I like "tuesday with morries" cos there is something striking in it that echoes what is within me: dont buy into the culture that we are living in. learn to step back and examine what we take for granted... what we think is so obvious... if it does not fit you, then seek for what is better!

why must the passing mark always be half or 50 out of 100? why cant it be less or more, like even 100 (e.g. when it comes to driving test)? I was posted with this question by someone today that left me thinking for a while...

anyway, here is the main point for this entry...

my wife and I have decided to home-school our kids all the way, up to primary six. We have decided not to let our kids go to public school...

instead, they will be waking up to go to school at home at a slightly later time :D...
where the principal and main teacher is my wife and I...
where the classroom will be the study room,
where the bus driver will be me...
where the canteen is in the living room, with home cooked food and special treats,
where the lessons will not be in the room always but involves going to various places of interest locally and overseas with personal "tour guides",
where they must learn to interact with all kinds of people and not just their own peers so that they have a wide circle of friends (toddlers, kids, teenagers, young adults, adults, elderly),
where they can pursue and perfect skills and talents that they are interested in,
where learning is not forced and is not restricted by the syllabus,
where exams and tests do not happen often and comes in various forms,
where meaningful playing can be learning,
where learning is at their own pace and self motivated,
where individual attention is always there and no one will ignore your questions or think that they are stupid,
where there is no uniform,
where break time is flexible,
where there is constant guidance to know and do what is right and meaningful,
where virtues is not just spoken but must be lived out by the "teachers" themselves (those eyes are always looking),
where misbehaviour means a personal time of reflection on the naughty chair by the balcony,
where the "students" learn from the "teachers" and the "teachers" will learn from the students as well,
where encouragements, hugs and kisses always abound,
where phrases like "why are your results so lousy, why didn't you get an A, why didn't you improve at all, why are others better than you?" will NEVER COME OUT of the "teachers" and parents' mouth,
where they are taught about biblical truths and the unconditional love of God so that they may grow up to be well pleasing to God and a blessing to others,
where our kids will eventually be sent off to take the PSLE with this understanding that grades isnt everything and their parents are always proud of them, so long as they have tried their best! :D

The following statement came as a shock to me when i was told about it by a home-schooling parent who home-school his son who is now 14:

secondary education is actually NOT compulsory in Singapore!

If a parent so desires, he/she can choose to home-school their teenagers with no questions asked! think about the flexibility of choosing the exact subjects that you want to take for O levels compared to what you MUST take due to the limited choices offered by the school! So if God permits, we may do homeschooling when our kids are teenagers too!

what do you think? do post your comments or questions about this style of schooling to me so that I can have a wider perspective of this way that is truly less travelled in a competitive country like Singapore.

Comment! (4) | Recommend! | Categories: culture [t], home schooling [t], kids [t], education [t]

The face of a child changes the most during the first few years... if you miss it, you will not be able to remember/capture how he/she looks anymore... this is part 1 of a series of faces of my kids! starring in this episode, Christian Chow, my eldest son :)

characteristics: he loves marine creatures and animals, he loves to sing, he loves to dance, he wants to learn the guitar and drums (which we are enrolling him into this coming week!), he loves to draw! :)

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: christian [t], kids [t], photos [t]

kids are the most creative people in the world!
they can play and have fun with anything that you pass to them!
lesson to be learnt: never grow up! to be creative, learn from the kids!

my kids had a jolly good time playing with a red tub! :)

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: kids [t], funny [t], creative [t]

A.C.E and their cousins with the puppeteer for the Eric Carle's The Hungry Caterpillar!


Chris and Ekklesia taking a break @ ACT 3 Academy. They are learning Speech and Drama there every Sat! They are loving it! :)


Chris helping me to fill in the marks for my students' scripts! :)


The kids having their dinner cum picnic @ the playground! :)


Ekklesia and Ariel @ Carrefour!


Ekklesia and Ariel playing under the trolley! :P


JJ's BD on 29 Aug! The Class celebrated for him with a swiss roll and some gummy sweets surrounding it! innovative! :)




301'06 had our flea market for CIP these couple of days, selling ice milo freeze, sweets and balloon flowers :)


Balloons with well wishes released into the sky, wishing them all the best for their Prelims and O Levels! :)



2 model houses that my students did for PBL/TOL :) It works like the real thing!


The double hearts made of a single dollar note. Thanks to J.C, I managed to learn how to make such a nice masterpiece! :)


The first card addressed partially to me from 304'06! Curious: who are the guy and the gal?



The first two presents i received for teacher's day this year from liting and andrea :) thank you!

shall end here! having teacher's day dinner tonight! the theme: aloha (hawaii) :)

Comment! (0) | Recommend! | Categories: photos [t], teacher\'s day [t], kids [t], 30106 [t], CIP [t]

going down is no easy matter! we had to park at Bo's house before hailing a cab down cos the car park was full! when we finally reached there, there was a need for security check before we can go in to enjoy viewing the planes! Cool! 3rd Generation of the S'pore Air Force is great, considering the size of Singapore!

The photos tells it all!


the antique sky hawk! :)


the F-16 fighter plane! :)


the family with the team and their chopper! :D


my camera managed to capture a flying bird and a flying plane at the same time! :P


ariel covered her eyes when the planes flew by... she should be covering her ears! :D


who's taking who? chris and his random shoot with my camera!


the 2 beauties... :P

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: air force [t], open house [t], kids [t], photos [t]

Chris on a mini kart @ the road safety park!




Ekklesia "pumping petrol" @ the road safety park!




Ariel and I taking a ride together with Ekklesia tail-gating behind! :P




Found this pair of beautiful flowers lying on the grass @ Labrador Park!




The flower is actually bigger than my palm! anyone can tell me what flower it is!?




Found out that the flower grew from this seedling!




Here we are having a pinic by the sea side @ Labrador Park!




One of the long jetty, where people can do some fishing! BTW, there are BBQ pits for rental over there as well! Anyone keen for a class BBQ outing @ labrador park!?




Chris resting on my back as he gobble up his biscuit!




There is one something that i don't mind people doing behind my back: smiling away! :D




Ekklesia learning about insects from afar! stay away from me or I will roar! :P




2 is better than 1! sisters power! let's look @ the insects together! :D




A very unique bug that we found on! it's orange in colour and has a glossy look!




And did i mention that it's super dupey small in size!? as compared to our palms!




Bugs and more bugs! Attack!!




Chris is looking @ how the boy is learning to make something with a palm tree leaf. What is it!? look below!




It's a grasshopper made from a single palm tree leaf!! and the best thing is: I have learnt how to do it!! :) Cool, isn't it!?

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: photos [t], holiday [t], park [t], kids [t]