19 Sept 2009

For review & info on most of the books I mentioned here, please goes to http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel (updated 19 Sept 2009)

& http://homeschoolingmombookreview.blogspot.com/

I thought we can start school this week. I thought wrong.

We went for a Yamaha lesson on Tuesday night (15 Sept), almost 7 days after Den's operation (read all about her operation here). She was active and seemed to be doing better and better. The redness at the corners of her eyes had almost disappeared. So I did not expect any problem.

Half way through the class, she told me she was dizzy and wanted to go home (that was the first for her, she had never requested to go home since we started Yamaha 1 year and 9 months ago, she used to cry whenever we sang the goodbye song), so I knew she really was not feeling well.

That's the first time she complained of dizziness since the operation, I think maybe it was due to concentrating too long on the keyboard and notes. She practiced piano almost every day at home and did not has any problem. But then she usually only practiced for 5-8 min at a time.

We continued the class until the end but I did not let her play any more songs.

I decided that it was still too early to start school, so there was no school and no worksheet for the whole week.

On Wed, my friend SY and her 1.5 years old boy visited us. So Den had fun playing with him. I also packed up some of Den's old toys and books and sold them to her. That's about the only way I can make Den let go of her old toys...we are saving up all the money from the sales of her old toy and set up a toy fund to buy age-suitable toys for her! Even with that, she refused to let me sell off a few of her toys that I think she had already outgrown.

She is a collector - collect everything under the sun - toys, books, stickers, rocks, plastic bags, boxes, letters, envelopes, stirring spoons, etc, etc! You name it, she has it! Every time anyone wanted to throw away anything, she would ask, "Since you don't need this anymore, can you give it to me?" When you said Yes, she would be so happy that you thought maybe you have given her a diamond instead of just a plastic bag!

The only thing she is giving away willingly is the clothes that she has outgrown... maybe because physically she can't wear them anymore.

On Friday, W&W came over and played. They have not been coming for a while and so they had lots of fun together. We are going to really miss them when we relocated.

Other than that, we did not do much. Just read stories. We started reading Robert N. Munsch's stories collections Munschworks (under Read Aloud 2) again.

I bought Munschworks Grand Treasury (contained munschwork1, 2 & 3) and also Munschworks 4 from Trisha & Sasha when Den was only a few months old because I love the stories! They are so so so silly! They make me laugh and laugh! Of course at that time, Den was too little to understand the stories or to enjoy the humor. Last year when she turn 3.5 years old, she started to love them too.

The stories are just so funny and silly. Some with very subtle messages behind them and some just for the fun of it. We started on the Grand Treasury last year and before we can finish it we got distracted by some other books and forgot to continue. Recently, Borders is selling a lot of Robert N. Munsch's books (single title, around RM23 each, buy 2 free 1), and that reminded us we have not been reading his works for a while.

Just to give you a taste of his story, let me summarize the story that we read last night called Stephenie's ponytail.

Stephenie asked her mom to tie her hair into a ponytail at the back of her head because no one in the school had a ponytail. When her classmate saw her, they shouted," ugly ugly ugly! " She said, "Is my ponytail and I like it!"

The next day, every girl in the class has a ponytail at the back of their head.

Stephenie was very angry and asked her mom to tie a ponytail at the side of her head. The next day, every girl and some boys have a ponytail coming out at the side of their heads.

Stephenie was very very angry and asked her mom to tie a ponytail on top of her head. The next day, every girls and boys have a ponytail on top of their head.

Stephenie was very very very angry and asked her mom to tie a ponytail at the front of her head and cover her eyes. The next day, every girl, boys, and even some teachers have a ponytail at the front of their head and covered their eyes.

Stephenie was so so so angry that she announced she is going to shave her hair and came to school bold the next day. The next day when she reached school, everyone - girls, boys, teachers had all shaved their heads and bold. Stephenie is the only one left with a ponytail coming out at the back of her head.

Den and I laughed none stop throughout the story. I also used the story to remind Den that she needs to be confident with what she has and who she is even if it is very different from others - for example, her glasses. She hated her glasses and think she looks ugly when she wear them. It did not help when all those 'well-meaning' people saw her and said with pity "Ai Yo! So SMALL has to wear glass! So POOR THING!"

But then that's life. We can go through life trying to fit in with everyone and conform to the norm or we dare to be different and be proud of what we have and who we are. Sometimes, when we dare to be different, others will start to follow suit too. A hard lesson for a 4.5 years old though.

Other than stories, she also had lots of free time to draw since there was no worksheet. I was very pleasantly surprised by some of the artworks she came out with:

She draw this parrot in my mom's house on Tuesday before we went to Yamaha without copying from any book! I think it was really great and wanted to show everyone but she refused.

She keep saying it was no good and she can do better and refused to let anyone see it except for ST & me.

Hmm...a perfectionist! I don't like it!

The title of this is "EE & Den On Stage". She draw this yesterday when I prepared dinner.

She only shared it with ST & me and refused to let anyone else see it.

14 Sept 2009

For review & info on most of the books I mentioned here, please goes to http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel & http://homeschoolingmombookreview.blogspot.com/

Since Den's operation, we did not do much. I didn't want to overstress her. For the first few days, I just let her rest and did not even read any book to her because when I read, she would want to look at the pictures. After a few days of rest, her eyes were healing well and therefore I started reading for her.

We read from Sonlight's reading list and also some of the Chinese books. Other than reading books, I did not let her do much. No coloring, no worksheet, no TV.

ST was not around today. Den and I decided to have a girl's day out. We went to IKEA, ate cotton candy (she paid RM2 and I paid RM1 with the promise that the next time round, I will pay RM2), shopping, etc. Found some very good books in Popular today.

(1) 怡学故事列车- a series of 10 books. The normal price is RM59.90, now the promotion price at RM39.30. In other words, it is about RM4 per book. All books are full color with activities at the end. For an example of the activities please click here. 7 of the books are stories books, 2 books are poems and 1 is a script. I really like the books and think it is a very good buy.




(2) A good dictionary to practice phonics. See example here.

Part III Post Operation

To find out how we found out Den has a squint, read Part I
To find out more about her operation, read Part II

Den slept in the eye center one hour after she came out from the operation. I carried her home. She continued to sleep for 3 hours. Too tired from all the crying and the general anesthetic, I think. She woke up once screaming for me because she still can't open her eyes. So I decided to sleep with her so that she would feel more secure.

She woke up at 2pm. Rested and in a much better mood. She still can't open her eyes but she allowed us to feed her milk and later some cereal.

She took up ST's challenge to play piano without seeing (later she secretly admitted to me she can actually see a little bit). I was very happy that she can remember all the songs. I was a bit worried she might forget some of the things she learned because of the general anesthetic.

After that, she opened up all her presents. I prepared 3 presents for her and her best friend EE also prepared a present for her. I brought all the presents to the eye center for her and wanted to give them to her right after the operation but she was too confused to be interested in them.

She was in a very good mood the whole afternoon and she opened her eyes bit by bit. She complained she can't open them wide because when she opened them wide, she saw double images. Her eyes were sensitive but had no pain (thank God!) and we did not give her any pain killer. However, we need to put an eye drops into her eye every few hours and she refused to let us do it. Finally, we can't wait any longer, so we restrained her. She struggled and cried but at least we got it done.

Later, when my brother in Australia heard of it, promised to buy her a princess present for every time she put in eye drops (hmmm.. I think he did not know she need to put in eye drops 4 times per day!)

Even with the promise of presents, we still need to restrain her before we can put another round of eye drops in her before she sleeps.

The next morning (10 Sept 2009), we brought her back to the eye center for check-up.

Doc told us double image was very command after the operation because of the over-correction. He purposely did it that way so that hopefully can force Den's brain to use both eyes. In a week or two hopefully, Den's brain would learn to put the 2 images into one. In the meantime, she can't play outdoors.

We will go back for a check-up in 3 weeks' time.

He also allowed us to cut down her eye drops from 4 times per day to 2 times per day. I was very happy.  But, surprised! when we came back from the center and it was time for the eye drop, Den laid down bravely and willingly and asked us to go ahead! I still don't know what made the change of heart. Since then, we have had no problem dropping eye drops in for her.

Today is Sat. 3 days after the operation. So far there was no problem except she still sees double images. There was nothing we can do about that except pray.

We also follow the Chinese custom and not eating some food like chicken, beef, seafood (except fish), etc. We have not wash her hair yet, worry the water will get into her eyes (doc recommendation was not wash her hair for at least 24 hours). The corner of her eye is still very red but other than that she is pretty much back to her old monkey self. :) All glory to God.

Part II - Eye Operation

As I mentioned in my previous post, Den went through an eye operation on 9 Sept 2009 because she had a squint.

The night before the operation, I read 3 Bible stories to her. There were all about Jesus- Jesus brings a boy back to life (Luke 6-7); Jesus heals the woman who touches his clothes (Mark 5) and Jesus stops a storm (Mark 4). These are the Bible stories we are supposed to read next week but I think it was rather fitting for us to read the night before the surgery.

The stories comforted us. We knew that nothing is impossible for God. He is stronger and bigger than any problem we faced. ST and I thought we won't be able to sleep that night but he ended up sleeping rather earlier. I slept a bit late but not later than usual.

The operation was set for 9am. We need to reach the eye center by 830am. Den was not allowed to eat in the morning. So we decided not to wake her up. Instead, we carried her up to the car and let her continue to sleep in the car. We only woke her up when we reached the eye center. We wanted to shorten the time between her awake and the operation so that hopefully she won't be hungry. The tactic worked. She never asked for milk. We reached the center 15 min earlier and it was not opened yet. We waited for a while before all the nurses came in. They measured Den's heartbeat and put a name tag on her wrist. Den is very sensitive to touch and kept complaining about the tag.

We were briefed by a very nice anesthetist, Dr. Cheah (Den needed GA-general anesthetic). She told us what to expect before and after the operation. I took the opportunity to ask if there were any needles involved. Den is super afraid of needles. Dr Cheah told us she would be using the gas mask to put Den to sleep first before she inserts the cannula into her vein. Den and I thought that was a prayer answered!

Soon after Den and I changed into the clothes provided by the center, we were ushered into the operation theater. ST and I decided I would be the one accompanying Den into the room until she was put to sleep. After that, I would have to leave the room, which I am very grateful for. I don't think I can stand to watch the operation. I always looked away whenever there is any scene of an operation on TV...

In OT room, I carried Den while Dr. Cheah put a mask covering Den's nose and mouth. She asked Den to blow up a balloon. Every time she blow out air, the balloon would be inflated. Then it shrinked again. Den did it a few times before she started to lose consciousness. She started to struggle then. Dr. Cheah already briefed me about this, so I just hang on to her. After a few seconds of struggling, Den was unconscious and I was ushered out.

We waited at the lounge along with my parents for about 45-50min. I saw a cute little girl, maybe one plus to 2 years old getting ready for an operation. She was still sucking on a pacifier. Once again, I thank God that Den was only having an operation when she was 4.5 years old and not earlier, at least now we can reason with her.

Before Den was wheeled out, Dr. Choong came out and told us the operation was straightforward and successful. He did not foresee any problem. I thanked God silently.

When Den came out of the OT, she was still unconscious. She woke up a few minutes later and started to make a very big fuss. Dr. Cheah warned us about that but I did not expect her to struggle like that. She screamed and she kicked and she would not want to be comforted or settle down.

We kept asking her what was wrong but she can't answer us. I think she was still very confused. We kept trying to restrain her because we worry she would rub her eyes and she kept struggling....did not know she was that strong!

Finally, she opened her eyes and saw my dad and she wanted my dad to carry her. She settled down for a min or two when my dad carried her and then she realized the cannula attached to her left wrist. She wanted to pull the cannula out and started another screaming fuss when we refused.

We kept telling her we had to wait for her to drink and not throw up before the nurse can take out the cannula but she was beyond reasoning. We took turns carrying her and tried to settle her down. We managed to feed her one small sip of water but the nurse said we better fed more before she took out the cannula. So the crying continued. I am glad there was no other patient in the room.

We got her to drink two more sips of water and the nurse decided to take out her cannula. She took out the cannula and put plaster and cotton on her wound. This time Den cried and screamed for the nurse to take out the plaster and cotton. She scream so loud that the nurse decided to change it to a normal bandage. She still refused to calm down and continue to scream "Take it out! Take it out!"

That's when I finally realized something is amiss. I asked Den if was she crying because of the bandage or because she can't open her eyes. She told me because she can't open her eyes.

Dr. Cheah told us before the operation, she might not be able to open her eyes for a while because of the oil doc put on her eyes. Some of the patients can open their eyes right after the operation and some have to wait til at night.

Den can't open her eyes when she first came out of OT, but a few minutes later she could open them wide and saw my dad (and later saw the cannula). I think it was not comfortable for her and so she shut them tight again and they were stuck once again and she can't open them despite struggling.

There was nothing I can do but hold her. Maybe because now that I found out the reason for her discomfort, she was somehow comforted. She let me hold her till she fell asleep.

From out of OT to asleep, it was only one short hour but it felt like hours.

Part I -Eye Checkup

Den went through an operation on Wed (9 Sept 2009) morning at 9am to correct her squint.

Since we found out about her squint and astigmatism, we got a lot of questions on how did we find out. It seems like it is not a command practice for parents in Malaysia to bring their young children for routine eye checks.

We wanted to bring Den for an eye check-up when she was 2 years old but did not know where to go to. I can't find a development optometrist. Finally got her to check her eye at a normal optometrist when she knew all her ABCs quite well. She was almost 3 years old. We did not suspect anything is amiss, just wanted to make sure. We did the same with dental check-ups. We brought her along whenever we went to the dentist so that the dentist can have a look at her teeth. So far she has no problem with her teeth.

I wished the same can be said about her eyes.

The optometrist told us that Den has astigmatism in both eyes (power 100) and suggested we get her a pair of glasses right away. We refused. We asked around and were told we should get her to an eye specialist, or an ophthalmologist.

After some research and recommendation from friends and relatives, we decided to bring her to Dr. Choong; for an eye check-up. Dr. Choong confirmed she has astigmatism and told us that 20% of Chinese kids are born with astigmatism. It is due to our eye sockets being too narrow and thus pushing our eyeballs to an oval shape (instead of round). Sometimes when the kid grows up, her eye sockets will grow deeper and astigmatism might disappear.

Dr. Choong thought it was not necessary for Den to wear glasses for the time being because the power was not too high and she was not in school yet. He asked us to come back for a check-up in 6 month time. He did not notice anything else was wrong with Den's eyes.

6 months later, in August 2009, we went back for a check-up. This time, the optometrist in Dr. Chong's clinic found out Den's right eye has no astigmatism but her left eye astigmatism power has increased to 200. She also saw a squint in her eyes.

Dr. Choong checked Den and told us that because of the squint, Den's brain was only using her right eye and not her left eye. In another word, she has no 3D vision and it was very hard for her to judge depth. He told us we need to get her glasses for her astigmatism and an operation for her squint as soon as possible so that her brain can relearn how to use both eyes. He also told us the operation can only tighten her eyeball muscle but no guarantee her brain would be able to use both eyes after the operation. Needless to say, we were shocked.

After we came home, I did some research on the internet and found out that maybe we should see an orthoptist for a second opinion. We are ok for her to go through an operation but very worried that what if after the operation her brain still refuses to use both eyes? It seems like there are lots of kids who went through multiple operations because after 1 operation, their brain still refused to use both eyes so after a while their eyes drifted apart again.

I searched for an orthoptist in Malaysia. Surprise! I can only find 2 orthoptist listings in Malaysia. One in KL and the other one in Sarawak! We called up Ms. Chu, the orthoptist in KL, and went for a check-up. It was very inconvenient. Her clinic is in Jln Ipoh and she doesn't take appointments. First come first serve only. She takes a long long time with her patients and so the wait can be rather tiring. Having said all that, we were so so glad we found her, it was well worth the afford.

Ms. Chu did a detailed checkup on Den's eye. It took her an hour. She drew up a chart to show us the exact degrees of her eyes have drifted apart. She also found out that Den was using two eyes when she was looking at something near and only her Right eye when looking at a distance which was a big relief for us.

She suggested we got her a pair of glasses as soon as possible and also do daily patching. At the same time, she agreed that surgery was the fastest way to correct her squint.

After much consideration, ST and I decided to opt for the operation. Follow up with therapy with Ms Chu if it is necessary.

It is very important to bring your kids for a routine eye check-up. We can never tell that Den has a squint from her appearance. In fact, most of our friends and relatives were very surprised. I will recommend Ms. Chu, the orthoptist for a routine checkup. This is her clinic address & detail:

Ms. KC Chu
K.C. Chu Orthoptic Centre
Unit 4c,
4th Floor Bangunana UMNO Selangor,
142 Jalan Ipoh,
51200 KL

Tel:03-40424220
Email: chukc@tm.net.com

Opening hour:
Mon, Thurs, Fri 9-5
Tues & Wed 9-1
Sat 8-11

She specializes in:
Visual assessment - screening & general orthoptics
Squint
Lazy eye
Double vision

4 Sept 2009

For review & info on most of the books I mentioned here, please goes to http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel & http://homeschoolingmombookreview.blogspot.com/

Ok, finally we have a semi-schooling day. :)

We woke up at 9:30am and realize it was a good day for the park too (no rain, no sun!). So we packed up and went out. We were pleasantly surprised to find the 7 years old Malay girl Den played with last week was in the playground too. They were very happy to see each other. They played for about 15 min, then it started to rain!

Since we walked to the park, we need to walk back. We were soaked through by the time we reached home. I think it was a very fun experience - walking in rain - unfortunately, ST & Den disagreed.

We only started school at around 3pm. We reviewed our Bible verse. Den can memorize it without any help from me. Good. Instead of reading from the Bible, we continue to read the story from Happy Life On The Big Cold Mountain (ref to my previous blog here). I think I'm almost successful. When I asked Den if she would be willing to go for mission work with us (if God calls us), she said Yes! :)

After that, we prayed and we did our phonic lesson (using Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Lessons). Den never sits still for her phonic lesson. She will be moving here and there, biting her fingers, playing with her hair, etc while reading. I'm OK with all this because I would have done the same thing during a boring meeting too. Having said that, sometimes I still get mad because she kept dilly dally until I lost my cool. I hate to get mad while she studies. So I got into the habit of reading newspapers while she read her phonic lesson. That way I won't get impatient with her. As long as she finishes all the reading, I don't care how long it takes (at least I try to train myself not to care!)

After phonics, she requested I read a book of her choice (instead of Sonlight), and I agreed. So we ended up reading the Lion King story. After the book, she told me now she did not need to watch the movie anymore. :)

We also read 5 pages of Mother Goose Rhymes (Under Rhymes & Poem) and a Poem from Carl's' Animals Animals.

After that, I need to cook dinner, so I left her with ST to work on 4 pages of the High-Frequency Words Workbook. I bought it from Popular for RM18. It comes with 128 high-frequency words. It has flashcards and also worksheets and reviews. I still continue her phonics but I wanted to start her on a little bit of sight words at the same time to increase her speed in reading. She bullied ST and said she did not know how to read/do the work. After I finished cooking, I got her to finish in like 10 min.

At night before bed, we read a chapter from 卡琦婭. We have been neglecting our Chinese! We really need to pick it up again.

3 Sept 2009

For review & info on most of the books I mentioned here, please goes to http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel & http://homeschoolingmombookreview.blogspot.com/

EE came over today!

The two girls played for a while before we study. I usually prepared special lessons whenever friends come over to join us. Sonlight is more like 1 to 1 lesson. At least I feel that way.

We started off with the Bible verse for the week (still the same from Proverbs 14:31). I asked Den to explain its meaning to EE and she did.

Then I read the Good Samaritan story (Luke 10:25-37) to them using the Pray & Play Bible 2 (under Bible & Christian story).

After the story we sang a song together:

(Tune: If You're happy and you know it)
If you want to care for someone, give a hug. (x2)
If you want to show you care, God's love is good to share.
If you want to care for someone, give a hug.

If you want to care for someone, give a smile. (x2)
If you want to show you care, God's love is good to share.
If you want to care for someone, give a smile.


(This is EE & Den's suggestion) If you want to care for someone, share your toys. (x2)
If you want to show you care, God's love is good to share.
If you want to care for someone, share your toys.

After that we role-played with another song:

(Tune: Farmer in the dell)
A man lies on the road, (x2)
what will you do to help the man?
a man lies on the road.

We took turns to be the traveler, the robbers, the priest, the Levite, and the Samaritan.

Then we prayed and talked about all the kind things we can do for the needy.

Afterward, I read a story from Stories from Around the World (under Social Study). Today's story The Musicians of Bremen is from German. It was about how 4 old animals (a donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster) left their unkind masters and became good friends. Working together, they secure a future for themselves.

After the stories, Den & EE worked on 3 pages of worksheet together. One page on phonics, one page on connecting the dots, and one on science. I downloaded them free from www.learningpage.com.

After lunch (thank God they finished lunch in 40min), they finished off their worksheets. Then they played for a while (played dress up) before we use junk food to retell the Good Samaritan story.

We put 2 strawberry Lollers into a Pocky to make a man. We make 4 men. Den & EE used the Loller/Pocky men to tell the Good Samaritan story. After that of course was the climax -- ate all the men!

MA came to pick up EE right after that. Den did not cry when it was time to say goodbye! :)

After EE left, Den practiced her piano and also did her Yamaha homework. I also make her work on more math worksheets. With the help of her Homework Helper, she seemed to be able to handle the ?+2=13 question.

We went for a prayer meeting at night.

2 Sept 2009

ST has been on sabbatical leaves since July and our school schedule has been rather chaotic since. On top of that, there are so many things going on these few weeks. So...I have been trying to squeeze in school whenever I can - Doc's office, restaurant, etc.:)

I had a meeting on Mon (31 Aug) morning till noon and then we met up with friends for dinner so that's that for the whole day. ST got Den hooked on a Facebook online game while I was away. They are now virtual farmers - planting virtual vegetables. The good news is Den is learning new vocab - fertilizers, harvesting, etc. (Dear Jane, did you realize they have been watering your farm for you?)

Anyway, today (1 Sept) is usually a busy Tuesday. We only had the time for Bible verse (did not even bother with a new verse, just continued last week's verse), prayer, reading of the "Happy Life On the Big Cold Mountain" and Phonic lesson. I also let her color the Malaysian flag (part of her people of Malaysia lapbook, wonder when can we get it done!)

Today, for the whole morning ST and I went out to settle some stuff. Den stayed with my mom. We picked her up for lunch and went to Atria. I wanted to buy her a special gift. I wanted to give it to her right after her surgery next Wed. She wanted Monopoly (played with Jos in Singapore a month ago) but I am not so sure about that. I think it will be a bit difficult for her. (I also worried I would not have the patience to play with her!!) We ended up did not buy anything. If I can't find anything before next Wed, I will go back and buy the Monopoly.

We took a nap and went out with my parents for dinner. Den read a phonic book before the dinner was served. Then we worked on a page of math worksheet after we reached home. She was having problems with questions like ?+4=17.

She had no problem if the total was less than 10 but can't do it when it was more (only has 10 fingers :)). I taught her to count using the 1-100 chart in her Homework Helper lapbook. We spent quite some time doing it and I'm still not convinced she got it. I will let her work on more questions like these tomorrow.

Before she slept, I read her a Chinese book I bought from the Chinese Christian Book Fair.

It is a funny story about a pair of twin brothers. They look alike, dressed alike, live nearby, and work together. However, the way they react to situations and things that happened to them are totally opposite. Big brother is a pessimist, he always sees the cup as half empty. Little brother is an optimist, he always sees the cup half full.

Big brother is always worried and sad while little brother is always happy and thankful. At the end of the book, the author asked the reader, whose house would you like to visit?

I purposely chose this book for Den. There were so many things going on these few weeks. She has to wear glasses, patch her eye every day, and have surgery next week. She has been a champ and took everything in much better than I thought.

However she did ask me last week, why did God heal everyone else but her. She asked me did God said 'wait'? (God's answer to prayer - yes, no, wait) I said Yes.

I didn't want her to feel sorry for herself. Instead, I wanted her to give thanks in every situation. With the help of this book, she realized that you can always interpret things in different ways.

After that, we practiced giving thanks. We gave thanks that it only happen now when she is 4.5 years old. I could not imagine how hard it would be if we had to put eye patches and glasses on her when she was like 2 years old. At least now she can understand the logic and the reasons behind it and will cooperate even though she does not like it.

We also gave thanks that it happen to us and not her friends because at least we are covered by insurance.

To be or not to be

Over the weekend we have made 2 important decisions:

1. Den is going to have an operation on 9th Sept.

2. ST has accepted a job offer in Singapore and we are going to move down south early next year.

ST and I have been going back and forth with the decision, especially the second one. It will have a great impact on our family, especially on Den.

There are lots of uncertainty and possibilities.

Should I continue to homeschool Den? Since she will be away from all her friends, will sending her to kindergarten be the fastest way for her to build up new friends?

How about her ballet and Yamaha?

Will I go crazy with no family support over there and has to face her 24/7? ST might not be around since the job expects him to fly to other countries in the region.

Where are we going to stay?

What about our current apartment? Sale? Rent out?

How about my parents? Can they take it when Den is away?

Questions we have no answers to. We can only keep praying. Pray that God will cover everything. Pray for God's protection and guidance.