Tuesday 26 February 2019

Why we homeschool

My apologies for not updating my blog recently. Bento making has ceased (for now) though I missed those days and hope some day I can go back to preparing bentos again!

But for this season, we have embarked on another amazing journey - homeschool.

Some background information, I have 3 boys aged 9, 6 and 2. My eldest was in mainstream school for his primary 1 in 2017 but we decided to pull him out and started homeschooling all the boys officially in 2018.

If you are new to homeschooling, this may sound weird, uncomprehenable and out of the world to you. Trust me, you aren't alone because that was me a few years back when I stumbled onto homeschooling. However, when I researched further, it becomes a very natural, beautiful, feasible and sensible thing for us to do.

In this post, I will share our family's reasons for homeschooling. (Realize I need to document this down, will facilitate application for exemption of compulsory education for R2 too!)

#1 More for God

I believe no matter how the world becomes, if we rely on God, we can choose the kind of lives we want to live. It is my hope that in our home, simplicity will be our form of happiness and our joy is derived from serving God and others.

With homeschooling, we can have more time to study God's Word. I want my boys to know that the world does not revolve around them and that achieving academic excellence isn’t the most important thing in life. I want them to have  time to feel for the people around us, to care for others or to cook someone a meal.

Most importantly, I want my boys to love and fear God and develop a personal and close relationship with God so that they are aware of the real purpose in life and will not be lost in this world.

The gift of purpose in this life is the best gift that we can give our children and the answer can only be found in our Saviour.  We are investing our time for all these.

#2  Building their characters

Being my boys’ main educator, I spent nearly all my waking moments with them. There’s no better place than home to inculcate values. Character education happens anywhere and everywhere, not just a half an hour weekly lesson. In all  the things we do and the conversations we have, character traits are cultivated and simply taught.

When my boys have a temper tantrum, when they display bad attitude in doing something simple such as putting away their toys, it is the perfect opportunity to train them in righteousness.
Good fruit doesn’t just grow, it requires hours of pruning, weeding, watering, it requires our observation, tender care, sweat and effort before we receive the joy of harvest.

#3  Building relationships

The #1 question people ask when they know that we are homeschooling is “What about socializing?”

Well, we really do not need to attend school to build relationships. We believe that everything starts from home and if you do not know how to take care of your family, then don’t think about taking care of your friends.

It is deeply important to us that our boys are best friends with each other, it is in our prayers that the brothers will love and respect one another and that their relationship will strengthen as the days go by.

It is our hope that whenever any of them meet with any problems, home will be their first place to seek refuge and they will seek Biblical advice from each other or from us (parents) rather than confiding in friends. Building relationships require time and we only have that much time for each kid.

Will they be socially awkward with low EQ?  Then I would just like to ask if attending school guarantee high EQ or good social skills for them?

#4 More flexibility

The boys have more rest and play time. We go learning journeys as and when we like. We stay home during school holidays and explore the museums when school reopens. There are  more choices and more time for us. We decide what we want and not at the mercy of school work.

When we embark on this journey, we do not know and cannot see where we are heading.
In our prayers, we only pray that God leads us where we are going. We made this decision not because we found a fantastic curriculum or are confident that we can teach all subjects well but because we are convinced that the outcome of our homeschooling journey lies in the hands of our God and we only need to rely on Him and do the best we can.

He will demonstrate His powers through  our weaknesses. God is always good.







Tuesday 2 October 2018

RAYO S1 - A beauty in your palm


When I saw this beauty (Rayo S1), I know I have to get my hands on it!!! It is destined to be in family! (Ray, Rayson, Rayden, Rayes and Rayo ...LOL). Sorry if you didn't catch my joke.

Jokes aside, Rayo must have been the smallest projector in the market so far. Look at the size!! You can bring it anywhere and use it anytime. Just slip it into a bag. It's just like a hard disk with an internal memory of 4g. The sound projection is also quite impressive for such a small machine. Load your favorite videos into Rayo and bring it along for your camping trips or picnics.
I am not a tech person so I won't dwell too much on the specs but I would like to assure you that if I can use it, anyone can!


I absolutely love the mirroring function as it mirrors your phone. It's a breeze to search for videos and going online with my phone and the projector will just display accordingly. My handphone can also be transformed to a visualizer using this mirroring function. The only downside is you can't use your phone during mirroring.



Rayo as a visualizer

Fear not, you can also go online with Rayo if you do not want to mirror. It has wireless connectivity and navigation is really easy with Rayo's smart touch pad. The battery can last 2 hours supposedly. However, we can't seem to finish a movie and the battery died. So, the life of the battery also depends on what you are doing with the projector and the functions that you are using as some may consume more of the battery. 



My boys are gadget free so I would definitely prefer them watching from Rayo's projection than Ipads or smart phones.

Using my Rayo to teach Bible classes in church


Pretty clear projection
The Canon Rayo S1 is available on the Canon eShop and retailing at $599.

Friday 6 July 2018

Demonstration - Nuskin Lumispa

Why do we need to clean our face well?
Throughout the day the skin on your face is continually covered with bacteria, pollutants, viruses, dirt, and old (dead) skin cells. 
Daily facial washing removes these impurities to give the skin a fresh look. 
Without washing, your skin would be covered with a thick layer of dirt and grime which make it difficult for other products to penetrate the skin properly.



Please don't skip this step! It only takes 2 min.

Interested in Lumispa? Feel free to contact me to reserve one!

Wednesday 22 November 2017

Tutorial - Hen and little chick rice balls

So so sorry I've been so inactive on my blog!
I've been really busy taking care of my boys and preparing all the homeschooling stuffs for them I sleep at the wee hours everyday!
I will try to keep this blog alive okie.
Here's a simple tutorial. Do let me know if there is any particular character that you would like a tutorial.
Thanks!😚😚


Kai Sin