I Am A Hero

wLast week, our country was again visited by a typhoon named “Maring.”  Here’s a link about the details of this typhoon.  This also enhanced the Habagat (southwest monsoon).

Then again, a lot of Filipino communities, in Metro Manila and nearby provinces are greatly affected due to flooding.  A lot of families needed to evacuate to higher grounds because the water level kept on rising.

Our school already planned out an event for the Father and Child Activity for this year, which was the “Minute to Win It.”  However, the owners of the school Teachers Michelle and Leah decided to just use the funds for this activity to buy goods for the affected families especially in Marikina City.  So instead of the original activity, last Saturday, August 24, we had the Father and Child Repacking Activity.

our poster

All of us agreed that this activity will be even more meaningful for the father and the child (also the moms, siblings, grandparents, caregivers who came to support us).

First, the father and child need to color a card that will be placed in their package after.

Tatay Brio and Lucas coloring the card

My boys 🙂

It was then followed by a short assembly at the Multipurpose Hall.  Here Teacher Michelle gave a quick background about typhoon “Maring” and showed pictures of flooded areas and other damages that it brought.  She also told the children that they could be heroes themselves by helping in repacking relief goods for the flood victims.

Dadda Mike and Anton during the assembly.

Then, Teacher Mel explained what items should be in their relief bags.

Two ISYC former students helping out: Bella and Enzo

We’re very thankful for all the other families who shared some donations and for the alumni who helped us as well.

I’m not really sure how many bags we’re able to produce after repacking, but I know it is more than 500 bags.  Then we have more boxes left that were brought to Ateneo de Manila.

Here are more random photos taken during the event:

Elysse and Daddy Bryan in action

Sabine and Dada Kim

a little help will go a long way – from Inn and Ysai (Creative Hands)

just a few of the donations received the day before the event (August 23)

our badge

At the end of the day, it was really really tiring.  But it felt good to know that in our little ways we could make a difference a be a hero to others.

Family of the Day

For this month of August, ISYC’s theme is all about Family.  Every year, the toddlers have this “Family of the Day” activity where each family should sign up for a date where the whole family could share any of the favorite things or talk about our interests, etc.  One option is to volunteer for a home visit and another one is to bring the kids to either parents’ place of business or work.  We can’t do either of that unless I’d give them a tour around ISYC :).  So Brio and I decided that we share our passion for VW classic cars plus give the kids something that is useful from Creative Hands.  I made each of Lucas’ classmates a personalized bag tag with a pink VW classic beetle for the girls and a blue VW classic beetle for the boys.

Then we brought the kids to the parking lot to show Lucas’ black VW car and took group photos of them.

We’re not so sure if we made it interesting for this cuties, so I ordered assorted VW beetle sugar cookies from a friend who will open her bakeshop soon here in Marikina City (Capriserrie).  I think the kids enjoyed eating thecookies as much as I did. 🙂

 

Oh one more thing! We needed to submit a collage on a 1/8 illustration board so it could be displayed in Lucas’ classroom.  I thought of making a digital collage then have it printed on tarp…but I stopped myself.  I told myself that I should make an effort for this.  This is Lucas’ first year in school, I have to work on this — meaning I should do pasting and cutting.  I do not have a scrap booking skill so I really don’t know how I’d put together the photos.  I didn’t know what stuff to stick to make it look nice.  But I’m proud that I was able to come up with a simple collage.  I’m proud because this is the best thing that I can do. hahaha!

It really was a great experience for me and Brio and of course Lucas.  We actually saw in his eyes that he liked it that we were there.

Though it was just for one day, I think it is good to make use of such opportunities because it could really boost your child’s confidence and it’ll make him feel important. 🙂

Photo Credits: Ronald Briones

Kindergarten: Our Little Giuseppe Arcimboldos

Our theme for July was “All About Me” and here we discussed their body and how they take care of it.  They learned the food pyramid and the importance of eating healthy food such as fruits and vegetables.  In line with this topic, we discussed the famous Italian artist Giuseppe Arcimboldowho’s known to creating imaginative portrait heads made entirely objects such as fruits, vegetables, flowers, books.  After we introduced the artist, we asked our students to make their own portrait using fruits and vegetables.  I’ll share with you photos of the Kindergarten Tamaraws and Tarsiers while they were doing it and their finished art works.

Kindergarten Yoga

I’ve been practicing yoga for about a year now.  I may not be doing it every single day, but I make sure that I practice at least once a week.  I really enjoy its benefits therefore, I shared my love for yoga to our Kindergarten students this year.

Last July, our theme was All About Myself so this includes the Body.  We have discussed the different ways on how they should take care of their body and one of which was exercising.  To incorporate this, we did yoga.  I found this video from YouTube by Cosmic Kids Yoga.  It has several episodes and the children really enjoyed it.  We did the Episode 1 – Squish the Fish.

After the 15-minute video, some children came up to me and said that they loved it and they want to do it again.  I’m just so happy hearing that from them.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

The Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Book by Bill Martin Jr. And Eric Carle was my son Lucas’ first ever favorite book. The book was read to him for the first time when he was still a year and 2 months old when he attended the playgroup summer class at ISYC. He was really paying so much attention when Teacher Nikki was reading (or I should say singing) the book to this group of one year old kids. Lucas liked the book very much that he didn’t want it to end. He cried when Teacher said “The End.” After that incident, I immediately bought him a board book copy, similar to what his Teacher read to them. He was really happy. He still couldn’t express himself verbally back then but he obviously loves it because he browses through it all the time.

Now he’s attending Toddlers class in ISYC, he met the same book as they learned about colors. Also they recreated the book through various artwork activities. Well, Lucas hates glue or paint or anything that would “mess” up his hands. But I’m so proud of what he’s created that’s why I’m sharing each and every page of what he did. By the way, the Yellow Duck is my favorite 🐤 it was supposed to be a paper tearing, crumpling and sticking activity..well that’s exactly what he did 🐥.

Bulletin Board Ideas

This is a very late post but I still want to share the bulletin board ideas we have for this year.

Initially, Teacher Inna (who was my partner last school year) and I were assigned to be partners again for this year.  Our animal habitat is still the Rainforest so we came up with a new idea for our bulletin board.  We didn’t want to draw a lot and paint anymore so we decided to do a “cut and paste” way of creating our pictures.

letterings: printed the letters on yellow and green construction paper then pasted brown felt paper for “jaguar spots” effect on FUN and green felt paper for “snake scale” effect on WILD

the monkey: brown construction, brown felt, black construction and white oslo paper

snake

the toucan

butterfly

the jaguar with no whiskers yet (used brown pipe cleaners for the whiskers)

the finished bulletin board

But with unexpected circumstances, we had to exchange partners.  Therefore, I one of us need to transfer into another classroom.  I was the one who transfered.  I am not partners with Teacher Patrick.  Their classroom was assigned to have a theme about Philippine animals.  Teachers Patrick and Mel already made most of the bulletin board but our supervisors requested to change the Pawikan to Tarsier.  So I did the Tarsier, again using the “cut and paste” method.  I wanted to have the “water” effect for the bulletin board because when I saw this idea from the other bulletin boards, I kinda wanted to copy. Haha!  Then Teacher Patrick placed a “Pinoy” riding the Tamaraw.  We perked it up some more by putting colorful buntings and making the map into an “interactive” location map (where the animals can be found in the Philippines).

“Sometimes” Food Day

There are just days that I feel like eating “sometimes” food. There are days that I feel I deserve to eat “sometimes” food.

As I stepped out of ISYC, It was drizzling. I don’t have my umbrella with me so I decided to run going to my car parked across the street (good thing there weren’t a lot cars passing by). I sat down, placed my bag and lunchbox on the passenger side and started the car’s engine. I’d normally wait for the temperature indicator light to turn off before I leave, so that’s what I did. For some reason I opened my lunchbox and found the open bag of potato chips that I hid inside. We used it for the Kindergarten Science Taste Test activity earlier, I hid it because the children kept asking for it. We reviewed that Potato Chips fall under the Sometimes Food category because we can still eat foods like that but in moderation. Going back to my story, as I wait for the temperature indicator light to turn off, I found myself munching on the left over potato chips. I suddenly appreciated its taste. I liked its saltiness and barbecue flavor. Before I knew it the bag was empty. Now I understood why the children kept asking for more even though they’re aware that it is a sometimes food. There are just times in your life that you feel so exhausted, even if you really love what you’re doing, that you just want to sit back, relax and enjoy something that’s not really good for you. As for me, it was this potato chips that made me feel better, a lot better.

😊

The Little Schoolboy

It is official! Our little Lucas started going to school last Monday, June 17. I just couldn’t believe that he’s now a school boy attending one of the Toddler Classes at ISYC (integrated School for Young Children), where I’m also teaching.

I chose the mid-morning (11am to 1pm) schedule because I didn’t want to pressure him yet in waking up early just to ride with me in going to school. Another reason was that I wanted to have a “stress free” morning as I prepare before going to work (I’m sure the mothers out there know what I mean)☺. So we decided to let him ride the school service with Ate Cindy in coming to school. He was hesitant to ride the service at first. But he easily got comfortable the following day (he even talks about everything that he see on the way to school).

When he finally arrived ISYC last Monday, he went to my classroom first and said Hi. I brought him to his classroom to meet his teachers (Teachers Lee Anne and Miriam). It wasn’t at all difficult. He placed his backpack in a cubby and went straight to the Manipulatives Area of the classroom. Letting him attend the Summer Fun class last May was really helpful. He immediately felt at home. Ate Cindy and I left him inside the classroom on his own and surprisingly he didn’t mind.

Their class schedule for 2 weeks will just be from 11am to 12noon. Lucas is still adjusting but I’m sure he’s enjoying school. It took a while to sink in to me that Lucas is already going to school. It just means that he is not a baby anymore. I’m looking forward to a great school year for him. I just hope that he won’t give his teachers a hard time…which is a little bit impossible 😉.

Effects of iPad or Tablets on Kids

Another thing I’m guilty about is letting our son Lucas play with iPad. He tends to look for it especially this summer. If it wasn’t given to him, he starts looking for his Tatay’s iPhone. Good thing about me and Brio, we don’t give in easily. But when we do, we just limit it to 30 minutes. For me, I think I really shouldn’t let him play. He’s got lots of toys to play with anyway and books to read. I know e iPad is sort of a “pacifier” but I don’t want Lucas to end up in therapy because of this gadget.

Here’s a link shared by Chronicles of a Nursing Mom and The Stork Studio on their Facebook page. It is a good read for all the parents out there.

10 Things We Should Stop Saying to Children

A colleague shared this link on Facebook and I realized that I’m guilty of saying these words to my son and students. It could be an effort not to say these things to children because we’re used to but maybe it’s best to try.

To the parents and educators out there, are you guilty? 😊