The boys enjoyed throwing red dusty chalk around on Sentosa island!
Monday, 9 September 2013
Art Time in Singapore
In our last blog post, we presented photos of our sport adventures around Singapore. There are many reasons to love homeschooling but one in particular is being able to include time for sports every day. This is a skill for life. It's a healthy habit. We do not find time for it. We make time for it. We also make very healthy food every day with one another. What could be more important that eating well and exercising? Finally, homeschooling allows us to build lots of artistic and cultural experiences into our weekly schedule. More time for art! Art on our own and art with friends! Art at home and art field trips! The boys had one hour of art a week at school at Tampines Primary. They were given a pencil and a white piece of paper. Due to all the homework in math, science and grammar, it was hard to juggle time to do what really counts in life...in our opinion! Expressing ourselves creatively is just plain fun! Here are some photos of our recent art adventures:
We loved the drum show from Japan at the Esplanade!
At an authentic Belgian pub, the boys doodled and sketched while waiting for their steak/frites. Pit drew this Mannekin Pis from his "homeland"!
Frunty grabbed the camera from me once again to take photos of flowers at the Gardens by the Bay!
We invited our British friend, Jonah, over for a sleepover and a chance to cook with us! Great fun and yummy! Afterwards, story time with Papa.
Frunty made an allergy-free birthday cake for Papa completely by himself. And it was delicious!
A homeschool field trip to a Picasso exhibition at a print making museum:
We meet with our Art group once a week to explore different artists and create our own masterpieces!
Dancing with friends sure is fun too!
The boys enjoyed several visits to the Singapore Night Festival where they could experiment with water graffiti, glow-in-the-dark art and other fun stuff!
I want to go back to the Peranakan museume for more fun soon!
Papa helps the boys doodle on a building using computers!
Our art teacher, Tanya from South Africa, teaches different techniques in her home and helps organize great field trips. This week we are going to the Liechtenstein treasures exhibit at the National Museum of Singapore. We really hope to host everyone in Toronto in the coming years and together, we can learn more about native Canadian art! You want to see kids smiling all the time!? Fill their lives with great relationships, fun sports and chances to express themselves creatively. When I watch Frunty lovingly tending to his little herb garden, my heart fills with joy. When I see Pit sketching a bird with Auntie Dee, my heart sings. When they get an A on their math quiz, I am satisfied with their progress for sure. But the smiles and giggles formed by doing sports and art adventures together are truly precious!
Friday, 16 August 2013
Fun times again in Singapore!
After almost three weeks in Thailand, we returned to a sunny, clean aired city! Time to get out there and enjoy all that Singapore has to offer...once again! We resumed badminton with our homeschool chums, started a club at the East Coast Xtreme skateboard park, invited friends for sleepovers and had fun during and between home studies. Cooking, art classes, and movies too! Here are some photos of our awesome times in August! And it's not over yet!
Sunday, 14 July 2013
Escaping the Haze
Before moving to Singapore, we read about the odd day when the air would become thick with smog due to the burning fields in Indonesia. We figured we could handle the odd day but this year, the haze was the worst in history and we escape to the island of Koh Chang for some fresh air after a visit with Flavio and Juh in Bangkok.
Even though it was rainy season and poured hard most nights, it was sunny and gorgeous for most of the day! How lucky! We brought our school work and everyone studied hard in between swimming, a snorkelling trip and playing lots of pool! We met some really nice Americans, Mark, a pilot for United Airlines and his girlfriend, a flight attendant named Angie. We had a delightful meal together at a Belgian pub after our snorkelling/scuba trip together.
Even though it was rainy season and poured hard most nights, it was sunny and gorgeous for most of the day! How lucky! We brought our school work and everyone studied hard in between swimming, a snorkelling trip and playing lots of pool! We met some really nice Americans, Mark, a pilot for United Airlines and his girlfriend, a flight attendant named Angie. We had a delightful meal together at a Belgian pub after our snorkelling/scuba trip together.
Wednesday, 15 May 2013
Back to Badminton
Since we got home to Singapore, we are taking it pretty easy but one of the first things we wanted to get back into was badminton! And this year, Pit has decided to join in too and is doing really, really well. We practise almost every day at the park, wind permitting!
We have also enjoyed some visits with friends and meeting them at the Science Center. Always a good day out with lots of interesting exhibits and an IMAX movie or two. Today we are joining the Geography Club for the first time. The topic is Brazil and all children will prepare a short presentation.
Home schooling in Singapore is definitely lots of fun. We miss Toronto with our family and friends but make the most of our time here too. You have to anywhere you go! We look forward to joining an art club very soon as well.
It is raining very hard while I write this and I am so grateful we don't have to rush out into it! Another joy of home schooling!
We have also enjoyed some visits with friends and meeting them at the Science Center. Always a good day out with lots of interesting exhibits and an IMAX movie or two. Today we are joining the Geography Club for the first time. The topic is Brazil and all children will prepare a short presentation.
Home schooling in Singapore is definitely lots of fun. We miss Toronto with our family and friends but make the most of our time here too. You have to anywhere you go! We look forward to joining an art club very soon as well.
It is raining very hard while I write this and I am so grateful we don't have to rush out into it! Another joy of home schooling!
Tuesday, 7 May 2013
Proud of Pit!
We are back into the swing of things in Singers! We got home on Saturday and although very hard hit with jet lag, we managed to make it to badminton today! Actually I think our fun-filled weekend in Dubai really wiped us out what with the Burj Khalifa visit and the all-day water park adventure at Atlantis, the Palm. Great fun!
Our new schedule looks like this;
Math
Spanish
PE
English Language/Literature
We'll be doing a pottery class next week and still enjoy library visits or going to the Times Book store to read instead....like Chapters/Indigo, they don't mind people reading while visiting luckily although they don't sell any F&B.
So why am I so proud of Pit? Well, Pit was apprehensive about going to badminton today and actually playing. Last year, he went but did not want to practise or play with the group. Just on his own and playing with the kids afterwards. But this time he said he might try and then said he would not. I suggested practising in the morning after Spanish and so we went to the park and played a bit. The truth is, he is very good! But he was still unsure so I just told him to relax and see how he felt when he arrived. Well, he got right in there and in the end, was doing wonderful rallies with the instructor, Coach Willy. I am so proud of the little guy!
It was great to catch up with a lot of fun friends even though a few have moved on, moved back and moved away...c'est la vie...the vie of an expat. But let's look at all the silver linings and enjoy! Pit and Frunty sure did just that today!!!
Our new schedule looks like this;
Math
Spanish
PE
English Language/Literature
We'll be doing a pottery class next week and still enjoy library visits or going to the Times Book store to read instead....like Chapters/Indigo, they don't mind people reading while visiting luckily although they don't sell any F&B.
So why am I so proud of Pit? Well, Pit was apprehensive about going to badminton today and actually playing. Last year, he went but did not want to practise or play with the group. Just on his own and playing with the kids afterwards. But this time he said he might try and then said he would not. I suggested practising in the morning after Spanish and so we went to the park and played a bit. The truth is, he is very good! But he was still unsure so I just told him to relax and see how he felt when he arrived. Well, he got right in there and in the end, was doing wonderful rallies with the instructor, Coach Willy. I am so proud of the little guy!
It was great to catch up with a lot of fun friends even though a few have moved on, moved back and moved away...c'est la vie...the vie of an expat. But let's look at all the silver linings and enjoy! Pit and Frunty sure did just that today!!!
