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.