A New Chapter Begins

I am now on the threshold of my eighth year of homeschooling (and sixth year of blogging at funschooling). The direction of our homeschooling, if I can still call it homeschooling, has changed quite drastically this year. From being his primary teacher at the beginning to outsourcing a lot of the learning via online classes at home in the past years, we are now pursuing brick and mortar classes, for his favorite subjects, at a local community college.

The semester started this week and I am happy to report that kiddo seems to be navigating the strange campus and various class requirements rather well. He is so eager to learn the ropes and figure things out for himself. I'm so proud of him!

As our homeschooling direction changes, I also expect things I blog about to change. I'm not too certain yet what this new blog direction will be. I had hoped that we would have moved by now to be closer to his college but the housing market is slowing down drastically where we live and it looks like much of my time will be spent not only ferrying him to the campus an hour away but also waiting hours for him there because it's much more sensible than driving all the way back again between classes. I'm also having to babysit Adrian in the car while we wait to hear about our house so that doesn't leave me much freedom just yet.

I'm still figuring this out but in the meanwhile, I have started reviewing some of the math I've forgotten. :) That's the thing about homeschooling for me...I love it so much and miss being his direct teacher so much and am now focusing that love of learning and teaching towards myself. It's high time because I've let so many things slip away! I also hope to pick up diagramming because it really intrigues me. I've never learned grammar this way and wish I had. It's such a lovely match for my preference to learn visually.

Hope to have some good news about moving if it happens. If it doesn't we'll wait for a better time to sell this home. For now, I'm enjoying this home as much as I can. I wish I could by some sheer force of willpower bring these walls, my lovely yard and fantastic neighbors closer to his college! Kids and their needs...sigh...I feel like I am just getting pulled along here...but I wouldn't miss it for the world if it means that kiddo will continue to learn happily.

Hope to write again soon. Till then, wishing everyone a lovely summer's end!

And So, Grade 6 Ends!

How do I sum up our seventh year of homeschooling? So much has happened this year. Kiddo has grown tremendously in maturity and ability. And I feel like I am passing the reins on to him now. He is able to do much more than he ever has been executive function-wise, and I often find myself missing the little boy who was so dependent on me.

Two of the huge changes coming our way...he has applied and been accepted to community college for the fall 2014 semester, and we will very likely be moving in order to make the daily drive to classes easier on the two of us. I can't believe how fast time is flying. I guess I did realize that we will be following a non-traditional path but when we moved to this house five years ago, I did not realize that the next move would come so soon. I'm torn. And yet, also very excited.

We are staying true to our motto: aiming high, taking risks, having fun. We have no choice but to aim high because aiming any lower is just too boring. But by aiming high we are taking so many risks and sometimes I am tempted to just throw it all aside and curl up in my recliner and sleep (which I have been doing more of lately no thanks to obvious hormonal changes that come with age). But taking risks is also fun, I can't deny that. There's no fun in playing it safe anymore. Risks keep life adventurous and unpredictable! Thanks to careful homeschool record-keeping, the risks scare me only for a little while. :)

So how do I sum up this year? It's the year that kiddo finished a good number of courses started two years ago. It's the culmination of three college level math courses and one high school level algebra 2 course for a total of four math courses in one year! We like stretching the flexibility of homeschooling like that. :)

It's the year that he aced his first SAT and the year that I realized I just cannot force this kid to write. But that he can and will write with aplomb when he wants to. It's the year that saw him develop a crush for fan fiction writing thanks to a friend's recommendation. It's the year that we visited Boston and he decided he wants to go to MIT some day because he likes the pranks they play. :) The year he had to invest many arduous hours perfecting tough piano pieces and the year he experienced a class on Tolkien's many linguistic creations. It's the year that at a camp we attended, he challenged himself again and again to overcome his fear of heights. It's the year that he learned three hip hop routines and to crochet. The year that he discovered having a doggy younger brother is one of the best things in the world. And the year he realized that with hard work, he can do anything he sets his heart upon.

A year of achievements and memories galore. And what will the coming year bring? Many more adventures no doubt. It is an honor, a privilege to be both parent and facilitator to this kid. I can't wait to experience even more risks with him!

Happy summer everyone!

Malaysia Trip (Dec 2013)

This time, unlike all of my previous trips, my semi-annual trip back to Kuala Lumpur was a solo effort and a short one too, spanning a little over a week. I left SFO on Dec 23rd, arrived in Changi a little past midnight on Christmas day (due to the 20-hour flight time plus time zone difference), then flew to KL the same day. I returned to SFO on January 1, so both my Christmas and New Year's were spent on the plane.

Kiddo remained home here in CA for two main reasons: to help me take care of Adrian (didn't want to leave the little guy--what with his sensitive stomach and all--in a dog hotel) and to spend some quality time with his Dad.

Changi's eye-catching Orchid Garden display

It was also a chance for him to exercise his newfound sense of responsibility. I am glad to report that he took really good care of Adrian and followed almost all my instructions on pet-care and household-care faithfully. I did come back to a slightly messy house as I had feared but it was nothing I couldn't clean up in a day (phew!).
 
Despite being away for only a week, I couldn't resist calling daily to check up on the boys. I missed kiddo terribly. It was my very first time away from him for over a day!

It was a short trip and without kiddo, I wasn't in the photo-taking mood so I don't have many shots to share. Including only the ones that might be of interest here:

October 2013 Daybook

Fall is in the air!

There aren't a ton of reasons why I love fall. I just do. It's a whisper of cooler weather to come. A harbinger of a busy year winding down. A hint of coming festivities. A time to settle into whatever new schedule we craft every August and September. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I like spring too but spring around where we live is just an infant sister of blazing summer.

I was so happy about fall being here that I actually cut some roses from our bush to adorn my kitchen sink! I am not much of a flower person but it looks so pretty and adds some nice color to all that whiteness. 

2013-14 Learning Room Update

I initially wrote this post in April and decided to update it with more photos of our living room, dining room and garage/ learning lab areas. The changes are fairly significant from this post (2011) and this (my first school room post back in 2009).

When you enter our home, you'll see the main hall and formal dining room. I covered the dining table with a vinyl tablecloth for easy clean up when we use it for crafts and easy labs. I like storing things in wicker baskets and trays because they are easy to lift and stow away when we have guests. Then all I have to do is throw a nice tablecloth over the vinyl one and hopefully, no one will notice that the table is a little scratched and bumped. :)

From the dining area, you can enter our kitchen. The layout includes an alcove with a study desk and cabinets. The study desk is my central admin area where I store the printer, paper, binders. The cabinets above it keep my homeschooling manuals and miscellaneous guide books, unused curriculum and so on. Opposite this desk is the treadmill, a dinette table and Adrian's crate.

Our family room--our main learning area--faces the kitchen. It's where we spend the majority of our time at home.

Last December, we started looking for furniture to update and redecorate this room. Previously, we did a lot of our learning sitting on the floor with a coffee-table as a study/ laptop desk. Since kiddo started a few online and distance education classes last year, it became obvious that he needed a centrally-placed sturdy, large desk and more space to organize folders, books and various stationery.

Cousins and Other Things

The Funschoolers have just had the wonderful honor of hosting my brother and his delightful family who were visiting us for the very first time from the UK. Bro has been living there ever since he left home (Malaysia) to study and I must admit I (and I think kiddo too, Anglophiles and Cadbury lovers that we are) envy him the opportunity. :) Kiddo had a great time entertaining and being entertained by his three British cousins. And I had a lovely moment or two to catch up with bro and my beautiful sister-in-law.

While they were here, we watched the delightful Epic and ate lots and lots and lots and shopped together too.

Their visit also gave us the opportunity to tour some cities around the Bay Area that we haven't been to in a while, namely, San Francisco, Napa Valley, Gilroy, Monterey (we finally took the 17 Mile Drive!), Carmel and Big Sur.

The kids, sans the littlest, worked on some rocketry together and went kayaking all by themselves!

Don't they look like pros? :) I love this snapshot. I was quite worried by the time this photo was taken...it wasn't easy for me watching them moving further and further away from the shore, especially over a wide and deep (gulp!) body of water. Thankfully, all was well. Sure hope they built memories to last a lifetime!

We miss them so much. I think Adrian misses them a ton too. While they were here, he received hugs and belly rubs galore as well as very thorough petting and loving cuddles from brother's littlest one. I would miss something like that too, wouldn't you? You can see him drowning his sorrow in sleep, all mournful (but obviously comfy) on his new Molly Mutt bed! (hee hee).

Speaking of cousins, we were extremely happy to welcome my newborn niece (my sister's firstborn) in May. Yup, it was definitely a time to celebrate family! :)
 
On the learning front, kiddo and I are having a terrific time digging deeper into J.R.R. Tolkien's works through Mythgard Institute's Beyond Middle Earth summer class. If he continues to enjoy it, I hope to use other audit-friendly Mythgard options in the future.

Can't believe I have a rising 6th grader on my hands. Learning with the boy as always, continues to be an amazing, eye-opening journey for me.

Wishing you a happy summer dear reader!

2012: Counting My Blessings

2012. I can't wrap my head around how every year appears on my horizon, all tantalizing with possibilities, and then it's over as if only seconds have passed. That 2012 is doing the same, that I've seen my wonderful, amazing kiddo turn 10 and lived watching him blossom into this cool kid that he is, I am just so thankful for this. I am not a religious woman but I feel blessed nevertheless.

Frequent readers will know how I try to write a post to commemorate each homeschooling year. I usually do that every summer. But I have some time on my hands today and the thoughts are pouring forth.

So here goes. These are my key memories of 2012.

1. Tinkering, building, taking things apart. What began as a fun autonomous vehicle project has now morphed into a true-blue crazy science experiment. You may remember me posting about the rover in January. It started off looking innocent (R). In summer, the boys built a special control station (tray for iPad, linked to backpack containing power source - L) so that kiddo can easily maneuver the car around the neighborhood. During the Christmas break, hubby and kiddo have further transformed the car into a part-autonomous vehicle, part-Lego Mindstorms monster, part mini missile launcher (for want of a better word). With an ominous name like The Black Death, I'm guessing we're in for some pretty interesting special effects in the coming weeks. :) Yes, I have courageous neighbors lol.

I'll post pix of the new machine when I can or better still, have kiddo explain it on his blog (but hedgehogs may croon Auld Lang Syne before that happens!).

Given hubby's busy travel schedule, kiddo isn't able to spend as much time with his Dad as most boys do. But when he does, they get up to some pretty cool hijinks together.

The boys finished the backyard pond project this year and kiddo added basic furniture assembly to his repertoire of skills. To top it off, kiddo and his buddy also built a Rube Goldberg machine!

2. Learning adventures. 2012 was a fantastic year in terms of homeschool resource choices. This is how we homeschool: kiddo tells me what he wants to learn at what challenge level and I go seek tutors/ online courses and relevant books. His Dad and I may make adjustments to his wishes if deemed necessary but about 90% of the time, this is how we go about it. It's nice to see him being in the driver's seat. I occasionally still suggest courses or books because I can't imagine not ever doing that lol. I keep an eye out for sagging enthusiasm and sudden roadblocks just to make sure he knows why it's happening but most days, he's able to identify and solve the issues himself. As a result, this year he is almost completely an independent learner. I don't know whether it's good for him to be 100% independent but I do know that if for some reason I am unable to oversee things, he will know how to carry on and that's definitely a big load off my frequently anxious shoulders.

Kiddo's math lessons are progressing swimmingly. His tutor is such a blessing to our family. I love watching kiddo interact with his tutor and have the time of his life every week. I will say this over and over again. If your kid is passionate about something and you can't help him with this passion, find him someone who can (and who won't take monetary advantage of you for it).

We are really happy to see kiddo satisfied with the level of math challenge he's getting. He is certainly developing a good bit of stamina with those harder problems too. Kiddo also had a very busy but definitely invigorating summer filled with math camps: one was a research-style camp aimed at working on unsolved math problems and the other, a cryptology-themed math class with his tutor. He came away with much-improved ability to express his mathematical thinking in words.

The boy also made it through one half of a challenging Coursera course (took notes too!). He is ready to move on to year two of German and might be trying AP-level science courses next year, but without any expectations to actually take the AP exams.

As I am starting to outsource even more than we usual do, I no longer schedule literature or history studies for now but that hasn't stopped him from voraciously finishing a significant number of well-written classics and enjoying my cobbled-together survey course in Shakespeare every morning during breakfast. Using an animated core program definitely has its advantages! :)

Yes, I still complain that he doesn't write enough and writes his n's like h's and vice versa or forgets to put the date on his homework and leaves his study table in a mess no matter how many times I upsize the space. But blessing #2 is about celebrating how far the boy has come after all. ;)

3. Friends, family, good health. This year has also been a great time for nurturing friendships. I remember when kiddo was six and practically friendless because he was either "too friendly" or "too young" or "too chatty" or "too curious" for other kids in our area and "too physically awkward" for me to allow him to participate in some of the more sports-oriented friend-making avenues. Time has helped so much with finding friends who accept him for who he is and for me to realize that physical awkwardness is a normal part of child development, especially in boys. I am trying to accept that he might never take to martial arts or swimming like I'd hoped, but he is showing a lot of fondness for brisk walking and some interest in basketball and kayaking. And I am making him work on reaching 20 daily pushups by the end of January 2013. Let's hope he gets there with a good attitude!

Our trip home to Malaysia this year was very well-timed too. Kiddo had a good time bonding with his grandparents and aunts and uncles. We had a blast devouring the seasonal fruits and the delicious food. It just felt so good to be surrounded by so much love when we are both home alone most of the time.

With Adrian joining us this year, we are benefiting tremendously. From our "pack walks", from the general well-being that comes from having a pet, and just the idea that there's one more little fella in the house who needs our love and generously returns it, no questions asked.

2012 isn't all roses and rainbows. I grieve for the lives lost, both from natural disasters and from personal tragedies of minds gone wrong. I worry about what the future will be like both on a personal level and for the nation and the world as a whole. I just visited my family but I also miss them terribly. But I know how lucky I am to have what I have. To be able to watch my child grow healthy, happy and strong. To have a comfortable home and access to good food and books and safety. To have my parents and in-laws, my siblings and their own families. To have a furry friend who shows me unconditional trust. To have really, really good friends, both IRL and online, after spending the first 15 years of my life with only three, scruffy four-legged ones. I am blessed. And I am fortunate that I can realize this and appreciate it because I know it can be taken from me in a heartbeat.

I guess after all these years of trying to figure out parenting and homeschooling and worrying about books and curriculum and where we are headed, I think I might be getting the point. We can learn to learn anytime. It's learning to live that's truly precious.

Have a blessed, beautiful 2013 everyone!

Guess Who's Coming For Christmas?

We can't wait! We are so excited! He's a rescue that we fell in love with at first sight. He's joining us soon, before Christmas actually. And he'll be a gift none of us will forget.



:) Signing off tongue in cheek...

Malaysia Trip (November 2012)

Hiya folks! We are back from Malaysia! Our last trip was two and a half years ago. So we had been really looking forward to this trip. As usual, it went by too fast.

We spent about ten days in Malaysia and Singapore. A quick recap of what we did, ate and enjoyed:

This time, instead of Singapore Airlines, we took United. Two words: Never again! Flights were horrendously delayed. Not once. But on both legs of the journey...extending the usual 19-hour plus journey to almost 23 hours both ways! Kiddo and I developed a huge aversion to airline food, we couldn't sleep, our acid reflux was triggered big time and we were literally sick. Ugggh!

Kiddo tucking into a well-deserved chicken rice breakfast at  Changi Airport Terminal 3 just after we landed. At this point, the boy hadn't slept in 25 hours! Can't blame him for looking like a vampire ya? We had an almost 8-hour wait at Changi before our connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur (KL) so after an invigorating shower at the airport, we dashed off to find more food to err...ahem...erase the memory of the disgusting airline fare. Apart from chicken rice, we had roti prata and nasi lemak and lots of iced Milo too.

Changi, being the world-class airport it is, even offers free movies for passengers in transit and we managed to catch a fun movie (The Lorax) while waiting.

The flight to KL was a quick one and we admired the many cumulonimbus formations on the way.  Kiddo has been "collecting" clouds for some time (since reading The Cloud Collector's Handbook) so it was a great opportunity to add to his bunch of cloud (cloudy?) snaps.

When we reached KL, it felt SO good to see Dad and Mom again and catch up with sis, her hubby and my mon-in-law. And we were treated to such great food! Not only did my mom make her famous prawn sambal and delicious fish and meat dishes, but my mom-in-law dished up some of her own specialties. We were royally pampered!

And we ate lots outside as well. Pictured upper left: more roti prata! And right: cendol...a dessert made up of ice shavings, green bean noodles, kidney beans, coconut milk and palm sugar syrup. And below: amazing nasi lemak the old-fashioned way, wrapped in banana leaf. Mmmmmmm...and this stuff is cheap too! We barely paid one USD for a package of nasi lemak and prata for two people!

A few days into our trip, we received a huge surprise. Hubby had initially planned to remain in CA because he had a business trip scheduled at the same time as our holiday. But since his business trip was in the "neighborhood" (within Asia), he decided to drop in unannounced en-route! Everyone was so pleasantly surprised because they haven't seen him in the flesh in seven years (he couldn't join us the last time we visited in March 2010). I just love this snapshot because it captures how delighted his mom is to see him. He stayed a couple of days and dashed off again in his usual style.

Our days in KL passed very swiftly. I had packed a few of kiddo's textbooks but we barely thought much about them. Instead, we kicked back, made origami cubes, cooked, ate, worked on puzzles, hugged, tussled with and bathed sis's adorable terrier mix, visited the Petronas Twin Towers by train, played with cousins and just had an amazing time catching up with loved ones.

Before we knew it, it was time to leave for Singapore again to catch our flight back to SFO. Unlike our last trip, we only spent about a day and a half in Singapore this time. Kiddo wanted very much to visit the apartment he had lived in as a newborn so we took the bus, walked around, found the block, took some photos of the windows (it was occupied by another family so we obviously couldn't go in), ate a bag of good ol' Twisties (my favorite junk food as a kid lol) and then sped off to Orchard Road to do some quick book shopping.

Oh yeah...we bought (cough) lots of books! :) I won't shock you with how many. :)

So that was it. Hoping very much to visit the folks and sis again next year. We are having an easier time with jetlag this time around. It really helps to drink lots of water and work as closely as possible around the time zone/ routine of the country you are visiting. I am quite sure eating really well helped too! ;)

Summer 2012

Some of us read, and read.

One of us traveled a lot and worked crazy hours. Some of us played.
One of us built and crashed stuff. Loudly.
Some of us read some more.
One of us moved up a level in piano lessons.
One of us rearranged the living room furniture (yet again).

Some of us did math (and love our Expo Magnetic Dry Erase Easel Board).

One of us went anagram-crazy.

One of us blogged. One of us didn't as much.

Some of us tried a science experiment or two. And revived our love for all things David Attenborough.

One of us worked out. One of us didn't (ack!).
Some of us kayaked and went paddle boarding too (one of us didn't tag along due to the heat).
One of us complained a lot about the heat and may have glared angrily at the sun several times.

One of us thought some more about math and typed some of it up for a summer class (hurray!).

One of us is loving cheesy vocabulary videos (and happily rushing through the program because another one of us is too cheap to upgrade past the free trial period).

Some of us allowed our yard to become overgrown with grass, weeds and ivy. Some of us are upset about a pesky yard-invading ground squirrel.

Some of us tried hard to resist ice cream and succeeded for about a week.

One of us liberally copied Sheila's blogging style.

July Daybook

Outside my window...
the ivy on our stone fencing walls is growing waaaay too long. I remember falling in love with the zen-like clean, grey walls when we first viewed this house (it's been three years since we moved! where does the time go?). In fact it was one of the reasons why I wanted this house vs. another one we had viewed earlier that day. I like how the walls shut the rest of the world out (not to mention the busy street behind us). The introvert in me was whooping with joy. But now the ivy, lush and green as it is, is blocking my beautiful wall from my view. Time to plan...should we cut it back, or pull the ivy off altogether...?

Around the house...
I'm fighting a losing battle with the Company That Will Not Be Named. We receive these catalogs so often and with such tantalizing coupon code offers...sigh. I've made sure my snapshot of my latest collections include the codes in case you might want to use them, dear reader (leave a comment if you can't see them!). Oh no, now I'm trying to share my addiction with others! Forgive me?

Never buy when not on sale. And when on sale, use a code when possible for more savings!

We've lately taken to reading these catalogs before bedtime. I'm not sure if that's a good thing. Are we becoming addicted to hoarding these DVDs as much as we do our books?

I am thankful...
that July wasn't as busy as I'd blogged it would be. We were going to be quite over-scheduled thanks to my sudden weakness for trying new classes. One class in and I realized what an error it was to sign kiddo up for a College for Kids summer camp. It wasn't really college for kids, it was too far away, required too much time outside and in the intense heat for shy ol'mom to be able to tolerate and also wasn't generally deep, involved learning anyway. My main reason was to try to introduce a little more social exposure to kiddo's routine but neither of us wanted that in the end. What a relief it was to cancel the camp! A pricey mistake though. We couldn't get a refund.

I am thinking...
Must learn from mistakes! Must not repeat too many expensive ones.

The kiddo...

chose to take two more math classes this summer! I feel guilty telling him about them but he does seem to be enjoying them despite the hard work. He's been such a trooper that I am tempted to make a certificate to reward his winning attitude.

I am reading...
The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax! Very, very fun so far! 
  
We've been playing...
Have you watched Under The Boardwalk yet? (YouTube trailer link. Watch instantly on Netflix!)

I am looking forward to...
taking a long break once his classes end in August to just read, read, read and possibly watch our Company That Will Not Be Named acquisitions. I am also looking forward to September because I've been gradually collecting living books to learn more about economics principles and also biology. We've neglected those topics for a bit and there's so much I need to brush up on myself.

A favorite quote for today...
from Mark Twain: "Life is short. Break the Rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss SLOWLY. Love truly. Laugh uncontrollably. And never regret ANYTHING that makes you smile."

June (End) Daybook

Outside my window...a much cooler summer day. After last week's scorching temps, I can step out without becoming toast. Just finished weeding the front yard. Left the weeds bordering the driveway for another day.

Around the house...
our backyard pond continues to give us so much joy. We're carefully adding little items to make it a comfy getaway (that chair on the left for instance was built by kiddo from a kit). Keeping it weed free (the safe, healthy way) though might become a problem soon. Drat those weeds!

I am thinking...
of watching Super 8 while sipping nuked instant coffee (vs kettle water). Off to make the coffee now...

I am thankful...
for the silence when the boys are out. The microwave (is beeping after nuking the coffee). I can actually hear it! I can hear the whisper of the fan. And I don't have to answer a math question or solve a puzzle for the next three hours!

In the kitchen...
Left over chicken curry, rice and roasted garlic asparagus and Brussels sprouts. Didn't expect the greens to go so well with the curry. Kiddo took it quite well despite the fact that he despises both vegetables.

I am creating...
or rather, considering creating, a book. I have some good ideas thanks to the encouragement of friends but I don't know if I will want to finish it, let alone begin.

I am wondering...
Where do weeds go after you pull them out? I mean I know they go into the yard waste or compost or whatever it is people do with their organic little bodies afterwards but where do their parasitic souls go? (Do weeds have souls?) And why do they not get the message after being pulled out over and over again that they are not wanted around here? I hope they are well incinerated in some weedy little hell. Except for dandelions. Kiddo adores them. He collects the buds before they turn all white and puffy. We could spare the dandelions.

I am reading...
Pygmalion and Three Other Plays by George Bernard Shaw. Kiddo's first gift to me purchased with his own savings! :)
 
I am looking forward to...
August. July is going to be a busy month for us. I didn't see it coming and now that it's just a day away, I wonder if I should cut back on some of the activities planned.

I am learning...
some basic programming using Microsoft Excel. Kiddo, the hubby and I are taking a short class together on Monday! I find Excel quite fascinating. Can't wait to see what else I can do with it.

A favorite quote for today...
By Maurice Switzer in one of my planner pages: "It is better to remain silent at the risk of being thought a fool, than to talk and remove all doubt of it." I hope you don't mind my self-promo attempt! ;)

A few plans for the rest of the week:

1. Finish the laundry 
2. Mop the floors
3. Don't bite more than I can chew

And another photo to go with the post with the usual motherly worries included...
How did he grow up so soon?
Am I turning into Lady Britomart in Major Barbara? The pushy, controlling mom?
Should I begin looking for the next level of math resources? Kiddo still has a few months of the current course left. Should I wait? Should I plan?
How does anyone successfully homeschool more than one child? Seriously, you can't be anything less than awesome if you do!