Melur's Science Project

I was looking through this blog for the past few days. My, how the kids have grown... Melur is in Grade 4 now and Arman is in Grade 3. Soon they'll be in middle school, high school, and then off to college.

Anyway, last March Melur presented her science project - "Electrical conductors and insulators" - during the Winston Churchill Public School's (WCPS) science fair. She had about 6 weeks to do the project... but, well lets just say that the bulk of the work was during the last 3 weeks before hand-in (which was not that bad really, could be worse). One week was spent reading and understanding the materials - i.e., the science behind conductors and insulators. The next week was spent setting up the experiments and preparing the written report. And the last week was spent preparing for the class presentation and creating the display board for the science fair. Melur got some help... but she did most of the work. She has to because she must be able to answer the questions during the science fair and class presentation. Here's a picture of Melur and Papa putting together the written report.

Melur and Papa putting together the science report

And here are some pictures of Melur during the science fair. For her project, Melur set-up an experiment to test whether an object is a conductor or insulator. She the small light bulb she's holding? She must be holding a conductor. 

Melur and Papa showing off their stuff... 

Melur and Mommy during the science fair

The science fair was for Grade 4 and 5 students, but only Grade 5 could go to the provincial science fair. All the projects were on display at the gym with the students minding their booths. Lots of other interesting projects were on display - e.g., magnets and magnetism, hydroelectricity, pollution, etc. Melur enjoyed doing her science project, and she's planning to go to the provincial science fair next year. 

Melur proudly explaining her project to a visitor

It is quite interesting to see the education system here. I don't remember doing anything of this sort when I was in Standard 4. I had projects in high school though. And definitely parents are more involved here. The instructions that came from the teachers included instructions on what parents could do to help. Maybe the education system has changed in Malaysia... it has been quite a (LONG) while.

Melur's 9th Birthday!

We had a small birthday celebration for Melur last Sunday, Sept 25. One thing different about kids birthday parties (and weddings) here compared to Malaysia is that the size is usually much smaller. We only had 14 kids altogether, a dozen of Melur's schoold friends (all girls), Arman, and Melur. The Venue was at a cooking school, so it was a cooking and baking themed birthday party. The kids seem to enjoy themselves, they made their own pizzas (including the pizza dough), fruit kebabs, and cupcakes.

Melur's birthday is actually around the end of August, August 30. But she was OK with having the birthday party much later in September. Mommy was too busy with her comprehensive exam, which was on the same week as Melur's birthday. We are lucky to have Melur, she's so thoughtful and considerate...:)

	Seriously working on the pizza dough
	Arman working on his pizza dough, look at that level of concentration!
	Arman was shy at first, but he seems to be at home afterwards. He made himself useful during clean-up time.
	Getting silly before the birthday cake
	Birthday cake time!
	Birthday loot for this year... thanks everyone, Melur loves all the gifts.

Kids Must Listen...

Here's what we do to Melur and Arman when they are naughty... ha ha ha

Winterlude 2011: Part 1

Sometime in mid-February we went to Ottawa for a short, family holiday. The trip coincided with one of Arman's chess tournaments, which was held on Sunday. We left Kingston on Friday... the plan was to spend the Saturday at Jacques-Cartier Park, and let the kids enjoy the snow playground. Unfortunately, the weather was warm and the snow melted... no snow playground for us. We decided to make the best of things and see what they have to offer at the Confederation Park instead. They was an ice sculpture show... and other exhibits. Melur and Arman seemed to have enjoyed themselves. Here are some pictures... Melur and Arman at the maple wood carving booth. They had all sorts of toys made from wood at this booth.

Mommy, Melur, and Arman... all three on our snow motorbike. Melur resting on a sofa made out of ice... very, very cool. The four of us in front of the winterlude sign... Papa... you can see the line for the famous Ottawa beavertail behind him. We wanted to get some... but well, as you can see... the line was too long... and was just too cold to be standing in line.