wow... how time flies... we are into second month of the new year already... Last Friday (2/9) was a fun day for us. Chieftain Christian Academy (CCA) that we are part of had a Valentine's Party for kids up to 11 years old. And many older kids including Timothy came to help setting up the place and did the games and crafts with the kids. It was a lot of fun!

Xander was in age 5-7 group and there were about 20 kids in his group.... and a great group of kids too. So, what did they do.... The first craft Xander made was a card holder to hold Valentine cards he will soon exchange with other kids. And then they played a friendly competition that with team of 4-6 kids, they tried to build the highest tower using heart-shaped candies in 5 minutes. Xander's group tied with another group and everyone got a nice pencil ^_^ After that, they decorated a pen with a rose on it, quite pretty indeed.

The highlight, of course, was the exchange of Valentine's cards. This is our first year participating and I thought it was a great way of doing it. Every kid was asked to bring 12 Valentine cards with signed names without addressing to anyone. When ready to exchange the cards, they first formed a big circle. Then with guidance, first kid would stand up and give out his/her card to the kids that were on his/her left until the cards ran out. And then the next kid would do the same and so on and so forth.... So, at the end, it really didn't matter how many kids participating, every kids would receive 12 Valentine cards, though not the same 12. And everyone had a great time.

Last, but not the least, was the "sugar high" time..... with so many pink, red and heart shaped snacks that one of the moms actually stood by the snack table and be the sugar patrol to be sure that no one would be taking in too much sugar...... ^_^

Not only we had a great time, more so, I am very thankful to CCA and all the moms to put together so many great programs throughout the year for our kids to participate. And really, these days, homeschooling has become one type of schooling that kids really don't miss out activities that people once thought the homeschooling children may not be able to do.

I thank God to draw our family and to allow our family to homeschooling!!

This past week was a big week for me!! I had my homeschool review on Friday... and I was so nervous that I stayed up to prepare the night before and then couldn't fall asleep afterward.....

Though this is my 4th year homeschooling... for the last three years, I registered with our county student service and was reviewed by them. Twice a year, I would bring boys' sample work in every subject along with all the curriculum choices to show to my reviewer at county office.... And she would let me know if I was in compliance or not with the teaching requirements. Of course, I was very nervous when I went to my first review... and was so thrilled when my reviewer told me that I did a great job with my boys..... yet, by the time my 3rd year came around, I knew that I really didn't need to do much and could still get a great review from the county.

Since this is my first year having a high school homeschooler, I need to have a more structured umbrella group that can help me to track the credit hours, transcripts and guide me in helping Jonathan's college application process..... There are two academies in the area that I know of whom can do that for me... and believe it or not... there is a waiting list to get in to these academies..... Last year, we had many discussions regarding if Jonathan should continue homeschooling or he should return to public school or go to private school. After many prayers and consulting with homeschool families who have done both, Jonathan asked to continue to be homeschooled. When I found out that I will be on waiting list to get into an Academy, I was panicking. Thank God for answering my prayers in which we will only continue to homeschool Jonathan if we could be part of an academy. And we did, we were accepted to Chieftain Christian Academy (CCA). Jonathan is also taking two high school classes, Algebra I and Honor Biology with Chieftain Institute.

To say all that is to say that I had my FIRST review with CCA this past Friday!! Sandy who is the director of CCA came to my house to do the review. I had to type up a semester summary for each boy indicating how far we have done in each subject area. I needed to have all the textbooks out as well as all their dated work in binders for each subject. And also records showing our daily and weekly instructional schedules. Though I was a bit nervous before she arrived, Sandy was so nice, supportive and with great insight and suggestions..... We had a very nice review and she was happy to see all my boys' progress..... Since Sandy homeschooled her girls all the way to high school and with many years of helping other homeschool families, I feel much more confident and secure at our homeschooling program.

Another exciting news is that I found out there were 4 days of Winter 2007 Homeschool Teleconference that I can just call in to listen to 8 one-hour seminars (interviews). Topics included like "ways to make your homeschooling more fun", "how to help your child Ace the SAT and other exams" and the best one "how to finish a textbook in half the time, with twice the comprehension"....... It continues to amaze me with all these technologies and information that we can have right at our finger tips to homeschool our children...... I feel very thankful and blessed.....

And of course, my boys were so happy... since they got an unexpected day off from doing school on Friday. They had a play date at our friend's house while I had my semester review. You may ask why they couldn't do their work? Well, I need to keep all their books to show to Sandy during my review!!! ^_^

Instead of trying to write a long essay presenting pro and con of homeschooling as I see it, I decided to adopt a style more like an elaborated bullet point

Flexibility

One obvious advantage homeschooler has is flexibility. As parents and teachers, we are with our children everyday and most of their waking hours. We can make adjustments, large or small, as we go along whenever we sense that it is good to do so. Of course, good teachers in traditional classroom could and would make adjustments according to what their students are and how they learn. It is the bigger changes that classroom teachers cannot do easily, but homeschool parents can. For example, we can change our whole curriculum as long as the principal, yours truly, and the teacher, Debbie, agree. A classroom teacher cannot do that in most schools without running afoul with the principal, or parents.

Flexibility, however, is a two-edged sword. It is great to have this kind of flexibility, but we need to exercise this flexibility carefully. Taking flexibility to extreme, it can definitely come back to haunt us.

Through the four years of home schooling, I believe we use this flexibility in moderation and in prudent manner. Let me present three of our cases here:

Case 1 : We chose world renowned Singapore Math for all of our math classes in the first three years of homeschooling. While Singapore Math is a great curriculum, it was hard for Jonathan to jump into it starting at 6th grade. Timothy had better result since he started at 4th grade and was given more time to get used to the way Singapore Math works and thinks. I was teaching them math here and there, in the evenings or early in the morning before going to work. I was not consistent enough. Obviously a drawback of the flexibility of schedule. Debbie eventually took over the teaching and I became the tutor if they need extra help.

After working at it for three years, Jonathan switched over to take Algebra class from Chieftan Institute, an institute offering high school level classes to homeschoolers. They use Saxon Math while we continue to use Singapore Math at home. The change turned out to be beneficial since Jonathan is doing very well in his Algebra class. The different approach of the Saxon Math works better for him, and the preparation he had from Singapore Math now proves to be solid as well.

Case 2: Timothy had a chance to go to Taiwan for a year to be with Grandpa (Debbie's Dad) when he was about to start 6th grade. With prayer and discussion with him, we sent him back to Taiwan and enrolled him in 6th grade in a public school near Grandpa's house. Not only it became a very special time he had with Grandpa. It also gave him a full Chinese immersion experience for a whole 9 months. When he got back home, it was pretty easy to have him pick up right where he left off and move forward. I am quite sure we can do the same thing if he went to a public school but it would probably be a bit more paper work to get him out and back in school. His reentry of our school is done in a seamless transition because his whole curriculum is determined by his progress alone. In a school setting, I would imagine that there will be some transition issue. Homeschooling definitely makes the transition back easy and painless.

Case 3: We started using HomeSat program, a satellite distance learning program for Christian schools and homeschooler this year. We record the broadcast program and then burn it onto DVDs. It adds a rich content to our curriculum that is very much in the tradition of classic education in a very flexible format of media. Xander is in 2nd grade this year, and just reach the point where he picks up reading and takes off. He becomes rather advanced reader in a short span of a few months. He shows a lot of interest in many subjects his older brothers are studying. In the first semester, he had his own "Heritage Study" classes but he would also join Debbie and Timothy to watch Timothy's 7th grade "World Study" DVD program. As time goes by, Debbie noticed that Xander would participate more and showed some real understanding of the material. This semester, we decided that we would just let him become officially part of the class. We stopped his "Heritage Study" since the class does not seem to interest him. He enjoyed the depth from the higher grade classes, and his participation and interaction makes the class more interesting and entertaining for Timothy. I think this is flexibility at its best.

"I see homeschooling as a way of life. For me, it shows in every smile brought to my boys, in every effort my boys joyously make to achieve and to shine before them."

"I hope that as a teacher at home, my legacy to my boys will not be text or tests, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of my character, my capacity to care and to love and many fond memories"

So, why do I want to homeschool, having my schedule busier than I need to... have no time of my own.... you might be nodding your head and agree that I must be crazy and insane....

Although we are into our 4th year of homeschooling, "to homeschool or not to homeschool" is the question we revisit often. We constantly evaluate and pray for wisdom and guidance. Not only Guan and I involve in this process, but also all of our three boys do too. As I often share with my boys that I love homeschooling and consider it is a privilege, however, it is a choice we make as a family and we don't have to homeschool if it is not the best for them. The bottom line what Guan and I want is to find the best environment to raise our boys to become useful, responsible and mature adults and most of all, to be Christ-like and follow God's will.

Flash back in 1999... Actually, unlike many homeschool moms who knew that they wanted to homeschool their children starting at very young age, I never thought about homeschooling my boys. Both Jonathan and Timothy were in public school and I was active in school functions as well as helping out in classrooms. In 1999, while I was actively building our home-based business, I came across many homeschool moms. They intrigued me. As Guan said that we, in Montgomery County, have great public school systems, why would people choose to homeschool? It seemed odd and I was puzzled as well as being very curious. I then went onto three years of exploring journey where I went to many homeschool meetings as well as visiting many homeschool moms at their homes.

In summer 2003, as Jonathan graduated from elementary school, he asked to be homeschooled. As a family (more just Guan, Jonathan and I since Timothy and Xander were quite young at that time), we decided to give homeschooling a try. We reasoned that we can always try for one year and go back to school system if it doesn't work out....

How time flies......it's been 4 years... So, why do we continue to homeschool???

When we started homeschooling, we planned to have Jonathan return to school system when entering high school. Yet, Lord prepared my heart when I went to a seminar where speaker talked about the most important time to homeschool is high school. Last year, when Jonathan was in eighth grade, my prayer was answered that we were accepted into a wonderful homeschool community of "Chieftain Christian Academy" where we will be held accountable with our work. Jonathan is also able to take high school courses at Chieftain Institute with other homeschoolers as well as attending graduation and receiving a high school diploma.

Homeschool is certainly a very challenging task by all means.... yet I love homeschooling because --

1. we spend more time together as a family
2. one on one time with each of my boys
3. we get to choose what curriculum to use for each subject, but more so, how to learn and if something is not effective, we can discuss, modify or even change the publisher!
   
4. One of the highlights (my favorites) of homeschooling is to be able to co-op with other homeschool families: Currently, on Tuesdays, we do Bible study, basic money management and Chemistry with other homeschooling families. We are doing Bible study on the book of Proverbs called Wise Up with the Printiss family. I can't think of a better teacher and I am so thankful to have Maureen teaching my boys and even Xander participates in discussions. I teach Chemistry and since my background is in Biochemistry, I love the opportunity to teach and share my love of Science with them.
   
5. Only after the new year, we decided to add in "41 activities in basic money management" to prepare our children. And many interesting topics have come out from our money discussions.
6. flexibility of time -- as I learned one time with this quote " flexible people don't get bent out of shape". In 2004, we joined Chinese Immersion Class to China for two weeks, and while all needed to come back to the States, we were able to extend our trips two more weeks and visited Hong Kong and Taiwan. This past year, Timothy did 9 months schooling in a public school in Taiwan. I was able to take Jonathan and Xander to Taiwan for a month during Chinese New Year.
7. Boys have more adequate of sleep... no one needs to be up at 6 am to catch bus... we are more a family of night owl and not morning people. So, we start school around 9am.

In a nutshell, let me quote what my good friend Maureen said --

"I am glad to be alongside my children while they are learning. To guide them through the emotional struggles of growing up is just as rewarding as seeing them gain victory in their academics. I love the candor, the camaraderie, and the Christ-like attitudes the thomeschooling has nurtured in our family. The relationships we enjoy thru different support groups are the icing on the cake (which we all know is what everyone eats cake for!)"

And I am thankful that I have the choice and privilege to homeschool!

Why Do We Home School?

This is a question our friends, and our new acquaintances are interested in asking as soon as they found that we homeschool. Some of our friends are polite but point out that we live in Montgomery County, one of best public school district in the state of Maryland. It might even be one of the best public school system in the whole United States, according to various statistics and Newsweek or some national new magazine articles, that is, if you believe what you read there. Many families from surrounding jurisdiction would love to have their children to be just in Montgomery school system. It represents a huge time commitment and financial investment. Not only we are being taxed at a high rate to pay for this high performing school system that we don't use, and our cost is not reimbursed. The expense is not even tax deductible. There is certainly no financial incentive for us to do it.

So, why on earth do we CHOOSE to homeschool?

Yes, homeschooling is a choice for us. Debbie and I made the choice after much discussion, soul searching and, yes, prayer. Our children, especially Jonathan and Timothy, who were 11 and 9 when we started homeschooling in 2003, were involved in the discussion, and decision process. Like most major decisions that have such an impact on our lives, there are many reasons. As we have a few years of homeschooling under our belt, our reasons change and become more mature. All three of our children have their own idea of what it is like to be in public school, and what it is like to homeschool. They most likely have their reasons, likes and dislikes about each options. I thought it would be a great idea to start to write some of these thought down on this blog, and share it with our friends and family members.

I thought I'll start with my posts. I know Debbie has been working on writing some of her thoughts down. And Jonathan, Timothy and Xander will write down their experience and thoughts.

That sounds like a plan. Now only if I have a way to have everyone do as I say ;-)

Welcome to Our Home School Diary

This is the forth year we home school our children. We are almost half way through the year at the end of Dec 2006. It is shaping out to be the most challenging year, and also perhaps the most rewarding year.

While writing the annual letter to our friends during 2006 Holiday season, I wanted to spend more time writing about home schooling, because it is such as big part of our family life. Not only our children spend most of their day doing school work, something related to their learning, just like most school age kids do. Debbie also spend many many hours each day teaching or learning a certain subject with the kids, sometimes together with other home school families that we co-op. Many nights, Debbie and I would stay up till late, way too late, after kids go to bed to talk about how home schooling -- how we are doing, how it is going and what do we want to accomplish. Home schooling really is more than schools, it takes up the largest part of our family life.

I really cannot say much within one paragraph of a one page letter, but I would like like to. Plus that Debbie and the kids, who are immediate participant of home schooling, probably have a lot more to say then I do. Another reason for writing this down is also to help many of our friends get to know what home schooling is about, and how we do it. I am sure there are as many small variations of how one approaches home schooling as there are home schooling families. Maybe with a bit more understanding, some of our very well meaning friends would stop trying to talk us out of home schooling.

A BLOG could be a good way to keep this record. So here we go...

Guan
Dad, Principal, Chief Financial Officer, Handyman and Janitor.