Saturday, January 23, 2010

Unschooling Ipoh & Tambun Road Trip 11 January 2010

Monday, Day 1.
YL and I have been thinking of educational road trips for our children last year. Finally, we decided on Ipoh for our first trip. Ipoh is not too far for a start. Besides, we could stay at Wai Leng’s mom’s home which can help save some $$.(Thank you very much, Wai Leng) My children is En, aged 6 and Hui, aged 3. YL’s children, Yi, Fai, Han and Ean, aged 12, 6, 4, and 1 respectively. 2 moms and 6 kids on a road trip to Ipoh on 11 Jan 10 for 5 days.. Some commented, ” Ipoh! 5 days? What are we doing at Ipoh for such a long stay? ” Haha! My intention is for EnHui to experience anything while on the road, spontaneuosly, "Education of the Real World". Well, let’ see ……

We met YL and her family at Mc Donald, to exchange my car with a bigger Volvo car of her husband. At 1030am, we started our journey from Sungai Buloh Toll, NKVE. I was the driver and TL entertained the kiddies. (Phew! Thank you, YL)

Our first stop was Pun Chun Restaurant @Bidor town for lunch. It’s famous of its duck noodle soup cooked with herbs, dried longan, wolfberries and ginger. The soap is yummy and the meat is tender. For this round, we just ordered wan tan noodles and continued our journey after filling our tummy.

We exited at Simpang Pulai toll and head to Taman Canning, the home that we stayed. It’s easy to locate using the Ipoh Map. I would just parked by the road side when I read the map. The house is spacious and cozy. Aunty, whom EnHui called Aunty Po Po, provided us with great hospitality.We love that home. I love that home. EnHui love the garden and the swing.

Aunty Po Po showed a type of plant @garden,Taman Canning

8 of us slept in a huge room. What an experience for EnHui to stay over at Aunty Po Po ’s home with so many people.

Our bedroom, 2nd night @Taman Canning



4th night - Crack the Maze!

After unloading our luggages, we went to Kek Lok Tong. Aunty Po Po tagged along. I am so thankful that she came with us, showed me the shortcut to Jalan Raja Musa Mahadi from Taman Canning. There will be sign leading you to Kek Lok Tong at this road. When we followed the sign, it led us through the Gunung Rapat housing area before we arrived at Kek Lok Tong. Parking and entrance at Kek Lok Tong is FOC. It is a beautiful limestone cave that lead you to a park behind the cave.



@Kek Lok Tong. Aunty Po Po holding on to En at the fish pond


After that, Aunty Po Po suggested us to go to Polo Ground (Taman Rekreasi Sultan Abdul Aziz) for an evening walk and playground before dinner. The jogging path is full of greens and nature sights.

EnHui love the equipments! En and Fai were busy collecting twigs and carried them to the top, building something. Hui checked the ground, found a dead crushed insect and did what she likes the most, picking flowers. We saw two squirrels on a tree. En picked stones and some tiny little things that look like pinecone. All these little stuff on the ground is like a big treasure for EnHui.

 En & Fai messing around with twigs




 More En & Fai


  Hui with flowers

This part is extracted from John Holt's book "How children learn"
"" One day in the Public Garden I see, on a small patch of grass under some trees, a father and a two year old girl. The father is lying down; the little girl runs everywhere. What a joy to run! Suddenly she stops, looks intently at the ground, bends down, picks something up. A twig! A pebble! She stands up, runs again, see a pigeon, chases it, suddenly stops and looks up into the sunlit trees, seeing what? - perhaps a squirrel, perhaps a bird, perhaps just the shape and color of the leaves in the sun. Then she bends down, finds something else, picks it up, examines it. A leaf! Another miracle. Gears, twigs, leaves, little children love the world. That's why they are so good at learning about it. For it's LOVE, not tricks and techniques of thought, that lies at the heart of all true learning.  ""

Never underestimate the park and playground!