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Hello All,

Blessings In a Bag, a charity run by youths that you might have heard of, is collecting donations (items / money) for the survivors in Philippines.

Following items are much needed:
+ Food (non-perishable/canned)
+ Towels (New/pre-loved)
+ Blankets (New/Pre-Loved)
+ Clothing (New/Pre-Loved)
+ Underwear (New)

If you wish to donate any items (as an individual or as a group), contact me (dajie) for more details yeah? (:

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Debreif for 25th September, the last session of 2009.
Notes taken by Meiying.

Each being is unique and capable of sharing love, which helps one another to overcome the obstacles. Facing ups and downs are the realities of life. Different expectations of each other (vol. and children) from different volunteers. A lot of times we face a lot of disappointments cos we have different expectations. 2 golden opportunities each year. The moment we are curious abt something, we figure out a way. Find a wayu yo contribute to the camp so that we can have it the way we’d like it to be planned out. What types of trainings/games so that we can use the camp to become better ppl to ourselves&fellow vol.

What we can improve in:
· language that we use in front of children (simple but standard proper English) – sessions for leadership skills?
· Leadership skills to discipline selves
· Games to foster a sense of teamwork btw volunteers who rarely have a chance to work tgt – less blockage in sharing of ideas
· The opportunity to get to know each and everyone much better – so it’s easier to put selves into their perspectives and where their ideas are coming from. Also is impt so that we can learn from each other
· Break the line between the junior-senior thingy
· Reading skills – for the ones who didn’t get a chance to go thr any training
· Be more vocal, self-expressing, listening to others
· Not so afraid of each other/solemn like currently (a funeral)
· Drama, mines, dance – cooperation, team work
· Bond as a whole – not in cliques, speak to each other like normal friends would, understand each other (also so that we would step out and help each other when in need)
· DRAMA – good for those who are not confident in big books; teambuilding, spontaneous
· Everyone takes initiative to help each other when they are in help, and not do nothing but stare
· Don’t let the seniors always be the ones to take the class – can take turns and have fun

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HELLLOOO ALLL!!!
Wenxin here(:

This is what was discussed on.... SEPTEMBER 11, 2009.
Yeap, the date(:
The juniors first take charge on their own on this date! So memorable :D
Notes taken by Meiying.


How’s the session?

FC-
Not organized, messy
No lesson plan, snacks, attendance
Not well-prepared
Didn’t go with the theme
Played games (tom and jerry), big books (did acting related to farmer in the…)

Aini-
Better than last week (planned out since 5pm; made sure everything needed is there, and session went quite well; organised)
More rowdy children shifted to darker room (sharnie and qiwei with them)
Small book, break fast in the mean time, big book (intro music from around the world, cultures, songs, dance; nadrah explained the rationale), ice cream stick handicraft (?), volunteers used torchlight to shine the room, goodbye song

CY-
Prep work good
Plenty of time to prepare
Session wasn’t smooth
Couldn’t control children at times
But not totally out of hand
So not too bad
Hello song, small book (children not very attentive), toilet break, big book, gdbye song
Pictures on the wall – used to ask children qns during break

Other comments:
Snacks – 2 volunteers 7.30pm went to buy

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From Gino:
A chance to step out of their shell to be a leader
Next year no more seniors to guide them
Juniors should experience how to be a leader, first-hand what they need to do, and not just listen to given instructions, be impromptu when problem crops up (if not members will get blur as well)
Should be confident with their own ideas
Children need to be included if not will feel left out

Other comments:
First time taking charge, no one leading
Rating based on juniors ranged from 3 to 8


Lujie:
Gift is abt imparting the love of reading to children
Lots of time and effort are put in
At the end of the day, the children should go home feeling that they’ve benefitted something
We are not here to be clowns and make them happy
That’s why sufficient planning and leadership is needed so that we are not wasting out time
Wasn’t too impressed with today’s session
Upstairs: good. Prepared and knows what to do
Downstairs: chaotic, should have own idea of what to do for them and not ask the children
Have to walk out of comfort zone and learn to be leaders
Never let the children bully you and let them think it’s okay for them to do whatever they want
Should try and organize a more meaningful session


FC:
Today a bit chaotic
Snacks too late then buy
Some juniors don’t know how to carry on with/without lesson plan
But should already have a rough line of what the children should be doing
Xueling’s group (big book) still not bad, knew how to play out
Suggest that if no idea what activities to carry out, can do small book
(Kheng: since they came out early, can put in small book since they roughly know the plan)


Kheng:
Calls herself demanding
Not blaming them for not knowing what to do, since they’ve been used to being told what to do
Buying snacks so late is ridiculous
(Weishi: opened shuttle, but only realized no snacks when someone asked. Knew what to take cos she used to be there with Aini and had experience. Knew of the theme and what books to take)
Initiative problem (long ago set expectations)
Should make it a point from now onwards to know the basics, lesson plan, various roles, prep time, rehearse if there’s a play
Today had 1hr to plan but didn’t turn out well
Theme-related stuffs (even if playing games)
Xueling’s class, always xueling leading (what if she/other seniors don’t come)


Seniors: just want to know what’s going on, how prepared are they
(no comments from juniors)


Lujie:
Wish to go to the fundamentals (understand why they even come for Gift, personal reasons)

Nadiah- for children, the way they are (happy, learn)
Shobana- to teach them
Andala- stress-reliever
Shimin- no one used to read to her, want to read to them cos she know of its importance
Wenxin- to play
Kittyee- stress-relief
Kheng- to see her favourite children
Meiying- to see the children’s smiles
Aini- a place where she can really be happy and don’t have to worry about school stuffs
Ayam- to enjoy with both children and volunteers
Wei kiat- like children
Gino- they make him smile
Cy- to revive his childhood
Yongquan- to help children learn
Weishi- a place where she can be free, not proper, have fun
Sandy- to get along with children, teach
Zhoubo- loves reading, teach them to love reading also
Xueling- teach
Sokhian- practice on oral
Weijun- to be a child once again, can become one of them, interact more
Sharnie- babysitter of the easily disrupted children
Aishwarya- share knowledge, learn from them as well
Qiwei- love them
Jinjin- CCA, teach the children to read
Lujie- for the volunteers (children come and go)
FC- an opportunity to make changes in someone’s lives, impart love of reading
Saras- love them


Lujie:
A sense of belonging is impt and will affect the children that we have now
Passing on something impt is critical as well
Distinction between snrs and jnrs used to not be so distinct
Now always like there’s a gap
If we all feel that we want to do something for the children, we will all automatically plan and do
Seniors should always take the initiative to interact with juniors


Wenxin:
Feels that xueling did quite well (boys in class listened and paid attention to her), but other juniors could be more initiated
Sometimes we don’t always have to stick to the lesson plan, can be flexible (factors like no. of children and volunteers can affect)
At least the juniors rmb the snacks, so it’s fine
Nadrah’s class, what if Nadrah is not here?
Nadrah’s class- many ppl running around in the dark room while Nadrah is controlling the rest of the class (Sharnie- doing 1-to-1) (Aini- how do they do the 1-to-1 actually?) (sharnie, qiwei- couldn’t hear)

Ø Aini- quiet corner (for problematic children that are out of control for a period of time, but talking sense to him is necessary) vs. one-to-one (those that always give excuses that they don’t want to join the class and seriously needs individual attention, to encourage the
children to join in the class)

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Dedicated to Kish who loves this song.

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Dearest Dudes & Dudettes,

As an APPRECIATION of all your commitment and hard work, we'll have a party at my place (PAMP) on Saturday, 02 May 2009 from 1pm onwards.

This will be a great opportunity to get together to reminisce the good times we've shared in 1H2009. Special thanks and well wishes go to our seniors who will be taking a break from Gift to focus on their major exams - Os and As. To our volunteers who joined us this year (I may not have met all of you - especially those from Friday sessions), this will be a warm informal welcome for you too! :-)

If you have photos from this term's sessions, put them up on the blog with captions so that we can all re-live the good times with our children and favourite books!

Bring your smiles and energy to the party, along with your own children's story with illustrations! Yes, give a shot at being a children's author for one day! You may wish to create your own little book in pairs. You'll be surprised at how far a well written, catchy story could go... beyond the seas and time zones... Cmon, give it a go! =D

We'll see you real soon!

RSVP by 30 April 2009: kishjehan@gmail.com to get the address and directions. :)

Love,
Kish

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HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, YIDA!

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Hello All,

A gentle reminder - Auntie won't be around this Friday and Saturday. Please be more proactive and get things ready before the sessions so that it won't be messy on those 2 days without your dearest auntie to guide you.

Hui Hui and Wenbo will be around on Friday to help you, and Wenbo has kindly agreed to come on Saturday too.

Also, will someone please get ready copies of the namelists for next Friday so that we can check against names when we've returned the deposits? + post the lesson plans up on this blog before friday?

Lastly... Let's wish Auntie a safe & fun trip!

Gift Of Reading Team

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hehee ppl! auntie is back again! haha. n to nag again!:P hehee. anw. if i dun nag, i can't be an auntie rite?:P

haha. yep yep. okay. jus heard frm some n observed it myself. tt e crowd control is nt v good or rather nt hard to maintain. n i mean controllin e children n giving out instructions in big grps. yep. i've also tried for myself on sat. it's really nt easy. n jus some tricks tt we can use: silent clap, "focus" thingy n if really desperate, i suggested putting fingers on lips. yep. bt my point is jus wat i've said during fri's debrief: it's to NOT give up n jus keep trying! dun get pissed w e children k! nor be angry w them. yep. this is sth so true after i went into e green grp last fri. at first during week 2 or 3. i alr observed tt e green class is so noisy n e children seriously dun listen. n coz e children were so disobedient, i actually didn't like e class alot. until e last fri wen i went into their class n i realised tt even e naughtiest children actually had their "cute" side. n i really mean it. yep. bt too bad tt was alr my last week. so i wun be able to like play w them alr. unless they come back nxt term. yep yep. jus wanna say tt all children are cute! jus dun give up on them n dun flare up at them k!(: keep trying!:D

n also mentioned in fri's debrief alr. do work as a team k! be it in ur own classes or as a whole fri team or as a whole gift team. yep. there's no leader-follower system in gift k! we all work tgt! yep yep. n sorry tt i arranged ICs for like e classes/overall/logistics n even this planning for last week's activity. bt i jus think tt havin an IC helps to facilitates things. yep. make sure things work. hee. bt tis doesn't mean these ICs can bully ppl k! haha. bt so far they haven't been!:P hehee. yep. so jus work tgt k!

seniors, try letting juniors run e sessions k! bt dun leave them alone n start talkin at e back k! help them control naughty students n help them make their silent claps louder, their instructions heard n do come in n help control e crowd wen it gets out of hand k! help each other!(:

n for e last week's activity, can i suggest tt u guys cut short e drama thingy? still keep it coz i think it wld be a good experience for e junior team to try working things out on their own w.o e seniors being around to guide/help. n in a sense let u guys try out new things tt maybe u all didn't dare to try?:P hee. yep. bt maybe put more focus on another activity coz this drama thingy doesn't involve the children. they wld still be sitting there. get them moving n it's really more fun n enjoyable wen u've children screaming u see!:P sat class, dun forget to play a few rounds of tom n jerry k! their fav!!:P haha.

yep. n wen u guys gather e children tgt. if children frm diff classes start like running around tgt or talking n ignoring ur instructions. rmb e simplest thing to do is to form human barriers k! = volunteers stand 1 line to separate e diff grps so tt they can't see each other nor talk across. yep. be proactive k everyone(: be v alert n react fast if situations get out of control! hee.

n also a v good thing to do is to like tell ur class to show to e other 2 classes tt they can behave better than them:P haha. a bit like teachin e children to compete. bt i guess it works? haha. yep. n do sth like getting them to promise u they wld behave(den can get them to like hi-5 w u as a form of promise. pls dun get them to raise 3 fingers n start to like swear/vow k! haha. too serious!) yep n if they get too noisy. remind them bout e promise they made to u!(: yep yep(: haha. bt if they do get a bit excited wen they see their friends frm other classes, dun be too harsh on them la hor. it's norm:P

n for e 2 conference rooms, pls rmb e first thing u guys need to do wen u get into the class is to on e lights properly! i also dunno hw, bt jus keep pressing n turning e knob-switch! yep yep. impt k! haha.

n rmb esp for e 2 conference rooms' grps too. rmb to contain ur volume within ur own grp during small grp reading k! if nt e room becomes v noisy. yep yep.

n for e green grp. remind children nt to shout wor. tell them u can hear them. dun need to shout. yep yep(:

n for everyone, jus rmb tt if u promise ur children some things. mus do it. n jus like if u say sth, do it k! if let's say u tell them to raise their hands if they wan to talk, make sure u implement it n ignore those who talk w.o raising their hands k! bt of coz after ignoring them, need tell them why u ignore them!:P hehee. yep.

anw a suggestion. u guys can make some things for ur children as small gifts. stickers nt a bad idea:P haha. not compulsory. bt if u wan to buy them some stuff den go ahead. yep(: n if u only wan to give to a few(hehee. nt v good. bias:P) do it secretly k! dun let other children noe!:P haha. yep.

tt's all i've. rmb to work as a team n help out e ICs k! n do be prepare n decide on wat time to reach for e last day of sessions so as to prepare for sessions earlier k!(: yep yep. jiayou ppl! as i've said many times, u guys can do it man!:D

anw. i'm nt like teaching u guys wat to do or instructing u guys k! jus sharing n suggestions. dun haf to follow strictly hor!(:

P.S: i practised wat i said, i'm nt treatin myself as a leader nor treatin u guys as my followers!:D

auntie aka kheng(:

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hey ppl! both the overall ICs aren't unable to upload the themes for tmr n on sat! so tmr come at 6pm n volunteers for sat, try to come at 2pm k! we will share the lesson plans tmr/sat(: hee. thanks for checking the blog still, tho it's nothin much:P hehe.

auntie(:

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Source: ere I forget

Shortly after we were done with the big book, tard told me to go down and get construction paper. I went downstairs and couldn't find any, so I took the lift back up. The moment the door opened, I got a shock as Haqeem was standing like SUPER close to the door. But Haqeem also got a shock so we had a good laugh over it.

I walked in to see the children seated in a circle, and by tard's signal, they sang "Happy Birthday" for me.

And I was presented with this chosen by twin!
Yum Yum...

Labels: Birthday

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Volunteers, Well Done! The first Gift session for 2009 went quite successfully. Thanks for your cooperation and efforts in handling the children well. However, more adventure still awaits in SESSION 2! Hehe.. xD

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Gift Of Reading - 16 Jan 09 Session (S1 First Session)

Pre-session Bonding.

Trying to snatch my heart.

As in the red soft toy. It's mine [:

Haha..

Some new volunteers from JSS.

I wonder what was said to cause such big reactions. Can't remember.

Briefing. Still playing with my heart.

Tard the Auntie briefing us.

New Girl, Sam, Irene.

Registration. Some parents brought their kids there really early, so I skipped half of the briefing to help with registration with Min Qi.
She is so pretty!

Session time.

I didn't see Alirah, so I was pretty disappointed. Seriously, I'll offer her free nursery tuition just to see her!

Talent spotted.

[: She's really good!

Min Jia was really moody that day as normally Tard will be showering loads of attention on her but Tard was busy with getting everything in place that day. *Emos*

That's my Gabrielle! She's got a haircut, but she's still adorable and lively as ever! She refused to let me take photographs of her, so I had to do it on the sly.

Mei Ying

Wafiyah

This poor boy was asking for his mom and crying the whole time...

But thank god there was Andala who comforted him and tried her best to cheer him up. His mom came after we called her (with the entire family) and she (or rather they) joined us for the session.





Ain't she cute!



That's Demi behind Gabrielle. Demi's malay but she looks really ang-moh. I think she'll grow up to be a hot babe.

Got a really unglam photo of Sam but I'm nice so it's not here.

[: Enjoyed the session, love my kids so much.

loves; dajie

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Outing was fun, with juniors, tard and twin! Had loads of fun prank-calling Ka (ka, I know you must be cursing us now) even though the outing was pretty much unplanned.

That's what I call true friendship, having fun even when we're just doing nothing and just walking around and talking crap [: This is something others don't, and can't get.

NOTE: Kish, we missed you! Where were you!

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Hello all, the camp has finally come to an end! Successful, no? Anyway, this is a general summary on what we've learnt throughout the activities! :D

1. Training by ACT3
Our trainer imparted us with many useful skills, which includes:
-uses of props
-magic rock
-frozen photograph
-asking of children to repeat lines/sing along
-5colours (limbs&head)
-walking at different percentages of our usual speed, and freezing suddenly
-eye contact game (winking)
-squirrel, hunter, tree game
-role-plays, dramatisation, giving fairytales a twist
(Sorry if I forgot about the names of certain skills or miss out some.)
She had also told us that we ought to use big actions and exaggerating expressions if we want to catch the children's attention.

2. Presentation (to guests)
Yep, after the training, we presented how we would present our big books (to the children) to Mrs T and various other visitors. We did take note of the good and not-so-good areas that they pointed out to us, yea?

3. Teambuilding
We definitely learnt more about each other! As well as cheating methods, hah!

4. Confidence training
Through the "Arena" conducted by Aidah and Kish, I believe most of us are much now more confident with speaking to the crowd! There were many who were able to overcome their fear of speaking to a larger crowd, well done! Meanwhile, we debated on real problems that we've faced in sessions. After which, we discussed and voted on how we should try to deal with the problems for the following term.

5. Polar Bear
Remember the game we played on the second day BBQ and third day lunch? Yep. We sure bonded and had great fun! There are funny storytellers like Alfred, Hisham and Wenbo! There are also cunning polar bears like Hisham, Nadiah and Kish! And not forgetting how Branden was laughing away so hysterically!

6. Human Chess
Team bonding again! We also learnt how to strategise within our own group! Recall how the groups sneak off to one corner and discuss their plans after their each and every step?

7. Pool time (Water volleyball)
Team bonding was a big part of it! We learnt to give chances to others at the side/back, who don’t often having a chance to participate!

8. Communication training
There was Animal Perception by Wenxin. Guess it's not very accurate, but thanks for the effort! Later on we had survey from Kish, which was much more accurate. Learning points? We know better of strategies on how to improve ourselves and how to communicate with others better!

9. Presentation (of our planning for the next term)
*to be updated soon.

Overall, the organising team learnt to give out work, and to trust one another!

Andala, Wenxin, Meiying.

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We read... & WE LOVE!

Contact us - giftofreading123@gmail.com


Check here for important dates!

2009 Sessions!
Starts - 17 & 18 July 2009
Ends - 02 & 03 Oct 2009
Venue - TJCC


THE TEAM
Aini
Alfred
Andala
Aran
Berlinda
Bianche
Chee Yang
Ding Feng
Gino
Haqeem
Hui Hui
Irene
Jian Da
Kassandra
Kai Han
Kheng Hwee
Kish
Lithia
Lu Jie
Mei Ying
Nadiah
Pei Lin
Rizwanah
Samantha
Saras
Sean
Si Si
Sin Ee
Vivien
Wafiyah
Wai Min
Weishi
Wen Bo
Wen Xin
Xin Hui
Xin Lei
Yao Nian
Yi Da
Yi Tong


ENTERTAINMENT HAHAHA
Orisinal


2006/03 - 2006/04
2006/04 - 2006/05
2006/05 - 2006/06
2006/10 - 2006/11
2006/11 - 2006/12
2006/12 - 2007/01
2007/01 - 2007/02
2007/02 - 2007/03
2007/03 - 2007/04
2007/04 - 2007/05
2007/05 - 2007/06
2008/04 - 2008/05
2008/05 - 2008/06
2008/06 - 2008/07
2008/07 - 2008/08
2008/08 - 2008/09
2008/09 - 2008/10
2008/10 - 2008/11
2008/11 - 2008/12
2008/12 - 2009/01
2009/01 - 2009/02
2009/02 - 2009/03
2009/03 - 2009/04
2009/04 - 2009/05
2009/06 - 2009/07
2009/09 - 2009/10
2009/10 - 2009/11






THANKYOU! (:
Aaron!