ALBERT EINSTEIN SAID...

The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.

.....

Yesterday, we received a "care" package from my brother-in-law in Manila. Inside the package were the following: a box of Goldilocks polvoron, MnMs 6 pack, a small box of Kraft Eden cheese (i really dislike the taste of their cheeses here), 2 shirts for the boys, a pack of biscuits for Ethan, a pack of Besuto prawn crackers and soup packs (cream of mushroom, cream of corn, chicken and corn). Yipee! More food! =D I gave the boys a pack of MnMs (they shared the pack) and I ate a polvoron. Yum yum! =D

.....

My sister finally caved in. She is asking me to send Nikki to school after I have told her (and practically everyone else) time and again that I want to homeschool my boys for as long as I possibly can. Apparently, she found out that a daughter of one of our cousins is currently going to school and she is worried that Nikki is not learning anything here/at home. I told her, on the contrary, if I send Nikki to school I am afraid that he will be BEHIND everything he has already learned and all the lessons he has accomplished. I worry that once he's in a classroom setting he will be spoonfed lessons whether or not he wants to take them in. More importantly, I am afraid that Nikki will hate learning or dread school and I don't want that at all. Nikki is the type who hates that, who refuses to listen if he thinks you are badgering him. I told my sister that Nikki is already done with the basic stuff like learning the alphabet, identifying shapes, counting, and such. We are already tackling lessons like the solar system, the water cycle, musical instruments and classical music. Why should he go to school to simply relearn all the basic lessons or to just affirm that he knows them when I already know he does (and very well)? Well, I won't do that to Nikki. I don't want to confine him in that kind of learning. I like the way things are going with our lessons and I could see that he enjoys learning here at home. We could study different topics in an unstructured way and he really pays attention. Like this morning, we were watching TV (it was in Japanese) and it showed a snowy village. Immediately, we were talking about snow, snowflakes, icicles, snowblowers, snowstorms, etc. When I changed the channel, he protested and said, "Mommy, no. Nikki likes the seasons." So I flipped it back and let him appreciate the winter season. It's wonderful when my boys have this thirst for knowledge and don't feel like you're pushing information down their throats. And until homeschooling no longer works for us, I won't be sending my boys to school anytime soon.