A New Classroom

I have to admit that my first attempt at homeschooling Bella was a total diaster! After carefully setting the table with coloured crayons and sharpened pencils, I opened the notebook to a fresh new page. Aaahhh, the start of being teacher mom. Yes, I was excited with lesson plans playing out in my head. Even had a great icebreaking activity. I ring the silent bell and ask Bella to join me at the table..to which she responds a definitive "NO." She wants to watch babyTV with Alex. She wants to go swimming with daddy. Hey, it was only to be 20 minutes of structured time in Mama's School. I thought I would get the routine happening upon arrival. Mark, spreading peanut butter on his toast, chuckled...which got me even more wound up. Long story short..I bribed her to sit down for 10 minutes. She did a half hearted sketch of the plane ride and declared, "Done." I put the notebooks away for the next few days and I learn a few lessons myself as we explore Singapore as a family. There's a new classroom here and it's not at the table with pencil and paper. Math is looking out for the No. 123 bus, counting how many stations till Little India, buying lucky dragonflies in Chinatown with new currency and counting the change. Socials is following the purple line on the NorthSouth track to Dhoby Ghant and transferring to the red line to Orchard Road. It's making observations about the different cultures on the subway, taking 'one bite' of different cuisines and discovering that we do like coconut milk but not the dosa. It's about removing your shoes off at the Hindu temple and correcting mom when she incorrectly points out Lord Shiva, 'that's not Shiva, mom, it's Krishna. He's on our yoga video.' Science becomes feeling a giraffe's tongue when feeding it carrots, noticing the camouflaged caimans in the swamps and spotting the dominant probiscus monkey with the longest nose. It is the fascination of watching the mimosa plant fold at your fingertips. Language Arts is learning the legend of how the tapir lost its horn in its vanity and making a Venn diagram to compare Sea Plum and Ariel in the mermaid stories. Reading is identifying the letters in PRADA. There's definitely no shortage of daily physical activity as we walk and explore the streets of Singapore and get refreshingly wet in the water parks. Taking risks is being the leader and taking your parents through the maze of Chinatown. Follow me! It is holding the hoop with confidence at the front of the stage and beaming with pride when winning her first contest. As for recess and play, it's all about Ashley. Together, the girls shared lots of giggles and laughs. They put on fashion shows, dog shows and woke up each morning to eat breakfast and get their hair done by Tita. As for Critical Thinking, there's always wonderings in each day. Over spring rolls, Bella asks, "Why are you and daddy making me a world traveller?" to which I respond, "To see how other people live" and daddy replies, "To be a family."  So our new classroom is changing and it's very refreshing to say the least.