Heguru Class

After 1 month of attending Heguru, Valerie is recognised as the most 'active' one in class. She likes to go to the front every now and then and turn in circles next to sensei during the flash card session. I have to drag her back every now and then. Here is the snapshot of the activities in the Heguru class:



1. Telling the Time - At the start of the session, sensei will teach the kids how to read the time on the clock by turning the hands of the clock very fast. I think it is also to train the eye. Valerie pays attention to this.

2. Follow the picture - Sensei will have a small picture tied to a string and display it around the class, the kids will follow the picture and try to see what it is. Is this eye simulation?

3. Self-intro session - This is Valerie's favourite where sensei will display the name card and call her name. Valerie will quickly stand up and walk to the front and hold her card while sensei say her name. Her name used to be called last and can see she's always wanting to go to the front when it's not her turn yet. But in the recent classes, her name comes up first. I wonder if it's new strategy by the sensei because of her 'activeness'?

4. Relaxation Time - Sensei will dim the lights and play soft music with narration. We're supposed to close our eyes to relax and try to imagine based on the narration. Now when the lights is dimmed, Valerie will put her hands to cover her eyes. But she won't stay still as usual. After few seconds she will open her eyes and see her other classmates also staring or doing something else. But I notice if I try to close my eyes and relax, Valerie will not walk around so much cos mummy is not looking at her. And she always want mommy to look at her :P

5. Breathing & Affirmation - Valerie will try to follow every now and then.

6. Spot the Difference - Sensei gives 2 - 3 photos for Valerie to spot the difference or to guess which shadow is the shadow of the picture shown.

7. Mandara (diagram on left) - Picture is flashed on the screen for a while and we have to put the right color on the picture. Then next session, we have to draw the shape and colour as well. This is more like a test for mommies as the kids are too young to understand. Most of them will grab the colour pencils and happily doodle on the paper. Starting last week, we now have to memorise previous week's mandara and be tested.

8. ESP - Valerie fails miserably in most of the ESP sessions. She will point to the wrong answer or try to take the entire card away without choosing the answer. Sometimes she doesn't want to choose at all. But there are the rare times where she got the answer correct. This is more like a guessing game to me. Either that or my baby really doesn't have much 'sensing' power :P

9. Flash card - Lots and lots of flash cards session on various topics, ie. objects, action words, opposites, numbers, malaysia flags, world knowledge, paintings, music, emotions, colours, foreign language and chinese chars. Halfway through, Valerie will start turning rounds next to the sensei. I noticed there's a circle pattern on the carpet next to the sensei. LOL, maybe they should change carpet. :D There's also the super flash sessions on the screen on japs words, just very very fast until it catches Valerie's attention.

10. Maths - I read in forums where mommies shared the more home practice they did with their kids on certain sessions, the more they will pay attention in class. I find this very true. Initially Valerie doesn't really pay attention to the dot cards and keep wanting to have her hands on the big abacus. After I bought the dot cards and practiced with her on weekdays, now she will pay attention to the sensei. Maybe it's because now the session makes sense to her so she's interested?

11. Linking Memory - Sensei will form a long story as she places each card on the floor. I think there's about 30 cards or so. Each kid / parent will need to take part forming a sentence for 3 pictures. After that sensei will cover each card in sequential number. Then we have to remember each picture in the order. Same as the Maths, after I practiced this with her using 4-6 cards at home, she actually start to pay attention in class instead of trampling on the cards.

12. Tangram (diagram on left) - One of her favourites, most likely because she can get her hands on the various shapes and study them, rather than trying to piece them together to form a picture. So another session where mommy does most of the work.

13. Peg Numbers (diagram below) - There's a song that links the pictures together and each picture represent a number. For eg. 61 - sea shell, 62 - sea horse etc.. and this is being repeated a few times. The sensei told me peg numbers is to associate objects with numbers so that you can remember a very large number like 467936 by remembering the objects.

14. Other hands on activities - Many other quick hands-on sessions to keep the kids interested in the class. It is no joke trying to captivate a small kid's attention for 1 whole hour. So I'm glad they have all these hands-on stuff to keep them busy. Things like matching a row of objects after seeing the one on the screen, plucking red berries from a tree and putting them in a basket ( I think this is so cute) and many more which I cant remember now. Valerie will always cry a bit when the things are taken from her end of the session.

15. Song and dance time - I find this very funny. When Valerie is supposed to sit through the flash card sessions, she will go up to the front and turn rounds next to the sensei. When it's time for her to actually follow the sensei to dance along to a song, she will sit down and stare at the sensei dancing without moving an inch. Brrrrrhhhh....

16. Outdoor activity - This is Valerie's favourite. The minute the door is open, she will run straight out of the room. At the open area, there's usually a short physical activity for the kids. Valerie loves this very much and I personally think she excels in this session. Once there was bowling session, the kids are supposed to roll the ball into the 'goal' area. Valerie just went and kicked the ball straight in... Haha... Another time, kids have to walk through a tunnel. Valerie went first and when she's done, she went back to the queue, so she did it twice compared to other kids. Oh oh.. another time, they have to hold a spoon with a pingpong ball and walk around the room. Valerie only dropped the ball twice and when she's done, she managed to drop the ball into the basket and the spoon in another.

17. Hiragana / Japs session - Towards the end of the class, there will be the hiragana song which Valerie loves to hear (maybe because I tried to sing to her at home every now and then but out of tune of course :P ). And then there will be another japanese song, Valerie will climb up the table and move around to the song. And then all kids will start to be on the table, moving around. Aiyoo... Lastly, tracing of japanese chars and chemistry element. Valerie loves to trace with my hand guiding her. She always pay attention to tracing although she cant write yet but she's very good with scribbling on the paper (notice the 'conteng' lines in the diagram). She started off with straight lines, now I start to see her drawing curves. I think she's progressing.

18. Story telling - This is not so happening for Valerie mainly because I think the pictures and words are too small for the kids. Plus the sensei pronunciation on english is not that fluent and the intonation does not capture the kids. (well, you cant expect too much from someone who speak english, mandarin and japs). I think my story telling is more interesting :P Maybe it's the end of the 1 hr, so most kids don't really listen to the story and start figiting.

There are many other mini activities which I can't recall at the moment. But I'm surprised to list so many here, I guess it is quite a well-spent 60 mins in the class, provided Valerie pays attention of course.