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