It's only been a few days of cooking and i'm already out of ideas of what to cook ! Bad eh. So all of you out there with easy to cook - throw in a slow cooker, or put straight in oven - type of recipes - please send over ! Desperately NEEDED. Seriously. Thanks Lil - got your link.
I still haven't picked up the guts to drive. Louisa Academy has also yet to fully function ;P (effectively). The wheels are being oiled though so hopefully we'll get there.
These few days have been very much resource gathering - stocking up supplies at the local stationery and crafts store, and building up our reading lists for our curriculum ahead. I think we've accomplished all of 2hrs of sit down work per day (only mon and wed) in the mornings, and that was it !! That's school. Very chiat lat, i know. But, it's a start.
Being totally in the thick of it where the kids' education is concerned is very reassuring yet scary, and altogether a humbling experience. It is a huge responsibility and those who home-school their kids are really such an inspiration to me. I'm flabbergasted by the amount of knowledge, research and work that really has to be done on the parent's part to be able to nurture curious young minds in the most optimal manner.
To ready myself for the role ahead, i spent some time going through some home schooling websites (largely angie's ) and checking out the curriculums used. Ideally, this should have been done prior to my being here - but aiyo - my life was chaotic enough back home.
So back to home-schooling. Gosh, i must say after reading Angie's blog, i'm so hugely embarressed. The amount of thought and effort that goes into nurturing the kids - i fall so far behind, it's not even funny. And everything that we take for granted - such as sending the kids to primary school - is a considered decision, and one that is opted out of in the end. One where many of us would swing the other extreme - joining associations, volunteering and scheming the buying and renting of homes just so as to get our kids into the 'best' schools we think we know to be. Yes, am guilty as charged.
But while i certainly can appreciate the many benefits of home-schooling, the jury is still out for me - largely because i'm not confident i could do a good job. These coming months though, i am committed to be able to handle my brood and nurture them as best i can. (like i say, for sanity, premium outlets are just 20mins away - heh !)
So i took the kids to the Library (again) on Tuesday, by BUS, and hoarded up as i furiously copied down the many recommendations from home-school sites on reading lists the night before. I must have some 50 library books at this moment in my home ! I just kept going back through the shelves for more. By the 3rd time i queued to check out (so 'pai seh' - embarressed - already) i sent my trusty proxy (Rachel) to borrow the books instead :p (heh!)
So right now, the girls are being exposed to poetry (i never did read to them poetry previously), and we're reading Peterkin Papers (about the Peterkin family who complicate even the simplest tasks - written in 1926 tho' so language takes some getting used to - for C at least), Shirley Hughes' Alfie series, and Little House in the Big Woods (which i intend to read aloud to the girls). I myself am trying to set aside some reading time for me and am getting through Howard Pyle's "The Wonder Clock", which a P1 home-schooled child had already completed ;P. Haiz, not sure how far my ambitious plans would get accomplished, especially since we don't even have a timetable as yet, and the girls already want to do craft tomorrow !
Oh well, guess we need some artwork to 'liven' up our little abode anyways and i might even get to do some scrapping (one can hope, ya... hee !) on the side !
sigh... i miss my 'me' time - now realising how spoilt i was previously ;P
Wish me luck as i continue on my sojourn !
ps: do u know i actually hold a military id now.... eeeks !
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1 comment:
you can do it.. settle into the school at home routine slowly :) i dont have the guts ... but I know you can!! *hugs*
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