Chinese New Year

It's been a sweltering hot Chinese New Year.

It seems hotter than the previous CNY. Every year is hotter than the last. Global warming? Yar, that's what everyone's telling me.


Chinese New Year is quite different this year. Found myself blinking back tears many times, missing my Pa. Time has moved on. Yes, it gets easier, but sill missing him......

I had a great time going for get-togethers with family and friends. As on any festivity, we EAT, EAT and EAT some more!

Ate Yee Sang 7 times already this year!!  (according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng, this practice started in Singapore)

This is the 'Must Have' during Chinese New Year.

The sumptious 8 course Chinese Dinner is as usual too much. Too much rich, meaty food and not enough vegetables.

   Gathering my courage, I stepped on the weighing scales!!!! OMG!!!!

 
 


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14 Feb 2010

Certainly very auspicious :

It's

and

and

What to give him?

Delete the Grass

Jeremy and Jo were helpimg me do gardening. So much fun getting our hands dirty!

I told Jeremy to dig a big, big hole so that we could plant a tree. Initially Jeremy couldn't make a hole as the ground was covered with grass.

"Can you please delete some grass?" he asked.

Someone is playing way too much Farmville !!






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Home Schooling

I found out about Homeschooling in 2005. The concept intrigued me, and I've been researching it since then.

Going against the educational norm is scary. However, the rapidly-deteriorating public school system made it easy for us to made the decision to 'Homeschool' Damian when he finishes UPSR (Year 6, primary school).

Of course there are many good teachers in our public schools, but the numbers of ineffective, non-performing teachers are even higher. My kids have been subjected to veiled sarcastic remarks regarding their intelligence and they have learnt that the colour of their skin is a factor in many things. (We have always stressed the importance of respecting other races, but they have starting questioning how come a certain race do not reciprocate?)

And it's a well-known fact that teachers who are supposed to teach Maths and Science in English could barely speak the language themselves!! (Well... since the government has decided to revert the teaching of Maths and science in BM, and thus setting our country back by at least another 50 years, this issue of teachers not being able to converse in English is solved!!! hahaha)

So.... homeschooling. And why did we wait until Damian is 13? We just wanted him to experience 'normal' public school life. Yes, he learnt a lot and did very well... and that's largely due to the fact that he's a good student and like studying. But when he did the placement test, his score is that of a 11 year old or Grade 5.

So he has to to start Grade 6 in Jan 2010 (altho he should be Grade 7!) Being the competitive boy he is, Damian is certainly not happy to be placed in Grade 6. The beauty of this homeschooling program is that you can go at your own pace. You can be faster or slower according to your capabilities. There's a 14 year old who's in Grade 3, and a 12 year old already in Grade 8!!

Damian plans to finish Grade 6 by April and then start Grade 7 (his actual Grade). And then he'll aim for Grade 8 by the end of the year. How's that for goal setting?

He's doing the Alpha Omega Program : 5 subjects:
Language Arts (English),
Maths,
Science,
History and Geography and
Bible Knowledge

All the topics are so interesting. They study World History & Geography as opposed to just Kajian Tempatan or Tamadun Islam ( and make 'Katak di bawah Tempurung' of us all).

Homeschooling takes many forms. One is to keep the child at home with parental guidance and marking of work, self-tests and assessments. This way is not for me la. Anyway Damian likes social interaction.

The other one is to send the child to a 'center', where 'supervisors' guide and mark the work done. There's no actual blackboard teaching involved. Anytime the child does not understand the material, he can ask the supervisor for help and explaination. Damian's school has around 80 students from Grade 1 to Grade 12. He's able to make some friends (of different ages). This center also has an 'Sports Day' once a week, extra activities like 'Show and Tell', craftwork and camps.

It's been 6 weeks since school started, and Damian is enjoying himself. He does have to get use to not having 300 other same-age students around in a crowded school of more than 1000 people. He does have to get use to not having school-politics, public peer-presures and disgruntled teachers, but learning is so much more fun now.


Read more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeschooling
http://homeschooljewel.com/blog/2009/11/homeschoolers-and-self-directed-learning/
http://gracehomeschooling.blogspot.com/ (damian is not in this school, but the curiculum is the same)



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My Kids are Great

Havent posted anything new for so long coz I was at a Training in Singapore last week. Just got back on Monday, then the internet was down. Ok, I'm back online now.

Came home to this :

Sweet eh? I should go away more often :-P

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Hilarious

Someone emailed me this :

English Signs from Around the World

In a Bangkok temple:
IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN, EVEN A FOREIGNER, IF DRESSED AS A MAN.

Cocktail lounge , Norway :
LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctors office, Rome :
SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Dry cleaners, Bangkok :
DROP YOUR TROUSERS HERE FOR THE BEST RESULTS.

In a Nairobi restaurant:
CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.

On the main road to Mombasa , leaving Nairobi :
TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom:
ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO WE CAN HELP.

In a City restaurant:
OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK AND WEEKENDS.

In a cemetery:
PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWN GRAVES .

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:
GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:
OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Tokyo bar:
SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

Hotel , Yugoslavia :
THE FLATTENING OF UNDERWEAR WITH PLEASURE IS THE JOB OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

Hotel , Japan :
YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:
YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIET COMPOSERS, ARTISTS AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.

A sign posted in Germany 's Black Forest :
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN ON OUR BLACK FOREST CAMPING SITE THAT PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT SEX, FOR INSTANCE, MEN AND WOMEN, LIVE TOGETHER IN ONE TENT UNLESS THEY ARE MARRIED WITH EACH OTHER FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Hotel, Zurich :
BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand :
WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen :
WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

A laundry in Rome :

LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

 

Goodbye Hamsters

It was a blistering hot day yesterday.

Before we went off to church in the morning, the hamsters were still running about, full of energy. We came home at 2.30pm to discover 2 of the hamsters in the upper aquarium had died. 

(The other 2 hamsters in the lower aquarium are ok)

Yes of course the kids cried. The hamsters that died belonged to Stephanie and Josephine. We buried them in a pot of flowers.

We were trying to figure out why the hamsters died. We thought maybe it was sick... but.......

This morning, the 2 living hamsters seem lethargic. When I put in my hand to touch them, the air in the aquarium feels warm to me. It striked me then that it's realy really hot, and that's what killing the hamsters. So, I put the aquarium indoors. The hamsters are ok now .... i hope  :-)