Last Month of the Year 2011 -- December Affairs

December is usually filled with nightly performances in the local public places arranged by the local government.  Students of most schools participate in it.  And this was the first time that we would feel as "part of the performers" and not just a sideline watchers. 


It is a good thing is that kiddo's part is didn't become very stressful since it was only a repeat of their previous November in-school activity. 


Points for this entry:
School Nyt at Capitol, Christmas party (twice exchange gift plus the food), and the LONG holiday at home. :D

Detective Lapbook

We have accomplished something over the holidays, at least, aside from memorizing the assigned poems from English and Filipino. This is what we did one afternoon, the same afternoon that he got some chocolate present from my friend. :D


P chose to do the detective lapbook without much influence from Teacher Mom. ^.^ 

Early part of the month


November started as a holiday-filled month but ended in a hectic rush as the month rolled in. 
It was the English month and since P was a member of the Lit Guild, he had the chance to
join the activities for the club members.


He was part of the choral reading and some other little activities that they had during the month.
He took part in the club's various quiz bees as watcher, emcee, and goodness knows what else. It was the choral reading that really took a lot of time for practice as this involves a number of students. He missed some of the first practice sessions but manage to really get into it after a while. TM tried to let the kid practice reading by himself before but he wasn't interested. It seems more fun to practice reading together with other mates. I found him enjoying the rehearsals, specially the dress rehearsal where they got to wear costumes.


Tricky part for Teacher Mom is preparing the costume as I had not really been such a big fan of costume design. Sewing is not my thing and putting a costume together would necessarily involve that somehow or another. Unlike most kids who had theirs specially done in a dress shop, ours was simply put together of what is available (a long-sleeved white shirt bought on a sale, and a pair of pants which he already has) with the addition of a few cardboards, foil papers, glues and velcros. 


After weeks of figuring out how to go about it with less sewing or almost none at all, we finally completed it. Dress rehearsal came and the level of "casualty" has been passed. Since we tried on doing less sewing, our final output would have a good deal of foil paper which is more prone to tearing. And that was just what happened! Well, for the most part, it held well except for the all paper thing part, the sash. 


Watching my son watch his fellow clubmates with great interest and he, himself, proudly parading around in our "product" makes up for the stress in creating the costume since I am not really much into costume-making. Ours may have suffered a few glitches during the run but the kid did feel proud of his costume. It's in the epaulette. HAha!!


We'll just see how it can stand the real test on the D Day! (We may have to make some improvements though.) 


Performance Day


The place was a bit far but we all managed to bring the kids. It was all filled with flurry of activity as almost everyone from the club and their parents are busy for the performance. Almost every class has something prepared. 


P was able to perform, albeit a little off from the rehearsals. I just have to thank the club's adviser for giving him a good part. He sure needs a lot more exposure to get used to performing for a crowd. Minor changes didn't really freak him out but it did threw him off a bit. Oh! The part of being a stage Mom that I will have to avoid, literally. ^^,

Almost Direct Tax on a 7 Year Old

10/21/11

My seven-year old son is also being taxed by the government in the least expected place, his kiddie bank account.

After a few days of being sick in bed, I finally got around to updating my financial excel file. I was perusing the grocery receipts, as well as atm and other bank papers when I chanced on his bank passbook which I had updated the past few weeks. I was glad to see that he’s cash has earned, albeit little interest. I know beforehand that the bank interests in the country are not that big really. The ultimate goal is teaching the kid the value of saving and not really to earn big interest, yet.

Upon a second look, I also noticed another column of a slightly smaller amount which, upon a correct guesswork, is the withholding tax. Now don’t get me wrong here about the notion of nobody is exempted in taxes. I know that everything can be taxed even a preconceived child. It starts from the pregnancy test kit that a lady buys at a drugstore up to the milk, diapers, and school supplies that the kid will consume. This is a harsh reality of taxation.

I have recently read somewhere in the papers that the BSP has been trying to encourage children to open their own savings account since Filipinos are not really big savers but more on big “loaners/londoners.” But how can one encourage these young people to be active savers if even they would see right there on their passbooks that almost 20% of the already meager interest that they get. Again, we are not really after the earnings that they’ll get here but to encourage them to save up. But how would you be encouraged to save up in a bank if you’re money will only be slapped with tax? Wouldn’t there be any tax exemptions for these children in their savings accounts just to invest in our country’s possible future savers?

Reading Log (as of September 2011)

August is P's birth month. Chuseok fell on Sept 12 this year. Upon DH's idea, P got himself a new ebook reader, Kindle, as a gift. It seems that the previous PDA's which he has been using as ereaders are not enough to hold the ebooks that he wants to read every now and then. Here is the book list.


Enid Blyton Series (15 Mystery,8 Adventure,1 Secret Seven, and 21 Famous Five, 5 Secret, 2 Adventure Four, 2 CIrcus, 6 Malory TOwers)
Thornton Burgess Series (13 books) 
Redwall Series (20 books)


Over the weekend, TM has to catch up with P in reading Roald Dahl's books. TM only managed to finish four from the list.


Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Danny the Champion of the World


We managed to find the proper reader to be able to read the illustrated books using a laptop. And P was able to read the following:
The Enormous Crocodile
The Magic Finger





  

G1 1st Quarter (Aug-Sept 2011)

Academic and Linguistic

It has been a couple of weeks since the kiddo took this year's quarterly major exam. We managed to go past the first part of Filipino subjects, attend some extra-curricular activities and end up somewhere in the upper part of the class.

August flew by with activities such as poem recitation, scouting and P's birthday. The poem recitation was not that demanding as they only have to memorize and recite two poems in Filipino and English. P fared well but didn't manage to get any extra award. Nonetheless, Teacher Mom was contented that he seemed to enjoy the short time on stage without much fuss. What surprised me was the other awards that were given or I meant the little thingies such as crown-kind-of-thing that looks so cheap (pardon the term, I am not referring to the cost at all) and inappropriate. It looked like a mini-JS Prom award. A sash or an award would have looked better.

So far, what have they covered in school curriculum?

1. English – sounds, vowel sounds (initial, median, ending), nouns (proper and common), alphabetical arrangement, spelling
2. Math – numbers 1-100, addition up to 3 digit numbers, subtraction, place values (3 digits)
3. Science – parts of the body, taking care of the body,
4. Filipino – mga tunog, katinig, patinig (unahan, gitna at huling tunog), pagbaybay
5. Sibika at Kultura – mapa at Pilipinas, direksyon at lokasyon, pook pasyalan at mga sagisag ng bansa

Physical Education

Scouting was the next activity and since it was a first, TM has to really be there, on the sidelines, that is. He has to eat lunch in a restaurant which turns out to be a place where utensils are not the norm. Later that day, the Teacher Guides had to inform us what happened during lunch time. He's the only one who doesn't know how and cannot eat without utensils. OUCH!! on our parenting skills!! Finally, DH hopefully realized that a little bit of "cowboy" eating should be made familiar to the kid. (ah! Mommy note here.)

Following activities were more on physical group games and despite the physical exhaustion of watching and cheering, Moms and kids sure had a blast. Even if it cost our educational budget around 600++, it was another fun-filled learning experience and we hope to be able to join again next year.

Just after a week or two, it was followed by an intramural meet. Now, this one should be another physically-demanding activity but kiddo ended up joining a board game event. Ha! It was another worthy time to spend watching him play against other kids his age with a game that he also enjoys. It was a mere game at first, and it felt good to watch the kids play “seriously,” as well as loose graciously as well.

He did manage to join a running race after some coaxing but didn’t even made it half-way since he fell and didn’t know what to do after falling. His face seemed to say, ”Should I continue running to the finish line or what?” Unfortunately, TM had so much hope that she positioned herself to take photo around the finish line and kiddo didn’t see her when he fell. We’ll try to be better next time around.

This seemed to take place again a few weeks later when P was assigned to give the prayer during a school program. Since we were informed about it the day before the program, we weren’t able to smoothen out the memorization part of the short prayer. It ended up in a prayer with a long dead-air and almost wasn’t going to finish at all. TM had to blame herself again for not pushing the kiddo to memorize his part well and not being able to position herself strategically in case kiddo needed some more sideline coaching. ON the second thought, would it have been better left that way? Sometimes, the kid has to realize that there are times that he has to perform and rely on himself alone. TO be or not to be…that is the question.

Medical
July 22 – He hurt his finger on the school’s restroom. TM had to rush to the school clinic to see his badly-hurt finger. It was bloody (P cannot stand the sight of blood) and very painful. He almost missed the English Club activity. Good thing that he was able to calm himself and still join later part of the spelling game.
The bandage and the ointment had to be administered for more than a week. Sometime around the early part of August, I bumped into the medical personnel of the school and gave them update on how the wound is healing. They also had to inform me that P is underweight. He’s on the thin side and a little taller so the ratio really categorically underweight. Now, what do we do about it?
Sept. 13 - He lost his upper front tooth. A classmate accidentally elbowed him and out came his tooth flying. The next day, I searched for the culprit and gave her some sweets as a thank you for saving us the trouble of getting that loose tooth out. 
August and September. As of writing this entry, P has been consistent on his monthly fever occurrences. The joke is his all-time favorite medicine is paracetamol that he has to take it every month. What gives?
That’s about it for now for the chronicle of P’s learning experiences --- academically and whatnot.
Until the next entry: Math-related homeschooling for extra math events at school and other weak subject focus.

1st Quarter is Over

It has been a couple of weeks since the kiddo took this year's quarterly major exam. We managed to go past the first part of Filipino subjects, attend some extra curricular activities and end up somewhere in the upper part of the class.

Academic and Linguistic

August flew by with activities such as poem recitation, scouting and P's birthday. The poem recitation was not that demanding as they only have to memorize and recite two poems in Filipino and English. P fared well but didn't manage to get any extra award. Nonetheless, Teacher Mom was contented that he seemed to enjoy the short time on stage without much fuss. What surprised me was the other awards that were given or I meant the little thingies such as crown-kind-of-thing that looks so cheap (pardon the term, I am not referring to the cost at all) and inappropriate. It looked like a mini-JS Prom award. A sash or an award would have looked better. 

So far, what have they covered in school curriculum?

a.     English – sounds, vowel sounds (initial, median, ending), nouns (proper and common), alphabetical arrangement, spelling

b.     Math – numbers 1-100, addition up to 3 digit numbers, subtraction, place values (3 digits)

c.     Science – parts of the body, taking care of the body,

d.     Filipino – mga tunog, katinig, patinig (unahan, gitna at huling tunog), pagbaybay

e.     Sibika at Kultura – mapa at Pilipinas, direksyon at lokasyon, pook pasyalan at mga sagisag ng bansa

Physical Education

Scouting was the next activity and since it was a first, TM has to really be there, on the sidelines, that is. He has to eat lunch in a restaurant which turns out to be a place where utensils are not the norm. Later that day, the Teacher Guides had to inform us what happened during lunch time. He's the only one who doesn't know how and cannot eat without utensils. OUCH!! on our parenting skills!! Finally, DH hopefully realized that a little bit of "cowboy" eating should be made familiar to the kid. (ah! Mommy note here.)

Following activities were more on physical group games and despite the physical exhaustion of watching and cheering, Moms and kids sure had a blast. Even if it cost our educational budget around 600++, it was another fun-filled learning experience and we hope to be able to join again next year. 

Just after a week or two, it was followed by an intramural meet. Now, this one should be another physically-demanding activity but kiddo ended up joining a board game event. Ha! It was another worthy time to spend watching him play against other kids his age with a game that he also enjoys. It was a mere game at first, and it felt good to watch the kids play “seriously,” as well as loose graciously as well.

He did manage to join a running race after some coaxing but didn’t even made it half-way since he fell and didn’t know what to do after falling. His face seemed to say, ”Should I continue running to the finish line or what?” Unfortunately, TM had so much hope that she positioned herself to take photo around the finish line and kiddo didn’t see her when he fell. We’ll try to be better next time around.

 This seemed to take place again a few weeks later when P was assigned to give the prayer during a school program. Since we were informed about it the day before the program, we weren’t able to smoothen out the memorization part of the short prayer. It ended up in a prayer with a long dead-air and almost wasn’t going to finish at all. TM had to blame herself again for not pushing the kiddo to memorize his part well and not being able to position herself strategically in case kiddo needed some more sideline coaching. ON the second thought, would it have been better left that way? Sometimes, the kid has to realize that there are times that he has to perform and rely on himself alone. TO be or not to be…that is the question.

Medical

July 22 – He hurt his finger on the school’s restroom. TM had to rush to the school clinic to see his badly-hurt finger. It was bloody (P cannot stand the sight of blood) and very painful. He almost missed the English Club activity. Good thing that he was able to calm himself and still join the later part of the spelling game.

The bandage and ointment had to be administered for more than a week. Sometime around the early part of August, I bumped into the medical personnel of the school and gave them update on how the wound is healing. They also had to inform me that P is underweight. He’s on the thin side and a little taller so the ratio really categorically underweight. Now, what do we do about it?

Sept. 13 - He lost his upper front tooth. A classmate accidentally elbowed him and out came his tooth flying. The next day, I searched for the “culprit” and gave her some sweets as a thank you for saving us the trouble of getting that loose tooth out. J

August and September. As of writing this entry, P has been consistent on his monthly fever occurrences. The joke is his all-time favorite medicine is paracetamol that he has to take it every month. What gives?

That’s about it for now for the chronicle of P’s learning experiences --- academically and whatnot.

Until the next entry: Math-related homeschooling for extra math events at school and other weak subject focus. 

Homeroom Clean-up (Super Late Classroom Brigade)

We just did a quick makeover of my kid's G1 classroom today. MF1 was the one who informed me of the plan. Since I was going to wait for my kiddo anyway, I pitched in and dragged MF2 to help out too. Just between 4 Moms, the Adviser and 1 Dad, we managed to hung the new curtains, sweep the floor a bit more thoroughly and discard some unwanted things in the room. I wish somebody took some photos of my Mom Friends climbing up the windows and step ladder.

After more than a month, the room finally looked like a classroom. A few more add-ins on the walls and it would truly feel like a second home for our kids.

I'll probably take some photos one of these days. :)

Hitting G1!

Summer flew by with a lot of catching up on reading, and more reading: Famous Men of Rome, Hardy Boys series, etc. We also did bits of lessons on Fil and more or less a month of Kor language learning and at the same time, deciding on the primary school to attend this coming school year.

P took the entrance exam and passed it with flying colors, after which is the reading assessment and enrollment. We were given a short list of school supplies to prepare for the incoming school year.

The List included:

9 notebooks (to be changed every grading period)

2 G1 pad paper

1 eraser

1 pencil sharpener

2 pencils (specifically Mongol according to the list)

1 roll of tissue

2 pcs. 1x1 ID photos for their ID

June comes by and off to a good start upon attending the first flag-raising ceremony for the school year. Since he's a transferee student, he doesn't have any uniform yet. Luckily, quite a number of other classmates were, too.

So far, we managed the first few weeks of school: buying his textbooks, attending meetings (HPTA, extra-curricular groups, etc), submitting the seemingly endless photos for school files, getting familiar with his classmates and their parents, and teachers of course. We do homework, and advance reading specially on his Fil and Makabayan subjects as he really needs to have it, or else he'll draw blank during class.

In between these, we were able to squeeze in lots of playtime and running around. Teacher Mom is really glad that P has found a bigger place to run around and use up his energy. Stress notwithstanding, we're looking forward to a school year full of activities, and challenges that will make us all learn and grow.

Early Summer Trip/Educational Tour/Wedding

The month of March closed and April started on high note since we had the chance to attend a wedding in Tagaytay (Thanks to Tita A and Tito H.) Along with the main wedding trip was an educational trip somewhere in the immediate area of Manila.

P enjoyed going to the Children's Museum, and Luneta Park. That was the first day itinerary when we got back to the Metro.

This entry will chronicle how we spent our time for a few days far from our island province. :)

Day 1, March 29th

Airport at 8 A.M. Since we live near the airport, an hour before the ETD is enough for us to check in and wait for the plane to arrive. P was so excited since it's been a while since he has traveled via air that he has almost forgotten his previous experiences. Upon getting to our seats, he took the time in reading the emergency guide, and even competed with me for our only copy of the airline magazine. Good thing was that there wasn't much interesting there for a kid like him so he had to hand over the mag to me. Still, he didn't give much chance to read because he kept on chatting and chatting. TM had to give up the reading (and maybe a short shut-eye that I missed the previous night for packing) and tried my best to take this chance to enjoy his excitement. It was quite a short flight as it turned out because of having a pre-occupied kid beside TM.

After getting off the plane, we waited for Tita E.'s flight and had our lunch altogether. Then, I had to drag them to the DFA for passport renewal before heading off to our main destination Tagaytay. It was around past six and already quite cold when we got ther

Day 2, March 30th

The next day, we tried to take a walk to the nearby streets but had to go back almost right away because P was complaining of the long walk. That is one thing that I really had to let him learn, endurance for long walks. We do walk occasionally in our town but usually from the City Library to NCCC and if pressed for some more, to our home two blocks more.

The wedding was set later that day and we managed to get through it despite the cold which P didn't seem to mind about. He just kept on running around, enjoying the unfamiliar places. He was quite behaved during the church service, as well as during the reception, but in between those, he truly explored the area. He also got a chance to hang out with other Titos and Titas but not much with other kids. That is another thing that I had noticed. He gets along with adults faster/better than kids. Partly maybe because of the language?

Day 3, March 31st

Before going back to Manila, we managed to drop by at Picnic Grove. P was able to try the horseback riding and TM only watch. (I took pity on the horses, remembering Black Beauty.)

The planned itinerary went kaput as TM was not able to manage the logistics partly because my head was all into the motion sickness scare that I have.

Day 4, April 1st

We took the taxi moving from Makati to Manila in the morning.

P also had his first LRT ride in the morning as we went to Bambang for some medical supplies for the Grannys.

We finally got our bearings together and we were able to go to Children's Museum in the afternoon. P really enjoyed the place in spite of it being a little under repairs and all. There weren't a lot of people around. We basically had the whole place to ourselves. P explored every bit of it and enjoyed it tremendously. If I hadn't reminded him that we still have another place to explore, he wouldn't have gone through the whole museum a bit faster.

Further down the road is where we found the Luneta Park. I really don't remember much to see there but it was quite interesting place to walk around and explore for P. He found the Luneta Park Vicinity Map interesting and this served as a guide for us. We chanced on some people playing chess in the area, read a few not-so-famous Filipino heroes bios, watched the 6 o'clock fountain with the background music playing "Manila," and run around the playground. And no, we didn't take any photo of the famous Rizal Monument. Kiddo wasn't so interested yet. Beats me why. (Or maybe not.)

P had a chance to play a few games of chess. It reminded me that he is indeed interested in it if only he would have someone to play with at home more often. He also enjoyed playing on the playground which has very interesting designs. It seems that the designs have been improved just recently.

It was already past seven that we felt pangs of hunger that we decided to go. We planned on having dinner somewhere inside Times Plaza at UN Ave. but we got sidetracked as we passed by a Booksale branch inside. We never made it to our target dining place. We stayed in the bookstore until they closed and forgot all about our stomachs.

Very tired and hungry, I just brought kiddo back to our rooms and grabbed some quick take outs. We had our dinner, washed up, and got ready for some of the books we bought.

Day 4, April 3

We were able to do another quick tour of Manila Zoo, MOA for P's Cluedo and shoes and a bit of shopping-by-request at Carriedo.

Later that day, we did our final shopping: food at a Korean grocery and books at Robinsons Manila. And boy, was my backpack very heavy as we turned in for the night.

Day 5, April 4

Time to go back home. P got his Cluedo Cards already so we ended up playing it while waiting for our flight. We never got the chance to buy pasalubong foodie and I was afraid to almost missing our flight. We made it nonetheless, third bus.

We've done our sight-seeing and shopping so it's time to fly back to the island. :)It seems that the few days were not enough to see places and do some shopping. There should be a next time for both of us. I bet it would be more fun as P grows older. I just hope that his interests wouldn't not be far from mine and that he wouldn't mind spending most of our time in walking around on the streets, in museums, and browsing through libraries and bookstores.

Upon getting settled on the bus, before and after flying, P had his little speeches that went like this.

(On the Cebu Pac bus before going on-board) "Goodbye airport. Thank you Cebu Pacific. I'm excited to fly back home with you."

(Before take off) "Goodbye Manila. It was nice staying here. I really had a great time. I hope to see you soon someday."

(After touch down) "Hello Puerto, I'm glad to see you again. I missed you."

(On the way back to our hometown..)

Another graduation day...

A third graduation ceremony for kiddo.

2008 - five months of Nursery level (Nov. to March) at a small private learning center

2009 - home home home...

2010 - seven months of K1 (?)

2011 - full year of K2 at a regular school

This is the full-year term that we had really worked for his graduation day. So this one's a bit more memorable than the previous ones.

The graduation ceremony ran for an hour and a half. It turned out quite a good one saved for a few glitches. Location was at school: well-ventilated (air-conditioned auditorium) and space just enough for the number of people attending. The program flew by, without any long speeches given by adults! It was really a neat program put together by the school.

Later that day, hubby and I ended up comparing the program with the previous ones we've attended so far. Here's what we've come up with:

GC1

Good:

• small number of people in a VERY spacious air-conditioned auditorium (it was comfortable)
• the program served as a yearbook-like thing

Bad:

• the choice of speaker was a bit self-serving (a very bad point according to hubby),
• uncontrollable picture-taking by the parents
• **awards for kids were ranked (kiddo didn't get any, he has barely turned three at that time *winks*)

GC2

Good: **not much to say except maybe that Kiddo got a silver medal (?evil grin)

Bad:

• location (open air but hot, coupled with two power outages, uncomfortable benches)
• time - program started very late and took too long since it has a lot of kids
• more than 2 adult speakers who didn't seem to think of the audience's discomfort but just a chance for campaigning (Sorry --- I really think that politicians should have no place in graduation ceremonies, specially in preschoolers! Who are we kidding!)

GC3

Good:

• location (air-con, appropriate stage)
• well-planned program (no adult speakers at all!) just kids all throughout
• adults simply said a few lines of "I confer..." and helped handing out the certificates and awards
• made use of a projector with cute slides of graduating kids' photos (optional and quite fancy but it sure added some fun)
• started almost on time
• kids were not ranked (although kiddo got quite a satisfactory number of awards, I do think that it was wise not to rank them as it seems too early and takes the joy of simple learning for them)

Bad:

• the ever-present parent-pseudo-photographers (including me)
• there were some more minor glitches but not much I can say here

** this point can is debatable and bias of course!! *sly grin*

Bottomline of the activity today? We think it was a decent one: worth the time, money and effort of everyone. As for my son, he wants to enroll at the same place next year. That we still have to think about. Cheers!

And since I had written something nice about the third GC (Graduation Ceremony), I won't be feeling bad on posting some photos of P's souvenirs (mala-wedding collection ang dating.)

Until the next graduation day! (Hopefully, that would be roughly in six years time.)

March Blues:A look back

Graduation Fever is on!

As I start cleaning up the books and papers P has used this year, I look back to the first days of his K2 life at his school. It is the first time that he has started and finished from June to March. As in a REAL whole year and not a few months short.

It seems quite sad for DM to finally say goodbye to his pre-school years. The more formal schooling will begin soon and hopefully, he'll be able to continue his eagerness on learning. Sure, we did have our setbacks but graduation this time will feel different. We managed it for a year! Think of getting up early to get to school, doing homeworks, packing the snacks, attending school meeting and going to school activities and trips.

To date, we have attended:

1. Approximately at least four times of homeroom meeting, plus extra ones for activity meetings.

The first homeroom meeting I've been to in this school was quite disappointing as I had hoped to get feedback on how the kids are doing at school generally: what they are learning, would be learning and stuff like that. Unfortunately, the general consensus of the group seems to be concern on the election of officers, the class project for the year (which I totally don't agree much on everything that was listed) and other money-generating concerns. Ah! Expenses, rather.

What were those on the list? Hmm...

cleaning materials for the room/toilet

a linoleum for the classroom

a book shelf

some water related item

I don't believe that material things such as the ones on the list is the end of all things in ensuring the kids learning. It's not the just the existence of a bookshelf that will help the non-readers learn to love reading. There are still K2's in their that can actually read. It isn't just the teacher's responsibility to instill early literacy but a collaboration between the teacher and other parents as well. Oops! I really don't want to get started on this. I'm sure almost all the parents would be able to afford hiring a private tutor for their kids. That is another road to take. Nevertheless, a stronger literacy school program for reading should really reinforce whatever they should be learning.

Let me go back to the list.

- The linoleum is all tattered and torn now. Good luck to the new students (or should I say, parents) next year. Better buy a thick carpet next time, perhaps?

- The water thing didn't last until the next report card.

- The book shelf is left at the corner, I really doubt if the books inside got changed at all. As for the kids reading level? Beats me.

Giving the report card was the highlight of the meeting and some parents barely got to attend and just simply pick up the cards. This I was able to figure out right away and kept in mind for the following meetings. Hah!

2. Extra-curricular activities (some of them has special meeting called and almost would have additional expenses again--the cost of having sending a child to school)

a. Filipino Day

b. Foundation Day

c. Family Day

d. Christmas Party

e. Field Trip

f. Pre-school Day

Some of these meeting has been basically to inform the parents of the details of the activities and I am grateful for that. As for the other matters, well...

Let me just continue to reminisce of the things that my kid was able to bring home this past year:his unzipped bag (I have to constantly remind him of stones-off consequence for this), dirty clothes from playing--finally (only started around after a few months), test papers, small and giant colorful stars and circles (for well-behaved kids or if he gets perfect score on tests), and stories of ups and downs in the very short hours that he has stayed at school. There were a few tears but there were more smiles as the year comes to close.

Graduation is coming fast. He'll miss his friends, but there is an idea of seeing them again a few months later. Still, DH has raised the idea of going back to homeschool or changing school. It makes me think and rethink some more, should I still send my kid to school next year?

Moving on.

P.S. Next post will most likely be about how the graduation program will turn out. I still have to post my thoughts on the Preschoolers Activity Day. Daume.

Learning the Multiplication Table of 2 for K2?

P is learning the multiplication table of two at school. Isn't it a bit too early for this gen? I've never heard of multiplication until after I was in grade school.

Simply put, this is actually skip counting in two's and they sure can do that. But I think, they should focus more on building the foundations on addition and subtraction families before moving on to multiplication. They should first be adept at simple addition and subtraction so as not to be overwhelmed to face higher maths. This makes me a bit apprehensive.

Bring out the flash cards!

Recommended Places for Preschoolers Trips (for kids ages 4-8)

1. City Library – Books, books, books! Need I say more? Ah, perhaps a very interesting presentation about the parts of the library and how fun it is for everyone. (Free, may need LoR for a large group.)
2. Palawan Museum – Pique the interest of the kids on local history. A little warning though, do not overdose and leave them having a boring concept of a museum. (Minimal fee for kids @ P2 up to 15 for adults, may need LoR for a large group.)
3. City Fire Department – Most kids are interested in fire trucks. This is also related to the community/language topics covered in preschool subjects. (Free, may need LoR for a large group.)
4. Wescom Hangar – See some aircraft up close and even go on board for some pictures. There are very friendly soldiers who will show the way around and even escort your vehicle around the camp. Isn’t that cool? (Free, needs a Letter of Request 14 days in advance.)
5. Butterfly Garden – Insects that would straightaway bring metamorphosis lessons in action. They provide a little outdate video clip before getting in the enclosure. (They charge an exorbitant fee for a very small space and limited time. Some might be discouraged with the ratio of cost and space.)
6. Demo Bee Farm – Another option of insect lesson sans the fee, plus a possible tasting of honey for free. A bit out of the way but still around the area of Croc Farm (CFI). (Free, may need LoR for a large group.)
7. Palawan Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Center/CFI – Taking care of animals, conservation of wildlife and its habitat is a sure way of bringing classroom science lessons to life.
8. Baker’s Hill – The only good place to let kids play in a playground, along with animal lessons and food to boot.
9. Mitra’s Ranch – They finally have horses in this ranch and it’s quite getting better for picnics that can accommodate a growing number of people. Another good place for kids to roam around.
10. Aloha House – This is actually an orphanage and organic vegetable grower that supplies some produce sold at the store downtown. If lucky, kids can probably see how the veggies are grown and picked. They can even buy some at reasonable prices. (Vegetables may be bought, may need LoR for a large group.)

QUALITY OVER QUANTITY.

It is recommended not go to these places all in one day. This would leave more impact on the children. Allot enough time for these places without the pressure of hurrying on to the next stop. At least two days, or even three, would give the children enough time to enjoy and appreciate the trips to insure it to still be educational. It’s an educational trip after all.

Learning is not only by sight. Let the children experience and explore each place. Present a semi-structured activity in case some gets bored right away.

Some more tips:

1. Teachers should also know about their places of interest and be able to draw out the connection of these places to the things covered in the classroom.
2. The teachers and parents should be aware of what to expect to do in each of the places. These would help satisfy the curious kids’ questions that the teacher may not be able to answer during the trip.
3. There should be a point-person to lead the kids and share the information about the place with everybody. This could be the teacher or someone from the point-of-interest.
4. Parents are there to keep the kids safe and discipline during the trip in order not to cause unnecessary disturbance when the teacher/resource speaker is talking.
5. Secure all the necessary permits and accurate details as to activity, and fees before the trip.
6. Teacher should provide activities that can possibly keep the little tots occupied during down time.

There are other suggested places and activities that can be explored which can be more apt for older students (mid-elementary to high school).

1. The City Landfill at Bgy. Sta. Lourdes – See and smell where our everyday trash go and realize how we can minimize.
2. Lawiswis at Bgy, Irawan – Organic living, with soap-making. Chemistry in nature.
3. Puerto Princesa Port/ Airport – Transportation and communication in town up close. (Although it may be a bit dangerous for little ones. It needs more double checking.)
4. A Vegetable Farm at Bgy. Sicsican or at the Dept. of Agriculture in Irawan – Go organic! Dig that fresh produce for good health!
5. Fishpond or Right on a fishing ground around – Go fishing!

K2 Field Trip 2011

27^th, Thursday – Preparation day for P’s “school field trip.” I got busy in the kitchen with the Chicken ala King that I had drummed up to try making this week.

28^th Friday – Another school field trip today! This would probably 2^nd or 3^rd school activity that P and I had attended that required us to get up early and a day together somewhere. Since it is a new school, I wasn’t sure how it will turn out. After today, I was able to compare how the previous school activities fared against this latest one.

Here are some key points:

1. Itinerary – the choices of places were somewhat predictable but useful. Most were suitable for preschoolers save for one. I’m not really sure what the underlying theme was it was like a typical “pinoy” educational trip where everybody was whisked from one place to another without much explanation or information. For this trip, here is the list and how it turn out:
1. Capitol (Palawan Heritage and V-Governor’s Office) – I really have no clear idea why this place was included since nothing much happen here. It was a land-and-run mostly. The Heritage room (?) is not that big enough to accommodate the 50 plus kids and adults in the trip. It should have arranged to divide the group a bit.

The Provincial Gym was next and everybody managed to get in. We were allowed to roam and try most of the equipment freely. It was fun for most. (Although it made me think if they do clean the rubberized floor after everyone has trampled on it. I guess the gym’s not generally one the cleanest places to be.)

Last place to be explored was the V-Gov’s office. I am not really sure if the office tenant there would appreciate the way the kids played on the swivel chair and inspected every interesting decor in the luxurious office. The office struck me as uninhabited. It seems like nobody uses that place much except for official functions but not where the real action takes place.

2. City Library – As I know how small the place inside is, I didn’t get in anymore. The kids went in and were out just in a few minutes. I was hoping that some short storytelling took place at all. It made me wonder if the library made any impact on them.

3. Palawan Museum – Another land-and-run place. Most of the people just paid, got in, look a bit downstairs, dashed upstairs and explored the small place as quickly as they can. Again, I am not really sure if there was anything new they picked up save for the strange things they’ve seen. There wasn’t any guide around but a guy who is in charge of cleaning the second floor I think.

4. Plaza Cuartel – Nothing much of explanation for this place except for the memorial marker that has been recently erected there (2009). Without that one, whoever that will ask what the place is about will have to suffice with whatever the little information the teacher can provide. For preschoolers, it’s almost something that they may not grasp very well yet.
   

Memorial Marker at Plaza Cuartel

5. Baker’s Hill – This is a generally good place for kids. There is the playground for kinesthetics and animals (mostly birds) for science. Bonus part is the array of food available. Stayed there for a while, just almost enough time if only we’re starting to get hungry to head down to the next stop.

A lucky shot of a peacock in full display of its grandeur.


Another kind of peacock who happens to be asleep when we took the photo.
Or was it really asleep or dying? I sure hope it's not the latter.

6. Mitra’s Ranch – A regular place for picnic, sight-seeing and space to run around some more for the kiddos. Too bad that there was also a little more than usual people around and I felt that we didn’t stay long enough.

7. Demo Bee Farm – Good place for kids although a little out of the way and awful dusty road to get there. The only place in the list where there were some people who really explained the place to the kids.

2. Logistics – Three buses were provided as everybody has paid quite handsomely for the price. The drivers were pretty good at their job (parking very close to the stops, reasonable speed and mindful of the little hands and head sticking out of the windows).

3. Overall Educational Relevance and Impact – As I had described each place above, some of these choices were quite muddled in terms of relevance to preschoolers without the proper person to really explain or simply share information about each place. Yet, there were really places that stand out from the rest.

Puppies on the Way!

This month has been quite eventful for our little household, along with kiddo's school life.

It was middle of the month when we finally figured out that our two-year-old dog is pregnant. We kind of had an idea about the impregnation time but wasn’t really sure the doggy wasn’t showing yet until a couple of weeks ago. We noticed that Su-ni has swollen breast ready to feed future puppies.

25^th – We noticed today that Su-ni has been moving about in a confused manner. She seemed to be unusually anxious about something. We guessed that she was getting ready to give birth as she looked for a possible place “nest.” Before I left that afternoon, I was expecting that she would have probably given birth by the time I got home. But lo and behold – there wasn’t much change when I got back. We tried to tuck her to a nice made-up shelter for her comfort for the night.

26^th - We were surprised to see the next day that she has moved to a natural ground and had 2 black things moving near her belly. She has finally given birth sometime at night. We still have to think up of some names for the puppies.

First Tooth Out!

The first tooth is finally out! Unfortunately, we lost iT down the drain as he was brushing with his D.

It has been a long time coming. I had already thought about bringing him to the dentist to properly extract the loose tooth but we've put it off. Until tonight as DF was helping brush his teeth, it just fell off. The new tooth can finally make its way out nicely after being stuck behind the old one. I just hope it would still be able to align itself properly.

Welcome 2011!

The previous months has been pretty busy with school activities and mundane chores. We have just settled on the home front schooling a week after the classes were off.

So far this later part of the year, we weren't able to cover a lot. We've been to a "Science on the Move Exhibit" last October, and pretty much did a lot of book reading at home.

Supplies from Teacher Dad (mostly ebooks), as well as Hardy Boys books that I've dug up in our shelves, comprised what P has read for the year 2010.

Chronicles of Narnia Books 1-7
Hardy Boys (11 titles)
The Mushroom Planet Series (7 books)
Tintin Comics (about 30 files according to P)

I've finally given up letting him write long entries in the Solar System lapbook. That was the BIG wall for him to finish the thing. Instead, we created a table of planet facts of which he has to read in order to fill up. Luckily, I found some "hidden" resources from Teacher Dad's netbook and was able to get some interest again in the Solar System. Hopefully, we'll get the first part covered in this topic this month. At least, we can just expand the lapbook later on if there's another interesting part of the system.

Possible subtopics that can be expanded are:
The Individual Planets
The Sun
The Moon
Other Stars and Beyond
Space Exploration

So long --- until P is ready for the next level. :)