August 2017 Flute Concert

Last August was a very busy month. Donna had two flute concerts and one piano seminar. The concert preparation itself took many practicing days because it's not a solo concert. The first one was with Gloriamus Youth Orchestra and the other one was a flute ensemble.  The flute ensemble was a new experience for her, where almost all player were flutist.

The first concert was held on August 9, in TIM (Taman Ismail Marzuki, Jakarta) in collaboration with  Kementrian Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan (Ministry of Education and Culture affairs):

The second one was held on August 17, on our independence commemoration day.

Playing in trio formation.

Any Cozy Place could be Our Classroom

Donna has been joining a private literature & academic writing class since last month.  So on Wednesdays we always go to Donna's English class in the late morning, having lunch out then directly to her flute class. When Donna is having her English class, Liza also has her "class" as I usually bring a folding desk and some learning materials.

As homeschoolers, any cozy place could be our classroom ^^

Before & after lunch, our table in the restaurant could be Donna's desk

Sweet Memory of Perjalanan #OASEksplorasi Anak-anak Homeschooling

From Charlotte Mason's Formation of Character

Written by Indonesian Charlotte Masoner,  Ellen Kristin, this article reminds me what my kids' paediatrician and psychologist said years ago. That kids should stay close to Nature. Animals and Plants are parts of Nature.

Mother Culture

My HSer friend, Maria wrote this enlighten article about qualified Me Time, Mother Culture. It's not easy to provide Me Time among zillion to-do-list. From preparing balance diet meals for my family,  supporting my kids activities (from training self help etc etc  for my eldest, to piano - trigonometry - flute etc etc for my youngest), to my illustration job deadlines. Plus Jakarta's traffics that really sucks :(
Mother Culture is now written in my to-do-list. Me Time is not a sin. Because unhappy mother could be a "monster".
Here what she wrote. Thanks a lot Maria.

Living Books vs Twaddles

I'm not a Charlotte Masoner Homeschooler, but I agree with her for some of her ways, especially about Good Books for children (Living Books, for CMer) instead of twaddle ones. Although, honestly I can't make my home library sterile from those twaddles and try my best to provide as many living books as possible. But, at least Donna used to read living books that shapes her taste in choosing books to read.
What is twaddle books? They are dumbed down and watered down literature.
Here is a good article about it written by Ellen Kristin, a CMer from Indonesia:
"Sastra Disney vs Versi Aslinya"