This trip was planned to link to the Cultural theme that we are working on this year -- Malaysia Project. The weather on the day before the excursion was real bad - stormy rain and greyish sky. I prayed on that night before going to bed for a nice weather, wishing hard for a good head start for the children at least in the next morning. I think my prayer was heard, thank you.
Our children looked smart wearing the Clover T-shirts. This design has been on my mind for a long time, wanting to make it simple without any advertisement (like the phone numbers or address) printed on the T. The children looked smart, and easy to be spotted on. Should have done this a long time ago.
Each child was also assigned a "buddy" to take care of, so that they were given a responsibility and would not run wild. They are all obedient kids, who were sensible to take care of themselves and at the same time keeping an eye on their "buddy".
One of the highlights was Batik Painting. The children were given a presentation of the materials used to make Batik, and how it was done. The interesting part was it was not difficult to paint Batik at all. We only needed to follow 3 simple steps -- Paint with water first, then the colour, then water again. That was it!
The children went off painting their Batik after the demonstration. It was quite an experience for them!
After the Batik painting, we visited the plantation. Lots of fruits were "missing". Some due to not harvesting, some due to the storm on the day before. What a disappointment. Nevertheless, it was fun to see the pewter-making demonstration. The manual peeling of the coconut husk was also very interesting. Strength and technique were the key-words. We were also shown the rubber-tapping procedure. Our tour guide (the lady in the orange T-shirt) asked the children to answer her quiz -- "Name three products made of rubber." Some of our older children gave the answers quickly, we were very proud of them.
We also made small tiny rubber balls using the latex from the rubber tree. However, most of our children's rubber balls were grey in colour, rather than the usual white. Guess their habit of touching things around them collected the dust on their little hands. If I could remember, only Tristan's rubber ball was white and bouncy.
The Malay Cultural dance was also very entertaining. The children were shown the ang klongs before the performance started.
They were also asked to sing Rasa Sayang. Luckily we had trained them to sing this song in school for the upcoming Parents Morning. We were very proud (really proud) of our children when they could sing this traditional Malay song loud and clear.
They were also asked to sing Rasa Sayang. Luckily we had trained them to sing this song in school for the upcoming Parents Morning. We were very proud (really proud) of our children when they could sing this traditional Malay song loud and clear.
It was a very fulfilling trip. We, as teachers, enjoyed it as much as the children.
This workshop has opened my eyes to the work of Orff Shulwerk, and how PROCESS always matters more than results. The pedagogy is so step-by-step that I feel it is easy for the young children to perform a complicated work in a simple way!
