The ONG family Homeschool

When Homeschoolers Get Together....A Night of Beautiful Music

Last night, was a musical night of choir for my three homeschooling teens! Now, most kids have opportunity to sing in choir in School. Choir, like other group activities eg. team sports, is something that homeschoolers usually find other homeschoolers to do together. So this special choir, which is a part of Cantus Novus Academy headed by Ms Tina Nguyen, is made up of mainly homeschoolers! So last night's concert was a Homeschooler get together of sorts! Wonderful! 

Would you believe those peach-colored dresses were custom tailored by a teen homeschooler?? That's another interesting story to tell: how and why she went into dress-making!

Ms Tina is standing on the right next to the lady in the red dress. And the accompanist is on the left, standing next to my son, Isaac, holding a bouquet.   

With Ms Tina. They love her to bits. 

Isaac even got to sing the opening lines of O Come Emmanuel, his first solo for singing! <3 Ms Tina does such a great job with vocal training, as you will hear in the video.   

 

Aww, he expressed the longing so well. I told him that we have to draw from our life experiences to express the feelings of the song. And so he told me he thought about the time when he was small and got lost and how he was looking for me. Awwww..... 

There were presentations by the different choirs (from the petite children's choir to the youth) and also some piano duets and vocal small groups. While the music presented last night was rich and glorious, everyone gave their very best effort and the music was of very good quality, this post is more about my observations of homeschooled kids. 

This morning, my teen asked me, Mom, do you think there are any mean homeschoolers? Everyone's so nice. I said, maybe it's just that the mean ones don't want to join the choir? lol

I've been observing homeschooled children for more than 20 years now and last night, I observed a little more! This I can safely say, these children are reflections of their parents and their home environment and I saw children who were raised in a gentle environment, full of love, acceptance and encouragement. 

There was a piano duet by two boys, both quite little, one more little than the other. They aren't siblings. When the song was done, I noticed the older little boy, in a quick but sincere action, give the younger one a "well done" pat on the head, right there at the piano before they took their bow. I thought that was so sweet and "big" of that little boy. He must be raised in a home that is full of these gestures and words of encouragement.

Last night, I was carrying baby Megan in my arms during the concert. I think I'm experienced enough to know when she is going to do an all-out yell and make a quick exit before that ever happened! :p Sometimes, though, she would let out a little squeal. 

When she did, the boy around 10 years of age, sitting in the row in front of me would turn around and give baby a warm smile. I could tell he loved babies and again, I thought, this is a homeschooled child who has an appreciation of babies! 

It's kinda sad that many younger people in our society don't have a chance to interact with babies. (Is it a wonder we have such a dearth of babies in our country?!?) During a recent interview, I brought my then-3 week old to the set. The fresh graduate crew-lady told me she has never seen a 3 week old before. How sad, I thought!

And recently, the family visited our eldest son's studio in his Poly, after school hours. Most of his course mates knew he got a new baby sister this year, so son was quite happy for the opportunity to show the baby to his friends. He cradled her and visited the various rooms of the studio where his friends were working. I was quite tickled by the reactions of one or two friends who kinda looked at my son and the baby with faces that said, Okaaay? What do you want me to do/say? Awkward. You can tell when people don't know babies. (or dogs, for that matter. I've noticed.)

I'm not saying all homeschoolers are familiar with babies. I'm saying it's nice that children raised at home have more chance to spend lots of time with their siblings and it shows.      

Last week, I had the chance to sit in during two of my kid's choir rehearsals. I really enjoyed Ms Tina's friendly but professional coaching style. I also noticed her accompanist, a 17 yr old homeschooler who is pursuing a diploma in piano. (see group picture above.) I was so impressed by her, not just her very skilful playing but her attentiveness during practice. When the conductress stops and starts, the pianist is right there, following her every instruction, giving the right notes for all the sections to begin. Seriously, I was utterly impressed by her attentiveness and excellent work ethic. My daughter got to make friends with her too. She has a very pleasant, friendly and sweet personality!

When I look at Homeschooled children, I often can see an imprint of their parent's manner on them. And when that parent has Christ's love overflowing in their hearts, it flows into the lives of the children so naturally too. I observed that last night.

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THANKS for taking the time to drop by! This blog exists to de-mystify homeschooling in Singapore. I love sharing about our family life as Chrstian homeschoolers. If you have any questions about homeschooling or Christian parenting, I would try my best to reply! Email me at [email protected] or post a comment!

Pressing Toward the Mark: 2015

^{Philippians 3:7- 24}

⁷ But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.

⁸ Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,

⁹ And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

¹⁰ That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

¹¹ If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.

¹² Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.

¹³ Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

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A couple of days ago, the children and I had a time of assessing how we felt 2014 went, and whether it was well spent. On the outset, we felt it was spent rather haphazardly, with too much time wasted. (Especially when mommy is taking her afternoon nap and all hell breaks loose.)

Then we started counting our blessings and re-counting all the things that each child learned "new" in the year. The list was quite startling and encouraging. And this list is only the highlights! The Lord has blessed the children even more than just these few I mention.

(btw, Dd is dear daughter and Ds is... you guessed, dear son. :) ) 

Dd6 (2 years and a half): she probably developed the greatest among all the six children. She started talking with a large vocabulary and singing many songs. Hymns even, the ones that she hears us sing, like Sunlight, Sunlight in my Soul Today. :)

She also started scolding people, thinking she has the authority to. (something we correct.) When she is mad at her older brother, she will tell him to go hang the laundry, even when there's no laundry to hang. haha.

She is also pretty good with her balance too! She was recently practicing her skate scooting up and down the living room (thank God we have a long living room) and we were pleasantly surprised that she could actually balance with two feet on the board. 

 

Dd5 (5 and a half years): she started reading in 2014, thanks to the help of big brother Ds1 who taught her how to read in the early part of the year. She is a happy and confident reader now! She also started playing the piano under my instruction. She has been enjoying playing the songs in her piano book even when I am too busy to sit with her.

Here's a comment (my 2 cents) about waiting for the right time to teach a skill: When the child is developmentally ready to learn, the learning is fast and enjoyable. Too many parents are eager to start their children early but the learning is slow and tedious.

 And she recently started balancing on a bike after just one lesson with papa! I remember how it was my father who taught me to ride a bike. It is a precious memory I cherish even now. I am glad my children have a dad who spends time with them too! 

 

 

Ds 4 (just turned 9 years 3 days ago): He has been horse crazy for quite a while now. He loves drawing horses and his ambition is to own a horse one day. (uh huh.)

I gave him the joy of piping his horse picture on the cheesecake (mocha cheesecake that Dd2 made for him from scratch, heavenly...). He did a marvellous job!  (The ugly words was me. :p)  

2014, he also started cello lessons because for the longest time he wanted to learn but I only managed to get a teacher for him last year. She's a wonderful teacher (from Argentina, wow!)  and though he and DS1 have only been learning for around 5 months he has been able to play and, more importantly, enjoy the instrument. 

His 1/2 sized cello was special because another homeschooler had outgrown it and had moved on to the next larger size. The dad (also Christian) let us have this cello at a very discounted price because he knew that we have a large family and that we are training our children to love God and serve Him. We have become friends with this family, what a blessing the homeschooling community has been to us.

  

Another thing that surprised me was the boldness of this son to speak the Word of God! He was so eager to do this presentation that he asked his chapel teacher to please teach them and he encouraged his friends to join in. A lot of hard work but what a blessing it turned out to be! 

 

To plant the Word of God in young hearts... what a blessing! :)

 

only half way through counting our blessings! See, when we have large families, so the blessings are also many times multiplied! :D Praise God.

Ds3 (11 years): Of course, this guy has been our family clown and has been entertaining us with his antics almost daily, but in 2014, because DS1 learned imovie and videography, we have been able to develop his acting talent that much more. :) 

 

Do check out our YouTube channel and subscribe!!! :D

Exciting for me was that Ds3 decided to learn flute and he has shown a talent for the instrument. His instrument is borrowed from a sister in church, he was instructed by another dear sister in church but mostly he has been learning by himself on Youtube and he has been practicing on a book given with love from our Shepherd group, but mostly he has been learning by himself on Youtube. It is humbling to borrow everything but it keeps us extra thankful to God for providing!

It helps when he has friends in church also learning the flute together with him. He enjoys playing together with them. 

 

What a joy to be able to play with him and Dd 2 in our church orchestra! 

 

 

I would mention this boy loves to sew and knit too. I appreciate these learning journeys that my children take, because they really learn so so much when they take on these tasks. Many times, it is so much more than what academic learning can offer. 

Ds 3's hand sewn stuffies, he made for our pastor friend's little boys in the phillipines. :) He also learned to use the sewing machine!

 

Dd2 (12 years): besides taking a national exam for the first time, our oldest girl shot up (physically) this year. Her feet are bigger than mommy's and catching up with papa's. She has yet to catch up in height, though, but that is just a matter of time. :)

Now that she is taller, she has been able to cook and bake. In 2014, I was pleasantly happy that she could take on my cupcake recipe from scratch all by herself with absolutely no help from me. I am so proud of her! This is 12 years in the training and the fruits are SWEET!

She has been avidly learning hairstyles and braiding on YouTube too. 

Ds1 (14 years): He has continued to be a self directed learner. 2014 was the year we got a DSLR camera and he started researching and learning how to use it on manual settings. The high school learner has surpassed his parent teacher in more and more subjects and this is one of our homeschooling goals: to grow a passionate learner. 

He has also taken on, besides photography, videography and has learned video editing by himself on Youtube. He has become quite fluent with iMovie and makes the narrative of our silly homeschool videos seemingly flow effortlessly.... but there was quite a lot of editing magic behind it. 

 

I am also really glad that DS1 had the opportunity to pick up cello as well. He expressed the desire to learn and we are glad to be able to help him have lessons too. He has been diligent to practice and glean as much as he can from lessons as he understands that it is a sacrifice on the part of others in order for him to have lessons. I am glad for a good son who's heart is in the right place, aligned with God and our family. 

DS1 finds joy in showing God's creation (ants) to his younger siblings. He cares for their spiritual condition too and prays and teaches and encourages them in spiritual (bible) things. He has been faithfully reading his bible daily and is an example for me to follow!  

2014, DS1 also got the chance to act in a live production of the biblical book of Esther. He was Mordecai. We are thankful for opportunities like these for our children to try new things!

Another thing to highlight for 2014.....

2014, we had to adjust to travelling by public transport because we decided not to renew the COE of our 10 year old vehicle. It took quite some adjusting to but I think, overall, it has been a good exercise for growing the children's character. They have had to look out for each other more when we are on the bus... we have not lost a single person or thing yet! ;) And even when they are tired, they still have to walk. And sometimes, the older ones will take turns to carry, or piggyback the younger ones all the way home. <3

As I look back on 2014, I am once again encouraged that even though I am weak, lazy and often fail in the flesh, this job of parenting is not mine or my husband's alone. GOD Himself has an active hand in shaping and growing each of our children in ways we cannot. He loves them even more than we do! We are only to be co-operating with Him and nurturing them in His ways, and basically, live out His commands in our lives. He can use our little efforts and multiply them in miraculous ways, beyond what we could ever do with our petty little. 

I love this verse and it speaks of God's constant watch care over His children: 

Psalms 32:8

I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Ok, I have been hogging the com for too long. I just want to record some resolutions for 2015 here (for accountablity's sake. :p) 

For 2015, the key operative word shall be DISCIPLINE. We are sorely lacking in this and hope to improve in this area. We hope to have a working schedule and STICK TO IT!!!

amen.

 

 

Join Us for Our Family's Night Devotion!

The family is all gathered in the room for family night devotion.
It is a time of togetherness around God's word and we have such a wonderful time.

The activities and conversations ebb and flow but the mainstay is when papa opens the Bible and teaches us God's word.

Last night, I was just enjoying the love and laughter all around me and I just had to think, this must be a slice of heaven on earth. :)

8 pm, we opened our Majesty Hymnals (we each have one) and we took turns to choose a hymn each. We sang about Heaven, we sang about this sweet walk with Jesus. It is such a joy that the children can break into parts (some sight read the hymnal, some by ear) so that even when we don't have instrumental accompaniment, we can enjoy singing acapella. I pray God enjoys our singing too! :)

We will spend sometime talking about the song we just sang. Tonight, the conversation drifted to how God created the earth so marvelously. We talked about why the earth axis has a tilt to bring about the seasons. How giant Jupiter is out there protecting the earth from meteorite hits. When we think of all these being intentionally brought about by an all powerful God, how small and finite we become and how thankful and privileged we are to know Him and to call Him our Father!

Then the children requested a game of "Sword Drill". The bible is the Sword (as mentioned as part of the armour of God in Ephesians). So the game is to see who can can flip to a called out verse the fastest. This way our children familiarize themselves with their sword and it's really fun. Haha! It's a game we play in church.

However, no. 4 is an early reader and he cannot flip and find the verse as fast as his older siblings. No.2 suggests that he gets a 10 second head start. And they count slowly. :) no. 1 also tries to help him by giving clues. They all patiently encourage him as they know he is easily discouraged when he doesn't win at least once. :) In the end, we just had to encourage him to keep practicing and one day, he will be faster too.

Amid all the chatter and laughter, baby (7mths old) is crawling around and she finds her way to me for a little suckle and she falls asleep. It's noisy but she is all tuckered out.

We open our bibles to 2nd Corinthians and chapter 9. We have been reading through the New Testament and delving into it, gleaning many practical truths. It has been such a joy to read the bible together, re-enforcing what they already know, learning new things we have missed.. It is important that they know that what they are commanded to do (love your enemies, be patient, show kindness etc) comes from the bible and not just "papa said so".

Tonight, we talked about sowing and reaping and giving to God. What a reminder to us to be trusting in God to provide for our needs even as we give to provide for other's needs and the work of the ministry.

"But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" (2 Corinthians 9:6-8 KJV)

We do not give to get rich or get a promotion in our jobs. We give because we are but stewards of God's things and like the master to the faithful servant, God will see fit to entrust more to the servant who can correctly dispose or redistribute His things.

We pray that the children will learn this young. More so, because they have witnessed how God has always provided for us even when we provide for others, truths come alive in practical living. Talking to them about answered prayer shows them God is real as much as we are real to them.

We end with a word of prayer, remembering those who are sick, those who need The Lord.
Everyone gives mama and papa a kiss goodnight and they are off to bed.

I picture in years to come, when my children are all grown with children of their own, how one day they will sit around a table and reminisce about the times when they were children and they sang together at home and had bible time with papa and mama. We have good memories in the making and I am so thankful to God for that.

The Ong Family Sings Amazing Grace (Gift of Love)

Galatians 1:3-5

3 Grace [be] to you and peace from God the Father, and [from] our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴ Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

⁵ To whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

May this song bless and encourage your hearts! :)

 

*Disclaimer, I apologize for the clapping and applause in the video. Whilst we are grateful for the encouragement, we do not feel comfortable with that because we do not deserve the glory but God does. But we had visitors to church who didn't know and wanted to show appreciation in that manner.

A Lovely August Wedding....

My family was privileged to be asked to help in the latest wedding among the couples at our church. The Bride asked no. 4 to be the page boy and the girls to be  her flower girls. Of course my children were excited! They practiced walking down the aisle in the living room to the tune of the Wedding March like umpteen times..

Together with the Bride's little 2 yr old niece, we realized all three flower girls were different age groups (toddler, small child and pre-teen), quite impossible to find matching dresses off the rack. So I offered to sew the dresses. Somewhat stressful because I procrastinated and suddenly baby was born! Somehow I managed to squeeze in time in the afternoons whn bb was sleeping to cut the cloth and sew.

The results were most satisfying! :)

Amazingly, my no.2 elder dd has been flower girl like 6 times already! As a result, the Lord through this way has provided her with many very pretty dresses to wear all through growing up. :) I think she will graduate from service with this last wedding. haha!

My boys have each had a turn to be page boys.:) (They used to think it was "peach boys" lol!) See no. 1 here and no.3 here!

So handsome in his suit and tie! <3 Pity we will be hard pressed to find too many occasions for him to wear it more often...

 And after completing the dresses, I had to turn my attention to the wedding cake! I've become the unofficial church wedding cake baker, you see. And I'm so glad to help. And I'm thankful for the help my little helpers give to me too! They help me shred carrots for the carrot cake and other jobs here and there. This time, the older two took turns to care for baby sister while I decorated the cake on Friday afternoon/night. Hubby was also quite busy bringing no.3 to the dentist for a toothache.

I call my cake creations my babies too, you know. ;)

Bride gets one *last* loving look at her cake before it gets whisked away to be cut up to be served!

I'll be posting more cake pics on my cake blog soon.

no. 1 also had a part in the wedding accompanying us on the guitar together with his cousin (who is also homeschooled!) Our guys did a fantastic job! God has blessed them with a good ear (each, haha) for music. They were able to figure out the chords from off the CD. ;)

We had the joy of singing for the couple a wedding song. Several folks thanked us for the song which they said was very touching.

The chorus goes:

And I'll love you, as the Lord loves me. I will stand by you, as the Saviour stands by me.

I will give myself to you as Jesus gave Himself for me... And we'll serve the Lord together faithfully.

You know, I'm glad that when we stand there to sing songs like these for weddings, it reaffirms in our children who are watching us that their parents do have a solid marriage relationship, anchored in Christ. We can truly sing freely and mean every word! God is so good to us to show us from His word how to have a wonderful married life, heaven on earth.

Some misc. pics!

no. 1 had a turn on uncle Roy's recumbent after the wedding. He was super chuffed!

clowning around....

 

 LOL!

 

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

Guitar Chords for Make Me a Stranger

I posted this some time ago but I'm re-posting because a dear brother in Christ requested the guitar chords for this song, Make Me a Stranger by Mac Lynch. The chords I am giving are in the key of D major. I don't think that will sync with the video. :p

Hope that helps, ZM! And maybe someone out there might enjoy playing this song too. :))

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Time for a music video!

It is a blessing to be able to play music at church with my very dear fellow sisters and brothers in Christ. We call ourselves the Maranatha Baptist Orchestra, or the MBO for short. :O)

Yes, I play the piano. (got my grade 8 when I was 14 yrs old but my fingers are very stiff now. especially my left hand.) Yes, I sing. (sang in school choirs, church choirs and all that.) You know, it's only very recently that I put the two together and tried singing while playing!

All glory to God. You know, He says if we will be faithful in the little things, He will give us greater things to do. So, I've been playing, and I've been singing, now I can do both at the same time! :O) But I need to practice more to get more comfortable at it. You'll see at the start of the video, I was saying, "wait ah...lemme gather my thoughts."

The Lord has blessed my children with musical talents too. This we intend to hone for His use. We've been doing piano and theory. I see my no. 1 writing scores in the future. He has an amazing ear for parts. I've told him it'll be a waste if I didn't teach him music theory so that he could write down all the music in his head.

No. 2 has also been learning the violin. Still learning the basics but I see something good going to grow from this time and money well spent. :O)

I'm so looking forward to a family orchestra! God's gonna do it in His time. I just know He will, if we keep being faithful at the little things.

Matthew 25:21   His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

Luke 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

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Anyway, for the song in the video, It's entitled Make Me a Stranger. Words and music by Mac Lynch.

It reminds us as christians not to sink our roots too deeply in this world which we are passing through. We ought to have eternity in view in what we say and do, choices we make. We're not going to be on this cursed world forever, yet often we find ourselves too comfortable in the affairs of this world.

Make Me a Stranger

 ----D------------ D7------------G------------D------

(1) Make me a stranger on earth dear Saviour,

-G----------- D---------Em7 -------A7------

Make me a stranger more like thee

--D ------------------ D7-----   G ----------D-------

Help me keep my focus on heavenly treasures

--G--------- D --------Em7 --A7 -----D-----

And not on earthly things it may be.

Chorus:

-Bm----------- F#m---- Em7 A7 F#m Bm

Lord lead me onward as    a   pil-  grim

--G ---------F#m Bm --Em7 ---  A7------

Bound for hea-ven never to roam

---D----------D7------------G------------D------

Make me a stranger on earth dear Saviour

- G----D --------Em7-- A7-----D------

Till I reach my hea- venly home

(2) Lord I've found myself loving earthly treasures

simple pleasures taking your place

nothing can measure to heavenly treasures

hearing "well done" and seeing Your face.

Words and music by Mac Lynch Performed by the Maranatha Baptist Orchestra as a musical offering unto the Lord on Sunday. 

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Hebrews 11:13  These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

1 Peter 2:11  Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

The Ong Family Children's.... CHOIR!

 

:)))

We've been doing choir for a year now with other homeschoolers and I'm so glad that we are beginning to enjoy singing together in parts. I've noticed it and I'm thankful that the children are all quite musical! :)

Most importantly, I pray that these songs will build the children's faith and love for Jesus. And in sharing our video, we pray we may encourage someone out there too! :)

This morning, we finally got the singing recorded. No.3 suggested we use the staircase so that it looks interesting and the sound can bounce off the walls. lol

This is a lovely hymn:   I Love Thee, Lord Jesus words by Jeremiah Ingalls/ Frank Garlock and music by Jeremiah Ingalls.

1. I love Thee, Lord Jesus, my Saviour divine; I love Thee, Lord Jesus, I know Thou art mine.

I love Thee, I love Thee, and that Thou dost know; But how much I love Thee my actions will show.

2. O Jesus, my Saviour, with Thee I am blest, My life and salvation, my joy and my rest:

Thy name be my theme, and Thy love be my song; Thy grace shall inspire both my heart and my tongue.

3. I love Thee, Lord Jesus, my heart's dearest Guest; My Saviour and Master, I give Thee my best.

I love Thee for dying on dark Calvary; I love Thee for showing Thy great love to me.

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We did a couple of takes. Here, baby is holding her breakfast yoghurt I fixed yesterday. :)

 

And we were not so satisfied with that ending, so we did another take, after we changed baby's yoghurt smeared shirt and waited for the grass cutters outside to pass....

by this time, baby was, how should I put it... more distracted. *roll eyes*

 

 

Rejoice with me, God has blessed us with a mini-choir when we once had none. :)

Next, Lord willing, we look forward to the Ong Family orchestra! :D

Ps 150:6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

Our Homeschooler Choirs

Haha, this is post is very appropriately placed under the category "Homeschoolers' Voices". ;) I haven't made it public on this blog before but since January this year, I've had the privilege of running a choir for some homeschoolers.

My desire is to impart whatever choir and singing skills I have accumilated over the years to my own children (who do love to sing) and other homeschoolers as well, and good Christ honoring music too! :)

As homeschoolers, our children do not often have the opportunity to do activities that require a group, but thankfully, the Singapore homeschool group is truly blessed with parents who have stepped forward and taken the initiative to organize such acitivities like soccer, scouts, etc etc. So this choir, I suppose, could be seen as my contribution back to the community.

I'm sharing three videos, the first one is of the children's choir where we have been learning songs from Character First!. Besides weekly singing practice, I do include some (Bible) story time to help the children understand the songs they sing better. 

I am always delightfully surprised at these children's attentiveness, eager participation, and how they can take instructions very well and carry them out the way I want them to. They are truly wonderful to work with!

And besides that, whenever I am telling a Bible story, it seems they tell it back to me because they already know the stories so well. :) Difficult details even! (eg. the names of the 2 wicked sons of Eli the High Priest.) All the mommies and daddies, well done!

Hospitality and Responsibility (accompanied by Joy Tan. Thanks Joy!! And Merci!!!)

 

They are all too cute!

Second video is the Senior choir. This choir is only 10 weeks old. It is targeted for an older group of homeschoolers (10 yrs and up) so that they could do more vocally challenging things and also with the aim in mind to train them with all the aspects of singing in a choir. After recruitment, I got 8 young ladies for this choir. I am hoping for more to join (female and especially male voices) then we can have more singing fun! :)

Again, these young ladies, not all have a music background but they all love to sing. I chose a difficult piece in three part harmony and they managed to learn their parts and pull it off! I am so proud of them!

This was the rehearsal just before the concert we had on Monday. 

 

 Not in this video, but thanks to sis Janice Sng for helping me with the girls and playing piano accompaniment. Good job!

Many positive outcomes have emerged from this choir. The most wonderful of which is the love of singing together, as evidenced by the way my children and their friends will come together and spontaneously sing the songs they have learned.

We serve an amazing God who takes personal care and attention in our journey on earth. I am more and more in awe of how He guides us every step of the way even as we take steps to trust and obey Him. How our children are growing physically, in knowledge, emotionally and spiritually, how we as parents are growing in faith and love for Him, how He brings people who blesses and aids us in our journey, how He even arranges and gives favor to us in the eyes of authority:

Psalms 32:7-8  Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah. I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

 

 To God be ALL glory.

 

More Carol and Daan Wedding Pics!

Our dear sister Carol and bro Da An got married last month. And it was a church family affair!

At my church, we handle just about everything for the church wedding from the decorations, to the cake, the ushering, recording, to the music (and of course, the preaching and the solemnizing.) The body of Christ in action! :) 

(btw, this venue was not our church. The couple rented Thompson Rd Baptist Church for their wedding day. Beautiful place!)

Otherwise stated, the following photo credits belong to sis Gerlynn Chan:

The reception area.

Pretty pew flowers done by aunty Ivy Sng. She did beautiful table arrangements too. Many years of experience really shows....

Pastor Jesse Sng and hubby having a little chat before the service proper starts.

my darling no. 3 had the honor of being the ring bearer! So proud of him!! :) no. 2 (on the left) so excited for her brother. The above photo was by KC of tinydot photography.

Sweet little flower girl, Chris! The above photo was by KC of tinydot photography.

Hubby and I (accompanied by bro Tim Low) did a song special for the couple.

Group Special: May the Lord Find Us Faithful. I wrote a special arrangment for the wedding. And what a joy to hear it sung by my dear brethren! (I can't seem to sing with my hands by my side. haha...) The above photo was by KC of tinydot photography.

My BIL (on the left) labouring to get the wedding cake into the main auditorium for the cake cutting. :)

My favourite pic. :D

The above photo was by KC of tinydot photography.

Sigh, cake art lasts only in photos... :) funny thing is, the bride told me later several guests didn't believe it was a real cake. It didn't help that they couldn't find it on the buffet table afterwards because it was snapped up so fast!

God's manifold blessings upon you two as you begin a new life together, Carol and Da An! Amen for the birth of a new family of Faith! :D

Psalms 127:1   Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.

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