tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28475710468833688772024-03-16T18:53:08.554+00:00The Tiger ChronicleHomeschooling - Walking our own pathUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger424125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-88397583164160258292017-07-19T00:30:00.002+01:002017-07-22T18:57:39.146+01:00Summer Plans<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Now that I'm a working mum, I feel as though I have to be super efficient in order to get everything done ... even though I wasn't particularly inefficient before, but when your time isn't your time anyone (that's the biggest difference between being at home and working outside full-time), the need to get things done really ramps up the efficiency quotient.<br />
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Anyhow, here's the brief plan of what summer 2017 will look like for us:<br />
<b>1. R&R (Resting & Reading)</b><br />
Tiger has two big bags of books that I've borrowed from the library to keep him occupied for the summer. A quick glance into the bags show there to be a mixture of genres:<b> </b><br />
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Please note the above represents an aspirational list, and I am not fussed whether Tiger reads any of them or not. He knows where the books are if he wants to read them.<br />
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I have a similarly aspirational list summer reading for myself:<br />
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I have a separate list of technical (work-related) books that I want to get through too, but I believe there are great benefits to be had from reading and thinking about different things (as opposed to work stuff) for a few weeks a year.<b> </b><br />
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<b>2. S&S (Sea & Sports)</b><br />
The boys are getting into sea kayaking, so will be spending time this summer taking courses in that.<br />
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And because they must always take something up a notch, I've been informed that they are thinking of 'upgrading' to power boating, later in the summer.<br />
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On a relatively more sedate front, Tiger and I will be spending a week at the Jurassic Coast, taking a residential course in <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/geology">geology</a> and <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/fossils">fossils</a>.<br />
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<b>3. F&F (Friends and Film)</b><br />
My closest friend, a woman who I knew for over 20 years, is visiting and staying with us for a few weeks, so we'll be spending a lot of time together. This friend of mine is a huge Harry Potter fan, and she wants to go on the <a href="https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/">Warner Brothers Studio Tour</a>, so that goes into the summer plan too.<br />
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Tiger didn't want to go on the tour when we had a <a href="https://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Harry%20Potter">Harry Potter theme</a> in our homeschool about 18 months ago, but he now says he will go on the tour when my friend is here. I'll probably also take her around London and Oxford to see all the relevant Harry Potter locations.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-85278056754911102302017-07-16T23:33:00.001+01:002017-07-19T00:20:47.247+01:00So, How Did the First Year of School Go?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
So one full school year has gone by. Actually, Tiger's school holidays started two weeks ago, but I've only just found the time now to share Tiger's end-of-school-year report.<br />
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I attended his end-of-year school assembly (photo 3), which we were told was compulsory for every parent and child to go. Tiger, being the pre-teen that he is, was very grumbly that Saturday morning and I was not particularly in the mood for spending an entire Saturday morning sitting in a school hall after an intense 60-hour week of work. Anyhow, both of us showed up expecting to be bored out of our minds.<br />
<br />
To my utmost surprise, when I looked through the programme and awards list, I found Tiger's name in several places:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>First prize in his Form/year for academic achievement;</li>
<li>Top prize in badminton (photo 2)</li>
<li>Second prize in high jump</li>
<li>Top marks in chemistry in his Form (photo 4)</li>
<li>Achieved the equivalent of GCSE level in physics </li>
</ol>
An interesting observation I have about prize-giving in school, or in Tiger's school only since I don't know what it's like in other schools here, is that there seems to be a need to give as many out as possible. For example, there are three prizes in each Form:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>one for academic achievement;</li>
<li>one for effort;</li>
<li>one for improvement.</li>
</ul>
There's also one for being in second place - a certificate of commendation. Tiger's best friend won this.<br />
<div>
<br />
I imagine the many different prizes are to encourage as many children as possible to strive for better results. However, I do wonder about the 'dilution effect' of having so many prizes for all kinds of categories. What does it really mean to get a prize for "effort" or for "improvement"?<br />
<br />
For good measure -- to check that it's just the ultra-competitive side of me thinking the above -- I checked with Tiger and Tortoise separately about what they think of the other prizes.<br />
Tiger's response: "Everything else is 'meh'."<br />
Tortoise's response: "What's the point of the effort prize? The fact that you didn't get the top prize tells you that you need to put in more effort. And the improvement prize? Your baseline must be very low to start with to be given that prize."<br />
<br />
Ok... so spoke the two Alphas.<br />
<br />
Anyway, there is much more to life than school.<br />
<br />
Outside of school, Tiger has been very busy with performing arts coming up to the start of summer:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>he performed in a percussion concert (photo 5);</li>
<li>he performed three public shows and one charity show with a theatre group (photo 6);</li>
<li>he achieved a 'merit' in his LAMDA exam (photo 1).</li>
</ul>
The last one I am particularly proud of, because this is the first year in which Tiger did all the preparation and practices for the exam by himself. Through his own effort, his score is 3 marks away from 'distinction' and in the interpretation/knowledge section of the exam, he scored 20/20!<br />
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In summary, a very good first year of school. Even though Tortoise and I still have our doubts about how well the whole concept of going to school is, Tiger has definitely grown in maturity, independence and resilience by being in a non-home environment. In fact, having a year group to pit himself against seems to have brought out the competitive streak in him like never before. To be fair, there was no real chance for him to compete against anyone of similar age when we were homeschooling. On hindsight, the lack of competition seems to be a contributing factor to his angst and frustration back then.<br />
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We are now planning for the summer. I will share our plans very soon.</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-82024155617729066612017-07-13T23:18:00.000+01:002017-07-13T23:36:12.241+01:00Guess Who Showed Up This Evening?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tortoise have been saying that he wants to get a dog as a pet. We've been going back and forth on this topic because I think it's an absolutely lovely idea for Tiger to have a dog to grow up with.<br />
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Except that I don't fancy picking up dog poo. Neither do I have the time to walk the dog these days... heck, I barely get home before 9pm on most days so I'd do well to take myself on walks!<br />
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Anyhow, tonight I was home early (by 6pm!) as I was out on training. As I prepared dinner for my family, I glanced out at the garden and saw this:<br />
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This <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Red_Fox">red fox</a> started visiting our garden a few months ago, but it has intensified its visits in the past few weeks, familiarising itself to the surrounding.<br />
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After some inspection (it was here last weekend as well), it settled itself on the bed of cut grass and slept for a good half hour.<br />
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What a gorgeous animal!<br />
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Well, since the fox is from the dog family, I'm happy for it to continue to visit us and be our unofficial pet.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-13474207629129849832017-04-16T01:12:00.002+01:002017-04-16T13:17:57.719+01:00Back to the Modern Day and Beyond<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Does anyone recall our visit to the <a href="http://www.muckleburgh.co.uk/">Muckleburgh Collection</a>? Can you believe that was <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=muckleburgh">three years ago</a>?!<br />
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While we were in Norfolk, I thought it would be good to revisit this marvellous museum where Tiger and I spent a whole day carefully looking through every piece of equipment.<br />
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Strangely, this time it took us a little more than 2 hours to go through the collection, and we even spent 45 minutes at the cafe to have lunch! Maybe it took us much shorter time now because:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Tiger is bigger now so he can read faster, walk faster, and </li>
<li>his interest in military history has moved past its peak from three years ago.</li>
</ul>
In any case, I am glad I was able to fully support his interest back then and gave him all the <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/history-military">necessary exposure</a> that he craved.<br />
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From the (slightly) historical military vehicles at the tank museum, we moved on to a modern <a href="http://www.jaguar.co.uk/experience-jaguar/factory-tours/castle-bromwich.html">luxury brand saloon car assembly plant</a>.<br />
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It was a fascinating tour of the Jaguar assembly plant, seeing the robotic arms at work. No photos were allowed in the plant, but you'll get a good sense of what it is like from the video below:<br />
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However, I am more intrigued by the incredible corporate turnaround of the brand:<br />
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While we were not running around, we managed to do a bit of potting while enjoying the lovely spring flowers that in bloom.<br />
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Meanwhile, Tiger is devouring a new series of sci-fi books -- yes, he has finished reading all the <i>Star Wars</i> books we can find.<br />
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He is now moving on to <i>Star Trek</i>.<br />
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According to Tiger, <i>Star Trek</i> is more relatable because the story has earth as the anchor planet for the crew -- a planet that Tiger has some familiarity with. Despite this, Tiger remains a big <i>Star Wars</i> fan, along with his best friend at school.<br />
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The boys are currently in Wales enjoying their boys-only, male-bonding trip.<br />
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This gives me plenty of time for the much needed me-time, hence my able to write two blog posts to provide some catch-up news to all who are interested. A few more days of peaceful and quiet time for reflection before I go back to the relentlessly frantic stress of work. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-63764528431523620692017-04-15T23:38:00.001+01:002017-04-15T23:39:54.682+01:00School-Holidays Homeschooling<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am becoming a half-term/school holiday blogger! Since Tiger started school and I started full-time work, our time together has been limited to weekends and school holidays, much like most families. While I miss certain aspects of our homeschooling life, such as having control over our own time and working to our own schedules, I am happy to report that Tiger has settled very well in school and has made a number of good friends.<br />
<br />
Tiger has three weeks off school for the Easter break, so between my husband and I, we managed to cover the half-term child care arrangements using a combination of sleepovers for Tiger, alternate days off and working from home. <br />
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I feel as though I dropped back into my homeschooling mode on my days off, taking Tiger to various activities and field trips. He spent a few days climbing, playing table tennis, and practising archery.<br />
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When we were still homeschooling last year, Tiger became very interested in the study of geology, specially <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/fossils">fossils</a>. We had planned to visit the <a href="http://www.sedgwickmuseum.org/">Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences</a> but somehow never got round to it, but we finally made it there during this holiday.<br />
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While we were back in the swing of 'half-term homeschooling', and looking at fossils and prehistoric life, we went to Cromer,<br />
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near West Runton where a very exciting prehistoric Rhino skull has been found recently.<br />
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We were there to see the collection in <a href="http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/Visit_Us/Cromer_Museum/NCC083984">Cromer Museum</a>.<br />
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We also went along to the <a href="http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/Visit_Us/Lynn_Museum/index.htm">Lynn Museum</a> to look at a significant Bronze Age monument,<br />
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the <a href="http://www.explorenorfolkuk.co.uk/seahenge.html">Seahenge</a>.<br />
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The Lynn Museum is quite a remarkable little museum. Not only does it house the Seahenge, which can be considered a water-based, timber version of the Stonehenge, the museum also holds an impressive collection of artefacts from prehistoric times through to the 20th century, including the skeleton of a Anglo Saxon warrior who was buried with his shield boss and spearhead.<br />
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When we studied <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Victorian%20Britain">Victorian Britain</a>, and especially of <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Dickens">Charles Dickens</a> and <i>Oliver Twist</i>, we looked briefly into the <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/woe-to-being-poor.html">workhouse system</a> and peeped through the gates of a disused workhouse building in London near Dickens' residence. While in Norfolk, we finally went inside an actual workhouse that is now the <a href="http://www.museums.norfolk.gov.uk/Visit_Us/Gressenhall_Farm_and_Workhouse/index.htm">Gressenhall Farm and Workhouse Museum</a>.<br />
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While previously we were under the impression that the workhouse was a unanimously oppresive place,<br />
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our visit to the Gressenhall Workhouse Museum has changed our minds somewhat, as we read accounts of <i>a few</i> previous inhabitants who were given help at the workhouse that they would not have had otherwise. For example, young children in the workhouse were given lessons who would otherwise have had to find work as chimney sweeps or who would end up as street urchins. There was also the account of a boy who had lost his legs due to an accident and who was given artificial limbs at the workhouse, and was given lessons such that he went on to become a teacher's assistant, got married and had a family of his own.<br />
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Of couse, I realise that such success stories are few and far between. For 99% of the workhouse population, entering the workhouse is very similar to being given a life sentence where one is stripped of one's freedom and dignity.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-11270226305553931772017-01-08T23:36:00.003+00:002017-01-08T23:38:03.468+00:00May the Force be with Us<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the key positives for Tiger in attending school is to have found a best friend in his class, a French boy, L, who shares his passion for all things Star Wars. Tiger spent a whole day hanging out with L at his home (talking non-stop about Star Wars, according to L's mum) and also went to the cinema to watch the latest franchise movie:<br />
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Since I have not totally forgotten my previous role as a homeschooling mother, I then followed up with Tiger's interest by taking him to the <a href="http://www.starwarsidentities.com/#!/exhibition">Star Wars exhibition</a>.<br />
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Given his current obsession with Star Wars, Tiger really enjoyed the exhibition. I am not a sci-fi fan in any way but I have found the slightly philosophical theme (about making choices) of the exhibition to be interesting. We had the opportunity to 'mould' a character by the end of the exhibition, and the below are our Star Wars characters:<br />
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Back home, Tiger whipped out the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1405284730/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=1405284730&linkCode=as2&tag=thetigchr-21">dot-to-dot book</a> that I got him for Christmas and started playing with it. Doing the dot-to-dot is nothing especially intellectual, but Tiger enjoys it, as so I, and doing what we enjoy is a good enough reason to carry on with the activity.<br />
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Besides, this is how we have always supported and will continue to support Tiger's interests, aligned with his increasing fleet of Star Wars models.<br />
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If you happen to be as ignorant about the various space vehicles as I am, here is a video that I have found to be useful to bring me up to speed with what the Millenium Falcon is:<br />
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Of course, one needs to know about Walkers:<br />
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Where does this obsession begin? I trace it back to <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/countdown-to-christmas-week-2.html">two Christmases ago</a>. Since then, Tiger has caught the bug, despite my best efforts to distract him from it. When I saw that I could not save him from it, I let him immerse himself by reading all the related books we could get our hands on.<br />
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Having said that, I must confess that I struggle to see the importance of knowing the entire chronological history of Star Wars... </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-59848243186913899562017-01-02T00:27:00.000+00:002017-01-02T21:37:12.117+00:002016 Recap in Photos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Looking back at 2016, I realise that our life has changed dramatically.<br />
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While looking through these photos, I could not help seeing that homeschooling was indeed a lifestyle choice. There are many aspects of homeschooling life that I miss, such as the ability to control our time and to engage in many uniquely interesting activities. Nonetheless, we are where we are at this moment in life, and I am grateful for the opportunities that we have been given to enable a smooth transition from homeschooling to 'normal' schooling.<br />
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Everything from September to December zoomed past in a blur for me, so it is important that I keep the memories of what life was like for us, so that I may look back and recognise that I actually miss a lot of what was so good about our homeschooling life (I certainly don't miss the difficult bits!). <br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">January</span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with family, with friends</li>
<li><span style="color: #0000ee;"><span style="color: black;">Sports: table tennis, climbing, archery</span></span></li>
<li>Classes: Chemistry lab, model aircraft, zoology, English, History</li>
<li>Studying fossils</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6XFEP7v4RH0rrJKoVw9dvzzJkMVSXOgGvbmv3EuDgPBZVVgZgEYf9LwScQmY_kew4e3CT-YEipYasS6GDoQ_sflLwQ6Nmme0lpiCmwVj8IkJ-4eDBn75IwbY0AvwQ29rXK5wEkFK9NpP/s1600/Jan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb6XFEP7v4RH0rrJKoVw9dvzzJkMVSXOgGvbmv3EuDgPBZVVgZgEYf9LwScQmY_kew4e3CT-YEipYasS6GDoQ_sflLwQ6Nmme0lpiCmwVj8IkJ-4eDBn75IwbY0AvwQ29rXK5wEkFK9NpP/s400/Jan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">February</span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: eating out, drawing, cooking</li>
<li>Sports: Climbing </li>
<li>Classes: model aircraft design, mask theatre, robotics, chemistry lab</li>
<li>Studying prehistory and human evolution</li>
<li>Field trips: <a href="https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/">Brooklands Museum</a>, <a href="https://www.colchester-zoo.com/">Colchester Zoo</a>, <a href="https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/">National Gallery</a>, <a href="https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/">Royal Academy of Arts</a></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">March</span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with family</li>
<li>Classes: model aircraft, zoology, chemistry lab, programming</li>
<li>Studying rocks and minerals</li>
<li>Special event: jazz singing concert, short story writing submission</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u>April</u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Classes: model aircraft, zoology, chemistry lab, programming</li>
<li>Studying rocks and minerals</li>
<li>Field trips: <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/">House of Parliament</a>, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/broadcastinghouse/">BBC Broadcasting House</a>, <a href="https://www2.visitsealife.com/london/">London Aquarium</a></li>
<li>Special event: singing concert, short story writing submission</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">May</span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with friends, with family</li>
<li>Sports: table tennis</li>
<li>Classes: physics lab, forest school, model aircraft design</li>
<li>Studying art</li>
<li>Field trips: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hertford_Castle">Hertford Castle</a>, <a href="https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/chartwell">Chartwell</a></li>
<li>Special event: Universtiy Challenge in Chemistry (First Prize)!</li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">June</span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with family, reading</li>
<li>Classes: physics lab, programming</li>
<li>Studying art, ancient history, geography</li>
<li>Field trips: quarry, geological excavation site</li>
<li>Special event: jazz singing concert</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxKLvL45g1PjpwQ3MMEdzew_ZUzH3TMNQ_0zLl0Q6q_infchkdTP50hIrz69GEr_x_U_dscLYACk7g9tdmsUNzY7mQD-2VgBlCkqjk7Tnxn9SxCM0inJs65hvOUc6hDLE0w5nIW_KD82D/s1600/Jun4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoxKLvL45g1PjpwQ3MMEdzew_ZUzH3TMNQ_0zLl0Q6q_infchkdTP50hIrz69GEr_x_U_dscLYACk7g9tdmsUNzY7mQD-2VgBlCkqjk7Tnxn9SxCM0inJs65hvOUc6hDLE0w5nIW_KD82D/s400/Jun4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ju<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ly</span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with family, with friends</li>
<li>Classes: physics lab, astronomy, model aircraft design</li>
<li>Studying art, insects, circuits</li>
<li>Special event: jazz singing concert, model aircraft competition (First Prize), percussion concert</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBEYOGij-t1lMYha6r7SUzdDhnt4I8aPsA_PXaT_kJIDxfYglgsDsjMqtHSiC3L5v94Clu3wMGh3g1H_Ys44DLSMLfsdtKqzJ39eE5qGhzsBkv3dEE-F5OFnDJMbAkS5TTCI3EtI1x9qq/s1600/Jul1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixBEYOGij-t1lMYha6r7SUzdDhnt4I8aPsA_PXaT_kJIDxfYglgsDsjMqtHSiC3L5v94Clu3wMGh3g1H_Ys44DLSMLfsdtKqzJ39eE5qGhzsBkv3dEE-F5OFnDJMbAkS5TTCI3EtI1x9qq/s400/Jul1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfk9XuIDSKIAdIwg8g9nTgwvbUSKTrTV87NNM9OD1wdx4tQON8odaFvPKm6zQpHZjP4DeKd2rehxB0GDQakVFekcF1jZUp-QTzc7YpSQQ3IOn6pnFtV6di8U-5jHSA2cRfc4aGTI7knzA/s1600/Jul3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHfk9XuIDSKIAdIwg8g9nTgwvbUSKTrTV87NNM9OD1wdx4tQON8odaFvPKm6zQpHZjP4DeKd2rehxB0GDQakVFekcF1jZUp-QTzc7YpSQQ3IOn6pnFtV6di8U-5jHSA2cRfc4aGTI7knzA/s400/Jul3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">August</span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: in nature, with family, drawing</li>
<li>Classes: physics lab, programming</li>
<li>Field trips: <a href="http://www.cheddargorge.co.uk/">Cheddar Gorge</a></li>
<li>Special event: 'geek' gathering</li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72i_d0KEr75a9LUX_gu_NTM32um_DPaYdjy6MY0DPtKB7XHmMhvVsibgikq5RT8FlN5I1gCwxpewA7485hZWvtklXKGAWVXdLf6UNtdhyphenhyphenGHPfsYzJpiNCNaEtlKKi_B8C0tlHUmuz0NPx/s1600/Aug1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72i_d0KEr75a9LUX_gu_NTM32um_DPaYdjy6MY0DPtKB7XHmMhvVsibgikq5RT8FlN5I1gCwxpewA7485hZWvtklXKGAWVXdLf6UNtdhyphenhyphenGHPfsYzJpiNCNaEtlKKi_B8C0tlHUmuz0NPx/s400/Aug1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">September</span></span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Started attending school.</li>
<li>Resumed mountain biking.</li>
<li>Attended another 'geek' gathering.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfcRnESwNjTTGRMK4Nqz1DWvu-4SpqYGh4oT78qb4o89mswXU0ISY2BzJ6mX9x43RPT_Iqh7AUWSDjlIqXa4eB6aUbwCsXJ_m2ENQ3fghpd5gvWI4H5nGZuqnmydSeMaEynCJhwHv4HrM/s1600/Sep1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOfcRnESwNjTTGRMK4Nqz1DWvu-4SpqYGh4oT78qb4o89mswXU0ISY2BzJ6mX9x43RPT_Iqh7AUWSDjlIqXa4eB6aUbwCsXJ_m2ENQ3fghpd5gvWI4H5nGZuqnmydSeMaEynCJhwHv4HrM/s400/Sep1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">October</span></span></span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>No photos!</li>
<li>I was completely overwhelmed by work, and was practically just trying to survive it so did not even think to take any photos.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">November</span></span></span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: eating out, reading</li>
<li>Field trips: <a href="http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/">Science Museum</a>, <a href="http://www.britishmuseum.org/">British Museum</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj5h0MUd2iUb-_BBwqdWtDXfSguy3Sqzdt9c8WyO4zgXXNwFGb3TTLeNgRs9lJr7pH56v8DXGokeceqdqaYH6wQpYU8OWB0haYCmJcE0CM8D52gvzi-m3NgFBKn_NGsYVnAHt-KJrE6nG/s1600/Oct.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqj5h0MUd2iUb-_BBwqdWtDXfSguy3Sqzdt9c8WyO4zgXXNwFGb3TTLeNgRs9lJr7pH56v8DXGokeceqdqaYH6wQpYU8OWB0haYCmJcE0CM8D52gvzi-m3NgFBKn_NGsYVnAHt-KJrE6nG/s400/Oct.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><u><span style="color: blue;"><b><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><u><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">December</span></span></span></span></span></span></u></span></span></b></span></u></span><br />
Highlights:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Time: with family, climbing</li>
<li>There's an obvious theme in this year's Christmas presents....</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1L7tV93GItA8WWuoiUzGtF3vwsoPwhOUvKrta8gViY3rFF0dsfMuSK0er4H6-CFXeLowtwYt9A_x8OawDCZUlw8Tb_7IXtEUDFsZbWyKQVOXhZNa5MHrreIGvrJgmv57Ux8_k34WnHVt/s1600/Dec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1L7tV93GItA8WWuoiUzGtF3vwsoPwhOUvKrta8gViY3rFF0dsfMuSK0er4H6-CFXeLowtwYt9A_x8OawDCZUlw8Tb_7IXtEUDFsZbWyKQVOXhZNa5MHrreIGvrJgmv57Ux8_k34WnHVt/s400/Dec.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There is a definite lack of photos now that we spend most of our week day times apart. I am still not used to not being the main participant of Tiger's learning journey. It is a bitter-sweet feeling for me to see Tiger diving into his new phase of life so readily and successfully, and I am certainly glad that he is so adaptable to changes. While I always knew that my homeschooling journey would eventually end, I was a little surprised to have it come so quickly and so suddenly.<br />
<br />
Everything happens for a reason. I am just so grateful that we are all in a good place right now, having the experiences that we are meant to be having for this season of our lives.<br />
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Wishing everyone a very happy 2017.<br />
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<ul style="text-align: left;"></ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-38167881482922051542016-12-23T22:28:00.000+00:002016-12-24T00:50:04.416+00:00The "Where Have You Been?" Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I just want to give a quick update of what we have been up to since February.<br />
<br />
We hit a very difficult time in homeschooling at the beginning of the year, to the extent that we considered the option of putting Tiger into school and me going back to work. We went through the motion to find Tiger a place at a private school (after the sitting <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2016/06/06/children-face-two-rounds-of-tests-to-get-place-at-top-private-sc/">the usual entrance tests</a>).<br />
<br />
The process of admission to a good private school with excellent academic results is another post altogether, but because we made our decision at the last minute, we missed the usual application deadlines so it was all a bit of a rush to secure him a place as the school told us it was fully subscribed, and that there was no place for him. Nonetheless, they had him take the entrance exam, giving us a day's notice, so there was no time to prepare. It was just as well since Tiger would not be persuaded to prepare for tests anyway. So, without any expectation or preparation, he took the tests the next day and the school secretary called me that same afternoon to offer him a place. As a result, since September, the boy has been attending a small private school near where we live.<br />
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Why a private school? The main reason is physical safety. I am not joking. The state schools around here are quite rough, and I have very little comfort that the environment is one that is condusive to studying.<br />
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Do I think that <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/12174166/Private-school-pupils-two-years-ahead-of-state-educated-peers-by-the-age-of-16.html">private schools provide a better education</a>? I would say that depends on what the yardstick of comparison is. If compared to state schools, maybe so; but I personally think home education trumps private school education on all fronts, if it were done properly, of course.<br />
<br />
For those who are interested or curious, there is an attempt to demystify the difference between a private education (where only 7% of the UK population attends) and a state education:<br />
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So what am I doing now that Tiger is at school? Most days I spend 12 hours in the shark pool, which resembles this:<br />
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Life takes on unexpected turns.<br />
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Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all!<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-18882393293161867132016-02-17T22:32:00.000+00:002016-02-20T18:45:02.270+00:00A Very Special Monkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CNY"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CNY" border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsmWow0-Z0ISSqe6PpM0OlXwpgpGIVpcrDjjRZpsy88izoetmhsAh5UAulgy71XneBYdga5NCcEJtHEz7BPNpacwXrvLVvo0QrFbh4VA62hXiKvYJYtRzDuHMBpWuUU8_J5PleRuySQAOV/s200/true.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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For those who are not familiar with the Chinese zodiac signs, I wrote about it in <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/from-zodiac-to-dragon-bones.html">this post</a>. This year being the Year of the Monkey, I decided to introduce Tiger to one of the Chinese classics, <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West">Journey to the West</a></i> ( 《西游记》)<br />
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As with many Chinese children, Tiger's first introduction to this Chinese classic is through animation:<br />
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After seeing him become enamoured with the cartoon above, I told Tiger that the cartoon shows only a very selection of the monkey's journey, and that it is part of a very long Chinese novel. He immedidately asked me get him the story. I got him the <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Monkey-and-the-Monk-Anthony-C-Yu/9780226971568/?a_aid=Neo">abridged, single-book version</a> of the classic to see how he got on with the story. At 528 pages, the abridged version gives a good overview of the actual novel but when I asked Tiger whether he read about the characters' encounters with certain demons, Tiger realised that there are many juicy and interesting adventures that are being left out, so he asked me to get him the unabridged, four-volume version:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Journey-West-v-1/9780226971322/?a_aid=Neo">Volume 1</a> - 576 pages</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Journey-West-v-2/9780226971346/?a_aid=Neo">Volume 2</a> - 424 pages</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Journey-West-v-3/9780226971377/?a_aid=Neo">Volume 3</a> - 464 pages</li>
<li><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Journey-West-v-4/9780226971391/?a_aid=Neo">Volume 4</a> - 440 pages </li>
</ol>
Seeing Tiger read this Chinese classic novel in English translation (I read the original Chinese version) brings back memory of my own experience of reading <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Pride-and-Prejudice-James-Kinsley-Jane-Austen/9780199535569/?a_aid=Neo">Pride and Prejudice</a></i> in Chinese translation at about 12 years old. Obviously it is always preferable to read a story in its original language as certain linguist nuances and subtleties are often lost in in the translation process, but where one's language skills are not up to the required standard to allow one to read the original text, then finding a good translated version is the next best thing to do.<br />
<br />
When Tiger has read the four books through twice (it took him about a week), I showed him a TV series based on the book. While this classic has been adapted into movies and other performances many times over the years (the latest one being a new movie based on one of the major adventures from the book):<br />
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the 1986 TV version is the one that I think stays closest to the original novel, and the actor who played the monkey is acknowledged as unsurpassed in his interpretation of the character:<br />
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<i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journey_to_the_West">Journey to the West</a> </i>is the most popular, accessible of the four major Chinese classics. Even those who have not read the book would know about a number of the fantastical adventures of the main characters in the story. However, although the story is written in the form of a historical fantasy/myth, the story has a much deeper, spiritual meaning to it, in a very similar way that <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Lord-of-the-Rings/9780261102385/?a_aid=Neo">The Lord of the Rings</a></i> is so much more than a fantasy story. <br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">T</span>he following video is rather appropriate as a new year wish from me to you: <b>may your year be full of wonderful adventures!</b> I know mine will be!<i></i><br />
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<i>(I know those are apes in the video but they belong to the same
primate family as monkeys. Besides, they make me laugh, so that'll do
for Chinese New Year. I'm sure <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Wukong">Sun Wukong</a> would approve!)</i> <br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: small;">*Disclosure: some links are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you click
through and buy something.</span><br />
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<br />
This post is linked up to:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.homegrownlearners.com/home/homeschool-high-school-with-classical-conversations-challenge-program">Collage Friday</a></li>
<li><a href="http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/2016/01/18/year-of-the-monkey-chinese-new-year/">Multicultural Kid Blogs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2016/02/hip-homeschool-hop-21616-22016/">Hip Homeschool Hop 2/16/16 - 2/20/16</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.startsateight.com/2016/02/finishing-strong-homeschooling-the-middle-high-school-years-77/">Finishing Stron #77 </a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-that-started-with-an-amazing-valentine-gift/">Weekly Wrap-Up: The one that started with an amazing Valentine gift</a></li>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-75711479965848338682016-02-16T00:25:00.003+00:002016-02-22T08:42:29.612+00:00Year of the Monkey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CNY"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CNY" border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg24v-6spMX64sOELdo_h8J6le_myJSzN_32Xat-8b9eNd5MAND3ePQNckuMeySQhIoBrVvUFHr0FZNfOvhAICSd9N9Uumq3of11Bd_lzjei5FTivHEH99S4v3ZUzp8dJ8nb6bKKEXl72qy/s200/true.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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The Year of the Monkey started last Monday. The celebration usually lasts 15 days so we have two weeks to mark this significant Chinese festival.<br />
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As with <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/year-of-goat.html">last year</a>, Tiger and I found an Chinese New Year-related activity to do in London. This time, the <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/">National Gallery</a> had a short workshop on decorating the Peking Opera mask, so we went along and did that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMZ7LQdABJ9tu1YGT8RYj12QZXOHS7kmzM2RvXKyF1u-ydJhRhVJl_TiulngO3EvaLDds9EQKvDzPnAiZ2ctpItOCe7sTT_UaISF4q_8ukT0XlnNsRxBr5PZfSwyANNTksozZ_Xzdl4mM/s1600/FotorCreated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSMZ7LQdABJ9tu1YGT8RYj12QZXOHS7kmzM2RvXKyF1u-ydJhRhVJl_TiulngO3EvaLDds9EQKvDzPnAiZ2ctpItOCe7sTT_UaISF4q_8ukT0XlnNsRxBr5PZfSwyANNTksozZ_Xzdl4mM/s400/FotorCreated.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Although the workshop emphasised creativity, which Tiger exercised plenty of, his mask doesn't look particularly Chinese in colour or design, so I asked him to read the <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/9812294414?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=9812294414&linkCode=xm2&tag=thetigchr-21">Origins of Chinese Art and Craft</a> </i>as well as <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/7040320347?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=7040320347&linkCode=xm2&tag=thetigchr-21">Lianpu</a></i> in order to look into the significance of the design and colours of the various traditional Peking opera masks to understand that they are not chosen randomly. We also found the following clip useful to give us a better understanding of this art form:<br />
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From the National Gallery, we walked to Chinatown to buy a few special items in preparation for the Chinese New Year as well as to eat a hearty meal. It is interesting to see that we have chosen exactly the same food as <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/year-of-goat.html">last year</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYz13dw_hMxD4Q7gan0h42cNs8MYvhr3n6ACN-ogprQRIUl4XWv5mPWvsSj0ITduA5kNCO_4BuskLsFl3kus3vQTJgjrgetrElnS0pUfexUU7-h6BH4eq8Mbc8K5WCdNdziTuYVWtwbW2r/s1600/FotorCreated1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYz13dw_hMxD4Q7gan0h42cNs8MYvhr3n6ACN-ogprQRIUl4XWv5mPWvsSj0ITduA5kNCO_4BuskLsFl3kus3vQTJgjrgetrElnS0pUfexUU7-h6BH4eq8Mbc8K5WCdNdziTuYVWtwbW2r/s400/FotorCreated1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once we got home, we started decorating the house by putting up various decorative items around the house, much like what people would do to decorate their homes for Christmas.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0TLtET9yjlEuVh_aA172MGYvnKmlMUbS5WiLyTv8fDfAi4sT0rr5y7q3GSRNGriNWNoaVsukkT5CsxM5iMcRlgvU_J0PYdzi8MQ78z6raSXdhXV3IF-E_m5NcpoYs26Y7bgXJm6LF94z/s1600/FotorCreated2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0TLtET9yjlEuVh_aA172MGYvnKmlMUbS5WiLyTv8fDfAi4sT0rr5y7q3GSRNGriNWNoaVsukkT5CsxM5iMcRlgvU_J0PYdzi8MQ78z6raSXdhXV3IF-E_m5NcpoYs26Y7bgXJm6LF94z/s400/FotorCreated2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Many of the Chinese decorations have symbolic meanings that usually mean well-wishes and the ushering in of good fortune and prosperity for the family. Unlike a child who grows up in the East who will understand the symbolism behind the various Chinese decorations through sheer exposure to the culture in his environment, Tiger does not have such luxury so he has to find out about the symbolic meaning of the various decorations through reading books.<br />
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This year's New Year's Eve dinner was quite special in that I bought the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldRcF6QktpM">'Yu Sheng'</a> (鱼生) from Chinatown.<br />
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This dish is like a raw salmon salad that is only eaten during the Chinese New Year period, and is a tradition of Chinese living in Southeast Asia. It is a dish to be eaten with family and friends as a way to welcome prosperity for everyone in the new year:<br />
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This post is linked up to:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.startsateight.com/2016/02/finishing-strong-homeschooling-the-middle-high-school-years-76/">Finishing Strong #76</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.homegrownlearners.com/home/homeschool-high-school-with-classical-conversations-challenge-program">Collage Friday</a></li>
<li><a href="http://multiculturalkidblogs.com/2016/01/18/year-of-the-monkey-chinese-new-year/">Multicultural Kid Blogs</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2016/02/hip-homeschool-hop-21616-22016/">Hip Homeschool Hop 2/16/16 - 2/20/16</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-that-started-with-an-amazing-valentine-gift/">Weekly Wrap-Up: The one that started with an amazing Valentine gift</a></li>
<li><a href="http://thepracticalmomblog.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/practical-mondays-link-up-week-2.html">Practical Mondays Link Up Week #2 </a></li>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-77918119692367719272016-02-01T10:37:00.001+00:002016-02-07T17:31:53.188+00:00Begin at the Beginning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
One of the things tha I try to do in our homeschool is to go through <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/p/history.html">history</a> in a chronological order. In the elementary grades (Cycle 1, according to some factions of the Classical education model), we started from the ancient world. Now that we are in the middle grades (Cycle 2), I want to start at the beginning again, but this time I want to start at the beginning of life, i.e. prehistory.<br />
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<a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Book-of-Life-Stephen-Jay-Gould/9780393321562/?a_aid=Neo"><img alt="www.bookdepository.com/The-Book-of-Life-Stephen-Jay-Gould/9780393321562/?a_aid=Neo" border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNBvc9I5Bk_AhwsqmkIYvBXR2M4vH4qxjMvtVvqYVXrDMUKSAvomOSjT8C9Djd5pZlm2CaHE8V56dlWXbn7D4f9qpMcw5ozgC6F8jJxZZ8nghc0g952LQYIlEXLFzBS3mPMz-xgICXFaY7/s400/DSC05532.JPG" width="293" /></a></div>
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One can go as far back as the Big Bang Theory, or the birth of the earth, but that, to me, is stretching too far into science so I decided that we will just start from the evidence of life, i.e. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/fossils">fossils</a>. It is very handy that our patio is laid with natural stones that contain fossilised plant imprints, so that is a very good place to start.<br />
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It doesn't take much to pique Tiger's curiosity so I directed him to the relevant books to acquire the necessary background information,<br />
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before breaking out a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0018OK8MC?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B0018OK8MC&linkCode=xm2&tag=thetigchr-21">fossil-making kit</a> to make plaster casts of various fossils.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUHyyGyVrNua5fFty-WRiiveZOrpTxSgyeE5OVy2cBddsoWwRdE8gTDtpF8S7ObsI3LKzWvdGe4fJXVQY4e2_Zb0IHjEce3x4i2GGDKvElxeZC0wKCZB3oSJz4Vzq8gU1FX2a9r5wJFBf/s1600/FotorCreated4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXUHyyGyVrNua5fFty-WRiiveZOrpTxSgyeE5OVy2cBddsoWwRdE8gTDtpF8S7ObsI3LKzWvdGe4fJXVQY4e2_Zb0IHjEce3x4i2GGDKvElxeZC0wKCZB3oSJz4Vzq8gU1FX2a9r5wJFBf/s400/FotorCreated4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Tiger also made a scaled-down cardboard model of a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurypterid">Hibbertopterus</a>, which is a two-metre long prehistoric sea scorpion whose trackway (made 330 million years ago) was found <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8632427.stm">preserved in sandstone in Fife</a>.<br />
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In our typical fashion of homeschooling, we wanted to see whether we could find any <i>real</i> fossils ourselves so we visited a quarry in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gloucestershire">Gloucestershire</a> to try our luck.<br />
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There was a whole lot of stone-staring that day... we were at a quarry after all.<br />
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Take for example the following: do you see anything special about these stones? Are they just some rocks?<br />
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How about now? Can you spot the fossilised mollusks embedded in the stones?<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYot3kY-HEBr_PB8j7o08wSckHfV979hyphenhyphenS1T810I1KtCaewxG3js1A3r8WpQidfnAdi916dz10XRpeyi85cVl7V5-fyOIBg9XdE36Plghyphenhyphenp0xq8JAmhO27OCrrqzl-H6o9X9dEChbmNVEJ/s1600/DSC03874.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYot3kY-HEBr_PB8j7o08wSckHfV979hyphenhyphenS1T810I1KtCaewxG3js1A3r8WpQidfnAdi916dz10XRpeyi85cVl7V5-fyOIBg9XdE36Plghyphenhyphenp0xq8JAmhO27OCrrqzl-H6o9X9dEChbmNVEJ/s400/DSC03874.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Once we knew what we were looking at/for, thanks to the very helpful geologists with whom we tagged along on the trip, we started finding fossilised bivales everywhere on the site! If they were not exciting enough, I'd just like to mention that they are from the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/history_of_the_earth/Jurassic">Jurssaic period</a> (205 - 102 million years ago) too.<br />
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I don't know about you, but I personally think it's very cool to actually find something that is hundreds of millions of years old. That got us to contemplate the geological changes that have taken place on earth through the ages, such as the simple fact that the land that we were standing on was once the sea floor where these prehistoric creatures dwelt in.<br />
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We brought two big bags of fossils home with us that day. Once they were thoroughly cleaned and dried, we identified each one using a <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1851532889?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=1851532889&linkCode=xm2&tag=thetigchr-21">fossil identification chart</a>. The most interesting one that we found was the <a href="http://piclib.nhm.ac.uk/results.asp?image=047452">gryphaea</a>, commonly known as the devil's toetail from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00cklh9">Victorian folklore.</a><br />
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After identification, Tiger made notes in his science notebook to record his observation by a variety of methods that include drawing and taking rubbings.<br />
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Below are a few samples from his notes on fossils:<br />
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We watched <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0042HOQ02?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creativeASIN=B0042HOQ02&linkCode=xm2&tag=thetigchr-21">First Life</a></i> for review, and to check whether we had any gaps in our knowledge so far. While we have learnt much from books and especially on the field trip, there is nothing quite like watching a good documentary to bring the prehistoric habitats to life.<br />
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The link from the study of prehistoric fossils to present day is that of fossil fuel, which we read about using the following books.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFYeM6uwoCVALwIs2HO9A97Mh8sfevw5miWNQk5dhCYlffjzxzXXRUbLCj7nMD9VXhA0mKNdncnyhxcXOYTZfmnc7NUvAUiujFp5a5o9IfQ2hzOeAZRzChbZMN4EVEK5ZL7H8i8a7LEcv/s1600/FotorCreated2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJFYeM6uwoCVALwIs2HO9A97Mh8sfevw5miWNQk5dhCYlffjzxzXXRUbLCj7nMD9VXhA0mKNdncnyhxcXOYTZfmnc7NUvAUiujFp5a5o9IfQ2hzOeAZRzChbZMN4EVEK5ZL7H8i8a7LEcv/s400/FotorCreated2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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However, the greatest outcome of our study so far has been that Tiger is now the proud owner of his own sizeable collection of fossils, which he is only too happy to talk about all day to anyone who'd listen. I therefore have been on the receiving end of a much-needed education on the various fossils that include:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>their identification</li>
<li>where they were found</li>
<li>the geological time period in which the original creatures existed</li>
</ul>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA7i9NptY3rqBG6aMjMfNl-PRxoYc_X2tWY4seW-FCPPL5qo5riDqaAwKryUg44CxUb_NOaiX3nKUlP8IpHIgathVlMlojcJgtGUTNMaOqTz2zZwvP8sqj2FevWgl3SmQY0bquDcLEXtD/s1600/FotorCreated5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFA7i9NptY3rqBG6aMjMfNl-PRxoYc_X2tWY4seW-FCPPL5qo5riDqaAwKryUg44CxUb_NOaiX3nKUlP8IpHIgathVlMlojcJgtGUTNMaOqTz2zZwvP8sqj2FevWgl3SmQY0bquDcLEXtD/s400/FotorCreated5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">* This post contains affliate links to products that we have bought and used ourselves, and that I recommend. I earn a little bit of money, </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">at no extra cost to you,</span> when you make a purchase through the link. Thank you for your support. :-)</span></b><br />
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This post is linked up to:</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="http://www.startsateight.com/2016/01/finishing-strong-homeschooling-the-middle-high-school-years-74/">Finishing Strong ~ Homeschooling the Middle & High School Years #74</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.homegrownlearners.com/home/a-day-in-the-life-of-our-homeschool">Collage Friday: A Day in the Life of Our Homeschool</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-last-one-before-texas/">Weekly Wrap-Up: The last one before Texas</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2016/02/hip-homeschool-hop-2216-2616/">Hip Homeschool Hop: 2/2/16 - 2/6/16 </a></li>
</ol>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-15812863456717396002016-01-27T23:03:00.002+00:002016-01-30T20:12:27.558+00:00Liebster Award Nomination<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SdsbocbOT_qmSWDsoae7hJmPD-Y0I87yn9vhrRAdBIkEzAlqyd8Qiy7ysPOxuUP2IJkhKCcI9Ru6OamaoTNvyRzUxi8MPcTvUGr4xrn9Ks2iNIKIBJNpMv-X3NUYdzo8McAkmaeZqdnc/s1600/liebster2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SdsbocbOT_qmSWDsoae7hJmPD-Y0I87yn9vhrRAdBIkEzAlqyd8Qiy7ysPOxuUP2IJkhKCcI9Ru6OamaoTNvyRzUxi8MPcTvUGr4xrn9Ks2iNIKIBJNpMv-X3NUYdzo8McAkmaeZqdnc/s200/liebster2.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
I have very kindly been awarded the Leibster award by Lynn at <a href="http://raisinglittleshoots.com/2015/12/29/liebster-award-nomination/">Raising Little Shoots</a>. Thank you, Lynn! Sorry it has taken me so long to get round to it but better late than never!<br />
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<b>Liebster Award Rules </b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Thank the person who nominated you and link back to their blog.</li>
<li>Display the Liebster Award on your blog</li>
<li>Share 11 random facts about yourself.</li>
<li>Answer the 11 questions you were asked.</li>
<li>Nominate 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers for the Award and have them answer 11 questions.</li>
<li>Let the other bloggers know you’ve nominated them.</li>
<li>Copy the rules into your post.</li>
</ul>
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Here are my 11 Random Facts:<br />
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1. For a time I used to read exclusively non-fiction books but now I read more fiction books.<br />
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2. I used to play the piano really well.<br />
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3. I dream in another language.<br />
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4. I have a deeper emotional connection with the language that I was brought up in.<br />
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5. My memories of my siblings are frozen in time so in my mind's eyes they are still tweens(!), which must really irritate them because I sometimes forget and still treat them as such, even though they are in their 30s now.<br />
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6. I can't be sure about this one, but I suspect I may be a luddite.<br />
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</ol>
7. I don't mind driving fast but I don't like to be a passenger when someone else is driving fast.</div>
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8. Of the online friends that I've made through this blog, I've only ever met and spoken with two in real life. It's nice to know that there are at least two real (non-virtual), wonderful people who read this blog.</div>
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9. I have eaten barbecued fruits bats, compliments of a friend and her family in Borneo.</div>
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10. I once saw a burning corpse floating down the Ganges while people were washing clothes or bathing themselves a few hundred yards away.<br />
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11. I once spent 10 days floating down the Nile in a felucca boat.<br />
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Answers to Lynn's 11 Questions:<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
</ol>
1. Your favourite season? <b>Autumn.</b></div>
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2. The words I’d like to live by are… <b>Be true to who you are.</b></div>
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3. Introvert or extrovert? <b>Introvert.</b></div>
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4. Your favourite childhood place? <b>My childhood home.</b></div>
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<br /></div>
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5. Which character from a book would you most like to meet and why? <b>Siddharta from Herman Hesse's <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Siddharth-Hermann-Hesse-Paulo-Coelho/9780141189574/?a_aid=Neo"><i>Siddharta</i></a>, because I am intrigued by the character's path to spiritual fulfillment.</b></div>
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6. What are your hobbies? <b>Too many to list. The only hobby I can manage with an acceptable level of consistency at present is reading.</b></div>
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7. Something you’re good at? <b>Cooking.</b></div>
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8. What would your super-power be? <b>Empathy.</b></div>
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9. Your favourite drink? <b>Chai Latte.</b></div>
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10. Your favourite book? <b><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Siddharth-Hermann-Hesse-Paulo-Coelho/9780141189574/?a_aid=Neo"><i>Siddharta</i></a></b></div>
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11. What kind of day are you having today? <b>Hmm... that's a hard question to answer at the moment. Lots of ups and downs is all I can say.</b></div>
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11 Questions for my nominees:<br />
<ol>
<li>What did you do before you became a homeschooling mum?</li>
<li>What is your greatest joy?</li>
<li>What is your worst fear?</li>
<li>What is your dream destination?</li>
<li>Why do you blog?</li>
<li>What are your personal dreams?</li>
<li>What is the most exciting thing you have done?</li>
<li>What are your plans for when homeschooling is over?</li>
<li>Which book/movie has the deepest influence on you?</li>
<li>In what ways has the book/movie chosen in question 9 influenced you? </li>
<li>Who do you look up to?</li>
</ol>
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I don't really know of many blogs with fewer than 200 followers, so I am nominating the following blogs in good faith. <i>Please don't be offended if you already have more than 200 followers and I thought you didn't, because I honestly don't mean to cause offence!</i> My nominees (in no particular order) are:<br />
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<li><h6>
<a href="http://journey-and-destination.blogspot.co.uk/"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">journey-and-destination</span></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://luminousfire.blogspot.co.uk/">Luminous Fire </a></span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.storiesofanunschoolingfamily.com/">Stories of an Unschooling Family</a></span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.thequeenofhats.com/">The Queen of Hats</a></span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://frolickingflamingo.wordpress.com/category/homeschool/">Frolicking Flamingoes</a></span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://quarkacademy.wordpress.com/">Quark Academy </a> </span></span></h6>
</li>
<li><h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <a href="http://weshallobtaindeliveringgrace.blogspot.co.uk/">Laugh, Love, Learn</a></span></span></h6>
<h6 style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></h6>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://weshallobtaindeliveringgrace.blogspot.co.uk/">delivering grace</a></li>
</ol>
<h6>
<span class="wp-smiley wp-emoji wp-emoji-smile" title=":)"><span class="wp-smiley wp-emoji wp-emoji-smile" title=":)"><span class="wp-smiley wp-emoji wp-emoji-smile" title=":)"><span class="wp-smiley wp-emoji wp-emoji-smile" title=":)"></span></span></span></span></h6>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>* This post contains affliate links to products that we have used and that I truly recommend. I earn a little bit of money, </b></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>at no extra cost to you,</b></span> when you make a purchase through the link. Thank you for your support. :-)</b></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-17569161718260371782016-01-13T16:59:00.004+00:002016-01-13T17:01:52.084+00:00Slowly Making My Way Back<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello, everybody! Remember us?<br />
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Many things have gone on at the home front since mid-December, which explains my absence on this blog. There has been much joy, with the birth of my new nephew thousands of miles away (which Tiger is very happy about since he is therefore no longer the youngest member in the family),<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4znDaba9PQgfzrCjxJJoF-YmkXvba-fdHks9ajt9M10vZXGRqiLuCdSzeduWYlNMlWZwJpn7jX2hmvMch2WGXdQRvlpNpgfOW0ggFP3g8N05GTfGLkIcnNPGbutrbQo73lQj2hSbks_b/s1600/Untitled.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD4znDaba9PQgfzrCjxJJoF-YmkXvba-fdHks9ajt9M10vZXGRqiLuCdSzeduWYlNMlWZwJpn7jX2hmvMch2WGXdQRvlpNpgfOW0ggFP3g8N05GTfGLkIcnNPGbutrbQo73lQj2hSbks_b/s400/Untitled.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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and Tiger recovering from his <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/countdown-to-christmas-week-2.html">nasty ear infection</a> in time for us to enjoy a wonderful Christmas with all of the family.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtlvPjFA9G6DGXd-1Fnp4l-kvDf9Zb7-k0ZphCRrJah5VK7itfIw2MR0wbjgQ_weMjev6WqYLJNhitrJcp9s3D8ViQbpFa6xDu7ud1XMrnKjL_mR5yStRsyRm4rzSUgprl3y1w2z504N7/s1600/FotorCreated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtlvPjFA9G6DGXd-1Fnp4l-kvDf9Zb7-k0ZphCRrJah5VK7itfIw2MR0wbjgQ_weMjev6WqYLJNhitrJcp9s3D8ViQbpFa6xDu7ud1XMrnKjL_mR5yStRsyRm4rzSUgprl3y1w2z504N7/s400/FotorCreated.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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As if all these excitement was not enough, my little cozy world was, and still is, somewhat "shaken" by a few remarks and observations that I received both online and offline. As though being hit by a wave of personal issues all at once, I had to take time off from blogging and from many other activities to think things over, to untangle each interconnected piece so that I can tackle each one effectively. <br />
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Meanwhile, one of the issues/topics that have come up again and again over the years in various forms is that of giftedness. I intend to share more of our experiences very soon. While you're waiting for me to get my act together, may I direct you to a few <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/gifted">related posts</a> that I have written over the years, particularly <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/few-things-i-have-learnt-recently.html">this one</a> that was written in 2012?<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-89350965962303270162015-12-11T20:54:00.002+00:002015-12-11T20:54:57.997+00:00Countdown to Christmas: Week 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIEK0Y4FLuul4tpGOdAJTlpvucGRUhu_q8gQgfWf2bUkgl-CvyQlCbOA7VsYCH2IB0xYk9Frr98XDjOyRNAbL2oup3hUPCtQtUpxjMvKbzWUAXY_TOWX4XD49VBTaQDYNMR38Y6PQXoHON/s320/xmas.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>
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It has been a difficult week. Tiger has been very ill with high fever and severe headache all this time. It took three visits to the GP to find out that Tiger has a <a href="http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Otitis-media/Pages/Introduction.aspx">middle ear infection</a>, which most likely resulted from his weekly swimming lessons. There is no a lot to be done apart from taking the prescribed antibiotics and waiting for the bacteria to be gotten rid of. The infection is a nasty one, causing such a spliting headache for Tiger that he (and consequently, I) has been woken up by the pain several times in the night for the past week. Hence, all external activities have been cancelled, with Tiger spending most of his time lying on the sofa. He is only well enough today to play with LEGO and his train set.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVT-fLJD2xBuws6h59cS38nuIcvJ1J0Pa_9jXemcuq-EQx_bdK_IHEfdel8RhlrZQwQusYfBzaBY8lubdRtGBZEyHYP6Z1Fl2MYN-Gxb5-l9wDssEcbzBYbe8r6mLeDuCOBezR6ddcPer/s1600/FotorCreated.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivVT-fLJD2xBuws6h59cS38nuIcvJ1J0Pa_9jXemcuq-EQx_bdK_IHEfdel8RhlrZQwQusYfBzaBY8lubdRtGBZEyHYP6Z1Fl2MYN-Gxb5-l9wDssEcbzBYbe8r6mLeDuCOBezR6ddcPer/s400/FotorCreated.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Compared to <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/our%20days">how active Tiger normally is</a>, this week has been very boring for him as all external activities have been cancelled due to his being ill. With all my <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/plans-for-december.html">not-so-well-planned December plans</a> out of the window, luckily we have been able to manage some continuity with the daily unwrapping of Christmas-related storybooks.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCohSTGXFSonw45c5paw3h-4VBwfH38SzrU-cwxLH93iQXwal9F5wfeQ9U3HEdsGrt3myUdKhgvCoPbX7BJNbzIuLW9yA_phegw-WsP2RdURU5KgiT130EHvQCHLH-tsmFVJ-p8ItRggG5/s1600/DSC04738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCohSTGXFSonw45c5paw3h-4VBwfH38SzrU-cwxLH93iQXwal9F5wfeQ9U3HEdsGrt3myUdKhgvCoPbX7BJNbzIuLW9yA_phegw-WsP2RdURU5KgiT130EHvQCHLH-tsmFVJ-p8ItRggG5/s400/DSC04738.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuuar6H-6NrrSmfnp95cLH6rfpipJnLSoveb4Ev6L_xdwP2Po3rjxIjiSxMeL-hGwr6J8fl4TRt6Vw7BtDzwENzoU0UOavDp92zXwvJNzzlj0h4LUBYxYa818N4pEX1oIB-vmUucGJEOfc/s1600/DSC04757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuuar6H-6NrrSmfnp95cLH6rfpipJnLSoveb4Ev6L_xdwP2Po3rjxIjiSxMeL-hGwr6J8fl4TRt6Vw7BtDzwENzoU0UOavDp92zXwvJNzzlj0h4LUBYxYa818N4pEX1oIB-vmUucGJEOfc/s400/DSC04757.JPG" width="337" /></a></div>
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and <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/first-snow-this-winter.html">rewatching</a> a Christmas classic:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZE9KpobX9J8/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZE9KpobX9J8?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
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When he felt well enough to get off the sofa, we continued to look through the <a href="http://www.rigb.org/christmas-lectures/how-to-survive-in-space/a-place-called-space">RI space-themed advent calendar</a>, watched the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEAtq_m4D3Q&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y5wURWuHeAH6HvKkEPJNv7R&index=2">second week of the Angel Trail</a>, and made <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88TPVWIiaMM">tin can lanterns</a> that turned out to be very pretty.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HzQDSD4960DrT1R1ZYRlbopmbmbrm8-t9N0i_uwhC_N7OdlrPwTsxVlsfaKvHZ3ZUdiYXUA8pbukLPZgMb4AjEpoFZrwiWhvaEju_GPxJIIHCoaHeoFmTkBr5kgHNezJTpVN696nEvlr/s1600/FotorCreated1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4HzQDSD4960DrT1R1ZYRlbopmbmbrm8-t9N0i_uwhC_N7OdlrPwTsxVlsfaKvHZ3ZUdiYXUA8pbukLPZgMb4AjEpoFZrwiWhvaEju_GPxJIIHCoaHeoFmTkBr5kgHNezJTpVN696nEvlr/s400/FotorCreated1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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At the very beginning of the week Tiger felt really terrible so in order to distract him from the physical pain that he was experiencing, my husband had the brilliant idea of introducing Tiger to a classic movie that he (my husband) has always wanted them to watch together:<br />
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No, Tiger will not be getting any Star Wars-related presents.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-81949469390545872222015-12-09T10:51:00.001+00:002015-12-09T21:28:55.650+00:00Countdown to Christmas: Dickens' Carol<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQTS2Wc70h5biUBD_u8C69R4AfqTUUReGTIj4poAL-A4WozVBhu4EYwwzjcT_POpxbrYj4kC7KFCWtS-bT0-eK8UtfpgGs1tHeKLi4tO2Y0tJ1wcamU4B_ZIEhZFYECpsR9Ip3GCtcJNNc/s320/xmas.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>
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We have read <i><a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Carol-and-Other-Christmas-Books-Charles-Dickens/9780199536306/?a_aid=Neo">A Christmas Carol</a></i> in <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas%20Carol">the past two Christmases</a> such that the book has become a part of our Christmas tradition. This year, however, I think it would be a good idea to expand our scope a little wider by reading <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Carol-and-Other-Christmas-Books-Charles-Dickens/9780199536306/?a_aid=Neo">the other Christmas stories written by Charles Dickens</a> at Tiger's bedtime so that <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Carol-and-Other-Christmas-Books-Charles-Dickens/9780199536306/?a_aid=Neo"><i>A Christmas Carol</i></a> does not become the <i>only</i> Dickensian Christmas story that we know.<br />
<br />
However, even though we are not reading <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Carol-and-Other-Christmas-Books-Charles-Dickens/9780199536306/?a_aid=Neo"><i>A Christmas Carol</i></a> this year, we find ourselves not being able to get away from it totally. As a result of Tiger being ill with fever most of last week, we found ourselves having a lot of time on our hands that we could spend on video watching. To my surprise, Tiger watched the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uE3EHSId8U">1999 movie version</a> without his usual complaint that most movie versions are poor substitutes for the original storybooks. There have been numerous movie adaptations of the story, but the 1999 version is the one that stayed most true to the original, and it helps that Patrick Stewart (who played Scrooge) is a most excellent actor.<br />
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After we watched the movie, we thought we might as well review our knowledge about the origins of the story:<br />
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What I find interesting about reading/reviewing the same story each year is that not only does the story become part of our family's tradition at Christmas time, but my own understanding of the story grows with each reading. This sense of getting to know a story at a deeper level with each passing year comes with no surprise. What is perhaps surprising is how easily recognisable many universal human values, such as compassion and redemption, are in this very traditional, English story. Then again, isn't that what every good classic story is supposed to do?<br />
<br />
Another reason for us not being able to completely ignore <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Christmas-Carol-and-Other-Christmas-Books-Charles-Dickens/9780199536306/?a_aid=Neo"><i>A Christmas Carol</i></a> this year is that it is <a href="https://www.edx.org/course/christmas-carol-dickens-berkeleyx-book-uc-berkeleyx-colwri3-1x-0">currently being discussed in the BerkerleyX Book Club</a>, which is another free MOOC offered by edX. Tiger and I looked at the first week's coursework, which we felt has helped us consider a few points that we had not discussed in our previous readings. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-9510444002312003902015-12-05T16:33:00.001+00:002015-12-05T22:52:50.389+00:00Countdown to Christmas: Week 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh68sonyvvoGxcipAiCoG6JXHYob-c7wrgrx-tzVK4CpY_h2OQwOUj7mei6-Qeio4AuYujjsTPdmELsIgI0JPssY65DjMr6yoTQpc87IUV4HIFcveWk4nezLV3LWTU0R6PFUKJnyo9zOpT2/s320/xmas.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>
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The best way to describe our first week of Christmas countdown is that it's a mixed bag.<br />
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After <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/plans-for-december.html">announcing</a> that I am not going to come up with 24 different activities this December, I found the advent calendar that my mother-in-law bought for Tiger when he was a baby and thought it best to take it out and use it before Tiger's childhood is over. So, I stayed up on the night of November 30th to do some last minute brainstorming and managed to stretch my <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/plans-for-december.html">initial short list of activities</a> to fill 24 days.<br />
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Since I have the habit of over-preparing than under-preparing most of the time, I wrapped the Christmas-related books that I borrowed from the library in Christmas wrappers to act as another form of advent calendar (just in case the other one doesn't work, for whatever reason), so that Tiger can unwrap one book each day to read a Christmas-related story. That's the least we can do, if we don't do anything else for the month.<br />
<br />
I really needn't worry, because the RI has a <a href="http://rigb.org/christmas-lectures/how-to-survive-in-space/a-place-called-space">space-related advent calendar</a> ready so we have been unveiling it each day, after I read aloud a section from our spine book for the month, The Christmas Almanac. The book covers a broad spectrum of Christmas-related issues from history to traditions, both religious and secular.<br />
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There is a section in the book explaining the origins and different ranks of angels in the Western tradition which coincides with the weekly video of the <a href="http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/christmas/angel-trail">Angel Trail organised by the National Gallery</a>, so we watched <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWCnIzS1q8w&list=PLvb2y26xK6Y5wURWuHeAH6HvKkEPJNv7R&index=1">the first episode</a> of that.<br />
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The rest of the week was interspersed with the <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/advent-homemade-mince-meat.html">making of mince meat</a>,<br />
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as well as <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtgEV8xBseE">mince pies</a>.<br />
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We would have done more this week if Tiger hadn't been ill with high fever most of the time. In fact, he spent most of the week lying on the sofa, recovering from nights of broken sleep.<br />
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He is still suffering from fever as I type. We are taking him to see the out-of-hours doctor in a little while, since our usual GP does not work on weekends. I hope next week will be a better week.<br />
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This post is linked up to <a href="http://www.ourworldwideclassroom.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/christmas-in-box-week-1-link-up.html">Christmas In A Box ~ Week 1 Link Up</a>. <br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-42626679180876625962015-12-03T01:14:00.000+00:002015-12-03T01:14:00.913+00:00Countdown to Christmas: The Beginning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our countdown to Christmas has begun with the consumption of mulled wine and mince pies, as is <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/here-we-go.html">my little personal tradition</a>.<br />
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I started accumulating the mince pies from the supermarkets at the end of November, having forgotten that I had already done <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/food-at-christmas-time.html">a survey of the various mince pies last year</a>. I was wondering what to do with the over supply of mince pies when my attention was turned to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jACu1pDWs5s">the homeless</a>.<br />
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Ever since <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/charities-warn-uk-faces-homelessness-crisis-as-number-of-people-in-temporary-housing-soars-10343111.html">the extent of homelessness in the UK</a> came to our attention in May this year when we <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/woe-to-being-poor.html">studied about the Victorian poor</a>, I have become more aware of the signs of the current rising food and housing crises around us, for example the increase in the number of food bank collection points in town and the number of people selling <i><a href="https://www.bigissue.org.uk/">The Big Issue</a></i> (a magazine sold by homeless people). The trend is both worrying and upsetting.<br />
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We already make regular donations to the food banks and to the charity shops, but I feel compelled to do a little more this December. I thought about <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmJQMtzmLVQ">volunteering at a homeless shelter over Christmas</a>, but knew I would be too upset when I come face-to-face with real people who are in such a desperate situation, so this year I will just make donations of winter clothing and 10% of our weekly grocery to the shelter, including all the extra mince pies that I have bought -- although I seriously think that homeless people have bigger problems to worry about than having mince pies to eat at Christmas time. Maybe next year I will find the courage to actually go and help out at the shelter.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-24038169000028748732015-11-29T22:58:00.002+00:002015-11-29T23:02:35.609+00:00Plans for December<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Christmas"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/12/food-at-christmas-time.html" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVXAJjojb4K9HW0LFqHgb5s18AogC1RLhDIBLbHTzZcp4-sAYYLKw62Bh2UDrFPZgrI5FydHlgoGGNb-BDlX8Arkhhd42N3bcurt-rCKXvZYegssaxiBwgyEHU2bxBcVoZriqV_mqR9AeF/s320/xmas.jpg" width="165" /></a></div>
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With December only a few days away, I feel I ought to share what our
plans are for the month. I am going to call ours a 'December plan'
rather than an Advent plan because we are not Christians, so I don't
feel right about using the term 'advent' when we don't actually
celebrate the days leading up to Christmas Day in a religious way.<br />
<br />
In our own secular way, we honour Christmas Day as a major festival with our own family traditions, which include setting aside time each December to do something special. To me, the significance of Christmas Day to the English side of our family is on par with that of <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/CNY">Chinese New Year</a> to the Chinese side of the family.<br />
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Since we are not calling our December activities 'advent' activities anymore, I feel a sense of relief that I don't have to come up with 24 different activities for us to complete in order to earn our place at the Christmas table. I have come up with fewer than 24 activities because I would like to spend some time this year to observe the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dongzhi_Festival">Dongzhi Festival</a> (冬至), which is another important Chinese festival that takes place near Christmas Day.<br />
<br />
Below are our Christmas-related activities for December, in no particular order:<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>make Christmas cards</li>
<li>make lanterns</li>
<li>watch Christmas-related movies</li>
<li>listen to Christmas music</li>
<li>see Christmas lights</li>
<li>learn to sing three Christmas carols</li>
<li>learn to recite one Christmas poem </li>
<li>decorate the house</li>
<li>decorate the tree</li>
<li>watch a Christmas-related documentary</li>
<li>go for two nature walks</li>
<li>make mince pies</li>
<li>read Christmas-related stories</li>
<li>draw Christmas-related drawings</li>
</ul>
</div>
<br />
I aim to be more diligent with blogging in December, so having a planned list of activities for the month will give me a good reason to do so.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-27149714901950117592015-11-05T00:17:00.000+00:002015-11-07T20:13:58.109+00:00Wizard and Wand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Halloween"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Halloween" border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1e_yKu1BYSjyss7qdUiwPHeH5DPtO0oBDSfRslEsWsX9j_rlDe1e688SwzDJb4lGK7WlrKqpHKHI8xaiiWHmTH2rnh9UvtbubRop-i90zwIykR2Bc5MhbgtE4Y5wB5SnCDjeB96fxP2oh/s320/Halloween.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After all these years of dressing up, Tiger is still fond of doing so (although I suspect not for much longer). At Halloween, he often dresses up as a wizard, this year being no exception.<br />
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He has been fascinated by magic and wizardry so has been practising magic tricks using a few books and a "Magic Tricks Box" that I picked up from the charity shop.<br />
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While this is all just fun to a very imaginative boy, I have a strong aversion to conjurors and magicians as I find the idea of deception, a principle on which most 'magic' we are shown is based on, rather objectional. Therefore, I tried to redirect Tiger's fascination with wizardry to more 'useful' outlets, such as studying the entire <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter"><i>Harry Potter</i> series</a> using <a href="http://store.bravewriter.com/collections/arrow-single-issues/products/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone">the related issue of <i>The Arrow</i></a> for discussion and other English-related work.<br />
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We were at King's Cross station the other day, so we went to look for platform<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: small;">9¾</span></span></span> where Harry Potter boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time in <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Harry-Potter-and-the-Philosopher-s-Stone/9781408845646/?a_aid=Neo"><i>Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</i></a>.<br />
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The station was refurbished a few years ago so it is now very bright and spacious, nothing like the dark and slightly dingy King's Cross station that I knew and missed from more than a decade ago. The station is now almost too modern, cheerful and well-managed for the setting of the story. While back in the dark and dingy days anyone could walk up and down the platforms freely and tried one's luck at running into a wall without bothering anyone else, there is absolutely no chance of doing that now without looking like a total fool to everyone in the station since there are now no dark corners in the station where one can hide in shame or embarrassment. Moreoever, new and shiny electronic barriers are now up in front of all the barriers so there is no way to even walk between the actual platorms 9 and 10 to look for platform<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: small;">9¾</span> </span></span>unless you buy a train ticket beforehand. In short, more progress but less spontaneous fun.<br />
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The station authorities have no doubt thought about the station's significance in the Harry Potter story, so a few feet away from platforms 9 to 11 is a wall dedicated to being the famous platform<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <span style="font-size: small;">9¾</span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"> </span>, where tourists and fans can pose for photos and visit the shop.<br />
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As a result of our dislike for the commercialised aspect of the story, Tiger is adamant that he would not watch any of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_%28film_series%29">Harry Potter movies</a> despite my repeated encouragement. I thought he might enjoy the movie's special effects so I started watching the first movie.<br />
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Tiger watched for 10 minutes and decided that, "The movie has left out too many details. The book is better." So that put an end to movie-watching. Consequently, we need not go to the <a href="https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/">Warner Brothers Studio Tour</a> too, which saves me a small fortune.<br />
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We used the time and money saved from <i>not</i> watching the Harry Potter movies and <i>not</i> going to the studio tour on some real magic, where Tiger made an electronic wand by soldering bits and pieces of resistors and other electronics bits to create a programmable wand using binary codes.<br />
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I have not captured the video very well, but the wand was programmed to display the word "bye". Apparently the wand is able to be programmed to display different six-character words by changing the codes, but I don't really know how the wand works or how to programme the codes to change the word display. Luckily Tiger paid attention in class and knows how to work it.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-87340496749097567412015-10-31T23:19:00.001+00:002015-10-31T23:19:03.652+00:00Where's the Pumpkin?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Halloween"><img alt="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Halloween" border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNuYbF0T0L51A_koLTJ8ppK_oS5ZFMz2pBIa5aDx6zLpoR3h0vG9Rp4FDSx3867Gy1VMUS6Bk_9lHnkm3Wz9wNhSOpbd4fwbJppgMbQuu_3x2AoWT1cQncfQn-XF11SWfts7Tu1r1YwOPa/s320/Halloween.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/care-to-join-us-for-scary-tea.html">Last year</a> I made an attempt to wean ourselves off the neigbourhood trick-or-treaters by making it a low-key event that involved just us, indoors. I neither put <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/scaring-ourselves-silly.html">our pumpkins</a> outside nor put any decorations out. Still, they came knocking on our front door, and I had to tell many small, disappointed English witches/wizards/ghouls/zombies/vampires that I was not celebrating Halloween.... I felt like a total villain by the time I said that to the tenth junior vampire who appeared outside my front door.<br />
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This year, to redeem myself, I decided that we would be better prepared for the trick-or-treaters.<br />
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We started preparing our pumpkin yesterday. I used a marker pen to draw <a href="http://www.designbolts.com/2014/09/23/free-scary-halloween-pumpkin-carving-patterns-stencils-ideas-2014/">Tiger's chosen template</a> onto the pumpkin before he proceeded with carving it to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLCuL-K39eQ">the music of Mussorsky</a>.<br />
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I must say that we are very pleased with our pumpkin this year. We think it really captures the essence of the spirit of Halloween.<br />
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After we had enjoyed the roasted pumpkin seeds, I put the Jack-O-Lantern out while Tiger decorated the front porch in preparation for night fall. My husband even donated his car for a few hours to let a skeleton sit in the driver's seat, which totally scared a little four-year-old witch who refused to let go of her mother's neck when she spotted it.<br />
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All went really well this evening. We were graced with visits from over 30 young English witches/wizards/ghouls/zombies/vampires, resulting in the sweets being nearly all taken. We were all enjoying giving the sweets away when, about 20 minutes after nightfall, I noticed that our pumpkin had disappeared! <br />
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I thought it might have rolled off the front step -- which is quite impossible to begin with since it is huge and heavy -- so I looked for it all out at the front of the house, but I could not see it anywhere. Since I was not expecting anyone to take our pumpkin away, I only bought one this year. For the rest of the evening, we had to rely on our <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZnAGHReRWg">milk jug ghost</a> to annouce to the neighbourhood children that we are playing Halloween this year.<br />
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How bizarre it is to have a Jack-O-Lantern stolen on Halloween night! This has never happened before so we are all quite perplexed by the incident. Who would do something like this, and what can anyone do with the pumpkin after tonight? The pumpkin is neither expensive nor particularly difficult to carve. Our conclusion is that the foxes living in the nearby woods must have carried it off to their dens to have their own Halloween celebrations, or maybe the cats might have done so...</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-19697800387316703702015-10-28T23:17:00.001+00:002015-10-29T15:42:00.693+00:00Chongyang Festival<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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The above clip is a <a href="https://28utscprojects.wordpress.com/2011/09/25/s306/">very famous verse</a>, <a href="http://www.exam58.com/slqz/1160.html">《醉花阴》</a>,written by the Song dynasty female poet, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Qingzhao">Li Qingzhao</a> (李清照), about how badly she missed her husband who was away on official business on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Ninth_Festival">Chongyang Festival </a>(重阳节).<br />
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Chongyang Festival falls on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month of the Chinese calendar, hence it is also called the Double Ninth Festival.<br />
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The festival took place a week ago on Wednesday. As is customary with traditional Chinese festivals, there are special food to go with it, so I spent a whole day in the kitchen making the various desserts from scratch, as these specific festive food cannot be bought in the UK.<br />
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These are by no means the only type of dessert to be had in the traditional sense. I only made what I can manage to do with the ingredients I could find:<br />
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysanthemum_tea">Chrysanthemum Tea</a> (菊花茶)</li>
<li><a href="http://beforeitsnews.com/cooking-and-recipes/2012/10/chrysanthemum-crisp-%E8%8F%8A%E8%8A%B1%E9%85%A5%E9%A5%BC-2447502.html">Chrysanthemum Crisp</a> (菊花酥)</li>
<li>Goji Chrysanthemum Cake (<a href="http://www.pcbaby.com.cn/shipu/181/1811044.html">枸杞菊花糕</a>)</li>
<li><a href="http://recept-en.blogspot.co.uk/2014/03/sweet-cake-for-couple-of.html">Tricolor Chongyang Cake </a>(<a href="http://www.meishichina.com/Eat/Nosh/201210/119346.html">三色重阳糕</a>) </li>
<li>Chestnut Chongyang Cake (<a href="http://www.pcbaby.com.cn/shipu/diy/redian/yinshi/1210/1146243.html">桂花板栗重阳糕</a>)</li>
</ol>
Tiger's favourites are (2), (4) and (5).<br />
<br />
Besides eating specific food, there are so specific customs associated with the Chongyang Festival.<br />
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Usually the Chinese people will go for a hike on the hills or mountains on this day to be in touch with nature. Since we don't have hills or mountains near us, Tiger and I got our nature fix by doing some gardening.<br />
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You might have noticed that the chrysanthemum flower features very prominently at the Chongyang Festival -- hence Tiger's gardening task was to pot a bunch of chrysanthemum. To the Chinese people, the chrysanthemum flower symbolises elegance and courage. It is therefore a significant symbol of autumn for us.<br />
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Tiger asked whether there is a poem that goes with the Chongyang Festival, to which I replied that there are many but the most beautiful is the verse by Li Qingzhao, which is shown in the clip at the beginning of this post. He is not ready to learn it yet though, as the depth of emotions described in the verse and the masterful use of language are beyond his comprehension at present. <br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-25160167899180808002015-10-16T20:05:00.001+01:002015-10-16T22:12:37.733+01:00No Two Days Are the Same: Friday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Morning</b></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
Despite saying last night that he would have a major lay-in today, Tiger actually set his alarm clock for 7:45am and got himself up at that time! However, I didn't get up early today so once again, our expectations of each other are not quite synchronised -- more work needed there!<br />
<br />
We had breakfast, completed our long-than-usual morning chores (we have a few additional chores on Fridays), and settled down to start work at 10:30am. Tiger started on the second part of his science homework which involved researching on and writing about how clean drinking water gets to UK homes. As usual, I asked him whether he needed my help. When he said no, I went to the kitchen and started cooking lunch because <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-are-same-thursday.html">last night's dinner</a> was so well received that there was none left for today's lunch.<br />
<br />
Tiger completed his research and wrote his report on the water treatment process. He then brought his completed report into the kitchen and read it out to me. It was spot on. No mistakes at all. I then asked him to prepare for his class this afternoon by looking through the topic, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/guides/zpwmxnb/revision">photosynthesis</a>, as we waited for lunch to be ready.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Afternoon</b></span><br />
<br />
Lunch was ready at 12:15pm. Pan-fried venison with blueberry sauce served with mash and steamed vegetables (a modified version of <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/4811/panfried-venison-with-blackberry-sauce">this recipe</a>). Yum!<br />
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The rest of the afternoon was taken up by science class. It is a small class attended by five children. Two of them were absent this afternoon so it was almost like a one-to-one tutorial today.<br />
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I sat at the back of the class as usual, half listening in on the lesson. Most of the time I read but the science class is always quite lively because of the many hands-on experiments and I find it difficult to concentrate on what I am reading. When that happens, like it did this afternoon, I work on something else that requires a different type of concentration, such as drawing or <a href="https://thepostmansknock.com/catalog/premium-hand-lettering-worksheet-set/">hand-lettering</a>.<br />
<br />
During the 10-minutes break this afternoon, Tiger's science teacher was interested to know what I was reading because he has seen me reading <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Excellence-without-a-Soul/9781586485016/?a_aid=Neo">the same book</a> for weeks. I showed him the title page and he became interested to know what a liberal education is. I tried to explain it to him but felt that I have had a <a href="https://www.circeinstitute.org/blog/failed-elevator-speech">failed elevator speech moment</a>. He is an ex-school teacher and has a young son who attends elementary school, so if I have not explained the concept clearly (<a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/year-6-plans.html">I don't always feel up to it</a>), perhaps I have piqued his interest such that he may look into it more closely at his own time.<br />
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<br />
We arrived home around 4:15pm and my husband took Tiger out to a nearby skate park to play with the remote control car. Meanwhile, I start drafting the blog post for today and changing the all the sheets in the house -- Fridays are all-sheets-change day so every towel, hand towel, bed sheet, pillow case, etc go into the laundry basket.<br />
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<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Evening</b></span><br />
<br />
The boys came back in time for me to take Tiger to his swimming lesson.<br />
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<br />
It is 8pm at the moment, and we are just about to have dinner.<br />
<br />
Next week, according to my calendar will be somewhat different from this week, so it is true when I say that no two days are the same for us. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-67205031218097149622015-10-15T23:14:00.001+01:002015-10-16T16:35:23.282+01:00No Two Days Are the Same: Thursday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Morning</b></span><br />
<br />
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I looked through Tiger's history homework last night before I went to bed, and saw that although he had written a summary of Mesopotamia well in terms of content and coherence -- a result I attribute to oral narration), his written narration is, well... sloppy. His writing transgressed a few points (such as poor handwriting, careless spelling and a disregard for grammar rules) that warranted a "This is unacceptable. You have to rewrite it." from me, which he was very unhappy about.<br />
<br />
After breakfast, Tiger rewrote the summary in its entirety. I'll be lying if I told you that he rewrote the assignment cheerfully. No doubt he was seething with anger over the injustice of being made to write it a second time but he did it anyway, and the final copy was perfect. It just shows that the poor quality of the original piece of writing was not due to an inability to write well but was caused by carelessness.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Afternoon </b></span><br />
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<br />
We then headed out to a centre where we spent most of the day with many other home educated children and parents. I usually sit at a corner while Tiger attends his English and history classes as I like to listen in on what he is learning. Sometimes I read my own book and make notes in my commonplace book while listening to the lessons (a skill that I developed in primary school), but more often than not, I make write out plans for the following week. At the centre there is a waiting room where most other parents congregate as they waited for their children's lessons to end. I usually join them at lunch break to socialise while Tiger has his lunch with the other children in one of the other rooms.<br />
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<br />
After class, we stopped by the supermarkets to pick up some groceries and reached home at 4pm. I reminded Tiger that he had not started with his science homework yet so he buckled down and did a part of it (the other part he will complete tomorrow).<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Evening</b></span><br />
<br />
It was Tiger's turn to cook dinner tonight. He is capable of preparing dinner by himself now so while he was busy in the kitchen, I wiped all the non-carpeted floors in the house. Tonight's dinner was a modified version of <a href="http://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/duck-with-plum-sauce-and-noodles.html">Duck with Plum Sauce and Noodles</a>. You might have noticed that we always modify recipes. It is because we follow certain dietary restrictions for health reasons.<br />
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Tiger was ready for bed by 8:55pm but he came downstairs in his dressing gown again (as he did on <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-are-same-tuesday.html">Tuesday</a>) to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF81ZFI1x6U">draw a tank</a> before he felt happy to go to sleep. I read to him again tonight and finished the second half of the Samuel Morse story.<br />
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<br />
Before I left his bedroom, Tiger announced that he will have a big lay in tomorrow. Hmm.<br />
<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-53156431300854175442015-10-14T22:04:00.003+01:002015-10-16T16:36:20.141+01:00No Two Days Are the Same: Wednesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Morning</b></span><br />
<br />
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<br />
My cup of tea arrived at 6:46am this morning. The tea was very hot so I read a chapter from <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/Love-as-a-Way-of-Life/9780340964323/?a_aid=Neo">the book on my bedside table</a> as I waited for the tea to cool down. Today's chapter is on the topic of kindness. I was soon engrossed in it and lost track of time, hence I was on the exercise bike a little later than <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-are-same-tuesday.html">yesterday</a>, resulting in coming back in a quarter of an hour later too.<br />
<br />
I ate my breakfast as usual then started on today's main chore: wiping windows and surfaces. I break the household chores down to smaller tasks and aim to complete one major chore each day so that I don't feel overwhelmed by having to do everything all at once.<br />
<br />
8:45am. I was wiping the windows in my bedroom when Tiger came in to find out what the noise was (he's a light sleeper). Seeing that it was just me, he went back to sleep for another half an hour.<br />
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It was 10:15am by the time he finished his breakfast and his morning chores. We started with memory work, still working on the same three poems as <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-are-same-tuesday.html">yesterday</a>. After that, I read a chapter from The Golden Age of Myth and Legend while Tiger drew another helicopter. No narration this time but we discussed the similarities between the stories of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramus_and_Thisbe"><i>Pyramus and Thisbe</i></a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romeo_and_Juliet"><i>Romeo and Juliet</i></a>.<br />
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Then it was on to the meat of the day: history. We are still in the homework-completion mode, today it's history. Tiger's homework from his history of medicine class has to do with Mesopotamia, so I thought it would be a good idea to start using the <a href="http://www.pandiapress.com/publications/history-odyssey/ancients/#level2">History Odyssey: Ancients (Level 2) curriculum</a> that we have to go through the Mesopotamia section as part of completing his class homework -- I had a look at his homework requirement and found that there are a few overlaps.<br />
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Right before we started work, Tiger took put a CD into the player. It was our music for the week: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mKUYMQsFwM">Mozart's <i>Quintet for Clarinet, 2 Violines, Viola & Cello, in A major</i> KV581</a>! Would you believe it? The boy certainly has the right idea about things.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Afternoon</b></span><br />
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After lunch, we took a 30 minutes break after watching a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kv73VJqyEQ&list=PL9O9mODT0ASntMq0D2uuxgVYqUzAIHz6O">documentary on ancient Iraq</a>. Our dining table looked like this at break-time:<br />
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We were to resume at 2pm, but my mother called right on the hour so she and I talked for 30 minutes as she updated me with news from her part of the world.<br />
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At 2:30pm, I was off the phone so I read another chapter from <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Story-Book-of-Science/9781599150253/?a_aid=Neo"><i>The Story Book of Science</i></a> from which Tiger narrated orally. At this point, my husband came home from work! He has a flexible work arrangement such that he works from home half the time and today is one of those days. Another half hour was taken up with us fussing about him before all of us resumed work - my husband to his work in the home office, Tiger and I back to the Sumerians in the dining area.<br />
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By 4:30pm, Tiger has completed four lessons in the <a href="http://www.pandiapress.com/publications/history-odyssey/ancients/#level2">History Odyssey: Ancients (Level 2) curriculum</a> and said he has had enough of Sumerians and cuneiform for a day, so I asked him to take a break. While he was enjoying the Blueberry Bakewell Cake (a modified version of <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/chocolate-cherry-bakewell-cake">this recipe</a>) that I made <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-are-same-tuesday.html">yesterday</a> and a cup of mint tea, I got started with dinner.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Evening</b></span><br />
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Tiger's final commitment for the day was tennis.<br />
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It was 8pm when we got home. My husband had a work-related call to take then so we waited until 8:30pm to have dinner together. This evening was a short one but we spent it together as a family, which is nice.<br />
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Tiger is in bed now, and I am going to join my husband to watch a movie.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2847571046883368877.post-65195206003422020012015-10-13T23:43:00.003+01:002015-10-17T14:12:40.061+01:00No Two Days Are the Same: Tuesday<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Morning</b></span><br />
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I was woken up at 6:50am this morning by my husband who brought me a hot cup of tea in bed. We chatted for ten minutes until he left for work at 7am. I sipped my tea for a few more minutes before getting up to spend 30 minutes on the exercise bike while listening to <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Book-Thief/dp/B002SQ677Y/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444767102&sr=8-1&keywords=the+book+thief+audio+book">The Book Thief</a></i>.<br />
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It was 8am when I came back in. Not a sound in the house so I had breakfast and started to write the <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-same-monday.html">post about yesterday</a>.<br />
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I heard stirring from upstairs at 9:40am. I have almost completed my blog post so I stopped what I was doing to make some pancakes for Tiger. Like yesterday, Tiger spent the morning completing homework from his poetry class, which consisted of researching into the poems of <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/poetryseason/poems/remember.shtml">Christina Rossetti </a>and <a href="http://www.wilfredowen.org.uk/poetry/futility">Wilfred Owen</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Afternoon</b></span><br />
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Meal times are not too exciting when daddy is not around, so we had a 'working lunch' where we watched clips from <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/animals">BBC Nature</a> on the birds and small mammals that we saw on our nature walk last weekend. I had two boiled eggs for lunch so there was a lot of time for me to put together my menu plan for the week.<br />
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We took a half-hour break after lunch before resuming lessons at 2:15pm.<br />
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Since we forgot to start with memory work this morning, I made that our priority in the afternoon. Most of the poems that were recited <a href="http://thetigerchronicle.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/no-two-days-same-monday.html">yesterday</a> are in the "weekly" folder, which means that they need to be recited only once a week. Therefore, Tiger only worked through the following poems today:<br />
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<li><a href="http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171940"><i>The Highwayman</i> by Alfred Noyes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://so.gushiwen.org/view_7766.aspx">《古朗月行》 - 李白</a></li>
<li><a href="http://cfcl.com/vlb/Projects/Poetry/h/wordparty.html"><i>The Word Party</i> by Richard Edwards</a></li>
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When Tiger starts to work on memorising a new poem, I usually ask him to read it out loud first so that we can both listen to it. Normally that is enough for him to pick out the basics such as rhyme, rhythm and structure. This afternoon Tiger identified the rhyme scheme and the rhyming couplets from <i>The Word Party</i>.</div>
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We then moved on to oral narration where I read a chapter from <a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/The-Story-Book-of-Science/9781599150253/?a_aid=Neo"><i>The Story Book of Science</i></a> and had Tiger tell it to me back, in his own words.</div>
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This would have been a quick five-minute task for Tiger were it not for the customary "Why do I have to do this? Can't I just listen or read it to myself?" We had been through this Q&A session many times before and he knows exactly why I insist on having him narrate after one reading. However, I must admit that the level of concentration required for a successful narration is immense so I do understand why anyone would rather not do it if they have a choice.<br />
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Maths was next on this afternoon's school menu. Today Tiger worked on fractions from RightStart Level E. The lesson was more of a revision for him but as he completed it so quickly we had time to play two rounds of fraction game which helped to improve his mental accuracy.<br />
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After maths we headed out for Tiger's weekly table tennis session where I usually sit in the waiting/viewing room and read while the session was going on.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Evening</b></span><br />
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It was 6pm when we arrived home. I started to cook dinner while Tiger alternated between fixing his remote control car and watching <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W76EDYEF3b8">a documentary about animals that burrow</a>. When dinner was stewing for 15 minutes, I used the time to do a rapid dusting around the house.<br />
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By 8:30pm, Tiger had had a shower and was in his dressing gown, getting ready for bed. Seeing that I was baking a cake for tomorrow, he decided to stay downstairs to draw a helicopter while following his go-to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyrHIVju1-0">online drawing instructions</a>.<br />
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At 9pm, my husband came home. He is back late tonight as he met a friend after work. The cake batter is in the oven by now and Tiger has finished his drawing, so all of us had a good chat before the boys spent some time together (fixing the shower and Tiger's remote control car) before Tiger went to bed.<br />
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I, on the other hand, had the pleasure of ironing.<br />
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I am very glad, though, that I have caught up with the post for today!<br />
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