The ONG family Homeschool

Pregnancy no. 6 update!

my most recent FB status update:

Miserable is when a mosquito lands on your toe and you can't swat it coz of the bump the size of a basketball strapped to your waist. miserable.

I'm ending my 34th week of pregnancy. Hanging on for the last 5 weeks or so. God help me! Third trimester is always a difficult time for me coz of the weight and back ache. And for me, every pregnancy being full of surprises, this third trimester brought the onset of PUPPP. Ominously named Pruritic Urticarial Papules and Plagues of Pregnancy. I wonder why the Plagues of Pregnancy part, but, yes, a plague it sure is! :(  I read of women who did a C-section 2 weeks early in order to recover from the PLAGUE (which happens during pregnancy.)

I've developed this horrible itch all over my body, arms, legs for more than 2 weeks now. Almost constant scratching, day, and more so at night. Websites say it is usually women with their first pregnancy who get this. I never experienced this till now, the sixth pregnancy. What is up with that??? Infernal scratching. It is like eczema kind of itchiness, but all over the body! :((

This late part of the pregnancy, also not experienced with such intensity for all the other pregnancies, is this: gas. Seriously, especially in the middle of the night, I am so uncomfortable with the build up of gas in my digestive tract. I can let out 2 big burps. Not funny. really.

Thirdly, (yes there's more) for the first time, we have a placenta that is presented low. Makes for higher chances of having a C-section (which I have never had before and hope to avoid.) Whenever the gynae scans, Baby's head is right next to the placenta. Doc, in the last checkup, said rather matter of factly that the head will move down, the placenta will move up and baby will be born naturally. We are still preferring to not take it for granted but pray for it. :) But I am thankful that Assoc Prof Han (KKH) doesn't say things that make me worry unnecessarily. That's one of the reasons we keep going back to him.

I always think it is funny when I see posters of baby milk products or some birth or baby or pregnancy related advertisement where there is featured a pregnany lady all calm and the picture of maternal bliss radiating from her face. That is certainly NOT pregnancy as I know it. (But good for you, mommy out there, if it is!)

I must not forget God and His goodness even in trying times like these. There are many things that He is doing that sustain me. I suspect the low placenta is preventing the baby's head from resting painfully on my pubic bone, like I experienced the last pregnancy. So I thank God for that!

Another important way He has been sustaining me is Bible reading time with the family in the morning and night. His Word fills me with much to remember His wisdom to carry on through life and parenting my children. 

Well, I've been doing sedentry stuff, read: sewing- skirts and dresses for the girls, some shelf covering and curtains. (Thanks to the Spotlight Mighty May Sale now going on. For $100 spent, there is a coupon that helps you save $40 on top of the discounts. I'm going to start on new baby's dresses too, just bought a pattern for cute lil dresses with bloomers. <3 I'm trying to get as much sewing done now coz I forsee I'm not going to be able to for some time after baby is born.

So, sewing projects.... that'll be for an upcoming post. Hopefully not too long from now. :)

 

Field Trips: Jurong Bird Park

Horribly backdated, this field trip was done in early May!

Even worse, Jurong Bird Park was supposed to be no. 3's birthday treat..... His birthday that was in November last year! It was raining daily last year end, and then with this and that, we shelved it till now. Thankfully, our children are emotionally resilient enough to stand some disappointments. :p

We had wanted to go earlier in the pregnancy but somehow only managed to do it in the 3rd trimester. So, I just parked myself at nice locations to watch birds while hubby ran about with the kids to see the birds.

See, I would tell you what bird birthday boy in orange and brother are pointing at up there in the tall cage, but I wouldn't know coz I was parked at the Swan Lake or somewhere, enjoying the scenery.

Our birthday boy, no. 3 (8 yrs) is the bird boy. He LOVES birds and will observe them whenever he can. It is a bonus that we live in a pretty untouched part where there is field and a tree outside our window. We have even had woodpeckers visit our tree. He will identify the male and the female and tell us other trivia he read somewhere. When we arrived at the Bird Park, he was so happy, he told hubby and I how much he loves us. :)

Such beautiful birds. We especially love the Lori Loft.

 

Love feeding the Lories. But quite unnerving at the start.

This one wanted to have a taste of no. 1's ear!

LOL!

And baby no. 5 clinging on to papa with fearful curiosity.

I'd like to think I tagged along so that the family could have a nice meal of chicken sandwich. ;)

 

This pic of me doesn't half show how hefty I have become. (That's why I'm posting it.)

Oh Yes, the new splash park at the Bird Park is really nice. The Kids enjoyed it thoroughly. I was soooo wishing I too could sit under that giant bucket....

 

Girls in Smocked Dresses! Third trimester nesting instincts kick in.....

here I am, 30 weeks preggie and heavy. No pics plez. :p I'm still doing groceries and cooking meals and that's about all the physical activity/ standing I do these days. :p The family helps out with the rest. Thank God for them!

Most everything else is done sitting or horizontal. HomeSchool marking and teaching. And now, smocking! I've officially started on my smocking career. lol. Girls in smocked dresses have GOT to the one of my most favourite things. And thank Him, I have two (soon to be three) girls to smock for. <3

Firstly, I need to credit Marie Grace Design's blog. Thanks to all the great info she posted, I managed to sew my first smocking dress for my girlies. When I saw this post which read "Simple Smocked Sundress"

: The most simple of smocked dresses made from just 2 identical rectangles of fabric, one for the front and one for the back, plus 4 narrow strips for the ties. No pattern at all.

I told myself that's the one I gotta try..... And away we went! After studying through her very helpful tutorials, after 2 days of sewing, voila~ a smocked dress. :) so pleased....    

(There's really nothing you can't learn from the internet these days... good or bad. :) )

Here's a closeup:

Actually, I made 2!:

I actually prefer no. 2's without a belt but she likes it that way.

No. 2 (10 years) helped here and there, learning together with mama:

I wanted her to practice cutting cloth straight. Not easy leh!

Here are some of my own tips: it'll be good to buy checkered cloth (small checks) so that the guiding lines are already there and there is no drawing and marking at all. Pleating on the wrong side of the cloth, the spaces are 1/4" apart and the rows are 1/2" apart. (For non-checkered cloth, you can actually get a template to mark out the dots.)

Another tip would be to choose cloth that isn't too thick as the finished work tends to be pretty poofy. (You need to start with cloth that is 3 to 4 times the width of your smocked area (across, before the pleating.)

After pulling the threads together, start smocking.

Sorry for the weird change of colour. I was using my phone here.

Then, I added in the embroidery, this is the part I LOVE coz it's pretty. Lil' pinky girl LOVES the pinky flowers. :)

oh, you can see from the above pic i did a simple zigzag machine stitch for the top hem. It is literally two rectangular pieces of cloth sewed down the sides, and 4 shoulder straps. No sleeves to worry about! easy peasy. :D

Next project, I'm going to try embroidering rosettes.

 

Our Homeschoolers Sing! Christ the Lord is Risen!!!

As I mentioned on the FB page,  conducting christian young persons choir is one of the more meaningful things I do as a homeschool mom. It is not meant to be an exclusively homeschool choir, but it turned out that the homeschoolers were the ones who were able to attend on monday afternoons. Kids who go to school are already quite tied up with school and CCA activities.

Anyway, we started this choir to give our children an opportunity to sing in a choir setting: sing in parts, do sectionals, learn singing techniques, etc.The fruits arising from this endeavour has been tremendous! Most exciting are the reports from parents of how their children are practicing their parts at home, enjoying singing together. I can testify to that: my own kids have been breaking out in song and in different parts whenever and where-ever (especially when they are travelling... :) )

We have been putting up half yearly concerts for the children to present what songs they have learned, as a chance to perform before an audience of family and friends. I'm so thankful to have such a wonderful and supportive community of homeschool parents who will turn up and enjoy their children's work. And their children are simply a pleasure to teach: responsive, polite, and attentive. Creative and humorous! They make choir sessions such a fun learning time.

Alas, with baby no. 6 due end June, I decided to have just one term of choir this year and we culminated all the choir we had done from January till March with a mini Ressurection week concert. Will certainly miss the kids. :(    

During choir, I do allocate some story and activity time that is related to what the children are singing so they sing with greater understanding. We enjoyed learning about the passover sacrifice lamb and Jesus the Lamb of God. What a blessing to teach (in most cases here, reinforce) bible truths to the children, how Jesus loves us to come to earth to die for us.

Without further ado, here's the older choir (9 -15 yrs) singing Look and Live. I challenged them with a more difficult program this term and they really rose to the challenge. Well done!!!

Listen to the last chorus where they sing acapella. :)

 

And this was the grand Finale combining with the younger choir (6-9 yrs) with Christ the Lord is Risen Today. So wonderful to hear their pure voices singing in glory and honor of Jesus!

 

Lord willing, we will re-start choir next year (2013). When bb no. 6 is 6 months old! :)

Blessed Resurrection Weekend to all. Jesus died once that we might live. He rose again to prove He has conquered death and we who believe in Him will follow in the same!

 

Dealing with Death from a Christian Parenting Perspective

It has been an eventful week for the whole clan. My hubby's father succumbed to pancreatic cancer and went home to be with the Lord exactly one week ago on the 23rd of March. It was a "thief on the cross" type conversion. His whole life, he believed in himself and refused to consider Christ. But by the mercy of God giving him two months to consider his mortality (from the initial diagnosis of cancer and a following multiple stroke, thank God, he was still responsive and able to understand the Bible's plan of salvation) he repented of his sin and received the gift of salvation!

God's promise that salvation is of grace and not of works at all (not even baptism or doing good deeds). Like the Thief who was crucified on next to Jesus, my FIL could not do any good work to earn his salvation but receive God's grace and thereafter enjoy the blessings of heaven. So much to be thankful to God for. His mercy reaches to even people who rejected Him all their lives. If only they will humble themselves and repent of their sins.

2 Peter 3:9 (KJV)  ⁹The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

(*he promise referring to God's impending judgment by fire upon the earth.)

My father in law was blessed to have been surrounded by his loved ones at his side when he took his final breath. His wife, his children, his grandchildren (my children). I do wonder who will be with me when I go?

Yes, my children and I were right there witnessing grandfather's passing. It was the first time I ever witnessed a death. And of course, it was my children's first time too.

I do know that many parents shield their children from this kind of things. Many, I believe, do not know how to approach the subject of death and dying. Thankfully, the bible has answers and we teach these to our children as a matter of conversation or when the topic arises during bible time or other teaching moments- not only when someone is very ill or facing death.

The Bible tells us of heaven and hell and judgment after death.

Hebrews 9:27 King James Version (KJV) ²⁷And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

The bible tells us that the dead in Christ are asleep, waiting for the day that Christ will return to catch the body to meet with the soul in the air. The bible tells us all who are in Christ will be then given a new resurrected body that is free from sin, disease, dysfunction, pain and death.

1 Thessalonians 4 King James Version (KJV) ¹³But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.

 ¹⁴For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.¹⁵For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.¹⁶For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ¹⁷Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ¹⁸Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Indeed, what a comfort!These words are a comfort even to children and as parents, we need to be diligent to teach this to our children to prepare them for times when they will encounter death. With God's word to anchor their understanding, there is no morbid fear of death. How blessed are children who are taught the Word of God!

My five children all grieved over the death of their grandfather differently and in varying degrees, given their ages, different characters, and level of understanding. The more "stoic" one wept silently, while the more tender hearted one bawled. My 7 yr old was unmoved at the death bed but at the final burial, he cried quite sadly. Maybe through the days of the funeral, he came to understand more.

My youngest almost 3 yrs old, provided the comic relief, commenting quite happily "Ye Ye Die already!!" We had to laugh even with the tears still fresh on our faces. As we gazed at Ye Ye's body in repose, I told her Ye ye was sleeping and we will say Goodnight to him. In the morning, she still prayed as usual for Ye Ye to get well. :)

But through it all, I'm thankful that my children could make the time to be there for something as important as this (and not at school or something, unlike their cousins who had to be in school) and that we their parents could be there to walk them through the process and comfort them, hugging them, praying with them. Indeed, they are a comfort to us too, especially for my hubby.

I'll end this post with the words of the great Hymn writer, Fanny Crosby: Safe in the Arms of Jesus

1. Safe in the arms of Jesus,
     Safe on His gentle breast,
   There by His love o'ershaded,
     Sweetly my soul doth rest.
   Hark! 'tis a song of heaven
     Borne in the sweetest voice,
   Echoed by saints in spirit,
     Making my heart rejoice.
   • Safe in the arms of Jesus,
       Safe on His gentle breast,
     There by His love o'ershaded,
         Sweetly my soul doth rest.
2. Safe in the arms of Jesus,
     Safe from corroding care,
   Safe from the world's temptations,
     Sin cannot harm me there.
   Free from the blight of sorrow,
     Free from my doubts and fears;
   Only a few more trials,
     Only a few more tears.
3. Jesus, my heart's dear Refuge,
     Jesus has died for me;
   Firm on the Rock of Ages
     Ever my trust shall be.
   Here let me wait with patience,
     Wait till the night is o'er,
   Wait till I see the morning
     Break on the golden shore.

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/679#ixzz1qaDsxF51

 

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On a separate note, it was interesting to me that so many christians in Singapore choose cremation over burial. According to the casket people, only 3 in 100 choose burial.

Just some food for thought: on most (even all?) occasions when the bible mentions fire, is it to do with God's judgment or God's blessing? How were the bodies of the patriarchs like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph taken care of? Even Jesus after crucifixion? 

 Sadlly, even in this area, christians have succumbed to societal practices, not understanding the will of God. 

 

 

Letters from Readers: Homeschooling beyond PSLE, feelings of inadequacy, and are some children more disposed to the homeschooling setting than others?

Wow... I've all too quickly come to the last week of my second trimester! I shall miss you, second trimester.... First trimester is always about hormonal adjustments, third trimester is plain heavy, hot and achey. The backache already started a little last night after spending time in the kitchen cooking dinner, and that reminded me: third trimester is here.... horrors....

 Well, since the first 6 months have zipped by so quickly, I do earnestly pray that the last three will zoom by as quickly. :))

Funny thing, our Beijing chinese lao shi asked me the other day why I was sprouting so many pimples. I said must be all the chilli I've been eating. I bought a bag of chilli padi and have been eating it with my lunches. Then she said the Chinese have a saying that with boy pregnancies mothers like to eat sour and with girl pregnancies- spicy hot! haha... they were right (in this case.)

 

So anyway, lately, I've been getting several emails from folks who want to find out more about homeschooling, or they just want to talk to someone who is homeschooling. I'm publishing one such exchange (with permission from the asker) for other's benefit. This asker and her husband are praying for the Lord's will concerning their children who haven't gone to primary 1 yet. Maybe there are other folks out there who have similar questions and doubts. These answers from me are, of course, purely my opinion and are based on my experience thus far, so take it or leave it. :) But I do hope it will be helpful to you, dear reader.

 And thank you for writing me, J! :D

 ____________________________________________________________________________

 First, what are your thoughts on higher education? We were just thinking if we homeschool through primary school, what's going to happen after that? Unlike the US where there are plenty of options and more people homeschooling, I'm not sure about our local scene. Can we homeschool through secondary level? But that would be like 9 subjects, and I don't think we can handle that (horrifying thought!) Or what happens after that? Polytechnic probably? Is JC still an option? I do recognize that God makes every child different with different gifts, but I would like to know more about the options available.

 

Ans 1)  With homeschooling, the options for secondary school and beyond are wide open. Yes, JC is still in the cards for a homeschooler, poly too...... In fact, you don't have to think of how you are going to teach 9 subjects like the schools do. Your child doesn't need an O levels to enter university. (That's why the "through train" students in some schools skip O levels altogether and go straight to A levels in 6 years.)

You could use the homeschool curriculum certification and perhaps add an SAT or some other recognized certificate to apply for the institution of higher learning of your choice. For instance, there are ACE students in Singapore who have been admitted to certain faculties in NTU and the polys. And not just ACE of course. (I personally know such young ex-homeschoolers, btw.)

This is my take:
The beauty of homeschooling through the pre-college years is that you get to draw out the path together with your child, with God's guidance. Indeed, it is not a cookie cutter path that is predetermined by the school which just kinda pushes you on to the next level and the next, but it is a highly individualized, tailor-made education with an end goal in mind.

What I'm saying is that, for us as homeschooling parents who love our children and are so in tune with our children's talents, strengths and weaknesses, pray for God's will for the child's life work, and then chart out an education path to get them to that goal.

Like if you know your child is inclined to maths and engineering, you would want to help your child get all the prerequisite certification in order for him or her to enter in a course to get the relevant degree.

Sure, it sounds "if-fy". It is hard to know from the start what the child is inclined to do, or God's specific will. This is faith and trust and holding God's hand through the journey of growing the child God has given you. It is a way of choosing your child's education with God's will in the centre of it. Not just going with the tide of society and economic needs, or even what stream or class your child lands up in in Secondary School!!

Then there are also the arguments for homeschooling your child through the teen years. The teen years are the best years to really bring to fruition all the training you have been doing in the childhood years. Letting them go to be trained by peers and other folks who do not share your convictions is really such a waste of effort when you could be using the teen years to really dig deeper and bring out the best of character training.

For us, we are sharpening our arrows for the Masters use, where-ever that may be!

 

 

Second, do you struggle with feelings of inadequacy? I must confess I am not as patient as I ought to be :( And I find myself shouting at my children at times, and have to seek forgiveness. I get tired quite easily too, and at times wish that I could accomplish more. I suppose homeschooling parents would have to actively seek out opportunities for their children to make friends, or join some external activities or some field trips. Will that be overwhelming, on top of academia and the normal running of the house?

 

Ans 2) Do I struggle with feelings of inadequacy? lol, constantly! (just read a couple of posts down and you will see, I mention it ALL the time.) Yes, I loose my temper too often and yes, I do have to ask my children for forgiveness. Nobody steps into this parenting job with all the answers and with a perfect record. I take it as myself learning together with my children at the feet of Jesus. I am learning about my sinful self and how I do need my Saviour to cleanse me and help me parent, not in the flesh, but depending on the Holy Spirit.

Field Trips and seeking out friends... yes, we do that. Mostly it is the ready community of brethren at church that our children play with. And then, there is quite a sizeable and active community of homeschoolers in Singapore and there's so much going on with these folks. Parent initiated activities, learning groups, Science days, geography days, history days, Sport's Day, museum trips, Open houses, etc etc....

As homeschoolers, we have the flexibility to work our daily schedules around field trips. Call a holiday when it's a birthday or something. :) It's only overwhelming if you are trying to accomplish too much. But if you can let the school work rest for a day, catch up on another day, it is really meaningful for the children to learn outside of the desk and books.

 

Third, I have heard of stories where homeschooled children grow up, not appreciating the parents' decision to homeschool them :(  That would be very sad. Have you encountered this, or what do you think could have caused this to happen? I have heard someone said before that children with certain characters are not very suitable to be homeschooled. For instance, children who are very outgoing, sociable, and love to make friends may find it stifling to be at home mostly (unless the family has many children). Do you think this is true?

 

Ans 3) Yes, I have heard of these accounts as well. Why not ask how many children who are sent to school end up rebelling against, ostracizing and disrespecting their parents? :)
 
Bottom line is, homeschooling can be seen as merely a vehicle of transferring family culture to the next generation, the academic part being a "by-the-way" thing.  Parents can be successful or unsuccessful in doing that.

For us, it is the biblical injuction to train up our children in the way they should go: according to the Bible, this responsibility is given primarily to the parents. So that's why we do it with confidence.

Having said that, I do recognize that not all families are suitable to take the homeschooling path. I've come across many parents who think homeschooling is a great idea but who are at the same time fearful, and not confident, (and are content to stay that way). And then there are some kids who need to be exposed to social interaction situations so they know how to respond (like kids who are autistic.) Pulling a child out of school, when the child has become very happy with being surrounded by peers day in and day out, might be one of the difficulties parents may face, But by and large, I believe the success of homeschooling rises and falls on the parents, not the temperament of the child.

There is an excellent book about this subject matter by Michael Pearl, it's called Jumping Ship. (See right hand column of the blog, it's there.) His observation is that parental hypocracy is the biggest reason why Christian homeschooling families do not produce offspring who keep the faith.

To buy Jumping Ship (and lots of other excellent Christian parenting and homeschooling books) in Singapore, please go to beiandkai.com

Blessings!

Suwei

How Awesome is that? Fifth month scan

Psalms 139:7-16  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.  For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

(Is it not amazing that this psalm talks about Genetics hundreds of years before Scientists ever knew about Genes? God truly is the Author of the Bible!)

We just did no. 6 Baby's fifth month detailed scan at KK hospital and thank God, there were no abnormalities in baby's structures. I will not take these for granted. Having said that, even if there were abnormalities, I would have still posted the above verses. Because we are ALL made in the image of God. 

The whole family trooped into the scanning room that afternoon. The diagnostic imaging lady (what do you call them? Radiologists? Ultrasound technicians?) had to turn around and count the children when she heard the number of feet shuffling into the room. haha. She was the best one out of all the scans I have done because she did a short commentary which part of baby's body she was scanning and so on. So again, the kids had a learning opportunity outside of a "classroom". :)

And in case you are wondering about the scan pic, Baby is facing downwards, head on the left hand side. One can also see one of the baby's forearms. And twice during the scan, we saw the baby open her mouth like a yawn! First time I ever witnessed that. Oh yes....

It's A GIRL!

The most common comment we get from friends is that, now, the ratio of boys and girls will be even. But I'm thinking, actually, there'll be an ODD number of boys and an ODD number of girls. haha... no matter, really. The good papa says it's 好！好！好！;) That "好" means "good". It is made up of two radicals "女" nu which like "girl, daughter" and "子" zi as in "son". So for the Chinese, to have sons and daughters is good. And we have three pairs. lol! But really, we are just glad to receive this gift from the Lord, boy or girl. :)

One thing is for sure, the family dynamics is going to shift. Even out the testosterone. Up to two years ago when our second girl was born, we had three boys and one girl. For 10 years, the majority went to the boys . Our older girl grew up playing with trucks. She's not the dolly carrying type of girl anyway. 

But with the second girl, already things have changed. This one is an everything pink girly-girl! Even her toothpaste preference is the pink one! Thankfully, her outdoors-y, fort building brothers don't mind her. :) They all adore her very much, except when she's being naughty.

And soon, at God's appointed time, another little girl! The family will never be the same again.

Staring Incidents

 We walked in quite un-noticed to a crowded food court this afternoon. But when we sat down at a table (do you know what a pain it is to find tables at food courts that can seat a family of seven?) people start looking and start mentally counting the number of children we have. And then they notice I'm pregnant. *faint!* lol!

If we were in China, probably people would come right up and ask if these were all our children, so thankfully, in Singapore, people are more "discreet".

There was a period when our eldest (now 12 yrs) detested the attention. Now I think he's not bothered by it. I guess it can't be helped, people are curious and our family is a curiosity. :) I only hope we can be a good testimony for Christ when people notice us. 

I'll end with a continuing verses of that opening Psalm:

Psalms 139:17-18  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.

<3 How awesome to know God is thinking about us. We don't think about God even an iota compared to how much He thinks and cares for us. Let us remember that the next time we think He is far away and doesn't care for us, amen?

 

 

 

A Mother's Joy

So happy I just have to share. :)

Last night, one of the boys (boys being boys) was being mischievous, hid in the dark to scare both his sisters. He was very successful, too successful in fact because even after he was reprimanded and he apologized to baby (2 and a half yrs), she was still quite affected.

I tried to get her lie down to sleep but she came crying to me and to my pleasant surprise, she asked me to pray for her. How glad my heart was to know that my little girl has learned to turn to God in prayer when she is afraid!

I carried her out to the dark place and talked to her about the dark. Then we prayed, I asked God to protect her and help her to sleep. And she was assured enough to lie down by herself and fall asleep.

Next morning, when I recounted what happened the night before, my older girl revealed that there was another time that baby was afraid of the dark and so she taught her little sister to pray and prayed with her. :) I just knew it was one of the older siblings who was behind this! Of course, I thanked my older girl for teaching her lil sister good things!

I'm so glad that the children are at a stage whereby they can encourage each other to turn to God and walk with God. More of these blessings, Lord! :)

These crazy, hectic, happy days

Ecclesiastes 9:10  Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

All too quickly we have reached the end of January. The time is really flying by because the days are so filled to the brim with activity. Activity or no, I do find time to zzzz in the middle of the day. lol

I found myself musing to my hubby one evening about our school time. You know, it's not that they each demand attention constantly. But five children each needing a little attention really makes it quite a non-stop kind of morning. I'm monitoring working done, answering questions, listening to someone reading, helping with P6 maths questions, speaking in Chinese, speaking in English, this (tying lil girl's hair into two pony tails), that (going to hang the laundry with my little helpers), everything else in between... It's really crazy at times, like when I have three or four children talking to me or some other at the same time. I had to scream "QUIET!!!!!!!!" if not I would have gone mad.

But you know, at the end of the day, I feel so accomplished that we have worked hard and done many things good. I always remember that God created work for Adam even before the fall in the garden of Eden because God knows that work makes Man happy and fulfilled. Notice how people who are not empoyed in a meaningful task from day to day become cranky, disheartened, grumpy, sick etc. etc. 

And I rejoice at the energy and ability to be up and about and doing things with the ones I love. I have ever spent weeks lying on the bed, sick, and that has taught me to cherish good health and the ability to serve my family. Really. So even if it gets crazily busy, I'm thankful.

Preparing for PSLE

Yes, no. 1 is preparing for PSLE. We are still at the revising the content stage for Science. Lo and behold, we come to the topic of human s-xual reproduction. Wow. I learned that in sec 3 for biology. Our kids need to know this at primary 6?

You know, I do regret that we have had to put our Christian curriculum on hold for more than six months now in order to prepare for the PSLE. But, there's nothing stopping me from injecting God's word and a biblical worldview into what my son is learning with his PSLE stuff.

It's not so hard talking about s-x with my 12 year old when armed with God's word. It's really not. :) I had the joy of telling him that God intended for s-x to be the most intense and beautiful feeling that is shared between a man and a woman, only to be experienced within the context of marriage, one man, one woman for life. It was Satan who corrupted it and debased what was intended to be holy and sanctified by God. 

It was so good to be the one to talk to my son that morning about this topic through testing him his PSLE science! :) (Hubby talks to him too.)

We are struggling with Chinese but we have not thrown in the towel. :)

Maths, he quite enjoys. I have prepared so many exam questions and past year papers... I have no idea if we will get through even three quarters of the stack. Urgh.

English, I am glad to say, we are going to officially start working on Composition writing this week. :D

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No. 2 is keeping up with the usual ACE and singapore math, Chinese quota.

No. 3 as well.

No. 4 is becoming a more proficient reader with the help of ACE.

No. 5 is enjoying picture books, iPad, and scribbling. And being distracting. :)

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Meeting up with blog friends from across the globe!

I posted this on the Facebook site recently:

Been so blessed by the friends I've made through this humble lil' blog! Really, I have been soooo blessed. If I were to count my blessings, I'm sure I couldn't stop. Thank You Lord for showering Your blessings to me and my family through these dear folks. ♥

 

 Chinese New Year brings so many of our people (Singaporeans) back from far flung corners of the world where they have chosen to reside... the number of people on this tiny little island swells in these festive months, what with their kids in tow....

My family and I had such a wonderful time meeting up with this dear blog friend and catching up with her lovely children. She speaks Mandarin to them even though they live in an English speaking country and both the parents are fluent English speakers. I was so impressed that the little one's vocubulary was so wide! It really spurred me to speak more to my children. (But my vocabulary is very very limited. :p )

I also received a bottle honey among other stuff all the way from NZ from another blog friend who is back for CNY.

I really felt to blessed.

January birthdays Part 2

My girl turns TEN!!! wow... where did the years fly???

So wonderful to see her grow and develop and especially being her mama to guide her into young womanhood. Sigh. <3

She is very different from her kor kor. (They are ALL different and unique, actually...) It affects the way we parent her and communicate with her. She has been such a blessing, especially her diligence and her caring for her little sister. And of course, just for being her, she is a blessing already. :)

Chinese New Year!!

The lil ones were so cute. They went digging around their toys to find all the animals of the Chinese zodiac. (Disclaimer: we do not believe our fates are governed by the stars but the kids know the zodiac as a matter of cultural knowledge.)

They managed to find just every animal but they had to substitute the Dragon with a Stagosaurus. LOL!!!

They are so cute.

Happy New Year and may it be a fruitful one in the Lord! :))

 

 

 

January Birthday Galore

It so happened that our first two children were born 2 years and 10 days apart from each other in the month of January. And their papa too is born in January. So we have quite a lot of fun in January! :)

Isn't it cool, Homeschoolers get to declare a school holiday when it's their birthday? It was our dearest eldest child's birthday today. It's really amazing how quickly the years pass. We are barely clinging to the last glimpses of kiddy-hood left in him. He is already very firmly embracing teenhood! (This includes all the teething difficulties we have experienced.)

Anyway, we had a wonderful day at our East Coast Park! Loads and loads of family fun, minus the crowds. ;)

We rented a really really fun family cycle thingy. It was a hoot!!

We also rented a tandem bike. Here are no.1 and no.2 in a rare moment of playing together. lol

We made our way to the Jetty and enjoyed the sea breeze and all the sights and sounds. 

On the whole Jetty, only this man was catching fish after fish, so we stopped to look and learn.

This was his catch of the day! Some Needlefish, right here in our waters!

And the man was kind enough to spend some time talking to our inquisitive homeschoolers about the fish. I'm so glad for interesting learning opportunities like these that happen far from a classroom with four walls, far from a textbook with mere pictures and words. :)

We heartily and gratefully acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ for blessing us with all these moments we can enjoy together as a family. Cherishing every moment. Hence the blog. ;)

Oh yes, this is the new gundam that we gave no. 1 for his birthday present. We don't watch the program but he really really relishes fixing up the toy. :)

He finished it in 2 hours!