What have we've being up to for almost a year?

The answer :

1) Having a baby, the 3rd boy addition to our family has been occupying our time most.

2) Mama was and still is busy with networking a.k.a. Facebook

3) House moving

As I am now is transitioning from full-time working mom to work-at-home-mom, I may have more time to write but I just have to do it while everyone is sleeping. Plus, working on my own is not easy as every single thing I have to do on my own. There's lots of homeschool activies we did for the past months, only then it is not being updated for record in here. Will do bit by bit. 

 My 3 bundle of joy and made me busy!

My Boys at Craft with Parenthots

Our family had attended this event last 28th of May at Tropicana City Mall 

(very nearby our house, fortunately. :-D)

It was free entrance workshop that something must not be missed plus the awesome freebies and all the activities catered for the day. Found about this event from Parenthots Newsletter of course. Details of what activites being lined up was being announced HERE.

Let pictures taken for the day do the storytelling, ya! :-D

Hanafi's New Reading Project

This is Hanafi's current read in Bahasa Malaysia language lesson.

Sometimes ago, Hubby did mentioned his old storybooks that he had in his childhood. Now, it is passed down to our eldest boy, Hanafi.

It does remind my own childhood. I love Enid Blyton both English and Bahasa Malaysia version. Now, Hanafi is reading Misteri Kehilangan Putera Raja.

Hambali's Masterpieces

Hambali did his first 'human being' scribbled when he was 2 and a half years old.

Hambali can read at 32 months!

I've shared our great discovery yesterday among friends via Facebook.

It was wednesday night that when I was making word-only-no picture flash cards, Hambali entered my bedroom and after his usual greeting of 'Hi' to me, he flipped over those stack cards on the floor and get hold one card with the word 'black' on it. He started to spell b-l-a-c-k and I ignore the spelling action as he usually did that but when he immediately said the word 'BLACK!', I was totally surprised. I stopped from my work and just observed his next action.

He took another card and there was brown word on it. He did the same and said 'BROWN'! So, I lured more cards to him and he continued spelling and read RED, BLUE, GREEN, YELLOW, WHITE, ORANGE and PURPLE.

Hubby suggested let's tested him with impromptu writing instead. So, this morning we did this and captured this great moments in a video.

Toddler Class 2 | More Pre-mathematics & Fine-motor skills

Toddler Class with Mama continued last Sunday.

Started off a bit late as Hambali took forever to finish his breakfast. Papa did'nt managed to bring the boys to playground as both Papa and Abang Hanafi rushed off for wedding that noon.

Hambali started off with flash card for the first time and just the word for shapes, all 5 flashed each at 5 seconds.

Then, continued with collage activity.
Objective : Fine-motor skills through tearing and pasting on the designated shapes. Activity took about 15 minutes. Quite difficult for Hambali to do the tearing and I concluded he need to do this often.

Tearing old magazines into tiny pieces

Hambali's latest progress early this year

What's been happening to Hambali? Anyone miss him?

His latest looks...less chubby...

He's getting cheekier, throwing tantrum on and off and yet he is a self-learner. Self-motivated I must say. All I need to do on stimulating his learning endeavour is by constant videos watching, plastered lesson posters surrounded his bed and make books available within his reach, he is well-off on progressing on his own.

Beginning 2011 Hanafi's Progress

Hanafi told me that he wanted Iron-Man mask for his birthday this time and Mama still searching high and low, scratching her head what should we give him, than the requested mask to a boy who just turned 7.

Baby Loves Nature

The Story Behind this picture : That was the first ever we brought Baby Hambali along with his 5 years old brother outdoor in year 2009. Location : Taman Tasik Seremban. First time experience for Baby Hambali but countless time for his big brother.We did'nt do any specific activity just 'lazing' around there and let Baby Hambali roaming about, crawled under the watchful eyes of both his parents. Just in case, he put every single thing he found inside his mouth! LOL! It could be dangerous! After that activity we made a mental note to do it often for the benefits of our family.

"Reminder for TheHoneybunch Family to live by & share it with others..."

* Picture worth a thousand words *

If you have special needs child, don't deny their rights!

The conversation that took place between my elder sister and myself yesterday late evening was an eye-opener for me to shed some light and share with all of you. I had finally confided to my sister when she insisted to understand about Hanafi's condition. My sister was shocked when I've informed her that we just submitted OKU form meaning soon Hanafi is the holder of OKU card.

Trips Everywhere during 2010 Hari Raya long holidays

Hanz's : Reminiscence last year long holidays during Raya festive seaon.

TheHoneybunch is back in blogosphere after the loooong silence.

Where have we've been from first Raya to yesterday?

Here are some sneak peaks on few trips we had and activities we've done.

The very First Raya Day. Location : Shah Alam. Hubby's side of family.

Natural Learner in progress

Hanz's : Progress observation to our eldest boy, Hanafi who was then 6 years old before end of year 2010.

Amazed observing how my elder boy, Hanafi attempted his E.nopi Math worksheet last night. 2 digits addition in example, 15 + 14, 22 + 13, both vertical and diagonal, he did it just like reading, read the sum and without seconds of thinking moment, he wrote the answer. No hesitation. And all was correct.

Creativity is a like a tiny seed that needs nurturing

Hanz's : We have attended Homeschooler Talk sometime in last Sepetmber, 2010 and this was the second homeschool event we have attended so far.

Having witnessed our lil tot, Baby Hambali last night, both hubs and me agreed with one thing. Baby Hambali is getting more creative day by day (exluding the messiness he created on the entire household. LOL ;P)

Cloth hanger became belt, toy box became car, stool became hiding fort...and the possibilities of other household materials ended up to something else is endless.

Why I believe in homeschooling (Part 2)

In retrospect, I could recalled how our parents approach education in economic terms, meaning landed a well-prospect career and concerned about getting a job with their certificates so that they could earn comfortable salaries to live a comfortable life. Occupation like doctors, lawyers, engineers and teachers , just to name a few are the noted popular among children,.When we ask little kids what they want to be when they grow up, those jobs are among the answer. I am one of those cookie-cutter children and still remember it very well that my kiddies ambition is to become a doctor. I want to rebel. I want my boys to change the answer when this very same question thrust to them. I want the answer to be, "I want to become a well-rounded person :academically intelligence, emotionally sound and morally in tact" OR simply "I want to be valuable in whatever I am doing in my life"

Why I believe in homeschooling (Part 1)

This is entirely my opinion. I believe everyone has the right to make their own decisions for their own children. I also do NOT believe that ALL children should be homeschooled, nor do I believe every family is capable of doing it, or should. With all my heart and soul, here are some of many reasons why I personally believe in homeschooling.

First Science Trip | National Science Centre

Hanz's : Our family trip sometime in early 2010.

We were at Pusat Sains Negara last Saturday after attended Parent-Teacher's Day of Hanafi's Rehal Class, to fully use the celebration of Kidz Month there. Unfortunately, due to ASTRO CARNIVAL, they cancelled the whole activities lined-up of the day. So we just had a tour inside with ongoing explanation to Hanafi on science concept that suits his preschooler's level. Unable to fit in too much information because of age inappropriateness. So, we treated it as Hanafi's more exposure with application a bit on Science & Baby Hambali's first introduction to science.

Let's just enjoy some of the pictures, shall we?

Where has gone our Sang Kancil & Nenek Kebayan?

Probably won't be too much to state gone are the days where little children would gather in circle and completely entertained by the amusement of the story unfolds by a storyteller.

Back then, little children will never feel restless and bored by the absence of the picture & sound box as the sound they heard from is the sound of lively voices of the storyteller, narrates any legends and tall tales.

Can you still remember the story of Sang Kancil with Buaya or Sang Kancil with Monyet? How about Puteri Bongsu, Puteri Gunung Ledang where the Nenek Kebayan always appearing? We also have our own funny tales like Lebai Malang, Pak Pandir and the clever mischief boy Si Luncai.

Family Togetherness Fun Activities

Raising a family today requires lots of energy and effort from parents. The demands of today's work schedules often take parents away from their young children. Little time is spent on activities that promote family bonding.

Today's parents spend less time with their children than their parents did in the past. Without proper guidance from parents or involved adults, many of these children may suffer emotional problems when they grow up. Parents also need to take care of themselves. They need lots of energy to do a good job of parenting. If they are under stress, depressed of physically weak, they will not be able to build a strong and happy family.

Below are some fun activities that help build a strong family.

The day when fully homeschooling being decided

Hanz's : This post was up on 1st of June 2009 and our eldest son, Hanafi was only 5 years old then. More than 2 years has passed and we are proud to state that Hanafi is still homeschooling joyfully.

The one month trial was over and we finally made our final decision. Quite an easy decision to make but we still giving a fair chance to let big bro Hanafi has his say and let him be part of the decision. After all this is his life we're talking about.

Probably any of our family member would against the idea about stopping or removing Hanafi from the prestigious preschool but Hanafi's well-being is what matters most. Points taken both pros & cons but we managed to find the resolution to make up the cons part.

Looking back the past one month, Hanafi attended his Genius Aulad school as per usual and then every Thursday & Friday, he was with me the whole day, being taught and monitored by yours truly.

Homeschooling | Start-up Materials & Teaching Kits

I always wanted to teach my child ever since he was inside my womb. I've gain the self-fulfillment whenever he accomplish in anything, be it tiny little things. The joy in his face whenever he is feeling self-satisfied with what he learned is all that matters to me. That is why I always (most of the time) seek & look-out many materials that can help me to teach my child. At the same manner, me, try to be creative also create teaching materials too

Before this I slowly build up collection of books for my child & started the homeschooling process by reading to my child which is my firstborn, Hanafi since he was inside my womb. The reading continues gradually till now & plus he was learning a lot from watching educational vcds. Simultaneously, I started with other methods too by utilising all this materials one material at a time. The rule of thumb is age-appropriateness (child development studies in mind) & each steps of accomplishment my son achieve.

I love to share the materials that I invested specially dedicated to our homeschooling...