The ONG family Homeschool

Redeeming the Time because the Days are Evil

Psalms 90:12  So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.

When we were little, my sister used to play a silly "stick 'em up" game with me. She would stick an imaginary gun in my rib and say "money or your life?!??" 

To which, you are supposed to answer "my life" and give up your 'money'. haha... weird memories of my childhood...

"Life" because even as children, we know that life and our time on earth is a limited expendable resource. When (and not if) death comes, that is the absolute end. No u-turns.

"Money" on the other hand can be lost, but it can also be regained. So, by logic, time is more important than money.

Ephesians 5:15-17  See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Well, our dear Pastor has been doing a series on Redeeming the Time and it has really gotten us thinking, do we really value our time over our money? This verse is really popping out and becoming very clear. It is helping us prioritize what is truly important and what are distractors. 

Let us not be like the rich man who wanted to build bigger barns only to find he could take it with him in Luke 12.

Luke 12:20-21  But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?  So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

 We should not live under the illusion that tomorrow we can enjoy the fruits of our labours. We only have the present and cannot know if we will be called home even at the next hour or moment! If we are to labour, let us spend it on things that will count for eternity. Let us be rich toward God and eternal things. Life and even this world will soon pass. EVERYTHING... planet earth will be burnt up one day, the Bible says! Only what is done for Christ will last!

2 Peter 3:10-12  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

It is easy to loose focus. I'll tell you why this series of sermons have been such a wake up call for hubby and I. Because it comes from my pastor who recently got the sad news that his 6 yr old child has Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

When a parent learns that time with their child is very limited and short, suddenly, everything comes into sharp focus.

Look at Jochebed, mother of Moses, who knew that she was to give up her son to Pharoah's daughter, taught her young child so diligently, when he grew up, he chose the reproach of Israel rather than the riches of Egypt. Look at Hannah who raised Samuel to love and serve God by the time he was weaned!

We have wept over my pastor's child's "predicament". (Indeed, there is no predicament nor fear that a child of God cannot face when his ever-present God carrying him every step of the journey.) But it has become a loud lesson to us what we need to do for our children. I wrote in my phone to remind myself: for each child to know the Salvation of Christ and to have a personal walk with Him. This is what we need to do because in the end, our child will meet God himelf or herself, not us on behalf of them.  This is to be our daily pre-occupation. Not assessment books and tuition classes.

I write on behalf of my dear husband who is in full agreement with me. :)

What about you, dear reader? money or your life? 

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Matthew 16:26  For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

James 4:13-15  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.  For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.

Matthew 6:31-34  Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

 

Have a Heart!

Oooo.... oooo....not for the faint hearted....

Time to talk a little about our homeschooling adventures!! You know, the "school-ish" bits.   

We were talking about something the other day last week and somehow, we got to talking about how the blood circulates around the body. In a very natural way, i just started telling the kids what I knew about how the heart helps in this. 

Next thing you know it, a snap bio lesson is in order. Note I teach the same lesson to 4 children, aged 10 to 4. It's sort of differentiated at different points, now and then to address the younger ones to check their understanding. 

CadioVascular System Lesson!

Look what I found at NTUC....

I found out from our Lao Shi (chinese teacher who comes to teach our children twice a week) that people use it in soups, to strengthen the heart. Ewwwwww.....

But before we proceeded to dissect it (yes, it was bought purely for educational purposes...) I printed out a little labeling worksheet to fill it while watching this video. 

Then we watched this other video with the lovely, fleshy, bouncy speciment.

 

But well, this was our dried out one from NTUC...

just wondering...

*shrugs* Ah well....

I was telling myself to treat it just like any other piece of meat I have been handling all these years of cooking. The "yuck" factor got less and less as I continued with the little dissection lesson.

Uh huh...The things I do for my children's education....

I think (it's highly suspect) this is the left ventrical, bicuspid valve. See the thick wall? All that oxygenated blood.

This is the iccky right ventrical

 How could anyone ever imagine that something so complex as the heart could have come by random 1-in-a-katrillion chance??? Evolution make NO sense whatsoever..

All the wonderful things that are in place to ensure the  exchange of oxygen between the lungs and the body... the valves, the pumping action... it was designed by a Creator. And our faith again is strengthened in this, our little study of the heart. :)

Psalms 139:14-16  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.

Psalms 94:9  He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see? 

This week, we're gonna move on to talk about the blood. Just for continuity's sake. :)

 

Family, by our 8 yr old

 

The words read: "to mama and papa. Thank you for helping us pack our room and cooking for us, I love you very much. Thank you for loveing us also, thank you for puting us first, and teaching us."

Awww... What more reward can a parent ask for? :) I asked her what she meant by us putting them first. She said like after cooking, I make sure they have their food first before I get to eating mine. I guess she took notice if that at dinner time just now.

I love my family and the precious children God has blessed hubby and me with! Thanking God that I can be here at home to enjoy time with them, watching them grow and guiding them in His ways.

Sent from my iPhone (while being bored watching F1)

Upon afterthought, I felt the need to add.....

This is 2 days after the above post.

Everyone would love to have children who are thoughtful and appreciative. Children are not born that way. Not that I want to take credit but I would attribute dear daughter's behaviour to our learning the Word of God constantly, at home, as part of school and at church.

I just know that one of the verses in the back of her mind would be this one which she has memorized:

Philippians 2:3-4  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

There's loads and loads more we could do in this area of Bible memorization but we are encouraged to take ACTION! ;)

Question on our typical homeschool day...

I LOVE getting email from readers! When I receive the "Okay" to go ahead and post, I do publish the QnA for the benefit of other readers. So do write it if you have any questions on homeschooling or (Christian) parenting!  Or just to say a "hi". That's always very nice.

Hi Sue,

........(I'm) curious on yr typical home school day - may I know who prepares breakfast, lunch, dinner and does the groceries which I'm sure is a lot. I have a 4 yr old and 16 month old myself :). And doesn't yr 17 month old keep clambering for yr personal attention all the time? I know at their age they could play around you while doing yr chores but their attention span is short,  they don't stay occupied long.

Best regards,

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thanks for emailing and thanks for reading. May I have your permission to post your question and my answer on the blog anonymously? It is for others' benefit should they have the same thoughts and questions as you.

who prepares breakfast: Typically, no one. They prepare their own. It's usually homebaked bread with ham or jam or peanut butter. Or cereal with milk. Sometimes the eldest who is 10 yrs does his scrambled eggs with cheese. But I try to keep breakfast simple so we can move on with the laundry and start the school day.

Lunch is cooked by my mother which is a blessing coz we're busy with school to bother about lunch. But I imagine that if I had to prepare lunch, it'll be sandwiches or re-heated left overs. I'm not fussy about this but I do love good, yummy food that is nutritious. Maybe in time to come when my children are older and able, they can take turns cooking lunch and dinner! Wheee!!! :D

Dinner I cook or we eat out. Thankfully, in Singapore, eating out is still relatively affordable to do several times a week. At the moment, when we eat at a coffeeshop, we order 4 portions and split among everyone. That's 7 mouths! :) My children cannot finish a whole portion on their own yet. (I'm always amazed when I spy on some other families I see at coffeeshops and they order a whole portion each for their small children. I'm sure there's a lot of food wastage.)

Groceries: Typically, we do groceries on one day of the week. We'll eat dinner out, children will go to the library, I'll go to NTUC. It is usually a whole trolley load. The bill typically comes to (plus/ minus) $110. I do do groceries elsewhere also to save costs like getting frozen food or going to a wholesale place to stock up the freezer. But this is more like once a month.

Distractions (of the baby kind): Babies have their own unique personalities. :) Some seem to what more attention, some less. Some are more clingy, some are perfectly comfortable away from mommy. Happens that no. 5 (17 mths) is quite independent. She has little or no separation anxiety. Which might or might not be a good thing. Depends. haha.

Baby no. 5  does cry for attention sometimes. Like when I want to teach the others, she'd be fussing away. For a while, I used the pacifier to stopper her mouth until I decided that it was not a healthy habit to encourage. Sooooo we bit the bullet and suffered a couple of days and made her go cold turkey. Now she's free from her pacifier dependency. :)

Yes, at this age, they don't stay occupied long. But I guess that is part and parcel of working with a toddler. (As is messy bits of food all over the floor, just accept that it's part of the deal. Sigh.)  Be prepared to be interrupted in anything you're doing living with little people!

Sometimes, I stop what I'm doing to entertain her, give a book, a toy, anything.....well, things that are non-combustible, and won't cause her to loose a finger or poke out an eye...

More often than not, I ask her to wait, be patient, while I finish doing what I'm doing.

It is hard to understand how the other children can learn with such distractions going on. But they do! It challenges our understanding of what a "conducive" learning environment is, because our own preconceived notions of that is, naturally, a "classroom" setting. Homeschooling families have been doing that through the ages and have produced some of the brightest minds history has known. I'm sure their mommies had to change a diaper while the older ones continued with their school work. ;)

Please also read this post from 3 years ago about managing distractions. And thoughts about food here.

Not sure if that answered your question but I do hope it helped some. Feel free to ask some more or clarify other doubts!
 
blessings,    
Suwei

A "How do you manage?" post.

"You have FIVE children and you teach them at home? I only have two and I can't even manage them. How do you manage????"

I have 5 children, aged 10, 8, 6, 4 and 17mths. I know my family is a bit of an oddity in Singapore. But actually, there are other Singaporean families like ours: large family, homeschooling and producing well adjusted children. :D

Here's a little peek at how we do it:

This morning, I had to bring hubby to the doctor and we brought the baby out with us, leaving the other 4 without an adult to supervise them at home. 

Goal Oriented Supervision

Before leaving the house, we read the bible and prayed with the children. Then we gave them instructions on what they needed to accomplish through the morning and until we came back.

1. They had to put the clothes in the machine, and hang them out. (It turned out to be 2 full loads today.)

2. They had to be doing their school work: their PACE work and their chinese homework.

When we came home, we were happy to see the place hadn't burned down.

HAHA. no lah.

I was happy to see that the clothes were hanging to dry (could have been done better, though, I must be honest) and they were doing their work at their desks. I did hear some bad report of some arguing while we were away but nothing that we needed to handle. They resolved it on their own.

I was happy to find that they had gotten their 4 yr old brother ready for pre-school at heritage learning centre, that is got him changed to his uniform, got him to eat his lunch, fill his waterbottle, bring him across the road to school.

Routine and Practice

This might sound incredible to folks. I don't mean to brag but I know some families do find this very incredible that children can be left to themselves like that. 

I'm not sure but I think it's because we don't have a helper in the house and we do these tasks on routine, daily. So the children have been trained and this is nothing new to them.

Naturally, the older the child is the more jobs he is able to do. When he can do a new task and move on, we start training the younger one to take up the easier task. Next big thing I want to teach the older children is to cook meals. The oldest is already cooking some instant noodles and eggs and such.

Basically, I'm working myself out of a job. heh heh.

Balanced View of Education

I'll get down to the crux of this, why children these days aren't like children of yester years. Children of yester years? Yah. Like the generation above mine. My mom always tells us how they had to care for their siblings, help out with the family business. They lived on much much less materially, yet they accomplished so much!

Our children in present day Singapore are so tied to performing at school like they are study machines. They have so much so that they can study and so much is done for them so that they can study..... 

I'm glad we have stepped out of the system, study at our own pace and have the freedom to educate our children in all areas of life, not only academic. Public School, by and large, functions to prepare a child for a job. We want to prepare them for life, not just a job to fill a place in the machinery of economy and society.  

All praise to God who guides us with His wisdom!

It was nice knowing you....

Last Wednesday, I post on facebook:

Bat died. boy cried.

Yup, Stellaluna didn't make it past day 3. That's what the zoo vet said. It was a 50/ 50 survival rate for bats that are found on the ground like that.

It was a little too painful for no. 1 for me to be posting about him feeding the bat last week, but I'm doing it now, just so that we have a record of the little creature that spent a couple of days with us.

The vet who called said that we could feed it some yoghurt from a syringe. And he advised if we felt squirmish about holding the bat, we could use a glove or a cloth.

In the end, no. 1 was so brave, he just held it in his hand and finger fed it! (The syringe was messy.)

My son amazes me. He wasn't squirmish at all! Well, maybe, initially when the bat decided to take a walk on his t-shirt all around his body. I was so squirmish I couldn't look. But he just laughed and laughed and finally got the bat's little claws off his t-shirt.

When he found the bat dead on the third day, he couldn't hold back his tears. I guess he really grew attached to it. I told him at least he tried and gave the bat the best care he could. (Yoghurt every 2 hours as the vet said.) The other children were sad too, but not as affected as no. 1.

We had hoped to get it strong enough and flying in order to release it at a park at dusk. It wasn't meant to be. However, there were many wonderful lessons learned in this bat episode, and we thank God.

Bat Friend!

No. 1 found a little bat this morning. It looked like a tree leaf. I asked him how he found it since it was so well camouflaged. He said it was calling. :)

Well, you know what happens to creatures that come in our way as homeschoolers, right? 

No... of course we don't torture it. Only when they're dead do we take them apart.(Read: The Fate of a Poor Unsuspecting Bug. April 10, 2008)

We keep it for observation! How wonderful to have such a unique creature of God's to look at and learn about! We were so excited to see it eating the apple no. 1 fed it. :D

Then, we got out our McDonald's toy to make a little structure for it to hang. (They have named it Stellaluna, btw.)

 

Stellaluna is sleeping now. :) in a plastic box with a bbq wire mesh on the top. We'll release Stellaluna soon! At the moment, it can't fly.

cookies art fun!

Funfunfun~ This was last Sunday's cookie project: gifts for the teachers at church. (As well as one or two of the wonderful people who teach my children guitar and choir. :)   )

See cake blog for a little tutorial on how to make this:

the recipes are at the end of this post. :)

Special credit to no. 2 (8 yrs) who helped mummy a lot in the kitchen that day! :)

 

Thinking about a verse to include about working with our hands and what a blessing that is.... Had to include this wonderful Psalm! God blesses His people with plentiful families! :D

Psalms 128:1-6  <<A Song of degrees.>> Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the LORD. The LORD shall bless thee out of Zion: and thou shalt see the good of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. Yea, thou shalt see thy children's children, and peace upon Israel.

"School" this 3rd term...

3rd term just came and went! More like 2010 is flying past. 

There were so many activities calling out to us this term that I just couldn't let up on the chance of going!!

There was the Youth Olympic Games that took us a couple of afternoons away. And the Homeschooler's Garage Sale... just go to here to see the August 2010 posts. busy! 

I did mention somewhere that I'm so thankful for the flexibility that Homeschooling affords us. We can just assign time to the things we deem important for our children's learning and not be dictated by a school's program.

And there were trips and outings I didn't even get to post!

National Day Parade Rehearsal

No.2 had a special treat to go with papa! (Thanks to tickets given to us by dear sister Germ!)

Botanical Gardens

This was a ladies fellowship! We went to the gardens for a little photography session!

The Bird Park with missionary friends!

photo taken by no. 1! Pretty nice, huh? He learned more about how to use the macro functions and other camera features. He took loads and loads of pics!

Our adorable American friend being called upon to assist in the show!
The owl was heavy! (the whole trip I was thinking about roasting chickens...job hazard.)

Now my kids have a deeper love and knowledge about birds! how wonderful! 

no. 3's current muse is the Secretary bird.I got them to do some show and tell about what they learned at the Bird Park. It was great to hear them talking about God's wonderful creation of Birds!

Kite Flying! Yes, those are kites, far far away...

And those are my kids flying a kite on a hill far far away too....at least, I think those are my kids...

No. 1's been buidling his brick towers again. See post from 3 years back! :) He was 7 yrs old then. The memories!!!

My kids didn't do 3rd term tests. Seems like they didn't do too much sit down work this term. They were learning lots of things, nonetheless! Glad that we're not so bound to the desk that it snuffs out interest and passion for a interesting world out there! 

Very much Singaporean kids!

We went to the MOE "mother ship" the other day.... :)

Our children are not in an MOE-school, but we are very much Singaporean. And proud of being Singaporean!

   

We indeed, have much to be thankful for.