Mundane Monday

There are definitely occasions where people will question ( I know they meant well) but as a homeschool mum, sometimes it can get really daunting having to answer all these questions on a repetitive manner. Feels like an interogation more or less... Lol

A fellow Homeschool mum posted this and i thought it was really funny and thought I posted my own views as well ;)

Actually, it's more than 7. Lol The lists are endless...

What about socialization?

We are so concerned about Socializing, how sure are we that my kids are "Socializing" when they are in school? And what more crap do they get from friends who swears and talk about nothing thats educational. I meant, yea... they mingle around but are they happy?

So, DON'T WORRY! Homeschooled kids as a matter of fact, have the most Socialble Lifestyle to such extend... we start to wonder whos the busy one in the end??!?? O.o...

Are you qualified to teach? Are you a teacher? So, you are teaching now?

Well, I get asked all the time. I won't say I am highly qualified. Infact, its far from that. And NO! I am not a teacher. But as a mother, I am FULLY qualified to know whats best for my kids.

To me, as much as the kids are learning... we are also learning together! I mean c'mon... who is perfect?Even teachers makes mistakes sometimes ;)

What do you do all day?

 What do I do? Let's see... I cook, clean, see to the kids, do crafting, chat with friends online, keep up to date with lessons, go for field trips... need I say more?

We may be homeschooling but our lifestyles is no different from any other Working or Non-Working mum! There's no difference. The only difference is, we educate from home. That's all! We have a life too y'know!

And, if you are thinking that I am such a lucky person who gets to stay home and do Nothing...please be warned in advance of the outcome..Lol

Just think, if you didn’t homeschool, you’d have more time to clean house.

Say.. what? How certain can you be? Either way, I don't seem to have enough time for cleaning! Lol. Thanks goodness, my kids are old enough to do self study and of course 3/4 of their time is stoked with gaming!
But back to this, cleaning the house is never enough time! Period.

Furthermore, my main concerns now is that the kids get a good balanced life of learning and experiences. Cleaning house can wait!

Well, for my friends who wanna come and visit, please RSVP in advance!

You must have so much patience.

Oh dear...you got to be kidding me! Some days are like a re-enactment from Nightmare on Elm Street! Ok.. not so drastic as that but yea... you get the drift.
Try staying home 24/7 with a bunch of kids who varied in ages! Its  like Old Mac Donald had a farm on a daily basis! You hear bleetings, baaaings here and there and OH! not forgetting the baton raising of an old granny...

Just to get this point straight... NO! I do not have that much patience but I try my best. I keep reminding myself whats important and count from 1-10. If that does not work... I'll keep trying until we reach a cooling point! ;) *giggles*

Do you own anything besides yoga pants?

What's wrong with Yoga pants? I think they are the best and most comfortable clothing! Well, in as much as we love dressing too but... you can't possible be on high heels while going on field trips or wearing maxy dresses when you have to roll on the floor and play messy stuffs with the kids.
There's of course appropriate dressing when the occassion requires but NOT while you're homeschooling.... Lol.. Hmmm.. Don't get my wicked brain thinking all sorts!

Since you’re home, would you mind babysitting for me?

Err..I don't mind if its an emergency. After all, I already have my own "Babysitting" home here. Lol. But hello! I am a homeschooler mum not an after school activity centre! I don't do babysitting unless necessary. Period.

Well, there are plenty of daycare centres you can enroll them in. Sorry to disappoint you, enrollment is closed for good with mine...Lol

A note to my dear darling relatives, I would help out when necessary ya? *hugs to you all*

How can you stand being with the kids 24/7?

I can fully understand. Its crazy being with your kids 24/7 and more so if you have 5 kids like me!! But NO! I don't regret one moment and I don't think I ever will. I love my kids! I enjoy being with them and am learning something new from them too everyday!

In fact, life's a circus and a tornado all at the same time everyday but yea, I've also learnt to take each day as it comes :)I guess, when I learn to prioritize whats important..it gets easier ;) Trust me.

CoderDojo

Last weekend, the boys had a class on Coding (something they are passionate about). Though it was basic, they enjoyed the class and met new friends too! :)

If you would like to know more info on CoderDojo, please find it here.

Have an awesome day!

Something to think about....

A HomeSchool Prayer

I know I have some of those days....*sigh*...Having this prayer around sure puts some sanity back into me. <3

Have a blessed day!

 

Thanks to Natural Homeschool for sharing <3

Un-Schooling...Schooling..??

This picture will explain nicely. :)

SmartLife Skills

The day I made the decision to Homeschool my sons, was the day I made up my mind that, Paper Qualifications are not all that important. Dont get me wrong, education is important, YES but....in the case of my sons, Preparing them for Basic Living Skills, Building their confidence and all is the utmost importance - for now.

Knowledge can be learnt everyday! When we go Grocery shopping, its a learning experience. I  take them to Museums, Science Centres, Parks.... these are all Learning experiences too.

My sons have been bullied in school all through their Primary years and now that they are 14 years old.... I have to rebuild their lives, what have been lost. Nothing is ever too late right?

Anyhow, we enrolled the twins in a SmartSkill Programme over the weekend. They enjoyed themselves and I was beginning to see a light in their being. I saw Confidence slowly growing from deep within. I was truly excited. Its been dormant for far too many years and I truly want to thank God for leading us through the dark tunnels which we had to face those years.

I am enjoying every bit of the day spending time with my kids and especially the boys.

If you wish to find out more about SmartLife Skills, please do check out this site.

Some dayz....

Some dayz.... are just plain hard to go by. But since I am not following any particular set of programmes, I've set their schedules to doing online studying.

I know, some may protest and disagree to it but I find thats the easiest way to capture them to do SOMETHING! Lol. My boys especially, are not one to love sitting on hours at end with a book. But their strength in on the computer.

Benjamin wants to learn more on Coding. So, I told him to go ahead and experiment on different sites. :)

Meanwhile, they are working on a FREE Online site to do their daily knowledge thingy. Its pretty good for starters though. Do check our Discover K12 and Khan Academy.

Khan Academy is good for Maths and Science and they also have lessons on Programming and all.

There are also other sites which I have found but have not tried them. Will go along and discover later <3 If you are interested, I found this site which listed a few other FREE HOMESCHOOL CURRICULUMS. Here and here.




Hope your day is as fun as sunshine! *hugs*

Turtle Sanctuary, Cherating

We took a short holiday to Cherating for a quick getaway with the kids. It was a blast! The kids had so much fun just lazing in the sand, build sand castles...or rather sand runes...Lol. Took multiple dips in the pool. :)

We also took time to drive around this small, lovely tranquil town. Very clean. Yummy food and oh my! cheap stuffs too! Don't miss the $2 shop at Cukai, Terengganu. Not a miss as everything there is sooo cheap! You'll go googly eyes just seeing the stuffs.

We visited the Turtle Sanctuary but sadly, we could not enter the Turtle  Hatchling area :( To know more info please read here.

Have a blessed day!

 

KL City Gallery

I gave up trying to catch up on a daily basis. Lol. Life sure have a way of messing around. :)

Today, I took the kids to KL City Gallery. Its a pretty awesome place. The boys learnt about the History of Kuala Lumpur and even I learnt something there too! The Spectacular City Model Show was the highlight.

Heres are a few glimpses of what the place is like:

DAY 4

It's such a lazy day today. It rained the whole morning. Kids were lazy in getting up but I took that time to source out for stuffs to do with my kids.

As usual, the boys had to do their reading. And for the rest of the day, it was pretty easy going.

There were some stuffs which needed to be done. So yea, thats just what we did today... might just pick a good movie and watch with them later.

I love spending that time with my kids. Watching movies and have a our little Q&As.

It may not remain like this for long. But who knows? :) Unschooling them for now... seems such a great idea <3 Letting my sons (though they are 14yrs) re-exploring their world. Going on fieldtrips with them. The excitement on their faces is enough credit for me.

Have a blessed day!

DAY 3

I am a mum who loves to inculcate the love for books, drama, opera, literature...

Today, I got my kids into the room again. This time we watched some movies by our honoured and loved actor ROBIN WILLIAMS.

Its indeed sad that he's no longer here but his talents and wonderful movies will always live with us.

I chose to watch Dead Poets Society. Ah! It brings back so much memories of my younger days :)



To quote:
"If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear. And this weak and idle theme, No more yielding but a dream, Gentles, do not reprehend: if you pardon, we will mend: And, as I am an honest Puck, If we have unearned luck Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue, We will make amends ere long; Else the Puck a liar call; So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends. "

If you have not seen this classic movie, please do take time to enjoy this beautiful movie.

Heres a trailer for you.

On this very same day, we watched Mrs Doubtfire. It's really a beautiful family movie. Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 film comedy about a family separated by an impending divorce. The father takes on the job as the family housekeeper, unbeknownst to his ex, who believes him to be an elderly Scottish woman.



You can watch the movie here ,

Have an awesome weekend!

DAY 2

Its was an interesting night. We did something out of the ordinary. We watch movies as part of our studies.

There are indeed some really good movies on the net which have good grounding and morals.

Our first movie was Mr. Peabody & Sherman.








Do Check it out the trailer here and maybe watch it with your kids.

Our second movie was Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs 2.


Watch the trailers here and here







So, the day was indeed another simple day. Until we finally do start our planned shedule. Lol. Well, when we do. ;)

Have a blessed day!

DAY 1

I know, It's been 2 months plus since my last posting. Life have been a roller coaster
Firstly, after my last post, we went to see a Homeschool centre. Its pretty nice, very homely and what I like best is it's Christ centered. :)

Oh well...

It didn't quite work out though :/. Financially, we're not prepared for it. So, you know, the whole hula-baloo..
Anyway, to cut a long story short, irregardless, I have already decided whether with or without a centre, either way, my boys would be homeschool.

So, today depicts the very first day of my exciting journey.

We didn't do that much today. I wanted to reinculcate the love for books in them. So, yeap! we did reading today!

I would say, it was a pretty good start (well, for starters! Lol)

So after they have read their book, I told them to write a summary in their own words and their opinions. :)

Yea, that was our day today <3 <3 <3

If you are looking for cheap good books to buy, I usually take my kids to BookXcess.

Or you can find Free Online books here:

Readprint.com 

Manybooks.net

The Literature network

Authorama

Project Gutenberg

International Children's Digital Library

The Internet Archive's Digital Books Collections

World Public Library

Questia

Wikisource

Bibliomania

Wikibooks

Openlibrary

Sacred Texts

Free eBooks

Digital Library

Feedbooks

Books Should Be Free

Obooko

E-library

Paid Subscriptions:
Scribd

“I think the big mistake in schools is.. using fear as the basic motivation. Fear of getting failing grades, fear of not staying with your class, etc. Interest can produce learning on a scale compared to fear as a nuclear explosion to a firecracker.”

― Stanley Kubrick

Some Fascinating Facts About Homeschool vs Public School