While in Singapore, Ben wanted to check out their plant nurseries. Of course, right?! If was far off the beaten path, and not really a tourist thing to do, but it was worth it. Besides the Bloesem team, our friend Abby was our tour guide in Singapore (she goes to grad school in CA, but was home for the summer), so we were really able to get the inside scoop on this special country. She helped us navigate around and took us to the plant nursery.

Ben was in search for a particular citrus tree that is illegal in California, while he didn’t find it in Singapore, we did find a lot of interesting fruit trees we had never heard of before. I was ooh-ing and ahh-ing over a lot of the other plants I had never seen before, and I was so wishing that customs would just let me walk right through with all these plants in my arms. I did jot down a few names in hopes of tracking them down here somewhere, so my wish still could come true somehow.

In these photos you see some of the touristy things we did in Singapore…

Gardens by the Bay: Such an expansive garden and there was no way we would be able to cover it all, but we walked around until the heat and our legs told us we had enough. Ben really enjoyed the fruit tree section of it and was reading up all he could, and he would look up additional info on his phone to find out more! There were so many plants I wanted to bring home, and The Supertree Grove is so cool. I wanted to walk across the suspension bridge, but after Cloud Forest, Ben was not up to being so far up from the ground.

Cloud Forest Dome: This was this amazing (air conditioned) indoor conservatory with lots of beautiful greenery and a man-made waterfall. You go all the way to the top and walk down, but Ben was freaking out because you can see through the walkway that leads you down (and you’re pretty high up), so he was walking as fast as he can. You can totally see his nervous face in the picture; he was freaking out so much that I started freaking out.

Singapore Flyer: This is Singapore’s version of the London Eye. We went to go see it (and think about riding it), but once we got close, that was good enough for Ben. The thought of being trapped in that thing for 30 minutes was making him uncomfortable. HA! We made a deal though, we would skip out on the flyer, but we would go to the Skypark at Marina Bay Sands (the towers that look like it has a ship on the top) to see the view. He agreed, so I was happy with that deal.

We also took a tour on the river (thank you to one of you for the suggestion!), and I’m so glad we did that because we learned a lot about the history of this beautiful country. I enjoyed hearing about the how this was once a bustling seaport, how the British came to conquer, and the influence they had in developing this country. I loved imagining what it might have been like here long ago.

I still have so much to share about this wonderful sunny island; Singapore is so rich in beauty, diversity, and deliciousness, that’s it’s just not possible to contain in one post.

I’m headed your way soon, so if you’re able, don’t forget to sign up for either the felt flower making class or learn how to make the paper chandelier (pajaki). There are still some spots in both classes, so sign up for one or both (you can blend your two new skills together) and get ready for a fun afternoon/evening of crafting and chatting with me and Bloesem! Hope to see some of you there!

And please do share where we (Ben and I) should eat, shop, and see while we’re there. I’m thankful for the suggestions some of you have already sent over.

I started this blog to document my sewing and my wool felt flowers I used to make for local shops and my etsy shop, so it’s fun to go back to it. I am so happy to share that I will be heading to Singapore this summer, and teaming up with Bloesem to teach a creative workshop on felt flower making. It will be a fun time of creating, learning, and sharing ideas with other creative people. Irene has put together a list of awesome workshops and I wish I could take many of them (like this rope making vessel class), so I’m honored to be part of this. If you’re in Singapore (or happen to be there during this time), I hope you’re able to join us for the class! You can get more info about my class here, as well as the other Bloesem classes that are offered.

I’m also ready for all your suggestions of things to see, eat, shop, and do in Singapore too, so ready, set, go…

This is the first year, in all our years of homeschooling, where math hasn’t been a headache. All the prior years, we’d been doing Singapore Math, and while it’s a good program, I realize now, it wasn’t for us, especially not for True and Brave. Every day, we used to dread math, but since making the switch to Saxon Math, the days have been better. Math-U-See was another program I thought about switching to, but ultimately decided Saxon would be better for where True and Brave are at. Fights and frustrations still happen, but not nearly as frequently as they used to. I think the older girls would agree that this year, math has been better and much more enjoyable.

The two little ones are still doing Singapore, but it’s because we already have the books, and they do much better with the program. Soul is a math girl, so the program work for her, though next year I might consider switching her to Saxon. The tough part with Soul is that she hates math, but she’s really good at it. Often, she’ll complain about the work she has to do, but once she does it, it doesn’t take her long. Thus, the issue with her isn’t the math program, but her heart.

As for Glow, she loves math! She put “math books” on her birthday and Christmas wish list. She loves it so much that she does a Saxon, Singapore, and a math minute workbook! You don’t have to twist her arm to do math; she definitely does it with a happy heart.

I think it took me a long while to switch programs for True and Brave because I felt like if I did, I failed because we didn’t complete it. I know, that thought is completely preposterous. I felt that too if I switched to a video program, like I was giving up and giving my job to someone else (a video) because I couldn’t do it. Honestly, I couldn’t, at least not well. I finally got smart enough to find a program that worked better. Took awhile for me to figure that out, but I’m so thankful I did, better late than never.

So if you’re a homeschooling mom and some curriculum is not working for you, try something else. Take a break, experiment with a different type of learning and teaching, and remember one of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can find what works best for our family and we don’t have to be stuck following one certain way.

This is my seventh year of homeschooling and we are still following the classical education style of teaching and learning. This book has been the most helpful resource throughout the years. I like the structure classical education provides, so we have stuck with it. Of course, we continue to adjust to fit our needs and interest, but for the core subjects, we stick to the classical curriculum. We are a multi-age classroom and I pair the girls off for our instructional time. True and Brave are on the same level (though one is in 6th grade and the other 5th). Soul and Glow receive similar instruction, but I do have to adjust a lot for Glow since Glow is in kinder and Soul in second grade. Below is the curriculum list I use for each pair of girls:

True and Brave (5th and 6th grade)
Math: Saxon Math (this is our first year with Saxon, we’ve previously used Singapore Math, but I wanted to try something different)
Reading: We have a long reading list to get through, but we are starting with Beowulf.
Spelling: Spelling Workout G
Writing: Writing Strands Level 4
Grammar: Progressing with Courage
Handwriting: D’Nealian Handwriting
Science: Earth Science Daybook
History: Story of the World Volume 4
Latin/Greek: Classical Roots A
Spanish: Breaking the Barrier Spanish Level 2 (they completed Spanish for Children Primer A & B)
Critical Thinking: Building Thinking Skills

Soul and Glow (2nd and Kindergarten)
Math: Singapore Math 2A
Reading: Ordinary Parent’s Guide to Teaching Reading (for Glow); reading Book of Nature Myths together
Spelling: Spelling Workout B
Writing: Writing with Ease Level 2
Grammar: First Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind 2
Handwriting: Handwriting without Tears
Science: More Mudpies to Magnets with nature studies mixed in
History: Story of the World Volume 1
Spanish: Song School Spanish

Extra curriculum support: Duolingo, Brain Pop Jr., Starfall, Life of Fred

Additional activities: Piano,  guitar, swim (though I’m thinking of not doing it this year). Brave has an interest in theatre, so I’m looking for acting programs to get her involved in.

I do a lot of modifying for Glow since her reading, writing, and math ability isn’t the same as Soul’s due to the age difference. This was a similar case with True and Brave when Brave started homeschooling, but their age and grade levels are closer together than Soul and Glow’s. Now, they are both at the point where they can do the exact same things.

You might notice we don’t use an art curriculum. We’re always making things or studying artists, so our art study is pretty fluid, and we kind of go wherever it takes us, so we don’t use a book for it. One day it might be sewing, another day art history, and another day studying an artist and their preferred medium.

We are not part of any co-op, but the girls go to school all day every Friday through our charter school program. Thus, my main instructional days are Monday-Thursday. I’m sure you’re curious about what a school day looks like for us. The days are very full, but True and Brave are quite independent, so there’s a lot they’re able to do on their own. I’ll give a more detailed time schedule of typical school days for us in another post next week.

If you have any other homeschool questions, feel free to ask in the comments! This is from a couple years ago, but here’s our schedule then, a curriculum post a few years ago here, and another curriculum post here. Here’s a post on how we get Spanish lessons done too.