Homeschooling FAQs

A lot of friends and family have enquired about which school that Evan is attending.

When the question is directed to Evan, he will reply "homeschool." (HS)

We decided on HS because we feel that it's the best way for Evan.

This is an FAQ of some of the questions we've encountered.

Q: Are you sending Evan to a homeschool centre? or are you guys teaching him, yourselves?

A: 'Homeschooling' in a centre is akin to private schooling. In the truest sense, HS means parents educate their child(ren) at home (as well as outside our homes), rather than at a public or private learning institution. So, we are the main educators for our children. Thus, Evan stays at home instead of heading to a centre.

Q: By homeschooling, can Evan take public exams and enter university later?

A: This will depend on what he is interested to do in future. Of course, if he is interested to take up a course at a local university, he can sit for the SPM or STPM as a private candidate. Anyway, you don't need a university degree to be successful in life or to earn megabucks. Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg is an example! Evan can choose to go to seminary or university - either way his choice will be dependant on his passion. By homeschooling, we hope to help him discover his passion. 

Q: Isn't HS boring for Evan? He won't have many friends at all.

A: Evan gets to socialize with people of all ages wherever he goes. There's church, cell group, ballet class, music school, field trips with homeschoolers etc. So, I am not too worried. Plus, HS will not be boring cos I've got lots of activities planned and lots of field trips in store too!

Q: Is HS legal?

A: Yes HS is legal in Malaysia. The Education Act 1996 states that primary education is compulsory and parents or guardians who do not send their children to school nor educate them in any way will be fined. Homeschoolers need to apply for school exemption from the Ministry of Education. However, more often than not, their applications are not successful. The authorities will allow HS for children who travel a lot with their parents due to the nature of their work and also if the child is gifted or has a learning disorder. Even with permission to HS, parents and guardians must ensure that the child is taught the KBSM syllabus and a progress report must be submitted.

Q: What's wrong with our schools now? We all went through the system and turned out OK.

A: Instead of elaborating on this, perhaps it's better if I just include the links to 2 talks by Sir Ken Robinson. The main points in the talks are:

- education in schools as we know it are outdated & outmoded. 

- traditional schooling do not cater for individual learning styles or take into account their talents, giftings and inclinations.

- schools and universities do not prepare our kids for the unpredictable future (the new world and new economy). 

Sir Ken Robinson 1

Sir Ken Robinson 2

My Pretty Flower Girl!

Marissa was one of the flower girls at a church wedding recently.  She walked down the aisle hand-in-hand with little Emma, without any glitches! I was so proud of her!

The flower girl dresses were purchased by the bride from Flower Girl Boutique, 1 Utama. They stock a wide selection of lovely dresses at affordable prices. The dresses worn by the flower girls above costs RM79 each.

I made a 3-tier wedding cake for the couple. One of my CG members helped me with baking 180+ cupcakes for the lunch reception at Klang Wesley Methodist Church.

The butter cupcakes were frosted with vanilla bean butter icing and topped with a fondant heart.... and displayed on 2 cupcake stands. 

The wedding cake was actually a dummy cake just for display only! I used fresh imported white roses between the lower 2 tiers and crafted a pair of figurines during a private masterclass with my cake decorating sifu. 

Playing Games

For his upcoming 7th birthday, I purchased Evan a portable junior carrom set from Toys R Us (RM85.90). I am keen to introduce this game to him cos I used to play it when I was a kid! My dad had a wooden carrom board and he taught my brother and me how to play.

Here's a pic of Evan having fun with his carrom set. He has already beaten me at the game!

Evan also enjoys playing draughts/checkers aka dam haji and has also beaten me numerous times (sometimes I give chance la....)! 

I've taught him chess too but we hardly play..... well, looks like it's time to dig out the old chess set and start strategizing! I still remember my brothers and I used represent our district for the state level chess championships and later on, representing Johor at national level. Yours truly played chess competitively for almost 10 yrs before retiring and venturing into Scrabble! Two weeks ago, I taught Evan how to play Scrabble and we enjoy playing each other although I get impatient waiting for his turn!

Now, I am looking into buying a portable congkak set cos Marissa is asking for it. Will see how the games go!

Quick Update

Yet another month flew by just like that! 

Was super busy with cake orders that I find myself baking and decorating every single day. 

Hope to take a breather next month.

Anyway, we attended the MPO's Family Fun Day concert which was really good. The International Ballet Gala at Istana Budaya was excellent as well - a full house concert! 

I signed up for a one-year membership at True Fitness gym plus personal training sessions.... need to lose some body fat! 

For August, looking forward to celebrating Evan's birthday.... and Marissa is going to be a flower girl for a fellow church member's wedding.... and starting Evan on fencing classes (I bought a Groupon!).