Finally, I am back. Sasha is graduating from K1 soon. How time flies. I cannot believe that this year we have to put down payment for elementary school's development fee. He is not a K2 student yet but here we are talking about elementary development fee.

Allergy

For some reasons Sasha had a runny nose that lasted for more than 3 weeks. I finally took him to the doctor and was told he might have allergy. Sasha was prescribed a nasal spray that miraculously cured his runny nose in just 3 days. We have already used air purifier with HEPA filter in the house but now I am contemplating to buy a Dyson vacuum cleaner to help capture dust and loose allergen.

Photo Memory

Last Thursday one of the Shichida lessons in class was photo memory exercise. The instructor used 12 different picture cards that consisted of number, objects, colors, and people in random places. Sasha got them all correct and he did it in lighting speed. This is a significant improvement since he used to dwell in putting the pictures together. Even the instructor noticed that too. Sasha put together the picture without thinking twice and just tap..tap...tap...tap.

Suzuki Method

Posture is the most important part in Suzuki violin. Here, Sasha is learning the correct posture.

Student Of The Week

Sasha is student of the week. He is Mr. Obedient! I am very proud of you Sasha. This award is very special since Sasha has overcome his baby self and emerged to become an independent boy recently.

Peg Memory

In one of the Shichida Method many lessons for memorization, there is one activity that involves memorizing 100 pictures (in order) called peg memory. Sasha has so far memorized all 100 of them with 1-50 pictures being his most fluent. Meaning, he can correctly say what picture associates with what number easily. The technique to be successful in memorizing these pictures is to repeat them in 20 pictures and keep adding some more until 100.

Tennis

Sasha's new passion:

Cooking

For one reason or another Sasha has taken a liking in cooking. It started out when he read a book about making orange juice and went to make one with his dad. Ever since that, Sasha wanted to make anything that he could make; Pancake (together with dad), avocado juice, his sister's puree, pizza and tiramisu - after he stumbled upon how to make tiramisu on youtube. Of course we tried a few times to get all of them right.

Music Lesson

Sasha has been taking up a violin lesson for sometimes. Professor Makoto Shichida said a long time ago, in one of the rare conversations I had with him, music is important for brain development, especially learning to play the violin. Professor Shichida said that since violin involves a lot of movements on both hands: right hand to hold the bow and left hand for the fingering, such movements are believed to be a good exercise for the brain, both left brain and right brain.

New Year

Its January, I am determined to write regularly on my blog this year...or at least posting pictures like I used to. After the birth of my daughter, I found out that it was not as easy to sit down in front of my laptop as before. But all is well now.
News update, Sasha is no longer a long haired boy. We had it cut as of November 2011. And has since changed several hairstyles to better suit him.

Numbers

On the way to school this morning Sasha shouted: "I like traffic light and numbers mama." Sasha is referring to the numbers that counts down the time for red light (as well as green light) on the traffic light. And this is the start of his infatuation with traffic lights...especially the ones that have numbers attached on it.

Busy Life

Sasha is now four years old and he is officially a kindergarten student. How time flew so fast. With school is still on a holiday break, Sasha has been doing various activities to enhance his skills. For starter, I like to have him do exercises that move his fingers in order to prepare him for kindergarten. For example, I have him writing the alphabet every other day, and do mazes in between writing practices.

April

I cannot believe its April already....my newborn is almost a month old and Sasha will be 4 years old soon. Live is adjusting nicely, especially with the brotherly love that Sasha has shown his little sister. Sasha tries to help me whenever he can by giving me the diaper when he sees me going to the changing table or pushing the baby bedchair together to the living room. I feel very blessed.

Baby Sister

Sasha is a big brother now...everybody has been asking me how Sasha is doing...whether he is jealous of his baby sister and so on. The truth is Sasha has been very kind to his baby sister. He is caring and showing interest in his little sister well being. Sasha's favorite so far is watching me changing his sister's diaper. His behavior is exactly like professor Shichida had explained to me a long time ago, that a Shichida child is a kind hearted child.

Life Experience

Its almost time for Sasha's sister to be born. My husband and I have been preparing several scenarios when I have to stay in the maternity ward since Sasha has never been apart from me, not even one day. The best scenario so far is to have Sasha come visit me every morning before school.

100 Peg Memory

Sasha has been attending Shichida school for quite some time. One of the lessons is to memorize 100 peg. As a 3 year and 9 months old, Sasha has memorized 50 peg so far. Professor Shichida refers this training as instant memory training in his book "Children Can Change Through Right Brain Education." The goal here is to instantaneously memorize different pictures in 1 minute or less.

Health and Well being

Sasha just recovered from a skin infection. The whole thing started out unexpectedly. Sasha has always had a sensitive skin and before the skin broke out with bacteria, his lips were always chapped. So I tried to diligently put a lip balm on, however, he liked to pick on the dry lips which caused some skin to bleed. One thing led to another, and bacteria got into his lip resulting in skin infection. His lower lip where it chapped the most, was swollen and looked pretty nasty. Doctor advised was only to wash his hands all the time and wash them good. Thank God the ordeal is over. I cannot stress enough the importance of washing hands and carrying anti bacterial solution at all times.

Impact of Surroundings

Sasha does not watch television at home nor has he ever seen any commercial movies with us. My husband and I, we do not watch television programs even tough they are at our disposal in front of Sasha. I do let Sasha watches the educational Anpanman and Shichida Right Brain training DVD movies to improve his Japanese. However, it is inevitable to control television watching when Sasha is out and about in other people household. First came "Barney" then "Dora the Explorer" and the latest was a movie called "Garuda di Dadaku." I am just happy that Sasha does not demand to watch television at home.

Happy New Year 2011

As the new year begins my personal resolution is to see Sasha to be more independent. He starts off very well with brushing his teeth by himself, going to the toilet and washing his hands by himself. Little things that he can do by himself he does them. This year Sasha is going to be a big brother too, so to be independent is important.

Playground

Sasha loves fountain and he was very happy that we took him to a playground that has a lot of fountains in it.