by The Happy WAHM
It was a training for homeschooling parents, and my eight-year-old just wanted to tag along, so I brought her with me. She woke up promptly at 5:00AM so we could leave at 6:00AM and be at TMA for the 8:30 sked, with time for breakfast before going in. It was a full day activity, so I feared that she’d get bored. I asked her: “What will you do while Mommy is attending the training?” She said: “I’ll just bring my sketchpad.” And she did.
She lost her pencil somewhere (maybe when she took out her jacket from her bag while we were on the bus) so we made a quick trip to National Bookstore during the break. We made a pact at the beginning of her school year that we are not going to buy any coloring materials as we have a boxful of old crayons that we collected from the past years’ purchases. That pact was about to be broken.
At the bookstore, she saw these Faber-Castell watercolour pencils and an artistic template. I could feel she wanted to have new pencils. Sure, we have dozens of crayons, but colored pencils are different. Aware of how much she loves to draw, I know just how much she would love to have a new set of good quality pencils. And dust-free erasers. It was painful to watch her lovingly touching the boxes of colored pencils and making an effort not to ask for one. So I asked: “Would you like to have new pencils?” She replied with a question of her own: “Do you have money?” I said, “I guess we can buy a box.” Then she said: “Just the small one, Mommy.” Although I could feel how much she would prefer to have the big box with the brush and sharpener.
And so we ended up buying Faber-Castell pencils, the 12-piece watercolour pencil box with the brush, and I threw in an artistic template, too.
So here is the latest addition to Bea’s drawing portfolio.
Bea at work, while a speaker was discussing Singapore Math.
My certificate for the training. But nothing will ever beat the drawing. 🙂
by The Happy WAHM
This is an actual three-way conversation between me and my two homeschoolers, Bea and Jude. I started the conversation as an avenue for an oral recitation in Math – addition and subtraction for Jude; and addition, subtraction and multiplication for Bea. But the conversation turned out to be a lesson in something far more important than Math. A lesson for me, on love and selflessness, and how my children’s respective characters are being developed.
Me: Jude, bibigyan mo ba si Mommy ng money mo? (Referring to Ninong Ogie’s gift to him.)
Jude: Yes, sa ‘yo na lang, pero kukuha ako ng isa. (There were 6 bills.)
Me: Bakit isa? Ano ang bibilhin mo?
Jude: Gamot. Wala na akong (name of his med) e.
Me: Hindi toy? Meron ka pa namang gamot, bagong bili ni Daddy.
Bea: Dahil ‘yon ang kailangan, Mommy, saka may toy pa s’ya.
Me: Okay. Ganon nga ba ‘yon, Jude?
Jude: Ilan ba ang money ko, Mommy?
I showed him the bills.
Jude: Sige, dalawa na ang kukunin ko. Isang pang gamot, isang para pambili ng electric guitar ni Ate Xia, para four ang sa ‘yo.
Me: Bakit para kay Ate Xia? Paano ka?
Jude: Sayang ang money ko ‘pag toy ang bibilhin. Pwede ba ‘yan sa electric guitar, Mommy? Kasya ba? Pag hindi, saka na lang.
Me: So talagang ayaw mo ng para sa ‘yo?
Jude: Ikaw, Ate Bea, ano’ng gusto mo?
Bea: Violin sana, pero mahal ‘yon. Pwedeng idagdag ‘yong coins ko, Mommy, 400 na ‘yon.
Jude: Three na ang kukunin ko, Mommy.
Me: Hmmm… Gamot, electric guitar at violin… So ano’ng gagawin natin sa natitirang money?
Jude: Sa ‘yo na, Mommy.
Me: Ano’ng gagawin ko don?
Bea: Pambili ng pagkain at gamit sa bahay.
Me: Bakit? Kulang ba ang pagkain natin sa bahay ngayon?
Bea: Hindi, Mommy. Para hindi ka mahirapan mag work.
Me: Hmmm… Ano’ng connection sa work ko?
Bea: Konti na lang ang work mo pag dadagdagan namin ang money mo.
I cried.
This is homeschooling at its best. You never know when you’ll get hit right in the solar plexus. When you’ll feel torn between feeling like your chest would burst with pride, and bawling like a baby for being humbled by the selflessness of your six- and eight-year-olds!
And these two are getting a perfect 10 in Character for this quarter.
by The Happy WAHM
Jude is now officially a first grader at the Aberásturi Home Academy! He was supposed to start last December, but with my crazy schedule, it simply was not fair to get him on board without me 100% ready for his needs. Plus, I needed to run an errand in Mindoro, so I had an out-of-town trip that ate up my time for lesson planning.
As with all the best laid plans, the AOP Science curriculum that Bea (now in third grade) used will just be a supplement. Recognizing Jude’s special interest in astronomy, we will focus on Exploring Creation with Astronomy for the whole year.
For the rest of the subjects, we’ll have the following:
Math – Lifepac Level 2 – Alpha Omega Publications
Language – Speak, Read and Write 1 – C & E Publishing
Reading – Reading Network – Sibs Publishing House
Bible – Following God 1 – ICI Ministries
Character – The Power for True Success – Institute in Basic Life Principles
Filipino – Binhi 1 – Jo-Es Publishing House
Social Studies – Mystery of History Volume I – Bright Ideas Press. To be supplemented with Makabayang Lahi from Ephesians Publishing, because we have to comply with DepEd’s directive that Social Studies be taught in Filipino.
Music – We are still fluid on this. He’s still deciding between the ukelele, the guitar and the piano.
Arts – Online materials, and Sing, Sketch, Stretch 1 from Abiva Publishing House.
Etiquette – Family Book of Manners – CLC
Welcome to A-HA, baby!
by The Happy WAHM
Me, oh my! It’s the end of the month and I only had one post for October. Not due to lack of interest, I assure you. Just the lack of time to sit down and write. So many things happened this month. My eldest daughter turned 12. Just one more year and I’ll have a teener! And then our school, not the Aberásturi Home Academy, but rather the St. Jude Science and Technological School, celebrated it’s 2nd Founding Anniversary. I danced, oh yes, I did! One folk number and a ballroom number. So I had to put in rehearsal hours on top of my already full daily calendar. My 12-year old, who attends SJSTS had a dance number, too, and Bea made a guest appearance, performed a piano duet with Ate Xia. And then I was given the opportunity to attend the 11th Educators’ Conference, where among the topics discussed were the Department of Education’s Program and Policies on the K-12 Curriculum, Dealing with Difficult Parents, Preparation of Instructional Materials and the 21st Century Learning Environment.
My favorite, of course, was the topic covered by Ms. Shirley Equipado, Preparation of Instructional Materials. Well, I only attended the second day, so I missed the K-12 Curriculum. It would have been fun to learn how to deal with difficult parents. I know I was, when my eldest child was still attending a traditional school. But hey, I’ll have you know that my being difficult was justified. Those years spent with that school were the most stressful for me as a parent involved in her child’s education. Solution: homeschool.
Soon, Jude will be starting first grade, and he’s going to be my biggest challenge in my homeschooling journey. Coming across Ms. Equipado’s presentation was heaven-sent. Just last week, Bea and I decided that we’re going to make bag puppets to show different feelings. Seeing Ms. Shirley’s puppets added some great ideas to my not-so-creative mind. Really learned a lot from her! And she is quite the storyteller! Take note of the punctuations… I really was very impressed, and inspired, and envious, of her talent in storytelling. I had a little chit-chat with her after her presentation. And proud homeschooling mommy that I am, it naturally came out that yeah, I’m homeschooling my little ones, although what got me in to the conference was my connection with SJSTS. And naturally, too, she does not approve of homeschooling. Oh, well… Just like being a WAHM is not for everyone, I guess homeschooling is only for those who were called to do it.
And guess what? Although Ms. Equipado does not really approve of homeschooling, her presentation actually reinforced my conviction in homeschooling my kids. She referenced Friedrich Froebel, the father of Kindergarten, when she said that children should not be in classrooms, and that children should be able to learn by experiencing. What better way to let the children experience life than to be able to apply theories right at the same moment that they are learning them? Froebel encourages us to “live with our children”, putting a coherent system in play activities. So let’s do maths at the supermarket, and learn science in the kitchen. Let’s observe changes in the clouds, bird formations when they fly and the differences in the way plants grow, doing away with the undying monggo seed that we used to sprout in school. Let’s make the world our children’s classroom.
Bea’s interest now is in drawings. And Jude’s play activities are centered in Hummer cars, the solar system and different flags of the world. If I send Bea to a traditional school, will she be allowed to draw the whole day while ensuring that she learns the day’s lessons? And Jude, will the school give him the opportunity to learn lessons using his interest in cars, planets and flags?
I don’t think so. Not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t. It will not be possible, nor fair, for them to take into consideration one child’s talent and interest and impose them on the next child.
But at home, Bea can learn directions by drawing and mounting her very own town map, and Jude practices reading using the globe as his reference. He’s not interested in reading Nat Has A Hat. He’d rather practice his phonics reading Ja-p-an, Ma-lay-sia and Ca-na-da.
Yeah, I know I sound like I’m advocating homeschooling, and maybe I am, but again, I know it’s not for everyone. After all, I sit on the Board of St. Jude Science and Technological School, so I also believe in the traditional school system.
by The Happy WAHM
Today has been really productive for me and my third grade homeschooler. I took time out from my regular WAHM routine and focused on working with Bea on her English lapbook. Since we are still waiting for our Science and Math books, we were able to finish our first quarter lessons for English last week, and as our output for the quarter, we decided to make a lapbook of lessons we have covered for the period.
Pictured below is our project we decided to call Bea’s English Garden. Remember that we have lots of left over flower cut outs from the Teachers’ Day cards? We originally planned of putting them to good use with this project, but like any other plan, changes happen. We stuck with the garden theme, but better ideas came up as we were working on the components.
All the papers we used in this project were from our binder of printed lectures and activity notes from the past years. We really have used so much bond paper in the past two years that I promised to just re-use them this year. And do you know how much broken crayola can accumulate in 6 years? That’s another item that I’m not buying this year. And maybe in two more years. Ha ha! I collected all the broken (and some still whole) crayolas around the house and I was able to fill Xia’s old lunchbox with them.
Bea worked so hard on this project, staying up late in her excitement to finish the whole thing. She applied the trick she learned from Ate Xia, that of rubbing off the color with tissue paper after applying it on the drawing. The effect is a glossy finish and really even coloring. It really helped that she is ambidextrous, as she had to cut out all the mango fruits, 48 of them, and then writing 5 examples for each of the 8 types of nouns we have covered. She would start to say, “I’m tired,” but she would still push herself to work on it, simply transferring the pen from her left hand to the right.
In creating this lapbook, we went through the process of agreeing on a theme, and then brainstorming on the components that would form part of that theme. After deciding on the garden theme, we listed down all the things that we’d like to see in our garden. The mango tree was the first to be put up, and so I thought, “there goes the garden, now it will be just a tree.” I was thinking that maybe we’ll just put everything in different branches. But then she wanted to have the clouds and the butterflies and the flowers. So I made her line drawings of everything and she took care of coloring and writing down the topics.
I’d say that mounting the garden has been a resounding success and really quite a great way of completing our first quarter for English.
