Lately, I have been surfing a lot and thinking about what to do with Darius after he turned 1 year old. I did not sign him up for any more classes because he seemed to be falling sick only when he go to class and not otherwise. The classes were also expensive and he couldn’t concentrate as much with a lot of other kids distracting. Hence, I decided I’ll just teach him myself. On that, I’m still researching at the moment, surfing sites and getting ideas. I really love Charlotte Mason’s education which is what some homeschool mums are using. Especially her teaching on Nature.

I’ve been thinking about:
1) Self-feeding
2) Introducing foods that he couldn’t eat before 1 year old, like cheese, pasta, more textured foods
3) Transitioning him to sleeping on the big mattress on the floor
4) What to teach him so he can make good use of his time instead of playing with the same toys over and over again
5) Getting him exposed to nature, going for more trips outdoors.
6) Letting him do craftwork
7) Bringing him to places where he can enrich his senses and learn about stuff.
8.) Exercise, developing his motor skills

1) Self-feeding
I bought a coverall bib for him and a self-feeding spoon from Pigeon. The bib I have not tried on him yet. The spoon seemed a little too small, good for his holding but when will he finish eating with the small scoop?

He held it but showed no interest in feeding himself with it yet. He rather turn the spoon around and bite the handle instead. I read that we should try to start with a meal in a day and let him try to self-feed when he’s the most alert, not tired. So probably I can start with cereals at breakfast since it’s less messy than porridge and he just woke up fresh.

He now drinks water by sipping from this Pigeon lidded cup. I plan to let him drink his milk from the Magmag straw bottle once he’s better with sucking water. Previously, I have been using the Corelle bowl for feeding him. I changed it to this Melamine plastic bowl I bought as a set for $9.90 during the baby fair. I just realised today it’s not as ’safe’ as it’s supposed to be! I need to change back now.

The council advises customers not to use melamine plates or cups to hold acidic or very hot food and drinks for longer than 30 minutes, and to pick plain rather than colorful patterns.

Will also try to introduce him to self-drinking from an open cup without spilling. (which is now used as a scooping water tool during bathtime play)

2) Introducing Textured Food
So far, he’s still eating brown rice porridge with pureed vegetables and fish or chicken. I did try to introduce chunkier bits but because he does not have teeth, he can’t chew much and end up choking on big pieces when he swallowed.Thus, he still dislike chunkier food and doesn’t like chicken unless finely pureed or pork, preferring fish. I have stopped grinding his porridge so he can get used to the texture. Instead, I add more water and slow cook for 2 hours to make it softer. Otherwise, he will fuss when eating.

Previously, I gave him food with no added salt or sugar but since he’s 1 year old now, it should be okay to introduce food with some salt or sugar as long as it’s moderate. On some days, I share my whole wheat bread with him instead of feeding him the HT cereal with his formula milk. The bread bits are sandwiched with some Kraft cheese. Surprisingly, he enjoys chewing bread and would want more. He also like the bread with kaya and margarine but I feed him minimal for that since they contain lots of sugar and salt. I also started giving him scrambled eggs since he can eat egg white now.

I tried giving him plain bellamy’s pasta once but he hates it. Plan to introduce him to it again with tomato or cheese sauce so he does not have to eat porridge all the time.

3) Transitioning him to sleeping on the big mattress on the floor

He rolls here and there in his sleep and sometimes, he ends up with his face cupped against the net of the playpen, perspiring despite the air-condition. The raised net around the playpen also hinders us from patting him back to sleep or adjusting his sleep position easily. Hence, we decided to transit him to the seahorse sofa bed we have. Will need a mattress protector for the daytime just in case.

4) What to teach him so he can make good use of his time instead of playing with the same toys over and over again

Still planning on this. Because he still takes two naps in a day, the time he’s awake is limited. My idea is to do a different activity on each day of the week instead of an hour of different activities. Maybe Monday will be craft day, Tuesday is music day, Wednesday is nature outing day. I need to plan this carefully so it does not interrupt with my freelance work schedule. Time is just not enough when I have to cook and do chores too.

Storytime needs to be incorporated more actively at the same time everyday if possible instead of only reading to him randomly. Now he often walks to the bookshelf to flip the books on his own or pull them to the floor. I will then sit him on my lap to read them to him if I have the time.

I’m still using Wink-To-Learn and showing him a disc with lessons on Vocabulary followed by a disc on Sentences everyday. I’m also letting up on tv watching. Sometimes, I switch on BabyFirst Tv for him to watch for a while. At other times, I let him watch music DVDs of english or mandarin songs. The bad point is that he always want to walk towards the tv and stand right in front which might spoil his eyes.

5) Getting him exposed to nature, going for more trips outdoors.

Since he started walking, I have been bringing him down to the the playground in the morning after breakfast and sometimes, in the evenings. Would want to bring him to more parks or natural places.

6) Letting him do craftwork

I do art in my work, hence I would want Darius to love doing art too.I need to find more information on what he can do at his age (maybe finger painting, water-colour stamping?) and the materials that is safe for him.

7) Bringing him to places where he can enrich his senses

Probably places like museums, places where he can view information or artworks or where good music is played. He’s still too young to understand but I believe he still can enhance his senses through the exposure. The bad point is they are all very far from our place and I do not have so much time to use in a day.

8.) Exercise, developing his motor skills

We have been bringing him to indoor playground lately as they have many structures for him to go through and move around. Outdoor playgrounds are good too but sometimes, they may be quite dirty. I also want to bring him swimming as we had been stopping that activity for sometime due to him being sick or the weather being bad. I believe it can help him sleep better, fall sick less often and learn things better if he gets a healthy blood circulation.

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