End of Year G1 cont.

EXAM WEEK

Tests.

This week flew by with Fil and Makabayan reviewing. We did a bit of other subjects as well but it all seem to be futile if he still didn’t make an improvement in the non-Filipino subjects.

I’m off to photocopying and even really writing out a review questionnaire for him which I didn’t really do previously. It’s a good thing that he’s already familiarized with the basic rights of the child (in Tagalog, of course) sometime during one of the school breaks before. It wasn’t that hard to connect it to the new set that he has to cover in the remaining time of the school year. We’re talking about responsibilities, the counterpart of the rights each. That’s a bit tricky to be familiar with because it does sometimes overlap.

Another one hard part is where they were asked to write a short description on a certain children’s rights program or agency. One or two sentences is still a tough one for P. He can definitely write something if it was in English but in Filipino, he doesn’t have enough confidence in writing out phrases or sentences yet. All he is able to do is write down a few incomprehensible words. Sad.

Filipino stumbling blocks are the usage of plural, second and third person possessive pronouns, irregular verb tenses, synonyms and antonyms. All of these can be blamed on his limited Filipino vocabulary. It is such a daunting task to let him learn these things. All sorts of games, tricks and even bribery had to be used.

It is also hard to find word usage exercises online. There is a limited source of worksheet generators online. Most of the time, I would have to photocopy from a textbook or write a set of my own. It isn’t that easy if it was in Filipino though.*(-_-) *Ironic grin

Between the two subjects, I can say that it was easier to prepare for the Makabayan than that of the Filipino in terms content since the former is easier to relate to real life. Filipino, on the other hand, is typically dealt heavily in grammar at school. The stories that I found on the books are a wee bit hard to digest for my first grader. We have to do a little bit of catching up on stories on that language to make it easier for him next time.

On second thought, could it be that the stories on the textbooks are not that all easy for most of the kids? Why is it that kids (and adult, too) have a hard time learning the language? Is it because of how the language is taught in school? Or is it also partly because of the choices of stories in their books?

That is an idea that I have to consider as I prepare our summer homeschooling in Filipino. One thing that I have to remember though is that he might be back in grammar dose again when he goes back next school year. The literature- based activities should also be supplemented with written grammar exercises.