My sister's youngest was attending to abacus classes when she was about 2 years old and boy did she LOVE it! She got so hooked into it, the abacus itself became like a favorite toy What was hilarious (and a little scary) was that soon it became obvious that her beloved auntie Tiff (moi!) is far behind. Since that couldn't be and my ego got bruised I had to enhance my knowledge quickly quickly. I will share you some pages I used with you in case you were in a same tough spot as I was

http://www.wikihow.com/Use-an-Abacus
http://www.scienceclarified.com/A-Al/Abacus.html
http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/abacus.html

Good luck and stay strong!
We will gain the knowledge :imcool:

How many hours do you let your child use computer per day? I guess iphones and ipads also count as they link the child to the internet now.


Anyone worried about addiction? Heard some horror stories from teacher friends about what children addicted to computers can be like.

I've problem contorling my kids as well. Especially my son always like to play with the phone whenever he sits down. Sometimes Xbox and TV. Somehow I tried to control him but ended up see him look so moody. So my message to him is, you can play after you finished your homework, assessment, story books etc.

However, I think some games really good for the kids, such as minecraft. In the past I was so frustrated whenever he play minecraft with the PC. But he told me all his classmates, especially the boys, loves it. They used to talk about this game, update each other from time to time. So I feel that by limiting him, he could becomes so sua ku and nothing to contribute, which will in turn affect his social interraction. Subsequently when he play minecraft with Xbox, I realised that this game is really a good exposure for creativity, imagination and aspire the kids to do some building games. THere are a lot of features that one can use to develop their houses, farms...etc

So in the end I think its still ok if he play minecraft. Sometimes during the leasure times I prefer the kids play Xbox, espcially involved brain building, physical exercises.

I do agreed that playing with phones and tablets really bad for them, but we've to be selective. My conclusion is, not all games are bad, and its still ok even if they spend a bit of time for those non-brain building ones subject to time control.

In the router discussion your vote seems to disappear and since I think it's a shame I decided to reply specifically to you. Why? Because I think you're so right! There are games and games. Some are really unsuitable for kids but some are creative, insightful and smart like e.g. Minecraft. It's also a good idea to just sit with your kid, see what he/she does and ask questions. Show them you're interested, talk to them about the game and maybe you can even play together. That way not only you can bond more but also you know exactly what is going on. So basically Jarol keep up with the good job!

I love fries with creamy cheese and although I am sure it is nothing compared to KFC I will tell you how I do it First of all I make my fries \"out of scratch\". Peel potatoes and slice them into nice \"sticks\", pour cooking oil into a bot and make it boil, then I drop in part of the potatoes and wait till they're brownish, take out, put another batch and so on and so forth. If you like lots of cheese, it's a good idea to put itsy bitsy of grated cheese on still hot fries and make it melt. But let's move forward! In a separate pot I put: piece of soft, creamy cheese, small bits of yellow cheese (whatever brand really) and (if you like!) a piece of camembert. Heat it till the point it starts melting, stir slowly. When it's all connected but you find it too thick, you may add some sweet cream. Voila! I usually take big plate of my fries, pour cheesy sauce into a bowl and ENJOY!

As someone right above me mentioned: reading is definitely something worth introducing to your children. Try reading bed time stories and those can vary from classical fairy tales up to Harry Potter novels. That's what I did with my sister's kids. When I was around I would sit down with them and read Harry Potter out loud. At first Debbie (my sis) wasn't too happy about it but later on I saw hear eavesdropping and kids where overjoyed Soon it will be time to try out \"The Lord of the Rings\"!

Simply speaking, introduce something to the children and at first enjoy new activities with them, do it together and who knows - it may turn into a hobby!