Day out at FRIM

Nice day out in the cool of FRIM

The sky was overcast in the morning when we got ready to leave for FRIM (Forest Research Institute of Malaysia) for our homeschoolers Junior Public Speaking picnic cum workshop. Thankfully, after a short drizzle the sun came out and everything was great. It smelled cool and fresh and I was glad for the breezes that blew. The FRIM grounds were rather quiet (except for the occasional vehicles) although it was a public holiday, so we almost had the place to ourselves. All in, about 14 homeschoolers (from 8 to 16 years) and assorted family members came together for a fun day out in the cool green forest reserve on the fringe of KL city.

The year-long JPS sessions are modeled after Toastmasters and the kids meet once a month. Facilitator Amy Ratos thought it would be nice to hold it outdoors for a change, and so it was. The JPS workshops are inclusive, involving homeschoolers from different persuasions and faith communities. Our boys are 15 and 13 and they have been homeschooled all their lives. Not only do we have time to be a family outside the pressure-cooker culture foisted on child and parent by conventional schools, it’s been a wonderful trip building friendships with so many like-minded families, doing so many things together. Also, it never fails to amaze me to see what our kids are capable of when they are given the time and opportunity to put something like this together by themselves (of course with a little supervision).

Some Links:
Virtual Malaysia has a short write-up on FRIM and some nice photos here.
Malaysian Nature Society which manages FRIM on behalf of the state government has a Nature Education Center (NEC) at FRIM. Read about it here.
Read my follow-up piece on SecondChance.