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Home-schooling for DAJ kids
Story and photos by GEETHA KRISHNAN
PORING over his home-schooling books, M. Suresh James’ eyes light up.
He has discovered something new and is keen to share the information with his classmates. But class at the Desa Amal Jireh (Desa Charity Village or DAJ) in Broga near Semenyih is still in session, so Suresh, 17, waits patiently for the bell to ring.
The soft-spoken teenager, who aspires to be a Christian missionary, now has a chance at gaining quality education through a path less trodden. When he came to the home for underprivileged children a few years ago, he could barely read.
The home’s co-founder, Kamala Sinnadurai, said Suresh was never given a chance to educate himself because his mother neglected him and his siblings.
“His father had abandoned the family and Suresh was forced to look after an older sister’s children while she went out to work. He was already a teenager by then and had minimal schooling,” she shared.
“The home-schooling syllabus here is based on the Alpha and Omega system from the United States. It encourages students to study at their own pace. Every one is supplied with books and learning materials while self-assessments, year-end tests and field trips are part of the curriculum,” she added.
Currently, Suresh is in Grade 5, more or less equivalent to Standard Six. However, he is diligent and hopes to complete double grades in order to catch up with the rest.
Kamala said she toyed with the idea of home-schooling when she realised that many kids at the home were unable to read and write. Most had not attended school or were dropouts with a slim chance of being accepted into national schools.
From: http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2009/12/12/central/5272549&sec=central
Thank you YL for showing me this. Although tardily late, Malaysia has finally got some perspective — the Star has shed some light to the benefits of homeschooling.
So Alpha Omega has got some publicity eh? Like the kiddos above, I went through Alpha Omega but one difference, I went through the Academy and I have been a proud alumnae for nearly two years.
So what has homeschooling got that normal schooling doesn’t? LOTS….WELL AT LEAST OVER THE CURRENT MALAYSIAN SYLLABUS.
I learned to be self-disciplined and independent. I don’t need anyone to tell me to study. GOOD for university as there’s a lot of independent study.
I honed my writing skills from the Academy and got an appreciation for poetry through Alpha Omega Academy. Where there is lackluster grammar, I excel. The standards in the Malaysian system are too simplistic where English is concerned. Remember that English is the global medium of communication.
I got to learn some other language besides Malay. ¡ESPANOL, LA LENGUA HERMOSO! Although, I’ve forgotten most of it due to lack of practice, learning about other cultures broadened my horizons!
I do not plagiarize..as is the case of most Malaysian-produced students, God help them when they reach university, it’s a literary crime! I remember in grade 9, when I first joined the Academy, I nearly got kicked off the program for plagiarizing my physics project! I didn’t know any better at that time though, going through the Malaysian system for six years. It’s viewed as a major crime in America folks.
I got to excel at my own pace. Though I went through surgeries, I was able to catch up because of flexibility.
I’m used to high standards. AOA’s passing grade was 75 %. 80 is a C for cryin’ out loud! If you fail, you have to redo it to ensure mastery of every topic!
NO WAKING UP AT 6 A.M. Seriously, I can’t wake before the sun rises!
I attended the ceremony with YL as my walking stick (and date)! Although my spine was killing me the whole way through, so we left quite early. By the way, TYL made the list too, putting himself in my picture, he stole my moment while I was being photographed! hahaha…Congratulations TYL with your winning grin!
I’m outty for now!
Me Reading the Pamphlet
(By the way, I hate it when people ask me “what mix are you?” when they first meet me. I get that all the time….hello! SO bzbody)
The toefl that is! Ironically, the reading section was harder than the writing section, I think I was bored of the topics chosen that’s why: The Market Revolution in America during the 1800’s (okay), Insects and their Adaptations to the Environment (yawn), the Development of a State: the Population Constraint Theory and the Trade Theory (snnnnnnnnnnnnooooooores)….I mean do the toefl peeps think that a caterpillar’s water conservation technique is interesting!?!? WTF..
The writing section was damn easy however: Recruitment of young doctors in rural communities (lecture) and uhh..whether I agree or disagree that classes in college should not be compulsory. By the way, I disagreed but can’t be bothered to type the reasons out again! haha.
Me is out.
yl is right..i am opinionated,,;p…too opinionated sometimes like my grandpa use to say “why don’t you become a lawyer? You have something to say about everything!’
Got my results for summer 2009:
Chemistry: B
General Psychology: A
And I thought I was going to fail Chemistry. Phew…Thanks Mr. Chong.!!
In all truthfulness, I am not that stressed about my exams. Am more stressed about my health right now; I just wanna get those stupid exams over with it so I can deal with my decliningt health.
Can stress worsen my health in the status quo?
Expository Writing – A
Biology – B
American Civilization I – undisclosed (I am not revealing this because I feel that the grade is totally unfair and does not reflect the work I put in for this subject. Not going to say anything more beyond that)
Am I happy overall though… a bit. But summer semester has been hectic as hell so I have been blah about it too.
God help me through Gen. Psych.
xoxok
Hahahahaha…I am speaking metaphorically by the way..NOT LITERALLY!
I SURVIVED her first round of torment. I scored 85% on her much dreaded quiz. Comparatively, that’s not bad if I do say so myself. I’m just relieved that that part is over. 1 more quiz, two exams — let’s see if I survive those.
I swear A LOT of stuff that came out was NOT part of the textbook. Aphasia, agnosia, corticalization, among others.. I honestly had to rely on logic and past knowledge.
Why does this happen to me? If I get a nice lecturer, her work is hard core but if I get a not-so-nice lecturer, her work is a walk through the park…Dang the karma!
Please pray that I get through this course alive..in order for me to pass, I’d need to get 70% or C.
P.S. I don’t mean harm against my lecturer. I like her, I do!
Can I just say that I AB-SO-LUTE-LY despise this summer term… Short term = double the work and a gigantic headache.
I am feeling the pressure from my psychology class. My lecturer is a very nice lady but her workload is a real torment! For example, this coming Tuesday, her class has to cram 5 chapters in f our days for her quiz. And it’s not enough to study her notes, you have to study the f-ing textbook! Gahhh, according to a friend, people scrape through her course. I wanna do well for goodness sake, not scrape through. At this point, I don’t know if I have a choice. I guess Destiny awaits me on Tuesday. Bloody hell, had I known her work ethic, I would have taken her course during the 16-week term.
Inhale…Exhale…. at least I have got two things going for me. 1) I have already been exposed to Psychology, and 2) She’s been very accommodating to my needs. And with the latter, it makes me wanna excel in her class because I sense that she believes in my capability.
As for chem, so – so la. I would say it’s manageable.
So this is why I haven’t been blogging. It’s cause my head has been buried in the books.
Wish me luck these next few weeks.. Pray that I will do well in my Psych class.. I’ll update on that quiz once I am through with it.
Trying. to. get. over. the. holiday. bug. It’s very contagious and deadly, and unfortunately, only a temporary cure exists; self-determination. Can someone please find a drug to inoculate us from this lazy state?
It’s back to college next week…starting the summer term…it’s an 8-week term so there is A LOT to cover albeit I only have two subjects; Environmental Chemistry & General Psychology.
On a positive note, I am glad to be finally taking a Psychology-related subject. I loved doing A.P. Psychology.. so I can’t wait to revisit the discipline!
Gotta go now, it’s simmy time!
Sorry for my silence yall… I am jam-packed with assignments and revision for my finals which are on the last week of April… Seriously, I’ve noticed a trend where my lecturers hand out major assignments in tandem at the very last bit of the semester! Haha… it’s seriously irrittating.
I wanna blog about so many things…book reviews, poetry and whatnot…but I am just so exhausted after doing my assignments… I just wanna chill with a good movie or just meditate…
I am pretty proud of myself these last few weeks as I have gotten my arse to the gym three times a week…. I hate the very act of exercising….but I know I have to do it… By the way, I do not attend a gym for the purpose of becoming “thin”, I go to the gym to strengthen my spine and improve my overall health. That is ultimately the mantra that I chant to myself when I need the motivation!
This week was registration week for the summer term at my college.. I am taking Environmental Chemistry and General Psychology. The former satisfies a mandatory subject in the General Education requirement and the latter is a compulsory subject for all psychology-related subjects in the future. I am taking E. Chem not only because I have to but because I like my lecturer, Mr. Chong, who has undoubtedly been fair and amenable to this particular student throughout this semester!
On another note, I will definitely be back blogging actively during the month of May since I have the entire month off. I am planning to take my babies Noah and Chanel to the beach in Port Dickson. Also TYL and I want to go to Cameron Highlands to see its beauty…. basically explore the strawberry farm, see how BOH tea is made (I love tea by the way) , eat the local cuisine and JUST be in the whole countryside experience you know… It’s also very likely that I have to fly to Chennai, India for medical reasons…will blog more about it when I have confirmation…I seriously hope that new DVD BOX SETS will be out during that month….because I just love to be a couch potato..haha (not all the time… simming is another thing I wanna do…. I have also been musing on a recipe lately… been watching Asian Food Channel and got inspired…. what do you think of Chocolate Mousse with Strawberries and Mint? All three ingredients go very well with each other… but I was thinking about what alcohol goes best with all three… Rum? I want to experiment and taste…mm MM mm.
Well this is as much as I’ll blab on for now..Until next time.. XxKxx
keishaks
Enter Through Keisha's Mind & Soul. My writings are my life especially when I write for Life Poetry. Visit my blog to hopefully connect and discover a part of yourself as well. Life is tough and the way to get through it is through support and encouragement. My faith is what keeps me going and I often include my spirituality in my poetry as you will see. God is Good!