Thursday, 31 October 2013

Home Visit

The officer (Ms L) from MOE Compulsory Education Branch came to our place for a home visit today. It was nerve wrecking to have someone from the ministry in our home, observing and taking note of every possible detail of our private lives. I took a week to put away the unsightly stuff that I usually need for craft or some teaching purposes. I suppose I felt a need to impress, to show that we are a orderly and purposeful family who is, in a nutshell, suitable for homeschooling our children. I'm not sure if we did impress her, but I know we weren't pretending to be what we were not. 

Ms L came with a checklist of things we need to acknowledge and understand about homeschooling regulations. After we cleared that, we talked about my plans and curriculum a little. Basically she wanted to know if I am sincere and if I actually know what I am doing. Then she requested to see some of the work I have been doing with Sophie. Fortunately, we are currently working on 'apples' unit study so I could show her some of Sophie's work. We also had a mini tour around the house and she was quite happy we have space for activities and learning. She also talked a little about my background as a teacher and my professional training in counselling. I also shared with her my understanding of Sophie and how I see homeschooling as a good option for her. 

Finally, she interviewed Sophie. I almost forgot to breathe as Sophie answered her in a quiet and unassuming manner. She asked Sophie to talk about herself and prompted her to say what she likes to do. Sophie told her she likes reading (which confirms what I told her earlier) and she likes science (also what I told her). She then continued that she likes to read about volcanoes, storms and weird creatures. She also say she enjoys art. At times, I felt that Ms L is verifying what I say or write in my application. And that made me very nervous. 

At one point, she asked Sophie to show her what she has done in art. I was worried. Sophie took the freshly painted hands and spread it out on the dinner table to show Ms L. We did this while waiting for Ms L to arrive in the morning. Imagine that! Ms L took one look at the hands and didn't know how to respond. The hands were very attractive at all. I could almost see "so?" in her imaginery speech bubble. 


Then Sophie did me proud. She went on explaining that I drew around her hands and she painted them brown. They are the trunks of apple trees and she is making four trees, each in one season - Spring, Summer, Fall (Autumn) and Winter. Sophie told Ms L that in Spring, there will be apple blossoms (not flowers!), in Summer there will be sour, green apples, in Fall the apples will be red and juicy, and in Winter the tree will be bare. Immediately, Ms L said she's very good! And I beamed with pride. It didn't matter she just learnt that yesterday and I didn't care if she cut of part of the branch on her 'hand'. I was glad she could ace her interview. 

It takes 2-3 weeks for Ms L to inform us if the application is approved, but I have a feeling it's going to be fine. I know she was skeptical when she first saw our work, thinking Sophie couldn't possible understand what I have taught her. But I think she was pleasantly surprised at the end of her visit that a barely 6 year old could speak to a total stranger without much problem and describe the seasonal change of an apple tree in a coherent and meaningful manner. When she was leaving, Sophie perked up (obviously more relaxed) and shouted "Bye bye Ms L!" before running off to play with her dolls. 

Wednesday, 30 October 2013

Drawing Faces


Alfee's obsession for Ultraman is fuelling his determination to draw the hero in rubber suit right. He can draw a pretty decent looking face now. 


Somehow Gong Gong's interference made his drawing look less like Ultraman and more like the minions in Despicable Me. And when it was time for Gong Gong to leave for home, Alfee happily declared that as Jie Jie now.

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Alfee's All Grown Up!


The school annual T & T is on 9 November this year and for the first time, Alfee will be dancing on stage. I have no idea if he'll get stage fright or he'll get too tired in the afternoon to perform. I am praying hard it will go smoothly. I prepared his clothes for the performance and I must say, I almost teared when I looked at him. He's all grown up now. He's no more the little screaming baby in my arms. He's still as adorable though. Compared to Sophie, he's more willing to take risk even though he's more cooperative. With him, we have to be very clear of the boundaries and keep reminding him to do the right things.

Working & Painting With Apples And Celery


Rose kept part of the celery for us to do vegetable printing. As we are currently doing the topic on apples, we also did some apple prints. I always enjoy witnessing their keen interest and enthusiasm with paint. I suppose it's natural for kids. I feel a little guilty wasting good apples though. 

Apple & Celery Prints
Alfee's Work
Apple & Celery Prints
Sophie's Work



Saturday, 26 October 2013

Halloween Night


We saw a notice for a Halloween Event and the kids begged me to sign up. I was reluctant as usual because it's a night event and what kind of treats can they possible eat? Anyhow, I agreed. Throughout the entire week before tonight, they were excited and willing to do pretty much anything to have me kept my promise.


So, I prepared for them costumes from Daiso and Bossini Kids last weekend and bought many treats for the other children from Seasons Park. However, both kids are still unwell, especially Sophie. And it was raining in the evening. I had to make the painful decision to cut the night short. We didn't leave our estate to join the rest at Far Horizon for a buffet and some games. We basically just did the 'Treat or Trick' and went home, which is what this is all about anyway! Fortunately, the kids were quite contented to head home with their junk food and skip the adult part of the event.

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Friday, 25 October 2013

Secret Code

Sophie scribbled on a note pad and told me cheekily that it was some sort of a secret code for me to decipher. Yah, like I believe she actually knew what she was writing! After much taunting, she decided to reveal the secret message. 


Thursday, 24 October 2013

Both Sick


The weather hasn't been too good for any of us lately. It doesn't help when HFMD and Dengue are both lurking around. Papa is sick and on medical leave but he's not spared the daunting task of sending Sophie to the doctor. She's having difficulty breathing at night because of her stuffy nose. We prefer not to give her drugs but she has been losing much needed sleep so we caved in.

Wednesday, 23 October 2013

Alfee In Trouble

Alfee's always been very 'physical' and active so sometimes he hurts himself and others. Today he was swinging his arms and hit a girl's jaw during dismissal. She wailed and refused to go home until 'justice' had been sought. Thus both the girl and Alfee was sent to the 'Peace' table for reconciliation. 

Somehow I had a bad feeling about the grandma's intention. She kept telling me how Alfee swung his waterbottle and caused her granddaughter's lips to swell up. I felt really bad for them so I even reprimanded Alfee then and there. She didn't seem very ready to let it go even though she insisted it's normal for kids to injure one another. 

However, the teachers told me nobody was holding any waterbottle at that time. It was purely an accident and he had apologised to her already. And the teacher checked her, it was her jaw and not lips hurt. When the kids were done with their 'peace' talk, the teacher explained that Alfee was very good and his apology was sincere. The reconciliation session was more for the girl who had issue forgiving. 

I never quite see it that way. With every misdeed, there's always a party to make amends but we tend to ignore the party who needs to forgive as well. Both are equally important. When the girl finally left with her grandma, she was still crying and holding the grudge. Somehow, I felt a bit confused then who was the real victim and what hurts more - the injury or the grudge. 


Some Basics To Homeschooling

Homeschooling is not easy for introvert parents like me. I attended 'History Activity Day' organized by a group of homeschooling families today. Although it was a small scale event, it was good enough to demonstrate its potential in education. The group consists of families who are also members of the   Yahoo Singapore Homeschool Group. I was told that I should only join after my homeschool has been approved. The parent who spoke to me said they want to make sure the participants are genuine homeschoolers and not just free loaders from mainstream. I don't really agree with that perspective but it's too soon for me to make judgements.

I also met parents who are very friendly and willing to share what they know about homschooling. CK said that these are the ones who either have gone through the tough phase of researching on their own or have benefitted from such kind and generous homeschoolers themselves. I have done my fair share of researching on my own, so I am willing to share whatever I know. I am also lucky enough to have met kindred spirits who share information freely. Still, it's very important to expand my homeschool network if I want to survive our homeschool plans. And this is a good place to start. 

Singapore Homeschooling Support is another worthy place to check out although I haven't seen much of it myself. I am more acquainted with MOE website at this stage, specifically the MOE Compulsory Education and the MOE syllabus. Homeschooling is considered an exemption from compulsory education so it has to be applied and approved. Typically, you have to make a call to the Compulsory Education Branch and speak to the officer about the intention to homeschool. Then, an application form will be mailed to you. On the form, you will be advised on the documents and education plans to submit. After you have submitted your application form, you will be contacted and a home visit will be arranged. You will know if your application is approved 2-3 weeks after the home visit.

It is important to establish the reason and motivation behind your homeschooling intention. Once you are certain that homeschooling is what you want, you need to think about the curriculum and how to execute it without compromising your sanity. In my opinion, homeschooling is probably easier to get approved than unschooling. At the end of the day, they really just want to see that you are sincere about educating your children on your own, you have the means and ability to do a decent job and your children aren't been abused or wilfully isolated from the rest of the world.


Sunday, 20 October 2013

Sunday

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The kids went always coming up with new games to play. And Papa loves to take pictures of them while they are playing. 

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Sophie has to do a show-and-tell for her oral assessment and the topic is 'My Favourite Things'. It's quite adorable that the children go back with the song as part of the preparation. She decided that spending time with her family and Din Tai Fung are two of her favourite things. So, we took a few photos for her to do her presentation. 

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Our lives really revolve around food. We didn't do much in between lunch and dinner because the kids slept in the car. We went back to watch TV and rest before heading out to Peach Garden at Thomson Plaza for dinner.

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We stopped by the EZVideo before we went home. Alfee was mesmerised by the tiny TV in the shop. We didn't rent anything. 

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Saturday, 19 October 2013

Saturday Life



The kids were super helpful this morning when Papa told them to clean the sofa. They probably used up half the bottle of our leather cleaner but at least they were trying to do a decent job. All that happened while Papa was practising his piano.


It's my turn to take Alfee out for a date this weekend. It wasn't as easy as I thought. I wanted to take him to the library, but he wanted to go to the playground. I should have listened to him. Instead, I told myself it's time for the little man to visit the library and he's going to love! Piece of cake! I couldn't be more wrong.


We went to Junction 8 (yet another bad choice) for lunch before we headed for Bishan Library. He was already tired by then. We ate at Swenson but he only pecked on his Mac n Cheese. It didn't help when the service was slow and the food took 30 minutes to be be served. By the time we left, Alfee was a hurricane. It was near impossible to nudge him along. He's pretty much his own boss. 


At one point, he was dancing to the music in a shop selling costume jewellery. There were not many people in the shop but those who saw him, laughed. And I grinned too. When we finally made it to the library, Alfee was beyond control. He threw himself on couches and ran down the aisles. We were out of there in barely 15 minutes. 


Meanwhile, Sophie was out having a nice quiet lunch with Papa. According to him, the 'date' was pleasant and quite enjoyable. Once we were home, the kids did their own things while we (or I actually) recuperate from the morning's labour. 

Friday, 18 October 2013

Costly Disadvantage

I get a huge migraine when I sit down and start calculating the cost of the resources I want to use for homseschooling Sophie. How can it be so costly to educate a child? Am I not getting it right? This is too scary. I thought about the school and enrichment fees we will be saving and my heart rate went back to normal again. 

I went to Sengkang library and Popular around lunch time for my resource hunting. I thought taking Sophie to the library will be ideal for a time off for me. Yet the travelling is always an issue. By bus, it takes at least 30 minutes to reach Compasspoint. And the library opens only at 11 am. Why can't they open earlier? So we can only stay in the library for 45 mins. Then we have to leave to fetch Alfee on time, if he eats lunch in school. I hate logistics. 

What About Alfee?

It's really unfair for us to put that much emphasis in raising Sophie and then pretty much leave Alfee alone. We have yet found a solution to balance our attention on the two kids. Although sometimes I am thankful he's left to develop on his own... when I don't notice his sensory needs and issues.

I plan to spend more time and energy on the little man next year. When Sophie no longer needs to attend school, my travelling time will be cut by half. My energy level will hopefully be high enough to do more for him and with him.  

Wednesday, 16 October 2013

Prayer For The Day

Dear God,

Please give me the wisdom to know how to teach my children, the strength to carry the burden, the courage to face the adversaries, the fortitude to continue, the patience to ensure they get what I'm teaching, the compassion if they don't, the loving heart that has been hardened over the years, the passion that will fuel my mission, the unquestinable faith that everything will turn out great in the end and the sweet joy of playing the most important role of my kids' life now! Amin!

Your Servant,
Hana

Tuesday, 15 October 2013

A Walk To The Esplanade


We had lunch at Sakae Sushi because Sophie wanted it badly. Papa said the place meant a lot to her because I took her there last week. I think she was just excited about new places and the dessert. After lunch we took a walk to the Esplanade.

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The Esplanade was a vibrant mix of sounds and sights this evening. There were pockets of people running various interest activities and we were just swept up and blown away by the passion for the arts. 



On the way back to the car, we saw this dancing installation on the ceiling. It was first noticed by Sophie and we were looking at it for so long that others started paying more attention to it. By itself, it's just a dancing figure made of colourful mosaic tiles, some transparent and some reflective. But with spotlights, the innocent sculpture becomes a projector. The little reflective dancers hanging on the colourful blades begin to spin in the light and the focus is then shifted to the shadowy image on the ceiling wall. There we can see the shadows of little dancers in an almost surrealistic play of colours.




We were persuaded to dress up and have ourselves taken just as we were leaving the Esplanade. Alfee was very thrilled but after being told repeatedly that the costumes were for girls, he got really angry and refused to be a part of this anymore despite our encouragement.


I felt a little upset myself because I didn't mind at all if he chose to wear a dress. He just wanted to play dress up and he should wear whatever he liked. Finally we manage to get him to pose without a costume.



His mood improved so he picked a 'boy' costume and took a few shots in it. Sophie got inspired as well so she put on another costume and we all took one last shot together.