Each Sunday, Thea from Do I Really Wanna Blog hosts a Sunday Session, where you share the songs that you like. There are no rules, no themes – free rolling, just the way I like it!
On this week’s Sunday Session, I thought I’d share a few songs from one of my favourite bands – Radiohead. A very emo group with lyrics that are often really really deeply meaningful.
First up is No Surprises
One of my absolute favourites, Karma Police
Finally, the song that made me start loving their songs – Creep
One more day until the school term starts for us (no…I’m not counting down…really), and we’ve got everything ready – thank goodness. The girls claimed they’ve got their bags packed – hat and sunscreen in their bags – and all the kids’ uniforms are ready to go! Yes, they can’t wait to go back to school either. We definitely have had enough of each other I think.
I remember in back in my day…gosh can’t believe I just sprouted that line! Ok, back to it, I remember when I was in primary school and having to carry this huge bag filled with books. I think our kids are pretty lucky to only have to carry their snacks, lunches, drink bottle and maybe their reader to school and back. Not much in there, which is a good thing. I used to have to drag my books to and from school everyday. Where I was from, Singapore, we didn’t have lockers to store our books in. We would have a time table telling indicating which books we would need and usually it’s a whole lot of books. My grandmother used to feel so sorry seeing me going to school with that big bag full of books. Yes, it was heavy. Some parents even sewed in sponges on the straps of the backpacks to help their kids feel more comfortable. The bags normally don’t last the year too. But that was the only fun bit I thought – we get new bags each year! They were pretty cheap too compared to what we have these days.
Then came high school – we call it secondary school. That’s when you tend to assert your individuality or in most cases try to emulate your peers. Sure we carried backpacks, but we wouldn’t be deemed as cool if we carried both straps on our shoulders. No….it would have to be just on that one shoulder. Regardless of the load we had to carry. And no, we still didn’t have lockers then. It was “trendy” – yeah, but little did we know it wasn’t a good thing for our backs. As if you’d listen if you did know anyway at that age.
Miss 10 (yes she turned 10 last week!), started the same “trend” last year. Carrying her backpack on one shoulder and I think my nagging has become white noise to her. Each time I send or pick her up from school, she’ll hear me tell her to “please carry your bag on both shoulders, it’s bad for you back to carry it on just that one strap”. She’ll do it, but then would revert to the one strap on one shoulder “trend” when I’m out of sight – or so she thinks. Thankfully, her load isn’t heavy – just lunch box, drink bottle and hat. Sometimes, some notebooks, but that’s about it. Not that heavy. Nevertheless, I still think it’s essential for us to help our kids understand how important it is to carry their bags properly so as not to damage their spine.
Here are some helpful tips from Dr Helen Alevaki and Dr Angus Pyke of the Chiropractors Association of Australia (Vic):
With these tips in mind, hopefully we can help our kids save their spine from any damage in the future. What other tips have you got to share now that school is almost (if not already) back?
It’s back to school for most of our kids now, well, mine will be this Thursday! I can’t wait and I think neither can the kids. It has been a fun and relaxing Summer break, and now it’s time to get our butts back into gear and into some much needed routine!
School starting also means homework for some of us, and by homework I don’t necessarily mean memorising words, doing sums and the like, it also means going back to doing the nightly reading, learning new words from the M100W word list. This can either start feeling tedious or, fun, depending on you and your child of course. So, how can we make homework more fun? Or rather, instead of having them just chilling out and watching television (yes my kids do that and there’s nothing wrong with that), get them into stuff that will actually still challenge their minds? Educational games that are also fun of course!
I’ve got 3 which are my favourite (and the kids) so far:
This is a game that will not only test your child’s (and yours for that matter!) word building and spelling skills, but also how quick you are at building those words. It comes in a handy box, which makes it great for travelling. There are 117 letter tiles. Here’s how you play the game. Each player takes 8 tiles from the set of overturned tiles. Once everyone is ready, they can then turn their 8 tiles over and create words with them, in a crossword style if they need to. Somewhat like another popular word boardgame. The only difference is, there is no board, and each player creates their own words. Once someone finishes using up all the 8 tiles, they say out “Take 2″ and everyone including that player takes 2 more tiles to build more words. The great thing about this is, you CAN rearrange all your words again to form new ones, or build with what you’ve formed. The game finishes once all the tiles are used up. You then add up all the individual scores and deduct whatever left over tiles you have.
Miss 8, Miss 10 and I had a ball playing this. I had to help them out a little, and have to admit, I did change the rules a little. Sometimes we would get stuck with one or two tiles and not be able to take another 2. So what I did was, to let us choose 2 tiles we do not want, turn them over, add it to the pile and re-shuffle the pile then pick 2 tiles again. That way, it ends up being a game of chance – you might get the same pieces again – and it keeps the game going.
IQ Puzzler by Smart Games rrp$18.00
A new game that has just been introduced to our E-Shop is this amazing IQ Puzzler by Smart Games. There are altogether 101 challenges in the booklet that comes with this game and they are all stored in this black box. Basically, the idea is to solve the puzzle via the challenges by placing the right spherical puzzle piece in the right position to complete the rectangle. Or, challenge yourself further and do it in 3D! Simply close the box, turn it around and play it in 3D. Same concept – complete the puzzle with the pieces left.
Magic Forest Magnetic Puzzler rrp$20.00
Another great game that challenges your child’s spatial and lateral thinking. In this booklet are 6 puzzle pieces and challenges in varying degrees from starter to master level. The puzzle pieces have a magnetic base so that the pieces would stick to the board inside the booklet.
Magnetic backing on the puzzle pieces
The challenges would normally tell you which character has to go where, and with the puzzle pieces, you have to create paths to lead them to the places. The harder the challenge, the more obstacles you would have to avoid! And you also have to use all 6 pieces to finish the puzzle. Don’t worry if you get stuck, because at the back are solutions!
Challenges in 4 different levels
An example of the challenge
Solutions at the back of the booklet
Because this game is magnetic and has everything you need stored in the booklet, it also makes it handy for travelling – anywhere!
Especially for Just Us Kids Online readers, we have a special giveaway. Thanks to the people at Take 2, I have ONE Take 2 game valued at $30 to give away. And as a thank you to all readers, I have a pack of the IQ Puzzler AND the Magic Forest Magnetic Puzzle worth $38 in total to give away too!
To enter, simply tell me which one you would like to win – the Take 2 or the Puzzle Pack and why. The winner with the best answer will win the game/s they have chosen to enter for. Hurry as this giveaway closes on the 12th February 2012. *Open to Australian Residents only.
Please fill in the form below with your details and answer the question in the comments section.
Each Sunday, Thea from Do I Really Wanna Blog hosts a Sunday Session, where you share the songs that you like. There are no rules, no themes – free rolling, just the way I like it!
In this week’s Sunday Session, I’ll be featuring songs that I’ve heard this week that I just can’t get out of my head! It must be the catchy rhythm or goodness know what?!
First up, by Black Keys – Lonely Boy. I love the video – it’s simple, shot in one take and the beat of this song is just so addictive! The electric guitar (at least that’s what I think it is!) somewhere in the middle doesn’t hurt either.
Next, by Wombats – Tokyo (Vampires and Wolves). Love the beat!
Finally, by Grouplove - Tongue Tied. Sounds familiar? Well, it’s from the Apple iPad (I think) ad. 