Thanksgiving

I would want to devote my first post of the year to giving God the glory for the many blessings he has showered upon us last year. Here are some homeschool related ones:

• We were led to the joys of lapbooking in a talk by a fellow homeschooling mother at the Homeschool Curriculum Fair in February. Her passion and enthusiasm was infectious! I am very glad I plucked up enough courage to try it and am gradually feeling our way about this new and exciting approach.
• I also just discovered the effectiveness of the Charlotte Mason method for the learning of Chinese. I see improvement in my boys' speaking (at least they are less resistant to speaking Mandarin now) and am encouraged.
  
• My boys have started blogging and are now thoroughly enjoying it because their friends are blogging too! No need for me to worry about "composition" now.
  
• God has miraculously provided the funds for my boys' two "co-curriculum activities", music class at Yamaha and gymnastics class, for the pass 2 years. He opened up an opportunity for me to give private tuition to a student for that exact two years that was needed to complete the music course! Talk about perfect timing!
  
• The boys had the chance to participate in an inter-club gymnastics competition and even won some medals (that really came as a surprise for me but a pleasant one no doubt). A very eye-opening experience for them.
  
• I have been teaching my boys how to swim. And after much perseverance in this upriver task, they can finally swim! I specially want to thank God for this training in PATIENCE!
  
• There are two facilities that I would like to thank God for:- 1. A well stocked library just 10 min walk from home. (No way we can homeschool without a good library nearby) 2. A swimming pool complete with water playground, lazy river, slides, training pool and competition pool. All this just 10 min walk from home also. (I am beginning to sound like a property agent. lol... but I know I must not take these things for granted.)
• We were introduced to my current Friday homeschool playgroup in March last year and have faithfully attended most meetings. The friends we made here are priceless! And the time we spent together unforgettable.
• I am so thankful for friends who organized or told us of interesting enrichment activities that I would otherwise not initiate or know about. The activities include the Naturalist camp at Sungei Buloh, Forrest Adventure course, Robotics at Science Centre, Chinese Speech and Drama Camp, Mozart Exhibition at the museum and various other plays and concerts.
  

Although I have only just briefly listed my thanksgiving items here, each one has had a great impact on us. God is GOOD!!!