Recently I received an email from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, titled, Escaping the Homeschool Matrix by Steve Walden. Take a moment to read it. It will encourage you in your homeschooling journey.

And if you are looking for more encouragement, may I recommend the digital version of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine? At just US$16.95, you save lots! Click the banner for more details.

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

www.BuildingUpMoms.com

Every time we have a school break, weI try to bring the children out on a Field Trip. Sometimes it is just to the pool or the library. This week, we decided to bring them to Hay Dairies.

But we almost didn't make it as it poured heavily as we started off at 8:30am! But thankfully, the skies cleared and we managed to have an enjoyable outing.

If you go between 9 and 11am, you get to see the goats being milked. The children actually noticed that the goats being milked had extremely swollen udders - ouch?! As we watched, we could see the udders slowly deflating! I wondered if the goats felt pain with such swollen udders! And I am so glad I haven't had to pump milk for my babies for the past 7 years! Lol!

It was interesting to me to see how well-trained the goats were. They knew how to position their heads into the slats to eat while they were milked and they knew exactly when and how to duck their heads out of the slats when they heard the click of the slats being unlocked for them!

The kids, er I mean the children, had a blast feeding the goats. They spent close to 45 minutes just feeding and playing with the animals! And they each even had a favourite goat by the time they were done feeding them!

Now I am soooo not an animal person so I got bored after a while and left to nurse my own baby while the children continued playing with the goats. 

Some time ago, I used to buy goat milk from Hay Dairies for my oldest dd to drink as it was supposed to help heal eczema. No, it didn't work and I sure did not like the taste or smell of goat milk! (I don't eat lamb or mutton either!) Ooh! And if you should burp after drinking it..........................

But the children loved it and we bought some to take home to drink. They actually chose to drink the milk as it was instead of drinking the chocoloate flavoured one!

I suppose we could have ventured out further and visited the other farms around the area but dh had a meeting to run off to and the baby was grumpy since she was sick so we left for lunch shortly after.

We shall be planning to trip to visit Qian Hu Fish Farm next since I hear that the children can get to fish (for a fee) while adults can get their feet exfoliated by dipping their feet into a foot bath of sorts while the fish nibble off dead skin! Is that cool or what!

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

www.BuildingUpMoms.com

The Singapore Homeschool Group is organising its annual curriculum fair a little earlier this year. Usually held in May, it has been brought forwwrad to February this year as they have a guest speaker, Mr Steve Demme, founder of Math-U-See in Singapore.

Date : 17th February 2008 (Sunday)
Time : 2 - 6pm
Venue : Young Musicians' Society Auditorium, 54 Waterloo Street

Admission Fee : $15 (adult). Free for children

Besides browsing to see the variety of curriculum used by other Singaporeans, there will be a series of talks by fellow homeschoolers. These include :

• By Steve Demme
  The Family That Stays Together Stays Together
  Being a Disciple and Training Disciples At Home
• By Angie Maniam
  How to Homeschool in Singapore
  Charlotte Mason Method For Homeschooling
• By Eileen Nathan
  Lapbook and Digital Scrapbooking
• By Daphne Chua
  Introduction to Music Therapy
• By Debbie Santee
  Am I Doing Enough For My Pre-Schooler

There will also be booths selling used curriculum and books.

For more information, please click here.

Field Trip #1

We visited the Army Museum on 2nd January 2008 (Wednesday). I thought it was a good day to go for a field trip since all other children will have to be in school which meant that we probably would be the only ones at the Museum. This is one great benefit of homeschooling!

The Museum was lovely. It is very new and modern and a great way to introduce our sons to a rite of passage that they have to go through soon enough.

What they loved was the mini Standard Obstacle Course (even the 2yr old!). And I got to try out the M16 for the 1st time in my life! Now was that cool or what?!   But sad to say, I failed.  I blame it on the fact that while I am right handed, it is my left eye that is dominant.  So it was really very hard to focus with my right eye. Gave me a headache!

(BTW it is free entry all the way to June 2008, according to their website.)

Field Trip #2

We then proceeded to the Singapore Discovery Centre which was next door to the Army Museum. Now that was a good introduction to National Education that we homeschoolers need to be familiar with coz we need to take an exam for it before we are allowed to take the PSLE!

It was very interactive and the children had loads of fun - I just hope that they learnt something there! Lol!

The Accident

After spending about 4 hours there, we decided to head for home and that's when the accident happened. The 2 boys were rushing to open the heavy doors (as usual ). The older one opened the door and jammed it into the younger one's toes!

At 1st we thought he'd merely knocked his toes (he was wearing sandals) but he started screaming, "Look! Look what you did!!!" And then we saw what had happened. The botton of the door had ripped apart and ripped out the toenails of the 2nd and 3rd toe!!!

OUCH!!!

It was really scary - the nail on the 2nd toe had split apart and was lifted off the nail bed. There was blood. The nail on the 3rd toe had been ripped off the nail bed halfway. More blood. But he was very brave. He didn't wail after that. But he couldn't really walk properly. It must have been excruciating pain!

We called a dr friend to ask what we should do. She said to wash it, keep it clean and then plaster it so prevent it from being ripped off accidentally.

So when we reached home, I showered him and did exactly that. But I didn't use normal plasters  I wrapped a bandage around it and then held it together with some surgical tape. If we had used normal plasters, we would probably have ripped off the remainder toe nail when we took it off!

The Miracle

The next day, I took off the bandage to air it and amazingly, the nails had managed to get "stuck" back on! There was just a very slight bruising on the edge of one toe! He said it wasn't painful anymore!

By the end of the week, I could trim off the broken off nail completely. inflicting no pain whatsover on him.

Isn't it amazing how God made our bodies to heal itself? Ds now knows for sure that God hears and answers prayers.

So that was our very eventful field trip!

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :
www.BuildingUpMoms.com

As SAHMs, we must have heard at least one comment that said that we have "wasted our education". And this comment may have come from both males and females. Our parents may be the ones saying/thinking it of us. How they had to scrimp and save to put us thru school/university and then we throw it all away to stay home! We owe it to them to keep on working!

But does one ever waste one's education??? Do you feel that way too?

IMO, never. How can it be? Remember the studies that have proven that the level of a mom's education affects the IQs of the children?

But what we study can be a waste of our time. Eg. Personally, I feel that the study of Philiosophy can be a waste of time  Why do I say that? Well, if we would expand all that energy and time to study the Word of God instead of the false and pointless world philosophies! Think of how much more we will impact the world for Christ. Yes, we need to know what the secular out there is thinking and saying BUT there's no need to spend time poring over it!

But I digress - as usual!

As SAHMs have you or I wasted our education by staying home? I say again - How can it be? My education has taught me many things and in these last days, we need to use the things of the world to counter its effects! Be as wise as serpents but as gentle as doves! (Matthew 10:16)

No, don't let the world tell you, dear SAHM that you are wasting your education by choosing to stay home with your children! We may not use what we have been trained for but we sure can use the principles of what we learnt in our education to educate our children!

Eg. you may be a trained IT specialist and you have apparently no use for it as a SAHM. But think of how you can impart your skills to your children without needing to spend thousands of dollars at a computer enrichment class! Used to be a doctor/pharmacist? Oh how useful as a mother to be trained in this field! An ex-teacher? Great when you are homeschooling! Journalist? Teach your child to write without spending money on a writing course! The possibilitis are endless!

No, you don't ever waste your education but you may need to think out of the box to use it as a mother.

PS : And even if you did study Philosophy, you can use it now to teach your children how to view the world through a Biblical World view vs a secular one!

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Articles for the Chistian SAHMs can be found at :
www.BuildingUpMoms.com

Hey

For those keen to take advantage of the festive season to teach your children the meaning of Christmas, you may wish to check this eBook out. Michelle Geffken of Yes You Can! Publications has developed a special eBook Artful Advent at US$14.95.

Michelle writes :

Isn't it easy to lose sight of Christ in the chaos of Christmas?

Imagine if you could take a break from the busyness ...
Make rich memories with your children ... And best of all ...

Open your children's eyes to the reality of Christ's birth!

Now I know you're busy but ...

What if I showed you a simple way of using resources you already own, to unlock learning you'll be amazed by, during the season of Advent?

Learning that would not only open a world to your children about CHRISTMAS ... but also about ART ...

So you not only get to share with your children the meaning of Christmas, you get to teach them some art as well!

I just ordered mine and am waiting for the download link to come through!

If you are interested, Click Here!

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Articles for the Christian SAHM can be found at :

www.BuildingUpMoms.com

We have been officially homeschooling since September 2004. We are now teaching a P3, a P1, a K1 and a N2. While we ourselves are convinced and convicted that this is our path to walk in, it is not in our practice to hard sell homeschooling.

Why? No, it is not because we are better/holier than non-homeschoolers  or are we on to something good that we don't want the rest of you to have or know.  It is simple - going against the crowd is hard. Being a minority is hard. Knowing that what you are doing has NO support from your family is hard.

So, when mothers come up to me and tell me that they are keen to homeschool, I probably sound like a wet blanket coz instead of smiling broadly, I often ask them WHY??? And then the next question that follows would be "What are your goals for your child/ren?"

Please do not homeschool just because everyone around you is doing it. Or that it sounds like a wonderful, and noble idea. Or even if it is because your child is picking up behaviours that you didn't like.

There will be days when the going gets tough - everyone has those days, public schooled or homeschooled. But when you are homeschooling and the going gets tough, the 1st thought that crosses your mind will be "Let's put him back in school!"

So if you are homeschooling for the wrong reasons, the tough days will be very daunting and you will give up. Actually, even when you are homeschooling for the right reasons, the tough days ARE very daunting and you also want to give up!  But at least you know WHY you are homeschooling and you will plod on. You will hang on to your call to homeschool your child/ren.

Oh! And especially if your dh is not convinced, please do not homeschool! The pressure on you to MAKE SURE homeschooling succeeds will be too great a burden to bear alone.

And being wishy washy about the whole thing will also leave a negative impression on your children. Whether you wish to homeschool them from the start or if you need to pull them out of school, please do make these decisions prayerfully.

 Remember, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him." James 1:5

Do you want an academically rigorous curriculum to push your gifted child to his limits? Or do you want to focus on heart training? Or perhaps you want your child to be skilled in IT or be a missionary? All these will affect your choice of curriculum.

I would strongly recommend that you list out your goals for your children with your dh and then read about all the different styles of homeschooling methods. Then pray and ask God what to choose.

I liked these books put up by Love To Learn (http://www.lovetolearn.net) Love to Learn! Homeschool Handbook and Homeschool Startup Kit. It provided an overview to start me off.

Another very fast and easy (tho at times overwhelming!) way of finding out more about homeschooling and the various curriculum available is to google for it! :) Just type in key words like "homeschool" and "curriculum" and lots of stuff will pop up on your screen and you can slowly pore through them.

There's no short cut way when you want to choose your curriculum. You need to do your research and you need to be prepared to make mistakes :) Yes, you read that correctly. Even after putting in hours and hours of research, you will still make mistakes. Why? A curriculum may have the greatest reviews but you and your family are unique. What works for thousands of people may just not work for you. Still you will want to know what others are saying about the curriculum you have your eye on. This is where http://www.homeschoolreviews.com comes in really handy.

To share, I was sold on Sonlight. Read its "Is Sonlight Curriculum Right for You?" article and agreed with every point listed. And yet, when it came and I used it on my children, they were totally uninterested. What went wrong? I honestly don't know. But it just showed me that I had underestimated my knowledge of my own children! Lol!

So I went back to more research and reading and talking to other homeschool mums (mostly from the US as I didn't know any local homeschool mum yet). As I shared before in my other post on Homeschooling, we then went with BJU for 2 years. But now we have chosen to use Student of the Word or SOW (http://www.sowcurriculum.com). Why?

As I got into the swing of homeschooling the children, the Lord began to impress upon me the question - how are the goals for our children being met in our homeschool? We say we want our children to have a heart for Christ and to know Him and to serve Him. But the Bible, God's Word, was just one of the many sujects to be tackled daily. Just like Maths and English. This began to bug me and I began to search out curricula that will gel with our goals. (*)

To cut a long story short :) we settled on SOW because it uses the Bible as the centre of our homeschool. SOW uses the Bible as it's "heart". It is a bible-based curriculum. Go to the website and download its free brochure and read it in detail. Suffice to say, we have been very pleased with it. It is a whole new way of learning and teaching! But once we got the hang of it, we love it!

We especially love it because all of us are studying God's Word everyday. Yes, the whole family is learning how to study the Bible at the same time and we are all always on the same page!

As you choose your curriculum, don't be afraid to make mistakes. But I would strongly advise not switching from one curriculum to the next every year or so. :) Sometimes, persistence is what's needed to make it work for you. Other times, you may just need to take a short break from school and deal with attitude problems.

(*) Don't get me wrong. BJU's Bible Curriculum is great! I love it but it still treated the Bible as a subject. Something we did not want. We wanted the Bible to be a big part of our lives and homeschool.

To me, there's been an over-emphasis on fun in today's world. Everything must be fun or entertaining before we will do it. Work must be fun, church must be fun, the preacher must be entertaining before we will go and listen to him preach. School must be fun. Mothers and teachers stress themselves out trying to find the most fun way to teach their children or charges.

While there is nothing wrong with fun per se, not everything is fun in real life. Hey! While we hope that everyone is working at their dream job, the reality is that most of us aren't. But we still haul ourselves and go to work and make the best out of the situation. So when we stress fun too much for the child, we are inculcating values in him that are neither helpful nor realistic in helping him cope with life.

Let's face it, being a Christian is sometimes not fun - isn't it more fun to do stuff and indulge our fleshy needs than to be spiritual and think of spiritual things? I know it is for me! Lol! And yet, I struggle everyday to walk in the Spirit. Why do I bother? Because I know that pleases God, my Father whom I love very much, who sent His Son to die for me!

Fun is not something I want my children to seek day-in, day-out. I want my children to seek their heavenly Father's face and learn to put aside their own wishes, to die to self and do what is required. And I believe that as they learn to do the work they are given in their schoolwork even if it looks boring, they mature and learn what responsibility is.

When it comes to work, I expect my children to do what is required, whether the work looks interesting and fun or not. Of course, I do not deliberately choose the most boring, plain and difficult to understand books for them! Lol!

I just choose what is appropriate and they would be required to use it. I have been swayed before and I did purchase a curriculum that was fun and interesting. But they got distracted and I got stressed trying to figure it out. In the end, it got ditched and I went back to the old, "boring" way and they got it!

As they do what is required everyday, regardless of whether it is fun or not, I pray that this teaches them to be adaptable to whatever life throws at them in the future.

How we homeschool and the method we each choose depends on learning styles, the methods available, and the size of the family and family dynamics. There's much talk about learning styles - about how we need to know our child's learning style before we can choose the method to teach him. I have been thinking about this and wondering how to address this issue in a practical manner.

I must say that I feel that learning styles have been over hyped :) We often hear comments like "Oh my son/daughter is auditory/visual/kinesthetic so I need to find a curriculum that caters to his/her learning style." While we all tend to learn in one style better than the other, I feel that we need to develop all 3 styles to succeed in this world! Taken to the extreme, we will be needing to cater to the teacher's learning style and each of the homeschooled children's learning styles! Well, if one has only one child, I suppose that would be doable. But what if you have 2, 3, 6, 8 .... children and they all have different learning styles? Does that mean you buy different curricula and teach them all differently???

It can't be, right? I agree that not one size fits all and that's why we homeschool, so that we can proceed at the child's capability. But we also need to teach our child/ren to be adaptable.

So while learning styles play some part, it shouldn't be the end all and be all. :) Do take into consideration you and your child/ren's learning style BUT do not be held hostage by it.

Then comes the "methods" or approaches. In general, the methods of homeschooling fall into 2 main groups : traditional and non-traditional.

The traditional method uses textbooks and workbooks to teach. How we learnt in school is the best example of the traditional approach.

Then there is the non-traditional approach. The most common ones include : the Classical Approach, the Charlotte Mason Approach, the Unit Study Approach, unschooling and the the Eclectic Approach. You can find out more about each of these methods by googling on them.

Then there is family size and family dynamics. A one-child family will homeschool in ways very different from a 3 or 6 or 12-child family. A family with all "normal" children will also homeschool differently from a family who has children with special or medical needs.

I will share our experience and hope that it will help you as you decide what method you would like to choose for your family.

This was our experience : When we first started homeschooling, I was not very confident. While I knew I could teach, I wasn't sure if I would be able to cover all that is required. Plus all my experience with school is the traditional approach. Many older mums of many adviced that the traditional approach will burn me out as I would then be required to be teaching different subjects at different levels and have to mark all those scripts! They all said that the unit study approach (teaching one topic/subject across multiple levels) was more practical and efficient. But while I appreciated their advice, I still wasn't sure if I could pull it off. So dh and I discussed and decided that we will go with the traditional approach first. Then we will take it from there. We chose to use Bob Jones University curriculum (http://www.bjup.com)

It is an excellent programme. Very detailed, very organised. Both the teacher's manual and the worksheets were engaging without being too distracting. I can see that there will be very little gaps in the children's education if I continued with this programme.

Teaching one child with the traditional approach was very doable. But teaching two became more challenging. I could see that as I added the rest of the children into the mix, I would really burn out. Esp since I still had babies and toddlers to handle. So this year, we switched to a unit study approach with Student of the Word (http://www.sowcurriculum.com)

As mentioned in my other post ("Where do you homeschool?") everyone is learning the same thing at the same time, saving me the hassle of tryng to remember who's learning what! The same topic is taught to everyone but different work is required by the different levels. Eg. our devotions and language arts cover the same topic. The pre-schoolers are just required to listen to the story and do colouring for me. But the older ones are required to participate by either writing and/or drawing the topic we have covered in detail.

So this is how we homeschool and it has worked out much better for us. As all are learning at the same time, there is better usage of time and schoolwork can be finished earlier in the day. There's more time to play :)

I hope this helps you as you are deciding what method to use and how you actually want to structure your day.

In the beginning, when we lived in a small 2-room apartment, we used put a child-size table in our 1st child's room as well as all the "school" parapharnelia in it. Then we had 2 children and it was a tight squeeze. When #3 came along, the table and the homeschool parapharnelia got moved out into the living room. When #4 came along, we really had to get creative.

After much re-arranging and even more de-cluttering, we managed to convert the dining area into a homeschool corner. It was cramped in the living room. Even then, we had to split our schooling into 2 areas. I would "teach" in the homeschool corner and then the older children will proceed to do their seatwork at the dining table. The littles will continue to do "play" school in the homeschool corner. Read-alouds were done at the couch :) It was a real tight squeeze, esp when you are heavily pregnant and have to negotiate tight corners to get the book or file you need!

Now that we have been blessed with being able to purchase a 4-bedroom apartment, we have the luxury of one designated room for most of all our homeschool stuff. All the files and supplies go into this room. But it is still not enough to house our ever increasing large collection of books! So we purchased 4 tall bookshelves from IKEA and placed these in the living room. More books are housed in the boys' room as well! Yes, we are a family of readers :)

Some families school around the kitchen table, packing up before every meal and re-laying out there books and supplies after each meal. Others homeschool all over the living room. And yet others encourage individual work so each child retires to his own corner/table to do his work. Flexibility is the key.

Then there are the field trips, a fanciful term for outings :) Actually, any outing can be a homeschool field trip. When I or dh take the child/ren out to do grocery shopping or banking or post office, it becomes a field trip as the child is then exposed to whole gamut of experiences! He learns how the supermarket is organised (all veggies in one section, poultry in another, etc), how we can get money from the ATM machine (no, money does not come out from the wall, dear :) ), how postage is calculated so that your parcel can be sent to the right destination, etc.

Then there are the deliberate learning field trips. Eg would be when we joined the homeschool group to bring the children to tour the bread factory or a visit to a farm to watch how the goats are milked.

Homeschooling can be done anywhere. Learning takes place even as your child watches you prepare to serve the family by cooking and cleaning for them. Our whole life is a learning adventure! While much can be learnt from books, learning should never be confined to the indoors and books only. There's a whole lot of stuff out there to be observed and learnt.

When he cries and you pick him up, he learns that mummy will take care of him and his needs. Then he learns that when he is hungry, you will feed him. And he continues to learn that if he calls out "mama", you appear. Then he learns that when he strings words together, he is understood more clearly and can get what he wants faster! :)

See what I am trying to show you here? Everyone homeschools their child from birth. But suddenly when the child reaches school going age (in Singapore, it can be as young as 18mths, tho 3yrs is more common) parents relinquish what they have been doing, thinking that they are not good enough to teach their precious child anymore! We have been conditioned to think that we need to send them off to an expert in teaching children! But who loves and knows your child more? You, who have watched your child grow since he was born? Or this stranger who interacts with your child 2 - 3 hrs a day, together with many other children? I rest my case :)

But what about formal schooling you may be asking? That begins anytime you want it to begin! Now that's the beauty of homeschooling! If your child wants to read at 2, go ahead and teach him! If he is totally not interested in anything remotely looking like a book, then leave him be. Your job is to surround him with good books so that if he should decide to pick one up, he'll more likely be enthralled than put off.

In Singapore, we have to start formal schooling by 7yrs of age. And so we do. But we can choose to either take it slow and easy or fast and challenging, depending on the child's capability.

Don't let what other people are doing throw you off. Pray and ask the Lord for wisdom. Our children (and us, for that matter) have a whole lifetime ahead of us to learn and learn. Don't put them off learning just coz we need to follow some scope and sequence and end up forcing them to catch up.

Is it really that simple? Why not? If you can read and follow instructions, then you can teach your child. Homeschooling really isn't as difficult as some people have made it out to be. If you really feel that you can't do it and need help, you can always buy pre-prepared curriculum. Then you will realise, "Hey! I can do that!"

If you have been teaching your child since he was a baby, teaching him when he reaches formal school going age, is easy. The challenge usually comes when you have to take your child out of school and teach him at home. You probably will have to de-programme him first :) You know, the "But teacher says I must do it this way!" or "We can't do that, teacher said so." Comments like these will challenge your confidence :(

There are many pre-prepared curriculum in the homeschooling market nowadays. So many that it can get confusing. Every now and then you will hear of a new product that many rave about or hear mention of a respectable or reputable curriculum provider being the best in the market. Some curriculum are so detailed that the teacher's manual tells you exactly what to say to the child! And others plan out your day for you. You don't even have ot think how to divide 100 lessons over a school term! IOW, you can't use "I don't know how to," as an excuse :)

Do you have to be a university graduate? Definitely not! Like I said before, as long as you can read and follow instructions and love your child, you can do it. But I will not deny the fact that in Singapore, paper qualifications come in handy!

So what has love got to do with it? :)

If you love your child, you will want the best for him. If you want the best for him, you will do all that is in your power do make sure he learns and succeeds. You will care that he can read. You will care that he can do basic maths. You will care that he knows how the world functions. And if he can't read or do maths or figure out why the world functions the way it does, you can be sure that you will find a way to make him do all these and more! Why? Because you love him! Will a stranger who teaches 30 to 40 children care as much as you? Highly unlikely. And even if he does, what can he do about it?

Do I sometimes feel inadequate? Yes!!! Then I go to the Lord and cry out to Him. And I remember Isaiah 54:13 "All your children will be taught of the Lord and great will be their peace."

Let not our fear get the better of us, remember, fear is not from God! YOU CAN homeschool!

What is homeschooling? And why has it become so popular?

Homeschooling at its very simplest is teaching your child at home. That's it. It really is no big deal. Think about it. Who taught your child to speak? To put on his clothes? To count? To sing nursery rhymes? To say grace before partaking his food? YOU! So there you go, you are already homeschooling your child! See? Anyone can homeschool (grin)! But that would be another post.

I am definitely no authority on homeschooling having only started formally homeschooling my children 3 years ago. So this is just my very personal take on why it is so popular. In Singapore, most people will raise their eyebrows at you if you haven't sent your child to formal school by 3. In fact there are actually structured playgroups for children as young as a few months old! IMO these playgroups are more for the mums! Lol!

But there is a rising minority of parents who are protesting against this scenario. They feel that children should be carefree & not stressed by schoolwork at such a young age. They want their children enjoy their childhood so they look for schools that are less structured & teach through play, rather than use worksheets & drills. However, these schools are expensive! So these parents decide that they can do it themselves!

Then they find that their children do as well or even better than the public schooled children because of many factors, such as - the one-on-one attention, the fact that the child is on his own homeground and because it is mum who's teaching him! So the popularity of homeschool has spread. So I have had many mums with very young children being very keen to start homeschool their toddlers and asking how to do it!

I am probably going to offend many with what I am going to say but I will say it anyway :) To me, teaching the toddlers & pre-schoolers is not real homeschooling. There is no real need for a formal curriculum. You just go with the interest of the child. If he is interested in fishes, then you show him & teach him all about marine life. If his interest is in nature, then you bring him to the parks often and explore God's world with him. And if all he wants to do is play with legos or playdough, let him. He's learning something there, too! A young child learns through play.

Homeschooling in the early years is really easy! Academically, as long as they can decode simple words and count by the time they are 5 or 6, you're done! :) Anything else that you manage to teach is bonus. So what if you didn't manage to teach them the workings of the solar system? Or that that the stuff that comes out of volcanoes is called lava?

What's important in these early days is to train their character. Teaching them to obey and to obey immediately, cheerfully and completely is worth much more than being able to recite the 12 times table :)

So there you go, homeschooling is simply teaching your child at home so that he can learn at his own pace instead of following some artificial guideline posted by some "expert" out there. It is not daunting at all.

But still I sent our first born into nursery school at 21mths. It was a lovely Montessorri style school. He loved it! But after a while, his principal approached me & said that I should consider HS-ing him. I was taken aback. Why would a teacher say that? Shouldn't she be pro-school? :) Ah! But she was an astute lady who has become a great friend today.

She'd noticed that he was very quick & learnt things very fast. He was way ahead of his peers in the academics arena. She said that he would be bored in a normal school. But we were expecting #3 & the thought of handling 3 small children & HS seemed impossible. So we did nothing!

But I couldn't get the thought out of my mind. So I decided to pray about it. On 16th May 2002, I told the Lord that if he wanted us to HS our children, He must send a sign! Oh how presumptuous of me! I even told him how I wanted the sign to be - that I must be invited to a homeschool event in Singapore. At that point in time, I knew no one who HSed & definitely had not heard of any HS events in Singapore. So i thought - ha! I found a way to get out of this one! But the Lord, in his grace & mercy answered me according to my little faith!

That very Sunday, 19th May 2002, a friend whom I have not met for the past year appears in the Church nursery & asked if I would like to join her in attending a HS Fair!!! If I had not been sitting down on the floor, I would have fallen over! And so we went & I found out that there was actually a small support group for HS-ers here in Singapore! At that point in time it was mostly made up of expatriates.

But still I wavered. I still had a lot of questions - should I or should I not? Will I be biting off more than I can chew??? And a few selfish questions were thrown in as well - think of all the time I can have if I pack them all off to school!

5th July 2002 - while I was doing my QT, the Lord spoke to me very clearly through Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged for the LORD your GOD will be with you wherever you go." Wow! I was confronted with the issue of obedience right smack in my face. Will I obey or not? God had already spoken. Will I then take God at His word that says He will be with me? Do I have the faith to trust God & just obey?

18th August 2002 - The Lord spoke again. This time through Heb 10:38 "But the righteous shall live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him" Yikes!

Then I found out I was expecting #4! Woah! It rocked us. I tried to ignore God's call. So #1 continued to attend his pre-school & we even (oh ye of little faith!) put #2 in the same school! We thought that could buy us some time. Also at this point in time, dh though agreeable to HSing, was not really 100% convinced.

As the time approached for us to register our 1st born for primary school, I started to pray & think about HS more & more. Deep down, I knew I could do it, not because I am some supermum :) But it was a simple belief that if God has called me to do this, He will equip me. "His grace is sufficient for me. 2 Cor 12:9

Then I came upon an article (I can't remember from which website) that said that HS-ing will not succeed if dad just went along with it. Dad had to be convinced that it is the way to take. Many HS-ers fail coz HSing was a path taken by mum with just a verbal endorsement from dad. That was not enough, the article said. Dad had to be the decision maker. Wow! I spoke with dh that very night. I said something to the effect of, "You have to decide. It doesn't matter what you decide. I will go with it. I believe & see the value of HS-ing but I also see the "convenience" of public schooling. So either way, I am fine." There! The ball was no longer in my court. What a relief! Now I understood why God put our husbands above us to protect & to guide us! :)

After much prayer, dh decided we will go for it. On 8th April 2004, we submitted our application for exemption from public schooling to MOE (Ministry of Education). On 28th April, 2004, we got our Certificate of Exemption! All MOE asked for was the name of the church we attended!

And so we embarked on our HS journey. In between all that excitement, we found out that #5 was on the way! :) What a ride! Oh! In case you were still wondering, we HS coz God told us to :) And we wanted to remember 1 Sam 15:22 "To obey is better than sacrifice."