Kindness begins at... home

Part of my decision to homeschool Dumpling stems from the belief that good habits and values begin from home. That was what we have been focusing from home for a while but it was only from the beginning of the year that I had more of a structure around it. 


For the past month, "Kindness" has been our theme. "Kindness" not only in thoughts but (and by now, she is able to recite with me) in words and actions too. :p

What I'd do is to read some biblical stories and verses with her along with other books and in this case, a DVD which I borrowed from the library.

And like all our themes, we had a field trip! Guess where we headed off to last Sunday?


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hehe... the SPCA!


We had a really good time there. Dumpling asked a lot of questions:
- what is a pet shelter and what does it do
- why and how do people become volunteers
- why were the animals abandoned
- what is a stray (and we used the opportunity to explain to her "domesticated' animals / pets)


It was also the perfect platform for us then to explain the concept of responsibility in addition to "kindness" towards not just people but animals too. 

We pointed out these bio data sheets to Dumpling...

And were captivated by this pair of soulful eyes! Seriously, can you not melt? 

Dumpling's photography skills have improved tremendously. I will update this post with a pic that she took of the place over the next day or two :)

We are also very proud that she has confidence to enter into the Kennel and is not "iffy" about fur and all and is gentle in handling them (of course we were mindful to choose the friendlier few) :)

Then we went into the small animals area and lost our hearts to this kitten: Becca. She has the sweetest temperament and is really good with young children. I carried her for a good 10 mins as Dumpling stroked and played with her

When one friendly paw is not enough. :) (from 2 different cats)

We also took the chance to have a chat with some of the volunteers who were ever so patient with Dumpling's questions about the animals and their voluntary work. The 1.5 hours zoomed by in a flash. 

Dumpling has been asking if we could visit the place again ever since. We did speak about volunteering our time at the SPCA in future too. :) That reminds me - I will have to give them a call to ask about the "starting" age for volunteers. lol