5 January 2011
Homeschooling family on a 13-km hike
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities.
Homeschooling gives a family so much flexibility to accomplish things that really matter. While new homeschooling parents are understandably anxious about categories of work and play and ‘schooling’, veterans have long learned that one can sometimes do all that in a happy overlapping mess of activities. Now try imagining all this with 6 children in tow. I think that’s what you call real-life education in the real world!
Adrian and Jessy Yeong are parents of 6 lovely children. Mom Jessy will tell you it’s not easy juggling everyone’s needs, but that has not stopped the family from making the most of their homeschooling adventure. In the closing days of the old year, the Yeongs travelled up north, and among other things, hiked up Maxwell Hill. In the process, they did not only bond more deeply with one another, they built wonderful memories that will last a lifetime. Here’s their report written by Jessy that was first posted on her Facebook page.
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OUR FAMILY’S MAXWELL HILL CHALLENGE
By Jessy Phuah
Today, we had a family outing, a trip to Taiping to makan and jalan-jalan. We took on a family challenge: we are going to walk/ trek up Maxwell Hill covering a distance approximately 13 kilometers.
Walking on the road was pretty boring except for a few small waterfalls along the way, some wild flowers to look at, pink, yellow, white and purple, an army of giant ants… listening to horns of the oncoming jeeps blazing as they were breezing through. Our little ones waving to them caught their attention as they look in amazement with their thumbs up. We walked and walked. We walked past the station where some locals stopped and rested at the end-point of their walk up. Some were having tea there, they starred at us and cheered us on. I guess that’s about 2 – 3 km which took up about 30 minutes of our walk.
So different from our normal jungle trek, here we had stretches of road and bends, and it goes round and round winding itself all the way up, it not mistaken a total of 92 bends. Ah, suddenly we chanced upon a jungle trek and decided to climb. We had good progress, we ended up at another road and had noticed that we had fast-forward 10 bends and appeared at bend no 22.
We walked till we reached the Tea Garden (8km)…. finally for some coffee and tea and cake and scones whatever they may offer as we were tired after the long walk, only to be disappointed. They have nothing to offer, not even the toilet to our dismay, they were closed for renovation. We sat down at the stairway for 10 minutes, I had nothing much to offer them, only a few slices of bread so kids munched on whatever we had, a few slices of bread and a drink of water. We had to go on and so we walked on.
At this point, my 3 year old Joshua was getting tired so on and off I carried him. Andre helped too. After walking about a kilometer away, it started to drizzle. We weren’t prepared and were caught in the rain. At this point, 3 jeeps zoomed past us, we tried to hitch a ride but they had no passenger space to oblige us. Not desiring to be drenched, we prayed and asked God to hold back the rain and bring it to a stop. It still drizzle on and since there weren’t much shelter we decided to walk in hope that we might reach the peak soon enough.
Adrian walked fast and soon disappeared out of sight. Fit as he is, he backpacked little Joseph and wanted to make sure his little one won’t get wet, God is good, though it drizzled about 20 minutes we weren’t really wet at all, and the rain eventually stopped. Our spirits were lifted up, we were glad and thanked God, we continued our ascent to the submit.
The sweet aroma of coffee drifted by and tingled our noses, the concrete signpost ahead stated 1 kilometer to Bukit Larut, I was excited and told the kids we were fast approaching our destination. The signboard misled us – it took us longer than a kilometer before we could reach the actual submit, but we did it! Ah … My first stop, the toilet finally.
The kids had some chocolate coated cake and water. After a while, we were glad we had bought tickets earlier for the jeep ride down. Adrian commented that since we could do a 13 kilometer, we might be able to scale up Mount Kinabalu, from the mid-point to the submit which is 17 kilometers up. Will we do it ? Well, I don’t know, as for now, I am going to sleep…good night!
17 November 2009
Camping with Lat
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities.
Waileng & KV Soon report on a fun camp outing for homeschoolers with Malaysia’s beloved cartoonist Dato Lat.
“When Ipoh homeschoolers Intan and Harith revealed that they could get cartoonist Dato Lat to join us at a proposed outdoor camping trip, we were naturally excited! For the record, the REAL people behind this were Intan and Harris – THEY were the ones working hard behind the scene to put everything together for us to enjoy. So a BIG THANK YOU to the both of you! RIBUAN TERIMA KASIH! ” WaiLeng & KV Soon
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CAMPING FRIGHT
Most of us were camping for the very first time. Some children expected the place to be wild and untamed (thanks to their fertile imagination!) and came prepared for a rough ride. Sorry for the disappointment. Instead we were greeted by the clean and safe grounds of a holiday resort, with cool activities like biking, kayaking, swimming, treasure hunting and amazing-racing!
Campsite was at the lakeside – a perfect spot except for the noticeably dark and threatening clouds that descended upon us not long after the tents which were strenuously and meticulously set-up by each family. Great job everyone! The storm clouds played hide-and-seek with us. One moment they were hovering menacingly above us, and the next moment, the strong winds blew our tents away. Rain fell by the buckets! But luckily we had the ever efficient and helpful camping guides to do the tough job of shifting the tents for us. THANK YOU CAMPING GUIDES!
We were fortunate to be placed right next to a huge indoor tennis arena equipped with lighting and most importantly, clean toilets. Perfect venue for unplanned performances by our kids’ which ranged from flying demonstration (of the super hero kind), to rap-singing (can’t really tell which was which), and a yoga demonstration (of the spine-bending kind!).
The kids played a game called Tie the Mummy; each team was given a toilet roll with which they turned a teammate into a scary mummy! It was great fun especially when some kids came all dressed in scary/funny/strange Halloween costumse! (A Batman was seen throwing tennis balls with his Wacky Monster dad!). All hell broke loose when Uncle KV (who hosted the evening show) announced that it was time to play the game that everyone was waiting for: TAG!
And so all creatures great or small, ghosts and humans (and in-betweens) ran helter-skelter around the courts. Everyone had a helluva fun on this halloween night! Another note of thanks to Intan & Harris for providing the party smacks and food gifts in the form of chocolates, biscuits and lots of peanut/raisin cocktails! YUMMY!
The sleepy heads were the first to crawl into their tents to call it a day – first prize goes to the Chan family! For the rest of the night owls, the night was still young! A trophy for Uncle Soon for successfully starting the campfire for the eager kids to barbecue their preciously delicious marshmallows! Seeing it done in books is never the same as doing it yourself!
The more adventurous adults moved their tents outside for a more authentic experience of camping under the star-lit skies. Only thing was, there weren’t any stars that night. But who cared? It was still real camping under the night skies compared to the less adventurous who chose to stay indoors under a concrete ceiling! For the adventurous it must have been an experience to remember for a long time to come, I’m sure. I can only imagine it for I was one of the indoor campers!
ART WITH LAT
Everyone woke up with great excitement – Dato Lat was coming! What a thrill to meet the famed cartoonist Dato Lat, who came unescorted, to give an interesting slide presentation of his childhood. One could see that every child and every adult in the room was rapt in attention, listening to his amusing childhood stories of “naughty adventures”.
He spoke lovingly about his home and life, playing various games with his friends in the kampung. It was a nostalgic stroll even though not many could attest to having lived in a kampung before! But who amongst us hadn’t read Lat’s books? Now our kids get to experience the genius of a humble kampung boy who made it big with his enormous talents.
Dato Lat touched every single kid that day, including those of us who are kids at heart, with his sketches of hope and joy, of possibilities and dreams come true. In fact, he did more than that, as he went down to the level of the children, to sit with them, viewing their sketches and giving them his invaluable advice and encouragement, and personally imprinting on them his trademark Lat signature. His rapport with the children was excellent! And a young lad from Penang came all the way here, to present Dato Lat with a special haiku! Lat was visibly touched!
After going from table to table autograph signing and posing for photos, Dato Lat had a short sketching session with the children. He made sketches of the children on the spot! This created a lot of enthusiasm and excitement amongst the children who were delighted to see their faces on paper! One could tell that Dato Lat was having a good time too! A group photo with Dato Lat was a perfect ending to a perfect event!
We hope those who came had a memorable weekend with us. It was a relatively stress-free event for us and we have Intan and Harris to thank for doing all the hard work for us. We definitely look forward to more future events here in idyllic Batu Gajah! Parents got to network and exchange experiences on homeschooling, and the kids got a chance to make new friends. What more can we ask for?
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Waileng & KV Soon lead Malaysian Home Educators Network (MALHEN). You can visit their blog Learning Beyond Schooling or see more photos on their Facebook.
14 July 2009
Debate: Facebook is a danger to society
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities.
26 June 2009 Debate. So what went down at the Facebook face-off between our homeschoolers and the students of a learning centre? Here’s Daniel’s report:
Facebook is ubiquitous – you either are using it or know someone who does.
Recently, two groups of three – the Junior Public Speaking Club (JPS) from Subang and the Grace Resource Centre (GRC) from Petaling Jaya, debated one another on the motion that “Facebook is a danger to society.” For the motion was GRC, and against was JPS.
Held at the Junior Public Speaking club’s homeground, the Subang Jaya Gospel Centre, the debate certainly attracted a sizable crowd, including a contingent from Grace Resource Centre that was present to support their lively debaters with (equally lively) cheers and chants. Group leader, Tetsuo Takahara flanked by Justine and Ryan Tan represented GRC.
The home team’s members, on the other hand, were demure and seemingly relaxed. Helmed by Eshan Jayatilaka along with Joshua Bester and Kevin Tan – all dressed as though at a job interview – the JPS debaters studied their notes and remained generally unexcited, in stark contrast to the opposing team
Once the formalities were done, the debate started off promptly enough, with both teams cutting to the chase. Grace Resource Centre began, with Tetsuo leading the charge, taking issue with several problems with Facebook – such as the negative social and physical effects of spending too much time on Facebook (and less in the real world), inappropriate content that can be found on Facebook, as well as its privacy and security issues.
The Junior Public Speakers countered with their main thesis – that there is nothing inherently dangerous about Facebook itself; that it is a tool that can be used for both good and irresponsible ways. In an especially eloquent speech, Kevin Tan noted that many things can be used for bad, or “hijacked, but does that mean we do away with airplanes?”
They went on to cite many useful features of Facebook, such as its ability to connect and mobilize people (drawing examples from Barack Obama’s Presidential campaign) as well as noting that Facebook is constantly improving its service to help filter out harmful content and safeguard the privacy of its users.
In response, the proposing team acknowledged the few benefits of Facebook, but maintained that the bad far outweighed the good – Facebook in its present form was dangerous and harmful for the reasons mentioned above. The opposing team, in rebuttal, likewise maintained their position that Facebook had no inherent harm, and that it was a useful tool for good that has benefited many of its users.
With the speeches over, the judges left the hall to deliberate and the floor was opened for questions. A few audience members stood up to ask questions of the debaters, but the sparks really started to fly when the proposing team seized the chance to continue the debate, which led to a lengthy exchange between Ryan and Eshan on Facebook’s security flaws.
The judges returned and if there was any nervousness and excitement for the results, everyone certainly did well to conceal it.
The head judge, Mr. Chong, came up to deliver a short speech praising the debaters for their effort and courage. And the result was announced – the Junior Public Speaking team were declared the winners, with the best speaker award going to member Kevin Tan.
On a parting note, Eshan asked all the debaters to reveal their true position on the matter. With a tinge of irony, the debaters from Grace revealed that they were regular Facebook users and didn’t see much of a problem with it while the JPS debaters either did not have a Facebook account or thought that Facebook was a waste of time.
With the prizes handed out and the judges looking on bemused at this revelation, the debate adjourned with both teams going out in cheerful spirits congratulating one another. The writer, who was also the debate moderator, found the debate enjoyable enough and hopes that the ones to follow will be even more spirited, perhaps this time by ensuring that the teams are actually on the right side in the debate!
Photos: (Top to bottom) JPS speakers against the motion; Grace Center speaker Tetsuo at the mike; Grace Center speakers for the motion; the three honourable judges, Mr Daljit Singh, Mr Chong Phow Yew, Ms Diana Dawson; a view of the audience; group photo (minus one judge) with the writer standing in front left.
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This report was submitted by homeschooler and ex-JPS president Daniel Dusanjh. (Read the 23 June post for details about the JPS Club, also writtern by Daniel)
23 June 2009
Honing public speaking skills
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Extra-curricular Activities.
By homeschoolers, for homeschoolers would best describe the Junior Public Speaking Club (JPS for short). And while the club is young in more ways than one, that does not quite hold true for some of the things we speak.
Fancy a topic about terrorists? Or how about a roundtable discussion on issues affecting Malaysia, with some inevitably heavy political commentary? Coming up next will be a debate on the dangers of Facebook to society. All this with a core group of members mostly no older than 18 years of age. (Click on NOTICES for JPS Debate info).
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Every once a month JPS meets. Step by step and sometimes unwillingly, its members conquer the fear that has been described by grown men as “worse than dying”. Some of us take to it like fish in the water while others have to be very gently persuaded to stand up and speak.
Of course, we juniors are wisely guided by our mentors- the mums and maybe a few dads as well. This is where JPS gets its homeschool flavour – parental involvement. Which helps, a little. Even then, as the club gets older, a group has formed known as the “seniors” – veteran members who have been with the club since its early years. Of course, still not much older than 18.
So we have our speaking aspect, usually involving table topics followed by prepared speeches. But much more than that, JPS is where its members get to speak up in as comfortable an environment as possible – under the watchful eyes of their parents.
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It is not all about speaking of course, food and games being the staple extra activities. But there’s more here, for example leadership. Now, JPS is perhaps the only place where you get to be a leader – like it or not. Everyone older than 14 (age, as always, flexible) has to stand up for the position of vice-president where they have to tell the members why they deserve to be appointed to that position. If appointed, expect to serve a full one and a half years of six-month terms – from vice-president, president to ex-president.
Yes, you do learn a lot here, much more than you would expect. It may sometimes be a scary and tiring experience for some, but it is invariably rewarding.
As its members are young (and must be young!), turnover among members tends to be high. A couple of years back, JPS was aging and losing members to college and relocations. Now, it is best described as teeming with new young members – very young, in fact.
Being a regular at JPS for a little over two years, I can certainly say that the club has had its fair share of ups and downs. But with the fantastic leadership it’s had over the years (by the brave and willing presidents – not to mention the mums who are the backbone of JPS!), expect the club to continue for a few more years to come.
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Note: This post is by homeschooler Daniel Dusanjh who is also the ex-president of Junior Public Speaking Club. The JPS is one of the longest running activities involving homeschoolers in Kuala Lumpur/Petaling Jaya. It meets every last Friday of the month, 2:30-5 P.M. at Subang Jaya Gospel Centre. Young ones and their parents are most welcome to join or observe.