Thursday, 27 September 2012

Singapore Science Centre


Today, Sophie went on a school excursion to the Singapore Science Centre (Ecogarden). At first, I thought it was going to be a relatively comfortable trip and she wouldn't really learn much because the exhibits are a little too difficult for her to understand. Then I realised it wasn't the main building we were going, it was the Ecogarden - outdoor and very suitable for preschoolers. 


I like to see Sophie mingle and have fun with her schoolmates. I never really got along well with others as a child and even now, I still struggle to maintain meaningful relationships with others. So, it warms my heart to see how she socialise beautifully. She doesn't depend on specific people or stick to cliques even though she does have preference for certain people to play with. I like that. It means she's genuinely friendly and she tries to get along with others. She feels secure with new friends and she's happy to be just the way she is. She may not have specific 'best' friend, but it's alright.


Why didn't I know about the Ecogarden earlier? I love it! It's designed to let children have a glimpse of how common vegetables and fruit grow; and some natural habitats like the pond community. It's a pity that the tour was very short and oversimplified. I suppose they think preschoolers have very short attention span and they don't understand much. Actually, I like the guides from previous school excursions to the beach and zoo. They explained more and better despite the children's age. 


We got to see a dragonfly nymph today. It wasn't what the kids had expected to be the young of a dragonfly. We'll have to explore the lifecycle of a dragonfly a little bit more after this trip...


Alright, this part of the programme... I don't get it! The children sat together and made a bracelet with UV sensitive beads. The beads changed into different colours under UV light. Why? I am not sure. There must be some chemical reaction but the organisers didn't bother to train their assistants on the explanation. Nobody was able to tell the kids why. 


Then the children planted a sword bean in water babies. Again, no one bothered to explain what water babies are or how the bean germinates and grow into a seedling. They were mechanically told step-by-step to plant it and bring it home. After that, they watched a skit. The actresses sounded really annoying with their whiny, high pitched voices. The story was really boring and there wasn't much scientific basis to it. I thought we could have skipped that. 


Despite all, Sophie was happy. She enjoyed herself and I guess that mattered more. I was hot, sweaty and bothered but it's alright. In fact, I ended up with a bad migraine because we had PTC in school after that. I completely forgot about lunch so I ate only at 3pm.

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