23 September 2009
Character building is tops in this homeschool
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Homeschool Profile.
Homeschool Profile: The Ng Family
HOMEFRONTIER talks to Gaik Suan about her homeschooling family and discovers how a disciplined structure builds character in the home.
Tell us a little about your family.
We are a family of 5. Dad is Weng Hou and Mom is Gaik Suan. Natalie is 18 this year, Nicholas 15 and Stephanie 13. Dad is in marketing with a UK- based company and Mom has been a homemaker since the kids arrived although she did give some tuition on the side before starting homeschooling. We worship in Full Gospel Tabernacle, Subang.
How long you have been homeschooling and what led you to take your kids out of conventional schooling?
We have been homeschooling for 7 years now. 2 things made us decide: Firstly, we felt convicted that it was what God wanted us to do. Secondly, when our children were in conventional schools I had to teach them what the school should have taught them and I felt I was duplicating school. Might as well keep them at home and do the job ourselves.
Tell us some of the things you do during homeschool – the curriculum you use, the way you spend your time, the responsibilities given to each person, etc. What’s your average day like?
We use the ATI (Advanced Training Institute) syllabus which our children will complete at the end of next year. This syllabus places a high emphasis on the meditation and memorization of God’s word, character building and life classroom, which is learning from real life situations that come our way that month.
We have a core schedule which we adhere to but are flexible when other things come up. Because reading the Bible first thing in the morning as a family is important to us, all of us more often than not, rise at about 6.30 am and have that time together first before daddy leaves for work at 7 am. Then it’s bath, breakfast, chores, and prayer, although not always in that order.
Household chores rank high on our list as that is character building, so Nat waters the plants and mops all of downstairs, Nick wipes surfaces and vacuums all of downstairs and Steph sweeps and mops all of upstairs – everyday! On the weekends they clean all 3 bathrooms in the house.
We start our ATI booklets at about 9.30am and work on them till about 11.30am. Then it’s off for lunch until about 1.30pm when they continue with their language studies – Eng, BM, Mandarin – Math practice and reading.
That’s a very structured homeschool you have. How has it affected your children?
We need to have some structure because the syllabus is parent-intensive and so we cannot just go with the flow. But we are still flexible enough for guests, unscheduled activities or when there are errands to run. The children certainly enjoy the freedom of being able to go to the park on a windy day for lessons, catch the Jusco members’ day sale, have the whole pool to ourselves in the mornings, or go for a holiday when everyone else is having school exams! Also we appreciate that peer pressure is not so heavy on them, and so they miss out on a lot of negative influence.
If it’s parent-intensive as you say, doesn’t that make homeschooling more demanding or stressful? How is it easier compared to when your children were in national schools?
It is easier in the sense that right now we parents are in control. When our children were going to conventional schools, we had little or no control over their schedules, what they did in school, or how we wanted to do things as a family. Back then that was hugely stressful!
On the other hand, homeschooling removes all that external demands and now we have control over how we want our kids to be educated. That is liberating. The demands of training our children are still there of course, but homeschool provides a more conducive setting for it. Since my eldest was in school for 5 years before we pulled her out in Std 6, I have had the opportunity to compare and I definitely find it less stressful to homeschool.
Everyone could do with less stress! Are there special challenges you have to face as homeschoolers?
The stress, if any, I think is in the fact that the road we are travelling on is not so clearly laid out and so this unknown may seem a bit stressful at times. Challenges? No, we can’t say we face any special challenges other than the ones every homeschooling family faces, like overcoming our own weaknesses, leading by example, etc.
What else do you do together as a family?
Church is big in our family as we are all involved in the life of the church. We are involved with families and as we link with the adults, our children link with the children. We also, of course, have our annual family holiday where we take off by ourselves to review and make goals for the year ahead.
You mentioned character training. How is that a part of your children’s education?
Our Christian faith is of course something we want them to inherit and claim as their own and in that respect using a Christian syllabus allows us to teach them – among other things – character values that are important to us. In the process many things about life and faith come up for discussion during our lessons. We talk about forgiveness and obedience, submission to authority, and daring to stand alone; about giving up our rights but focusing on our responsibilities; about not judging others until we have done ‘due process’.
You have been talking about the things you’re teaching and what this has done for the children. What about yourself as their primary tutor? What has homeschooling done for you in particular? What’s memorable?
Homeschooling is memorable for me because each month as I teach about values and character and God’s Word, I seem to be teaching myself and changing the way I think and behave. I am not the person I was when I started homeschooling. I am forced to see my weaknesses, acknowledge my wrong thinking, realize my mistakes and apologize for my behavior. I think I am the wiser for all of that. Homeschool has changed me for the better and I am grateful.
If there was one thing you could do all over again in your home school, if it were possible, what would it be?
If I could do it all over again, I would take my oldest child out of school earlier – there would be less to undo! Besides there are so many areas to cover, so many things I want to go over with her, and I would have more time to teach and train.
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For more information about ATI, sign up for the upcoming ATI Home Education Seminar. Go to NOTICES (November) for details.
29 June 2009
Ice-skating homeschoolers in Malaysia
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Homeschool Profile.
Homeschool Profile: The Phillips Family
The Phillips girls Laura (10) and Kristiana (8) are passionate about ice-skating and believe it or not, they picked it up here in tropical Malaysia! (Watch them on YouTube) Their mom R’deen tells us about their homeschooling journey and how ice-skating became a part of their schedule.
How long have you been homeschooling?
We’ve homeschooling since 2004!
What got you into homeschooling?
I have a lot of friends who homeschool their kids, and since we travel a lot, it’s a method that makes the most sense. Also with me being Filipina and my husband American, we thought this would be a good way to make sure they get Philippine and American History/Culture as part of their education.
Tell us a little about your homeschool.
Our girls are using Sonlight which is a wonderful program and works well for our family. I would say that the actual “schooling” time we spend when we sit and read and discuss is about 2 hours a day (I’m using Core 3+4 with both girls right now). But I wouldn’t limit their learning to these 2 hours alone. If something comes up we take the time to answer their questions, or we may even do craftwork that may or may not be related to what they are currently studying.
What do you enjoy about homeschooling?
Top of the list would be the flexibility it offers! Another thing is, I get to invest enough time in training my girls not just in academics but also in discipling them, building into them godly character. I also get to customize our lessons and discussions to what the girls are interested in at the moment or what we are dealing with as a family,
Are there challenges you face homeschooling your daughters?
I need to be really disciplined in the use of my time. If I feel lazy, then we don’t get much schooling done. I’m glad the principal, Mr. Phillips (that’s my husband!), is usually around to make sure discipline is maintained.
Tell us about Ice Skating. How did your girls get into it?
Three things: 1. Watching the movie ‘Ice Princess’ 2. Watching girls in beautiful costumes doing fancy things on ice, and 3. Laura got inline skates for Christmas 4 years ago and wanted to learn to how to use them! We thought ice skating would transfer to inline skating, but they enjoyed ice skating so much we ended up giving the inline skates away! And we thought ice skating would be a perfect PE activity! My girls sure keep fit and healthy.
How long have they been ice skating?
The girls first started skating early 2006 and they learned it at skating classes offered at Sunway Pyramid Ice.
How has ice skating been good for you all?
Aside from the good physical exercise they get from skating, they also learn some very important life skills such as, working together in a team, patience while working on a new skill, handling frustrations when the training gets tough and demanding, good sportsmanship, etc.
They have made a lot of good friends through ice skating. We see them not just at the rink but they also visit, have meals, or have play dates.
Laura enjoys team productions because it’s fun for her to be working with friends. She also enjoys the challenge of learning new jumps or other elements. Kristi enjoys going fast and she enjoys doing programs and skating to music. She also loves choreographing her own dance.
Is there anything about ice skating that they don’t like?
Laura doesn’t like falling and getting wet and cold. Kristi didn’t like getting dizzy, when she was first learning to spin. I don’t enjoy the demanding schedule: early morning and late night practices. We’re thinking of cutting back on our skating hours and commitment.
That sounds like a lot of time on the rink.
When we’re not preparing for any competition, we skate twice a week for about 3 to 4 hours. But during competition season, we skate twice as often sometimes even as much as 6 times a week!
What other special challenges do you face ice skating?
It depends on how much time and money you want to invest into skating (or whatever sport or hobby for that matter), but if you don’t watch it in can run your life! At the last competition (Skate Nationals back in March) we were at the rink almost every day! And one of our coaches said we should decorate a corner of the rink and put up pictures on the wall since it was our second home!
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About the Philips: R’deen is married to Timothy and they are currently residing in Subang Jaya, Selangor. R’deen enjoys all kinds of craft and creative things, especially scrapbooking, sewing (mostly her girls’ costumes), and more recently, bejeweling. She also enjoys planning and hosting parties!
Apart from ice skating Laura loves to read. She also enjoys writing books and making up games to play with her friends. She has a pet hamster named Amanda Lin.
Kristiana recently caught the reading bug, and likes writing poetry. Her pet hamster is named Squeaky.
Both Laura and Kristiana are participating in Skate Malaysia 2009 and you can check out their events on the website. Details are also on Homefrontier’s NOTICES.
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.
12 May 2009
11 years in prison
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: Education; Public Schooling.
While the MOE dithers on the English-for-Science-and-Math issue, our political scientist and columnist Umapagan Ampikaipakan wades into the debate with his latest post in the NST headlined, Master English by learning English, not others. He argues against the current arrangement and you can read what his counter proposal is. There is an undercurrent raging against English for Science and Math and there are similar sentiments shared by the ruling party UMNO. Well, all this flip-flopping is enough to drive parents up the wall.
However what’s emasculating the education system in the country goes beyond the language debate. Let Mr Ampikaipakan tell you what school was like for him. If it sounds familiar it’s because it is so true for so many of us. Indeed, it’s an indictment against every educator who believes schools are what our kids need:
But there is more to the problems that plague our education system than just the language in which we are taught. It is merely a distraction from all that really ails us. Our system is broken, in that it fails to educate our youth, let alone inspire them. We are shut up in our schools and in our colleges for years, and come out in the end with little else than a brief grasp of language and some memory of the thoughts of other men.
For 11 years, I, too, was held captive, cold irons bound, in the claustrophobic confines of the Kurikulum Bersepadu. My dreams tortured by the spectre of Afonso de Albuquerque. His disembodied head, muttering in Portuguese, insisting, over and over again, that his name is in fact pronounced: “Al-Buh-Kur-Kee”.
I can barely call to mind all the things I was taught in school. I remember being bored. It is the one compelling memory of those days. I remember being bored and I remember being sweaty.
I remember being cooped up in a little room with rickety chairs and a squeaky ceiling fan. I remember 44 other people. I don’t remember their names or their faces but I remember their smells. I remember that cleaning the blackboard after class would give me an asthma attack.
I would sneak storybooks into school, hiding them between textbooks, in those small spaces underneath those rotten wooden desks. I would read them, surreptitiously, while the rest of the class struggled with the base six number system. They were my only escape. The only way I could endure my sentence. Year after year, with no early reprieve for good behaviour.
I remember being taught to pass exams. I remember being taught the importance of the almighty “A”. I remember being taught to memorise facts. I remember being taught. I do not remember learning. I do not remember having to think. I do not remember why.
It is an unfortunate truth, but our education system gives birth to drones. Human computers that are able to regurgitate, with great efficiency and accuracy, everything that has been fed to them. And little else.
Therein lies our greatest failing.
20 April 2009
My home, my school
Posted by DAVID BC TAN under: News.
The Star ran a story on homeschool in their education supplement Sunday entitled, My Home, My School. Check it out and see what you think.
They ran these HUGE photos that sort of threw us off balance for awhile. The front photo with Sook Ching was rather, uhm, posy, because the reporter wanted a pix that showed a ‘typical’ homeschool. Tried telling her the pose was unnecessary and so untypical, but she insisted. Also, Sook Ching was a little peeved that the reporter spelled her name wrong (it’s not ‘Sook Chin’).
It’s not the first time that we’ve been interviewed, but this time you hear voices from kids who were homeschooled, and then got back into the mainstream, and then back again. Well. Then there’s our friend Jane whose family has conventionally schooled kids and one who’s homeschooled. And there’s Hafizah of Malaysia Homeschool Unite too. This spunky young mother of 4 is a strong advocate of homeschool – may her tribe increase! – and you can visit her blog here.
If I have any reservations, it’s the statement by the head of a private school that “school is still the best place to bring up a child.” But of course she had to say that, being a teacher. I’ll respond to that in another post.