28 & 29 Jan 2010

Some days, we just don't feel like studying.


Yesterday was one of those day. We just felt suffocated at home. So we decided to skip school and spent the whole day at IKEA play center and bookstores...if we had a library we could have spent the day there...since we don't, we can only spend it at mall. We love IKEA mall because it has three book stores.

We decided to be really "bad" so we ate McD for lunch and ChocoTop for dessert...then when we reached home in the evening (before rush hours), it was actually not raining, so Den went down to the pool and swam/played for an hour.

After dinner, I let Den choose what she wanted to watch and she chose Tom & Jerry and so she watched an hour of Tom & Jerry (a very very rare treat for her!) while I skped with my hubby and replied email and read (bought a novel).

At night I let her chose a book for me to read to her (I realized I have not been letting her choose read aloud book since we started Sonlight...every nightly or daily read aloud are all Sonlight books...), she chose a very simple book called Where's My Teddy? (under non Sonlight read aloud) Eddie lost his teddy bear and he tried to find it in the jungle. He found an enormous teddy instead. Eddie could not understand how did his teddy grew to such a big size. Eddie was upset because teddy is too big to cuddle and would not be able to fit in his bed.

At the mean time, a real bear with the opposite problem, his teddy has shrunk to a tiny bear. Real bear was upset because his teddy is to tiny to cuddle and would have lost in his bed.

Real bear with a tiny teddy met the boy with the enormous teddy. They both get back their own teddy and rush home to cuddle and sleep.

Very simple and very short story. Den enjoyed it. After I read it for her, she said pitifully, "I looked at the book many many time but you have never read to me until today...."(Ok, I repented, from now on, I will let her chose read aloud book more often! It just that...sonlight has so many read aloud book...)

Today I had a part time maid coming over clean my house for me. So Den and I have to work around her.

We started Week 6 verse today:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you, I have summoned you by name; you are mine. ~ Isaiah 43:1

I love this verse but it was not easy for Den. Just explaining the words redeem, took up to 15 min. There was no song sample for this song in Sonlight website, at first I thought I would have to wait until ST get the CD back from US for me (I some how forgot to order the CD when I order Sonlight and I cant order later because the S&H would have killed me....now since ST is in US for training, I order the CD and have it deliver to his hotel for FREE!).


But then I realized, I cant wait because it was really hard for Den to remember this verse without song.We recited many many time but still I don't think she was getting any closer in memorizing it. So just now, I went online and check and see if anyone wrote a song for this verse and Viola! Hillsong has a wonderful wonderful song for this verse! I love the song. I cant wait to worship with Den using the song. You can listen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHtbgyPk3cw .

After that, we read a story from I Heard Good New Today (under Bible & Christian books). Today we read about how Columba, an Irish bring the good news to Scotland. A few days ago, we read about how St. Patrick brought the good news to Ireland and now because of the good work of St. Patrick, Columba's family get to know Christ. When Columba grew up, he became a missionary like St. Patrick and he brought the good news to Scotland. We prayed and giving thanks for all the missionaries.

After that, we read two chapter of Come Look At Me (under Art). Since this is not in Sonlight schedule, sometime I actually forget to read it. Followed by a lesson in Week 6 science. We learned about grassland today. Den did the science worksheet.

Den did not concentrate well today, so I deiced not to continue. Instead, she practiced piano, did Yamah homework and I started her on Sonlight Reader 1. She has only finished Lesson 64 in Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons but as far as I can see, it should not have any problem for her to read I Can Read It! Book 1 (under Sonlight Reader 1). Especially if I go through the word list with her first. So I let her read 3 pages today. She has no problem with sounding out all the words, but I wanted her to read more fluently and naturally. After a few reading, she was improving. I'm going to let her do it again tomorrow.



I have been reading a book called Read Right! (under Language). The author is against phonic and whole language methods. Very interesting, I don't totally buy into it but will definitely use some of the technique suggested by the author. Training Den to read fluently is one of them. Before this, I only make sure she can read out all the words.


After lunch, she wanted to work on a Princess sand art card. We are going to her friend's birthday party this coming Sunday and she wants to give her friend the sand art card. She worked on it for about 30min, then I had to stop her because I need to send the maid home. She was 10% done. We will work on it again tomorrow.


After we sent the maid home, we went to bookstores again. This time in Atria. We bought some interesting games and books. Will share with you next time.

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK (updated 29 Jan 2010)
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

26 Jan 2010

Den woke up later than usual, so we did not get to do all the things I planed to do this morning. For the past few weeks, she only sleep around 10 hours or slightly more. I was worried for awhile because she used to sleep 12 hours. Then 2 weeks ago, I read in a report, from 5 years old onward, kids average only need 10 hours of sleep. So somehow or rather, her body knew that she is now 5 and only need 10 hours of sleep.

We have been so good in studying the past two weeks that I'm a bit behind on the lesson preparation. I stayed up til 3am this morning still could not finish preparing week 6, but then I detoured and make a lapbook for the Apple & the Arrow.

So this morning, Den and I did our work at the kitchen (bigger table), so that I can prepare her lesson at the same time.

I found a free unit study and lapbook about The Apple & The Arrow (under Sonlight K Read Aloud) at homeschoolshare.com yesterday. This is one of my favorite site for unit study on books. Check out the one on The Apple & The Arrow at http://www.homeschoolshare.com/apple_arrow.php

From the site, I printed out a set of questions about William Tell (the hero and the main character in the book) & Gessler (the bad guy). There 10 discussion questions about each character. I think these are very good question and can be used to study any character in any given book. Questions include:

1. Where does he live?


2. When did he live?


3. Is he real or fictional?


4. Write six words that best describe his appearance


5. If you could meet him, what would you ask him?


6. Name four character traits that he exhibited.


7. Choose one of these traits, look it up and define it below.


8. How did he exhibit this trait in his life?


9. Did people like or dislike him because of this trait? Why?


10. Do you think this trait was pleasing to God? Why or why not?

I was a bit worry it might be too difficult for Den. So instead of question and answer, I set it as discussion topics. She has no problem with that. She understood the questions well and she contributed most of the answers.


After that we looked at the lapbook I make last night, first we looked at different weapons they used in Middle Ages. Then we learned a little bit about the feudal system (King, Noble, Clegy, Serf - I learned that tru the internet last night). We discussed the characters in the Apple & the Arrow and who fall into which category.

After that She colored the flag of Switzerland.


Then we skyped with her dad dad for awhile before we ate lunch.


After lunch, I let her listen to one of the Usborne Young Reader CD Book (under CD/DVD). The title is The Stories of Castle and it touched on the feudal system (even though, it does not use that word) and the Middle Ages. I think it was good fit for her. Especially we are going to study about Middle Ages on Week 8 history.

That is all that we have the time to do today. After that was Ballet and Yamaha. She decided to sleep over in my parents house tonight. So this will be a good time for me to catch up on lesson preparation.


For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

25 Jan 2010

had so much fun at our last week Chinese Lesson (to read about our hairdresser Chinese lessons, click here and here), we decided to do another themed lesson this week.

We started of the day with week 5 Bible Verse (Den can sing it all by her self now) and a very encouraging story from I Heard Good News Today (under Bible & Christian Stories). It is about St. Patrick. I knew the Irish celebrate St. Patrick's day in March 17 but have no idea why. This story explained it all - how Patricius Sucatus, a young lad from an English Christian family was kidnapped and sold as a slave to Ireland. There, he realized how the Irish feared their gods and he wanted to share with them about Jesus. 6 years later, he escaped home but he never forget the Irish. He studied and went back to Ireland as a missionary.

After that, Den led a prayer and prayed that we will be like Patrick and share about Jesus with those who does not know him.

Then, we read 4 poems from The Llama Who Had No Pajamas and two pages of Mother Goose (both under Rhymes & Poems).

After that, we started our Chinese Lesson. In order to encourage Den to speak in Chinese, I started this theme game with her last week. This week we are going for the theme of Birthday Party since her birthday and her dad dad birthday are both in this month and so are quite a few of her friends. In fact, we are going to her friend's birthday party later this week.

I make up a song using the tune of Five Current Buns:

五份礼物全是我的 (5 presents, all mine!)
有大有小有高有矮，要先开那一份？(big, small, tall, short, which one should I open first?)
五份礼物全是我的 (5 presents, all mine!)
打开最大的，现在剩下四份 (Lets open the biggest and now I have four)
四份礼物全是我的 (4 presents, all mine!)
打开最小的，现在剩下三份 (Lets open the smallest and now I have 3)
三份礼物全是我的 (3 presents, all mine!)
打开最高的，现在剩下两份 (Lets open the tallest, and now I have 2)
两份礼物全是我的 (2 presents, all mine!)
打开最矮的，现在剩下一份 (Lets open the shortest and now I have 1)
最后一份，不舍得打开 (the last one, I don’t want to open it now)
把它藏起来， 明天才开。(Let’s hide it and open tomorrow)

Den decided we are going to celebrate one of her bear's birthday today and she named her 冬儿。

We started with the song. I explained some of the unfamiliar words. After that we make a list of the guests 冬儿 wanted to invite and a to do list.



I also printed out some invitation cards for her and we discussed about what to write at the back of the invitation card.

After that, I left her alone to color the invitation card while I cooked lunch.

After lunch, we make a birthday "cake" for 冬儿. My sister in law's mom gave us a special Christmas present last year. It is a DIY ginger bread house. Very pretty but we have not had the time to do it last year. So I decided we should make that our birthday "cake".

We spent quite some time making the "glue" - mixture of egg white, icing sugar and lemon juice. We are supposed to use the "glue" to stick the house together and also "glue" all the deco on it. However when Den saw all those sugary deco, she refused to "glue" them on the house...I wont have let her eat them if she use the "glue" because of the uncooked egg white.
So we ended up just stacked the house (looking quite good I think, just cannot be moved) and put whatever deco we can on it without the "glue".

After that Den was supposed to make 5 presents (1 big, 1 small, 1 tall, 1 short and 1 medium), I surprised her with 2 real presents for her. She had so much presents for Christmas and Birthday that I decided to keep two for later and this is a good opportunity to take them out. She was very pleasantly surprised.

Then I had to pretend to be 冬儿's friends' parents and called her up to ask for direction. Finally, everything was ready. All the "friends" (2 dolls and a dog) came to 冬儿 house (Den's room), we played hide and seek many many time before it was time for the cake.

We went to the kitchen, took photo, sing birthday song in Chinese, make birthday wishes and ate the cake....Den ate the cake.

The guests and the host from left -Mary, Ester the dog, 冬儿 the birthday bear and Dolly.

After that, Den sang the song again and I let her opened her presents.

New Words:
• 生日会(birthday party)，
• 一份(one piece)，
• 生日卡(birthday card)，
• 邀请卡(invitation card)，
• 生日愿望(birthday wish)，
• 生日日期(birth date)，
• 生日礼物(birthday present)

New Skill:
1. Making an invitation card
2. Making a party list –who to invite, To Do list
3. Decorate party room
4. Make cake

We are going to review this lesson later this week. I had some ideas we did not have the time to do today, will do it another day.

After the "party", it was time for GoodTV Chinese children program and dinner cooking time for me.

We also did an experiment today. To see the tubes/veins inside a plant that carry water up the stem to the leaves, we put a stick of celery into a jar of red water. Four hours later, we cut a slice from the stem and we saw tiny red dots surrounded the stem - they were the tubes/veins that carry water.

After dinner, we looked at some of the interenet link for week 5 science. These are some of the link we looked at:

1. River -http://www.education.gg/gg/custom/resources_ftp/netmedia_ll/ks2/geography/river_bridge/rivers/river.htm
2. A short video of how a mountain is formed -http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0303/quickflicks/index.html

3. A short video about glaciers -http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0501/quickflicks/

4. A very interesting short movie about the animals in the desert and how they adapted to the hot weather -http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/wild/desert/wildlife.shtml

After we saw all the link, Den was still quite alert, so we decided to finished the last chapter of The Apple & the Arrow (under Sonlight K Read Aloud).

Since it was about the independent of Switzerland, I decided to read a bit more about Switzerland for her. I bought a book called "Times 1000 words around the world" at the Big Bad Book Sales last year at RM3!!! It has write up of 43 countries around the world with pictures. So today we read the page about Switzerland.

I decided we can do a little bit more about The Apple & The Arrow. I downloaded some free materials from the net and tomorrow we are going to make a mini lapbook about The Apple & The Arrow.

Thats all for today. Hmmm...we have done quite a lot.

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK (updated 25 Jan 2010);
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

23 Jan 2010

Since my husband, ST is not around, we school on Sat. (Since he is usually not working on Sat, we make Sat our family day) We went to mall yesterday on Friday and did our grocery shopping without the crowd.

I started today vacuuming. Den practiced piano, did two pages of phonic worksheets and some coloring.

After that, we started Week 5 Science. We finished all the reading and the worksheets. We have not done the DVD, the experiments and the internet link.

This week we studied the river, the mountain and the desert. Learned a few things my self - like how the formation of water fall, snowline, treeline, etc. I knew this word "glaciers" but did not know it is actually solid icy water moving downhill slowly.

Actually according to Sonlight schedule, I'm supposed to do science very day. One day 2 pages of the Encyclopedia, 1 pages of worksheet, a few internet link and may be an experiment. Den and I find it too little. We prefer to do a whole chunk in one setting. In fact if it is not her friend EE was coming over to swim, we would have done the experiment as well.

EE came over to swim at around 5pm. They played til around 6pm, then showered, snacked and it was time to say good bye. Den started to cry (she is not too good in saying good bye esp to her best friend) and EE insisted she wanted to spend the night in our house.

We have been talking about leting them have a sleep over one of this day, but so far, the timing was not right and both of them were not very ready. Den would insisted EE to come over to our house to sleep and Ee would insist Den to sleep over in her house, that kind of stuff, so we decided to wait. Then today, out of the blue, EE decided she was ready.

Since she insisted, we decided to let them try.

After MA (EE's mom) left, I fried rice while they played. They ate and played some more and watched an episode of Between the Lion (under CD/DVD). We went into the room and read bedtime stories and getting ready to sleep early because tomorrow is Sunday. We go to church very early in the morning.

We offed the light at 920pm. We were supposed to sleep together in my room. More than 1 hours later, both of them still cant sleep. They did tried but EE started to have running nose and one thing lead to another, both of them were wide awake. I finally gave up at 1045pm.

I told them they can read quietly in the study room. They did.

We decided we were going to try let two of them sleep in Den's room. Den has not been sleeping in her room one month after we moved to this house, that's a long story for another time. But today, she was very keen in trying with her friend.

At midnight, once again, we said good nite and I left them sleeping in Den's room. 5 min later, Den was crying her heart out! She was really upset. She explained she tried to sleep but she really really missed me!! So I ended up in the room with them. Den finally fallen asleep at 1245am. When I left the room, EE still was not asleep yet. I am going to check on her later, hopefully she will be asleep already.

As a whole, I think both of them were great in this last minute sleep over. Den let EE played with any toys she wanted (including her precious princess computer) and let her wore her favorite princess pajamas to sleep. EE was so braved. She was having running nose (must have catch a cold during swim) and yet never once asking for her parents.


For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK ;
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

21 Jan 2010

We were good today, stayed at home and studied.

We started with singing the verse (finally memorized the song now). Then we read a chapter from I heard Good News Today (under Bible & Christian Books). It was about how the monks of Lindisfarne protected their beautiful handwritten Latin Bible (containing the four Gospel) from the Vikings.

I showed Den a book I bought last year from the Christian Book Fair called 我的第一本祈祷书(My first Prayer Book). Inside the book, there are many examples of handwritten Bible passages and prayers from the Middle Ages. Very beautifully done.

After that, we prayed together and gave thanks for the opportunity to read His words freely and also prayed for those who did not have the opportunity to do so.

Subsequently, we continued our history lesson on Vikings. We read about their food and also their ship - the longship. We also check out the internet link. If you want to find out more about Viking, check out this:


1. To build a long house and a longship -http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/education/sysm/vikings/flash/

2. Spot the out-of-place things in Roman & Viking villages (very fun! Den got 4/5, no bad. Meaning she has been paying attention to all the lessons we did)- http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/walk/games_index.shtml

3. For the Viking coloring page and other info, check this http://www.jorvik-viking-centre.co.uk/vikings5.htm

After that, I need to go cook lunch. She works on math worksheets and Viking coloring.

After lunch, we practiced piano and songs from Yamaha. Then we started our Chinese Lesson - Hairdresser Party II (for info on Part I, click here).

We started with the song and I also printed out some flashcards for the new words we covered in Part I. Then I introduce a new word -名片（business card). I explain what is a business card and why we need that and what should be put on the card. I showed her some examples. Then we make our hairdresser business card.


I let Den choose the clip art she wanted and she came up with a name for her shop -- flower! We make up a mobile number and an address. Then we printed it out.

After that, we started our play. I played the customer first then was her turn. We had fun.

After that, she watched Chinese programs on GoodTV for about 30 min and jumped rope for 15 min before we eat dinner.

At night we read another chapter of The Apple & The Arrow (under Sonlight Read Aloud). We finished chapter 4. One more chapter to go.

After that, we watch one episode of Between the Lions (under CD/DVD). Recently we went crazy with this PBS production. It is a phonic program but it is soooooooooooo much fun! I actually watched it with Den because some of the content needs some explanation plus I really really enjoy it myself. I would recommend it for kids from 5-8 years old.

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK ;
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

19 Jan 2010

We have great fun using the Chinese Lesson Plan I did last night (uh...this morning).

First thing first, we sang the verse (using the sample from Sonlight, thank you!). It does make it much easier to remember the verse.

After that, we read a chapter from I Hear Good News Today (under Bible & Christian Book). It is a short story about John Mark (the one who wrote the Gospel of Mark). It actually belongs to week 4 but I decided to do it in Week 5.

After that, we started our Chinese Lesson. Den listening in Chinese has improved a lot since I started to let her watch the GoodTV children's program. She watches for around 2 hours or less per week. That really helps her listening. However, her speech is another matter altogether. She just does not have an environment to speak Mandarin.

So last night, I decided to plan my own lesson plan. I wanted it to be fun. I took out one of the books I bought some time ago called Literacy Play (under Language). I like the book because it uses pretend play (or dramatic play) to teach kids vocabulary. I think it is rather a fun way to learn.

I choose one of the themes included in the book -- hair salon. Ha! Rather ironic, since I tried to avoid hair salons in real life as much as possible. Hair salon pretty much equal to dentists to me. So then why do I choose this theme? I trimmed Den's hair on Mon and since the memory is still fresh, I think she would be interested in this hair-cutting business.

I make up a song for our play using the tune: Did you Ever See a Lassie?

你见过理发师吗？ (have you seen a hairdresser?)
理发师?理发师? (a hairdresser? a hairdresser?)
你见过理发师吗？(have you seen a hairdresser?)
他如何理头发？ (what does she do?)
他洗洗头，他剪头发， (she washes hair, she cuts hair)
他电头发，他染头发 (she perms hair, she colors hair)
你见过理发师吗？ (have you seen a hairdresser?)
他如何理头发？ (what does she do?)

Then I make a price list and an appointment timetable for her. I also downloaded some clip art from the net, so that we can make name cards.

Today, we started with the Song. I explained what is a hairdresser and what does she do, etc. After that, I took out the price list and we discussed how much we should charge for each item. Den wrote down the price. Then I introduced the appointment timetable. She wanted to open her shop from 10am-10pm because she has no husband and baby yet. :) I let her write down the time on the timetable.

After that, I left her alone to design her saloon while I prepared lunch. When I was ready, we started our play.

I was the customer and I called her to make an appointment for 11am. She wrote my name on the appointment timetable at the 11am slot.

Then I went into her "saloon". She "washed" my hair, toweled it dry, "cut" it to the length that I wanted (she let me choose the style I wanted from the magazine), and then she "perm" it.

After that, she used the calculator to calculate how much I need to pay (maybe next time we will use real money).

We played again and this time she was the customer. We used Mandarin as much as we can during discussion and play.

It was a great success! She wanted to do it again another 5 times tomorrow. If this work, I'm going to make it a regular thing. Each week one theme.

We don't have the time to make name cards yet. We will do it tomorrow or later. Let me sum up the lesson for today:

New Words:

• 理发师(hairdresser)，
• 理发店(saloon)，
• 电发(perm)，
• 染发(coloring)，
• 吹风筒(hair dryer)，
• 价格(price)，
• 预约(appointment)

Skills Learned:

1. Using calculator
2. Answering phone (customer call to make an appointment)
3. making a timetable

I am still contemplating whether I need to make flashcards for some of the words she learned today...

After that, she also worked on a math worksheet about adding with carrying. She has no problem completing the worksheet, just with some careless mistakes. I will let her work on a few more worksheets for the next few day and next week we can start minus with burrowing.

That's all we did today. After that were ballet and Yamaha. Another busy Tuesday.

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK (updated 19 Jan 2010);
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

18 Jan 2010

Since we don't have to travel these few weeks, we are making great progress in homeschooling.


We planned to stay home and study the whole day today. However, I left my mobile at my parents' house last night. So I needed to go back to pick it up. Since we were out, we might as well run some errands. One thing led to another and we ended up out for a few hours. We fixed the car key alarm, ate lunch at Pizza Hut, and bought groceries at Giant Mall while Den play at its indoor playground (my mom accompanied her).

We started school late in the afternoon. We have a new verse today because we are at week 5! It was a not-so-easy verse again...I really should consider buying Sonlight Bible verse CD. Proverbs 20:11

Even a child is known by his action, by whether his conduct is pure and right.

We read it a few times but I don't think Den is getting used to it yet. A song will really help. I was trying to get a familiar tune to go with it but could not come up with anything.

(While I wrote this, I decided to check on the Sonlight website and see if there is any sample of the CD, and guess what? There is! This verse is in the sample!! Yes! I downloaded the sample and tomorrow I am going to teach Den to sing it! In the meantime, I really should order the CD!)

Today's Bible reading is about Moses - from baby to the burning bushes. We discussed how Moses kept telling God that he was not the right person for the job... sometimes we thought we knew ourselves better than God know us. What a joke! On us.

This is also the first time the name "Yahweh" was introduced to Den. She has been using it since...instead of God.

After that, we restart our phonic lesson using Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons (under Language). We had been using this book on and off since the end of 2008. I highly recommend the book even though the title is rather misleading...the lessons are not easy at all! It did teach Den to read though.

We stop at Lesson 63 two months ago because I wanted Den to read some phonic readers before we continue. Why? Because I thought her reading was kind of slow and I wanted her to have more practice before she continued. For the past two months or so, she finished reading all 27 small booklets of FunTales (under Sonlight K Reader), 5 books from Sound Out The Word Set 2 (Under Language) and 10 small books from Playful Pals Level 1 (under Language).


When we started Lesson 64 today, her progress was very obvious. We finished the lesson in record time! 15 min! Well, the book claim most of the lesson should be done in 15 min but we had never ever managed to do that in the past! So I supposed all those readings did help her and it was a good thing to stop her lesson for a while. I suppose now I can sell off all those phonic readers. Any taker?

After that, it was time for the GoodTV Children program in Chinese. I checked emails and prepared dinner while she has her Chinese "lessons". She also did 2 writing worksheets on Letters and Numbers For Me (under workbook)after that.


After dinner, we listened to Beauty & the Beast from Usborne Young Reading Series (under CD Book). This series of CD books come in three levels. One is the easiest and shortest. This is from Series Two so it was a bit hard for Den to understand. She wanted me to sit with her and did some explanation.

She was still quite alert after that, so I decided to give her a short math lesson on adding with carrying. She did seem to have any problem with that at all. We did a few questions on the whiteboard together and she is going to do some worksheets on her own tomorrow.

After that, we did Week 5 history. Bye bye Roman, we are now into Viking. I teased Den these were her ancestors...since they came from Sweden (and Norway and Denmark). She was quite happy about that because they were great warriors.


We read the general information from the Encyclopedia then we read more detail in Living Long Ago (under History). We only manage to read about their clothing and housing. Detail can be quite tiring after a while, so should be taken in small dosage. =D

We decided to read a bit on the Apple & the Arrow before we sleep. We might be able to finish the book this week.

After Den slept, I did my devotion and then started lesson planning. I came up with some new ideas for her Chinese lessons. Will play it out and see if it goes well. Chinese is one of the subjects that really giving a headache since I still have not found one program/system I truly like. Maybe it is time for me to come up with the lesson myself instead of finding one.


For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK (updated 18 Jan 2010);
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel (updated 18 Jan 2010)

16 Jan 2010

We are done with Week 4! Yeah!

In week 4 history, we focused on Ancient Romans. We learned about their food, their house, their clothes, and the way they traveled. The internet links are fun too. Check them out if you want some info about Ancient Romans.

To print out a coloring page of Romans in their costume, check out:
http://www.ltscotland.org.uk/5to14/resources/illustrations/greeksandromans/index.asp

To dress a Roman soldier, click here:
http://www.schoolsliaison.org.uk/kids/preload.htm

To make Roman clothes, Roman food, Jewel, etc, check out:
http://www.twmuseums.org.uk/reticulum/quizes/makeit.htm

To throw a stone on a Roman guard (really fun!! Den played for 30 min!) check out this:
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=209/consultants_resources/history/cleoromans/

I also printed out some very good worksheets about Roman from a BBC site, however, today when I tried to access the site again, it was not responding...so I decided not to include the link here.

There are some good sites in the Science section too. Check this out:

Take a closer look at an ammonites fossil - http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/virtual-wonders/vrammonite.html

To see the formation of fossil -http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/earth/fossils/fossil-folklore/how_are_fossils.htm#

To know more about the earthquakes -http://www.amnh.org/ology/earth#features/plates?TB_iframe=true&height=500&width=750 . I also showed Den newspaper clipping on Haiti's recent earthquakes and we prayed for the people in Haiti.

To build a really cool volcano and see it erupt at http://kids.discovery.com/games/pompeii/pompeii.html

To see a short film about volcanoes, check out http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngexplorer/0405/quickflicks/
and http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/environment/environment-natural-disasters/volcanoes/volcanoes-101.htmll

We also did a simple experiment to see the different layers of soil. We stole some soil from my mom's garden and put the soil into a see-thru glass jar. Added water and tighten the lid. Shake it and let it stay put. Shake it again 2 hours later and let it stand for a day or so and that's what we get. I also let Den draw the result in her scrapbook. Her reading is kind of hard to read - hummus, water, clay, and sand.

We have had no formal math lesson for the past couple of weeks. I just let her do a lot of addition and deduction worksheet. Today, finally, I taught her minus large numbers (up to 99 without burrowing). She has no problem understanding it. So I am going to teach her adding with carrying next week.

We also read a Chinese book today. I have not been using the flash cards. It is time to start again next week.

Last night (or should I say this morning) I finally sat down and wrote down the rough study plan for each week. Just a rough guide. No idea if it is too much for each week. I will adjust according, I supposed. I also make a table to keep track of her learning.

Phonic Lesson - 1
Eng Reading - 1 book (Den read)
Dorce List/K LA – 1 lesson
Math lesson -1/wrksht 2
Math worksheet - 1
Chinese Flashcard -1
Chinese reading -3 (I read 2 Den read 1)
Piano Practice-3
Writing - 2
Physical Activity 5
Games 3
Sonlight
Coloring/craft
Scrapbooking

I decided to add Physical Activity to the list. I am not an outdoor person. Given a choice, I will just sit in the house and never step out. So I really have to force myself to make sure she moves enough. We are doing quite good this week in that part. She went to ballet on Tues, IKEA playland on Wed, we played ball on Thurs and she danced and jump rope today. Hopefully, we can keep that up.


For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK;
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

12 Jan 2010

Sometimes it is really painful to read all those books from long long time ago! It is really time-consuming to check all those unfamiliar words!!!

Usually, I hate checking up on words while I read, so as long as I understand the overall story, I pretty much let go of the finer points...until I have to read aloud to Den....she wants to know the meaning of every unfamiliar word! So for some of the more difficult books, I usually read them first before I read out for her. It's not fun when we had to stop every few minutes to look up the words. It kind of kills the joy of reading.

I know this is the way it is supposed to be but it is really really time-consuming!! So I have been delaying some of the books because I got no time to read them first...like the last chapter of Milly Molly Mandy(under Read Aloud Book)....like the last story from Peter Rabbit (under Read Aloud 2)....

Finally, today, Den slept a bit early and I had the time to finish reading the last story of Peter Rabbit...guess what????? I recorded down 30 unfamiliar words just from one story! There goes all my precious time!! :(

Is it just me? Or is the book? How about let me test you, tell me if you know any of these words:

Coppice
alacrity
sorrel
hyacinths
crag
faggot
pollard
indolent
apoplectic
pendulum
counterpane
canister

Tell me how many you know! So that I will know if Sonlight is crazy or my English is way too lousy!

Well, if you don't know the words, check them up in the dictionary! :)


For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK;
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

08 Jan 2010

In my last posting, I mentioned the probability of prosecution Christians might face in MLY and now less than 2 days after my last posting, a few idiots threw homemade bombs into 3 different protestant churches in Klang valley! The reason? In protest of the MLY court allowed a Catholic publication to use the name Allah as Lord (in a Christian context). Some people seem to think they have the exclusive right to use the word and not any other religions. ??????? What can I say?????? The fact that they can't even differentiate a Catholic church and a Protestant church ... speechless. 

Den and I started a new read-aloud book today - The Apple & the Arrow (under Sonlight K Read Aloud). It seems kind of fitting. It is about the legendary William Tell. William and 32 men decided they had enough of the BS from the bailiffs sent by the Austrian ruler and thus conspired to revolt on the New Year of 1291. But William was in trouble before that day came. He refused to kneel down to a ducal hat put up by the governor. His eldest son, Walter, and he were caught. True to his cruel nature, the governor put an apple on Walter's head and asked William to shoot it with his crossbow. William did and later, he managed to escape and killed the governor with his crossbow. His skill and his bravery inspired many to revolt on New Year's day. They won the battle and so began the little country of Switzerland.

A man took a stand and a nation was born. 

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK (updated 08 Jan 2010);
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel

06 Jan 2010

I did it again! Wrote the wrong date!! So I corrected it with the right date.


We are finally back in MLY and had 3 full days here. We had every intention to catch up on our study in these 3 days. However, sometimes, things just happened...

On Monday when we started our study in the morning (still on week 3...I was wondering...will we ever get out of week 3!!!), we got a call from W&W's daddy. He needed to run some errands and asked if I would be able to babysit W&W for him. Off cause I said yes, it is always great to have friends over.

So I finished whatever we started and let Den worked on a math worksheet, internet link about Greece and practiced piano while I vacuumed the house. I had not vacuumed for the past 2 weeks! We had been in and out of MLY and had not been spending more than a two hours stretch in the house other than sleeping. I planned to vacuum on Monday afternoon but since W&W were coming, I just did it earlier.

W&W came a bit later than planned, so while waiting for them, we did the science experiment we did not get to do in SG because we did not have the material then (refer to previous posting here). We made a weather vane and we checked out the direction that the wind blows. Then we recorded it in our scrapbook.

When W&W arrived, I just let them play. I still think kids their age need to play more than study. They played dress up, puzzle, cooking toys, fighting, etc then they had Milo shake before W&W left around 4 something. We had dinner with my parents then we came back and studied a bit more. Believe it or not, we finally finished Week 3! I almost can't believe it myself! :)

I woke up a bit early on Tuesday to prepare week 4 lesson. I don't know how other parents do it but I prefer to read through all the materials first and that usually takes 1-2 hours and sometimes more. Halfway through, the electricity was disrupted! I called the management and was told there was a notice on the board (which I did not read) about there being electricity disruption for the whole day! Something to do with the maintenance.

Den woke up and so I packed some of her books and went to my parent's house for the rest of the day. The good thing about staying at my parents' house is I don't need to cook! So even though Tuesday is always our busy day with ballet and Yamaha, we actually get to finish quite a lot of study.

We started with week 4 Bible verse - Matthew 7:12 the Golden Rule:

Do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.

It is quite a mouthful for a 5-year-old. Then I thought of a Steve Green CD I bought a long time ago. There is a song for this verse in that CD. So I played the song until both of us can sing it. It really helps a lot! How I wished I did not accidentally miss out on the CD and Bible from Sonlight!!!!

After that, we read a story from I heard Good News Today (under Bible & Christian Stories) since I did not bring the Word & Song Bible CD set to my parent's house. We read about how Apostle Thomas brought the good news to India and how his attitude changed over time - from being afraid of suffering to being willing to die for Christ.

While I was reading the story, I suddenly had a new understanding of suffering for Christ. You see, I had always been worrying about what if one day, we are prosecuted in MLY because of our faith in Christ...well, looking at the political situation nowadays, it seems very possible it will happen in the very near future. I am not so worried about the actual dying part but the torture is another matter.

While I read this story, I suddenly has a new understanding, I suddenly realized, yes, the prosecution will bring great suffering, but then so are cancer and other diseases. So it is just that instead of suffering on the hospital bed, we can now suffer for Christ! That is not a bad trade-off! I suddenly understand why some of the warriors think dying in bed is a shame because if dying is something everyone has to experience, then we should make it worth something.

After that, we prayed. I did not share my new understanding with Den because I did not know how to explain it. I will when I find a way to explain.

After that, we read 3 pages of Mother Goose & 2 pages of The Llama who had no Pajamas(under Rhymes & Poem).

We had a bit of time after lunch before ballet, so we watch a Han Yu Ping Yin VCD, Den got for her birthday. We watched the first section. It was quite interesting, it introduced the 4 sounds in the Chinese language. Den has a bit of a problem with the third sound but she had fun learning. That's all we did for Tuesday.

We got the most done today. We woke in the morning, with no electricity disruption, and no friends coming over, so we concentrated on studying.

Den practiced piano and also did her eye excise before we started.

After that, we started our study with the Bibleverse and Word & Song Bible (about Joseph interpreting dreams) and prayer.

Then we read about the Romans in Children's Encyclopedia (under Science) and put the stickers I printed out into Book of Time (under History).

After that, I let her work on a few worksheets while I cooked lunch. After lunch, we practiced on the piano again, we won't have the chance to do this again next week. So I wanted her to put in more.

We also check the wind using our weather wane and recorded the result.

After that I let Den choose science or history. She chose science. We actually finished the whole week of science in one day (minus all the activities because I don't have some of the materials or don't have the time, we will do the activities next week). We studied rocks, fossils, earthquakes, tsunami,s and volcanoes. We also watch the Discover & Do DVD (under science). However, we did not use any of the internet links yet because I have not had the time to check them out.

Den draw a picture of how the leaves dropped and decomposed and become hummus in her scrapbook.

We also read a Chinese book published for the kindie in China (refer to my previous posting here). It talks about insects.

We actually had time to dance a bit before we had to go out for dinner with my parents. I decided to stop going to my line dancing classes because I dance during Den's ballet, even thought though that saved lots of time but the downside is I can't see her dance. Besides that, I will be away a lot so I decided to quit. Den promised she would dance with me at home. So she did today. Hopefully, I can pick it up again in SG. I am a horrible dancer but I think dancing is good for my brain and coordination.

Before bed, we finished the Boxcar Children (Under Sonlight K Read Aloud). It was kind of bittersweet. Sweet because it was such a delightful book, sad because we had to say goodbye.

The next book on the line is The Apple & the arrow. A totally different type of book. Very interesting but kind of heavy. I'm still reading it. Hopefully, we will enjoy it as much as Boxcar Children.

For review & info --For K books - http://www.squidoo.com/booksforK ;
Pre K books- http://www.squidoo.com/ahomeschoolingmomjornel