The Singapore Scene - Homeschool Blogger

Out of the Box

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 02:07:00 -0500

One of the things I love about homeschooling is that it can be out of the box. I don't mean pulling all my curriculum out of a box and giving it to my kids, either.

Today, my two older kids went on a field trip to visit the office of a local missions organization that works with the poor in 3rd world countries. One thing this organization does is it puts together gift packs for children that include hygiene packs of toothbrush, toothpaste, washcloth, and soap, as well as a few school supplies and usually a small toy, like the kind that comes with a kids' meal.

Dancing Queen and Roboboy were involved with sorting toys to make sure they were not missing any parts or broken, and packing them into gift packs. It was a simple job that a kid could do, and it saved the adults in the missions organization a lot of time by not having to do it themselves.

After they got home, we had a talk about how blessed and fortunate we are, and how the small toys in these packs may be the first and only toy many of these children have ever received.

The kids were really touched by the experience, and enjoyed it too. They told me they'd like to go and volunteer regularly to help out.

What more could I ask for? A day where the kids are thinking of others, doing something for someone other than themselves, and enjoying and finding satisfaction in it! A day where they're learning about missions, serving God and blessing others less fortunate than themselves.

Meanwhile, I got to have some special one on one time with Bubbles after she got home from kindergarten, and she thoroughly enjoyed the extra attention.

This is one of the many reasons I homeschool!

Christmas (Preparations) in July

Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:19:00 -0500

A while back I remember reading a website that suggested using the 25th of each month as a day to set aside to prepare for Christmas. This can mean whatever people want it to. For the crafty, it may mean working at making homemade gifts, ornaments and decorations.

I sort of put the idea on a back shelf in my mind, but mentioned it recently to my kids, who (of course!) loved the idea. For one thing, it means a day off from the books (always a good idea to them), and for another, I give a homemade gift to every single person on our church staff, as well as elders and close friends. With a staff team that's pushing 40 people, this is a huge undertaking. And for another thing, the kids have been making homemade gift tags, bags, and small gift items to sell to raise money for their own Christmas shopping, and for missions. We've done this for the past 2 or 3 years. But we've always put the books aside in December and worked madly on these projects every day through the month in a mad race to make the deadline.

So, tomorrow we're having our first Christmas preparation day. We'll be making homemade and decorated gift tags and gift bags as these are our top seller, and we can never seem to make enough of them.

Maybe I'll put on some Christmas music, blast the air-con, and make some hot chocolate to get us into the Christmas spirit, but my biggest goal is to make this December just as memorable, but a little less hectic. How do you deal with organizing for the holidays?

English Outside the Box

Tue, 3 Jul 2007 03:12:00 -0500

As I have mentioned in other posts, my son is dyslexic. Thank God, He has been helping us step by step along the way, and my dear almost-10-year-old is reading pretty well on his own, and his reading comprehension is great!

But, in general this sweet boy of mine doesn't enjoy reading or writing. I've tried all sorts of reading materials from comics to joke books, to chapter books, science fiction, non-fiction...you name it, and I believe I've tried it. I realize that he needs exposure and practice, so I've had to be creative and think outside the box to "sneak" reading and writing into his daily activities.

Now, there are times when Roboboy does spontaneously read. I have not been able to find a pattern in this. Sometimes his sister points out interesting "news" pieces from Yahoo news, and he'll read those. Sometimes he'll read something we're reading over our shoulders. Sometimes he'll pick up a book and read. Sometimes he'll read every sign he sees.

And sometimes he spontaneously writes too. But I know that he needs consistent practice at both these things. So, we have a daily quiet reading time. Sometimes he reads the next chapter in a chapter book he's currently reading. Sometimes he obediently sets the timer for 30 minutes and reads a comic, or a joke book, a magazine, whatever he happens to be interested in reading at the time.

We also do reading aloud, and he enjoys listening to great literature, and gets very engrossed in the stories. He has done very well in his listening comprehension, even when I have thought the language a little difficult or complex for his age level, he has coped better than I ever expected.

Writing has been our biggest challenge. He struggles with his handwriting, and putting thoughts to paper seems to be almost impossible. They lack rhyme or reason by the time he tortuously transfers his thoughts from his head to the printed word. How to get this boy to simply practice more?

The answer came from an extremely unexpected source: blogging. My dear son saw me blogging, and his older sister blogging, and begged me to set up a blog of his own. I must confess, I really had my doubts. Eventually I gave in. He wrote several entries, and sort of tapered off.

But my dear hubby and I have been talking about how to help this boy along in his writing skills, and so, I have been having him journal short entries almost daily for the past two weeks. It's been very simple. I try not to stress him. I assign things like 5 sentences about his best friend, or a paragraph about his swimming lessons.

He edits his own entries, and then I edit them before posting them. I have observed that they have needed fewer and fewer grammar and spelling corrections by me as they go along.

My expectations are simple: begin sentences and proper nouns with a capital letter, punctuation at the end of sentences, correct spelling of words he's familiar with, asking me for help on words he does not know how to spell. It's not much, but it's a start, and I'm beginning to see results as he is willingly typing for his blog what would have been sheer torture to write out in longhand.

Stop by his blog (The Adventures of Roboboy) sometime, and leave him a note of encouragement. He is always thrilled to get a comment, ...even if it's usually from his mom or dad. And if you've got any other ideas for getting my boy reading or writing more, drop me a comment too. I'm open to ideas!!

More "Bubble-isms"

Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:57:00 -0500

I have been trying to collect all Bubbles' little funny sayings. She is growing so fast that soon the days of "Bubble-isms" will be gone. She says so many funny things these days, I soon won’t be able to remember them all. So here is her latest collection.

She calls a Merry-go-round a “merry-go-Around”.

She calls Malaysia “Uh-laysia”. Her best friend Valencia is "Uh-lencia", and her sister and brother's friends Nathanael and Natasha are...you guessed it..."Uh-thanael" and "Uh-tasha". Another friend at the playground is "Mat-alie" (Natalie) and her teacher at school is Teacher Lancy (Nancy).

She sings, “Blah, blah, black sheep, where are you?” instead of “Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any wool?”

I heard her singing, “The wise man built his house upon a box…” the other day.

Bubbles brings such joy to my days. She's recently started swimming lessons, and while she no longer calls her goggles "gobbles", she enters into her lessons with everything she's got. It's so fun to watch her jump up and launch herself full-length across the water, kicking and paddling with everything she's got. When she tires, she stops, stands up, catches her breath, and launches off again. What an unaffected zest for life she has!

We've been working on some Scripture memory for her Sunday school class lately, and, as with everything else in life, she's trying so hard to learn those verses.

We've also begun working our way through "Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons". (I found it at a second-hand bookstore for S$14.95. When I've been able to find it in local bookstores, it runs around S$50 brand new, so I was really excited over my find!)

Oh, does she want to learn to read! The other day, we visited a Christian book store and she came to me with a book she wanted to get. I took it from her to have a look at what she had chosen. It said on the cover, "Children's Bible Stories" so I figured it was another children's Bible story picture book....no sirree! This book was all text, the thickness of a regular Bible (a good 2-3 inches thick!), and not a single picture--not even a black and white sketch! This is the kind of book she can't wait to read!

Meanwhile, she's been "reading" her Beginner's Bible at night before bedtime. She will look at the pictures and tell herself the story. It's not that there's no one to read to her, but she wants so desperately to do it herself!

Already, after only 8 lessons in "Teach Your Child To Read...", she's getting the hang of sounding out words. Today, looking for a workbook page to do, she was able to sound out enough letters of three words (Zip, Zero, and Zebra) to be able to match the words to their respective pictures. (At first, she did think zip was pizza, but considering the word pizza has all the letters in the words zip, and she's a lefty who tends to work right to left at times, and I didn't even know she would know the word pizza, I was pretty impressed!) Of course, she's also learning basic phonics (the letter sounds) at kindergarten, so I must give credit where it is due.

I am so thankful for this little girl who is teaching me joy, and renewing my enthusiasm for life.

Blowing It...Big Time!

Tue, 26 Jun 2007 02:32:00 -0500

The Lord has been challenging me to grow in a few areas lately. One of them is in the area of loving others. I tend to be a rather shy, private person. I don't have many close friends, and I have had a lot of people describe me as reserved, and even cold. I know that God wants me to love others. It's a part of His Great Commandment:

" Jesus said, 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:36-40)

And elsewhere Jesus said,

"I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves]." (John 13:34-35)

I knew it wouldn't be easy. I knew that when we ask to become better at loving, God specially gives us the unlovely and the unlovable to stretch us and help us to grow. I knew that I am generally selfish. I knew that He would give me tests, and that I would sometimes struggle...

But I didn't expect to blow it so badly the very first day! A friend who's in town from overseas called my dear hubby and asked to use our place to gather a bunch of their friends together while they are visiting here in town. No problem. I readily agreed to that. But then, they called and asked me what food they should bring. I snapped off a comment to my husband that I'm not organizing this thing. I don't even know who all they're inviting and who can come, so how could I possibly organize what food everybody brings?

Well, this got my dear hubby angry. He threatened to call the whole thing off and tell them to use another place. I scolded him, "Don't be like that." And he challenged me, "You can be however you want to be, but I can't 'be like that'?!?"

He was right. I could have been nicer. I could have just said I hadn't thought about what food to bring, or just told them to bring whatever food they've been missing while living overseas, or just said, "Have everybody bring enough food to feed their family. It doesn't matter what it is."

Woulda, coulda, shoulda. Three of the saddest words in the English language. (Never mind that they're not real words!) They are words that reflect regret. Shame. Blame. Conviction and condemnation.

Will I ever get it right? Will I ever learn to stop, think, and choose to have the heart of Jesus Christ, who came, "not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45)? Will I ever be able to love like Jesus who, "being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death--even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:6-8)

I realize that I am totally incapable in my human capacity to love like that. It is only with God's help, that Christ can love through me when I am able to yield myself to His control.

Oh, Lord, even knowing the struggles that this prayer will bring, teach me to love!

Total Dependence on God

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:00:00 -0500

Sometimes I feel that my gifts, talents and abilities are a curse rather than a gift. Because I have always found so many things easy, I’m rarely willing to put forth a huge effort on anything. Not only that, I tend far too much to depend on myself and my own strength and abilities, rather than having total reliance on God.

In my head, I know everything I have, all my skills and abilities come from God. But I find myself lacking the absolute desperation for God that I believe I should have in every situation.

Why is it that I only find myself desperate for God and ready to look to Him for help when I’ve come to the end of myself, when I’ve messed up and blown it and gotten myself in too deep? How can I remember to look to God first, rather than depending on myself? What can I do to help myself remember what an absolute and total disaster I make of things when I try to do it all by myself? This shouldn’t be too hard to remember, as often as it’s happened, but somehow I keep finding myself in the same situation.

Lord, I have blown it so many times, and I feel so disappointed and even disgusted with myself, my own selfishness, my own stupidity, shallowness and sinfulness. Help me to look to You as the Source of everything. Help me to look to You for help in my daily living, in my family, in my relationships, in my work, in my health and energy level, in short, in everything!

I'm a Star...Not!!

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 08:21:00 -0500

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, ‘children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.’ Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” --Philippians 2:14-16a

The kiddos and I are working at memorizing this passage right now, both for their benefit, as well as mine. I want so much to be a light in the darkness around me. But I find that I really struggle to let my light shine in a way that lets others see Jesus in me. So many times the Lord shows me my own ugly, sinful attitudes, my pride, my selfishness, my grumbling and complaining, my lack of love.

Paul tells us that we will ‘shine like stars in the universe’ if we can do everything without grumbling or complaining. This is a hard lesson for me. I tend to be a wee bit negative, and it shows. It shows when I hear my children spouting off remarks that are uncomfortably familiar. It shows when I see them grumbling and complaining about their school work, their chores, their siblings, or just about anything.

I am convinced that God gave me my beautiful children to help transform my character into Christlikeness. I'm also convinced that God put me in a situation that got me homeschooling to take me into more intensive character training. My three children are a very clear reflection of myself because they tend to begin to mimic my words and behaviors. I see myself through my children’s eyes, and they often help me to see myself through God’s eyes, and I am, more often than not, disappointed in what I see.

James talks about people who look into a mirror, and, after looking at themselves, walk away and immediately forget what they look like. Mirrors are to help us arrange ourselves to look as attractive and appropriate as we can in a given situation. But when I see and hear my mirrors (my children) reflecting my negativity, do I adjust myself and try to put on a positive, thankful spirit in place of the selfish, negative one? Lord, help me to do just that!

I choose gratitude. I choose grace. I choose forgiveness. I choose joy. I choose thankfulness. I choose purity. I choose loveliness. I choose goodness. I choose faith. I choose truth. I choose justice. I choose kindness. I choose self-control. I choose honesty. I choose faithfulness. I choose to shine!

Growing Through Challenges

Thu, 31 May 2007 00:41:00 -0500

"Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way." (James 1:2-4, The Message)

I don't know about you, but I don't like tests. Oh, I don't mean mid-term exams or finals, standardized tests, multiple-choice, true-false, or even essay tests. I can live with those any day. No, I'm talking about those tests that God sends us to help us grow. You know, those tests. And, yet, James instructs us to consider it a sheer gift when God sends us those kinds of tests. Personally, I prefer a nice bottle of lotion from Bath and Body Works or a new book, maybe a pair of earrings.

A gift. A gift?!? I still find it hard to see it as a gift, but I have to admit that after the test is over, I can look back and see that, yes, I have grown, usually in ways I never imagined. But I still find it hard, when I'm faced with this particular test-gift, not to struggle. I have to admit, I usually want out of that situation-- as quickly as possible. But this particular gift of God usually requires time to do its work.

I personally don't really like it when my faith-life is forced into the open to show its true colors. Because I rarely like what I see. You mean I still haven't got any more patience than that?? You mean I'm still grumbling and complaining like the children of Israel in the wilderness? Sometimes, I feel rather despondent when my true colors show through--because those true colors are usually the ugly stains of a sinful and selfish heart.

So, here I am, God, sin-stained heart and all, offering it all up to you, and asking you to bleach out the stains as only You can. Help me to "...do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that I may become blameless and pure, ...[and] will shine among them like stars in the universe." (Philippians 2:14-15)

The Great Outdoors

Wed, 9 May 2007 08:08:00 -0500

With our resolution to be more active and get more fit this year, my dear hubby and I have been walking...a lot...almost every day. We have been enjoying the park near our home. It has great walking/jogging and cycling tracks, playgrounds, beaches, a great ocean view, and lots of barbecue pits.

We've been really enjoying the walking tracks along the beach. It's so nice to walk in the cool of the evening, watching the sun set, listening to the waves roll in, and enjoying the breeze off the ocean. Here are a couple shots we've taken from various places not far from our home. This is the sea near Changi Village.

Didn't my hubby take some gorgeous shots? Unfortunately, when we've been at the park nearest our home lately, we haven't brought the camera with us. I'll have to try to get some shots of it so you can enjoy it too!

Oh, by the way, our walking has been having its desired effect: Since our January health screening, dear hubby has lost around 25 pounds, and I've lost 15!

History/Geography Studies

Fri, 13 Apr 2007 09:34:00 -0500

This year I've been struggling with what to do with History/Geography as I have made gradual changes to our curriculum to better suit my children. Finally, after wandering through the ages of time for a while, I settled on a study of American history/geography.

It actually began last year when we were planning our visit to the USA. I decided it would be a good idea for the kids to learn a little bit about the states we would be visiting (Kentucky, where their Grandma and Grandpa live, Ohio where G.G., our affectionate nickname for their Great-Grandma, lives, and Tennessee, where we love to spend time in the Smoky Mountains.) So I printed out some state coloring pages I found at Crayola.com.

I decided it would be a good time for my children to get familiar with American geography, so we've continued with these coloring pages since the beginning of the school year.

We've also been playing with an American States puzzle to try to remember where the states are located and how they're shaped. I mounted a blank blackline map of the USA to the wall in our schoolroom, and we've been working at trying to be able to fill in all the names of the states. We've also been working with state capital flashcards to try to learn the name of each state's capital city.

I just made these out of index cards (50 cards with the state names and their 2-letter abbreviations on them, and another 50 cards with the state capital city names on them). We're focusing on just 10 states at a time. Right now we're trying to learn the West Coast states. Today we played concentration with just the 10 states and their capitals that we are focusing on.

I've tried to keep this geography aspect very hands-on for my kinesthetic learner, and so far, he, and his sister, seem to be enjoying it. He was so proud that he went from being able to label only 4 states on the map yesterday to being able to label 17 today! Quite an accomplishment for this guy who, though American, lives halfway around the world from this country.

For history, we've just begun reading aloud through the Little House book series. I got the idea when I saw Dancing Queen pull them out and begin reading them again. Roboboy has never read them, but I was given a boxed DVD set of the first season of the Little House on the Prairie TV show as a gift while we were in the USA, and he has loved it, so I thought I'd try him on the books again. (The last time, he was not ready for it.)

So we're enjoying both reading the books, as well as watching some episodes. We're mapping out the travels of the Ingalls family on a map, and using some study guides courtesy of the Notebooking Corner. (Thanks, Lisa!)

The children are working now on a chart of the various chores and tasks that had to be done in each of the four seasons. As I read aloud to them, they take note of any new chores that need to be added to their charts. We're learning to sing some of the folk songs mentioned in the books, and will be doing some journaling, as well as trying out some of the recipes and other activities provided in the study guides. Fun stuff!

Stinkin' Thinkin'

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 01:57:00 -0500

Have you ever been struck down by this savage malaise? I'm working hard to try to overcome a bout with this horrid disease!

I noticed it when I started to hear my children whining and complaining more than normal, using words that were shockingly reflective of things that I know have come out of my mouth. And I was convicted. I knew from whence this deadly illness had come--it had begun with me!

I guess I'm not the only one who occasionally suffers with this dreaded illness--the Israelites sure had major problems with it during their 40-year journeys through the wilderness. Unfortunately, the knowledge that I'm not alone in this isn't very comforting.

Once you're struck with this ailment, it's not always easy to get over, especially if it has taken a while to discover the diagnosis. You become accustomed to complaining, and get into the habit of looking at everything through a negative lens. I recognized it a short time ago, but have still found myself seeming to wallow hopelessly in the muck and mire of my own lousy attitude. Yes, I really struggled this time to get out, even after I recognized the problem.

What is the treatment? A good strong dose of Romans 12:1-2: allowing the Holy Spirit to renew one's mind.

A daily tablet of Philippians 4:8 goes a long way to both curing the ill, as well as preventing any future recurrence:

"Finally, my brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honest, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, and whatever is praiseworthy, think about such things."

I decided to take a healthy dose of the above, and, as I went out today to run errands, I began thanking God for the time, energy and money to do them. I enjoyed meandering through a surprisingly quiet and empty grocery store, selecting from a beautifully wide array of fresh fruits and vegetables and really fresh fish. I was so pleasantly surprised to find no queue at the checkout, and no queue at the taxi stand. I was so thankful for the helpful taxi driver who got out of the taxi to help me to unload my shopping cart into the trunk of his car, and I enjoyed admiring the beautiful formations of the clouds in the sky as I rode home. I wished the taxi driver to have a lovely day as I paid him, and chatted with my helper and children as we put away the groceries together.

I am thanking God even now for helping me to begin the journey back to a healthy view of life through Christ-colored lenses. Hopefully, this marks the beginning of the road to recovery for me... Have any of you been suffering from "stinkin' thinkin'" lately??

Blessings Big and Small

Tue, 10 Apr 2007 06:42:00 -0500

I have been quite busy lately, but I must stop and count my blessings...

1. Over 300 salvations, and even more recommitments and rededications to Christ over the Good Friday/Easter weekend at our church, among our English adult and children's services! What a party the angels must be having in heaven right now!

2. I was nominated for the best geographical blog over at the homeschool blog awards. (Thanks, TC, for your nomination! What an encouragement!) There are a lot of wonderful blogs out there, and I am thankful to be one of them, and even more thankful for the wonderful words of wisdom and encouragement, and the hands and hearts of friendship that have reached out to me from around the globe through the blogosphere. If you haven't gotten around to voting yet, get over to www.homeschoolblogawards.com and do it quick. Voting closes in a few short days. You never know what kind of encouragement you may be giving to someone!

3. I'm so thankful for the blessing of my homebuilders' cell. This bunch of ladies welcomed me just a few short weeks ago into their group, with a bit of fear and trepidation, with me being a pastor's wife. But, once they realized that I'm just as human and vulnerable as they seem to feel they are, they have opened their hearts and lives to me. Four out of the 7 ladies present today are married to pre-believing husbands. As I listen to their struggles and heartaches, I am so thankful for the faith I share with my husband, and my heart breaks for their painful situations, even as I admire their strength, courage and faith in the midst of challenging circumstances.

4. I'm grateful for the blessing of my children. I don't know how the conversation started, but over dinner the children were asking me to share with them the stories of their births. They never tire of hearing about the day they were born. As wave after wave of precious memories swept over me, tender memories of their baby days, I am grateful for this blessing of family.

5. I cannot even begin to express my gratitude for my precious Savior and friend, Jesus Christ, who came to earth and lived a life to show me what life can be, then died for my sins and yours, and rose again to defeat death with an unquestionable and resounding triumph that still resonates through the ages some two thousand years later.

Well, these are just a few of the countless blessings I'm thinking on today. Take a moment and count a few of your blessings too. You will be sure to feel much better after you do!

Sweet Memories

Sun, 1 Apr 2007 10:46:00 -0500

We have been hosting friends from England in town this weekend. It has been a delightful time of catching up with old friends, and reminiscing over the two years we lived in England.

One of the things I miss is the land. We lived on a 35-acre estate that had a lovely river bubbling through it, fields of bunnies, and seasons of flowers blooming one after the other. We no sooner finished the crocuses than the daffodils were in full force. Later there were lilacs, bluebells, and roses, just to name a few. We enjoyed picnics, flying kites, nature walks and ball games.

I must admit that we tend to hide indoors a bit more here in hot, humid, tropical Singapore. While the weather is a LOT more sunny than it was in gray, rainy England, the tropical sun burns my skin easily, and we get uncomfortable a lot more easily with the high humidity and heat.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from our lovely days in England...

This is one of only two snowfalls we had the whole two years we lived in Surrey. That's the main house of the estate where we lived behind the children.

During our first year in England, we took a 10 day road trip through the lake district and up into Scotland, where we stayed in a lovely little cottage on the grounds of a castle in Inverness, near the famous Loch Ness. This was on the grounds of the guest house we stayed at in the lake district. It was springtime, and everything was so green!

Filling Up the Tank

Tue, 27 Mar 2007 03:40:00 -0500

Recently, I've been really busy. If you stop by this blog regularly, you've probably noticed that my entries have been a bit sparse lately.

I was sharing with a friend today about my busy schedule, and she shared a few great nuggets of wisdom, so I thought I'd pass them on to you.

There needs to be a balance between what fills us and what drains us. Some activities fill us up, spiritually, emotionally, or even physically, while other activities drain us. For example, I'm an introvert, and my husband is an extrovert, so what fills me up may be different that what fills him up. Take cell, for example. My husband's role as a congregational pastor requires him to visit the various cells within our congregation. Now, for him, being an extrovert, meeting up with new people every week and getting to know them a little bit better is great! He comes away from a meeting like that energized and excited.

Now, me, on the other hand, I am an introvert. I draw my energy from time alone. Going to visit a different cell every week, and walking into a room full of new people that I don't know, and enduring a whole evening of meeting new people, answering questions about myself, and chit-chatting with others--well, let's just say that to me that is sheer torture! It is extremely draining on me. I am energized by an afternoon alone in the quiet of my room, reading, surfing the internet, listening to music or a good teaching podcast. That makes me come alive!

In order to run at my best in this busy time, I need to make sure that I can balance those activities that drain me with those activities that fill my tank. If I'm doing more draining things than filling up activities, I'm headed for burn-out or breakdown. Likewise, if I'm heavy on filling up activities, and am not giving out somewhere, I'm also in danger of physical, emotional, or spiritual obesity, which has its own set of problems and is just as unhealthy as overdoing it on the draining activities.

Makes sense, huh? The key is balance. So, I need to examine my life and schedule and see what activities are filling and which ones are draining. Am I balanced, or am I getting too full or too empty? That's where I'm at right now--the examining stage.

Lord, teach me to live in balance. Help me to make time in my schedule to fill my tank. Then, help me to give all that you have blessed me with to bless others.

Want To Be a Blessing to All the Peoples of the World?

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 04:23:00 -0500

Being a blessing to all the peoples of the world. Sound familiar? It comes from Genesis, God's covenant with Abraham, when God promised Abraham that He would make his descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore. God also promised Abraham that his descendants would be a blessing to all nations. What does all this have to do with me? As believers, we are all spiritual children of Abraham.

We are undertaking the Old Testament Challenge right now in our church. By the end of this study, which will take us most of this year, we will have read through the entire Old Testament, listened to weekly sermons on it, and discussed it in our small groups.

Today, as my homebuilders' small group met, our leader asked us to think of a personal application for this. How can we be a blessing to all the peoples of the world? And the Lord just dropped a word in my heart for us, homebuilders, or homemakers. We can be a blessing to all the peoples of the world by raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

Sometimes, as stay-at-home moms, we are made to feel inferior, that we almost have to apologize for what we do. But, we have such an important purpose: raising our kids. As we teach our children godly values in a sin-sick world, we are preparing them to make a difference, each in his or her own little corner of the world. And, who knows what our children may become? One of us may be raising a future President of the United States, or a future evangelist like Billy Graham, or a future judge or senator. We may be raising a missionary or pastor who will lead thousands to Christ, or who will be involved in the start of a great revival that will sweep across the world.

We do not know what our children may one day become. We do not know what our children may do one day. But we have them today, to love, to influence, to nurture. And as we, raise thse children, one by one, all over the world, to be Kingdom people, they, in turn, can rise up and become a mighty army of influence in our world.

Sometimes, it's hard to see the big picture because of all the little puzzle pieces. Don't lose sight of it! We have a powerful part to play in the Kingdom of God. Already, our children are having an influence in their own little corner of the world, as they think, speak, and act in a way that brings glory to God as they interact with their peers. And God has chosen us, Moms, to play this vital role. We have the privilege of being a part of God's plans and purposes in this very unique and special way!

Malacca

Sat, 10 Mar 2007 04:55:00 -0600

We've just returned from a short stay in the historic seaside town of Malacca in West Malaysia. I love Malacca! I love the distinctive red historic buildings. I love the quiet, sleepy town (at least compared to Singapore) with its rich history and culture! Malacca was originally home to a large group of the Straits Chinese, or Paranakan people. It later became a Dutch and Portugese colony. Still later, the British took it over.

While we were there, we visited Christ Church, which was built in 1753. No photography was allowed inside the building, but there was an amazing fresco of the Last Supper at the front of the church, behind the altar.

We also saw an old Dutch fort that was partially destroyed by the British, but Sir Stamford Raffles was wise enough to preserve it. (That's Dancing Queen in front there, checking out the old cannon.)

We also climbed to the top of a hill and visited these remains. Inside were a lot of ancient tombstones, many of them seemed to be in Dutch, though some were also in English, so I think it was either another old church or a mausoleum of some sort. These tombstones dated as far back as the 1600's and on into the 1700's. One sad tombstone marked the tombs of about 6 family members, all of whom died within a few days of each other in the mid-1700's. Most were babies or small children, with one 24-year-old woman. I suspect they must have died from some sort of epidemic. It was placed there by their loving father and grandfather. Life must have been so difficult in those days with all the tropical diseases like malaria, dengue (yellow) fever, and influenza! No wonder the Chinese still have a tradition of celebrating a newborn baby's one month birthday. I guess many newborns didn't survive their first month.

Malacca is well known for being a center for Paranakan culture. The Paranakans were also known as the Straits Chinese, a unique culture group that developed when migrating Chinese intermarried with the local Malays. They are famous for their tasty, spicy food. We had lunch one day at a Paranakan restaurant in the hotel where we were staying--delicious!

We enjoyed a chicken stew in fermented soya bean sauce called Ponteh, stir-fried okra or, as they call them locally, ladies' fingers, squid fritters (calamari), seafood curry and an omlet with steamed rice.

Here's Dancing Queen enjoying a local dessert--ice kacang. It is the local version of a snow cone: shaved ice over red beans, corn and sometimes jelly, over which coconut milk, rose syrup, gula melaka (brown cane sugar) and another green-colored flavoring are poured. It is both colorful and refreshing on a hot day in the equatorial sun. Yeah, I know. The Chinese have weird ideas of what makes a good dessert. Around here we have corn, red bean and yam-flavored ice creams, to name a few of the funny things we eat for dessert. Thankfully, with the wonders of the 21st Century, we also have Ben and Jerry's!

Bubbles Is 5 Years Old Today!

Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:43:00 -0600

Today is my little Bubbles' birthday. Five years ago, she came into the world at the Royal Surrey Hospital in England after 17-1/2 long hours of labor. This was not the ordinary for me! My first two children were born after 4-5 hours!

Bubbles was an unexpected blessing. When I first found out I was pregnant, I was shocked! We were living in England at that time, serving with a ministry that lived by faith. We had very little money, and dipped into the income from the rental of our Singapore home each month just to make ends meet, and I wasn't sure how we would manage to feed and clothe another child. Just before we moved to England the previous year, I had given away all of our baby things. After all, my baby was 3-1/2 at the time of the move, and I had no plans to have any more.

With financial worries, and my youngest just getting ready to start school when he turned 5, I was looking forward to being able to have some freedom to work, when I discovered I was pregnant. I went into a deep depression. I confess: I did NOT want this baby.

But God began to work in my heart, and as my baby grew within my womb, I began to fall in love with her. I knew that she was a blessing from God, even though I wasn't sure exactly what God was doing when He chose to give her to us. By the time Bubbles was born, I was excited and looking forward to her arrival. She was due right around Valentine's Day, but, being quite comfy where she was, she decided not to make an appearance quite so soon. On February 26, around 10pm, my water broke at home, and contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. Since my first two children were born pretty quickly, we made our way to the hospital, expecting her arrival sometime in the night.

But Bubbles had other plans. She must have really liked it where she was, because when my contractions got to be about 1 minute apart, they stopped completely for a couple hours. Then they slowly started up again, all the way back at 5-6 minutes apart. This happened 3 separate times!! I was beginning to think this baby of mine would never come out! Finally, around 4pm, little Bubbles made her appearance into this world, big and beautiful!

And, yes, God did provide for all of our needs. We never lacked for anything we needed, from car seat to stroller to crib, clothes and diapers, God supplied everything at just the right time, sometimes from the most unexpected of sources.

For a child that began as unwanted, I cannot thank God enough for putting Bubbles in my life and in our family. She is such a joy! This child is full of life and enthusiasm. From the moment she wakes up in the morning, she is a ray of sunshine. She keeps up busy, and she keeps us laughing.

I love her funny ways, and her "Bubble-isms" (her mispronounced words). Even though she is starting to outgrow some of her mispronunciations, they are such happy memories of her early childhood. One of my favorites is, "Blah, blah, black sheep," and "Carrots of the Bean" (Pirates of the Caribbean) is another family favorite.

So, Bubbles, happy birthday! I am so glad you are a part of my life. You are truly a gift from God!

Family Fitness Updates

Fri, 23 Feb 2007 22:40:00 -0600

Well, it's been about 7 weeks since that dreaded annual health check that got dh and me up off our bottoms and exercising more. Just to keep you posted, even with the Chinese New Year holidays that usually mean feasting from morning til night and munching on lots of fattening holiday goodies, we have maintained our walking schedule and really watched what we ate during the holiday season.

So far, I've lost 9 pounds, and dear hubby has also lost at least that much, but probably more. He's not so precise, so I'm not sure how many pounds he's lost, but it's obvious that he's losing. We continue to walk just about every day, and it's rare that we miss a day, even during the CNY public holidays. So far, so good!

The Price Is Right!

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 22:27:00 -0600

One of our favorite homemade homeschooling games is based on the TV game show, "The Price Is Right." This one takes a bit more planning and organizing to set up, but it's a fun way to assess and review your kids' studies, especially their math skills. The thing that makes these games extra fun is that I really try to act like a game show host, rather than their mom or their teacher when we play. So, from the very outset, the kids know this is light-hearted, fun and probably even a bit silly.

Now, when we play "The Price Is Right" (TPIR), we forego the beginning part of the TV game show, where contestants bid on an item, and the closest bidder without going over gets to play the game to win a prize. We go straight to the games, and, as in "Let's Make a Deal" the youngest goes first, and each child gets a turn with each game. Sometimes we use prizes from our surprise box, but with this game, we have so much fun in the playing, that prizes don't really matter. Anyway, our prizes are very small and simple anyway, like a new pencil or eraser or a coin or a sticker or small sheet of stickers, so they are not really all that important.

We get out an old toy golf set, and play the putting game. I set up the cup at the end of our hall, and the child stands at the other end. I will ask the child questions from his or her recent studies, and with each correct answer, they get to take a step closer to the cup to make their put. If they miss a question, they are not allowed to step closer, but must remain where they are. After 3-5 questions, depending on how far away we start, wherever they are, they get to take a put and try to get the ball in the cup.

We do a similar game with a toy bowling set. They answer questions to be able to move closer to the pins before they throw. Of course, the goal of the game is to get a strike.

You could do a similar game with a velcro ball and target or a dart board, or other kinds of hit the target games.

My son has struggled with the value of money and how much things cost, so sometimes we play the higher or lower game. I cut out a picture from a magazine or catalog of a toy or something he would be familiar with. Then I set the clock for 60 seconds, and he must try to guess the price of the item, rounded to the nearest dollar. Whenever he makes a guess, I tell him "higher" or "lower" to clue him in on his next guess. If he can guess the price within 60 seconds (which for him was a real challenge!) he wins. My daughter also plays this game, but we try to guess the price of 2 items within the 60 seconds, like the TV game show does.

We will modify other games from the TV show to suit our educational needs. In one game, Beat the Clock, contestants must match prices to the correct items before time runs out. We may play a similar game where the contestant must match answers to the correct questions. This works with math problems, vocabulary words with their definitions, historical dates, state capitals, famous people, etc.

In the dice game, players try to roll the numbers in the price of a car, and then if the number rolled is incorrect, guess whether the correct number is higher or lower than the number rolled. Well, we roll the dice and add or multiply the numbers on the dice, sometimes I add the challenge of trying to get as close to a certain target as possible.

In other games, contestants must unscramble the numbers in the price of an item. I may give my children a more complex math problem to solve, such as adding 4-6 digit numbers, and have them unscramble the numbers provided (I write the numbers on index cards) to find the answer to the problem.

Sometimes contestants must "buy" selected grocery items to get as close to a fixed amount of money without going over, usually something like $20. This is a great life experience practice for the kids, as they do help me with the weekly grocery shopping. I lay out a number of grocery items on the counter, and they must try to buy any amount or combination of items to reach a certain amount of money, without going over.

The TV show has a mountain climber game, where the contestant must guess the prices of items and for each dollar off, must give up one of $7 given to him at the start of the game. To win the game, he must have $1 left after guessing 3 or 4 items in order to "buy" the prize, usually a car. I modify this game too, again trying to help my son understand the value of money and the cost of various items. We use catalog pictures or household/grocery items for him to guess the price, and he tries to have a dollar left at the end of the game.

I'm sure there are other games on the show that could be modified to be used in our homeschool game, but I think this gives you an idea of what we do. Let me know if you try it and how you like it.

Because board games are extremely expensive here in Singapore, we tend to stick with the ones we have brought from America, or make up our own. (A Monopoly or Scrabble game can cost around $40!) So, if you think of any other great TV game shows to modify for our homeschool setting or have suggestions for great homemade games, drop me a note! I'd love to hear from you!

Making Learning Fun the TV Game Show Way

Thu, 22 Feb 2007 03:26:00 -0600

One of the things both my children and I enjoy about homeschooling is the ability to call for an occasional "Games Day". I have used games a lot in our homeschooling, especially for my hands-on learner.

Games can range from Uno, Monopoly/Monopoly Jr. to Boggle, Scrabble and other board games, as well as a lot of homemade games. In fact, our favorite games are homemade.

One of the kids' favorite games is based on the old TV game show "Let's Make a Deal." This is a really old show I saw as a little girl, so if you've never seen it, don't worry, I'll explain it in detail below. I especially like to pull this one out once in a while to review what they've been learning, so this game acts as a sort of assessment for me. The equipment is all homemade, and set-up can be arranged in just moments, so this game is great for even spur-of-the-moment game times.

First, I ask the kids to bring me all their schoolbooks. (This was a lot easier when they were using a workbook-based curriculum, but anyway...) Then we get out 3 large hardcover picture books that are roughly the same size, a handful of loose change, and our surprise box. The surprise box is a small container that holds stickers, stationery items, and other small gifts and prizes. The kids often collect these items themselves when they receive small gifts at church, birthday party favors, etc. and choose to donate them to our surprise box.

If you've ever watched "Let's Make a Deal," you probably already know how this works, but for those of you who don't...

Stand the 3 picture books up on end, with spines facing out toward the children. Teacher stands facing the pages side of the books so she can see what's behind the books, but the children cannot. Place a small prize behind each book.

Then, beginning with the youngest child, select a subject and ask a question based on the child's recent lessons in that subject. For math, I will usually give the child a problem to solve similar to those he's been solving in his math book. For spelling, I will give her a word she's had in her recent spelling lists, or a word I've noticed she has misspelled in recent writing. For English, I may ask a grammar question. For literature, I may ask a question about the plot of the story the child has been reading, or from our read-aloud. Science may include definitions of words learned recently, or other factual questions about the recent lessons. Social Studies may be questions from history, geography, etc., depending on what we've been doing in our lessons. And so on, through all the subjects. Usually I will try to ask questions from the same subject for all the children in their turn before switching to a different subject.

Now, here's where the game show concept comes in. In the old TV show, the host would always make a deal with the participant, "I'll give you a hundred dollars if you can find a paper clip in your bag" or "I'll give you $500 if you can answer this question." So that's what I do: "I'll give you ten cents if you can answer this math question correctly" and I hold up the ten cents from the handful of loose change. If the child answers correctly, he can either keep the money, or he can choose to trade it in for what's behind "Door number 1, Door number 2, or Door number 3" (the "doors" are actually the books standing on end with the small prizes behind them. Most of the time, my kids will opt for what's behind one of the doors, but there are occasions when they would rather have a little extra pocket money. If the child gets the answer wrong, he has to wait for his next turn to try again, and it is now the next youngest child's turn.

As I said, this game is one of my children's favorites, and it is a fun way for them to review with me what they have been learning. By the end of the game, they feel rewarded with their little trinkets and prizes and pocket change, and I have a very clear idea of how well they have assimilated the material they've been studying.

In my next post, I'll talk about another of our favorite homemade TV game show homeschooling games: "The Price Is Right"!