SHE gave up her career to be a full-time mum and now she's a teacher to her children as well.
Former actress Evelyn Tan plans to home school her daughter Kristen, 4, and son Jairus, 2, all the way to Primary 6.
Evelyn, 33, and actor husband Darren Lim, 37, are expecting their third child - she is currently four months' pregnant.
The pros and cons of home schooling have been debated here.
Evelyn and Darren say they believe in it and are not worried their children will fall behind kids who go through the national school system.
Darren said home schooling was his idea because as a student, he used to feel like an 'outcast'.
The self-confessed 'non-mathematically-inclined' actor said he wanted his children to have a more 'hands-on learning approach' to schooling.
For that, Evelyn uses the Accelerated Christian Education phonics-based programme, which uses role-playing and storytelling.
The programme, which covers subjects such as maths, science and social studies, focuses on language skills, morals and values.
Evelyn has been using the syllabus to teach Kristen for the last three months, for two hours a day, and has found it very effective.
Lessons are in the morning in Kristen's playroom, with her Barbie dolls, wooden blocks and play dough all around.
The walls are lined with posters showing numbers and letters of the alphabet and show-and-tell cards that Evelyn makes using pictures of animals downloaded from the Internet.
Kristen also attends ballet and art lessons once a week.
She enjoys one hour of television every afternoon.
Said Evelyn: 'The curriculum that I have set for her trains her to be independent and literate.
'She's curious about everything right now. This coupled with her strong learning ability makes teaching her an easy task.'
Evelyn said she turns to friends and other home schooling mothers' blogs for help with educational tips and resources.
The couple also emphasised that they recognise that 'each child is different' and would prefer to tailor an educational curriculum to suit each child.
So, for Jairus, 'if he can't sit still like Kristen, I will look into changing the curriculum', Evelyn said.
'If that still doesn't work, we may delay home schooling till he's one or two years older like Kristen is now.'
Social skills
But are they worried that Kristen and Jairus may not be able to socialise with other children if they only study at home?
Said Evelyn: 'Yes, Darren and I discussed that and we do want to put them in playgroups so that they will get to play with other children.'
Singaporean children should attend national schools to 'learn a common set of core values, knowledge and skills', a Ministry of Education spokesman was quoted as saying in a report in The Straits Times last April.
But the ministry also understands that some parents want their children schooled at home, and has allowed them to do this, provided the children pick up the basic requirements of compulsory education.
Home-schooled children are required to meet a higher standard to pass the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) than their mainstream counterparts.
They have to meet a PSLE benchmark of the 33rd percentile aggregate score of mainstream pupils, which approximately corresponds to a score of 191. Of this year's 26 home-schooled candidates, 19 cleared this hurdle.
Evelyn said: 'Kristen is a very bright child so she should have no problems with the exam.'
The couple are also trying to ensure that their children 'turn out right'.
Said Darren: 'We have heard of parents who have had to give up their careers later to pull their children back to the right path.
'So we want to guide our children from the start. This prevents them from making mistakes later in life.'
They also plan to discuss issues such as pre-marital sex with the children early, the couple revealed.
Said Evelyn: 'It's basically about adopting the right attitudes towards life.'
Darren added, with a laugh: 'That's why I married Evelyn. She's a full-time, hands-on mother. Now a man can't ask for more.'
The couple have also been using Mandarin at home since their kids were born, 'to keep our children bilingual'.
And they are eagerly looking forward to their third child.
Said Darren: 'I hope it's a boy so that Kristen will always be my only girl.'
Evelyn is happy to be a full-time mum. Since she quit acting in 2005, she has done some freelance hosting at roadshows.
She gives parenting talks and her next workshop on positive discipline for children will be held at the Touch Centre.
Darren is currently filming the Channel 8 drama My School Daze in which he plays an uneducated hawker.
The couple proudly took us on a tour of their three-storey house in the east.
Their favourite space, they say, is their cosy entertainment room, also known as 'the big boy's playroom'.
In it are Darren's 'toys' such as a billiards table, his PlayStation 2 and Wii console.
There is also a 150-inch movie screen-like projection TV, on which Darren enjoys his favourite wildlife and travel documentaries by David Attenborough and Michael Palin.
Evelyn and Darren say they make a special effort to keep their five-year marriage alive.
On days when they need 'couch time together', they leave the kids at Evelyn's parents' house.
Said Evelyn: 'We will talk about everything under the sun, like we used to when we were dating and we will find each other again.'
This article was first published in The New Paper.
