Zo Ee's Update - 3years 11months old

Zo Ee at 3years 11months old. (22nd March 2012)

Zo Ee has been very interested in helping me doing house chores. One that she has mastered is at folding clothes; neat and proper way. Cutting is her favourite past time too, cutting and cutting many hours daily. As usual, she is more active and very confident and agile in physical movements comparing to kids her age or a year or two elder. She has been pestering me to sign her up for Gymnastic classes which I’m still considering.

Assembled this last week.

Cut out this heart shape with free hand.

I think this is cute too. Zo Ee cut a hole to fit it onto Piglet's head.

Handwritings – Recently, since she has stopped schooling for many months now, I’ve started requesting her to pen a line each day as her handwriting practice but she’s always penning more. This was completed over 3 consecutive days. I’m not particular at the content; it’s all solely her work. Occasionally, she asked to confirm her spellings on a word or two. Usually she is able to notice misspelled and self-correct. Once she has the idea in her head, it doesn’t take her long to write one sentence, usually less than half a minute.

COGNITIVE STUFF:

In merely 2 months, she advanced from not a gamer(not expose to any) to an I-phone Expert gamer on many Adult version games. Scoring mostly “A” for the Edge game up to level 13. (video) From talkative to super talkative girl since back to Singapore. Everything she has a say, a reason too etc. Whenever she wants something, she has them think and plan thoroughly; before suggesting it to us with all her reasons and her plans and precautions to make sure everything will be ok and as planned. She talks non-stop to herself and soft - toys for hours, so pretend play has been back into the house recently. Puzzle solving games are still her favourite, her latest love is Pete’s Spike age 8+ though she loves Rush Hours (bought both recently). Super fast at solving those memory games; matching two similar cards from Brainpop.jr.

ACADEMICS:

Still an avid reader as usual; reading 4-5 hours/daily by herself. Most days; 80-90% of her readings are on fact books while the remaining are fiction books. Although we just moved back to Singapore, and has no access to public library for the past 2 years, I found that I couldn’t find her any fact/reference books at the Junior section (age 5-9) anymore. Age 10+ reference section fits her alright now. Since my last update; she has read the SAT Cartoon Vocabulary I and II for the 3rd time and Idiom books for age 9-15 twice. Once she was out reading one in the stroller, and the 2 commuters in the train trying to figured it out whether is she really reading it or merely looking at the pictures. Math: I’m seeing that she is interested in Graphing-made me a few past weeks, money and their value, and using Metric units. When I asked her what is the temperature in a typical tropical country? I was expecting an answer - hot all year round but she said it’s 95 degrees Fahrenheit. When back to Singapore (2 months ago), Dh has been so busy with the move and new job position and has not time to read any Chinese with her since last October. I didn’t want her to forget her Chinese so I’ve bought her a children Mandarin songs karaoke (84 minutes). After watching less than 5x, she remembered all the songs and could read all the 800 characters, even telling DH some similar characters which have different meaning and read differently, comparing those found on this DVD to her previous reading. For the first time, DH is finding her daughter is smart. (?)

CREATIVE OUTPUT:

Zo Ee wrote me another silly poem this month, a better one this time, unfortunately I couldn’t find it any where now. Most probably she has cut it into pieces and throws them away.

According to Zo Ee this is a strange animal with a big snout.

One day, I found this in the living room which I think is cool. Yes. She has been experimenting with folding and cutting. I did show her once many months ago, and she’s trying them out by herself.

Map with many sign- 3years 9months old


An origami aeroplane from Zo Ee, completed with drawings for turbo engine and parts inside the plane.

Zo Ee’s collage – the caterpillar(Zo Ee), Daddy and Mummy the butterflies ( somthing to do with caterpillar life cycle).

I found this the other day, from her ex-school drawing book. – 3years 7months old. The many lines in circle shows fluttering movement of bees.

EMOTIONAL ISSUES:

Winning a game has becoming very important to her.
She is still my funny, loving and happy girl. She is still worrying about dying and didn’t want to grow bigger and older because she didn’t want to die. She worries about others violating the laws or misbehaving and their safety.

SCHOOL UPDATES: Still reluctant to go to school, got extremely upset upon hearing the idea of going to school.

Zo Ee's new bookcase - 3years 10months old

Zo Ee at 3years 10months old. (4th March 2012)

We are still unpacking. Zo Ee's new bookcase just arrived today. It's 222cmx72cm and its almost full. I believe we still have some books somewhere in the house. two of the fully occupied shelves are her encyclopedia and references collection. So in less than 2years (almost 2years) in India, we had bought her so many books and most amazingly, she has read them at least once, mostly twice/thrice or some endless time within this period and my little one is still three. Sometimes, I still cannot comprehend that she has actually read all these books and not forgetting the 1000+ library pre-school reference books that she read before we left for India 2years ago. For the past 1 1/2months back here, she already read 100++ library books. Now you understand why I say that Zo Ee is a reading machine!!!

And we had actually bought her the whole series of Harry Potter Collection (good bargain in India) for her 4th birthday (next month). Yesterday, I bought her two new Idiom books (age 9 -15) and she finished them yesterday itself but at 3am. She is asking me for book 2,3 of each series. Thank goodness that we are back here, with library, we don't have to spend a fortune on books. Here is a photo of her bookcase.

Zo Ee's new bookcase - 3years 10months old

Zo Ee at 3years 10months old. (4th March 2012)

We are still unpacking. Zo Ee's new bookcase just arrived today. It's 222cmx72cm and its almost full. I believe we still have some books somewhere in the house. two of the fully occupied shelves are her encyclopedia and references collection. So in less than 2years (almost 2years) in India, we had bought her so many books and most amazingly, she has read them at least once, mostly twice/thrice or some endless time within this period and my little one is still three. Sometimes, I still cannot comprehend that she has actually read all these books and not forgetting the 1000+ library pre-school reference books that she read before we left for India 2years ago. For the past 1 1/2months back here, she already read 100++ library books. Now you understand why I say that Zo Ee is a reading machine!!! And we had actually bought her the whole series of Harry Potter Collection (good bargain in India) for her 4th birthday (next month). Yesterday, I bought her two new Idiom books (age 9 -15) and she finished them yesterday itself but at 3am. She is asking me for book 2,3 of each series. Thank goodness that we are back here, with library, we don't have to spend a fortune on books. Here is a photo of her bookcase.

New Book - The Elements -3years 9months old

Zo Ee at 3years 9months old. (9th February 2012)

Went to the biggest bookstore in Singapore and found Zo Ee a new book after an hour of searching, The Elements, The building blocks of the universe by Dan Green Nowadays, it's really hard to find new books to add to Zo Ee's huge encyclopedia collection. Zo Ee and I went through this book and she fell in love immediately and resists to sleep.

Conversation - 3years 8months old

Zo Ee at 3years 8months old (31st December 2011)

Capturing Zo Ee's amusing conversation for the past 1 week.

If I remembered correctly, Zo Ee first mentioned or talked about dead about a year ago but I'm finding that she understood this topic much in-depth now than then. Recently,

Zo Ee: Mum...I don't want you to get old or get very sick. Neither I want Daddy to get old. I don't want you or Daddy to die. I don't want to be left alone in this world.

Zo Ee: I don't want to grow big. I want to be a kid forever so that I can stay with you and Daddy forever! I don't want to be an adult. I just want to be me like now. I just want to be a kid forever. I want to remain short and small.


Zo Ee: Mum...How was it when the doctor operated on you?
Me: What do you mean? When?
Zo Ee: When I was ready to be born and the doctor wanted to remove me from your tummy. When the doctor operated on you, was it very painful? (looking very concern and serious) How did you feel?

I didn't have any Ceasarean but was not in the mood to talk about birth to a 3years 8months old. I know she read from my pregnancy book and knew about normal delivery and ceasarean. But it's just doesn't feel right to talk about it at this moment.

Due to our coming relocation, we told and explained to her what will happen to us and our friends and that it will be very unlikely that we will meet them again.

Zo Ee: Mum...R and I will get marry. (R has been her best friend and practically they meet each other in school since last year and R is Zo Ee's best friend. Both R and Zo Ee told us that they are best friends. )

Me: Children don't marry. First, You will have to wait till you finish school. Get a job and then decide whether you really want to marry R.
Zo Ee: I know most children don't marry but some do!
Me: Children are not supposed to get marry and it's against the law.
Zo Ee: I know most children don't marry but some do! And I want to marry R. R will go to work while I will stay at home.
Me: Even so, you will have to ask R whether he wants to marry you and both of you will have to wait until you are old enough to decide. It's not possible now.
Zo Ee: R likes me and we like each other very much. R will marry me, I'm very sure of that. ***Faint!****

Case 1 - 3years 6months old.

Zo Ee at 3years 6months old. (31st October 2011)

Case 1 ? I am finding this very interesting. I'm wondering what is she doing on the white board.

Dictionary Again - 3years 5months old

Zo Ee at 3years 5months old. (25th September 2011)

Look what she is reading! Her weirdest interest is to read the dictionary. Mummy upgraded her to a bigger dictionary 5 months ago(when she turned 3) - Collins Easy Learning English Study Dictionary because of the higher level books she is reading. Occasionally, she is dipping into this randomly. This is not her first read, she has completely read her 1500 words dictionary twice at 2years 9months old and numerous partially reads.

Submarine - 3years 5months old.

Zo Ee at 3years 5months old. (22nd September 2011)

Zo Ee came back from school today, telling me that she'll need to bring a submarine picture to school tomorrow. I have no idea what is it for but she said just a submarine picture. So she drew it and this is her complete version. I thought a submarine with propeller, fins and a periscope will do. Zo Ee insisted to add in the stairs, dining room, bedroom, kitchen, doors into her submarine. I'll check it out as why does her teacher need such a drawing from her.

Advanced reading - 3years 5months old

Zo Ee at 3years 5months old. (22nd September 2011)

Although our reading session together is limited to bedtime reading now, still, Zo Ee is draining Mummy's too much. She is choosing and reading science topic from books that even I need time to digest and understand. And she is jumping from topic to topic, a day on cells, another day on anatomy then technology then chemistry, then botany, crystals etc. I am having a tough time re-learning these as we read along and explaining them to her. Last night, she decided to read the book "Essential Atlas of Technology."

These are the topics she chose, some topics that I have not even read about before.

1. Four-cycle internal combustion engines

2. Liquid fuel rocket

3. The process of obtaining sulfuric acid

4. The process of making paper.

5. How to build an igloo.

6. Types of Dam. (When I told her that recently that the dam we saw during our Hampi trip was a example of arch dam, she disagreed, claiming that it was a buttress dam that we saw. Now I have doubt whether it is a arch or a buttress dam.)

7. Navigable canals and locks - how a lock works

8. Aqueducts

Website search - 3years 5months old

Zo Ee at 3years 5months old. (16th September 2011)

Oh! Mine! After about 2 weeks using Brainpop Jr, today Mummy saw Zo Ee using its search function. She was typing a word in the search column. When Mummy asked her what was she doing, she replied I want to search for soil; I guessed video clip on soil which she did. Gosh! Just unimaginable, Zo Ee doesn't need any guidance and she is learning how to use this website to the fullest.

Easy & Hard Quizzes - 3years 5months old

Zo Ee at 3years 5months old. (13th September 2011)

Out of curiosity, I had Zo Ee answered the multiple choices Easy & Hard Quizzes from Brainpop Jr. She has never try any yet and my thinking was why not. We never do Q&A session after reading. To me, reading is to impart knowledge. But as Zo Ee gets older, she started to ask questions here and there while reading but not the real Q&A. On a few rare occasions, I may ask her a question but its really rare and it happens only when I have doubt in her understanding a big word etc.


I chose her favourite two; Solar System and Digestive System. Since she is quite new to this website; as it has been only introduced to her about 10 days ago and it has approximate 230 videos, I noticed that she has watched these two videos the most; 5x and 4x respectively unlike the rest, mostly 1x, a few 2x since she has wanted to cover all the video clips systematically. She has completed about 90% of them thus far. I am very impressed that she diligently finished each videos in every sub- topics and topics before moving on to the next. Ok. Maybe this is her second nature; huge appetite for knowledge and is interested in almost EVERYTHING!

Zo Ee was very quick at answering most questions; she spilled out some answers spontaneously even without looking at the multiple answers provided, especially from the Easy Quizzes. Here is her result. For Solar System, she correctly answered 4/5 from the Easy Quiz and 4/5 from the Hard Quiz. 5/5 from the Easy Quiz and 4/5 from the Hard Quiz for Digestive System. She breezed through the Easy Quizzes and paused to read the longer answers in the Hard Quizzes, but she still managed to answer the longer questions in less than 30s each. Nevertheless, its unimaginable that she is capable of answering even the Hard Quizzes well too. Sometimes, occasion like this really proof to me that Zo Ee 's capabilities are beyond words, at least to me. I think this is pretty advanced for her age if my guessing is not wrong; Am I right? Please forgive me on this, as at many occasions, I don't really know what is norm and what is not anymore.

The Solar System
Easy Quiz
1. Which planet from our Solar System does this picture show?
Saturn

2. Which planet has thin rings and a storm called the Great Dark Spot?
Neptune

3. Why is Mars called the "red planet"?
Zo Ee got this wrongly. She chose because it has a Great Red Spot. The answer should be because it has reddish dust and rocks.

4. What is the center of our solar system?
The Sun.

5. Which planet is a gas giant?
Neptune.



Hard Quiz
1. Why is Venus the hottest planet in our Solar System?
Its clouds trap in a lot of heat.

2. How is Uranus different from the other planets in our Solar System?
Its spin on its side like a rolling ball. Zo Ee spontaneously answered this even without the need to look at the multiple choices.

3. How are the planets in the Inner Solar System different from the planets in the Outer Solar System?
The inner Solar System planets are warmer.

4. Why is Pluto considered a dwarf planet?
Zo Ee answered - because it orbits around Neptune instead of the Sun. The correct answer should be because it is smaller and its orbit around the Sun is different.

5. Which sentence is true?
The sun is the closest star to Earth.

Digestive System
Easy Quiz
1. Which part of the digestive system does the picture show?
Stomach

2. Which is a long tube that connects your throat and stomach?
Esophagus

3. What happens to food AFTER it gets broken down in the stomach?
It goes to the small intestine. Zo Ee answered this spontaneously without looking at the multiple answers given.

4. Where does digestion starts?
In your mouth

5. An organ is a body part that does a special job. Which part is an organ?
Stomach



Hard Quiz
1. What happens in the small intestine?
Nutrients in the food get absorbed.

2. Which happens LAST?
The food moves into her large intestine.

3. Which sentence is FALSE?
Zo Ee chose - Exercise helps keep your digestive system healthy. The correct answer should be -Your esophagus absorbs different nutrients in food.

4. What do gastric juices do?
They help digest food inside the stomach.

5. You MASTICATE food to help break it down before you swallow. What does MASTICATE means?
To chew.

Books/Science Interest - 3years 4months old

Zo Ee at 3years 4months old. (13th August 2011)

Zo Ee has been known as an avid reader/browser since 10 months old, that's the time we started borrowing books from the library for her. Avid in the sense that she will browse all the 20 library books we borrowed daily, one after another without failed. Before that, she was pretty limited to books we have at home but since we joined the library, her reading horizon exploded. Imagine 12 months later, she has read more than 1000 library books, not once but at least few times/ per book. Now that she has turned 3years 4months old, I'm glad that she still loves reading, in fact is still her first love.


Nowadays, She reads a lot by herself and we only read together during bedtime. During the day time, she has access to books she likes and will spend time reading them by herself. Occasionally, she will come to me for some explanation or to clarify her doubts on a particular page or etc. Basically, Mummy hardly take note about what she is reading everyday at home. One particular book she has been reading recently is The Kingfisher book of Funny Poems with over 200 poems in it.

A few of her latest read with Mummy before bedtime are
Yoga
Kingfisher first Thesaurus
Daring Cell defenders (Rebecca L Johnson)


Basically, she decides what she wants to read and she may read the entire book or she may not especially on reference books which consist more than 200 pages each. She most likely will finish reading simple story books whenever she reads one. But has not finished any other story books of 100/200 pages in a go. She reads a few chapters and may read another book etc. The only story book she has finished in a go is Stories to Treasure....many short stories in a book of 200pages. And she did that at 2years 9months old. Most likely, that particular book has bigger printing which makes her reading easier.

Few days ago, On her request, we read about Kidney Failure; especially on Renal Dialysis. From there, she learned about dehydration and who is at risk and how to prevent it. She also wanted to learn about Hydronephrosis -blockage of the kidney. So that's how our reading sessions go lately, on a particular topic instead of a particular book.


If I had not mistaken, Zo Ee actually started liking adult version - anatomy book around 2years 9 months old. Not that she will read it everyday but each time she did, she grasped quite a bit of information by herself. For example, last week, Zo Ee asked me while pointing to the picture of a brain, "Mummy what is this thing called?" When I told her that I'm not sure, she replied without hesitation, "That's the Thalamus. Yes. That's the Thalamus." Of course, when Mummy went to confirm it, Zo Ee was right, it was indeed the Thalamus - tiny part of the brain. She may not read the entire book during each read of every few weeks but definitely she will not miss any diagrams in it. I also noticed that her each read/visit become longer as she grows older, started with an hour/day. She may read that particular book for an hour for a few times on one particular day or re-read it the next day , then stopped for another few weeks before coming back to this particular book again. That's her style be it reading or activities...always in a cycle.


The other day, she was glued to the tv, watching the final Voyage of the Atlantis space shuttle and was complaining she didn't want to see the commercial breaks in between. She was so thrilled throughout the show and even clapped and cheered during the lift-off. Another particular program that really interest her is the first patient with an artificial heart. She watched the whole program, including part of the surgery. These are the latest two programs that captured her 100% interest and she has been talking about it for days. As mentioned earlier, she enjoys watching documentaries, especially on science and making things but these two really stood out from the rest. I could sense that she particularly likes these two.

More LEGO creation - 3years 4months old.

Zo Ee at 3years 4months old. (15th August 2011)

Mummy is very impressed with Zo Ee's building skill. She build this 3rd model (propeller plane) from the same set we bought for her recently. She needed some help with the first model;boat and less help with 2nd model; helicopter and pretty independent building this herself. Mummy only needs to give her some encouragement.

Manufacturing Glasses - 3years 4months old

Zo Ee at 3years 4months old. (12th August 2011)

Zo Ee asked Daddy.

Zo Ee : Dad, how do glasses (spectacles) being made in factory?
Daddy : Hmmm.... Daddy is not sure.
Zo Ee : First, they cut the glasses (refering to its shape), make the left and right metal curve in the factory, then put them together like this (pointing to Daddy's rimless spectacles). There the glasses is ready.
Daddy : Ooh...

Daddy was shocked to hear such explanation for Zo Ee as nobody has explained it to her before, this is purely from her own observation and thinking.

Reading Sydney map - 3years 3months old

Zo Ee at 3years 3months old. (20th July 2011)

After a few days in Sydney city, little Zo Ee was able to read the city map well. She could recognize those important landmarks easily without me telling/explaining to her, where we were staying, places we went and the routes we took. This is her first time reading such a detailed map comparing to months ago, she was only reading map between towns where we were traveling in Goa.

enkounter puzzle - 3years 1month

Zo Ee at 3years 1month old (9th June 2011)

As I mentioned earlier, Zo Ee never likes conventional type of puzzles but she enjoys playing with simple 7 pieces tangram and kaleidoscope. So far, she has only solved one tangram puzzle by herself. The rest, we co-play, I'll chip in one or two pieces whenever she gets stuck so that she can proceed and finish each puzzle with pride. Although not 100% of her own effort but it was good enough to boost her confident and interest to keep going for the next one.

Today, I got her a new strategy game enkaunter. Although it was not to be played like the kaleidoscope, nevertheless she put these together in 10minutes. If you notice carefully, she actually misplaced one ziz-zag piece upside down, nevertheless I think it is pretty good effort for her age. She just enjoys the kick of trying to fit all the pieces back into the square holder.

Putting these sample pieces back into the holder.

She completed this in 10 minutes.

Favourite TV show - 3years 1month

Zo Ee at 3years 1month old. (2/6/2011)



Zo Ee's has been an experiments addict recently and "I Didn't know that. " has been her favourite tv show.

I didn't know that

Buffalo's milk - 3years 1month

Zo Ee at 3years 1month old. (2/6/2011)

Zo Ee was telling Mummy this, " Japanese drink buffalo's milk. I think we shouldn't drink buffalo's milk. We should drink cow's milk. (pause) I think we shouldn't drink bear's, tiger's or pig's milk. We should drink only cow's milk. " Mummy has no idea where did she get these information but it is rather funny.

First experiment - 3years 1month

Zo Ee at 3years 1month old. (16/5/2011)

Oh! How can I miss this post!

2 weeks ago, Zo Ee proudly announced " I want to do this experiment tomorrow." while stumbled upon this last night. She explained to Mummy what are the things needed to carry out this experiment. I am glad she actually understood the meaning of experiment after watching many on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and Fox History.

Zo Ee's first email - 3years 1month

Zo Ee at 3years 1month old. (26/5/2011)

Daddy was away for the past 5 days and Zo Ee was missing Daddy a lot. She kept asking me where is Daddy, although she knows that Daddy will only be coming home this Saturday. So Mummy, suggested to her to send Daddy an email. She was all excited and below is Zo Ee's first email.


Subject: hello daddy

baba

baba

i miss you.

love
zo ee