The Mac died though. It happened the night before school closure, which explains why I took this long to update. I managed to back up the last bit by mirroring the dark display to the TV just before the whole thing went bust. Learnt from JY that the repair shop was open so made an appointment on Friday for Sito to bring it down - the display went bust, a known fault so it was replaced for free despite being way out of warranty.
I had wanted to reprint the timetable for the next day coz I only just learnt that Kai’s HBL would take about four hours; I had catered for only two hours based on his first HBL and had asked Sito to print already. Since the Mac died, I referred to the printout and drew out the amended timetable instead. And some time in the evening, I had this beautiful idea of letting the kids put a sticker on completed periods. And if they get all the stickers, they get a marshmallow!
I even set up school bells!
The dreaded day came finally. Wednesday, 8 April 2020.
They kind of followed the timetable. Yu was sticky at some points. And the PE didn’t go very well! I happened to have a video call at that time and pretty much left them to fight!
Lunch was ok except for Yang who was still angry over what happened. I don’t know what happened haha!
The whole COVID-19 thing was giving me a lot of work so I didn’t manage to end on time as usual. So Kai had to wait for me to sort out his last remaining assignment on SLS - audio recordings.
Turned out that the browser didn’t allow audio recording. But somehow I couldn’t download chrome! It took a pair of reading glasses before I read the pop-up box that said that the system was in a mode where only approved apps could be installed. But thankfully I could get out of that mode.
I let Yu play an old game to learn Mandarin on the old iPad. And guess what, the iPad sound gave way at the end of the day! How timely for school closure...
Yu enjoying his game
Results at the end of the first day - no one got a marshmallow!
The next day was surprisingly easier. They were quite nicely occupied most of the time. Were they getting used to the timetable? So fast?!!
Sito finally set up his home office after bringing back his monitor the previous night
He works with Big Scary Llama in the same room :p And one afternoon, it rained so his video call backdrop went from the pristine white wall to clothes!
They had their PE finally!
Yu was too tired...!
My napping babies :)
Volcano time! Everyone wants a turn at this
Scooting downstairs - different master legs for the two right-handers...
That was taken just before the security guard chased us away! So apparently, we could not play there. The playground was supposed to be closed though it was not stated so in the circular. During such time, it's better to be a dog - even a dog gets to run about!
Yu got the first marshmallow and was the only one to get it!
The first WFH + school closure week was a short week due to Good Friday. But this public holiday weekend, we could only nua at home :(
Made a lot of mini muffins but in the end, they preferred the normal ones and kept eating half of those, grrr!
And we had a good balanced lunch of porridge and air-fryer mid joints!
I put only salt on the chicken. Sito had doubts until he saw and tasted them :) But Kai didn't like it. Sito said perhaps kids need a more complex favour....? Yang and Yu didn't even try coz they were full from the porridge - I sad... I thought this time - second time I did this combi - I would ensure they could finish their porridge AND chicken by giving them porridge first :(
The younger brothers came home on Tuesday with only an Easter activity, which we really enjoyed doing on Friday while Kai played chess with Papa :) Yang even did a little show-and-tell of the Easter story!
Yang doing his work
Yu was also very serious!
Made these collages to send to their teachers. When I was doing so, I saw that they had just sent a list of five home activities for each boy for next week! I thought they wouldn't have :( Thankfully, even though they were all facilitated, they were nothing demanding. And no live lessons thank goodness! Just had to adjust our timetable to accommodate these activities after nap time.
I heard of live lessons for preschoolers from friends, even for 2yo kids! Seriously, those need parents to be super involved, if only to prevent the kid from hitting the keyboard! I'm very glad my centre is very normal and understand that parents also need to work.
And I'm working part-time leh. If I were working full time, I’d just say sorry teacher and simply read at bedtime (English and Chinese), give them counting with Paula (maths) and blaze (science), and cast Avengers workouts (PE) and cartoons from 腾讯 (more Chinese).
This Easter Sunday, I did not buy Kinder eggs - they would just fight over the toys like last year! Instead, I made English breakfast! For lunch! :p Of course, I must first inform the boys in advance that we were not having pizza for this stay-in Sunday lunch...
Hotdog buns for the kids which they loved!
Sito's version - no mushrooms, with omelette
Mine - with mushrooms and overeasy overhard eggs!!!
On Sunday night, I had to adjust the timetable again coz Kai's log-in time had changed from noon to 8.30 am! But it was late when I read the message so I decided it was ok to just log in after 8.30 am, i.e. noon :p
But his form teacher called me that day to check on Kai. I asked him if the timing would be fixed henceforth. He said yes and that it would be good to take attendance at 8.30 am and do the work later if I had a timetable issue. He also confirmed that it was ok if the kid took way less than the four hours mentioned - I was glad to hear that!
So in the end, I made three changes to the timetable - include younger kids' work, reduce Kai's HBL hours and move them to 8.30 am; it's too much to have him log on twice. Kai wasn't too pleased coz that meant he couldn't have Nintendo in the morning. Oh well!
Monday was a day of a particularly ill decision - I couldn't help them set up PE before lunch so I joined them before dinner. I felt the pain come on halfway through *.* It was so painful by night time. I wondered if it could also be due to a slightly longer jog on Saturday.. But the pain on the outside of the thighs must be from one of those darn Avengers workouts!
I told them I had backache and couldn't do the donkey kick - not false coz Kai jumped my back last week!
Yu was sitting out the first few videos coz he was waiting for Spider Man. I didn't watch all the clips fully or carefully so when it came on, my jaw dropped - so much floor work, so difficult!!
The boys doing the Spider Man workout; me, um, backache...
Kai tends to ask me how to do this, how to do that. But I'm always busy thinking about something at work or having video calls. If he has no IT difficulty, he has to wait until 2 pm when I knock off - actually usually later... But I have realised that he can figure things out by himself! Or he just got it wrong! Hoho! I don’t know coz I don’t check his work; I just congratulate / praise him on finishing his work! I’m super thankful that his HBL is meant for independent work and not demanding on parents.
Happened to turn and see him reading his Chinese textbook to answer questions on SLS :)
I was looking forward to this egg activity with Yu! Lucky we always have eggs at home - raw and hardboiled!
Yang can write dates in Chinese!
Coz I was still hurting from the PE, I swopped it for freeze dance on Tuesday. It sounded pretty boring to me, especially when I didn't have any rewards or penalty. But they were quite engaged!! It only matters how challenging the video is, e.g. Kai doesn't like the 12345 one coz it's just wiggling fingers...
Kai had a tummy ache and did it sitting down *.*
Before school closure, I thought I would still doll up despite WFH since I would still go out to send Kai to school. But when school closure also hit, I've been wearing only a nice tee or blouse with pyjamas bottoms *.* And Yu crawled into bed on Tuesday night and his head landed on my lips - no more mei mei :(
Yang and Yu weren't bothered by this but Kai didn't dare to look at it!
The first half of the week, they boys were pretty rough after nap time, running all over pretending to fight and actually fighting!
We spent almost 30 min to clean up this mess *.*
Yu suddenly didn't want to nap for two days. The first time, I didn't give him funny video. The second time, I kept him in the room while his brothers were watching funny video. Back to napping after that :)
He also decided that it was "too hot" to wear pants *.* Very often, we see a little boy running around in his underwear...
And yesterday, I stepped out of the house for the first time since Sunday morning. Coz this laptop was ready! Took a bus there and suffered in the sun at the bus stop - I believe this caused me to knock out with the kids. Cabbed back coz I thought I could save some time and get back earlier. I saved some time indeed but spent it waiting for Koi - 20 min!!! Came back to find that the new iPad arrived too!
The kids enjoyed popping the bubble wrap for the laptop!
So today, Kai and I listened to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone on the library app on the iPad. Yang and Yu played Reading Eggs on the iPad too. And now I'm typing away on the laptop, Happy! :)
Yang did his activity but didn't smile for the camera coz he couldn't poop *.*
And the teachers have uploaded activities for the next week! I managed to print out some worksheets, and upped my timetable quality to a printed version - with pretty clock faces! :)
So there, we have survived a full week plus a bit of school closure! More to go, jia you!
