A fresh new year homeschooling

I had my worries starting the new school year for the kids at home. Am I putting my kids future on the line? Will I be able to cope? Am I giving the kids the best education they can get? Guess, some things are easier when you start doing it rather than just thinking about it.

I started planning for the year, then terms, then months and weeks. As of now, I must have changed my plans at least half a dozen times. As they are learning, so am I. At first, I was, I guess, a bit pressured that my kids should do better than they would if they go to school.

I insisted on completing all that I've planned for the day, that the kids pay attention and try to do all the work that I laid out for them. When I started getting flustered only did I stop myself and realised that I'm taking the joy out of learning from them. I might as well send them to school.No offence intended...

Now, I'm more flexible with my plans and try to follow the kids' rhythm, as a Montessorian should. We turn out doing more things together and on our own with a smile on our faces, well most of the time...Of course, the kids,being kids, still throw tantrums once in a while.

I look forward to a fulfilling year for the kids and myself as we go through this journey together which I hope will not only enrich their minds but their body and souls as well. InsyaAllah....

We have also become more in touch with nature, since joining my playdate and coming back from serene and pristine Brunei. I don't really like shopping centres now and the humdrum of Singapore life irritates me. We rush everywhere, even when coming home from work and during the weekends.

I imagine owning a house by the lake, like my sis in Brunei, homeschooling the kids during the weekdays and enjoying nature adventures on weekends. We would do gardening, housekeeping and shopping at markets full of fresh seafood and greens.

Who needs to be in a city now anyway when you have internet mobility?

As of now, I have to be content with going to non-crowded, unpopular and sometimes inaccessible places. So far we have been to Kent Ridge Park, Macritchie, Bukit Timah Nature Reserve and Sembawang Park.

It's not that bad after all,especially since we are so small, you don't have to go too far beyond Singapore to see how nature has been neglected in exchange for rapid development or rather in my view, constructions...I am grateful that at least we have green belts in all this concrete madness!