A nature walk in our ‘backyard’

December 15, 2009 · By ·

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Setting :

  • bright and sunny morning at 9 a.m.
  • a small reservoir in our neighbour-hood park

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Sounds :

  • Birds chirping
  • Crickets and other critters
  • Cascading water

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Discoveries :

  • A baby brown lipped snail (its shell was only about 1 cm length)
  • Wild fungi
  • Bumblebee
  • Butterflies
  • Lots of large black ants, about 2cm in length (Crematogaster sp)
  • Wildflowers
  • A black crowned night heron (K’s description; ‘funny bird with long legs.’)

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Result :

  • An extremely observant and participative little one; busy looking under rocks, anticipating what he could discover under it.
  • Squealing with delight when he saw how the mimosa plant’s leaves reacted when he touched it
  • A happy and energetic tot who was so willing to pose for photos
  • No mention of TV or any present super-hero obsession throughout the 1 and a half hour walk

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My initial worries were naught. I was worried that there will be little to see in the neighbour-hood park behind our house, and he might get bored and restless. But our nature experience proved how wrong I was.

“This is all play to the children, but the mother is doing invaluable work; she is training their powers of observation and expression, increasing their vocabulary and their range of ideas by giving them the name and the uses of an object at the right moment,–when they ask, ‘What is it?’ and ‘What is it for?” – Charlotte Mason

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Categorized: Discovery · Tagged:

Nature is calling

December 7, 2009 · By ·

Growing up in concrete jungle like Singapore, I had little contact with nature and most of my time was spent indoors. I did get that occasional visit to the zoo or bird park, however, it was mostly through school excursions when I got to primary school. I recall that I experienced none of that when I was in preschool. (It was likely that early childhood education was still in it’s infancy in Singapore in the early 80s and academic development was the only focus for the 4-6 year olds).

When I finally learnt how to read at 6 or 7 years old, (I think in those days most kids only got to learn reading in primary school) I became a bookworm. Often my head was buried in storybooks, lost in the magical fantasy of Enid Blyton books, the mysteries of Nancy Drew and Secret 7. Rarely pick up any non-fiction books about birds, insects, frogs, plants etc. Without the knowlege of nature first hand, I did not have much interest in it.

All that I knew of nature, was limited to my pet dog in primary school, rabbits and hamsters kept by a next-door neighbour, bougan-villas, orchids and bonsais that were planted in my balcony by my green-fingers father. And a little more formal science lessons in school; planted some muang beans in primary school and in secondary school; learnt all about the innards of a dissected frog.

The only time when I got interested in nature was the time I spent in Australia in my university years. I walked to the campus from my home daily and always made a point to pick a wild flower, watch the butterflies, gaze at the cottony clouds above and simply marvel at the beauty of God’s creations.

Seriously. I hope K never become like that. To be so caught up in the secularity of this world and only know the man-made part of it. Only learn the commercial view of nature through animal enclosures and the television. Merely know the names of 2 kinds of species of birds; sparrows and mynahs or comprehend the metamorphosis of a chrysalis to a butterfly solely through a book.

Depravity comes in many forms, I think not giving a child opportunities to discern what he understands from nature through first hand knowledge is depravation. Children need to spend more time outdoors to be in direct contact with nature, learn to observe and recognise things in the natural world. I really have no excuse since there are a couple of nature parks a stone’s throw away from our home.

A wide-brimmed hat, lots of sunblock and a love for nature will be all we need to deal with sweltering morning heat, profuse perspiration and some freckles along the way.

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Trying to spot squirrels and birds with Grand-dad in Bukit Batok Nature Park

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Categorized: His World, Learn, Parenting · Tagged: ,

Friend n Fish

November 18, 2009 · By ·

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I am really starting to appreciate the ‘ulu-ness’ of my address, which is in the vicinity of the Singapore Zoo and just a short drive to numerous nature parks and farms. This time round, K met up with Theo and we visited Qian Hu Fish Farm. Theo’s mum, Sharon, who is a mummy blogger as well, coincidentally live in the same estate as we do.

K attempted ‘longkang’ fishing for the first time, but that didn’t retain his interest for too long, as the fishes were darting around the pond too quickly. He got a little de-motivated when he only managed to catch a fish after 20 minutes. He much preferred to feed the koi in the nearby pond, and it was quite a sight to see the koi scrambling on top on one another to get to the food.

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Overall review of the farm? Great for fish lovers, especially with its good variety of different breeds of fishes in tanks. ‘Longkang’ fishing experience will be more fun for the little ones only if they are able to get their feet wet in the ‘longkang’ (i.e., Bottletree Park in Sembawang). For a similar fish feeding experience with better landscaping, Hort Park will be a better option.

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