It would seem that wars have always existed side by side with human civilization. They are horrible events full of bloodshed. Some wars’ purpose is to conquer other countries, some to obtain the natural resources of others, some to spread religion, and some to defend themselves. Whatever the reasons are, the destructions and casualties are significant. Therefore I highly urge for all future war plans to be reconsidered and substituted with more peaceful solutions.
Wars are not necessary. There are always a lot of solutions to a problem. It should be avoided as best as we could. Starting a war would be the worst choice anyone could choose. First of all, war costs a lot of money. Instead of spending money to kill and destroy, wouldn’t it be better to spend them on constructive things such as for the benefits and welfare of the citizens. We would also have more funds to help other countries, and build friendly relationships with them, thus eliminating the needs of war.
War also bring heartaches and griefs. It tears families and friends apart. The aftermath of the Korean War is a living proof of this. Some family members were forever separated after Korea separated into South Korea and North Korea.
War endangers a country’s future. Soldiers who came back from wars are often times disturbed and needs a lot of counselling to be able to live normally. They could be disillusioned by what they saw in war that they become unstable and cause further damage in their community.
With so many downsides of wars, a more peaceful alternative to solve conflict is preferable. In the course of history, some examples of successful peaceful actions are boycotting or practising civil disobedience, which had been carried out by Rosa Parks and Mahatma Gandhi.
During the British colonization of India, India citizens were treated unfairly and unequally. Mahatma Gandhi, who was a lawyer at that time, was deeply disturbed and wanted to abolish these inequalities. Gandhi adopted peaceful methods to reach his goals. He frequently made speeches about the inequalities and encourage Indians to fight against them. However, he advocated for a non-violent rebellion. His first method was to encourage the British during hard times, such as when Britain was at war. He hoped that the British would consider the Indians their allies, and change their racist views of Indians. Unfortunately though, this method did not work, and the British continued to treat Indians unfairly.
Then, Gandhi persuaded the Indians to do peaceful civil disobedience and boycott British products. This angered the British and they opened fire at them as a punishment. This resulted with some of the Indians rioting. Despite it all, Gandhi still continued to persuade the Indians not to resort to violence. Had it not been for Gandhi, the Indians would have returned fire themselves. Gandhi continued to hold non-violent demonstrations, boycotting, and negotiation with the British government until India was finally granted Independent in 1947.
Another example is Rosa Parks. She experienced inequality as a black woman and wanted to put an end to it. She inspired a lot of coloured people to rebel when they were treated unfairly, such as not submitting to the rule that they must sit in an assigned area in the bus. Her actions, prompted a lot of the Black communities to refuse to submit to prejudice by simple acts of not using the bus and do carpool instead or refusing to sit in the assigned area. At the end of the boycott, the Supreme Court of Montgomery decreed for the segregation bus law to be abolished.
Those two examples showed that we could do peaceful demonstrations and raise awareness of the problems that we’re facing. Violence or war are definitely avoidable. To resolve conflicts, the main goal is always to raise awareness and then negotiate for solutions. Nowadays, the ever growing social media is a superb method for raising awareness. It’s also a great medium to discuss the problems. Considering the great losses of wars, it would be more beneficial for all parties to find more harmonious solutions.
Wednesday, 23 January 2019
Tuesday, 18 December 2018
About Jobs
In our life, I’m sure that everyone wants a job that they love, but at the same time, get well paid for it. Unfortunately though, that is just a dream to a lot of people. We often meet people who have a really high position in their workplace and a really high salary, but at the same time are stressed and unhappy. There are also people who have a job that they really enjoy, but do not earn much. As our time on earth is precious, I would prefer to have a job that I enjoy so that I could have a good life.
As most people will tell you, time is precious. We need to make good use of our time. Why spend so much of our limited time on things that do not make us happy and gives us so much pressure. A lot of us work every day except on Sundays, which shows just how much we work for the sake of earning money. Then on Sundays, we might be too tired to do anything except for resting. Why should we spend a lot of our time on things that do not satisfy or make us happy?
If we’re not happy at work, often times we will bring the unhappiness back home. When we are tired, our mind won’t be able to think well. We will lash out at every little thing. The atmosphere will be unpleasant. This may make our family members or anyone living with us wary. Our relationship with family members will also deteriorate.
If we are stress or unhappy for a long time, it may give us health problems. It has been discovered that stress can lead to sicknesses such as cancer. Instead of having a lot of money from our high income, we waste a lot of money on medical bills. Is this all really worth it just for the sake of earning money for our living?
There will always be obstacles and hardships in any job that we take. When we have a passion for somethingthat we love, we have the motivation to always try our best when facing obstacles, no matter how hard it is. We will always try to improve ourselves and our jobs too. Thus, we will be able to grow in our career faster. On the other hand, when we encounter a setback while doing a task that we dislike, it will be harder for us to solve it because we lack enthusiasm.
Why should we pressure ourselves with earning a lot of money? It’s not worth it. As long as we are able to earn enough for our living and some extras. Money isn’t everything, and we cannot buy happiness. Those who chose the jobs that they like will have a much happier life. Even if they don’t make much money, they will at least be able to earn enough for their lives. Those who don’t like their jobs might earn much more but in reality they dislike their repetitive tiring lives.
As most people will tell you, time is precious. We need to make good use of our time. Why spend so much of our limited time on things that do not make us happy and gives us so much pressure. A lot of us work every day except on Sundays, which shows just how much we work for the sake of earning money. Then on Sundays, we might be too tired to do anything except for resting. Why should we spend a lot of our time on things that do not satisfy or make us happy?
If we’re not happy at work, often times we will bring the unhappiness back home. When we are tired, our mind won’t be able to think well. We will lash out at every little thing. The atmosphere will be unpleasant. This may make our family members or anyone living with us wary. Our relationship with family members will also deteriorate.
If we are stress or unhappy for a long time, it may give us health problems. It has been discovered that stress can lead to sicknesses such as cancer. Instead of having a lot of money from our high income, we waste a lot of money on medical bills. Is this all really worth it just for the sake of earning money for our living?
There will always be obstacles and hardships in any job that we take. When we have a passion for somethingthat we love, we have the motivation to always try our best when facing obstacles, no matter how hard it is. We will always try to improve ourselves and our jobs too. Thus, we will be able to grow in our career faster. On the other hand, when we encounter a setback while doing a task that we dislike, it will be harder for us to solve it because we lack enthusiasm.
Why should we pressure ourselves with earning a lot of money? It’s not worth it. As long as we are able to earn enough for our living and some extras. Money isn’t everything, and we cannot buy happiness. Those who chose the jobs that they like will have a much happier life. Even if they don’t make much money, they will at least be able to earn enough for their lives. Those who don’t like their jobs might earn much more but in reality they dislike their repetitive tiring lives.
Thursday, 29 November 2018
Chromatography With Natural Colours
Out of curiosity, I wanted to know if the colours in nature are made up of different colours too. So I decided to do chromatography on flowers, using this website as a guide.
Initially, I wanted to use the flowers hibiscus and Clitoria Ternatea for my experiment. Unfortunately though, I couldn't find the latter and so had to walk around my neighbourhood to find for other flowers. There were a lot of pink flowers, but according to the website, pink flowers may not work well. In the end, I found 2 red flowers (Hibiscus and Maule's Quince ), red Plumeria and Allamanda.
Materials:
- Flowers
- Filter paper
- Alcohol
- Clear glass jars
- Spoon/anything hard to crush the flowers
- Scissors
First, I crushed some of the Hibiscus petals using the spoon in the middle of the filter paper. I did this to take the pigments out. I expected red to come out, but surprisingly, a purplish colour went out instead. It's kind of wet, so I left it out to dry for a while.
While waiting for the hibiscus colour to dry, I crushed all the Allamanda petals. I forgot to leave a petal or 2 out to show you the flower.
Next I crushed the Maule's Quince petals. As it's really red, the purple colour that came out was much stronger than the Hibiscus's.
After that, I crushed the red Plumeria. If you see the petals, there is the colour yellow, but no yellow pigment came out, only the purple one. It's not as strong as the other purples, though.
I then cut a strip from the edge of the circle to the pigments. After filler the glass cups with water and some alcohol, I dipped the strip into the water. Next up is waiting!
From left to right, top to bottom: Hibiscus, Maule's Quince, red Plumeria, Allamanda.
After waiting for half an hour or more, these are the results I got:
From what I observed in the experiment, the red from the Hibiscus was made up of purplish brown and yellow, while the red Plumeria was made up of faded purple, faded yellow, and brownish yellow. The Maule's Quince was made up of purple, yellow, and a tiny bit of brownish yellow, and the Allamanda was made up of brown.
Conclusion:
When compared to the synthetic colours in the previous post, the natural colours aren't as strong as the synthetic ones. The colours that made up the synthetic ones mostly true to their colours; red is made up of red and pink, green is made up of green and a tiny bit of blue. However, in the case of colors from nature, the colours separated may not be the colours we originally see. The red in the Hibiscus and Maule's Quince was not made up of red, pink, or any colours that are close to it but purplish brown and yellow.
The colours of the flowers were really bright, but when mixed with water and separated, I observed that the colours are dark and dull and it seemed to always contained some brown. Meanwhile, the synthetic colours didn’t change much; they still have their brightness and colour. This might be because the particles of the natural colours dissolve in the water, while synthetic colours are synthetically made to retain its original colour.
Initially, I wanted to use the flowers hibiscus and Clitoria Ternatea for my experiment. Unfortunately though, I couldn't find the latter and so had to walk around my neighbourhood to find for other flowers. There were a lot of pink flowers, but according to the website, pink flowers may not work well. In the end, I found 2 red flowers (Hibiscus and Maule's Quince ), red Plumeria and Allamanda.
Materials:
- Flowers
- Filter paper
- Alcohol
- Clear glass jars
- Spoon/anything hard to crush the flowers
- Scissors
First, I crushed some of the Hibiscus petals using the spoon in the middle of the filter paper. I did this to take the pigments out. I expected red to come out, but surprisingly, a purplish colour went out instead. It's kind of wet, so I left it out to dry for a while.
While waiting for the hibiscus colour to dry, I crushed all the Allamanda petals. I forgot to leave a petal or 2 out to show you the flower.
Next I crushed the Maule's Quince petals. As it's really red, the purple colour that came out was much stronger than the Hibiscus's.
After that, I crushed the red Plumeria. If you see the petals, there is the colour yellow, but no yellow pigment came out, only the purple one. It's not as strong as the other purples, though.
I then cut a strip from the edge of the circle to the pigments. After filler the glass cups with water and some alcohol, I dipped the strip into the water. Next up is waiting!
From left to right, top to bottom: Hibiscus, Maule's Quince, red Plumeria, Allamanda.
After waiting for half an hour or more, these are the results I got:
 |
| Hibiscus and red Plumeria. |
 |
| Maule’s Quince and Allamanda |
Conclusion:
When compared to the synthetic colours in the previous post, the natural colours aren't as strong as the synthetic ones. The colours that made up the synthetic ones mostly true to their colours; red is made up of red and pink, green is made up of green and a tiny bit of blue. However, in the case of colors from nature, the colours separated may not be the colours we originally see. The red in the Hibiscus and Maule's Quince was not made up of red, pink, or any colours that are close to it but purplish brown and yellow.
The colours of the flowers were really bright, but when mixed with water and separated, I observed that the colours are dark and dull and it seemed to always contained some brown. Meanwhile, the synthetic colours didn’t change much; they still have their brightness and colour. This might be because the particles of the natural colours dissolve in the water, while synthetic colours are synthetically made to retain its original colour.
Wednesday, 28 November 2018
Chromatography With Synthetic Colours
Recently, I learned about chromatography in my O Level Chemistry. Chromatography is the separating of the colours that are in a chemical mixture using water on a filter paper. One of its uses is to check if the colouring used does not contain any banned chemical.
There were 2 choices of how I could set up the experiment in my chemistry book, by using either a circular filter paper or just using a strip of it. I decided to use the circular one, because I have that filter paper. Cutting just a strip out of it would be a waste. It's also easier to set up for me.
Materials:
- Beaker/see-through glass
- Filter paper
- Food Colours (the chemical I want to experiment with)
- Markers (the chemical I want to experiment with)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
First, I filled the beaker with water (around 250 ml), then dotted the middle of the filter paper with purple food colour. I then cut a strip of the filter paper, 1 cm wide, from the edge of the paper to the centre. Unfortunately, though, my dot was too big, so I couldn't use it. The water won't be able to separate the colours well if it's too big; I need a bigger filter paper for the colours to separate.
So I repeated the steps above, except with a smaller dot. I fold the strip of paper down in the middle and put the filter paper on top of the beaker, making sure that the end of the strip of paper touches the water. The water will soak the paper, and will move up the paper. When it touches the ink, it will separate the colours as it spreads out on the filter paper.
My food colouring has never been used for years, so some of the food colour around the bottle dropper had dried and became powder-like. Some of the powder fell on the strip, and when they got the water, they spread out as pink. You can see it in the picture on the right.
After waiting for around 15 minutes, I started to see a reaction. The first colour that I saw spread out was red, then a little bit of blue. This is how it looks like after I waited a bit longer, around 15 minutes later:
Next, I tried the red food colour:
I made the dot too big, but at least it isn't as big as my first dot at the start of this experiment.
This is how it looked like after 30 minutes:
The only colour I see in this food colour is red. After that I decided to do several colour tests together so that I save time. Otherwise I had to wait around 30 minutes for each test to finish and I wanted to do a lot of colour tests.
This is what happened around 30 minutes later.
A closer look:
I wasn't satisfied with the colour spread of the blue marker, so I decided to change markers. This is the result of my second experiment:
I noticed that the edges of the colour spread vary. The edges of the colour spread from the food colouring are wavy, while the edges of the markers are round and smooth.
The colour spread of the green and brown marker, red and yellow food colouring is true to its respective colour. Green markers produces green colour, brown markers produces brown colour, red food colouring produces red colour and yellow food colouring produces yellow. Whereas the blue board marker produces blue and pink colours. I thought that this was interesting as I didn’t expected pink in a blue marker.I noticed that blue and pink/red appears a lot. I don't exactly know why, but perhaps it's because they're 2 of the 3 primary colours.
Why do different colours rise to different levels? This is because the particles of each colour have different solubility (how well they dissolve in water). Those which are less soluble and doesn't dissolve in water well aren't easily brought along by the water. While those that are more soluble dissolves better in water and are easily brought along the water as it goes up the paper.
It was pretty fun making this experiment, as I could see all the different colours that make up some food colours and markers. This experiment was also time-effective. I had to wait quite long for the colours to spread, so while waiting, I could do my other studies while waiting.
There were 2 choices of how I could set up the experiment in my chemistry book, by using either a circular filter paper or just using a strip of it. I decided to use the circular one, because I have that filter paper. Cutting just a strip out of it would be a waste. It's also easier to set up for me.
Materials:
- Beaker/see-through glass
- Filter paper
- Food Colours (the chemical I want to experiment with)
- Markers (the chemical I want to experiment with)
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Scissors
First, I filled the beaker with water (around 250 ml), then dotted the middle of the filter paper with purple food colour. I then cut a strip of the filter paper, 1 cm wide, from the edge of the paper to the centre. Unfortunately, though, my dot was too big, so I couldn't use it. The water won't be able to separate the colours well if it's too big; I need a bigger filter paper for the colours to separate.
So I repeated the steps above, except with a smaller dot. I fold the strip of paper down in the middle and put the filter paper on top of the beaker, making sure that the end of the strip of paper touches the water. The water will soak the paper, and will move up the paper. When it touches the ink, it will separate the colours as it spreads out on the filter paper.
My food colouring has never been used for years, so some of the food colour around the bottle dropper had dried and became powder-like. Some of the powder fell on the strip, and when they got the water, they spread out as pink. You can see it in the picture on the right.
After waiting for around 15 minutes, I started to see a reaction. The first colour that I saw spread out was red, then a little bit of blue. This is how it looks like after I waited a bit longer, around 15 minutes later:
Next, I tried the red food colour:
 |
 |
I made the dot too big, but at least it isn't as big as my first dot at the start of this experiment.
This is how it looked like after 30 minutes:
The only colour I see in this food colour is red. After that I decided to do several colour tests together so that I save time. Otherwise I had to wait around 30 minutes for each test to finish and I wanted to do a lot of colour tests.
This is what happened around 30 minutes later.
A closer look:
 |
 |
 |
 |
I wasn't satisfied with the colour spread of the blue marker, so I decided to change markers. This is the result of my second experiment:
 |
| Satisfying |
The colour spread of the green and brown marker, red and yellow food colouring is true to its respective colour. Green markers produces green colour, brown markers produces brown colour, red food colouring produces red colour and yellow food colouring produces yellow. Whereas the blue board marker produces blue and pink colours. I thought that this was interesting as I didn’t expected pink in a blue marker.I noticed that blue and pink/red appears a lot. I don't exactly know why, but perhaps it's because they're 2 of the 3 primary colours.
Why do different colours rise to different levels? This is because the particles of each colour have different solubility (how well they dissolve in water). Those which are less soluble and doesn't dissolve in water well aren't easily brought along by the water. While those that are more soluble dissolves better in water and are easily brought along the water as it goes up the paper.
It was pretty fun making this experiment, as I could see all the different colours that make up some food colours and markers. This experiment was also time-effective. I had to wait quite long for the colours to spread, so while waiting, I could do my other studies while waiting.
Thursday, 22 November 2018
Homeschooling: An Alternative for Education
Recently, homeschooling has become a popular choice among families who are not comfortable with the limitations of formal schooling, my family included. Some people confuse homeschool with flexi school or tutoring. Homeschooling is learning on our own in our home. As for Flexi schools, students study at home but still go to classes organized by the educational organization two to three days a week. Whereas tutoring is having someone come and teach you at your home.
There are also many different home schooling methods. Some followed a method made by Charlotte Mason and there are those who pay for a program where they can get printable modules. Some others, like me, designed our own lessons. There are various more types of homeschooling, but those 3 methods above are the ones that I’m most familiar with. I studied in a formal school up to primary level. Afterwards, I began homeschooling for junior high level. Homeschooling is much more flexible in many aspects, including time management, subjects we learn, teaching methods, etc. Although homeschooling is far from perfect, I think its benefits outweigh its limitations.
I experienced quiet a staggering amount of school tasks when I was in primary school and up till now, I still get plenty of complaints from my former primary classmates about their pile of works. They had to follow the government’s curriculum, which includes a lot of subjects. Students have to study math, science, Bahasa Indonesia, religion, PKN, etc. After school, they still have academic courses (bimbel) to catch up with their school subjects. Additionally, they also must complete tons of projects and study for exams. That leaves no time for them to pursue subjects that they are interested in.
With homeschooling, I had a more flexible schedule compared to my school friends. I only studied the necessary subjects that I need for my life and things that interests me. I study basic lessons such as math to calculate well, science to understand how everything works, language so I can communicate correctly with others, geography and history so I know about the world I live in. I also play music for fun. My average schedule everyday consists of several hours of math, science, and geography. Additionally, I also study English, history, and music as subjects that I have great interest in.
In most schools, students are usually taught in a uniform style. Students’ uniqueness and abilities are not taken into consideration. All students have their own learning styles and talents. Teachers expect students to learn what they teach in the same way and the same pace. This will result in that some students will fail in some subjects because they are not good at it. They will be given extra lessons and pressured to improve their grade. On the other hand, the subjects that the students excelled at will be overlooked because their grade is already good enough to pass. This situation will make the students feel frustrated because they are only drilled to focus to improve their weaknesses. Yes, weaknesses should not be ignored, but it’s the students’ capabilities that should be developed. This will make them excel in what they’re good at; they will not become a “Jack of all trades”. It’s a figure of speech used to call people who are able to do everything, both their weaknesses and strengths, but they are a master of none.
School teaching methods are also usually teacher-centered. Teachers control the subject materials and study pace. They “spoon fed” the lessons to the students; the teacher explain and the students are expected to pay attention. Afterwards, they will be given exercises to do and they will be expected to complete the exercises according to what the teachers have taught. Students are usually not allowed to have different answers or working methods to the exercises.
Meanwhile homeschool is student centered. This means that the children have control (with parent supervision) over their study pace. They have to make their own study schedules and learn the lessons on their own. They are not required to finish learning the lesson within a certain time frame (one hour for example), but the goal is to master and understand the lesson, however long it takes.
A lot of people are still confused about how homeschoolers learn. Well, I just open my textbook and read! I then try to understand the chapters and do the written and practical exercises from the books. When I have trouble understanding my lessons, I proactively find and use other resources to help me. Some of my sources are my parents (they are not teachers), the internet, and books. We have to read and understand the lessons on our own, without a teacher to explain directly to us. We will be more independent problem solvers because we do not depend on just our teachers to help us, but we learn to find different methods to learn until we understand the lessons.
I learned to discipline myself through homeschooling. When I was at school, I did my school tasks mostly out of fear of my teacher. It’s not that my teachers are fierce, it’s just that they are capable of threatening us and are able to give out punishments. Until now, I still have problems with disciplining myself. Back home, there was no one to do those, so I sometimes still wait for my mom’s presence and reminders to study. My parents didn’t threaten and punish me because they want me to be able to control and discipline myself. I often hear comments about how homeschool students lack socialization. This is an ignorant comment. As much as I’d like to be respectful here and not judge other people’s questions, I really find that question annoying. It’s as if because I am a homeschool student, I’m scared of other people and I don’t socialize at all. Homeschool students have more flexibility in socializing than school students. We learn to socialize in different kind of situations and with people of all ages, not limited to just students our age.
I have learned to make friends with different type of people through my every day activities. I have friends from my homeschool club, workshops that I joined, courses, and events. I also get the chance to meet and talk with my neighbours when I am walking my 3 dogs. They range from as young as 6-7 years old to middle aged adults. I learned different ways to talk with different kinds of people. I’d like to tell you of one of my group of friends. Behind my neighbourhood there is a slum and they often roam around my neighbourhood. Most of them are afraid of dogs and would run off if they see them. Now one morning I was walking my dogs and a group of slum girls took interest in my dogs. They watched from afar and took photos of them, but they still didn’t dare come near us. I told them that my dogs are not fierce and won’t bite and encouraged the girls to pat them if they want to, which they did. They had fun interacting with my dogs and became attached to them. The girls and I also became friends. School students usually have a more limited socialization environment. They usually make friends with classmates their age just because they spend nearly the whole week with them in their classrooms. Aside from that, they might make friends while they attend tuitions outside of school. School children also often suffer from peer pressure, where we have to change ourselves to be accepted by others. A lot of these students don’t know how to interact with people outside of this zone. From my personal experience, usually homeschoolers are more open to people compared to school kids. When I first met my other homeschooler friends, I could feel that they were much more open and friendly. When I participated in homeschool events, the homeschoolers are usually quite happy to meet new friends. In comparison, when I had gymnastics class comprised of all school students, I discovered that the students there have groups, exclusively made out of their own don’t often mingle with students outside their group.
In my country, there is a mandatory national exam to be taken at the end of our primary level, junior high, and senior high. To be able to join the exam, I joined a government institution called a PKBM to have my student number registered. They will take care of student administrations for the exam to the government, and all I have to do are sign some papers. PKBM is a place where homeschoolers who have no resources to learn from can meet up to discuss about their lessons. There are mentors there too to help us out.
Homeschooling is not for everyone. However, for families who think that formal schooling gives negative impacts to their children, homeschooling can be considered as an alternative. There are many ways to learning and receiving education. We can choose the methods that suit us the best. The most important thing though, is that we learn and are happy.
Have you ever seen this funny video about homeschooling? Check it out here!
There are also many different home schooling methods. Some followed a method made by Charlotte Mason and there are those who pay for a program where they can get printable modules. Some others, like me, designed our own lessons. There are various more types of homeschooling, but those 3 methods above are the ones that I’m most familiar with. I studied in a formal school up to primary level. Afterwards, I began homeschooling for junior high level. Homeschooling is much more flexible in many aspects, including time management, subjects we learn, teaching methods, etc. Although homeschooling is far from perfect, I think its benefits outweigh its limitations.
I experienced quiet a staggering amount of school tasks when I was in primary school and up till now, I still get plenty of complaints from my former primary classmates about their pile of works. They had to follow the government’s curriculum, which includes a lot of subjects. Students have to study math, science, Bahasa Indonesia, religion, PKN, etc. After school, they still have academic courses (bimbel) to catch up with their school subjects. Additionally, they also must complete tons of projects and study for exams. That leaves no time for them to pursue subjects that they are interested in.
With homeschooling, I had a more flexible schedule compared to my school friends. I only studied the necessary subjects that I need for my life and things that interests me. I study basic lessons such as math to calculate well, science to understand how everything works, language so I can communicate correctly with others, geography and history so I know about the world I live in. I also play music for fun. My average schedule everyday consists of several hours of math, science, and geography. Additionally, I also study English, history, and music as subjects that I have great interest in.
In most schools, students are usually taught in a uniform style. Students’ uniqueness and abilities are not taken into consideration. All students have their own learning styles and talents. Teachers expect students to learn what they teach in the same way and the same pace. This will result in that some students will fail in some subjects because they are not good at it. They will be given extra lessons and pressured to improve their grade. On the other hand, the subjects that the students excelled at will be overlooked because their grade is already good enough to pass. This situation will make the students feel frustrated because they are only drilled to focus to improve their weaknesses. Yes, weaknesses should not be ignored, but it’s the students’ capabilities that should be developed. This will make them excel in what they’re good at; they will not become a “Jack of all trades”. It’s a figure of speech used to call people who are able to do everything, both their weaknesses and strengths, but they are a master of none.
School teaching methods are also usually teacher-centered. Teachers control the subject materials and study pace. They “spoon fed” the lessons to the students; the teacher explain and the students are expected to pay attention. Afterwards, they will be given exercises to do and they will be expected to complete the exercises according to what the teachers have taught. Students are usually not allowed to have different answers or working methods to the exercises.
Meanwhile homeschool is student centered. This means that the children have control (with parent supervision) over their study pace. They have to make their own study schedules and learn the lessons on their own. They are not required to finish learning the lesson within a certain time frame (one hour for example), but the goal is to master and understand the lesson, however long it takes.
A lot of people are still confused about how homeschoolers learn. Well, I just open my textbook and read! I then try to understand the chapters and do the written and practical exercises from the books. When I have trouble understanding my lessons, I proactively find and use other resources to help me. Some of my sources are my parents (they are not teachers), the internet, and books. We have to read and understand the lessons on our own, without a teacher to explain directly to us. We will be more independent problem solvers because we do not depend on just our teachers to help us, but we learn to find different methods to learn until we understand the lessons.
I learned to discipline myself through homeschooling. When I was at school, I did my school tasks mostly out of fear of my teacher. It’s not that my teachers are fierce, it’s just that they are capable of threatening us and are able to give out punishments. Until now, I still have problems with disciplining myself. Back home, there was no one to do those, so I sometimes still wait for my mom’s presence and reminders to study. My parents didn’t threaten and punish me because they want me to be able to control and discipline myself. I often hear comments about how homeschool students lack socialization. This is an ignorant comment. As much as I’d like to be respectful here and not judge other people’s questions, I really find that question annoying. It’s as if because I am a homeschool student, I’m scared of other people and I don’t socialize at all. Homeschool students have more flexibility in socializing than school students. We learn to socialize in different kind of situations and with people of all ages, not limited to just students our age.
I have learned to make friends with different type of people through my every day activities. I have friends from my homeschool club, workshops that I joined, courses, and events. I also get the chance to meet and talk with my neighbours when I am walking my 3 dogs. They range from as young as 6-7 years old to middle aged adults. I learned different ways to talk with different kinds of people. I’d like to tell you of one of my group of friends. Behind my neighbourhood there is a slum and they often roam around my neighbourhood. Most of them are afraid of dogs and would run off if they see them. Now one morning I was walking my dogs and a group of slum girls took interest in my dogs. They watched from afar and took photos of them, but they still didn’t dare come near us. I told them that my dogs are not fierce and won’t bite and encouraged the girls to pat them if they want to, which they did. They had fun interacting with my dogs and became attached to them. The girls and I also became friends. School students usually have a more limited socialization environment. They usually make friends with classmates their age just because they spend nearly the whole week with them in their classrooms. Aside from that, they might make friends while they attend tuitions outside of school. School children also often suffer from peer pressure, where we have to change ourselves to be accepted by others. A lot of these students don’t know how to interact with people outside of this zone. From my personal experience, usually homeschoolers are more open to people compared to school kids. When I first met my other homeschooler friends, I could feel that they were much more open and friendly. When I participated in homeschool events, the homeschoolers are usually quite happy to meet new friends. In comparison, when I had gymnastics class comprised of all school students, I discovered that the students there have groups, exclusively made out of their own don’t often mingle with students outside their group.
In my country, there is a mandatory national exam to be taken at the end of our primary level, junior high, and senior high. To be able to join the exam, I joined a government institution called a PKBM to have my student number registered. They will take care of student administrations for the exam to the government, and all I have to do are sign some papers. PKBM is a place where homeschoolers who have no resources to learn from can meet up to discuss about their lessons. There are mentors there too to help us out.
Homeschooling is not for everyone. However, for families who think that formal schooling gives negative impacts to their children, homeschooling can be considered as an alternative. There are many ways to learning and receiving education. We can choose the methods that suit us the best. The most important thing though, is that we learn and are happy.
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| Learning anywhere anytime. |
Have you ever seen this funny video about homeschooling? Check it out here!
Wednesday, 10 October 2018
Why Should We Spay/Neuter Our Dogs?
First of all, God made all living things able to reproduce to ensure the continuation of the species. Animals, unlike humans, mate out of instinct. Whenever a male dog sees or smells a female dog that’s having loops (period), they will want to mate with it. Female dogs, on the other hand, may not want to mate.
There’s also a problem of dog’s overpopulation, due to uncontrolled and over breeding of certain breeds for commercial and personal purposes by irresponsible dog breeders. By spaying and neutering their pet dogs, pet owners can help keep the population in check and ensure that there wouldn’t be accidental pregnancy which would results in more puppies than the owner could take care of. There are already certified breeders that keep on adding up the dog population. The fate of these puppies are sometimes worrying because when the owner isn’t able to take care of them, they are either sold or given away or abandoned in the street. Additionally, some dogs’ genes are immediately related to sicknesses like blindness. One small change in the dogs’ DNA because of careless and unmonitored breeding may make the dog more prone to those sicknesses.
Neutering also improves male dog’s behaviours. They won’t be territorial and don’t feel the need to mark their areas. Dogs mark their areas by peeing on them. Therefore, their actions could be really inconvenient. I have two male dogs, Chiko and Speedy. Chiko is neutered; while Speedy is not, due to a health problem. Chiko never marks his area inside our house. However, Speedy marks everywhere, even on my piano bag, repetitively. I had to keep washing it. It has become very annoying and inconvenient that we had to put on baby diapers on him for almost all day long. Some owners might keep their dog locked in a cage outside of their house because of this problem. However, keeping a dog locked in a cage is not healthy for the dog, physically and emotionally. Isn’t it better to just neuter the dog when it’s possible?
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| Chiko who was neutered |
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My neighbour's chihuahua that was kept 24 hours in his cage outside because he kept on marking inside the house.
Neutering will also improve a dog’s overall health. According to researches neutering will prevent uterine and breast cancer for the female dogs and testicular cancer for the male dogs. Some male dogs might be so persistent in trying to mate a female dog that they may hurt themselves. One of my friend’s German Shepherd, which was tied to a pole outside of their house, tried so hard to follow a female dog passing by, that he fainted. He pulled on his leash so hard and repetitively that he choked. A dog may feel pain for around a week after they’re neutered, but which one is worse? Feeling pain for a week or a male dog wanting to mate every female dog that are in heat but are unable to? Or probably getting cancer when the dog is older? Aside for proper breeding or proper breeding experiments, dogs should be neutered for both dogs and humans’ benefit.
Sunday, 9 September 2018
My Music Part 2
By the time the exam day arrived,I felt fully prepared! All the exams were conducted in the auditorium and piano rooms at the main Gloriamus building. My exam was in the auditorium. The students had to prepare a photocopy of each piece that we play for the examiners. From the number of photocopies we prepare, you can then deduce how many examiners would be there in your level. The number of pieces we play for our exams and the number of examiners vary for the different levels. We will give the photocopies to the examiners before we start playing the pieces.
After I registered, all I had to do was wait, wait, wait, as the last student a level below me was still having her exam. Waiting is always the worst part of exams, as my nervousness just piled up one upon the other. My wait was so long though, that I became numb when I was called to enter the examination room.
Usually, when I play in exams or competitions, my fingers would shake due to nervousness. Strangely though, when I started playing my pieces my hands didn’t shake and I felt calm and relaxed. My hands gave away though towards the end of the exam and they shook, but I was able to finish my exam with hardly any mistakes.
Several weeks later, it was announced on the course's bulletin board that I got first rank (as usual), for both the flute and piano examinations. Thus, I was invited to perform in my school’s Year End Concert. The Year End Concert is part of Gloriamus’ yearly activity, in which the students who have achieved first, second, and third ranks in the exams are invited to perform one of their best exam songs chosen by the judges. Lucky for me, I was to play my favourite song out of all my exam songs, which is the Fantasie Impromptu. At the end of the concert, there will be an award ceremony. Those who performed in the concert will receive a certificate and trophy for achieving first, second, and third ranks; and those who receive high scores in the music theory exam would also receive their theory certificates on that day. There would be an ensemble performance too, where the students would perform 2 songs: "Dari Sabang Sampai Merauke" and "Carol of the Bells". I would also be playing flute in the ensemble with 2 other flutists. There would also be a Guzheng performance by two musicians who were invited by the school. Everyone was invited to come to the concert and watch if they want to as the purpose of this concert was to motivate other students who hadn't achieved any ranks yet.On the day of the concert though, I also had a piano competition in CDE Open Piano Competition. My category was scheduled around the same time as my scheduled concert performance.
Joining this competition was a pact that I made with my teacher. When I requested Fantasie Impromptu months before the Gloriamus exam to my teacher,I expected my teacher to deny my request, as I thought it was still too hard for me because it's known to be an advanced song. To my surprise, she accepted it, but with the condition that I join the competition. As I really liked and wanted to play Fantasie Impromptu, I agreed immediately. Originally, I didn't want to join the competition as I would've just had my exam and didn't want to feel the nervousness of performing perfectly again.
For the competition, I play in the category Advance A. I'm only required to play one song of my choice. I decided to use one of my exam songs so that I won't have to do double work. My first choice was Fantasie Impromptu, but then I changed my mind and decided on Sinfonia 12 by Bach instead. Why?The total pages of the Sinfonia is only around a quarter of the total pages of Fantasie Impromptu, so I would spend less time on stage playing Sinfonia than playing the Fantasie Impromptu.
Because I had to play in both the concert and the competition, I had to make several trips back and forth from the hotel where the competition was held and the concert auditorium. Luckily, the auditorium and the hotel were not so far from each other. It only took around 15 minutes to get from one place to the other.
First, I went to the competition. I was the last one to play in my category. I had to wait for the previous category to finish so I had to wait pretty long. I was a little bit nervous while waiting for my category to start. It got worse when I was finally called and asked to sit in the participants' chairs. I was supposed to compete against 9 other participants, but one didn't come.
As I listened to the other competitors performing, I realized that the piano quality wasn’t sharp and clear. I didn't like it very much. When it was my time to perform, I put all my focus on my music, ignoring all the distractions around me and just on playing all that I’ve practised and learned. I was able to play well, with hardly any mistakes.
After I finished my piece, I didn’t get any time to cool down. I rushed immediately to the concert hall for my school’s Year End Performance. The concert was divided into two sessions with intermissions ensemble and Guzheng performance in between. The first session was for piano performances and the second session was for all other instruments. I was supposed to perform Fantasie Impromptu at the end of the first session, but I didn’t arrive in time. I had to skip my piano performance and play my flute ensemble pieces: "Dari Sabang Sampai Merauke" and "Carol of the Bells".
I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't perform the Fantasie Impromptu in the first session because the first session was attended by pianists. I had practised it so much that I really wanted to perform my favourite song perfectly in front of other pianists, who would understand the music better.
After the Ensemble’s Performance, it was time for the award ceremony. The MC called the students to get on the stage and stand in a row according to their exam categories. A teacher will then distribute the trophies one by one to the students while the MC called out the student’s name and what rank the student got. I stood at the very end of the row. I was waiting for my awards to come, but it didn't! The MC didn't even mention me. She had forgotten about me! Luckily, the teacher who gave the awards noticed me and asked the MC for my awards. The MC apologized and said that I didn't perform before so she thought that I didn't come.
While waiting for the second session to start,the Guzheng performers practised on stage. They were the first to perform. I didn't know if they performed in the first session because I wasn't present and the ensemble performance was the last performance in the first session. I'm glad that I got a chance to see them perform.
The Guzheng performance was great! They played two songs and one of them was a church song. It was interesting to hear a western song being performed with a traditional Chinese instrument. There were 2 Guzheng players, so they played the song like a duet. They looked very graceful while playing with their hands flowing back and forth the strings. The sound that the Guzheng made is similar to plucked string instruments, but even more clear and vibrating. Once in a while the players would play several strings very quickly to make trills, which sounded beautiful.
After the Guzheng performance, I had to hurry backstage because next was another ensemble performance.After the performance, I was rescheduled to play Fantasie Impromptu and then my flute piece.
I was nervous playing Fantasie Impromptu and my fingers shook while playing it, but I was able to play it well. The only thing I regretted from that performance was that I coughed when I was around 2 bars away from finishing the song. I held it since I was halfway through the last page but it slipped out just nearing the ending where I was playing softly and calmly because I was about to wrap up the song. So you can imagine how loud the cough sounded. It totally spoiled the performance for me.
My flute performance wasn't as good as my piano one as I was even more nervous now. My playing wasn't stable and the notes didn't come out clear. I also didn't play out the character of my song well. It was supposed to be a fun song, but I didn't play as happy and upbeat as the song should be. With the end of my flute performance and thus I completed all the performances of the day. I only need to wait for competition results and award collections.
The certificate and trophy for achieving first rank on my flute exam will be given out after the second session’s performances are over. Thus, there was still some extra time so I went back to the piano competition to see how I did. Before the winners were announced, the MC promoted the sponsors who sponsored the competition and the music school that held the competition. One of the judges also gave advice and tips on piano performing. I wasn't nervous while waiting, but to avoid getting nervous if the MC talked too long, I played games on my dad's phone. Luckily, I didn't get nervous.
Finally, it was time for my category to go up stage. Those who won will be called to step forward. I didn't expect much, I just hoped for at least getting the 3rd win. Lo and behold, I won 1st place. Other than getting a trophy; I got a voucher, a book, and some prize money.
Now that the CDE Open Piano Competition had officially ended, I went back to Gloriamus for the awards sessions. Once again, I was called up to the stage and the teachers distributed the certificate and trophy for those who achieved ranking on their musical instruments examination. This time I wasn’t forgotten. Yayy!
I felt really happy that I got to perform my favorite song, Fantasie Impromptu, and on top of that, I won first place in the CDE Open Piano Competition.
The one on the left and middle are my first rank trophies and the one on the right is the competition trophy. This is one of the songs that I played in the ensemble.
For now, this is my last music trophy, because I am no longer interested in participating in competitions and Gloriamus exam because the practise sessions take up too much of my time and I would like to use my time for exploring other things. Doing many concerts and competitions are all like training me to become a piano performer, but that's not my goal. I hope you understand!
After I registered, all I had to do was wait, wait, wait, as the last student a level below me was still having her exam. Waiting is always the worst part of exams, as my nervousness just piled up one upon the other. My wait was so long though, that I became numb when I was called to enter the examination room.
Usually, when I play in exams or competitions, my fingers would shake due to nervousness. Strangely though, when I started playing my pieces my hands didn’t shake and I felt calm and relaxed. My hands gave away though towards the end of the exam and they shook, but I was able to finish my exam with hardly any mistakes.
Several weeks later, it was announced on the course's bulletin board that I got first rank (as usual), for both the flute and piano examinations. Thus, I was invited to perform in my school’s Year End Concert. The Year End Concert is part of Gloriamus’ yearly activity, in which the students who have achieved first, second, and third ranks in the exams are invited to perform one of their best exam songs chosen by the judges. Lucky for me, I was to play my favourite song out of all my exam songs, which is the Fantasie Impromptu. At the end of the concert, there will be an award ceremony. Those who performed in the concert will receive a certificate and trophy for achieving first, second, and third ranks; and those who receive high scores in the music theory exam would also receive their theory certificates on that day. There would be an ensemble performance too, where the students would perform 2 songs: "Dari Sabang Sampai Merauke" and "Carol of the Bells". I would also be playing flute in the ensemble with 2 other flutists. There would also be a Guzheng performance by two musicians who were invited by the school. Everyone was invited to come to the concert and watch if they want to as the purpose of this concert was to motivate other students who hadn't achieved any ranks yet.On the day of the concert though, I also had a piano competition in CDE Open Piano Competition. My category was scheduled around the same time as my scheduled concert performance.
Joining this competition was a pact that I made with my teacher. When I requested Fantasie Impromptu months before the Gloriamus exam to my teacher,I expected my teacher to deny my request, as I thought it was still too hard for me because it's known to be an advanced song. To my surprise, she accepted it, but with the condition that I join the competition. As I really liked and wanted to play Fantasie Impromptu, I agreed immediately. Originally, I didn't want to join the competition as I would've just had my exam and didn't want to feel the nervousness of performing perfectly again.
For the competition, I play in the category Advance A. I'm only required to play one song of my choice. I decided to use one of my exam songs so that I won't have to do double work. My first choice was Fantasie Impromptu, but then I changed my mind and decided on Sinfonia 12 by Bach instead. Why?The total pages of the Sinfonia is only around a quarter of the total pages of Fantasie Impromptu, so I would spend less time on stage playing Sinfonia than playing the Fantasie Impromptu.
Because I had to play in both the concert and the competition, I had to make several trips back and forth from the hotel where the competition was held and the concert auditorium. Luckily, the auditorium and the hotel were not so far from each other. It only took around 15 minutes to get from one place to the other.
First, I went to the competition. I was the last one to play in my category. I had to wait for the previous category to finish so I had to wait pretty long. I was a little bit nervous while waiting for my category to start. It got worse when I was finally called and asked to sit in the participants' chairs. I was supposed to compete against 9 other participants, but one didn't come.
As I listened to the other competitors performing, I realized that the piano quality wasn’t sharp and clear. I didn't like it very much. When it was my time to perform, I put all my focus on my music, ignoring all the distractions around me and just on playing all that I’ve practised and learned. I was able to play well, with hardly any mistakes.
After I finished my piece, I didn’t get any time to cool down. I rushed immediately to the concert hall for my school’s Year End Performance. The concert was divided into two sessions with intermissions ensemble and Guzheng performance in between. The first session was for piano performances and the second session was for all other instruments. I was supposed to perform Fantasie Impromptu at the end of the first session, but I didn’t arrive in time. I had to skip my piano performance and play my flute ensemble pieces: "Dari Sabang Sampai Merauke" and "Carol of the Bells".
I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't perform the Fantasie Impromptu in the first session because the first session was attended by pianists. I had practised it so much that I really wanted to perform my favourite song perfectly in front of other pianists, who would understand the music better.
After the Ensemble’s Performance, it was time for the award ceremony. The MC called the students to get on the stage and stand in a row according to their exam categories. A teacher will then distribute the trophies one by one to the students while the MC called out the student’s name and what rank the student got. I stood at the very end of the row. I was waiting for my awards to come, but it didn't! The MC didn't even mention me. She had forgotten about me! Luckily, the teacher who gave the awards noticed me and asked the MC for my awards. The MC apologized and said that I didn't perform before so she thought that I didn't come.
While waiting for the second session to start,the Guzheng performers practised on stage. They were the first to perform. I didn't know if they performed in the first session because I wasn't present and the ensemble performance was the last performance in the first session. I'm glad that I got a chance to see them perform.
The Guzheng performance was great! They played two songs and one of them was a church song. It was interesting to hear a western song being performed with a traditional Chinese instrument. There were 2 Guzheng players, so they played the song like a duet. They looked very graceful while playing with their hands flowing back and forth the strings. The sound that the Guzheng made is similar to plucked string instruments, but even more clear and vibrating. Once in a while the players would play several strings very quickly to make trills, which sounded beautiful.
After the Guzheng performance, I had to hurry backstage because next was another ensemble performance.After the performance, I was rescheduled to play Fantasie Impromptu and then my flute piece.
I was nervous playing Fantasie Impromptu and my fingers shook while playing it, but I was able to play it well. The only thing I regretted from that performance was that I coughed when I was around 2 bars away from finishing the song. I held it since I was halfway through the last page but it slipped out just nearing the ending where I was playing softly and calmly because I was about to wrap up the song. So you can imagine how loud the cough sounded. It totally spoiled the performance for me.
My flute performance wasn't as good as my piano one as I was even more nervous now. My playing wasn't stable and the notes didn't come out clear. I also didn't play out the character of my song well. It was supposed to be a fun song, but I didn't play as happy and upbeat as the song should be. With the end of my flute performance and thus I completed all the performances of the day. I only need to wait for competition results and award collections.
The certificate and trophy for achieving first rank on my flute exam will be given out after the second session’s performances are over. Thus, there was still some extra time so I went back to the piano competition to see how I did. Before the winners were announced, the MC promoted the sponsors who sponsored the competition and the music school that held the competition. One of the judges also gave advice and tips on piano performing. I wasn't nervous while waiting, but to avoid getting nervous if the MC talked too long, I played games on my dad's phone. Luckily, I didn't get nervous.
Finally, it was time for my category to go up stage. Those who won will be called to step forward. I didn't expect much, I just hoped for at least getting the 3rd win. Lo and behold, I won 1st place. Other than getting a trophy; I got a voucher, a book, and some prize money.
Now that the CDE Open Piano Competition had officially ended, I went back to Gloriamus for the awards sessions. Once again, I was called up to the stage and the teachers distributed the certificate and trophy for those who achieved ranking on their musical instruments examination. This time I wasn’t forgotten. Yayy!
I felt really happy that I got to perform my favorite song, Fantasie Impromptu, and on top of that, I won first place in the CDE Open Piano Competition.
The one on the left and middle are my first rank trophies and the one on the right is the competition trophy. This is one of the songs that I played in the ensemble.
For now, this is my last music trophy, because I am no longer interested in participating in competitions and Gloriamus exam because the practise sessions take up too much of my time and I would like to use my time for exploring other things. Doing many concerts and competitions are all like training me to become a piano performer, but that's not my goal. I hope you understand!
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