Things to do

Need to re-plan social studies/National Education curriculum from scratch.

Need to look into making a list of mini-book ideas for lapbooking.

So that's what I'm currently into.

1st post of the New Year

OK OK.... I promised to blog weekly. So this is my first for 2011. Been too busy otherwise.

We're officially homeschooling this year. So far, the core subjects have been going pretty well. The time table needs some adjustment, but we're getting used to the routine, and learning what can and cannot be done in the time we have. Here's a run down for Sarah's curriculum:

English/Phonics

Rod and Staff is really easy to follow. It seems to be clear in explanation, and has an adequate amount of drill which can be done both orally and as written work.

We still do Christ Centered Curriculum Phonics, once a week. Sarah enjoys that and continues to learn a lot from that programme.

To supplement it all, she does some Cloze Passage exercises every now and then. (Must keep up with the Singapore curriculum, after all).

Maths

We are continuing with Right Start Math B. It's fun for Sarah, with a mix of arithmetic and geometry. She is very serious about Maths, which is great.

She also does some exercises from a local 'Assessment Book' to keep her up to date with the local stuff.

Chinese

She's on Book 1B already because we started 1A last year. She seems to be enjoying her Chinese, especially as she can learn the textbook material online. We're really trying so hard to speak to her in Chinese every night, but sometimes we forget.

I confess that I don't have much time for her to review what she learns at her enrichment classes apart from doing the 听写 (spelling) with her. Her Chinese is improving and she can actually speak in sentences now.

She also does pages from a revision book every week or so.

Science

Building Foundations for Scientific Understanding (BFSU) is really great! Fun, and simple, yet covering the basic concepts.

Apologia is going slower though, because the timeslot alloted to it has been constantly missed. I must re-adjust this, so that she can still read her Apologia Science.

Art

Sarah's art has never been her forte. With our Artistic Pursuits art programme, she has been enjoying doing art, and getting the idea of how to do art. So I would say it's quite successful. She looks forward to her art lessons every Monday afternoon.

Social Studies & Latin

Social Studies has been quite a disappointment. The Primary 1 textbook and workbook are so simplistic, it's a laugh! I think I have to plan my own curriculum when I have the time to.

We're on Lesson 3 for Latin. Sarah has a vocabulary of about 20 words, and has learnt about verbs, vowels, consonants, diphthongs. She can also recite the Sanctus.

Gymnastics

8 hours a week, 3x per week. New competition leotard cost $100. Mummy had to learn how to do her ultra-short hair neatly. Need I say more?

That's all for now.

Certified!

Yes!! We've got our COE! To a Singaporean - the COE is the Certificate of Entitlement to buy a new car. But that's not the COE we managed to get. We got a Certificate of Exemption from Compulsory Education. So now it's time to get down to the schemes of work and scheduling.

Last week, Sarah was conferred the title of "Gymnast of the Year" for her class in Prime Gymnastics Club. It was a surprise to us. She was elated, and couldn't stop talking about it for a few days. Well, I hope she'll be able to get "homeschooler of the year" from us in the coming year.

Holidays! Milestones

It's holidays again. Til the end of the year. We've started our homeschool holidays 2 weeks early because the kids have been signed up for some intensive Chinese classes every day for the next 3 weeks. Ben is going for Speech and Drama, and Sarah for Oral and Comprehension.

I hope to do tidying up and spring cleaning of the WHOLE house, but bit by bit of course. Send kids for class, come home and tidy up for 1 hour before fetching them. Don't know if it'll work, because alas, I realise I must also prepare lunch! Gymnastics is still ongoing 3x a week.

Milestones

Yesterday, at Mama and GongGong's place, Sarah finally hopped onto a two-wheeler all by herself, pushed herself off, and rode down the road. She then turned and rode back. I was so proud of her accomplishment. We had been running with her wobbling about for ages, so this was really a proud moment.

Sunday School - Sarah is now in the bigger kids class, P1-P3. With Aunty Mei as teacher. They have just begun a new series called Children Desiring God by John Piper. Sarah remarked that she liked Aunty Mei's class, and went up to Aunty Mei to tell her. An encouraging moment for Aunty Mei indeed.

Ben is now without his sister in his Kindergarten Sunday School class At first he refused to attend, I had to take him in and sit him on my lap. But once he saw what the others were doing, he joined in, and everything was OK from there.

Gabriel now feeds himself rice at mealtime. He must have his white rice alone first before he'll eat any other protein or vege. Strange behaviour. He has also begun to tell us when he needs to poo. Great! He talks in sentences, but most of the time, I cannot decipher what he is saying.

Today's sermon was a summary of Ephesians. The main thrust was the grace and peace of God bestowed upon us in Jesus Christ. Wonderful Grace of Jesus. And the deep deep love of the Lord in electing, calling and justifying us. May we meditate on this and find this love and peace in our hearts so that we too can share this love and peace with others.

CE application

Finally printed out the application and supporting documents for the exemption from Compulsory Education.  Going to file it up, photocopy my certs and send it in.

Truth and Righteousness

Ephesians 6:13-14

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness.

"Stand" seems to be an important word here, appearing 3 times.  "Withstand" implies a resistance to something... the evil that will be rampant in the "evil day".  Having done that, we are told to "stand".  To be upright.  Not to be lying down.   We do not merely stand, only to be knocked down again by the evil that abounds, but we are to stand with armour, defending and attacking.

Truth must surround us.  What truth?  The absolute truth of the Word of God!  Not some airy-fairy, post-modern 'truth' which cannot stand the test of time.  Only the Word of God as our belt, upon which we can hang our sword and other important parts of our armour.

The breastplate protects the largest, most exposed part of our bodies, and this must be righteousness.  Again, it is not our own brand of righteousness.  It can only be the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed to us.  This holy righteousness is free from weak areas, holes and kinks.  This is the only righteousness that can be depended upon to protect us from the darts of the evil One.

Practically, all this means that we must spend time getting to know the truth of God's Word in the Bible.  We must ensure that we put on the correct breastplate, believing in Jesus ALONE for salvation.  Today, when temptations come at us, we shall be able to stand and withstand.  Praise the Lord.

Against Cosmic Powers

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

We are in a fight. A wrestling match. But not against fellow man. The principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age.... what are they? I gave Sarah a word search puzzle related to this verse to do today. She had difficulty finding some of the words, so she ended up circling two very insightful 'words' - TV and IT!!!

I do believe that it is through the TV and the computer (more specifically the Internet), that these rulers of darkness have their primary dominion. When we switch on the TV, or casually browse the Internet, we enter their world. Be careful not to take anything out and back into God's kingdom. If you can, don't let these dominions into your home at all! Spend too much time in these dominions, and we'll soon have PR there. Be warned. These spiritual hosts of wickedness are in the heavenly places. We might not be able to see them, but they are in the ideas propagated, the visuals we see, the little bits of omissions that we are liable to make. BEWARE!! We are to wrestle against these, never allowing them to gain the upper hand.