Archives for posts with tag: kids

In 2012, when I wrote Cookies & Milk, it came at a time when my own father was poorly and unwell, and it helped to lift my hopes and spirits and make the Christmas season a bit more bearable. At the start of December of this year 2015, my 5-yr old daughter Madison was admitted to hospital for an infection in her body. Her cries of pain and uncertainty made it difficult to cope. After two operations in the span of a week, her condition stabilised, but as any parent can attest to, the idea of your child in the hospital is undoubtably distressing. It is a traumatic experience that affects both child and parent.

One night at the hospital, Madison asked to read Cookies & Milk for her bedtime story. I asked her why she chose that one. She said because it was almost Christmas and that Daddy wrote it. We read the story, as we did every Christmas, and she giggled at the same parts she did every year. Her small sounds of laughter were a good sign, a comforting thought that the story has had such a healing effect for both myself and my daughter. When we were finished, I asked Madison what did she like most about the story, and she said, “you reading it to me.”

Cookies & Milk:  A Christmas Story is now free on the iBookstore until December 31st, 2015.

Merry Christmas, and have a safe and happy festive season.

Download Cookies & Milk

Henry and Abbey
Once again, It’s that festive time of year,
When children dream of presents near.
For the gifts that can’t be easily bought,
They remain the ones most cherished in our heart.

So without further ado,
Here’s a gift from me to you!

Cookies & Milk: A Christmas Story is FREE for a limited time, through the month of December 2014.  Download your free copy today!

Cookies & Milk - T.K. Chung & Curtis Cunningham

Trick or Treat!  What better way to end the Halloween night with your little ones than to read a spooky bedtime story!  The Witchy-Po is available for FREE on the Apple iBooks Store for today only!

The Witchy-Po Halloween Pumpkin 03

Click here to go download your copy from the Apple iBooks Store.

Enjoy and have a Safe and Happy Halloween!

T.

Abbey and her Cookies & Milk

For all the little girls and boys
Who long for Christmas day,
May Old St. Nick grant your hopes and wishes,
Beneath the tree they lay.

But if one wishes to catch a glimpse
Of that special someone by the tree,
Be sure to leave some Cookies and Milk
And then perhaps you will see.

One must be quiet, one must be quick
To discover the greatest sight
That a boy or girl could ever wish for
On that Merry Christmas night.

 

Have a Safe and Healthy Festive Season.
T

Enjoy the prologue taken from the ibook Cookies & Milk: A Christmas Story.

Cookies & Milk Tree

Kano Kit

When it comes to finding fun and accessible ways for my kids to learn about computing, Kano is one of those crowdfunded Kickstarter projects that really caught my eye.

Over a year ago, I received my Raspberry Pi in the post.  For those who don’t know, the Raspberry Pi is a small, rather inexpensive, basic computer, its size slightly bigger than of a deck of cards.  It houses little more than the motherboard — it doesn’t even come with its own power supply.  The user is meant to gather all the external bits to build the computer, and then discover all the wonderful things it could do.  “Great, what fun!”, I thought, at the time.  Flash forward to the present, and my little computing bundle of joy is still in its box.

Kano is the project that has re-ignited my interest.  Using the Raspberry Pi, it proposes to teach kids of all ages how to build a computer and unleash their programming potential and technical creativity.  It does this by means of providing the user with all the bits needed to hook-up the Pi, and all explained in an exceptionally clear, intuitive and brilliantly illustrated manual.  The manual is divided into “levels”, like a game, where passing a level means the user has accomplished a specific task.  For example, Level 1 is building the computer; to win Level 1, the user needs to take all the bits that make up the computer and connect them to the board.

Last week, I handed the manual to my 5-year old, to test her reaction and see what she thought.  She is still an early reader, but she was able to read through the requirements and learn how to win Level 1.  Since then, she has been nagging me to help her get started.  Today, I caught her sitting by herself, reading through the manual, making sure she didn’t forget a step.  Her interest (and mine!) has now peaked, and I can’t wait to help her get started on her journey.

Kano Level 1

You can find out more about the Kano project at http://www.kano.me.

Halloween is a great time of the year for storytelling! Recently, I picked up a Lumio, it’s a lamp that pretends it’s a book. The Lumio is a beautiful piece of modern art-meets-function. It makes a great reading light, and in the dark, a spooky ambience, perfect for some scary stories to be told. Anyways, make the most of the occasion with some fun reading with the kids!

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A year ago, I wrote a fun little story for my kids, hoping that it would spark their interest in reading. Now, one year later, my 3yr old’s reading level is truly astonishing. The thing is, we all want our kids to learn to read, and we know that in order to hold their interest, it means to make reading an exciting and engaging experience. The hard part is finding the tools in which to make it so. What I did was to create The Witchy-Po as an ebook on the iBookstore, so that the kids could see the words highlighted as they follow along to the story, and be drawn in by the pictures as they follow the words. But there are lots of other things we did too. Make a game out of it. Word games, for example, are a great way to get them interested. For instance, in the car, we play the ‘ing’ game: name words that end in “i-n-g”.

Just be creative. It is important to remember that fun in reading is not just about the words behind the story, but about the experience. Every child is different, they each have their own likes, and they will each learn and explore at their own pace. My 5yr old is taking her time compared to her younger sister, and as long as she is enjoying the experience, I have no worries she will be a capable reader soon.

Keep it fun and interesting,
T

Yesterday, we had a little family get-together for Father’s Day. The kids’ Grandpa stopped by which was a nice surprise for the little ones. We all had lunch and a nice family chat, and then it was time for Grandpa to go.

Later that evening, our 5-year old was moping about the house, looking a little sad.

“What’s the matter, Lauren?”, I asked.

Lauren looked up and whispered, “Well, I forgot to say Happy Father’s Day to Grandpa.”

I was a bit taken aback! it was the first time I could see she was thinking of Grandpa as a father figure. Perhaps it was just the occasion, or perhaps I was thinking of my own father who had recently passed, but I was really happy she made that connection. I gave her a hug and it seemed to make her feel better. I suppose it helped me feel better too.

T.