The ONG family Homeschool

I'll let you decide. Chinese, can or cannot?

There is a chinese assessment book that my no. 1 (8 yrs) endures. Emblazoned in one corner of it's predominantly yellow and blue cover, it reads "Teach Less, Learn More. New Syllabus."

I'm not allowed to reproduce any part of this publication. But I'll translate a similar exercise for parents out there who don't know- this is what our "teach less, learn more" maxim has lead us. Try to re-read it in chinese.

Choose the best answer.

qn a) Body

1) This piece of clothing is too small, it is not suitable for the body to wear.

2) Little Sister wants mother to always stay by her body.

3) Thieves wanted him to take out all the money on his body.

4) When you are overseas, you need to look after your body.

qn b) (maternal) Grandma

1) There is no grandma here, you may speak your mind.

2) We don't treat you as a grandma, so please make yourself at home.

3) She's too grandma, she can't walk anymore.

4) Grandma held my hand, and brought me to school.

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Guess what? This book is for Primary 1A. I ain't kiddin'. Somebody's not talked to a six/ seven yr old fresh out of kindergarten recently... Can primary one kids recognize all the words required in this book to answer the questions? And if they could recognize them, could they detect the nuances of language that the book is requiring of them? I only chose the questions with the nouns so it's easier to translate. Imagine the verb ones. (Most are verbs, btw..)

Why then does my son do this book? Because his lao shi feels it's good to expose him to more vocabulary. It's going against my inclinations, honestly speaking, but I'll trust her.

How does my son do his homework? I sit next to him and read to him. (Yeah, like my chinese is that good... :OP) Lao shi says he needs to read it for himself. We won't be getting much work done fast, I guess. Oh the pain. Grooaannnnn.

But you know, somewhere in the far far back reaches of my mind, (in there somewhere), I believe my children can not only survive chinese but excel in it. Somehow.

I mean, no. 1 has already surprised me beyond my expectations with what he has already grasped. Why should I limit his language knowledge by curtailing his exposure to it?

It's just like for english, I simply talk to my (older) children with my set of vocabulary. If there's anything they don't understand, they'll ask, what does that mean? Then I'll give them a synonym and they'd have added one more word to their collection.

So same for chinese. Must gar gar lai.  Must keep everything positive and non-threatening. (???)

Jia You!!!

Oh Yes! You HAVE to mark this on your calendar...

County Fair :  Saturday, February 23, 2008
County Fair
11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

SAS PTA County Fair 2008 promises to be the best fair yet!

I have a wonderful home library of children's books, a couple of shelves worth of books, popular titles, hard to find American ones. I bought them second-hand, in really good condition and the best part is they only cost an average of $1 each!! Where do I get my books from? The SAS County Fair.

I LOVE the fair (for the used books section)! They have games and food and the student's performances and all that too. :O) For 2 years now, I don't buy story books for my children. I Just wait for the County Fair and, in one burst, bring home 200 books!!! 

So I'm really excited that it's coming round again.

If you read this and decide to go, look out for the Ong Family! Remember to say hi! :O)

We went to the park again today....

... and this time, the kids purposely wore their sandals. Why? So that naughty kids can't put sand into them. :O) THey thought of it themselves. heheh.

Today I asked no. 1 (8yrs) what he would do if he saw someone bullying his siblings. (Like what happened the last time. No. 3 got kicked by an older child who was not happy with him.)

No. 1 said if his siblings did anything wrong, he would get his brother or sister to say sorry. And if that child got violent, he would tell that child not to do that and call mama.

What if mama wasn't there? He'd bring his siblings away. 

I thought that was a good answer. :O) That's what we plan to do if that ever happens at the playground again.

But today, the kids at the playground were nice. ...Except for a few who thought is was really fun to throw handfuls of sand into the air. Grrrr...

Our Heavenly Father teaches us in His word:

Proverbs 15:1  A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

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Anyone else out there has had these incidences of bullying and how did you handle it?

qn about the Socialization of a 2 yr old

By Canton Pixie: hi SW, i know i have a lot to learn from you man. i mean, u've got 4!!!

i'll definitely be bugging you once i start trying to design something for my gal. i wanted to send her to flexicare just to socialise (because there's only me and her at home and i thot it's not healthy) but had to take her out after just 4 days becuz well, she couldn't handle the bullying yet(born in END-dec 05, she was the smallest in the whole place).got people trying to choke her, pull her fingers and twist her hand,snatching her prized bolster, others were biting & slamming people's head against chairs, hitting others with lego).

we ended up feeling that i cld do a better job of educating her from home, but we would liek to wait another 6 mths before sending her to a flexicare again, if we do. i still don't know what to do about her socialisation. help!!!

in the meantime, i'm starting her on sunday school plus once a week BSF sessions on a weekday.

btw, she is also brot up on ezzo's babywise parenting style. :)

My Response:

Hi Canton Pixie,

Yes, God has given us four, but I'm still learning. The journey continues still, but by God's grace, it gets sweeter day by day.

As for the flexicare: What a horror of a socializing experience!!! That's not socializing. That's anti-socializing. I'm so glad you pulled her out!!!

Personally, I don't think being bullied because she is small has much to do with it. If those kids are anti-social, they'll behave like that towards anyone, regardless of the size of who they pick on. It's sad that there are so many kids out there who are misguided or not guided. They are just acting out their sinful behaviour. The bible says

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Proverbs 22:15  Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.

Proverbs 29:15  The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

The truth is, some kids need a spankin'. And they need to be taught right. :O(

The Ong Family has been so excited about our newly opened park. The other day, we stopped by for a while. This was no. 2 (6 yrs old) attempting the rock wall. :O) She made it to the top!

Unfortunately, the later part of our playtime spoilt was by much bad behaviour of the neighbourhood boys.  They were throwing sand everywhere and at everyone, one buried a poor little terrapin alive in the sand, all manner of vulgarity was coming out of their mouths.

My children had taken their socks and shoes off and those mischievous boys filled my no. 3's (4 yrs) socks with sand. Where do they get such ideas from, and do they think it's very funny?

And the thing is, my no. 1 knew it was happening and didn't respond because innocently, he didn't know naughty-ness when he saw it. *slaps forehead*

Folks will say, ha! That's why you need to put your children in school so they know how to handle it. Well, I am guiding them through this and teaching them what is the godly way to respond. I'm not leaving my kids to fend for themselves in the midst of all sorts of bad behaviour at school while I as their parent am kept outside the school gates. No, the bible way is for parents to bring up their children to know God's ways.

Ephesians 6:4  And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.   

And it would truly break my heart if my children began acting out this kind of bad behaviour themselves.

Proverbs 1:10  My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.

Well, for now, CantonPixie, from my observation, the life of an only child is very peaceful because they don't have a sibling who is as selfish as them. ;OP Life for my no. 1 was so controlled and peaceful until all hell broke loose with the arrival of no. 2 when he was 2 yrs old. And when she started crawling, she'd swipe at his wonderful lego structure, his hard hard work. He'd cry in frustration. That's what learning to play with other kids is like, is it not? Handling frustration?

(Haha, but I'm not exactly advising you to snatch your girl's toys on a regular basis to train her in playing with other kids... )

So, just some thoughts, teach your child to wait for things. Don't drop everything to tend to her, so she'll know she's not the centre of the universe. She'll learn that others have needs too. In that way, I think she'll do fine when she plays with other kids. :O)

Have a wunnerful weekend!

From our home to yours,

Suwei

After visiting this place....

Wild Wild Wet ...

<--My thighs resemble this creature. Thanks to the body suit I was wearing, my thighs are dual toned now. :OP

We were we doing at Wild Wild Wet on a thursday?? It was papa's birthday so he took a child care leave thing and spent the day having wonderful family time at our really fun water theme park in Pasir Ris!

And it being a school day, WWW was so empty! We didn't have to queue for anything! Only later did a school group from Beijing come (all of their cheeks rosy from their winter) and fill up the play area a bit more but it was still very enjoyable.

We had a super fun day trying out all the slides and especially the crazy silde up which is a sheer four storey drop while sitting in a rubber inflatable. THis one dh and i tried together. Because of our mass, we managed a longer ride. :O) No. 1 met the height requirement but he was chicken. :OP

Pity I don't have more pics of the day but that's because we didn't want our camera to get wet. We are thankful for a wonderful day of making memories of the time we spend together as a family.

__________________________________________

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;  A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;  A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Comparing ACE and Sonlight

Oh goody! I received email from a reader who's asking for advice concerning homeschooling curriculum. I had just been wondering to myself recently if the blog was still relevant to those who are in or considering Singaporean homeschooling.

Thank you, dear reader, for the email and I reproduce it here for others who might benefit from the answer.

"Hi Suwei

My name is _______ and I chanced upon your blog a few weeks ago. Have been popping by once in a while and must let you know it's a joy to read your blog everytime! I'm a SAHM to my 22 month old daughter and I'm amazed at how rapidly she picks up language skills, esp english. We enjoy reading and learning together and although she goes to half day cc in the morning, we pretty much spend the remaining afternoon and night reading and learning together (minus her afternoon nap and playground time).

Anyway, homeschooling is an option that I have considered since we enjoy learning together. Therefore would like to seek your feedback on the ACE program you are using with your children, whether it's good and how it compares with Sonlight. And some of the factors I should consider in comparing between the programs.

Thanks and regards"

My Reply:

The thing is that when you choose the homeschooling route of educating your child, you have opened yourself to many many options, methods, curricular to help your child reach his or her educational objectives.

Different curricular have different strengths and weaknesses. You need to firstly figure out your best teaching style and your child's best learning style and also your family's dynamics (how many students you have, finances, etc.) and then choose the right curriculum that suits you and your child.

ACE is a student centred learning system whereby the child sits at the table and the workbooks (or PACEs) does all the teaching. You come in at checkups and check their understanding. I chose ACE as my main curriculum because I have four children who are all at different levels. Using ACE, they can each learn at their own pace. All the subjects are covered. (except chinese)

ACE's pre-school and reading programs offers very good phonics grounding. Plus the biblical character traits and bible is weaved into the program seamlessly.

Sonlight is a literature based program and it is more teacher based. THat is, they will use story books to teach different subjects like history, geography, and so on. I think, it is not so suitable for the early years when they need to learn how to read, write, and count. It is a wonderful program in language and the arts (history, geog, etc). but somewhat lacking in Math. They get you to buy from other publishers.

So, if you are the kind who prefers everything neatly packaged, and assured that there are no learning gaps, child does his work quietly while you tend to the laundry, ACE might be a safer choice. But if you are linguistically inclined and enjoy sourcing for info and stuff like that to teach to your child, you may prefer Sonlight. When my children get older, I am half considering adding some kind of literature based program too.

For reading to your little one, you may want to consider Five in A Row as well. Also a unit study, literature based program which will help you explore different subjects using story books. (Books you can borrow from our library.)

For us in Singapore, whilst we use these very excellent American curricula, we will still have to prepare our children for the PSLE (under the compulsory education act). So, on top of the american curricula, we will have to throw in Singapore math as well as mother tongue and national education.

We intend to intensify the PSLE preparation work in the upper primary years, but since our eldest is only 8 this year, much of it (like science) is not touched. We do chinese (full steam) and singapore math (half steam). English we believe is not a problem because the Americans produce very excellent english teaching materials.

Hope that was helpful. And followup feedback or comments are welcome!

And they're even.

The children's birthdays are very close together and today is the last birthday for a while. No 2, the princess, turns 6 today! Now, they are even. 8, 6, 4 and 2 yrs of age.

We celebrated yesterday after church service with our church family. :O)

Homeschooling can very possibly be a very isolating experience. Folks think that homeschooled children don't have friends their age, but it really depends on the support group that the homeschooling family has. For us, the church family plays a big role in this aspect. Not for the kids only, but for us parents as well. I get alot of support and fellowship from my brethren at church. I'm so thankful for that.

If anyone out there is interested to get to know us, we're very willing to share out of the abundance that the Lord has given to us. Just email me as others have already done.

We did a repeat cheesecake from kor kor's birthday. And this time, we were not so eager about eating it, we actually managed to get a pic of the cake. :OP It's a no-bake cheesecake I'm calling the Peachy Freezy Berry Breezy cheesecake, because that's just what it is. It's like ice cream with lovely frozen chunks of strawberry and peach in it like ice lollies.

Happy Birthday no. 2! :O) We love you.

Psalms 144:12  That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner stones, polished after the similitude of a palace:

New Park Opened! YAE!!!!

After the longest wait, the park at the nearest junction to our house has finally opened! What a blessing! I'm so thankful to be living in Singapore! The government spends much funds to create beautiful parks for the people to enjoy, and I for one I'm really appreciative.

Now, we don't have to go too far to enjoy a good run, a fun playground and exercise facilities for children as well as adults. I was just telling my friend this evening that I need those old folks exercise machines that are not so bad for the joints. My knees haven't been feeling right these days, especially my left knee. I highly suspect too many years of driving and changing gears, would you believe it?

See this marvelous view? The boy is somewhere in this pic. ;o) A train is passing through in the top left hand corner.

(you can click on the pic for a larger view.)

I like this pic of baby. He likes to carry his own little diaper bag. :O)

There's a little kiddy playground that toddlers can enjoy and a more rigorous one for older kids and then the old folks one for people with the bad knees like myself.

   

This is the old folks one with a young folk testing it out.

Look Ma! No Feet!

We love our new park and I see my kids having many happy hours growing up here. God is so good.

Our Shadow Puppet Play: the Story of Why Jesus Came.

This was our first attempt at  producing a shadow puppet play. By the grace of God, we (the brethren at Maranatha Baptist Church) did it!

Read this post first. And a correction from that post, it was tons of work but it was only 14 mins long!!! Seemed longer. Sigh. :OP

Anyone interested to have a copy of the script can email me.

Young Artist Blossoming at Home

Is that a gorgeous piece of portraiture or what? Would you believe it was done by a self-taught 15 yr old homeschooler?

Self-taught? Yes! It takes more determination and it's driven by passion- a passion for learning that is so lacking in so many of our youth today. We have made our youth passive recepticals and not active participants of their own learning. Something to think about.

Way to go Agnes! Keep up the good work! Here's Agnes herself to tell us how the Lord has been blessing her efforts and helping her develop her talent through the years.

Drawing and painting have always been hobbies for me, somethings that I really enjoy doing. I much prefer drawing though, mainly because I can do it better and it's not very expensive. People always ask me which parent I got the flare from. Truth is, I'm not really sure myself, but for the sake of happy parents I usually say both. =D

I started drawing portraits about two years ago when I came across some art and portrait websites. Some of them had simple, one-page tutorials that really made me want to try it out because it looked easy. So I began with simple drawings copied from magazine pictures, newspaper pictures, pamphlet pictures, any pictures.

At first they were quite horrid, out of proportion and totally unlike the original, but I was mighty proud of them anyway. I think from there, I just continued drawing, browsing others' works and trying out different methods, and the drawings started looking better. My mom and dad have been really nice, giving me honest opinions and lots of support.

God has provided too. People started giving me pencils, books, an easel and all sorts of art stuff. I kind of take that as a sign that I should continue drawing.

I'm still not a pro at drawing portraits yet, and I only draw one every now and then because it takes up quite a lot of time. I get my pictures from the internet and draw them from my computer. It's easier than drawing from another piece of paper because the picture is propped up on my computer. It takes about an hour or two, sometimes split between a few days. I don't really choose who I draw, but generally I choose females with easy facial features. The materials I use are: any paper, and a range of 2-6B pencils, although I usually just use 2B and 5B.

For now, all this is just for fun and relaxation. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with the drawings or my love for art, but I trust that God has a plan for me to use them in time to come.

One thing I'm wary of is treating my pictures like medals and being proud of them. I try to keep in mind that God is the one who gave me these hands. =)

What a wonderful God we serve! I take comfort in knowing that whilst we homeschool, God is more interested than even us in the development of our children.

For other Agnes articles:

Agnes on Socialization

Agnes' Lit Crit