Week 3 : Weekend Learning

Saturday

In the morning after piano lessons, we went to Bishan Park for some skate scootering. Read about it here. We have always supported the Kidsfest! Singapore and our first show this year was "What The Ladybird Heard". This was also the first time I took Alfee along with us. Although he has gone for several shows before, this was his first attempt to sit through a stage performance. I was quite happy that he was attentive and able to understand the show.

Before the start of the show, the kids went to the little book stall set up by Kookaburra and browsed through the books. Although Alfee can't read (under pressure to teach him), he was keen to look at the pictures. Hopefully he was trying to figure out the stories.

I must say I am a little disappointed by the show especially since the tickets were expensive. However, I think it's always good to expose the kids to different sorts of performing arts. In this case, Sophie was kept intrigued by the way the story was presented and she was quite a critic. 

I didn't buy tickets for Papa because I wasn't sure if Alfee could sit through the entire show. Thus, he stationed outside just in case I had to take him out. After waiting for an hour, Papa was pretty glad to see us all smiling when we left the theatre. Then we found a pub and got ourselves some fries. 

It was Alfee's lucky day. Usually I would stop him from playing with the ice cubes in Papa's ice water. Today, the kids were given special permit (thanks to Papa) to drink ice water and play with the ice cubes with their bare hands!!! Papa said they had been wanting to do that for so long, it was time we let them explore as they please.

The Wise Guy

Sunday

We did a little kirigami while Alfee was taking his nap. I basically got Sophie to draw and cut out a horse. Then we pasted the two flowers we had done earlier this week onto a piece of drawing paper together with the horse. She then added the chinese characters. We got the idea from Craftiments, unfortunately I am not that creative. 

In the evening, we went to ECP for some cycling. And today, Sophie learnt to cycle on a two-wheel bike! Read about it here. 

Sophie's Cycling!

We (more like I) always wonder if Sophie would ever learn to ride a two-wheel bike. Although she mastered the skate scooter relatively quickly, I still doubted her. Somehow, I didn't manage to shake off the thought that her co-ordination isn't too fantastic. Today, she requested for a two-wheel bike and we gladly let her try. 

I know how she learns. She needs step by step instructions, some space to try on her own and some tough love to learn something new. Thus, I gave her some basic pointers about balance and control, some safety warnings and sent her off to try it out. She was a little cautious and afraid but her desire to master the skills soon took over. Papa then gave her a push and off she went. Within an hour, she was cycling. She's not very skilled but she's able to cycle already. 

We were so happy and proud of her. My whole body was aching after that. I had to hold her, run after Alfee. In fact, I was so tired that I just used Papa's skate scooter. I was reluctant at first because one ankle couldn't support my whole weight and I wobbled too much. But desperation (plus perspiration) gave me the motivation to do it. Before we left ECP, Papa bought me my very own skate scooter!

So Nice

Right after piano lessons, Papa took all of us to Bishan Park for some outdoor activities. It was an unusually cool day even though it was close to lunch time. We found a really nice spot to just sit and relax after a while. It's quite tough on me because I was on foot while they were on wheels. 

Ever since Papa's camera has been sent in for servicing, he's become more "hands-on" with the kids. He doesn't tell the kids to pose for pictures and we get his full attention (we're still working on the handphone). Nice feeling...

Thoughts So Far

It has definitely been a turbulent and challenging start. Our initial timetable is no longer feasible because we want to arrange all the enrichment classes on weekdays and leave weekends for outings and family time. And Sophie isn't all too thrilled about doing too much structured work at home since it contradicts her understanding of homeschooling. She wants to have more freedom to decide what she wants to learn. Of course her mum prefers to finish the syllables first. Thus, we are still negotiating for a good balance, which might take a while longer. 

I had wanted to do proper lesson plans (still wish to) and document her learning in a more systematic manner. However, that was very quickly abandoned and replaced by desperate attempts to catch my breath and rest my aching body whenever I could steal some time away from everyone. It doesn't help that Sophie keeps asking me to teach her more things (as long as she doesn't have to write or do anything) and Alfee requires constant attention when he's home. I give it another 2 weeks (hopefully) and perhaps our routine will be more stable and agreeable. Then maybe everyone will cooperate with me.

We started on 6 Jan (instead of 2 Jan) for logistic convenience. Alfee's school staggered the school reopen dates for the children and he started only on Monday (6 Jan). With the two kids together, it is near impossible to teach either anything. Thus, we experienced the first two benefit of homeschooling - flexibility and speed. In school, the children take time to adjust to the new environment, new rules and friends. At home, the switch has minimal effect on her although she still has to establish her learning routine. In relation, she takes less time to start her learning engine. For some children, they also have to switch from one set of rules in school (presumably stricter) to another set at home on school days and yet another set on weekends. For Sophie, there's little difference so her behaviour also becomes more consistent and manageable. In fact, we noticed that she has got better control over her emotions now.

Of course, we also skipped the whole P1 frenzy. We didn't rush to buy ergonomic school bag or other school essentials. We weren't stuck in impossible morning or evening traffic (although Papa still experience it for Alfee in the mornings). We spent most of our funds on real resources and not on frivolous or fashion items. We take time to work on strengthening our relationship instead of making sense of daily happenings in school or doing damage control. I don't know if I'm actually doing a good enough job on her, but Sophie is doing reasonably well so far. Just have to coax her to stay at home when I fetch Alfee.

I still haven't figured out how I can possible blog without sacrificing my rest or preparation time. Perhaps it is a matter of finding the discipline to do it, which I am so lacking at the moment. Right now, the thought of sifting through hundreds of photos for blogging wasn't very appealing at all. I will continue to try!!!!

First Day Unlike Others

We kicked start our Chinese New Year Unit Study by painting on paper plates. The kids love working on art pieces so they really enjoyed it. To my pleasant surprise, Alfee was very comfortable with painting. He seemed to have little inhibition. Sophie was a little more conscious and she strived to prefect her creation. Of course, I provided them a few good examples of porcelain plates and did a  simplified sample for them.

The end products are quite nice. I did a little touch up on both the plates. I must remember to kick this habit of mine.

After all the cleaning up, I took out the lightbox so that they could play with it. I had to consolidate all my translucent objects and frankly, I was surprised to have found so many items. I also added two new LED lights to make it even brighter. 

The lightbox is one of those DIY learning cum sensory tool that I really appreciate. The kids' interest in it is unexplainable and instinctive. Alfee naturally took a bead and started spinning it while Sophie lined all the counters around the edge. I took a piece of transparency and wrote the first letter of their name on it. Then they form the letter with counters on the lightbox.

 

They did a few rounds of free play, creating designs and pictures with whatever they have. Of course, they fought for more space and time on the lightbox, but overall, they were sharing. 

After a while, their enthusiasm seemed to have dampened a little. So I drew them a crude looking maze and told them to push an item through to the finishing point, using a straw. Both did it and their time were recorded. Alfee had little chance of winning Sophie but he did pretty well. He was able to focus on his task. 

The last game wasn't too well executed but the idea was there. The aim was to push the bead into your opponent's goal with a straw. Alfee had little idea what the game was about, but Sophie was nice enough to help them score a goal.

First Day... Delayed

So it's first day of school for most 7 year olds. To be honest, it feels kind of weird not to be in this frenzy with the rest of the world. Seeing updates after updates on Facebook of excited parents and their pictures of their  uniformed children, l feel a little lost. Like I've been left behind or something... or forgotten even.

Then I look at my little girl. Sophie has always been very certain that homeschooling is meant for her. She has never doubted my ability or motivation. She's hardly affected by other children or their folks talking about school and studies. Perhaps she's sheltered from the critics and negative vibes. All she asks for is for me to let her visit her friends in school. I wonder if she's actually understood what we need to do.

Frankly, I am also not sure what to expect from our decision to homeschool. If it's purely academic, I'm sure Sophie would be fine. I'm just not very confident about everything else. I'm not even sure if I can pull it off. After all, I'm not in the pink of health. Thus we are delaying school and we'll start only on 6 Jan.