366 wonders of the world

February

High-speed trains
Afraid of slow and uncomfortable rides on the train? No worries, now there is a train that can travel at a speed of 300km/h. The German and Japanese are trying to improve the speed of the train to 500km/h.

The lemurs of Madagascar
lemurs are friendly looking creatures, they have large, round, yellow eyes , a small nose like a fox cub large pointed ears, monkey like hands and a long tail like squrrel. Not all lemurs have this kind of tail.

The elephant bird of Madagascar
The elephant bird is now extinct. It is similar to an enormous ostrich, more than three metres tall.It laid giant eggs.

366 wonder of the world

January
The giant wrasse
A giant wrasse is a fish which is a couple of metres long and can be found in the red sea in china. The giant wrasse has a strange fatty lump on its head.

The pirarucu of the river amazon
In the amazon river , a pirarucu are spotted there. It is the largest freshwater fish in the world, it grows to more than 2.3 metres lang and can weight up to thirty kilos.

cormorants fishing in the river
A cormorants is a bird which help its owner fish for fishes. It looks like a large crow. A collar is place round the cormorants neck, preventing it from eating the fish.

S'porens' generosity raises $10m for President's Challenge

What is this article about?
In this year President's Challenge, more then $10 million was raise, exceeding $8 million. Mr Nathan said it has been a difficult year for fundraisers due to the downturn. MediaCorp artistes recently helped raise more then $6 million .

A makeover for Safra Toa Payoh

What is this article about?
Safra Toa Payoh will be redevelop. Estimated to cost between $45 million and $ 50 million. The theme focused on entertainment and children's education. Safra Toa Payoh will start demolition by the end of next year, it will be expected to be ready by 2013.

Contractor told to stop work at two sites

What this article about?
Manpower Ministry (MOM) ordered contractors at the centre of Wednesday's manhole explosion to stop work. Six Thai nationals, aged 27 to 50 were working on abandoned pumping mains in the sewer when the explosion occurred. Two injured are in the intensive care unit and four are in the burn ward.

Downtown, where the trains are eco -and people-friendlier

What is this article about?
The new Downtown line train (DTL) will be more earth- friendly. Each train will be 1.4 tonnes lighter, they will consume less energy, saving 8,000kWH per train by using a new technology. Seats that are in red are reserved for commuters with special needs. The DTL is projected to see a daily ridership of 500,000 when in full operation.

PSLE question papers becoming too tough? No, says exam board

What is the article about?
Two PSLE mathermatics papers has been hard in the last three years. The Singapore Examination and Assement Board (SEAB) said that the mathermatics papers where suitable for 12 years old. A spokesperson said that the panel who set the questions ensured that there is a coverage of syllabus and a judicious balance of easy , average and difficult questions. SEAB said that this year math paper was as difficult as the previous year.

Youth day 2009 - Role models

Took half day leave to spend time with them.

Towards noon , receive call from daryl.
- Mentioned that Leonard, & Ryan is at Claudia house
- Say that he wants to go to claudia house as well...

Later afternoon
- At home. After i had brought to the library and Jack's place
- Give them half an hour to rest before studying.
- After the half an hour, when i asked him to study ( in the midst of my sleep), he mentioned that leonard is sleeping. So why he has to study .

Daryl
- You are the one having exams
- Your brother certainly needs a lot of disciplining ..and you know we are trying to manage him , to get him to study
- You should not use him as a reference..
- Just because he dont study, doesnt mean you should not...
- Look at his results...

ROle models
- In life, it is all up to you..
- Some will look at the most outstanding person, and follow him, see how he study, what he does to study well ...
- Some will want to be lazy, reference another lazy person and ask why he should study or work so hard. Even if they reference a outstanding person ie Justin, he will only talk about how much time Justin spent playing computer games etc...

Outcome
- If you choose the lazy boy hwo much better can you do then him ?
- If you choose a outstanding boy and only note down how much time he spent playing, what do you think will be the outcome...
- Adam Khoo succeeded, recovered by choosing good role models.

Remember
- You make your own choices
- You decide who you want to follow
- You decide how far you want to go ..

Nan Hua and other schools ready with online lessons

What is this story about ?

Schools are considering to have online lessons instead of going to school as the H1N1 virus is spreading frantically. MOE disagree with this idea as home schooling isnt better compared to attending schools. Younger primary students will not have the ability use computers for studies.

Do you support online lessons ?
Daryl : yes, as it is enjoyable and by doing this, the H1N1 virus will not spread quickly. I do not agree that primary students will not have abiity to use computers . For example my little brother uses computer almost every day.

Targetted action for schools :H1N1

What is the story about ?
194 people were infected with H1N1 virus . MOE is considering to extend the holidays by 1 to 2 weeks. They said though H1N1 virus spreads easily, it isnt as deadly as SARs. It doesnt make sense to close shools, business and camps . Even if you close it , the virus infections will keep on rising not only in singapore but around it.

Do you agree with what is being done ?
daryl : no , because i want a longer holiday. If holidays isnt extended, the number of people infected with virus may increase. This could be due to students returning to school from overseas holidays, thus increasing the chances of increasing H1N1 infection.

Once afraid , he now appeals against sentence

1)What is the article about?
Sentenced to for years in jail for having sex with a 15 year old girl. He wanted to get his sentence over and done with. The 47 year old decided to appeal against the sentence because the prosecution was pleading for heavier one to be imposed on him.

Singapore's first ladies of Everest

1) What is the article about?
At 3.45am yesterday , Ms Jane Lee , Ms Esther Tan and Ms Lee Li Hui became the first Singaporen women to summit the 8,850 metre peak , located on the Nepal - China border. Ms Lee Li Hui was the first to reach the summit at 3.45am followed by Ms Tan 26 at 3.54 am and co leader Jane Lee at 4.43am. The womens could not be contacted as they were descending the mountain. At about 1pm there were about 80 students and staff gathering at the Republic Polytechnic Centre to celebrate the women's trumph.

Equation of life - Adam Khoo

As many of us are feeling the repercussions of one of the worst
recessions in recent history, I would like to share with you my
philosophy on the EQUATION OF LIFE. If you studied Math, Chemistry,
Economics, Accounts or any one of these mathematical topics before,
you would understand that equations have to balance.

For every good, there must be a bad. For every positive, there must
first be a negative. For light to exist, there must first be
darkness. For every market boom, there must first be a crash. For
you to experience happiness, you must first experience sadness. For
you to experience pride and inspiration, you must first have
experienced disappointment and adversity. The greater the initial
failure and disappointment, the sweeter will be the pride of success.

I remember watching the show 'The Pursuit of Happyness' where it
was based on the true story of Chris Gardner who went through a
very difficult period of his life. His wife left him, he was broke,
evicted from his home, slept in public toilets and in homeless
shelter, jailed for unpaid parking tickets and went through a
series of unfortunate incidents.

However, he persevered where ordinary men would have given up.
Finally, when he got selected to become a stockbroker in one of the
most prestigious companies on Wall Street after competing against
20 other candidates, he broke down and shed tears of intense pride
and happiness.

The fighting spirit that the tough situations built within him was
what gave him the drive to build a multi-million dollar stock
broking firm himself. If he did not first go through those
heartbreaking setbacks, he would not have become a millionaire.

For there to be God, there must be the devil (I know some religious
people will want to kill me for saying this). Think about it, if
not for pain, suffering and evil, will people turn to God for
salvation? It is during hard times like these that people pray and
go to places of worship more.

If you watched the matrix, the 'architect' mentions that the
equation has to balance for the matrix to exist. In order for Neo
(the Hero) to exist, there must be his opposite (i.e. Agent Smith
who was the super bad guy).

This applies to every aspect of life. If George Bush did not screw
up the US economy and damage the US's reputation so badly, Barack
Obama would not have become the first African American President
today. If Al Gore would have won, he would probably have done an ok
job and the US would have voted in another white guy.

At the same time, if Al Gore had become the US President 8 years
ago, he would not have made such a positive impact on global
warming issues, won an academy award for his documentary and won
the Nobel Peace Prize. Again, 'failure' led to the the birth of
success.

If I did not get kicked out of Primary school (Primary 3) and get
rejected from 6 secondary schools after my PSLE exams, I would
never have been sent by my parents to learn about NLP. If I did not
learn about NLP at the age of 13, I would not have been able to
inspire thousands of students through my first book 'I Am Gifted,
So Are You!' and achieve all the success that I have today. I would
just have been another average Singaporean stuck in an average job.

So, how does this apply to your life? Well, instead of fearing and
feeling lousy because of the bad stuff that happens in your life,
get optimistic and know that there lies a great opportunity that
always goes along with it.

To your success,
Adam

Oral Session Techniques

Reading reminders
i) Pause for "." & ",".
ii)Rhythm

Picture describption
i) Where
ii) comment - ie probably in the morning...becaues of....

iii) Going round the picture...ie 4 items...* 2 or 3 sentence.....

iv) Summary comment
- Ask yourself, what is the article is all about ? ie could be about cleanliness...
- Then talk abt need for cleanliness...better still a local example...

School feedback - Apr 09

Generally comment is that that Daryl is a
i) Mature boy
ii) responsible
iii) has tried his best

--------------------------------------

Similar comments from his school teacher and his mindchamp trainer as well..
He is trying his best...
He did very well in his mindchamp training...
If he applies the technique, he will be able to do very well..

Parent feedback - Mar 09

Daryl has been a good boy despite his tight schedule. He has been :
i) attending mindchamps, doing work conscientiously
ii) attending his volleyball sessions
iii) has done quite well for his maths and science
iv) has started to read papers and blog . From his blog, he has also improve his writing skills.
v) He is even willing to forgo his computer playtime so that he can do the above.

His weakness
i) His language remains his weakness.
ii) His oral skills also need to be improved.

What i will do
i) Once mindchamp is over, i will make use of the mindchamp time to give him oral. Will reiterate what examiners are looking for in Oral.
ii) I will do compo planning with him.
iii) Then get him to do compo.

General
i) Keep it up daryl. You are improving.
ii) For your computer and playtime, Papa will compensate you later on, once your exam is over , ok .
iii) Show your brother that you can do better than him .

Skilled workers intake slashed

1) What is this article about?
Australia will cut its annual skilled worker migrant by 14 per cent in an effort to preserve jobs for Australia after a spike in unemployment. Skill migration visa program ,which people can immigrate to Australia to fill certain occupations, will be reduced from 133,500 to 115,000 this year to next year.

A hungry man is an angry man : accused

1) What is the article about?
Ng Kim Ngweng got unhappy when the officers did not let him meet the Reach feedback officer in person. Ng Kim Ngweng made a criminal treat against Member of Parliment Denise Phua, Ng ,49, also apparently told Reach officer tan Chia Yong that " a hungry man is a angry man".

Security industry tweaks hours to attract more women

1) What is the article about?
The security industry is booming in Singapore.15,000 security officers will be needed over the 5 years and more female officers are expected to join. The security industry has employed 35,000 officers, which 13 per cent is women.

Boom time for low-cost carriers

1) What is the article about?
The budget boys are doing a good business at Changi Airport. Despite the overall slowdown, the low-cost carriers traffic grew 21 per cent last month. In January, business increased by 48 per cent.

School attendance checks go digital

1) What is the article about?
Now attendance are taken by machine for example Cedar Girls School, their attendance are taken by a machine. They have to bring along their student trasport card and tap it on a kiosk before of leaving school.

Bomb aimed at Thai DPM

1) What is the article about?
Anti goverment protester threw a home made bomb ar deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban 's motorcade injuring a television cameraman. 500 protesters burned effigies of Mr Suthep and the prime minister.

Beijing sends ship to sourth China sea

1) What is the article about?
China has send mordern patrol ship to the south China after an incident with United States naval. The Beijing news said that vessel would conduct patrols in the disputed waters surrounding the Paracel and Spratly Island.

Dust storm hit Beijing

1) What is the article about?
Beijing was hit by a dust stormearlier this week. It came from inner Mongolia, Gansu and Qinghai provinces. Northerly wind is also kicking sand in from worksites in Beijing. Annual dust storm will be bad this year because north China and the desert of Mongolia suffered the worst drought in 50 years.

rise in lost dogs , despite laws

1)What is this article about?

This article is about the SPCA discouraging pet dumping. It took effect in September last year but SPCA is still receiving 1,162 dogs. The SPCA said that most of the lost dogs did not had microchip or identification. SPCA receives around 700 animals each month.

Miracle baby comes to life

What is this article about ?
It is about a baby who was given to be dead from a heart attack. However a miracle happen and he came back to life in front of his parents.


What do you learn about this article ?
Miracles do happen. Dont ever give up.

Mindchamp Lesson 2- Trigger Vision

Focus :: Human's ability to create and invent that which has much to do w our imagination. We can greatly enhance recall skills by creating mental concrete pictures fm abstracts words.

Technique : Trigger Vision(TV)
Key words act as trigger to recall the rest of a phrase or sentence.

Steps
i) Understand the information
2) Find the key thoughts
3) S.U.C.C.E.S.S pictures for each key thought are created into a word train which is learnt with all the Learning Styles (VAKAD)
4) Recalling the key thoughts being triggered by the concrete pictures in the Word Train will enable you to recite the whole poem, quote, passage or facts.

Home Tasks :
i) Learn a passage with the new technique of TV
ii) Write reflections of the lessons into "The learning Journey" Booklet

Family home tasks
i) Child to share the Word Trains of key thoughts they have learnt of a poem and passage. Praise them and help strengthen any challenges in their learning and recalling.

Questions to choose/pick after reading article/book

1) What is the article about ?

2) What lessons did you learn from the article ?

3) Who is the main character ? What do you think of him/her ?

4) Would you do the same thing as the main character ?

-------------------------------------------------------------

Answer question 1 and 1 more other question

Parent review - Jan 09

1) Good boy . Has been conscientiously writting articles. Showing improvement in writing. Progressing well.

2) Good boy. Allocate him the bedroom to take care of and he has done it conscientiously. Always can be trusted to do his part deligently.

3) Has become more confident in maths and science .

4) Must slowly get him to read more.

4) Dont know if his Mummy is making him read chinese articles conscientiously as well ?