New Workstation For The Kids

We just bought a new set of table and chairs for the kids so that they're gonna have a proper place and study props. Like other mothers, I choose Ikea marmut set combining 4 colors, green, blue, pink and white,

I choose the circular shaped table because it gives more space for them. Rectangular ones is just too inflexible for my kids who love to jumble everything in one go.

I wish I could upload some pictures of my kids' workstation!

Homeschool Activity : Cloth Pegs

You don't need any expensive tools to make your children happy.

My kids saw my brand new clothes pegs and they insisted to open the pack. I unwrap it and gave them. Hafiy screamed "Pink! Pink!" OMG he's really a pink boy. He loves his pink pajamas, wants a pink chair.....

I taught him to put the pegs on. We used some thick papers. It was so nice that he could arrange all those pegs accordingly.


He then used his imagination to build ship from it.

Homeschooling For Working Mommies?

I am not gonna do a formal homeschool by all means. For us it is enough by doing some family activities which we regard as 'schooling at home', just for our own sake.

However, it is not impossible for working mommies to practice formal homeschooling with their kids, meaning that giving full commitment and not going to send the kids to either public or private school.

Some Western mothers are successfully run their homeschool by:
- work in shift with their spouse, where each of them take turn to teach the kids at home.
- collaborate with other mommies in the same area, which where they're gonna send the kids when they're off to work. Definitely for schooling!
- get a helper to look after the kids while they're away, just to take care of some minor parts like practical living, hygiene, etc.
- plan for flexible schedules so that it won't effect the kids' lesson when their parents are away.

I don't have any reason (yet) to do all those things. Perhaps one day. Public school in my country still provides good and condusive learning environment.


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Learn to Read : How to Start

I believe that reading/learning could be nurtured as a habit, not merely a practice/approach we use only when we want to acquire certain knowledge. My husband and I adore reading very much. As a child, I was an early reader, I was able to read before I entered formal school. I had lots of books, when most of my friends still learn to spell, I already read short stories.

I still remember my mother and father used to buy me some story books and sometimes borrowed them from local library.

I loved reading because my parents were readers too. According to my father, I hadn't been forced to learn to read, but I got the skill by myself when my father gave me a set of alphabets when I was about 4 or 5 years old to play with. From that I started to know the alphabet letters and began to spell.

I am using the same approach to my children. We read in front of them, to them and with them. I bought my children sets of alphabet blocks, magnetic alphabets, alphabet cards and so on, so that they could play with.

A child need to be nurtured with love of learning before he start to learn to read. Reading is not merely holding a book and read. A child need to master some skills in order to get themselves ready to read i.e. motor skill.

To help children with motor skill, parents should help them in stimulating their physical. Example, instead of leaving them in walker for the whole day, allow them to crawl, creep, climb and hold things.

From day to day as our children grow older, more motor activities are needed by them to help them in mastering hand-eye coordination which is important for them to write later.

How to Teach a 2 Year Old

It is not easy to 'teach' a 2 year old boy because he likes to jump and run to here and there. We have to know the secret. The secret is, that's how they learn.

Sometimes, we mothers, especially for a full time working mom like me, we can't wait to see the result. As our child learns something, we want him to understand and remember it forever.

Children born with zero skill, zero knowledge, zero problem... So they are free to absorb everything around them. So, no matter how active our children are, they are actually absorbing.

My boy is a very active ones. He won't stay put a second even during 'study time', except watching his favourite videos. What I do just let him play while I am teaching him. Usually he'll respond while playing. So it will be play and learn sessions.

To teach our children need lots of love and patient.

Getting My Kids To Hook On Discipline

My first son wants to be breastfed all the time. He is willing to do anything for a suckle on my breast. Even though he is 2 years and 3 months old already but still no sign of weaning.

Lately he demands for comfort nursing, which I try to avoid because I have to utilize my time to meet all the household needs. So I decided to take his breastfeeding or comfort nursing as a reward instead of 'need'.

Everyday he has to collect good points for his nursing session. 1 good deed, 1 point, 1 nursing session. 1 naughty deed, 1 point deducted, 1 nursing session burns. So he has to do good deed and stop being naughty to get his milk.

However, from time to time I have to remind him that he has to be good or he'll lose 1 point.

I am not being too harsh on him. My intention is just to train him to be responsible on his manner and behavior. 2 years old is still a baby to me, however the good behaviour starts before birth. Furthermore he's going to nursery now and will enter kindergarten by end of this year, so he has not be treated as a below 1 year old baby.

It shows posistive sign since I introduced this system. He's not hitting his little brother as frequent as usual. So I might continue this reward-and-punish-up-to-you system to discipline my kids.

Financial Indepedent Before Formally Homeschooling

Homeschooling in this region is still not so popular. Most of the parents homeschool their children without proper curriculum (paid or government's approved). This might be because of the lack of resources and support group here.

As for me now I call this as home education rather than homeschool because I am not referring to any curriculum or syllabus, and it is really driven by my own instinct as a mother. Furthermore I am still sending my boys to nursery and kindergarten as I am full time working.

To set a homeschool as a formal education for my children, is not yet in my plan, since I need to free myself from daytime commitment if I want to homeschool them. As of now, the financial is matters, I need to work to bring some money for the family.

Continue later, gtg my baby is crying!

Preparing Home Education's Schedule

I am still not sticking to any schedule. Furthermore my objective for this month is only to get my boys back to home education track. I make sure in a day they'll get their phonic books read and al-Furqan read.

For little boys like mine, I should expect that they are not paying much attention to what I am teaching, however their brain keep on absorbing. For a 2-year-old boy, it is not about sitting still and learn but what we mothers provide to them.

I am allocating 1 hour for their education at home. Since we have a very limited space, so they are running everywhere during the lesson. This will include reading, flashing card and watching DVD.

Home Education For A Busy Mom

I am a busy working mom, as I have a 8 to 5 job, which need me to go out from house as early as 6.45am and reach home after work the earliest at 6.45pm. I have only night time to spend with my kids, before I go back to my home office to do my work-at-home jobs.

However, I use the time in between to give my kids the best input they deserve. To me, the best thing is when I spend time with them, regardless what they are doing. The matter is our involvement in their activities, even if merely watching TV.

I practice attachment parenting, thus my kids love to be by my side. So I use this opportunity to introduce them to house chores, and they excited to ‘help’ me with the chores.

Now Hafiy is the one who puts detergent into our washing machine and even helps me to hang the clothes. At the kitchen, I give him a plastic knife so that he can cut some vegetable without risking any injury.

How I love this way because it likes killing to birds with one stone.

The Best Sites For Parents, Teachers and Kids

I love to browse best sites for parents ad kids. I have a few in the list and I'll share them with my readers. This is one of the best site I ever found, because it collects all the best sites, according to their categories.

http://www.kidsites.com/

Our Cool Routine

As of now, I don't have any solid teaching method to apply on my children. I just pick any elements those match us, because time is the only thing I don't have. As I am working outside during the day, and working at home at night, so there is only little time available for my kids.

Our day started at 6.30 am when I wake my children up. Wash them a bit, change them to make them ready for school.

We started our journey at 6.45am or 7, to their nursery at Kuala Lumpur. From our Petaling Jaya house it took us almost 40 minutes. We recite our "doa to start journey" as we entered the car.

I love to talk with my two boys throughout the journey. Hafiy loves to point to any object he knows.. cars, house, tree, KLCC (PETRONAS Twin Towers), sky, smoke, tractor, etc. And Fahry now knows which one is car. He likes cars too!

Sometimes we read our phonic books or reciting the Quran. If both of them still sleepy, I put them to sleep with my nasyeed, zikir or salawat.

Usually I pick them at 6 pm, after my office hour ends at 5. The boys are happy everytime we took them home.

On the way back, the same process starts again. Usually I'll ask Hafiy about what has he learn at school. He couldn't answer (he can't talk very well yet) but I know he is happy being one of that nursery's family.

When we reach home, I put them down for a while, because I have to put my expressed breast milk (EBM) inside the fridge. They'll either watch TV or play with their blocks. After a short rest, I take them to bath, and the usual evening routine.

We usually have our dinner late, at 8.30pm. Hafiy likes to eat by himself so I let him.

After dinner, we watch DVD together, then we read a book. Or just let them play with their block if I am too tired.

I am yet to prepare a proper schedule for myself and the kids. Schedule is important as it will tell us what to do and what to expect.

My Home's Cool

This year of 2010 I come out with a new resolution, to start over what I have done to my kids during our 2 years stay at our own rented house in Miri.

Now that we have move to my in laws house, it wasn't easy to do it my way. But thinking about my children's future lies on my hands, so I decided to gain the spirit back.

People out there might have different view about home and early education. Some may not agree for 'teaching' kids to read or count before they go to preschool. To me it is not the matter of teaching, even I don't expect my kids to read or do Math while they're still in the cradle. I want the best for my kids, and provide them with all the opportunities, so that they will grow up as a well-rounded adult.

Talking about myself, as a child I had many things to do, but because I raised up in a village, and my parents didn't come from rich family, I didn't get what I want. All that I could have was lots of books. But, frankly from books that I read, I know many things compared to my other friends.

So I want to create the habit of love for reading in my own children. I may not have lots of money to take them to overseas, but via reading, they could know about everything.

My first hero, Hafiy had it all at his 18 months old. He recognized letters from A to Z, numbers from 1-9 and some Arabic alphabet (not all cos I started late). Unfortunately due to my halted mission, until now that he is 27 months old, he is still at the same level.

My second cutie, 13 months old Fahry.. I haven't start anything with him. So let's rock for a new revolution in our home education.

I am not going to homeschool them as I am a full time working mother. But to create a house that make everything available for them. I don't want my kids only know how to play PS2 when they're at home. Our home is everything... Our home is cool.