Alicia had a great time at JG for the week and I think she probably misses going to JG. If she could speak, I bet she would ask me why she isn’t going to ‘school’ anymore…

On the first day at JG, as expected, Alicia was a little wary of the surroundings and people so she wasn’t her usual self. She did play and move around during Free Play time but I’d say it’s nothing compared to the way she plays at home. And she kept her eye on me and occasionally came to give me a hug – or maybe she wanted a reassuring one.

When class started and it was time to greet the puppet of the day, almost every kid shied away from the puppet coz i think it looked a little fierce as it was a hawk. But coz she has a soft spot for soft toys, she wasn’t as afraid as the rest of the children and she went on to pat the hawk and touch its beak.

She kept really still during storytelling time – nothing like how she behaved at Bukit Merah Library’s storytelling session. I think she was intrigued by the way the instructor told the story – lots of animation and even occasionally bursting into song. That should be the way that stories are told! I definitely learnt a thing or two about storytelling techniques from the experience at JG!

Art on the first day was to use a stencil and a sponge to dab paint to make a picture of a bird. I allowed her to play with the sponge first then i held her hand and dabbed it into the bowl of paint then allowed her to dab the paint all over the place while i kept the stencil in place. I would say that this is the day with the least amount of mess made! Most children didn’t get to participate very much in the art session as I think the parents/ helpers were afraid of the mess. But I think it’s quite an experience for her and I didn’t want to rob her of the chance to explore new things: isn’t that what JG is all about anyway? 😀

Out of the 5 days she attended class, I think she was the most keen to eat the snacks on the first day. They served Teddy Puffs on Monday – a snack that she hasn’t eaten in ages since she last refused it. I was about to re-introduce it to her as I still have an unopened pack at home, waiting for her to like it again. When I saw it was Teddy Puffs being served, I was rather apprehensive as the last I remember of her reaction to the puffs was her spitting them out and giving a disgusted expression. Fortunately, she was happy to see the puffs and stuffed 6 of them into her mouth consecutively. I was afraid she couldn’t handle them and would spit them all out as they are rather hard but she managed to chew and swallow all of them and she continued to eat some more and even had a second helping.

She was a little apprehensive when we went to the playground for outdoor play but well, that lasted only for the first day. 🙂 Actually it’s her first time at the playground proper coz I haven’t really brought her to the playground downstairs before. She also had fun playing at the play area where there were little toy cars that she could sit in and she had fun “cooking” at the “stove” too.

She enjoyed the song and movement segment of the lesson though I think she was the most reserved on the first day. I guess she wasn’t used to the music and movement segment at first coz it’s rather loud I think if one’s not used to loud noises.

After the lesson was over, she was rather quiet and I guess she was still thinking about her lesson at JG. But when she reached home she was really ravenous and wolved down her lunch. I’d have thought that the snack time might have affected her appetite for lunch but it seems that going to JG somehow worked up a bit of an appetite too as she continued to eat her lunch most happily for the rest of the days that she went to JG for lessons!