Noble Family Ayutthaya

The Broken Blade

2011-08-20T17:17:00.004+07:00

It's been such a long time since I've put the boys' writing on our blog! I meant to post their journals from our time in North America, and still hope to, but this week's writings beg to be put on without waiting for back issues... We've been studying Canada this term, and have just finished reading about Canadien voyageurs (or voyageurs canadiens) in the book, The Broken Blade. The boys were asked to write a news report about something that happened in the book, looking at a sample news magazine report to see how they give a lot of information in a short report. I'm really impressed with these results from our budding reporters:

Nate reports:

A voyageur died along the French River rapids on the way to Grand Portage. La Londe died trying to keep 2 canoes safe. The other voyageurs hunted for his body, but all they found was his broken paddle. They sadly made his paddle into a red cross.

Pete reports:

Tonight a lean young voyageur found out that pemmican wasn't so good after all. There was hair in Pierre's soup. He was eating supper on the way home from Grand Portage. He wished for corn soup instead.

Our holidays

2011-05-08T21:42:00.002+07:00

Hi, everyone! We're coming to the end of our school holidays... ending with a month in North America! Hope to get the boys to do some writing along the way, but we'll see. A week after we get back, we have Joe Sinclair from Ottawa joining us for two months to help with homeschooling... and lots of short-termers coming too! I'm a little anxious about starting back to school. I think the boys are never ready anyway :) though they are reading some good books even now: Nate's reading "Owls in the Family" by Farley Mowat and Pete's reading through the fun "Frog and Toad" books.

Our "Little House" story begins

2011-03-02T11:27:00.003+07:00

Hi after a break! We're reading "Little House on the Prairie" now (after reading "Little House in the Big Woods") and we're working on writing our own story. I hope to make it into a project we can share with the Sunday School classes which pray for us... We'll see how far we get, since next week we are in Bangkok studying with friends for a "Home School Week," and then there's only one more week till school holidays!

So far, we think we will call our story "Highest House in Thanom Sri" because we found out during the flood just how much higher our house was than the others in the neighbourhood.

We've written two paragraphs so far, the first to introduce ourselves and the second to explain why we moved to Tha Rua.

Pete wrote:

When our family came back to Thailand in 2009, we settled in a town called Tha Rua. Nate was 7 years old, and Pete was 4 ½ years old. The boys were Pete which means “Peace,” and Nate which means “The Strength of the Philosopher,” and Mommy and Daddy. We bought a cute rabbit in a market, and named her Chewy Rainbow Rabbit because she likes chewing and she has lots of colors in her fur. She is so stubborn! We have lots of stuffed animals too, and Pete’s two favorites are Wibbly the Pig and Benji Bunny.

We came to tell people about Jesus and plant more churches and we are glad that quite a lot of people know God. We pray that God will bless Christians and we pray that the news will spread and we hope that we can plant a church in Pha Chi and lots of places.

Nate wrote:

When our family came back to Thailand in 2009, we settled in a town called Tha Rua. My name is Nate and my brother’s named Pete. We played in a soccer team, and our Daddy was the coach. We found a house near the church, in a neighborhood called Mu Ban Thanom Sri. We have a rabbit named Chewy Rainbow Rabbit because she likes chewing and she has lots of colors in her fur. She is so stubborn! We do homeschooling with our Mom.

We came to Tha Rua because we wanted to plant more churches. I like the soccer team but I want to be in Canada and America mostly and be with my grandparents most of all and go to the big churches.

What I Like

2011-02-20T22:05:00.002+07:00

Hi again, after a long break! We've been working on thank you notes to grandparents after Christmas, so haven't put them on the blog. Now we're reading "Little House in the Big Woods" and "Little House on the Prairie" and are working on ideas to help us write about our own house and life here. This week we started with ideas of what we like about our home.

Pete wrote:
What I Like about Tha Rua
(First I have to explain that the name of the friend he writes about has a very good meaning in Thai, to encourage someone or lift them up!)

Nong Goon is my favourite person in Tha Rua. We play fight and play soccer. I am so so so so so so so so so so so glad that Nong Goon lives in Tha Rua.

Nate wrote:
What I Like about My Home

What I like about my home is a field and my friends and my favorite friend is P' Arm and he plays on the same temm as me and I like his personality and what I like about his personality is he's easy to play with. I'm thankful that he lives in our neighborhood.

Lopburi FC soccer game

2011-01-16T22:38:00.002+07:00

Hi! It's time to report on soccer again: this time our family went to see a game between two professional teams, Lopburi "Monkey Army" and Muang Tong. Pete has asked to go first sometimes, so here's his report:

The Soccer Game
On Saturday evening our family went to a soccer game, Lopburi versus Muang Thong. The score was 0-1. by Wibbley, Pete, and Benjy (a rabbit puppet)

And, from Nate:
The Soccer Game
Our family went to see two Thai teams and one was Muang Thong and they came from the capital of Thailand and the other team was the Lopburi club and they came from the town. The game was fun to watch but the team that I was cheering for was the town team and I used to live there but they lost. There were cheerleaders but when the town club team got a chance they did not take it hard.

Christmas on both sides of the world

2011-01-10T14:32:00.003+07:00

Happy New Year! Before and after Christmas, we worked on ideas to describe our memories of Christmas in North America and in Thailand. We hope you enjoy this joint effort:

When we think about Christmas, we feel happy and sad at the same time. We get excited about presents. Nate likes people giving him presents, and he likes pleasing people with the presents he gives them.

We are sad because we want to be where the snow is. We like snow and wish we could play with it. Pete wishes he could wear 20 millions sweatshirts. We miss our grandparents, especially Grandpa Pu. Even if we went to his house for Christmas, he wouldn't be there. We want to go to heaven to be with him. We wish we could all live together, or others in our family could visit.

Nate wishes he could be with his friends in North America. He remembers making Santa Claus people with paper, and watching movies about Christmas in school.

In Thailand, Christmas is quite different. We celebrated Christmas at our church Dec. 26. Nate liked the drummer in the band and the play, but he did not like having a big crowed in a small space, and he liked the food. We went to schools to do party stuff for the students so they can know about Christmas. We gave presents to our friends and our soccer team.

Christmas is not just about Santa Claus and snow and presents and gifts. It's about Jesus' birthday, singing praises to God and worshipping Him. Jesus was born on Christmas (we discussed this point and decided to leave it) and he came for the world. We use the Advent Jesse Tree to remember a new king coming. We can do that anywhere in the world.

Special events

2010-12-15T14:56:00.004+07:00

This weekend our family did a couple of special things: on Friday evening we went to a performance of Chinese acrobats, put on to raise funds for flood repairs to the local high school. From Sunday evening to Wednesday afternoon, we went to a nature study center known as "Jet Khot" (which means "seven turns in the river") to rest, enjoy nature hikes, and stay up to watch the Geminids (falling stars). Nate and Pete chose which special experiences they would like to write about, and this is what they wrote:

Waterfall

We saw a big waterfall and a little one. by Pete and Wibbley Noble
(Wibbley is a pig, one of Pete's favourite stuffed animals)

About Chinese Acrobats, by Nate

Our family went to see Chinese acrobats who are from Guang Xi and the boys were flying in the air. The girls were dancing and twisting and the boys went through hoops and they did flips and the girls were sweet.

Soccer highlights 2010

2010-12-07T22:54:00.003+07:00

Hi, everyone! I'm trying to write a Christmas letter with events of 2010, so I gave Nate and Pete the assignment of writing about what highlights of 2010 they particularly remembered. With our soccer team newly rejuvenated to prepare for a match Dec. 18, it's not surprising the boys chose this topic. Here are their writings for this week's journal:

The Soccer Game

1st game 2 we lost 2-1. The 2nd game we lost 3-1. My team got 1. The third game we won. Pete the soccer player.

About Our Soccer Tournaments, by Nate

Our family started a team named Khristajak Santisuk Tha Rua and our team lost two games and our third game we won almost all the games and we think we won the main game. I'm glad to be on a soccer team.

Explanations: the team name is the name of our church, since they're the sponsors; and the third match included several skills competitions as well as a 40-minute game.

Psalm 107 for floods

2010-11-29T15:29:00.001+07:00

Hi, everyone! During the flood we read Psalm 107 and wrote our own story like it. Now we've edited it, and here it is:

Some found dirty water in their house
And they didn't know if they would get a sickness.
They missed their beds and toys and friends
And didn't know if their house would get totally flooded.
They might lose all their stuff and their home.
But they have faith in God.
They know if they lose all their things and their house
that God would give them what they need.
They have faith.
God kept the water from going too high
And gave them a nice dry place to stay
Where they could play with other friends
to wait in safety to see what God would do.
Thank you, God, for not making it flood in Bangkok
and keeping our Mission Headquarters dry.
Thank you, God, for keeping our rabbit safe
and thank you for keeping us safe on our travels to Bangkok,
And I pray that you will help people who have lost many things.
You helped us to let Daddy go to where it’s flooded
so Daddy could help by giving people the food they needed,
so they can know God is with them.
Thank you for Lopburi students who helped us clean our house,
so life could get back to normal and to do well in school.
Thank you for encouraging us.

Poems

2010-11-27T10:17:00.002+07:00

Hi, everyone! And Happy Thanksgiving to American friends. This week we tried our hand at poetry. At our house, we tend towards the Shel Silverstein and Dennis Lee kind of poetry, so this is what we came up with:

The first effort, Mommy started the first two lines and the boys helped me finish:

Once there was a little knight
Who never got his math sums right
Until he practiced every day
And he remembered he should pray.
Now he is thankful every day
That he can add whatever you say.

Pete did his all by himself:
Once there was a funny bunny
She wrecked a town she thought was funny.
by Rainbow
(See pictures in earlier posts, as she still does what's in one of them!)

Nate got a little help rhyming at the end, but the beginning and ideas are all his:
Once there was a funny bunny
Who always hopped so funny.
She played and chewed
My toys for food.

There's a theme here. As you can see, our rabbit is as good as a baby for teaching patience and putting favourite toys away!

Rust

2010-11-21T21:59:00.005+07:00

Hi, everyone! After the flood, Tim's science lessons with the boys are focussing on things we can observe after the flood, especially rust and fungus. Here's the report of their study of rust:

We wanted to see what causes rust. We put some screws and nails in different situations. Some nails and screws were beaten up. Some nails and screws were good. Some were dipped in oil. Then some of each kind were sprinkled with salt water, with normal water, no water, with salt water and put in the dark, or soaked in salt water.

The most rusty nails had been soaked in salt water or sprinkled with salt water and put in the dark. The nails sprinkled with normal water were not as rusty. The screws and nails dipped in oil did not rust as much. The nails and screws that were dry did not get rusted. All of the screws and nails that had been sprinkled with water had more rust on the bottom side, next to the plastic. This was all after only one week!

We thought it was interesting that it was so, so, so rusty after only one week! Why did the dark affect how rusty the nails got? We found out that salt made them rust faster, but with no water they did not rust. We also thought it was interesting that the nails and screws soaked in salt water rusted so much, because air is needed for rusting.

2010-11-10T22:49:00.003+07:00

Hi, everyone! We've just had a very long time without new posts because we had a long school break... longer than expected. We had one week with other home schoolers in Bangkok, then 2 weeks of holiday, as it is the half-year school holiday time in Thailand... then we were called back to Tha Rua as it received the worst flooding in the memory of people here. I don't know if it made the news where you are, but little Tha Rua made Thai news as one of several places hit worst of all. We knew we had one of the best houses in town for our needs, but now we're also grateful we had one of the highest in town. It only flooded about 5" inside our house! For 2 weeks people coped with deep floods (many farmers are still waiting for floods to go down and have lost their crops) and we took our rabbit to stay with us in Bangkok. We stayed there most days, while Tim came up to help church members with flood relief and do what he could in our house.

Nate and Pete (with Mommy as secretary and editor) have written this report of advice based on their experiences, in case you ever find yourself in a flood:

The Big Flood in 2010

Nate and Pete Noble live in Tha Rua in the province of Ayutthaya, Thailand. This year, it was one of the places that flooded the most when the Pa Sak River overflowed. After our experience, we have some good advice.

If you know it’s going to flood you should make sandbags and you should make more than you need, because you never know how much you need and you can also give other people some too.

When it floods you need to take furniture upstairs to the second floor, and after the flood you have to clean up and maybe you have to revarnish the furniture you couldn’t take up, like we did. Nate got to varnish his own school desk, and Pete had to buy a new one.

When it flooded in Tha Rua, we went to the OMF Center, called the Bangkok Mission Home, because it was flooded almost up to our waists. The water is dirty and can have lots of germs and fungus.

Trucks won’t go in water that is higher than the exhaust pipe, so we had to leave our car at a cousin’s house that wasn’t flooded. Our father saw a truck with a pipe connected to the exhaust pipe pointed up so the man driving the truck could drive in a lot deeper water.

Where the water is really deep, like where our church is and where our friends who play on our soccer team live, it’s better to use a boat. It was cool the way the church made a walkway and a dock above the water out of benches. The dock was made of a bed. The boat we bought was about 2 ½ meters long. We got a chance to paddle the boat, and the captain said Nate paddled so fast that he just had to steer. Pete was looking for alligators and crocodiles. We didn’t see any, but several places some people did.

We bought emergency supplies for people. We bought life jackets, food, and cleaning supplies, which our father gave to other people. If you’re staying at your house during a flood, you will need food which doesn’t need to be cooked because you might not be able to use your stove or electricity. Sometimes the toilets don’t work any more.

Being in a flood can be scary and can be an adventure. Pray about it and ask God to look after everything.

This is Nate and Pete Noble signing off.

2010-09-20T21:38:00.003+07:00

This is a really exciting time for soccer players in our family and neighbourhood: for over 2 weeks we have two visitors from the Netherlands who are really good soccer players, and have come to help children practice their soccer skills!

This week the boys were supposed to interview someone and write up their report, which is perfect! One of our visitors is a trained teacher, so he even prepared the boys for the interviews and helped them organize their answers! (Mom enjoyed both a break and a good look at the final results.) Nate interviewed Jos, and Pete interviewed Fabian. Here are their results:

Nate wrote "Interview Jos"

Jos is here for 3 weeks. He plays soccer with us. I am going to ask him some questions.
Nate: Why do you want to be a teacher?
Jos: Because I like kids and especially groups.
N: How old is your oldest brother?
J: He is 24 years old.
N: Why do you like soccer?
J: Because I can do it well, and can put my energy in it.
N: Do you like soccer computer games?
J: Very much!
N: Do you have your own house?
J: Yes, I have! I live with a friend in that house.
N: Do you practice soccer every Tuesday?
J: No, not on Tuesday. On Monday and Wednesday, sometimes Friday.

Fabian's answers from Pete:

Pete: How long did you practice being a goalie?
Fabian: 13 years.
P: How do you like bananas?
F: Very much.
P: How long have you been in Thailand?
F: 2 weeks.
P: Are you on a soccer team?
F: I am on a soccer team.
P: How are you good at goalie?
F: Good.
P: How much do you eat?
F: Sometimes a lot.
Pete: I am glad that Fabian came to our house.

2010-09-06T21:23:00.003+07:00

Today we are travel writers, so we'll guide you to adventure by writing about our own adventures:

Ayutthaya by Pete

Ayutthaya is a big city and it has a lot of people. And you can ride elephants there.

About the Rainforest by Nate

Hi, I'm Nate and I'll tell you about the rainforest. The forest was very wet and I saw a huge anaconda and I thought it was coming to eat me and it was not.But it was very scary but it seemd like it was digesting its food.

A note from Mom: It is very rainy now, and the river has flooded over our market in Tha Rua. I wish we could travel up and down the river now to see what it's like!

2010-09-06T21:20:00.002+07:00

This past Friday the boys enjoyed inventing their own bugs. We hope to get the pictures scanned in soon, but here's what the boys have written about their bugs:

The Big Bug

My bug’s name is John. He is ten feet tall. He has poison hooks on his tail. He will be very strange because he only has one eye. He lives in Jupiter’s big red spot because this is how he gets his poison. When the kids come out, then they are the same as the Mommy. They do not have different stages. He comes to our world to eat metal, fish, and paper and wood and plastic. He has to fight aliens at Jupiter. They try to eat him but they die because the poison makes them die. Ha ha ha ha! He is scary. by Pete Noble

Turryrusya
In my picture is a bug named Turryrusya. He lives in the forest and desert. He eats beetles and insects. He catches them by using his pinchers at the bottom and stretching them to put them in his mouth. His head and his thorax and his abdomen are about 5 ½ inches long. His wingspan is about 9 inches. His legs are just under 4 inches long. His back legs are the shortest but they are the strongest. When he’s born he looks like a lizard with no feet. He stays in one place under a tree. He has poison on his abdomen and very, very bright colors at the bottom that will shine in his enemies’ eyes. His enemies are badgers and wolves and bears and hawks. He is one of the biggest bugs in the world, which makes me scared and nervous. by Nate Noble

2010-08-31T21:51:00.003+07:00

Hi, everyone! Last week we took three days off school to go to Bangkok. We said good-bye to some friends who were going to Wales for a year, and hello to friends who just came back from meetings in Bangkok. The other special thing was getting in-line skates or roller blades (whichever you like to call them) from our Uncle Ted! Since we used to skate in Canada (notice, people there don't say "ice skate" or "ice hockey"!) it didn't take long to get skating on a parking lot!

Today, for our journals we described characters in books that we're reading.

Nate wrote about "Master Christopher" from the book, "The Skippack School"

It seems that Master Christopher is gentle but he will discipline kids if he needs to. But he hardly ever canes kids. But he'll give gifts if the kids do a good job at school. I would like to be one of his students because he is so gentle.

Pete wrote about "Big Bob," who is a cop bug and catches thug bugs:

Big Bob is a clever policeman. He is good at acting and he is good at making plans and he is good at nabbing bad bugs. I'm glad that Big Bob is alive.

Now, don't you wish you could read about these characters?

2010-08-18T20:59:00.003+07:00

On Sunday we had a soccer game against a church team in Phra Phutthabaht. We had a great time, coming home not sure who had won the game (4-3 for who?) but knowing we had won competitions for juggling a soccer ball and penalty kicks. Mom and Dad are ready to give the team a rest, but none of the kids are... so we're praying about help to continue.

Nate and Pete decided this week's journal entry should be kept confidential, as it was about how we feel when we've done something wrong, and what we do about it. But later this week we picked some sentences to put into people's mouths as conversation and then explain what was going on. These are more fun:

from Nate:

"I can't believe you would do that!" said Mom.
"But it's so much fun!" I said, as I was handling the soccer ball.

from Pete:

"Can you help me?" Brer Rabbit said.
"That's so funny! I can't stop laughing," said Brer Wolf as Brer Rabbit got thrown in the brier patch.

2010-08-10T11:21:00.002+07:00

This week the boys wrote what it might be like if they came to America around 1700. Here's what they wrote:, not as politically sensitive as I've taught them to be since a lot of the American curriculum we're using still says "Indians."

Pete wrote:
The Ship Going to America

One day I sailed to America and Indians did not like us and we had to fight the Indians.

Nate said he isn't finished yet, and I hope he finishes this good beginning:

About America

I'm in England and my name is Nate and my whole family wants to go to America in New York and we are on the ship to go to America and finally we reached America then we got shipwrecked on an island very close to land then we went on a rowboat to land. Then we saw Indians then the men picked up their guns then the Indians ran away then we went to cut trees to build homes.

2010-08-02T21:55:00.004+07:00

Today our journal entry was really hard. Have you ever tried to tell about "the funniest thing that ever happened to me?" It's hard to think of one thing, and also hard to describe it in the clearest way so it's funny to others. Tim and I took time to sort out our own answers before asking Nate and Pete to think of answers. We told them about our own funny experiences and also funny experiences we'd had with them. These are the boys' answers about events that happened very early in our lives together:

Pete said,
The funniest thing that ever happened to me was when I played This Little Piggy to my Dad when he was sleeping. Good-bye, see you.

The other answer was,
Hi, I am Nate. I am going to tell you a funny story. One time I asked my Mom to help me with every single thing but I fooled my Mom and Dad by climbing everything that was made to be climbed. I sat there like, "I fooled you guys!"

I think they did a good job of giving enough details that you can picture us all in their funny experiences, right? We've sure had some good laughs over this journal entry!

2010-08-01T22:29:00.002+07:00

This Friday we wrote summaries (like book reports) of "Secret of the Andes," which we've just finished reading as part of understanding the first peoples of the Americas.

Nate wrote:

When Cusi was a little baby, he was left in the mountains.
The Old Man, Chuto, looked after llamas and Cusi in the mountains. Cusi always wondered about his family.
As Cusi grew up, they had two visitors, one was a pan pipe player and a teacher. When Cusi left the mountains he was surprised that the outside world had so much families.
At the end of the story, Cusi realizes that he is royal and that his real home is Hidden Valley.

Pete wrote:

When Cusi was a little baby, he was left in the mountains.
The Old Man, Chuto, looked after llamas in Hidden Valley. Cusi always wondered about his family.
As Cusi grew up, they had two visitors, the Amauta and the minstrel. When Cusi left the mountains, he was surprised that so much children.
At the end of the story, Cusi realizes that he is a son of the High Inca and that his real home is with Chuto. Chuto realizes that Cusi is big.

2010-07-26T15:13:00.002+07:00

This week we were supposed to write about clowns: guess what, Tim's mother is a clown! So both boys have a little personal experience about clowning. Here's what they wrote:

Clowning Around, by Nate

Hi, I am Nate Noble. I am reporting about my grandma. Her name is Carol Diane. She is a very funny clown. She had been a clown for twenty five years and had her own clown clothing. I have mixed feelings about her being a clown.

The Clown, by Pete
I'm Mister Pete and I'm going to tell you about my Grandmother. She is funny. I'm glad my Grandmother is a clown.

2010-07-19T21:53:00.004+07:00

Hi! Well, we've played at our first-ever soccer tournament! Got the sunburn to prove it... Saturday, after over 2 weeks of practicing after school every day.

We played two games, on a wider field than we're used to, 9 a side when we expected to be 7 a side. Glad for having unlimited substitutions! (Hey, I sound like I'm learning a lot about soccer...)
Both boys played for their team, as we agreed everyone would have some playing time.

The important news: the kids want to keep playing and we've been invited to another tournament in August, so we're committing to Tuesday after-school practices... Not so important (remember?), is that we led 1-0 at half-time in each game. The first game we lost 2-1, so that's not bad; the second game we played against a team of kids much bigger than us, so the final score of 3-1 is almost a badge of honour!

So this week's journal entries are fantasy based on the big experience:

Nate: The Soccer Game

I scored three times and the other team had zero and we won every game.
(Nate started drawing a bird-eye view of the field.)

Pete: The Soccer Game

The boy shoots and the goalie could not save it.
(The boy in his picture is wearing his jersey colour and number.)

2010-07-12T15:23:00.002+07:00

We've done this week's writing, so it's good to post it more quickly. This Saturday the boys will participate in their first ever real soccer game, a tournament in nearby Lopburi. It's a league for boys 13 and under, so even though they're both practicing we aren't sure if Pete will play or not. Both boys are good players, but with Pete just turning 6 the day after the tournament he's the youngest player on our team and may get bowled over by the bigger kids.

So, this week's journal is "A Good Soccer Player." They could choose any aspect they wanted and were eager to write, but the inspiration lasted a shorter time!

Nate writes:
A good soccer player passes and does not cheat or hurt people and works with his team.

Pete writes:
He shoots and the ball bounces in the goal.

2010-07-11T21:31:00.002+07:00

Dear friends,

Our latest journal entry is a letter describing our home to friends. Both boys chose imaginary houses and real, good friends from our year in Vancouver. Here's Nate's entry:

About My Home

Dear Shamil,
I am very, very, very, very,very rich. I have an ice rink and a gym and a soccer stadium, and I have a big forest and lakes in the forest and lakes out of the forest, and I have a sea in my home, and I have big sailboats and I have middle sized and little sailboats and I have islands and treasures, and I have villages on the islands and brothers and sisters and dog to play First Nations and leather and real buffalos in big herds and real deer and all kinds of animals that live in the forest.

And from Pete:

My Home

Dear Blake,
I want you to visit my home. There are motorized sailboats. Good-bye by Pete.

2010-07-03T11:06:00.007+07:00

Now we have two new journal entries, first an ad to sell a dog house, and then a description of an animal of their choice (after going to the Chiang Mai Zoo and being kissed by a seal, among other adventures, Nate chose an animal important in our history studies and Pete chose our family pet!).

First about selling a dog house, from Nate:
For Sale: Dog House!
Meg was selling her dog house on Saturday. She sold her doghouse to a family who had two big Golden Labs. They were as big as a computer desk. They were so gentle and shiny. The family said the dogs were twins. They looked exactly the same. The family was as gentle as a very gentle dog that the family trained the dog so well.

from Pete:
For Sale: Dog House!
Red, can see it easily. Golden Lab. Phone 036-212-457

Then, about animals, from Nate:
About Horses
The horse can be very gentle. And they can communicate with their owner, and understand his owner and obey. The horses are very big but they are very gentle, and they can run very fast. And that is why people are riding horses and they are very strong and used to of working in big farms way out in the country side. And horses can pull big loads in big wagons.

from Pete:
About Rabbits
Rabbits are very playful and that is very cute, by Pete.

Wish I could scan you the pictures they draw, but as they're in pencil on their notebook pages, it's not so easy. Nate's finding horses challenging but he's working on them (when he's not perfecting his beautiful ships) and Pete's rabbit has huge ears just like our Rainbow and is as cute as he says in his journal entry.

Family news: we've just been away for 2 weeks of conferences, and now we're gearing up for a big soccer tournament in Lopburi on July 17. We're still short players but hope to pull in enough to field a team for our first time ever! Also into planning a birthday party for Pete, who turns 6 on July 18.

2010-06-09T21:45:00.003+07:00

Hi, again! Our journals are pretty exciting these days, with this week's entry thinking about the first sailors to come across to North America. One of the ships in our stories was called "The Sea Adventure." Here's our take on them:

Nate, June 7:
About Sailor Nate

Hi, I'm sailor Nate. I am on the "Sea Adventure." You know I have fun on the crow's nest but to get to the fun is the rigging and I am afraid of the rigging. I'm afraid of the rigging because I can go overboard, and I could be drowned by the big waves.

Pete, June 7:
The Sea Adventure

If I were a sailor, I would put the mast up. I would look for a new island.

Each boy writes in his journals while the other one is reading to me, and I am so proud of how they get into their writing projects!

So many things I wish I could post as well. We made our own compasses from needles and magnets, and used graph paper to draw compass roses today, and they turned out great! The boys are also having a hard time waiting for history to get to cowboys, so we have some great shots of them dressed up in cowboy hats we found for them recently. Some great art work from the Saturday art class they attend once a month with their long-standing friends Noemi and Jonas.

And Dad's got a great science program going, and we're having fun learning keyboard and how to read music... Now all we need is a coach for a neighbourhood soccer club... That's our latest prayer request. We even have a tournament to attend on July 17.

So after our long silence, we've got some good things to post!

Early days of North America

2010-06-01T22:51:00.005+07:00

Hi! I now have a few journal entries to share. Nate is now writing on his own so I'll log in his words, but edit spelling and punctuation. I wish I could log in the pictures he's drawing to go with his entries! Pete is dictating to Mommy and then copying what I write, also drawing fun and creative pictures. We've been studying First Nations/Native Americans as our introduction to American History (with a few strategic detours into parallel Canadian history). This has included reading a book on the Blackfeet people called "Om-kas-toe" and watching the bison/buffalo hunt sequence of "Dances With Wolves." They're loving it, as you can tell:

Nate's work, May 10: The Moose
The moose is big and tall and eats water plants.

May 17: Buffalo
Buffalo were usually in big groups. They could be in groups of thousands. Sometimes they had First Nations come and attack them and kill them.

On his own initiative, in the following days, he added:
The Native Americans
Sometimes the first people would hunt for buffalo. It could be very dangerous. The first people lived in teepees or wigwams, and the first people would sometimes fight each other and lots of men would get injured.

May 24: Our Family
I'd like you to meet my family. I can play with Pete very well and my Dad can make a crossbow very well and you should see my Mom teach me and my brother. She can teach me very well.

May 31:
I am a native American. Today I saw a white man. He had a firestick with him. He showed his family and he showed me how to shoot it. I shot a tree and it made a hole right through it.

Pete's entries, May 10: Philip
Philip is a cowboy horse.

May 17: Big Bison
The bison is very big. One day he got caught but he broke the fence and escaped. The End by Pete.

May 24: Our Family
I'd like you to meet my family. My brother Nate is good at math and good at using a bow and arrow. Daddy fixes stuff very good. Mommy teaches very well.

May 31:
I am a native American. Today I saw a big, long canoe. The white people on the canoe stared at us.

2010-04-03T22:48:00.002+07:00

By the way, for those who have been following the themes of the creative writing, our family has now purchased a truck. Sorry, Nate! But the boys are enjoying it, even if it isn't the same as their friend Noemi's van...

I want to be a cowboy

2010-04-03T22:38:00.002+07:00

Hi, again! We celebrated the end of school by taking Nate and Pete for three days to our favourite resort in Muak Lek, near Khao Yai national park. This time we chose not to go into the park (a favourite activity, see the waterfall picture in an earlier blog) but to swim in the pool, take the boys riding an ATV with Dad, and do a tour of the biggest farm in Southeast Asia. Here are the boys' reports, done verbally as we were riding in the car to take away the pain of having to write something:

Nate: Our family went to Muak Lek ATV track center and we rode an ATV through water, and we did some archery. One of my arrows was about an inch away from the bull's eye.

Pete: When our family went to the ATV center, I did archery and the first shot, I hit the target. The ATV was fun but it was especially fun because going in the water. Daddy was driving. The end.

Pete: Our family went to ChokChai Farm and we saw a cowboy show and we saw a dog show. My favourite part was the Great Dane doing fancy jumps. I want to be a cowboy.

Nate: I had fun at ChokChai Farm because I could buy some cowboys and have a tour around the biggest farm of Thailand. My favourite part was the cowboy show. I want to be a cowboy.

2010-03-18T23:06:00.002+07:00

Hi, friends! We're just starting our long school break, which means Nate has finished Grade 2 and Pete has finished Kindergarten!!! Our last story entry for this school year (but we'll keep posting other things...) is a story written about a picture of a boy on a bicycle looking up watching a woman ride an antique car through the sky. Here they are:

Magic School Car by Pete

One day I had a dream that I saw a car in the air. It had no wings. I was dirt biking and it went up by magic. It was a magic car. The magic car could fly. The lady inside it is my Mom. It is my car. The car flies when we put in our magic key. My Mom is going shopping to Tesco Lotus in the car so she can go faster. Our family likes my dream of our magic car. The end.

The Magic Car Key by Nate

This is a play that is mixed from long time ago and nowadays. There was an old-fashioned car who nobody thought was useful until a sixteen year old girl thought she would give it a try and see if she could fix it at a shop, but she had a key that would make cars fly. This was her first time in a flying car. She went over a neighborhood and saw a man biking on the street. She shouted at the man. The man looked up. He was very surprised and he couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen a flying car before. He was so busy looking up and biking that he crashed, and the girl laughed. “Bye, bye,” the girl said, and the man was very angry at her. The end.

2010-02-28T23:01:00.002+07:00

Hi, everybody! Tim often does a science lesson with the boys each week, and this week's lesson had the most unexpected results. They were studying water, so put out 3 cups with measured water to see which would evaporate the fastest: a cup in the shade, in the sun, or under a fan (which we use nearly all the time here). Which one disappeared the fastest? How about... the one accessible to the bunny? First she sipped at the cup, then she picked it up and tipped it over. She was not going to let her chosen cup lose that race!

2010-02-24T22:30:00.003+07:00

Hi, everyone! We've been having a great time following the Vancouver Winter Olympics! Have you watched them at all?

We were in a group of 14 kids (3 girls, 11 boys) having a "Home School Week" together at our Guest House, Feb. 16-20. It was so good to learn about the winter sports and celebrate the victories of the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia as well as Canada and the U.S. together with friends of those countries and more. (Our friends from New Zealand and South Africa were good sports the whole time.) Now we're back at home and following events with a broader perspective.

We can't get internet access to video in Thailand, but our Guest House had ESPN: so guess where you'd find us before breakfast and after supper every day! We played street hockey and even found a skating rink in Bangkok. At the end of the week, each child received a gold medal (chocolate inside, wow!) and a certificate for some accomplishment during the week. I've posted the ones for Nate and Pete here but I'm not sure if they're large enough to read. Pete's is because he was under incredible pressure in goal during a street hockey game, and amazed everyone with his focus and skill. Nate's a great goalie too but was getting a little bored in goal for his team... It was so good to see how well the boys can still skate after our weekly times in Canada. Thus Nate's certificate for the best balance on skates. He was an inspiration to the other kids, nearly all of whom were trying it for the first time.

I am so proud of how much the boys are learning. While we can't get direct footage of events, we've loved Time's great website of "how they train," and Apolo Anton Ohno has become a bit of a hero for his example of giving out all to get his personal best. We've watched a video of how the medals were made and made our own.

If you want to see some of the boys' drawings of the original Olympics and modern winter sports (how they're choosing to use their free time), let us know.

So that's it for this week.

Love to all, Brenda

2010-02-12T21:00:00.003+07:00

Hi, everyone! Thanks to those who are reading our posts! Lately we've been studying Greece and Rome, partly because of our history curriculum and partly to get ready for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver... Now we know what XXI Olympiad means. We'll be following all we can from websites, though a lot of sites are blocking live coverage to Thailand. Guess they don't think many of us will be interested?

Anyway, our assignment was to write a journal entry as if we were a person from long ago suddenly dropping in on life as it is now. I wouldn't let Nate name the "amazing technology" his character encountered, since he wouldn't know what it was, but I think all our readers can guess, right?

A Roman visitor to Thailand by Nate Noble

Today I was in a closet and when I came out again I was in a different country. I landed on a strange piece of metal with four wheels that was moving very fast. I jumped off and landed on my head, and flipped over and landed on another strange piece of metal and broke through and landed in a seat inside. And people did not notice me when I went inside. Then they stopped the moving piece of metal and they got out and I was very delighted that I was in there by myself. And then I got out and then went on a strange piece of metal. Then a person went in and we started up and went very fast and then I was back in the closet. And I came out and I was back in my world.

A Greek Person Coming to Vancouver by Pete Noble

Today I was going in the Olympics and Pegasus carried me to Vancouver. I had never seen hockey sticks and skates before. I met a very good, good hockey player who explained the game to me. There was a very, very good goalie named Roberto Luongo. He was on Team Canada. The goalie talked to me and he let me go watch the Olympic game and the score was 6 – 8 and then Pegasus came to pick me up and then I found myself sitting on the bench where I was watching the chariots racing. The end.

2010-01-01T23:43:00.004+07:00

Hi, Auntie Ellie and anyone else who starts to read this blog!

We haven't entered our last couple of stories, as they're "Christmas secrets"... but perhaps once the recipients of the books have enjoyed them for a bit, we'll post the texts?

In the meantime, we've enjoyed reading "The Wheel on the

School" and watching for migratory birds (since we receive

birds in the winter, this is the best time!). In November the boys did great paintings of storks, so we've posted them here for you to marvel over.

Our story this week was from books we're reading about Frog and Toad. Our assignment was to help Toad think up a story he could tell Frog. You'll see the boys chose the same story starter and then their creativity took them in different directions before ending in the usual way. (Notice: we've also been reading about Greek myths!)

Nate:
Once there was a horse with wings who was looking for a friend. And then a prince rode by, and saw the horse with wings. He said, “You can be my pet, and my friend. I’ll care for you and feed you. We will have a happy life together, and a happy ever after.” The horse said, “I’ll go along with you as long as I live.” The prince replied, “I will have time with you until I die.” They lived happily ever after.

Pete:
Once there was a horse with wings who was captured by a hungry giant. And then Hercules flied there and the horse was safe. The giant was angry at Hercules and the horse was not angry, but the giant was really angry. He had a club and tried to hit Hercules on the head, and he had sharp stuff on his club, and the giant was really really angry. Hercules fell off his horse but he flew to his horse again, and they flew away, and Hercules has the horse with wings. And they lived happily ever after.

2009-11-11T17:11:00.000+07:00

We've just had our mid-term school holiday, so haven't submitted any writings for a while. This time a blog isn't the best way to record the boys' writings: they made picture books of their stories! But I'll record the text here. The assignment was to write an imaginary journal entry.

The Van in the Future, by Nate Noble, November 7, 2009

Today I took my son, Nate, to the van store. And I let Nate, my son, choose which kind of Toyota van he wanted. I bought the one he wanted. It had a flat roof, and in the front there was a water bottle holder. The middle seat in the front could fold into a seat or a water bottle holder. It had seats that you can take out and it had air con and it was so cool in there, and the air con made the van so cool. And you can take the seats out of the van to camp in it. We had fun driving it home and taking lots of people in it, and Rainbow Rabbit, the Great Warrior of Thanom Sri.

Jellybean Goldheart in Dinosaurland, by Pete Noble, November 7, 2009

Today I found my magic key and used it to go to Dinosaurland, and then I saw a big difference of my house, and it is a big Dinosaurland with bumps and all different places where dinosaurs could be, and I saw a Tyrannosaurus Rex. And I had invented people swinging on the dinosaurs and I invented the goodest armor in the whole world so they wouldn't get hurt, and I see all different kinds of animals. I invented a lot of stuff. I got home by the end of the adventure by my magic key.

2009-10-01T15:36:00.000+07:00

Dear Mom and Dad,
I’d like to help you decide to buy a van instead of a truck. I think it will be better to have a van because it is fun to sit in the front.
If you put a back on a truck we can’t fit as many people, but if you don’t put a back on, we’ll get wet if it rains. And it is more comfortable to travel in a van than a truck because it is not as crowded and not as lumpy as a truck, and it is quieter. You can take lots of people on trips. Sometimes Uncle Peter’s van might not be available. Na La’s van may not be available sometimes and it’s more expensive to rent.
That’s why I think it is good to have a van.
Excited, from Nate

2009-09-30T22:05:00.000+07:00

On Sept. 25, Nate wrote a summary of an Oxford "magic key" reading book he'd really enjoyed. Floppy is the dog of Chip, one of the friends mentioned:

The Red Planet

Chip, Wilf, Nadim, and Floppy got in the rocket. Floppy pushed the take-off button. The rocket took off and landed on the red planet. The children found a space buggy and drove it around. They crashed into a hole. They found some space creatures who helped them float back to the rocket. The magic key took them home.

By Nate Noble

2009-09-18T22:25:00.000+07:00

Friday, Sept. 18: already! I mean to log in some creative writing the boys have done each week, but it hasn't happened again till today. We took a family "field trip"/ day off to Khao Yai National Park, which is a favourite place for us. We visited Haew Narok waterfall for the first time. It is stunningly beautiful! Also saw a lot of cool wildlife: hornbills, monkeys, deer of two sizes (in Thai they have totally different names), and just as we were leaving our favourite "treehouse" we heard an elephant trumpet! We scrambled back upstairs and watched 6 elephants of different sizes have a dirt bath before we left for home, grateful that our path and theirs weren't in the very same direction! I hope to insert photos soon.

I helped begin and end each composition, and the boys each made their "middle" part, so I'll note when we change authors:

Today we went to Khao Yai National Park and saw a bunch of wild elephants.
Pete: We saw a deer. The first deer, we could take a picture of him. The second one ran away from us fast like a rabbit. The waterfall was cool. But why don't they got any places to go swimming at Khao Yai? The end, by Pete.
Nate: And we saw two deer. And the first one we took photos and the second one we wanted to but it ran away. We went down to the waterfall and the stairs were steep and then it was wet there and damp. It was misty on the way home. The end, by Nate.
It was a good day to see animals.

2009-08-28T14:24:00.001+07:00

Hi, friends and family. We're starting this blog to share some of our lives: photos, writings from school, and other things that we hope will help keep us in touch with loved ones.

About us: Nate is going to be 8 years old in October, and is doing Grade 2 homeschooling.

Pete turned 5 in July, and is in Kindergarten homeschooling.

Both boys also attend a Thai school part-time.

Brenda is the mom and teacher, and we'll let you guess how she is...

This week our creative writing (always a group effort) is a tall tale about the baby rabbit we just got on Monday. Here it is:

A Tall Rabbit Tale

Rainbow Rabbit is a gigantic rabbit and she guards Thanom Sri neighborhood. She chases the dogs and they run away with their tails between their legs. She's our hero!

Here are two photos of our hero!

And that's our first entry! We hope you've enjoyed it.

Brenda