-limited and carefully selected by adults. Thus, i believe that there should be a good balance between playing with toys, reading books and screen time. I strongly believe that the human interaction and 'live' engagement of an actual story-reading beats swiping an interactive iPad.

It was a fruitful learning experience and I look forward to next year's AFCC!