It’s Box Day!!!

What’s Box Day? It is the day the box from Sonlight arrives. The Sonlight curriculum I ordered arrived today. It came in the morning but I was not in. Called Fedex in the evening when I came home, and to my pleasant surprise, they arranged for a re-delivery earlier at 8.30pm. I am impressed by the efficiency of both Sonlight and Fedex. I ordered last Wednesday and it arrived today, less than a week.

That aside, both Sarah and I were both very excited about the box. I told Sarah a few days ago that a big box of books will arrive for her, and she has been asking me everyday about the Box. We both unpacked the box and Sarah was excitedly going through all the books. I had to stop her as it’s bedtime. I promised we will look at all the books tomorrow.

There are a total of 21 books, an audio CD and 4 workbooks to develop auditory, visual, motor and comprehension skills. The books look great, and I can’t wait to read them myself. I have noticed some of the books may be too difficult for Sarah, so I guess I will take this really slowly. Will probably start with the easier ones, and either stretch this over 2 years, or repeat the program twice. Either way, I think we will have fun reading.

A Love for Reading

I know many parents started introducing books and reading to their children while they are still very young, some even do it as pre-natal stimulation. Admittedly, I did not start reading to Sarah until she was about one. One fine day then, it just suddenly occurred to me that I have neglected a very important means of learning for her. A good book can open up a new world for the reader, it brings ideas, facts, experiences to the reader. I remembered when I was quite an avid reader when young. My parents have 2 big bookcases of books and they were sufficient to occupy me till my teenage years. When I got married and moved out, I brought along most of those books.

My Choice of Curriculum

After my earlier post, both Jean and Pauline were interested to know about my choice of curriculum, so I thought I will share about it here.

I have decided to use the Sonlight Core B curriculum together with the Letter of the Week.  I have shared that I love the Charlotte Mason principles of education, particularly using living books to learn.  However, CM does not advocate formal academics before age of 6, and there isn’t any available CM curriculum for this early years.  I used Before Five in a Row.  It is not so much a curriculum, but more like a source of ideas you can use with each book.  We had gone through all the books several times, and I did not feel like repeating them again.  So I started to search for a curriculum with these criteria:  uses good/living books, gentle, does not push academics and is fun.

I heard about Sonlight, researched about it and found that it fits my criteria.  However, I was still hesitant as their instructor guide does not seem to be very well-liked.  So I put my decision on hold.  Then, recently, I revisited Sonlight, and also found a Sonlight yahoo group.  Two wonderful ladies on this group came up with 2 schedules based on the Core B package.  One is based on a theme each week, while other is a progressive schedule, i.e. the books are arranged from the easier level and moves up in level of difficulty.  I thought this is great, especially the themed schedule.

In the course of my research, I also found Letter of the Week (LOTW) which has received much good reviews and best of all, it is free.  I liked it but I felt that the choice of books could be better, and I also don’t quite like the idea of getting my books from the library and be subject to the availability of the books.  So I decided to combine the 2 together. I could link the weekly themes to an alphabet and do some of the activities from LOTW, and we get to read the wonderful books from Sonlight.

However, I intend to go really slowly with this as I feel the training of the heart should be the focus in these early years.  So probably we will stretch each theme into 2 weeks.  In any case, we have quite a few activities lined up each week that I doubt we will be able to school beyond 2 or 3 days a week.

Go Away!

This happened just a while ago while I was putting Sarah to bed.  As usual, both papa and mommy will accompany the little girl to bed.  Papa said “Goodnight” to her, and she replied “Goodnight, papa”.  Then it was my turn.  I said “Goodnight” and she knew I expected her to say goodnight to me.  But she purposely replied “Goodnight, papa”.  I repeated several times, and she gave the same reply each time.  I knew she was being cheeky and wanted to have some fun.  So I joking said, “Ok, then you go away, go to papa”.  To my shock, I saw her expression changed and she burst into tears, big fat drop of tears.  I knew she was hurt by what I said as she thought I meant it.  So I quickly carried her into my arms, kissed her and said I love her and that mommy was just playing with her.  And she cried “I don’t want to play”. Only after repeated assurances did she stop crying and was back to her cheerful self.

She thought I really did not want her and she was scared and hurt.  Hubby said that I should not say such things, not even jokingly as at her age, we, the parents, are her centre of universe, and she is very sensitive and vulnerable regarding such things.  Yes, I learnt a lesson tonight.

My little girl, mommy is sorry I said those words.  Mommy won’t joke about such things again, ok?

Tag: 8 Random Facts About Myself

I have been tagged by Jean. So here are 8 facts about myself.

1. I took piano lessons up to Grade 7 when I stopped to prepare for my O levels. Never mind continued with it after that cos life in JC and Uni was much much more interesting than boring weekly piano lessons. Most people will tell me it is such a pity not to have continued up to Grade 8. I did not think so then, now I do.
2. I think I am tone-deaf. I can’t differentiate between the different notes and can’t carry a tune. That’s why I consistently failed the aural tests of my piano exams every year with the exception of Grades 1 and 2. Amazing I could make it to Grade 7.
3. I used to be a very ‘scheduled’ person while in school. I would have a schedule for my exam revision where I detailed every subject and chapter to cover along with the detailed timings every day. And I followed it to the T. Even when my fav show is on, I will lock myself in my room and study. That’s how disciplined I was. I guess I over did it then. Now, discipline is no longer in my dictionary.
4. I love the smell of freshly-baked breads and cakes. I loved it whenever I passed by those old-fashioned bakeries where they baked their breads and cakes fresh on the spot.
5. I hate wet toilets. I will rather hold on than to use a wet toilet.
6. I can’t swim. I have a phobia of not being able to breath underwater. I attempted swimming lessons in primary 3, but it was too traumatic for me that I begged my mom to tell the school that I wanted to stop lessons.
7. Another disciplined side of me. During the uni days, I jogged 3 days a week around the campus grounds without fail. I became quite ‘famous’ in my hostel for this. My weight was at my lowest during those days at 43kg. As for now, let’s not talk about it.
8. I like to keep the house neat and tidy. I try to make it a point to vacuum and mop every alternate day. However, when it comes to my personal things, I am the opposite. I don’t tidy up my study table until every inch is covered by papers and books. Well, its a bit exaggerated, but you get the point

I am not going to tag anyone since most have already kena tagged.

Updates

It has been almost a month since I last wrote.  I had been busy with stuff at home as well as doing some research to firm up my choice of curriculum for Sarah.  Up to now, my homeschooling has been very relaxed and child-led.  We don’t use a curriculum nor have a schedule.  We just use whatever learning opportunities that came up.  Now that Sarah is coming to 3, I feel that I need something more structured, but yet fun and involves lots of good books.  So I have been  comparing curricula and reading reviews.  After many late nights staring at my laptop, I have finally decided to combine 2 curricula, one of which is free online.  They use good books, are gentle and not too academic.  Now, I just need to find a cheaper way to get the books in as the shipping charges from the supplier are really too high.  Hopefully this can work out and I should be on the way to start next month when Sarah turns 3.

Sarah is doing well.  There seem to be a spurt in her development in the last 2 months, be it physical, speech and emotional.  She talks a lot these days, from the moment she wakes till she goes to bed.  She now engages in imaginary play and is able to play independently.  Many a times, when I was busy in the kitchen, I spotted her playing with her dollhouse and toys and talking to them.  She is also able to play by herself for a long period of time, when previously she will always need me to be with her.   She is now totally off diapers in the day, except for poo when she still needs her diaper.

All praise and glory be to the Lord.