The ONG family Homeschool

My Less Hectic Life

I'd like to thank that lady who wrote recently to the Straits Times Forum to let people in Singapore know that Stay at Home Moms need not be given financial "assistance" because we chose this luxury of staying at home instead of going out to work, and the life of a SAHM is anyway, less hectic. Even less so if the mom is highly educated. She should be using her education in more "productive" ways. Since we chose this luxurious way of life, we must not be needing any help! ;O)

SO here I was, graduate that I am, lying in bed at 8.30 in the morning (whilst all my working counterparts were already on the road, trying to beat the morning rush hour traffic on the highway) thinking about all the leisurely things I'd be doing this day whilst my 2 yr old was hugging me his good morning hug, and the 4 yr old nestled himself between my comfy legs.

It's a good morning. No one's whining, fussing, crying, fighting. And so my leisurely, less hectic day began.

Whilst having breakfast, I prepared my 4 yr old to get to pre-school on time. Walked him to school and back, to find my older 2 trying to finish their chinese homework in time for their Lao Shi to come later in the morning.

Before starting worship time, I had a quick talk with the eldest (8 yrs) about trying his best to memorize all the new words of each chapter of his chinese text book because the words are just going to accumulate and snowball on him in time to come if he doesn't keep pace.

Here I am twiddling my thumbs, as we start morning devotion, enjoying (perhaps too much) the Word of God. I did a very dramatic reading of David and Goliath in 1 Sam 17 that the children and I enjoyed tremendously. It was so fun, I might have felt guilty for my peers who were slaving away at their offices...

Off to fetch Lao Shi, teach a teenage homeschooler whilst Lao Shi is here, get no. 3 from pre-school, feed them lunch, have lunch myself, send Lao Shi off, send a book that hubby forgot to his workplace nearby. Oh.... it was tooo hot today. Simply scorching. All that rushing around is so unbecoming for someone who's less hectic. tsk tsk. I need to live up to some (imagined) expectations of SAHMs here!!!

It was so exhausting for this SAHM. I took a nap.

The children continued school work while I half snoozed to the sounds of screaming over a toy, a son asking me how to spell "purpose" and a daughter telling me someone spilled water on the table. A dear friend and fellow homeschooling mom calls me in the middle of my beauty nap to arrange a dinner together soon. After that call, I am fully recharged to tackle more thumb twiddling.

I sit in my school room, helping the 8 yr old on my right to compose a poem, the 6 yr old on my left to do her corrections, and the 2 yr old on my lap, asking for kisses again. The 4 yr old is on the floor reading to himself, thankfully.

So now as I write, the children have finished their work and are off playing outside. I've swept the floor from all the eraser shavings, punished and corrected the 2 yr old for hitting his brother when he didn't get his way, the laundry pile is still screaming to folded and kept away and I'll be off to fetch dear hubby from work.

 Now I ask myself, Why do I, a graduate, want to sacrifice a career, an income, "prestige" and stay at home and be with little children all day? Because this is my present station in life and I shall not move until my job is done: Mothering.

No, it is not a glamorous job, and the returns are slow in coming.  Sure, I could work and with my money, pay someone to cook my children's meals and wipe their buttocks when they're done in the toilet. But can the job of Mothering be "sub-contracted" out? 

I am thankful that God has been true to His promise of providing for us when we obey His commands. I am not in need of help from "Ah Gong". What has been given to us in terms of tax holidays has been really good already. I may not be able to speak for other SAHM moms who decide that they ought to be the ones to raise their own children, and suffer a loss of income, and despite that, carry on with their responsibility of Mothering. There are so many scenarios to paint! What about very well-off SAHMs who do not need to work and have two maids at home?

What I'm trying to say is, I'm not saying I'm so overstretched that I should rightly get more "aid". Just don't broad brush SAHMs, ok? :O)

Proverbs 31:10-31  Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.
She is like the merchants' ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard. 
She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night. 
She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. 
She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet. 
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all. 
Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

A Post to say, I'll be Posting!

Many apologies to those my dear readers who are checking in and wondering... what's the Ong Family up to? Why no post? Well, it's not that we haven't been doing much that is worth an entry. It's all the frightful problems we've been experiencing with our MIO, you know, the router thing-y that holds our telephone and internet hostage... We had to change 2 in one week! Don't ask me why...

There was also something not happening with my camera uploading the other day, but thankfully, after 1 week of not uploading, I finally got them up.

So... the next few days, I'll be doing some back logged entries. :Op

Thanks for sticking around!!!
Have a blessed week! Remember!:

Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Teaching Bible to Pre-schoolers

Your blog has been an encouragement to me, and it's been inspiring to see how you teach your 2 older children to read the Word daily.

I would like to find out at what age did you start doing this, as I wonder if it is possible to (and if so, then how) do this with preschoolers? Where to start, how do you know to cross-reference, for example?

Appreciate your advice. Thanks

Hi Nic, Thanks for leaving this comment. I do apologize that it's taken a few days in coming but our house MIO was down again!!!
Anyway, I thought the reply called for a post all of its own for other readers' benefit! I'm glad my blog has been an encouragement to you. To God be the Glory, great things He hath done.

 

Isaiah 28:9-10  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

Here a little.. there a little

I really think the Word answered the question as to when we should start teaching knowledge of God and even doctrine: them that are weaned from the milk! :O) That's the time to start!

Oh we don't have to clothe Bible education in large words like Creation or Omnipotence. When we walk by the way, we just talk about the sun and say, Look! God put the sun in the sky! There's creation right there. :O) And you just build up their knowledge line upon line, here a little, there a little.

There's much to learn about the character of God even in looking at the flowers He created. I love to show my children how perfectly measured and arranged petals of flowers are and then draw from that to say that God is a very neat God and very orderly and loves beauty. His designs have always been inspiration for man to learn good design from. Look at the aeroplane.

Just by the way, we will mention things that we learned in the Word. When my older ones carry the baby, I'll tell them to be careful and remember Mephibosheth (2 Sam4:4). Go check the passage! ;O)

Bible Time: Warning about Picture Bibles
As for "formal" bible time, from babyhood, we do use picture bibles and read to them. We make sure that the drawings are acceptable because the children will form impressions of God's Holy Word from these pictures. This is a reason why some parents will even stay away from picture bibles altogether because it can lead children into a wrong understanding of God's word.

For instance, how many of us picture Jonah in the whale (Bible says "big fish") sitting quite comfortably in this cavernous rib-cage of the whale tummy, with a few sea weed hanging here and there for effect. Actually, scientifically speaking, a person sitting in the gut of a big fish would not be surrounded by that much of space and air. His skin would begin to be digested by the gastric juices of the fish. Coming out of the fish after three days and three nights in there, he would have looked awfully bleached. That might be the reason that the people of Nineveh repented so quickly at Jonah's warning of God's impending judgment upon them.

So much of (liberal) interpretation on the part of the illustrators. My children often ask, mama, is this what Moses looks like? I'll often have to tell them, no, it's someone's imagination.

And of course, we don't believe that Jesus looked like a gentle faced Caucasian with long hair and feminine features.The Bible tells us that when He was a man on earth, He was not handsome at all!

Isaiah 53:2-3  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

It is good to note also that there was nothing in His appearance (or some kind of charisma) that drew people to Him. Judas had to go to the length of giving Jesus a kiss as a signal to the Roman soldiers that this was the man they were looking for- the man who was causing so much controversy!

And Jesus, now seated on the right hand of God in Glory, is just beyond any man's poor depiction in art.
So do be careful of images of God and His word.

Having said that, as a parent, I do see that young children can benefit from illustrations and depictions of scenes can and do help children understand the story. Choose a safe one, and always check the doctrines!

 But it is not the only tool available to the parent/ teacher.

Troop Movement!
To describe battles (like I'm doing now with Joshua and Israel's military conquests of Canaan land), I use whatever I can find in our schoolroom to represent cities, armies, characters, etc. That is always fun. Like the ambush plan that God instructed of Joshua in the battle for Ai. (Joshua 8) We used several books to represent this group of soldiers and that group, moving here, hiding there.

I get their stuffed toys to role play as well.

Bible Curriculum
If you are the kind who is more comfortable with a program that you can follow, just look up the links on the right hand column of this blog for the Christian homeschool Curriculum providers. There's lots to reference and buy. Good for teaching bible at home.

Cross Referencing
Nic, you asked about cross referencing. Personally, I do it from my knowledge of the Word. Much from listening to good bible based preaching at church. (Follow the link and there are some mp3 recordings of our Sunday sermons there.) From study, and there was walk through the bible course I did with my husband some years back. Faith Bible Institute. So, keep digging in the Word. God's word is rich with treasure!

I do train my children in "cross referencing", though I don't think they know it. :Op Like if we talk about Lazarus who had died and came back to life again, I'll ask them if they can remember another person who that happened to. Or if they can name all the mothers of the bible who had children in their old age. It's drawing from their pool of knowledge gathered over the weeks, months, years..

We're finishing off the life of Joshua now. I asked the children, when we meet him in heaven one day, if we told him, You're a hero! what would his response be? No. 1's reply was that he'd say, It was nothing much (that I did) but God did it all.

Amen!

And we're excited to look into the life of David next! :O)

Joshua 1:8  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Enjoying the Word of God Together

One of the main reasons why we homeschool our children is the desire to place the Bible as the key textbook for the children's life education. Every morning, we will spend time singing hymns (mostly, sometimes sunday school-type choruses) and then we will spend time exploring God's Word together, eager to see what He has in store for us for the day's reading.

This half of the year, starting July, we've been doing a Bible reading of Joshua's life, from the time he was a spy, sent out to spy the land of Canaan. We haven't got to the end of his life yet. ;O) The two older children (8 and 6 yrs) and I take turns to read from our King James Bibles, one verse each. And then I will take time to expound on what it means, or draw lessons from the verses. It's a privilege to be the one to share with these young minds the precious Word of God.

Well, we got to the part when Joshua sent two spies to go into Jericho, the first city of conquest, and we learned about Rahab the Harlot. (Imagine how I got around no. 1's question, mama, what's a harlot? I said she did some services for men. It's not a good kind of job. Of course he had to ask, What kind of services? I said, Go ask your papa.)

The Saving Faith of Rahab

Well, we really enjoyed learning about the faith of Rahab in the God of Israel. In Joshua Chpt 2, she risked her life and hid the two spies from the king of Jericho. She told the spies that she knows that the God of Israel will give Israel the victory against Jericho, in exchange for saving them, they had to promise to keep her and hers safe from destruction.

The spies instructed her to tie a scarlet thread at her window as a sign to the invading Israelites that this is the household that must be protected. And the spies told her that if anyone of her family runs out of the house during the attack and gets killed, they will be guiltless of his death because he ran out.

And I had the joy of sharing with the children what a perfect picture of salvation this was.

The Scarlet Thread

Rahab and all her family had to trust that that Scarlet thread would keep them safe. It was their only guarantee of life and protection. This so beautifully pictures our salvation, not of works but of faith in Jesus' cleansing blood atonement shed for our sins.

If any of Rahab's family didn't trust that Scarlet thread and ran out of the safety zone, that means that he had no faith in the promises of God. Perhaps he might have thought, can I trust the Israelite spies? What if they don't keep their promise and kill us all? I must try to save my own life and run.

Who can save themselves from the destruction that God has already pronounced on all mankind because of sin?

But, again, the wonderful Grace of God that provided for Rahab the way of escape through the Scarlet thread, in the same act of providing Jesus as our way of life and escape from death if only we believe.

And the Scarlet thread is a thread that runs through the entire Bible, from the first book to the last.

Rahab Given a Place in History

The children and I then turned to Matthew chpt 1 where it records the line of ancestory of Jesus Christ, and behold, Rahab is there! Isn't it such a testament of the grace of God, to restore a sinner who was a harlot and even give her even a part in salvation's plan?

She gave birth to a son who's name was Boaz, mentioned in the book of Ruth as a godly man (also a picture of Christ). I'm sure Rahab repented of her ways and changed her life and was a harlot no more after trusting in the God of Israel. She became a godly mother!

So did Jesus require of the adulteress in John 8 when He told her He does not condemn her, Go and sin no more: that is change your ways.  How sadly missing is this teaching in today's churches! Go and sin no more!

Precept Upon Precept

It was an "awestruck" moment for the children when I drew the family line on our white board. The children are already familiar with the accounts of Ruth and Naomi, and King David and his father Jesse, and his son Solomon. So when we put them all in order and it was wonderful that somewhere, further up the line, was Rahab, the Harlot. 

To see it all link up was somehow, a faith buildling moment for us. Hard to explain. But,God says to teach the children, even from infancy, precept upon precept. Always building upon what was learned.

Isaiah 28:9-10  Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.  For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:

So, Christian parents, keep teaching the Word to the precious souls left in your charge!!

Blessings,

Suwei

Library Book Sale 2008: I want to GO!!!!!!

I'm so happy!!! The National Library is renewing their collections and selling off those books that are 4 yrs old, coming Friday till Sunday. And they are going at $1 - $5!! YAE!!! NLB book sale... here I come!!!

I'm going on Friday morning. Gonna not have school that day. :O) Will I see you there?

Baby or No? 2, 3, 4 or 5?

The Straits Times Insight Special on Saturday about how the baby making in Singapore is doing since the "Baby Bonus" goodies had been doled out by the Government (some call Ah Gong) since 2004. Here are my various thoughts.

As for the stop at twos...
Some families stated that they only want one or two children because they perceive that children in Singapore are not given the room to fail, and that society is too competitive and not "compassionate".
Then, following that thread of thought, they ought not have any children. Why are they willing to have their one or two to go through that kind of societal "punishment"? Does having only one or two make the competition and pressure more bearable? Poor one or two kids. (psst... you can escape the school pressure and homeschool!!! ;O) )

Noticed also is the heavy dependence on the State (and/or Agents of the State) to raise children. It's become a demand and a right that the State do something to help the raising of the children. In response, the Government is looking into free child care, more affordable maid levees, all to make it easy for the mom to keep working. (I'm more in favour of grandparents helping. Lesser of two evils, if you asked me.)

Sure, its really nice if Ah Gong will help out with medical benefits and tertiary education subsidies, but if it's policies that will break up the family unit and take both parents out of the home so as to keep the economy humming, that's something else.

Governments can't afford to break up families in the long run because the building block of society is the family. MCYS will know that it is costly to find foster homes for abandoned and abused children, not even counting the terrible emotional and psychological damage inflicted on the children when their parents fail to hold their marriage together. 

And the other thing, if it wasn't obvious enough, the State cannot take over the raising of children. How many can testify that our secondary schools are (depending on which school) sprinkled or littered with youth who are beyond parental control? Some of these even have moms who stayed at home but the primary schools took them and raised them on worksheets and worksheets leaving hollow family relationships that are based on the child keeping up with school work and good image. When they reach teenhood, they'll tell you with their feet what they'd really like to be doing and going, thank you very much. (You must be exaggerating...) 

As for the LARGE families..
It was an amazing statistic that 9 percent of married women in Singapore actually have 5 children and above. That's a pretty large percentage, if you asked me. I, with four children, don't even qualify for that statistic. And I do think that there are more families I notice with 3 or more children these days.

I don't know why the situation is painted as "dire". Perhaps the percentage of married women with no children are 50 %? *shrugs shoulders*

It comes down to the couple's goals in life. If the couple are bent on living the "two people life", no amount of money in the form of baby bonuses will change their position because the perceived minuses of having children (read burdens, read obstacles) cannot be made up for by these bonuses.

Couples who see completeness when children come will have children no matter baby bonus or not. But the help will sure be appreciated, surely.

So, here's my suggestion: build larger flats so that those who have 5 children can have 8, 9 , 10 children and make up the quota for those who are not having any. (Are you serious???)

I do wonder how those large families who live in HDB flats manage to squeeze everyone in happily. Pastor always says that the HDB flats are built with the presumption of a two child family in mind.

Featured in Insight was a family of seven, the 5 kids ranging from the ages of 18 to 4 yrs. The report states they are "committed Christians".

The report stated that the father works in Malaysia and is with the family only on weekends. The mom is a primary school teacher (and we all know the long hours primary school teachers put in in Singapore...) The report noted: that "one thing the Tans have not cut back on is a live-in foreign maid, who helps with household chores in their jumbo HDB flat." All the children are hither thither in the day in various schools. The Big Kor Kor  can even drive and help ferry his parents and siblings around!

I do not mean to label them or unfairly judge them for the decisions that they have had to make as husband and wife to keep bread on the table. It's surely not easy juggling family life like that, especially with more people in the mix. 

Well, for us, we believe God has provided us the answer for that in homeschooling. That way we can keep the family together and grow together.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9  And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

How serious do you think God is about keeping your children with you all the day?

Blessings!

Chinese Textbook online, additional info:

Here's an addition to this post if you missed it in the comments, Thanks sammicheng for letting us know!!!:

Actually there's a website that the schools use. It reads the textbook to you. It's free.

http://www1.moe.edu.sg/dir/cl/

Only thing is that you can't do the exercises that the kids can do at school bc you'd need the password/id.

Only if it's FUN~

Just as I was writing about childhood music education, I was faced with a reluctant student (no. 1) on Wednesday. He's usually willing to put in his practice and I do know that he is a very musical little boy. But that day, he was just in a I don't like piano. Why must I learn piano. Why must I practice.. kinda mood.

Admittedly, piano is not his first choice of and instrument. He says he wants to learn guitar. Nothing's stopping him, actually. We can do both. It's just that I believe that piano is important to learn as well.

So am I going to give in because he doesn't have a desire to practice? Well, no.

I think there's too much of a premium placed on making things "fun" for the kids so that it's enjoyable for them. (I think the modern school of thought in western societies are most guilty of this.) Yes, that's all very nice. But there are certain times when a parent, seeing what is good, has to override the child's reluctance to do a certain thing.

The bible says, Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child... proverbs 22:15
 Left to ourselves, we will want to listen to our flesh and avoid hard work, labour, study.. it's our flesh nature. So parents who know better have to help that child out of his foolishness.

We make our children eat their vegetables for the sake of their good health, even if they don't like it. We make our children memorize their multiplication tables, because it is foundational to other maths concepts, even if they don't like it.
So it is with piano and my son. I'm gonna keep at it and not give up because giving up would cost him more than me.

It'd be much easier to let go and let him have his way. Why give ourselves extra burden ? But I have to keep at it because it is good for him and hopefully, some day, he will look back in gratitude that I didn't give up and let him have his way.

Praise God, in His MERCIES, He doesn't always let us have our way, because He loves us.

Last night having dinner at a food court, we noticed a boy having dinner with his friend. This boy was only about 13 or at most 14yrs of age. He sported long and tinted hair from which my husband and I concluded that he was a school dropout (because he would not be allowed in to school with hair like that.)

He has money to spend. His hair and his clothes and the meal he was having all said that he had money to spend, more than comfortably. But sadly, I wonder why his parents are allowing him not to continue with school. Don't they know that they won't be around forever to provide for him money, and that he needs some education to find work in the future?

Where are the adults in his life who will put their foot down and tell him that school is important and that he has to go?

I know, I sound like a task master here. I need to qualify the other part of it. Molding the positive character in the child to work diligently and happily, whatever the task has been set before them. Then, learning piano will not be such a big drudgery, because they have a right attitude towards work.

Isn't that what so many adults need too? There'd be a lot less griping and complaining at the work place.

I always think about the example of Joseph in the bible, who despite being wrongfully sold as a slave by his own brothers, continued to work with a good attitude for his master, Potiphar, who then promoted him to the highest position in his household. (Genesis 39) What an excellent example for us to follow.

So, with no. 1, we left it as Son, practice because mama says so. :OP But praise God, he apologized for his behavior and asked for a chance to learn again. To which I lovingly encouraged him that his hard work will pay off one day.

Roses Do Grow in the Tropics!

My lovely golden rose (called Ashram) that I brought back from Perth. Honest. I didn't rip this pic off flickr.

People are surprised roses can thrive in the tropics. Well, they do, apparently. I only planted this one in from a "body bag" I bought in Perth two weeks ago and it's rewarded me with a bloom already.

The Ong Family have been getting into this gardening thing and we've really been enjoying watching the plants grow, learning about each plant's preferences, being excited at the first fruits, getting mad about bugs that are destroying the orchids....and of course, they enjoy watering the plants...

On a sadder note, the day after taking this photograph, it got eaten by a mean ol' bug!!! I tried Neem Oil, which I read was an organic pesticide, but it didn't work. (And it stank to high heaven.) So, now I'm using chemical warfare. I lost one battle but not the war!!!

They've learned quite a bit about plants these few months. Very naturally. See, no. 3's drawing? Those are roots at the end of the flowers that he's trying to depict from what he saw. :O)

Pardon me while I show off shamelessly some of the beauties and joys of our garden.

This is Gardenia. Lovely Smell!

Indeed, in our short gardening experience, the Lord has reminded us of the many lessons like christians ought to be producing fruit (Luke 13:6-9), and un-fruitful branches will be pruned and thrown away (John 15:6)

Youth Day Holiday! Fun at the Beach

Monday was the Youth Day Holiday. So we joined some of the youth from church and Heritage Learning Center for a day at the East Coast beach.

Some pics of the day!

My dear husband was given the privilege of sharing the Word time. He talked to the teens about fleeing temptation. 2 Timothy 2:22  Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
What a needful reminder for the young people (as well as the not so young people), growing up in a world of manifold temptations at every turn.

We also brought our beach toys for some serious sand castle building. Notice the shovel in the foreground to appreciate how serious we were...
Sadly, we ran out of time and did not get to accomplish a proper castle. Nevermind, there's next time!
(The shovel turned out really handy!)

The whole family is celebrating that no. 3 (4 and a half yrs) has recently learned to ride a 2 wheel bike. :O) What an accomplishment for him after much trying!

  We managed to squeeze his bicycle into the vehicle to bring to the beach. The rest had to rent but that was nice too. It only cost $5 for two hours.

Have a blessed week ahead, dear readers! May the joy of the Lord be your strength.