Caleb Chess Checkmate

Five days before Christmas, we set out in high spirits with our cousins for Malacca. There, we visited museums such as the Cheng Ho Cultural Museum where we learned about the culture and history of Malacca. We also visited the Maritime Museum, which was a replica of a Portuguese ship. Another historical site was the ruins of the Al Famosa fortress that was built by the Portuguese after they conquered Malacca. One place I particularly liked was the Butterfly and Reptile Sanctuary which we visited on the 2nd day. The but terflies there were a lot more colorful than the ones in Singapore. Best of all, they were friendly and easily attracted to us! It felt itchy as the butterflies crawled on my body, but it was kind of fun. Besides butterflies, there were other amazing creatures such as scorpions, alligators, snakes, emus, peacocks, electric eels, otters, weasels and even a bearcat! I think it is called a bearcat because it looks like a bear, and climbs like a cat! So much for a butterfly...

It is about a week since we returned from our CG retreat to Changi Village. I have decided to talk about our trip, for I loved the activities we did there... I awoke with my head buzzing with excitement for today is the BIG day. We are going to Changi Village with our CG! After a wait which seemed like eternity, we started off. The hotel which we were staying in looked a bit like an office to me. However the inside was more welcoming. There was a mini house made of all sorts of delicious goodies, but of course, it was not edible. After brunch, we went to our rooms. At first, our rooms were on the smoking level and I did not want to stay in it for the smell of smoke was unbearable. Unfortunately, there were no other available rooms, and we had to wait till 5.00pm. We past the time by watching a movie at Noah's room with the CG and before we knew it, our rooms were ready. The following day, we woke up bright and early for our guided tour at Chek Jawa. The tour was excellent. We got t...

When Dorothy and her dog Toto werte whisked away by a cyclone, they found themselves in the Land of Oz. Soon she realized that the only way they could return to their home in Kansas was to journey to the Emerald city to ask The Wizard of Oz for help. Along the treacherous journey, Dorothy met new friends, the Scarecrow, the Tin woodman, and the lion. They wanted to join her to look for Oz to give them something. Together, they faced many perils like the two Kalidahs and the deadly poppies. Finally, they reached the Emerald city. But before Oz could grant them their wishes, they had to kill a wicked witch. Dorothy “melts” the witch by pouring a bucket of water over her and they travelled back to the Emerald city to have their wishes granted. Soon they realized that the Great Wizard is actually a humbug! All hopes of returning to her home in Kansas were lost, until a guard told her to ask the good witch Glinda for help. After many adventures in the Land of Oz, Dorothy and Toto finally re...

Yesterday, together with other homeschoolers we went to the Jurong Bird Park for a talk on birds. The venue is at the Bird Discovery Centre. We were early, so we look at the many interesting exhibits and learn more about the birds and their body parts. It was all very interesting. I, especially was fasinated by the owl. Owls have large eyes to search for their prey in the dark, and they have firm feathers so they would not make any sound when they fly. After that, In the afternoon, we went for another exciting programme 'behind the scene' . Well, to the penguin expedition but this time behind the scenes! We were split into two groups. My group went in first while the second group had a brief talk about penguins from a guide. Inside we had to put on boots and wear a jacket for it was very cold. The temperature was It was very fishy and I felt like vomiting. I wondered how the staff could worked in there. After a while, I got used to it. The sight was so cool. We could hear the s...

This story is about a boy named James who was sent to live with his aunts because his parents had met with and accident. His aunts treated him very badly once he arrived and every day he was asked to do lots of things that children could not do. One peculiar day, James was doing work as usual, and his aunts were sitting down comfotably, drinking lemonade as it was a very hot day and talking about how pretty they were. James was thinking about how other children were so free to do what they liked like going down to the seashore to built sandcastles, splash in the water and do lots of other things he was not alowed to do. As he was thinking tears started to fall down his cheeks and he started crying and asking his aunts whether they could take the bus down to the seaside. His aunts said no and asked him to get out of their sight so, he ran and hid behind a bush. suddenly he heard a noise behind he and turned around and saw a old man taking out a small white plastic bag. He told James tha...

Last Friday, my family and I went to Science Centre. Over there, I was very surprised to see an extremely long queue to enter the inflatable planetarium. While queuing, I met Bailey and Dominic. Since the queue was so long, we decided to try some of the hands-on activities while daddy stood at the queue. At one station, we saw some mini rockets flying all around. The lady put a tablet into the film container filled with some water. Awhile later, the lid popped opened, pushing the water out. This was my favourite station as it was exciting waiting for the it to pop! After that, we headed back to the queue to wait for our turn to enter the planetarium. Inside, a man taught us about the star constellations. I knew all of the constellations that he mentioned. Next, he made the fake stars spin around us like it would, in the North Pole. I felt very dizzy. I liked the exhibit very much and next time, I hope to go up to the observatory tower to stargaze, without the queue.

We just came back from the Chemistry Lab at NUS. Over there we were splitted up into pairs of two, and together with a student scientist, we did some exciting experiments. Most of the chemicals that we used were harmful to our skins. So we had to wash our hands immediately after an experiment. My favourite experiment was called the "elephants toothpaste". We used detergent, food colouring and some other chemicals to form a warm soapy paste. The end product looked like a giant toothpaste. I had a fun time at the chemistry lab today .

The other day, we visited the Bird Park as daddy was on leave. I had a wonderful experience at the Lorry Loft. It so happened when we had finished our walk around the Lorry Loft, mummy decided to buy some food for us to feed the birds who were perching on the metal railings. The food is actually honey and nectar juice which cost $2 for a small cup. I tried to get the birds to come near the bowl of juice, but I just could not. Just then one of the staff told me to stand a bit further from the birds and stretched out my hand. That way the lorries would jump onto the bowl! I tried it and the lorry really jumped!! It bended its legs before jumping. Occasionally, two lorries would be standing on the bowl but they always fight. At one time, two lorries came to me! one on my hand and the other on the bowl. Even though the birds had sharp claws, they did not really prick me. However, it was ticklelish. What a close encounter with the lorries! Hope to go back there again really soon!

Last week, My family and I went to Bintan for a holiday. We boarded the ferry called Aria Bupala ". During the ride, I felt very seasick. I guessed the waves were a little more choppy this time. This is a picture of my brothers and I seating at the top deck of the ferry. When we reached the hotel, daddy went to the reception to check in. Our room numbers were 1037 and 1035. In the room, my brothers and I quickly changed into my swimming shorts so that I could go and swim in the pool immediately! But when we reached the pool, I found out that the pool was not what I had expected because there were no slides, only a basketball net. I felt disappointed. A while later, we decided to head to the beach. The beach was my favourite place because there were so many black-striped fish, mudskippers and lots of crabs swimming in the stream that led out to the sea. After playing at the beach and climbing l a r g e boulders for a while, I decided to explore the stream further. We were so surpr...

Yesterday, I decided to make a Crossbow. I got the idea from a T.V programme called the Mythbusters on Discovery Channel. The programme is about people who heard of stories and try to make them true. For example Archimedes built a big shield with lots of glass pieces to reflect sun rays to burn down the Roman ships. So, the Mythbusters would try to build what Archimedes built to destroy a ship. This time, the Mythbusters tried to make a Crossbow out of paper and homemade glue and this project worked! I was fascinated by this creation; that they could make actually such a strong crossbow out of flimsy paper! That was why I decided to try and make a Crossbow. These are the steps: How to make a Crossbow Things you need: 1. two rubberbands 2. string 3. double sided tape 4. a pair of scissors 5. musking tape 6.wooden chopsticks 7. ice cream sticks. 8. paint(any colour you like) Steps First, tie two wooden chopsticks together. Then, using a double sided tape and string, attach a ice cream st...

This suspense story is about Louis who has a poor family. He works at a junkyard for Mr and Mrs Karnofsky. After eating his breakfast over at the junkyard, Alex another boy working at the junkyard and Louis would go around with a trailer to collect junk from people. Louis always brought his tin horn, altough its mouth piece was broken he still could play beautiful music with it. To attrack people to bring sacks of junk, Louis would play a song with his horn. Lots of people would come and give them junk. One day, when Alex and Louis were buying junk, a boy suddenly snatched Louis horn! Then ran through some alley's before reaching a group of seven boys. Louis quickly thought up a clever plan. The older boys were trying to play the horn but all they got was a buzz. Louis told them that they would never be able to play it and asked whether he could show them how to play it. The boys agreed and gave the horn to Louis to show them how to play the horn. But once Louis got the horn back, ...

Who Am I? I am Singapore's latest possesions. I have two tail wings. I belong to the Air Force. Who am I? I have four transparent wings. I have a long abdomen. I can hover on the spot and fly very fast. You can find big compound eyes on my head. Who am I? I am brown and furry. I go through complete metamorphosis. When I am an adult, I grow wings. Who am I? The fastest bird in the World. People use me for hunting. Who am I? I am found in Hawaiian Pizza. Most people eat me for breakfast. I come from the animal that starts with the letter P. Who am I? Vegetable is me name. I belong to the grain family and am yellow in colour. Who am I? Answers F-15 fighter jet Dragonfly Catterpillar Falcon Ham Corn

During the March holidays, I did lots of things. On Tuesday, I went for my second chess competition. I won four rounds! Although it was better than the last time, I still could not get into the chess junior squad. I was very disappointed, but I enjoyed playing with other players. I also realised my weakness, when I play white. On Wednesday, my brothers and I went to a road safety park. My friends, Bailey, Dominic, Christian, and John were there too. When we reached the place, I quickly grabbed a cart as cannot wait to start driving it around the course. I felt like driving a fomular 1. After having fun at the road safety park, we headed home to rest before going to Farrer Park swimming complex for my swim meet. When we reached Farrer park, I started to feel nervous. Soon, it was my turn to swim. I chose the 50m Freestyle event because I was most comfortable with that stroke. When I finished the race, I realised that I was in second place!! I was very happy. In the end, I came in third...

I just finished my Trythalon. The day before, I felt excited and nervous. We had to wake up very early, at about 6:30am so that we could reach the venue by 7.30am. Halfway along the journey, it started to pour heavily. However, when we finally reached Sentosa, the rain subsided. I saw many children riding their bicycles to Tanjong Beach. After checking in our bicycles, we played at the beach, while waiting for the senior and intermediate group to start first. Meanwhile, my brothers and I dug moats on the beach, swam in the sea and watched the older children taking the race. They looked pretty funny when they ran to the transition area to ride their bikes. When it was our turn, daddy brought Jabez and I to the starting point to start our first event; swimming. The water was so shallow that I walked most of the time instead of swimming. There were also too many children in the water and made it difficult to swim. After getting on to our bikes, we started to cycle the 4km distance. This w...

My highlight at the Zoo today was the Kids World and Fragile Forest which I am going to tell you about in this post. At the Kids World, the slides were very fun. There were two slides; one of them was very steep and the other one was slow but spiral in shape. I prefer the steep one because I could slide down very fast in it. There also was a big bucket hanging on top of the playground. When the bell rang, everyone would rush under the bucket and wait for the water in the bucket to fall on them! I enjoyed the water splashing down on me and felt very cooling. Later we went to another section at the kids world, the river raft. There were two rafts in the muddy water. We went to the raft with fewer children. It was absolutely thrilling racing with the other raft up and down the river! At the Fragile Forest it was a nice experience strolling through. We saw butterflies that were flying around, lemurs swinging from branch to branch and Malayan Flying Foxes hanging from the trees. My friend,...

Just now after cycling downstairs, I saw a rainbow! I was so EXCITED because this was my first encounter with a rainbow in Singapore. My first time seeing a rainbow was in Perth! At that time I was only about 7+ and do did not remember much. I quickly took out the camera and took a photo of it. I could only see three colours red, orange and yellow. What was interesting was that, the rainbow started in the middle of the KJE. I thought that the cars would crash into it. We went to check out more from the Internet and found out that rainbows are made when light is refracted through millions of droplets in the air. Rainbows usually occur when there is moisture in the air such as after a rain, when the sun is out. Sunlight is a combination of the visible spectrum, infrared and ultraviolet. Infrared makes the sunlight hot while ultraviolet makes you sunburn or sun tan. However we humans cannot see ultraviolet and infrared except some creatures like the bees! I had a very exciting day. This a...

Proverbs 10:19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise. This story is about Sharon who has a habit of not talking wisely. One day, after school, Sharon shuffled home feeling very miserable. When she reached home, Mrs Miller saw Sharon and knew that there was something strange about her. She decided to talk to Sharon alone. Sharon told her about what happened in school...... Sharon did not talk very wisely to her friends and hurt their feelings. As a result her friends barely talked to her for the rest of the day. Another occasion was when Sharon and her friends were walking to the ball field, she told a silly and loud joke. All her friends stared at her because they was a group of first graders who were sitting on the grass praying. Sharon felt embarassed for being inconsiderate. And at the last recess, she also teased one of the older girls about a boy. Brother Ken sent her to the classroom until recess was over. So Mrs Miller told her that she was ...

Proverbs 9:8 Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Tonight the Miller family were studying the 9th chapter of Proverbs. Dad explained the meaning of wisdom: By knowing what God wants of us and trying to please Him. Dad went on to tell two stories from the Bible. The first one was about Korah, Dathan and Abiram in the book of Numbers. Dad told the children about how Korah, Dathan and Abiham rebelled against Moses and did not listen to his rebuke. The second story was about Aaron and Miriam They also rebelled. However, they admitted their mistake and confessed their sins. Aaron and Miriam were wise but, Korah, Dathan and Abriham were foolish.

This was our first time visiting the Henderson Waves so I am going to blog about it. Yesterday my family and I went to Hort Park after my swimming class. We decided to walk to the Henderson Waves because we wanted to see how it looked like. We started with the forest trail bridge first. When we completed the walk, the Henderson Waves was another distance to walk. When we reached the Henderson Waves bridge, it was very beautiful. The view was very good too and I think we even saw our flats from there! The Henderson Waves really looked like waves! The bridge was made of long strips of wood and at some areas, we could slide down its walls. My brother Nathanael was very excited about sliding. Each time he saw a wave, he will ask daddy to let him slide down. At the end of the walk, we rested on the benches, took some pictures and looked at the map. Do you know what? We were very close to Sentosa! Later we headed back to Hort Park. We were really exhausted by the time we reached the end. The...

Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer of ruler, yet it stores its provision in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Proverbs 6:6-8 story is about Peter, Timmy and Sharon Miller who were supposed to snap beans into pans. But instead of doing what they were told to do, they started complaining. They were arguing about who should get busy first. Soon Mrs Miller heard the commotion they were making. She took out the bible and read aloud from Proverbs 6:6-8. Then later, she pointed to an ant that was carrying a crumb of bread twice its size and the ant did not stop to rest at all. When teh ant reached the edge of the grass, another ant came along to help. Then both ants disappeared with the food. Mrs Miller told her children that the ants did not boss each other around, but worked in a team. The children learned to work together and not to make complaints.

Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Proverbs 4:24 The Millers family were having their evening devotions and dad read to them Proverbs 4. Then dad explained the verse. He said a person who has a froward mouth and perverse lips is someone who argues and talks back. Then mum remembered this incident when she was a child... In her class there was a boy named John, who does not like to obey what the teacher says. For example, when the teacher said to play football, he will reply why can't we play basketball instead. One day, the class went for a field trip to the factory. Over there, the manager brought out white paper hats, shoes and masks for them to wear. Everyone, but John put on the attire. As such he was not allowed to enter the factory. He was asked to sit on a bench with a stern-looking lady. Because of his disobedience, John missed the fun the class had in the factory.

Yesterday my family and I wanted to go to Sentosa to visit a flower exhibition and play at the beach. However, we ended up spending the whole afternoon at the beach instead! Tanjong Beach, has very nice sand. When we reached the place, we quickly took out our buckets and spades, and started digging a big deep pit. It took us a lot of time and effort digging it. My youngest brother decided to join in the fun. But he messed up our sand castles and added more sand into our pit instead. Although he did not help much, we enjoyed him as he was very funny. We had so much fun that when it was time to go, we thought that it was only minutes before we came! I had an unforgettable day.

We are doing botany right now and mummy had just completed a chapter on seeds. I decided to make a miniature garden in our house. First we had to get plants. We chose Mint, Rose, Orchids, and nuts. We bought them at Ten Mile Junction and at a nursery nearby. Do you know, what? Our Orchid plant started to bloom yesterday! I was very surprised that it bloomed so fast, from a small green bud to a flower with five white petals! When we bought it, it had only three flowers. Now the orchid has four flowers. I am waiting for the other four buds to bloom. The next day mummy told us that we could grow small onions! I was very excited to start planting it. I will tell you more about it as soon as it has grown. I am looking forward to the germination process ... My miniuature garden Our Orchid plant

Mummy just read a chapter from Trial and Triumph. I decided to blog my narration.... This story is about Ambrose, a Roman governor who became a bishop. The people and Emperor Theodosius wanted Ambrose to be the bishop because he is kind and generous. He did not want this post because he did not have the training and was not baptised. Emperor Theodosius worshiped at Ambrose church. Once, Theodosius learned about a riot and ordered his soldiers to retaliate violently. Seven thousand people were massacred as a result of this. Ambrose was outraged at the slaughter and commanded him to repent of his sin. Theodosius repented. Later, Ambrose became ill and the christians were greatly fearful of fights and divisions again. However, Ambrose told them not to worry because God will be with them. I admire Ambrose as he was brave enough to tell the Emperor that he had sinned.

Mummy just read a chapter of Trial and Triumph. I decided to blog my narration.... This story is about Ambrose, a Roman governor who became a bishop. The people and Emperor Theodosius wanted Ambrose to be bishop because he is kind and generous. He did not want to be a bishop because he did not have the training and he was not baptised. Emperor Theodosius worshiped at Ambrose church. Once, Theodosius learned about a riot and ordered his soldiers to retaliate violently. Seven thousand people were massacred as a result of this. Ambrose was outraged at the slaughter and commanded him to repent of his sin. Theodosius repented. Later, Ambrose became ill and the Christians were greatly fearful of fights and divisions again however Ambrose told them not to worry because God was with them. I admire Ambrose as he was brave enough to tell the Emperor that he had sinned.

Last week I built a lego ship. It took me about three afternoons to complete this creation. This ship had three decks and my favourite was the top deck because it had a watch tower with a cannon on it. This ship was difficult to build because my box of lego pieces were in a mess. But in the end, I did it with the help of Jabez. What a day and thanks to my brother.

I just came back from Sungei Buloh. I am very excited to blog about my day. This is my second time going out with the homeschool group. Auntie Minna was very kind to give us a ride there. When we reached there, my brothers and I went to look for our friends. But we were surprised that no one was there and we were the first family to arrive. While looking around, we saw a stork-billed kingfisher standing very still on the verandah. I thought it was a statue from far. This kingfisher has a red beak, and its body is blue and yellow in colour. Later, we hiked a trail through the wetlands and was eager to spot birds along the trail. However, we were disappointed that we did not see any migratory birds, although we saw many golden web spiders and a cotton stainer bug. After that we went to a platform for our lunch. We also saw many striped-nosed halfbeaks fish swimming in the water nearby. I noticed they had a white tip on its lower jaw and they were swimming in a group. Later we went to the...

This morning we went to Sungei Beloh with Dominic's playgroup. Over there we hiked a trail to look at birds. I saw a colourful Kingfisher called a Storkbill. On the way I saw a few Monitor Lizards one was in the water the other walking like a duck. they were so big!! Next we went up to the aria to look at birds migrating. There were also White Herons, and common Sandpipers. The view was beautiful because we could see many things from above. My favourite animal at Sungei Beloh was the Monitor Lizard because it was so big and fascinating! However I was a little disappointed because we could not see many birds.