16 May 2018 - Is Friday a weekend?

Javier got back his maths paper for semester one today.  Originally he did not get full marks as he was marked partially wrong for the question below.  However, after seeing what Javier wrote on the paper, the teacher decided to accept his answer in the end.

So what exactly did he write?  If you look at the top of the paper, he wrote, "Is Friday a weekend"?  The original answer does not consider Friday as part of weekend.  According to Javier, after the teacher saw his question on the paper, she seek the principal's advice and decided to accept his answer.  A number of students benefited from this as well.  So thanks to Javier!

I was curious about the definition of weekend so I did a quick search on the internet.  Click here to see the result.  Most definitions do consider Friday night as the start of weekend.  So Javier was right!  :-)

13 May 2018 - Weekend Gardening and Harvesting

Our tomato plants have been bearing fruits week after week.  It's time to harvest and show our tender loving care by doing some weeding.

Our desert rose has also been blooming for more than a month.

As for our Bougainvillea, it used to be purple in color.  And now it has turned white.

12 May 2018 - One more step to his GOAL!

Javier passed his Taekwando Red Belt grading last month.  He received his Red Belt with Black Tip today.  He's now one step away to his goal of getting the Junior Black Belt.

Train hard and I'm sure you can achieve your goal very soon.  加油, Javier!

5 May 2018 - Education Merit Award Ceremony

Due to Javier's good academic results last year, we were invited to his Education Merit Award Ceremony. 

After Javier received the award from our GRC Advisor, Darryl David, we were invited to join in to have a photograph taken.

This is the second consecutive year that Javier received this award.

What he's looking forward to is actually the $80 book voucher from Popular Bookstore rather than the certificate.  Haha......  :-P

Well done, Javier!  Keep up the good work!

3 May 2018 - Learning Journey to Kidzania

Javier went on a learning journey to Kidzania at Resort World Sentosa with his class today.  Among the various job stations that he managed to try out, there was a Film Studio where he got the chance to be the host of his own video!  During the recording, there were scripts being projected on the screens at the left and right side of the camera.  That's why in the video, you can see Javier's eyes were looking away from the camera most of the time.  After the video is done, he can further edit, add music and effects to it.  Below is the end product.

1 May 2018 - First injury caused by drone, hopefully it's the last

While testing out the different flight mode of my Spark today, I somehow got the controls wrong and had a few cuts on my leg.  I was too over confident and made a mistake for not fixing on the propeller guard.  This is my first injury caused by my drone and hopefully it's the last.  :-P

29 Apr 2018 - First Outdoor Flight with DJI Spark

This evening, we decided to bring our Spark drone out for its first outdoor flight.

We understand that there are rules governing the flying of drones.  As such, we did some research on where are all the no fly zones (below) and also which are the parks where drone flying is not allowed.  Following are two important links for anyone who wish to fly their drones "legally".

- CAAS: Area Limits for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

- NParks: Parks with 'No Flying' Signs

Based on the above, we decided to go Bishan Park, which is just outside of the No-Fly zone and it's also not in the list of No-Fly parks.

Here is a video of our Spark's first outdoor flight.

I also tried out the hand gesture mode where Spark took off from my palm, followed my palm's movement, flew off for a selfie, returned and landed back on my palm.  See how I controlled Spark simply with a few hand gestures in the following video.  Jerlene and Javier also tried it out.  It's really fun!

29 Apr 2018 - Timetable for Revision

Since the past few weekends, I had requested both Jerlene and Javier to prepare a timetable for their revision in preparation of the coming SA1 examination.  I realized that this way has worked quite well as compared to the past when they did not have one.  Through this, they had learnt how best to plan their time for the day.  Also with the timetable, they will try to follow it as much as possible and achieve the goals that they had set for themselves.  I can see that they had a sense of achievement after seeing all the goals in the checklist had been checked.  :-)

27 Apr 2018 - First DJI Spark Flight

During the recent Lazada Sale, we managed to buy a drone at a very good price.  It was delivered today and we started unpacking it from the box.  We bought the Fly More Combo which comes with several accessories such as an extra battery, carrying case, propeller guard etc.
After watching some online tutorials via Youtube, I managed to activate the drone and ready to take it for its first flight.  I have to do it very carefully as I was flying it in my room.  :-P

27 Apr 2018 - Javier became teacher's assistant during period Phi

This year, Rosyth School is piloting a new program called Period Phi for Primary 3 and 4 students.  During this fortnightly one-hour class, the students get to learn new and interesting topics outside of their usual school curriculum.  The aim is to have the students to put on their thinking hats to be creative and innovative.

Today, the teacher introduced Scratch programming to Javier's class during Period Phi.  He was excited but at the same time, he was a bit bored because he already knows all the basics of Scratch programming.  When the students started their hands-on project, Javier took just a minute to create the following animation.

His classmates then started asking him how to do this and that.  He became the teacher's assistant for most part of the class.  :-)

22 Apr 2018 - Taekwando Red Belt Grading

Javier went for his Taekwando Red Belt grading today.  As usual, before entering the grading hall, he did his warm up and practice outside of the hall.

This time round, the grading was held at Ang Mo Kio ITE Sports Hall.  It's a good location for us as it's very near to our place.

I think Javier had improved a lot from his previous grading 3 months ago.  His power has strengthened and his kicks are higher.  Also, his sparring is now more aggressive.

Below's video shows his grading session.  He remembered all his patterns and I just want to say:"Javier, you did a great job today"!  Proud of you!

21 Apr 2018 - Swimsafer Silver Award

Jerlene and Javier received their Swimsafer Silver Award certificates today.  It's another milestone achieved and passing this test means they are able to perform the following:

1. Entries & Exits
- Dive entry (crouching).
2. Sculling & Body Orientation
- Backward somersault in the water.
- Scull, float or tread whilst putting on a PFD in water (incorporated in Survival & Activity Skills).
3. Underwater Skills
- In at least 1.4m deep water, perform feet-first surface dive, swim through hoops on pool bottom for 3m.
4. Movement/Swimming/Strokes
Swim:
- 50m Front Crawl (within 1:30 min).
- 50m Breaststroke(within 1:50 min).
- 50m Backstroke (within 1:40 min).
- 25m Survival Backstroke.
- 25m Sidestroke.
- Dolphin kick 10m on front.
5. Survival & Activity Skills
- Dressed in swimwear, shorts and t-shirt demonstrate:
- Enter deep water using a straddle jump.
- Perform a backward somersault.
- Submerge using feet first surface dive.
- Swim through hoops on pool bottom for 3m and resurface.
- Swim 45m quickly using front crawl.
- Wave and call for help (rescuer to throw PFD).
- Retrieve a PFD in water and fit it while treading water.
- Demonstrate Heat Escape Lessening Posture (H.E.L.P.) technique for 30 sec.
- Then swim 25m with PFD and climb out of the water.
6. Rescue Skills
- Throw a PFD to a partner 3m away and instruct the partner to kick to the edge.
7. Knowledge
- Principles of Personal Safety and Survival.
- Environmental Awareness.
- Health Awareness.
- Emergency Situations and Survival Techniques.
- Rescues.

17 Apr 2018 - Beautiful Dawn Sky

As the subject says.....

15 Apr 2018 - RPG "Maze Boss" created by JJJwong

Javier's Scratch programming has upped another level now.  He started creating Role Playing Game which we used to call RPG.  This particular game called Maze Boss has multiple parts.  It actually has a story line, though simple but good enough for a 9 year old boy I guess.  There are 5 parts now but the story hasn't ended.  In other words, more parts are on their way.  Try it out here.

The first part doesn't have any dialogue but I find the part fighting King Pig very funny, especially its blue-black eyes.....haha.......... Try it out and see for yourself.  :-)

14 Apr 2018 - Bittergourd plant growing well

After slightly more than a month from being just a seed, our bittergourd plant started to bloom.  This is the first time I see how a bittergourd flower looks like.

Bittergourd is a vine that bears tendril, a specialized stem with a threadlike shape that is used by climbing plants for support, generally by twining around suitable hosts found by touch.

A number of buds can be seen on the plant now.  Hopefully we can see some fruits soon.

By the way, our orchid should be blooming soon too.