The ONG family Homeschool

I'll consider this as Teacher Training

It's been a fruitful day here at the Ong Family Homeschool. Kids have completed all their goals: PACEs done, Singapore work done, Piano lesson done.... We have enjoyed the Bible Time reading of Revelations 21 about the new heaven and the new Jerusalem. Enjoyed the thunder storm together. (In the middle of school work, they ran out to save the laundry from the rain.) Played, read books...  

Now baby is winding down for the night after bath time bubble fun. Her brothers and sister were styling her shampooed hair... one horn or two? Then a riveting game of pillow peek-a-boo with papa... I hope she'll sleep soon. 

Anyway, down to today's post!

Look what I bought from Popular (bookstore)...

 

Two books for the amazing price of $40!!! Yes, that was sarcastic.

I was reluctant to part with that money, but ok, I reasoned, I'll consider this as teacher training. I need to know how to do this model drawing thing I hear about so often but haven't really gotten down to finding out what exactly it is? :P

So far (I'm halfway through the Model Method book) it's pretty comprehensive and it'll help me to better guide my kids as well. 

Anyone has good teacher training books to recommend? For other subjects?

Social Phenomena: The Other Baby Sitter- the Mini Player

Anyone else spotted this trend where the parent is seated with their toddler or young child at the meal table and there in front of the child is a little TV screen to keep the child entertained and quiet while they eat their meal?

This was taken at a food court tonight.

IF you're thinking this is an isolated case, think again...

 
This was taken at a wedding dinner recently.See top left hand corner of pic.

Oh dear, this is certainly one twisted way to ensure that the child is seen and not heard!!! 

Don't know if you agree with me, but I think the parents are misguided!!!

What does this do to the child's social interaction skills? What world is the child encouraged to be immersed in: the real world or the make believe one? All these questions swirled in my mind when I first spotted this.

A big warning to parents who give this kind of TV diet to their young children: they are setting up their children for disaster at school because TV watching is detrimental to training the child's attention span. Their minds will wander, not being able to stay focused and concentrate because the images and scenes flash and change so quickly, training their young brains to think this way. But when it comes to reading and writing, this is not going to be the case!

Disaster, I tell you. Disaster. :(

Anyway, do leave your comments here or on facebook. Hear from you!

 

Re-post: How do you manage school time and how do you handle distractions?

This was first posted Aug 2007. Thought that, since I've been blogging for more than 2 years now, and I have new readership, it might be good to re-visit older posts for new readers. :) Expect more re-postings... heehee...

Distwaction? You callin' me a distwaction?

Some parents who are considering homeschooling or are just starting homeschooling are worried that their children will not be getting the best un-interrupted learning time with the younger siblings running around and making noise and all that. Or that the children will not have their parent's undivided attention.

Well, to that I have to say, first of all, homeschool is different from school school. All our expectations of what "school" is supposed to be and how teaching and learning is to be conducted- most of the time were learned from our own schooling experience. But I cannot expect to have the same kind of "structure" and "class room management" that needs to be practiced in a class of 30 - 40 kids who are all the same age.

There are really so many stories I've read of homeschoolers who were schooled under less "rigorous", by our standards, styles of teaching and learning and yet they excelled in their studies. I think, somehow, we've been ingrained with this idea that educational success somehow must involve a great amount of pain and bitter hours of silence at the desk. hahaha...

There was one homeschooling family in America I read about. In the summer months, they spent their days outdoors, enjoying the sunshine, doing loads of projects and experiments. In the winter months, they zipped through their books and written assignments but it was very fast and easy for them because they had already learned it, hands-on, in summer. See?

One family did a set of subjects for half a year, and then another set of subjects for the next half a year.

I mean, there're so many ways. We in Singapore only think teacher, copious amounts of worksheets, and loads (and loads) of time sitting at a desk. We produce educated zombies. 

For me, I now have two official students (aged 7 and 5) who have work that needs to be done and marked and recorded. And one un-official one (aged 3) who does some tracing and colouring when he's up to it. He does like to visit the shelves of story books we have available for them in the schoolroom. And one "hang around-er" (aged 1) who is a cute distraction. Oh yes, baby likes to look at the pictures in the books too!

We all understand that and work within in this reality. Sometimes it can be frustrating and no. 1 will shout "quiet lah!" (rememer, my children are fluent Singlish speakers.) Or I'm in the middle of teaching something and I have to clean someone's poopy diaper. But the fact is, the kids are progressing in their school work just fine and we feel a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day.

And anyway, learning time is not only confined to time at the books or even in the school room. One afternoon at lunch, the kids asked me what was this supplement I was taking and I launched into a mini lesson about bones and joints and how glucosamine can help to strengthen the joints. All very naturally. All waking hours. It's our way of life!

So, please stop and smell the roses and don't worry too much about the schedule. With the heart and mind to work, we'll get there. :O)

In the middle of Bible Time.

_________________________________________

Prodikeys: thumbs up!

Me using the Creative Prodikeys keyboard to write out a piano accompaniment score for choir. 

Now, I don't do a lot of music arrangement, but on occasion (mostly always for church occasions) I do write out music either for singing or our orchestra or piano. Before this prodikeys keyboard, I would click click click note by little note on my noteworthy software. Whoopdeedoo when I can highlight copy and paste repeating parts! :) (Yes, I know there are other music writing software around that may be less tedious....)

But now with this keyboard, I can just play (or type as the case may be) the tune and the notation will show up on my screen! What was my life before this keyboard??? (Oh dear, I'm sooo trying not to sound like a cheap commercial but I'm failing miserably.)

New possibilities have opened up to me now... I can record and save and publish midi files! Whee! Definitely In the pipeline is to write simple piano scores of favourite songs for my children (and 1 student) to play! Yae!!!

And of course, whatever I learn, my children will learn too. ;) This is, afterall, a homeschool.

Science Centre Pixar Exhibition now on! (And some of no. 4's latest art...)

You have till 27th June to catch it!

The good papa had a leave day to claim, so we went to the Singapore Science Centre for the Pixar exhibition ! 6 tickets (with help from the SAFRA card) cost us a discounted $106. Ouchie. But I think it was quite worth it because it included the Science Centre proper as well as a screening of "Up" in 3D!

Other than a few other guests, we mostly had the whole place to ourselves that morning screening. :)

It was the children's first experience in a "movie theatre" and their first 3D movie. We don't go to cinemas.

There was no photography allowed in the exhibition but I'd say it is good for the kids because it is very accessible to them, since it's all about their favourite and familiar Pixar movies, and their well loved characters. There were a lot of story board panels and sketches by the artists. All about behind the scenes, how Pixar movies are made. We learned a lot.

Not to spoil the surprise but the best part of the exhibition has got to be the ZOETROPE!!! We were so enchanted by it we all burst out laughing with glee! As it describes on the website that it is "truly a magical feast for the eyes" and indeed it was!!

The kids (and adults) learned that it takes a whole team of people (professionals) to pool all their talents together into one movie. What a lot of work is put in!!! Everything has to be created for the screen: the lamps, chairs, forks. Every twitch on the character's faces had to be moved by the animator. Down to the last digit of the little finger. Phew.

Patience and hard work. Tons of patience and tons of hard work. Phew.

 

My little no. 4 is even more inspired to draw now! ;) Here's some of his latest drawings (he's 4 yrs old.)

His peacock. The brothers and sister reported that he spent a long time on this piece. ;)

His Dragon. (Looks like Tweety Bird from hell.) Inspired from How to Train Your... oops! This is a Pixar post! :p He was too afraid to watch most of it anyway. I can't find his two headed ones. I don't really approve of that show. It being all medieval and dark looking.

I'm so glad that Pixar has nice wholesome stuff that has some depth to it.

And my favourite from today! Banana Boat! :D 

He just loves drawing at the moment and we just provide him free flow of rough paper to draw to his little heart's content.

Tonight's Din Din: Baby Back Ribs. Mmmmm.....

Oooo.... too good not to share.

Dinner tonight: two slabs of baby back ribs, all under $20. Learning to cook has cursed me with the inability not to gawk at restaurant food prices. (haha, double negative = positive?)

Recipe (or the way I achieved the above picture tonight)

marinate ribs in a plastic bag for some time. (It could range from 2 hours to a day for me.) Easy marinades would be to simply empty a whole bottle of barbecue sauce in with the ribs. For tonight's ribs, I used Hunts BBQ sauce, some teriyaki sauce, apple cider vinegar and chopped garlic. If I had onions, I'd have surely used them too.

Put everything in a pressure cooker (But set aside about half a bowl of the marinade for basting). Add a little water till the liquids reach the minimal level for safe pressure cooking. Proceed to boil the dickens out of the ribs, in this case, about 20 mins (20 minutes!!! beat that!!!) on level 2 (for my pressure cooker.)

[[You can do slow cooker for 6 hours or 20 mins with a pressure cooker for the same results. I'm for pressure cooking any day.]]

After that, release the steam, place the ribs on your baking tray, stick in your oven on top grill, 180 degrees for a while to dry it out a bit. Not too much!

Add a spoonful or so of honey in the marinade you had set aside. Baste (as in brush over) the ribs with the marinade and grill for a while more until you see it's nice and glazey. You know what I mean. 

Take out of oven while fending off the hungry hordes. (The absolute hardest part.)

;)

May you be "cursed" too! heheh.

How Long did it Take?

We copied this verse a couple of days back for Bible Time. This verse was written by King David, who grew up as a shepherd boy, caring for his father's sheep. But actually, we were talking more about Moses and this verse came to mind, so I had the children write this one down. :)

So the account of Moses goes that when he was the prince of Egypt, he tried to seek "justice" for an abused Hebrew slave by murdering the Egyptian. Young, impulsive, wanting to take things into his own hands.

As a result, he had to flee from Egypt and God brought him into the wilderness of Paran and he became a shepherd. 

I love to impress upon the children the work of a shepherd. One who is always on the alert for the well being of his flock, making sure none strays, none are injured, none are sick, tending to the ones that are sick to make sure they do not infect the others, giving special attention to pregnant ewes. The list is endless.

When God called Moses at the Burning Bush, it was a very different Moses who answered God! This Moses was afraid to confront Pharaoh, saying he had a stutter, and worried that his people the slaves will not believe him. Humbled and small.

God had to take his servant out and teach him, mold him to be the kind of servant who could be used to lead more than 2 million people out of Egypt to travel to Canaan. He made him a shepherd to hone his skills to make him acutely aware of other's needs, above his own. Indeed, the job of leading 2 million people was far harder than sheep because people can be even more stubborn and difficult!

How long did God's lesson take? 40 years.

I ask the children, what if God looked at the hard life that Moses was leading that He softened and took Moses out after 2 years of being a shepherd? I say he'd still be impulsive and foolhardy.

No no. Must not short cut the learning process. In our disciplining our children, do not short cut the learning process. Go the full way in order for the lesson to be learned effectively. 

Proverbs 19:18  Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.

If you are in such a classroom of God right now, (caring for a difficult child? caring for your infirm and aged? being ill and in pain?) thank God! He's probably got wonderful things and bigger jobs planned for you! Just make sure you learn the lesson right and see His sure and loving hand in all of life's trials.

God bless you! :) 

James 1:2-4  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Romans 5:3-5  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Pinafore project Part 2: Jie Jie Mei Mei clothes! (And a bit about Modest Dressing)

So fun! I'm so happy and proud to have sewn matching clothes for my two girlies. *pats self on back*

God be praised for joys such as these. :D

If you compare to the last time I posted baby's pinafore, it didn't have a pocket in the front and that little cookie cutter flower.
I added it later because with big sister's pinafore, the front panel was so broad, I needed to fill it with something, so I cut out three big flowers and three little flowers and machined them on. :) Then I went button hunting and got some to sew on for the flower centers. 

Oh, and I made big sister's skirt too short so I added on the frill. :p And so I pretty much used up any excess cloth I had.

So I Had to match baby's pinafore with jie jie's. Hence the pocket and flower! Nice?

Thank God that on Saturday, we had ladies fellowship sewing part two where Aunty Ivy (super expert seamstress with more than 40 years of experience) taught us how to measure ourselves and also taught us how to do the layered skirt and I got a draft of a culottes for myself done! Yae!!!

Is there a dress code for Christians?

Dressing for the Lord (modest dressing, no tight pants for ladies, etc.) takes special effort and care but it is certainly worth it! Our bodies are to honor our God! 

Can a Christian woman dress any way she pleases? Well, the Bible actually has much to say about how a lady should clothe herself.

1 Timothy 2:9-10  In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;  But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.

Consider that the Bible describes that there's a certain way of dressing if you are to represent a certain profile. A godly woman will dress modestly and with shamefaced-ness and sobriety!

The opposite kind of profile from the verse above, would be the verse below:

Proverbs 7:10  And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

So, a good question then to ask oneself is: "How do harlots dress?"

Well, harlots must dress in a manner that calls out to men in a sexual way. And by 1 Tim 2, it follows that a woman who is Christ-like is not to be dressed like a harlot, ie, dressed in a seductive way.

So to put it broadly: no low necklines, no see-through/ peekaboo materials and designs, no tight clothes that reveal the shape of the body (that means most jeans are out because nothing is left to the imagination regarding the shape of the buttocks and thighs....)

There's lots more to say about modest dressing, and lots more that the Word of God has to say. Here's one site that I have not been able to read everything, but it has lots of good articles on this issue. 

Blessings!!!

Suwei

"It Was for You"- Special Meeting April 2010

Lovely photos of our Resurrection Day services courtesy of Gerlyn! (Thank you!!!)

 

Never a dull moment with the junior choir! Love them!!

 

First choir experience for my no. 1, 2 and 3. *thumbs up*

 

A nice shot of my dear nephew (who homeschools!)

Psycho conducting!!! LOL

 

 

Sis Carol and me during Scripture recital, proclaiming that because of His work on the cross, Death has no more sting and one day, we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15.

1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,

and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  

The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Time for catching up!

You know I'm busy with real life when I'm posting after such a loooong break! :p

Resurrection Services @ Maranatha Baptist Church

Been busy busy with preparations, rehearsals for our Resurrection Sunday program. Glad to have had a good witness over those 2 days where we had visitors hear about God's mercy and love for them.

Romans 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Choir!

Gotta get some pics and videos of those days! I'm especially happy because it was the first time that no. 1, 2 and 3 participated in choral singing, sometimes with the adults and sometimes with other children. And under my conductor-ship! That was really special. I'll count that as part of (home)school as well. hahah.

I asked the children what they learned from their experience. They answered: following instructions, staying focused, obedience, etc. What a great learning opportunity! So thankful to God that they had a chance to sing in a choir.

In the course of choir practices and rehearsals, I earned the un-savoury title of "Pharaoh" from my brethren. I wonder why???? :p

Baby has turned 1!

Sigh. Folks were asking me if I baked anything special for her. No, actually, I didn't. Firstly, we don't really celebrate our baby's first birthdays because they won't remember much anyway. And secondly, I was too busy with rehearsals.

Nevertheless, Baby did have a nice day. We sang her Happy Birthday song all through the day, and if you left a comment on Facebook (on the Fan Page as well as my personal page), she got 3 smooshy kisses and 1 squishy hug for each comment, as promised. Actually, I more than exceeded the quota.

She's lengthening out and becoming more toddler already. She's been calling everyone Papa. She's been taking a couple of awkward steps un-aided too! Toddler phase!!! YAE! 

Pinafore Project part 2

I've finally finished sewing no. 2's matching pinafore and I'm soooo happy!!! She loves it too! They look so sweet together wearing matching sister outfits. Will definitely post pics when they're ready. :)

Pics pics pics.... to be up soon! :P