planting green beans

we just planted green beans (or more correctly, mung beans) yesterday. they have been sprouting significantly today. :)this started because jove was fascinated with boowa and kwala planting green beans. check it out here. the instructions to plant green beans from boowa and kwala can be found here.

then this morning, i found this interesing site: ecoliteracy, which has this activity of making mini greenhouse from a recycled cd case.

exciting project for mother and son. :)

it should be green

Jovan was accidentally looking at the computer's monitor and saw his drawing that I digitally colored.


"Ma, it's wrong. It's not red. It should be green," he protested.

"Oh, sorry, I thought those are mushrooms." I replied.

"No. Those are trees. Trees that are seen from far."

(Nggak Ma, itu pohon. Pohonnya jauh, jadi kecil.)

Wow. I never think that he knows perspective already!

aunt jen's visit

This Sunday, we met our friend from NTU, Singapore. Jove called her Aunty Jenny.

We started early, with Jove still sleeping, and drove to Ritz-Carlton to pick Aunty Jenny. Jove awakened when we reached the hotel. I told him that Aunty Jenny only spoke English, so he has to greet her in English.

When Jenny went into the car, he did not greet her, but introducing her to Buzz Lightyear plastic toy that he had.

"This is Buzz Lightyear!" (pointing the toy at Aunt Jen)
"To infinity and beyoooooond!" (Buzz flew around)

We went to Church of St. Theresia for the English Sunday Mass, then for delicious mpek-mpek lunch (where Jove got acquintanced with a few kids). Then we followed Aunty Jenny to her room and had some tea and fun chat in her really cool hotel room.

Jove could answer some simple questions and he was not shy in trying to communicate. Children, even though they have not mastered the language, have better communication skills than adults, I think. The best skills are their sincerety and total curiousity. Oh, and their innocence and their smile too!

I've really nothing to worry for his socialization skill.

Thank you Aunty Jenny for the sweets and heaps of good time! :D

road to homeschooling

Kami belum benar-benar resmi menyekolahkan Jovan di rumah (maksudnya belum secara resmi mengakuinya pada keluarga dan teman-teman), tapi merasa sepertinya sudah perlu membuat 'tempat' untuk menyimpan catatan perjalanan homeschooling ini. Jadilah blog yang satu ini.

Saat ini kami mungkin menganut sistem unschooling, karena belum membeli/mengikuti kurikulum apa-apa. Kami memilih homeschooling karena ingin memberikan pelajaran dengan kurikulum yang sesuai dengan minat dan bakat Jovan, sesuatu yang tidak didapat di sekolah dengan kurikulumnya yang seragam untuk semua anak.

Secara pribadi, saya suka dengan theory of multiple intelligences dari Howard Gardner. Berdasarkan pengamatan saya, Jovan memiliki kekuatan pada kecerdasan:

- Interpersonal
Jovan dapat berkomunikasi secara efektif dan mudah berempati pada orang lain. Dia juga sensitif terhadap perasaan lawan bicaranya.

- Verbal-Linguistic
Jovan dapat berbicara dan berkomunikasi dengan orang lain jauh sebelum dia belajar berjalan. Jovan mempunyai kemampuan melafalkan kata dengan benar hanya dengan sekali atau dua kali mendengarkan, dan dapat menggunakan imbuhan dengan benar. Dia dapat mengasosiasikan kata-kata dalam bahasa Inggris dan terjemahannya dalam bahasa Indonesia tanpa pengajaran khusus. Sekarang ini Jovan suka main sendiri dengan mobil-mobilan sambil berceloteh ria, ceritanya mobil-mobil dan patung mainan kecil saling berkomuniasi. Jovan juga dapat menghafalkan pantun/puisi singkat dalam bahasa Inggris, Indonesia, dan Mandarin. Setelah menonton Barney: Rhyme Time Rhythm beberapa kali, Jovan sudah hafal:

This is the house that Jack built

This is the malt,
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the rat,
That ate the malt,
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cat,
That chased the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the dog,
That worried the cat,
That chased the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

This is the cow with the crumpled horn,
That tossed the dog,
That worried the cat,
That chased the rat,
That ate the malt
That lay in the house that Jack built.

- Visual-Spatial
Jovan suka membuat jigsaw puzzle. Menggambar juga salah satu aktivitas favoritnya. Dulu Jovan bisa menghabiskan lebih dari tiga puluh menit untuk corat-coret di magnetic board-nya. Untuk anak umur 18 bulan, Jovan bisa duduk diam selama itu sambil serius mencorat-coret. Dari coretan yang ngga jelas, gambarnya mulai berevolusi menjadi bentuk mobil sederhana (garis lurus horisontal dengan dua lingkaran sebagai roda), dan suatu hari, Jovan bisa menggambar mobil! Setelah itu Jovan mulai bereksperimen menggambar kereta api, orang, rumah, rumput... biasanya setelah mendengarkan cerita atau menonton DVD. Dan baru minggu lalu Jovan mulai menggambar pengalamannya sendiri menaiki gajah dan unta di Taman Safari sepulangnya dia dari sana.


Untuk kecerdasan yang lain seperti Logical-Mathematical, Musical, Intrapersonal, dan Naturalistic, kami masih belum bisa merabanya. Tetapi sepertinya untuk kecerdasan Bodily-Kinesthetic Jovan tidak terlalu kuat karena dia memerlukan waktu yang lebih lama untuk belajar naik sepeda, lompat dengan dua kaki, dan aktivitas fisik lainnya.

Well, we will learn as we journey...

boys will be boys

Jove's pose when watching soccer or car race on TV. He can sit still and watch quietly for several minutes longer than if he watches or does anything else.

His favorite toys are cars, trucks, buldozers, helicopters, airplanes, ... you get the idea. And he has shown this keen interest on those things since he was about six months old! By twelve months, before he could walk, he could differentiate car, truck, and bus on the road. He'll say tar, tak, and bas (all rhymes with car) while pointing at correctly said vehicle.

I've read in some books that a child liked his/her gender related toys (boys like cars, and girls like dolls) just because the parents exposed him/her to those toys more. But I don't agree. I did gave Jovan some of my old dolls to play, showed him flowers and other girly things, but he didn't seem to be interested.