Parenting on Purpose

Play is the work of kids, says Maria Montessori. And kids learn best when they play! Well, given that our kids play most of their day, I believe they learn a phenomenal amount! Helping our kids develop a deep love for learning The 6-year-old boy looked at the picture intently. And without so much as batting an eyelid, he turned to his mother and declared, “You can tell  Twa Ku Kong  not to worry. The snake is harmless.” “How do you know?” asked his mother. “Of course it’s safe,” came the reply, “It’s a paradise tree snake and is non-venomous.” And with that, all speculation was ended over the picture that our son’s granduncle had sent. He had found a snake on his car bonnet and was worried about the family’s safety. Since he was young, our second son has always been interested in nature, and we have taken him and his older brother on many nature walks, often with an experienced nature guide. What we did not expect was how much he had soaked in from all his nature w...

It has been a month since our little girl left us. Image stills from the past month remain vivid in my mind's eye. After all, how do we deal with the sea of emotions that continues to engulf us at the ebb and flow of each tide? It was a familiar sight each morning to wake up to her gentle calls. Alas those days are over, and we wake up each morning to an empty cot, a tangible reminder that she is no longer in our lives. This blog post serves as a diary recalling all that has happened since the last week before she left, and it records the raw emotions imprinted upon our hearts: One week more. She returns to us after a visit to her birth family for one last time before our final parting. It's been almost a week since she last left us, and our lives have gone on as if she had never come. But beneath the veneer of normalcy, there is still an aching pain; a certain sadness about the finality of the parting. I really do not know what to expect for the upcoming week; ho...

STEM activities are all the rage now. Stemming (excuse the pun) from an interagency meeting at the National Science Foundation, the term has implications for how the subjects which the acronym stands for (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) are taught in school and what this means for technological advancement and the jobs of the future. We've been dabbling in some Science activities on the homeschool front. First of all, because it adds a good mix to the daily Literacy and Numeracy activities that we do. Secondly, because I have two Science-loving boys who love to see the cause and effect that happens in a Science experiment - they are always asking "why" and seeking to understand the reasons for how things work. And lastly, because we all think that they're super fun! Our jellyfish in an ocean! Oh, yes, how we love Science experiments! Today, we tried out some exploding fireworks in a jar . Singapore's 50th Jubilee celebr...

We are starting with our very first homeschool co-op this week at the Jurong Bird Park. Unfortunately, I was down with the flu and couldn't attend the first session. The mothers are going to take turns leading the lessons - I thought I would finally get the blog on this unit out which we did last November so that I could rehash what we did for the unit! This has been one of my favourite MFW units so far :) The perfect start to our "Nest" study -  a nest which Ye Ye and Nai Nai found outside their balcony! (No nestlings were hurt in the removal of the nest - they had all hatched and flown away.) We learned about the parts of an egg. Eggs for breakfast!  The little one gets a feel. We get to crush the shells to make egg shell paint. Saved for an art project for another day. One of the books we read for the unit. We learned that different species made different sounds. Our art project for today - a bird's nest in a tree. Our 4 yo's i...