The ONG family Homeschool

Happy Psalty Sixteen!!!

It's no. 1's 16th Birthday!!!! We're calling it a "Psalty" 16 coz it's not a sweet 16 for our musical boy. haha....

It is so clichéd but it is so true! The years truly fly by. I first started the blog in feb 2007 when my firstborn was 7 years old to share with fellow Singaporeans about homeschooling in Singapore. Here's my first ever blog post. My intention was to de-mystify what homeschooling is like because most Singaporeans don't know what a joy homeschooling can be! My blog is a compository of our homeschooling days of the kid's childhood and their learning adventures. 

Looking at back at my posts, being a young mother and without experience, I often mused about how my son will turn out. (It is always the first child we are most uncertain about because with him, we are always treading on new ground we have never tread before- the first guinea pig in everything.) There was often a sense of the Unknown how he will turn out but it was always accompanied with a sense of quiet confidence because God's promise of help and wisdom being with us as parents who follow Him. 

I'm still wondering where my butterball went? This is my favourite picture of my firstborn baby. It was taken by papa one quiet evening at home. It was quiet because back then, it was only the three of us at home.    

Fast forward to today, our son's 16th birthday. We are so so glad to say we have a strong relationship with him. What do I mean by "strong"? We are on the same page on our values and when there are differences, we are open in our communication and are able to work it out. There is absolute trust, honesty and an open communication. Most importantly, he is growing in his own personal faith in the God of the Bible and he desires to walk close to God. God has answered our prayers!   Who says teenagers will go through rebellious years?

No. 1 having fun photographing his siblings and friends in Wisconsin. Chicken throwing game. No chickens were hurt. 

 

Would you like to know how we arrived at this blessed time of reaping a wonderful fellowship and relationship with our eldest, now aged 16?

1) Good biblical teaching right from the start. We had good teaching, godly examples, good books which we learned from. Other families at Maranatha Baptist Church have the same testimonies. 

2) Planning ahead, forward thinking parenting. Train at toddlerhood to prepare for childhood. Train at childhood to prepare for the teen years. Train at teen years to prepare for adulthood. Right now, we are encouraging him in his future career. Our goal is for him to be able to get married young and support his family.

3) Staying faithful in our own walk with God, personally as well as in church. He has grown up in our life choice but that alone doesn't ensure that he will stay in it. We have always emphasized a genuine salvation experience and in the more recent years, a real, personal relationship with God. And we are so glad, it is evident that he has both. It is truly a joy that we can't place any value on.

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. 

Soup and marshmallows on a cold night in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. Those were such wonderful bonding moments we will never forget.

Homeschooling has been the very best thing that we have done as a family!

Homeschooling has enabled us to respond to each of our children's whole person needs: physical needs, emotional needs, spiritual needs, schooling needs and also talent nurturing.

Homeschooling has enabled us to set aside 6 months of our lives to step out as a family to go on a road trip around America. That decision has been so pivotal in helping no. 1 understand himself better. Travelling for 6 months (june- dec 2015) was a great journey of self-discovery for him.  

For those who are still not in the loop about what's been happening with our family, do check out the Facebook page, 6 Kids and a Pop-Up Camper.

Most of the photos there were taken and edited by him. And the amazing thing is that he is mostly self-taught. He has shown himself to be a confident and passionate self-learner and he works with dedication. I'm so proud of him!

Our intrepid young photographer taking on the streets of New York City.

How many 15 year olds can say they have a photo tour of 43 US states under their belt? Or that they are juggling publishing a 300 page photo book while preparing for O levels? I say this not to boast about ourselves but just to point out how much flexibility homeschooling offers us to respond to our various needs. If I boast, I boast only in God who has led us and enabled us. 

We are ever staring at the end of our precious homeschooling days with our firstborn but we are ever cherishing the moments we have together as a family, and looking forward to more adventures as a family even as we, by the grace of God, step into doing a family business. Together. <3

Our family with our pop-up camper at Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. 

Love you, son. Happy Birthday!

Psalms 16: 11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. 

If you have any questions about homeschooling or christian parenting, you can email me, Sue at [email protected]. Or just leave a comment below! :D 

 

Proposal Anniversary~ 17 Roses for 17 Years

I received a large bouquet of roses in February in honour of the day that my dearest and I officially began our journey of being lifetime soulmates when he proposed to me. I hardly look like the beautiful bride of 17 years ago- six births have taken a toll on my body. But my darling husband has always made me feel like that bride he married all those many years ago.

 Daily, he treats me with love, kindness and respect. Our marriage is a piece of heaven on earth and I am truly so thankful to God for His merciful provision to me. Our children see that papa and mama love each other and that makes them want to follow our example of love. They respect our date night and do not clamour to go out with us. They know that papa and mama need that alone time with each other, and it is a blessing that the older ones will manage the dinner plans and care for the younger ones while we are out. 

A strong marriage is the foundation of a strong family. It is sad to see all the love, focus and attention turn to the children the moment they are born and the husband and wife relationship gets relegated to a lower priority. When my pastor taught us that the marriage is more important, I used to think but what about the children?!? They and their needs are so all consuming, how on earth does a wife minister *first* to her husband? Wives are to be a helpmeet to their husbands. Read it Genesis. That has never changed in God's economy of things.  

We care for the children and thereby fulfil our role as being helpers for our husbands but that is but one aspect of the job, not the whole job. We need to meet our husband's needs physical, emotional, sexual needs- this is our privilege if we are to be called the woman of his life. Love and honour him, if not someone else might take your place. I am not saying this out of insecurity but just looking around at marriages that are on the rocks and even broken, oftentimes it boils down to neglect and unmet needs. 

Love your spouse generously! It is an expression of your love for Christ. 

Ephesians 5:22-33

 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

²³ For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.

²⁴ Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

²⁶ That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

²⁷ That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

²⁸ So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

²⁹ For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:

³⁰ For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

³¹ For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

³² This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

³³ Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

 

 

How Does Your Garden Grow?

If you, as a parent, were a gardener and your children were the saplings, how is your garden growing? I have many thoughts springing from recent happenings and I just thought I need to record it tonight. If this sharing hits too close to home, please understand it is not my intention to kick a fellow soldier when he or she is down. Nor do I intend to raise my family up as some sort of ideal. Our work with our children is far from done and we have to be constantly on our toes, to be sober and vigilant. I am heart broken as much as any other when I hear of Christian parents who are grieved by children who reject the faith. I humbly write to share what I have gleaned, especially to those young families with young children who are just starting this faith journey. I wish they would be careful to avoid pitfalls that have entangled so many others who have suffered before. 

 Just looking at my two older sons tonight, I commented that they are starting to look like twins. My eldest is now 15 and has grown taller than me. My second son (the third born) is 11 going 12 and going through a growth spurt. He has elongated and quite suddenly looks like he is soon to be as tall as his older brother. Of late, with the three older children all catching up with their papa and me in terms of height and stature, I have been feeling half engulfed by them being so tall. It takes some getting used to. They were once all shorter than me. 

the median height of my family has increased! Praise God.

More importantly, as I look as my once saplings now growing into young plants, I reflect on the health of the plants, my crop. How do I know my children are healthy? I want them to be happy in the Lord, glad and thankful to be serving Him. I want them to love the Lord and each other, as well as the church. I want them to possess a spirit of courage, determination, confidence, humility, compassion for the lost. I am so thankful to say, that by the grace of God, these are seen in various amounts in all the children, especially the older children. 

I'll share how we have been tending to this garden, growing them for the Lord's use. 

1) membership and faithful service at a good bible believing church that preaches the Word of God. I cannot underscore this importance enough. Wrong preaching will result in a wrong way of life and thinking that God never intended for His children to have. He intends for His people to have an abundant life. The Devil is a thief and a counterfeit who robs and shortchanges people, even the very elect, of their joy and a godly testimony. I am so blessed to have reaped good preaching for all these years at Maranatha Baptist Church, and our lives have been blessed for it. 

2) In accordance to the correct, biblical view of things, we need to understand that we the gardeners inherited bad seeds. Wicked seeds, evil seeds: seeds that have the potential of growing into an adulterer, a thief, a drunkard, a murderer.....Oh no, you may say, my baby is an angel. Yes, he may throw a fit sometimes, he may not want to obey me sometimes, but he is not evil!  

Jeremiah 17: 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

 

I recently had a sobering conversation with my veteran missionary friend who also has six children about this very problem of how children who are raised in a godly home can turn out wayward. I'm sure many of us have pondered that question, after observing how even pastor's kids can grow up rejecting the faith and grow up reprobate.

 

My friend rightly stated that "all the teaching & training in the world cannot make our children respond to God. It must be their choice. If only they could see."

We need to understand that ALL our children are born sinners and in desperate need of true salvation through repentance and a turning to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. 

I'm so glad to read my 13 year old girl's sentence construction practice the other day. She was asked to complete the sentence: The principal objective of homeschooling is... and she answered- SALVATION. Do your children understand the true goal of education? 

2 Timothy 3: 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

We learn in 2 Tim 1 that Timothy's mother Eunice and grandmother Lois made it a point to impart the Scriptures to Timothy from a young age with the goal of making him wise unto salvation. We cannot save our children by living a godly life although that certainly helps prepare a good "spiritual climate" for the child to be introduced to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, that does not ensure that the child will truly be saved.

True salvation is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, working in tandem with a good biblical understanding of sin and self before a righteous and Holy God. Romans 10 says: 

¹³ For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

¹⁴ How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

¹⁵ And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

¹⁶ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

¹⁷ So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

We want our children to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. They will never come to have faith in this God unless their faith is grown through the knowledge of hearing God's word. Check your bible. There is NO OTHER WAY, my friends. What a privilege as a parent to be the first ones to write the Word of God on the slate of our children's hearts. Oh, be sure that the World will fight you tooth and nail to write (or, more accurately, graffiti)  on their hearts. Are you a jealous parent? Jealous for the pure, undefiled things of God? Or do are you one who thinks it is ok to flirt around a little here, a little there, a little Harry Potter (even though we have been instructed as Christians to have nothing to do with witchcraft and sorcery), a little Katy Perry (worldly music with all its themes of adultery, sex, and fornication), a little bit of online gaming just to relax and kill time.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

If today's Christians were to use this verse as their guideline for choices of entertainment and activities, (and we should), so much ungodly trash will be out the window. And good riddance. 

It is a battle for the souls of our children. All the battle hymns of old (Onward Christian Soldiers, Soldiers of the Cross) have been replaced soft, sappy, lulling love ballads that can easily be interchanged with worldly themes of lust. It is an unbiblical depiction of the true nature of our sin nature and how we need to fight it by the grace of God!

3) by love and joy, draw out your plants. How is your relationship with your children, each child? Do you laugh and play with them? Do they come and talk to you and tell you their heart? Joy is the glue that keeps a child stuck to his or her parent. (Read this article by Michael Pearl about joyful parenting. Read the rest of the website with Godly discernment.) 

Who wants a grumpy, snappy mom or dad who says that God is love?

Jeremiah 15:6 Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts. 

Does our daily countenance befit the gospel (the "good news") we preach to our children?

4) how much time do we spend in the dirt, working on the plants? I am saddened to see that sometimes, father and mother are so busy serving the Lord that their precious children are neglected and bitter. How can this be? The imagination that somehow, a servant of the Lord Jesus can circumvent His plan for the family (Ephesians 6:4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.) and somehow by some miraculous stroke, this sinful child will also grow to love the Lord? Check the statistics in the Bible for how many men of God whose children also followed after the Lord. It is pretty bleak. If you have a child who would love the Lord as much if not more than you, you are in an amazing minority. I'm sure that most of these parents who have successfully passed on their faith will say, it didn't happen by chance. It took work, effort, dedication and sacrifice to win that child's heart.   

I love this verse in proverbs 23:

²⁶ My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

 Your son needs to SEE you and your ways. Not "hear of you". See you. This means actual proximity. I have heard of pastors, ministry workers who are so busy in the Lord's work, helping and serving others in need, and their children don't see them. And the child's heart gets stolen by friends and other activities. It is really, really a tragedy. The Devil loves it when that happens.

And stay home moms can be as guilty of neglecting their children as out of the home working moms! Highly possible! Just decide to keep the cleaning and tidying of the house as a bigger priority than sitting with the children. Or spending time online. Or whatever. I am often guilty and need reminders! God help me! 

We all need reminders, I need these reminders to myself. In our family, we still have tender little ones who need to come to the saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, so the work is far from done!

But I do rejoice to see my older children growing in the Lord. For those with younger children, let me encourage you: the fruits of our labour in our garden is very, very sweet! 

The eldest loves to share the gospel with strangers he meets on the bus or anywhere. May God bless his efforts! It is wonderful that now my husband and I have multiplied ourselves, we have the older children who love God and His Word and are able to use it and share it with their younger siblings and counsel and encourage friends and whoever God places their way. We can share the burden, labouring together in prayer and deeds. May God see it fit to use each of our six arrows, sharpened for His use. They have joined our ranks and are in the training to be fellow soldiers of Christ! Truly, it is a great joy.  

 

3 John 1:4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.

 

 

Homeschooling - Flat on Bed

Some folks wonder what happens to the homeschooling when mom is sick. Well, since yours truly is going through one such phase right now, typing from my bed, I decided to write a post about it. ;) 

ok, when we send our children to school, school will still keep going if the teacher is sick. They will call for a substitute teacher to come in to take the class. If they didn't, chaos will reign! 

Over our 14 years of homeschooling, there have been times when I have been taken out of action due to illness: like the times I suffered from severe morning sickness for 3 - 4 week stretches, or the times after giving birth, or like now, when I throw out my weak back. 

Yesterday afternoon, I was carrying the 2 year old onto the toilet when I sprained my back. I was carrying her in an awkward position and put too much strain on my lower lumbar. I felt a shifting of my spine and I ended up on my knees, supporting the weight of my upper body on the toilet seat and the sink. I yelled for help. Thankfully my hubby was around, and all the children helped to get me onto a chair. I almost blacked out at that point. After I regained some composure, they moved me to the bed. I cannot sit up or walk. Sneezing is a torture that sends shockwaves of pain at my spine. This morning I brushed my teeth in bed. 

Thank God, my husband is off work today and can be around. Thank God, too, now the older kids are older and can do much more to help. This morning, they made scrambled eggs for my breakfast in bed. DS 4 (8 yrs old) was so worried that he broke down in tears and prayed for me. I told him thank you for praying for me to get well, but i know that with a few days of rest, God will help my back to recover. Pray rather for us to be able to go through this time well and for himself when he is afraid. It is a wonderful time for him to draw closer to God and lean upon Him for comfort. The 2 year old does her part by sayang-ing me, stroking my face. :)

It's more like a holiday for me, actually. :p

Ok, what if you don't have older children and your husband can't be around?

1) get help if the kids are really really small and you are alone.

2) school can go on half load. We know we can't call off school because, well, chaos will reign. But just go at a more relaxed pace than usual. Give the kids more desk work that they can do quietly by themselves. (ACE is a curriculum that allows this anyway.) Or teach from your bed when you are up to it.

3) It is a great time for your children to take the turn of looking after you. Let your needs be known to them and they will feel so happy to be able to help mommy for a change.

Many homeschool mommies will say the same. ;)

Will the children lose a lot of time and have to catch up on their school work? Don't worry, be flexible. The schooling goals can be re-worked. The family needs must take priority over the school work. That's how homeschooling is.   Our homeschool has had many halts and re-starts due to times I've been out of action or camps and holidays. The children still manage to be "educated" somehow. ;)

Happy homeschooling! :D

Phillipians 4

¹¹ Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

¹² I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

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

 

Journey into Photography and Film

We in Singapore, we grow up in a highly structured environment. Everything we were taught in school was systematically taught to us from kindergarten up to the point we graduate. That is why, some parents, though they think homeschooling theoretically is a great idea, they feel afraid to take the plunge because they think they may some how be shortchanging their children and ruin their futures. 

I'm not here to guarantee that homeschooling will always be a successful path- there are many, many variables to consider. I'll just share here one example of a learning journey we entered into somewhat haphazardly and to just document how our eldest son has been doing. It is a combination of things that happened, opportunities that were available to us, but above it all, I can only claim that it was the invisible hand of God moving in our lives. 

It all started one Sunday Jan 2013 when a sister in church, Germaine, cheerfully handed me a bag. She told me that before she went for her company dinner function the previous night, she told God if she won anything during the table draw, she would give it to the Ongs. I am still so grateful for the loving and generous brethren of my church!!!

 So, I think God planned this journey for us :) .... In that bag was this brand new Canon IXUS. And I decided to let the kids have it and I tasked DS1 to go and take some nice photos. 

Very quickly, the boy learned to use the functions of this little camera and he started to take pretty amazing shots. This was a shot from the first few albums when he took it on his cycling trip to the Sembawang coast.

 

He learned to play the the special functions on the camera like color emphasis. The one below was from mama's shopping trip to Tekka market in Little India. I dragged all the kids along and he had a chance to play with the camera. 

 

Flowers from the garden...

He got some nice shots when we went to Perth in June 2013. This is my fav shot!

 

But his favourite muse is of course, his baby sister.

 

Soon, I began to foist my dreams of doing short video skits on the kids. haha. Foist. 

I thought it was a fun and interesting project that could get the whole family involved. Some could come up with the story line, some could act, some could film, some could edit. 

But way before we got to that point, there were already several quiet starts to this part of the learning journey. We didn't know during those moments that it would be useful information some day....So, go out and explore broadly.

(On a separate note, I have noticed sometimes, homeschoolers become very cloistered and home bound. Partly the parent's personalities, partly the child's lack of motivation. I personally think homeschooling should be bigger and wider. If we wanted to be stuck in one place, we should have just gone to school. ) 

One such "quiet start" moment was watching the special, behind the scenes clips at the end of our Pixar DVDs. Those were really an eye opener as to how the creative process is communicated and produced. 

Another one we remember was the Pixar exhibition which came to our Science Centre in 2010. We learned a lot from that too. So, field trips are a fantastic way to fire up the interest for learning. And we as homeschoolers, field trip as often as we can! (Budget constraints only. heehee..)  

 Yet another one was when we met a reader of this blog in Perth. She is an amazing young lady who decided to leave Singapore to study in Perth by herself initially. (Now her family is with her there.) And so wonderfully God planned it such, Michelle is someone who works in the film industry! 

She was so kind to invest some time the next she was in Singapore and she did an afternoon course with us and other homeschoolers on how to make a Stop Motion Animation. There we learned how to do up a storyboard before filming. It really saves time! So, PEOPLE who are willing to share their expertise are another invaluable help that God sends on our learning journey. 

We produced this based on what we learned from Michelle's session with us. 

 

Oh yes, and another great thing that happened was the good papa invested in an iMac. I had so long been eyeing it for iMovie. Getting the right TOOLS are so important, without which, there can be little progress.

 So after enough nagging about getting a video done, DS1 one evening had a sudden thought that he wanted to take very steady shot. And he thought of getting a hammer from the storeroom and attaching it to his camera to stabilize the movements. And it worked! Resourcefulness and Innovation! haha

 DS3 had been making a rubber band ball and we were complaining one day how all the rubber bands in the house disappeared overnight. I thought it would make an interesting little storyline. And he also agreed to talk about how he made his rubber band ball in his British accent (gotten from watching TV, cartoons mostly. Like Peppa Pig). I can't wait for his comedy skits to be filmed!!! :)

So this was the first real video that DS1 shot and edited. 

 

After this, he started learning more and more cost efficient (read: cheap) ways to make camera rigs and he found on youtube, that PVC pipes were the way to go. The very next thing, the papa goes to the hardware shop and buys many PVC pipes and lots of joints... and away the boy went, measuring and sawing. He would be muttering the measurements under his breath and it reminded me of me when I am sewing clothes. haha

So, supportive adults who encourage the child's interests and passions. Important! Don't quell their ambitions! (Caveat: as long as the ambitions are good and pleasing in the sight of God, of course.)

But but but.... there is no O level subject that is Videography! Is all this a useless waste of time? 

Let's get out of the certification trap (majority of kids in Singapore doing the same things) and go with honing of specialized talents, building a portfolio and then see how it goes. 

 

Note: I have found that this generation of learners are no longer words and print bound. There is a wealth of information in the form of videos out there on the internet.. for FREE. It's a great time to be a homeschooler. 

He made a slider, a crane, and he got pretty carried away at some point and made a monster. But that's part of learning. 

His interest now piqued, another opportunity presented itself in the form of an upcoming play that our church youth are putting up. DS1 volunteered to make a trailer to tell people about the play (advertise).  I don't think the others knew what they were in for! haha. 

Now the latest part in this video making puzzle is learning about filming (like the different types of shots and camera angles) and editing. This he also learned from Youtube.

Here is his storyboard (the first he really planned and worked on, colour coded and everything). 

So he managed to communicate his ideas with his friends and get them to act for him. :) I am proud to say these two handsome guys are my homeschooled nephews! ;)  

  

 

And right here, we so happy and excited to be releasing the SECOND trailer that DS1 created for the play.

The literature teacher in me is so happy that he extrapolated from the actual text to imagine Mordecai's reaction when the decree was passed. In school, we had to come up with all these exercises to help the students better understand the text. And here, my homeschooled son shows he understands the text well enough to do the same. :)

  

In this one project alone, he has pooled so much of what he has learned over the months and years together. Leadership and organising skills, conceptualizing, directing, filming, editing, choosing an appropriate soundtrack.  And new talents too... acting! haha I never knew he could emote. LOL

As I said in the previous post, I am glad and proud of how DS1 is growing and developing. Homeschooling in the teen years is very exciting and fun! He is at an age whereby his learning has taken a life of its own and it has grown beyond me and my knowledge and abilities. And that's the way it should be.

For EVERYTHING that has happened on this journey thus far... I attribute it to our loving Heavenly Father who loves us and guides us with His eye. Thank you Jesus. I am so grateful I do not homeschool the children by my strength alone!  

And so the journey continues, with the recent (last week!) acquisition of our first DSLR!!!!

The journey continues.... To God be all glory, honour and praise. 

 

 Do come for the Esther play! ALL are warmly welcome!

13 Sept Sat 4-6pm, 14 Sept Sun 2-4 pm

Maranatha Baptist Church. 

 

 
 

Passion Driven Learning

In this post, I want to share with readers our educational philosophy of Passion Driven Learning. I recently had a very friendly poster on the FB page who commented "it's great being a homeschooler, and having the time to do things you love.. I think it's GREAT too to have supportive parents like you guys. This is Blessing!!"

Yes, indeed it is! I feel that we chose to homeschool because we wanted the autonomy to choose the education path of each of our children. Imagine how nice it is to be able to choose which subjects *you* want to offer for O levels and it is not subjected to what subject combination the school is offering and how keen the competition is to get into the class of your preference. How many of us when we were in school ended up doing subjects we hated just because we got placed there by the system. Seriously, all that time I spent on chemistry and physics.... down the toilet. 

So, for our son, we have decided on a very focused 5 or 6 O level certificate and only the subjects he is interested in. And we will be doing the O levels over 2 years (when he is age 16 and 17), at a very relaxed pace. This, in turn, frees his time to do other things and we are so glad that he is living a very busy and fulfilling life.

For his "desk bound" work, (besides the O level stuff) he is doing several ACE paces and he recently started on FBI, which is a diploma in Bible Studies. FBI is fantastic, verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book walk through the bible in 3 years. And it builds FAITH! I'm really so glad that DS1 has been faithfully reading his bible and doing his personal quiet time with the Lord every morning and night. And now, even more so with FBI homework reading. 

The rest of his time, DS 1 is happily kept busy with his many interests and also helping around the house. For the better part of this year, he assisted one of our church brothers in running a Robotics club. He did well enough to be invited to work again next year! :)

 Their Robots won First and Second places. :)

DS 1 still is helping to clean bicycles, mop the floor, do part of the laundry duty, cook the occasional meal.  And he is still running and swimming almost daily. He and his younger brother have started cello lessons for about 1 month now and is showing promise. He is being taught by an Argentinian cellist! Thankfully at an affordable fee. :p

I hope folks can see that when we free our kids from the shackles of school, and the heavy emphasis on "certification", they can do so much more learning and gain experience.

I must say at this juncture that it may be well and good as parents we desire this education path for our teenagers but there's a big part of it that is dependent on the learner's desire to learn and grow. Indeed, freeing up so much time might actually end up counter productive if the teen is led by fleshly passions. (I can imagine a teen with too much time ending up at the gaming centers and playing WOW till dawn.)

Character training and imbibing the love of God from childhood up is so important. If in the childhood years, they have been trained to have an enquiring mind, love work and love learning,.... their teen years spent homeschooling is really FUN! Why? Because teenagers can work independently, research and develop their ideas, pursue their own projects, feel the rush and pride of a job well done.    

So, to parents who are homeschooling their kiddies: keep at it through the teen years...The teen years are when you harvest the fruit!! 

Next post, I'll share a bit about how DS1's journey into videography. It has been an amazing 2 year journey, marked by the Lord's mercies and guidance!

Here's his latest and most "professional" project to date. Super low budget but I'm sure one can appreciate the creative energies that went into the making of this short film. It's a trailer for an upcoming play on the book of Esther done by our church youth. The two actors are his homeschooled cousins! lol

Sat 13th Sept 4-6pm and 14th sept 2-4pm. Maranatha Baptist Church. All are warmly welcome! :) 

 

 

Yes, we are very proud of his work. :) His papa and I were quite tickled watching it because we were so amazed at what he can do. He's a diamond in the rough. The learner in him is just blossoming now, and his education has taken on a life of its own. As for the younger children who are following close behind, they are learning and growing at their pace as well and it is such a joy to also see them develop their talents and interests as well. Enjoying each day the Lord gives us as a family together: growing, laughing, loving. 

Bible Secrets to Successful Fatherhood

We had a simple Father's Day celebration. Not anything really special but just doing things that we usually do as a family: be in the Lord's house, fellowship with the brethren, take a long, sweaty evening walk. We have beautiful places to enjoy in our country, Singapore. 

Arrest a kind passerby to help us with a family pic. ;)

Generations of working parents leaving their children to be raised by foreign domestic helpers, doting grandparents, childcare teachers have left new generations of parents quite bereft of how to be a "Good Parent". Most of the time, we fall back on what we have observed from our own parents, what we observe from the community around us, and the examples on media (God help us). 

My dear husband didn't have a father figure. His own father left his family when he was 15 years of age. He never saw his father except for Chinese New Year, mostly to exchange Ang Paos. By God's grace, my husband forgave his father and was privileged by God to help lead his father to Christ before he passed away. 

When my husband became a father 14 years ago, he prayed to God. He humbly asked, God, I don't know how to be a father, but You are my Heavenly Father. I will learn from You.

God, the All-knowing Creator, has revealed much to those who would seek and ask how to be a good father. Thank God for that! It's not a mystery. The following are just a few gems from the Bible about Fatherhood:

 
A Good Father will provide materially for his family. Many Singaporean fathers can and do achieve this. Unfortunately, there are those who can only father children but not feel the responsibility to provide for their children. 

"But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Timothy 5:8 KJV)

Not to discount this but being a good provider is the basest form of Fatherhood. To be a successful father, it takes more. 

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A Better Father will invest time with his children doing meaningful activities together which communicate his godly values and character. I think that in the Bible times, it would be for the child (son) to observe how his father does his business, how he works, how he treats his customers, friends and family.

"My son......let thine eyes observe my ways." (Proverbs 23:26 KJV)

In our day and age, with fathers working such long hours out of the home, it is really difficult for the children to observe their fathers with their eyes. Do we work our job situation around the bible and the desire to be a good father, or the other way around?

Many fathers we know really do sacrifice their free time (what ever is left after work has eaten up a large chunk) to spend with their children. For many years, my husband did that. He would get home from work at 6 plus, spend the last of the children's waking hours till they sleep at 9. That's a mere 3 hours everyday. He would then doze off from sheer tiredness and then wake at 2 am to work on the computer some more. By God's grace, we survived that.

Three years ago, the Lord convicted him regarding the shortness of time and how our children, especially the eldest son, was growing fast. I remember our son, then 11, was very edgy, and meeting my commands with tetchy resistance. But when papa decided to go on a part time load and was able to spend more time with us, my son's temper melted into calmness. Fathers have this effect on sons that mothers just cannot replicate. Sons (and daughters) just tend to gravitate to a father's firm and secure word and presence.

But, be warned, a father who spends a lot of time with his children can still fail at being successful. Doing lots of activities is still not the answer. To be a successful father, It takes more. 

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The Wise Father will always aim to win the heart of his children through respectful two way communication that reaches into the thoughts, feelings and intents of the child's heart. No, actually, I should not say, "win". Because the love and loyalty of a child for their father and mother is God-given. Engraved into the heart of every child. So what the father must do is KEEP the heart of his child. When you have a baby, toddler, young child, it seems like an easy enough task. But all too quickly, discerning parents will realize that many things start to fight for the heart of their child- friends, pop idols, electronic devices, etc. Unfortunately, too many unwitting parents are happy to allow these to enter into the heart of their child and take over the place that rightfully should be theirs.

That is one half of it- fending off the onslaught of external threats. The other part is how a parent needs to constantly show they are aiming to understand their child through active listening, asking probing questions to uncover the hidden fears or worries of the child.  Through the day or the week, situations that arise will present themselves as opportunities to talk to the child. Take the time to sit down one on one in a quiet private place to talk. Listen to what difficulties the child maybe facing, encourage the heart, and importantly, point the way.  

The father must instruct his child, through godly counsel, but mostly through influence of his person.

My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. (Proverbs 23:26 KJV)

If you are a parent of a young child, seize these precious years! Your child still looks up to you and loves you. It is sad when teenagers would rather share their problems to their friends or someone else they believe they can trust, and not turn to their own parents because they have learned that talking to their parents is like talking to a wall. They learned that in their childhood years.

The bible has much more to say about how to be a good father. I've just shared what is closer to my heart at this present time.

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Happy Father's Day, dear! We thank God for your untiring love, care and faithfulness. 

  

Check out this other post: Parenting is Truly Heart Work

Behold! Our Own Youtube Channel!!!

I've waited incredibly long to do this but, finally, I have a high schooler in my homeschool who can carry out my ambitions. bwhahaha....Confession: I have watched TV all my life. I did some film courses in University but back then, it was all in theory because the equiptment and software was only in the hands of the professionals and those in the film industry. 

Now.... with this explosion of apps and software tools, film making is right in the hands of almost everybody and anybody can make a film! It's an amazing time to be a student these days. So much is available. Coupled with the fact that the good papa recently bought a MacBook Pro with iMovie. Finally.... finally.... let the movie making BEGIN!!!! bwahahahaha

Software being available is one thing. Having the passion to tackle it is another. I'm glad that my kids are willing to try new things and experiment, go beyond what is "required". No. 1 noticed that professional cameras have stablizers attached to their cameras. So he experiemented with attaching a hammer (yes, a hammer from the tool box) to his tripod and mounting the camera on it. It works! lol

Homeschooling middle schoolers and high schoolers is SO FUN! They are able to take on so much more.

Here's the two of them working on the running scene. I gave the general directions and story line but it was no. 1 who gave the character motivations and action directions. No. 3 did lots of improv too! He's a natural at acting. (I have learned to step aside when they are being creative. I have sadly lost the ability to dream and clown around.)

In our homeschool, we "barter trade" expertise. ;) A group of SMU students asked us for an interview regarding homeschooling and I said, ok, on condition you guys teach us some film editing. And they made good on their word!

 

Our young mentor, pictured here, took a look at our first film attempt (link below) and was impressed! haha....yaay!  

 

 

He decided to go with his British accent. Sounds authentic, doesn't it? lol

Remember to Subscribe to the channel! Thank you, that ONE person, who has subscribed thus far!! ;)

Homeschool Exit Planning

Many happy, eventful and fully lived-out years have passed in our humble homeschool and all too quickly, we are staring the end of our homeschooling years with our dear firstborn. I am truly blessed and I couldn't think of spending these years of my life in a more meaningful way. God's ways are not always easy to understand but in the doing of it, come the joy and blessings. My precious first baby is a young man now and it has been my privilege to be right there with him every precious passing day.

From 2007. Making his own pirate props.... He was 7 years old then! :) Check out my early blog entries.
 

In Singapore, the year our sons turn 18 yrs of age, they will be enlisted for National Service. Within a couple of months of their birthday, they will be enlisted. Unless they are enrolled in a school, that is. In that event, their enlistment will be deferred till they finish their exams. 

Our firstborn son happens to be born in January. And this means that he will loose his entire 18th year to get an academic certificate if we were to keep him from public school. He is 14 now and, quite suddenly out of the blue one day, it dawned on hubby and I that we are quite squeezed for time to help him finish up his homeschool years with a certificate of some sort. In essence, we have from now till the end of 2017.

Three years left!!! 

Only Three years left. :(

It has been a wonderful time of praying and planning together with our eldest regarding how he should be spending his remaining 3 years before the NS deadline. I've come to appreciate even more how very important it is that parents build a solid relationship with their children in the childhood years- a relationship of based on love and trust. Our dear son is also looking at the future, not without anxiety, but he is willing to trust us because he loves us and he knows that we love him and take his future very seriously. We have been praying and indeed, God who loves our son and has a plan for his life, has been directing our thoughts and refining the plan.

Homeschooling is a wide open path and there is no set route for any homeschooler- not even those of siblings in the same family! To date, I know of Singaporean homeschoolers who have gone the academic route (even to Stanford University), and some who have gone the vocational route (diploma in piano education, no other certificates and now teaching piano). Often it seems, the parent's inclinations and areas of expertise tend rub off on their children. Like the music teacher mom and her musically accomplished children. Some homeschoolers have gone on to pursue culinary courses, and some, go to the local polys. I guess the common thread here is: go with the God-given strengths of the child, work the system to serve that end.

If you have been following our blog, you will find that we have never placed academics like pursuing good grades for exams as the top priority but rather a well-rounded education. We love for the children to love learning and be passion driven in their learning. In our house, it's rarely maths or something "academic" that they are passionate about. Lately, the middle children have been sewing sock toys, and these few days, no. 3 has begun a knitting adventure. And I am so happy for that.  So what if it's not going to contribute to his PSLE grade??? I have a young man who is excited to learn!That (the passion for learning) will take him through life. (But so much of society measures young people by their school grades. Knitting is a complete waste of time.)     

The Boys and their own handsewn sock toys!

But I digress.

After going through several scenarios, Hubby and I have come to settle on doing the O levels and spreading it over 2 years (yr 16 and 17), giving our son a more spread-out exam load and hence giving him more time to explore his other passions. This is like what some in the normal academic stream do. Meanwhile, he will be finishing up a few high school level ACE subjects that I have chosen for him (Physical Science, Geography, Old Testment, New Testament, Life of Christ, etc..) 

His to-do list runs very long! He wants to build a business, teach Sunday school, complete a triathlon, pick up the cello, just to share a few. On the home front, I need his help to teach the younger siblings, mop the floor, cook some dinners.... 

Photography and recently, videography, is one of no. 1's interests too.

His father is looking forward to enrolling him in Faith Bible Institute (FBI) which will take him through the bible over 3 years and we look forward to him being grounded in the Word of God even more solidly before he is "released" into the world. He is looking forward to FBI too! How Wonderful that he has a dad who knows what is the most important thing in education: being grounded in the living Word of God. AND he gets to earn a college level diploma in Bible at the end of it. *thumbs up*     

He has typed out this to-do list and I told him that everytime he can tick off another item, that is a testament of God's grace to enable him to do that. So, we are happy for him to have broad boased learning (not all academic) in his high school years.

We are grateful to God for these exciting prospects. We have no idea how it will all pan out, how God will re-direct our path..... but we know that with God holding our hands, we are safe. 

 

Psalms 32:8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.