Piso Piso

Teaching Filipino is kinda challenging to my kids. As in effort to the max! Their mother tongue kasi is English. Ewan ko ba at bakit mga naging Inglisero ang mga yan. Bigla na lang nung lumaki, nag-E-English kaya kinausap na rin namin ng English. Haha!

Anyway, hinayaan na lang namin that they speak English. First, kapag lumaki naman sila, English naman talaga ang ginagamit sa conversation sa business or professional world di ba? Second, in terms of subject in school, isa lang naman ang Filipino subject and the rest of the subjects English ang means ng pagturo. Third, I think madali lang naman matutunan ang Filipino language specially if they hear us talk it.

Going back sa pagtuturo...

With all of the subjects, ang dali nilang turuan. Very attentive and kaya namin ng take 1 lang ang isang topic. Kaya naman ang bilis ng phasing namin. When it comes to Filipino subject, ayan na... Naghihikab na ang mga yan. They find it boring. Haaayyysstt... Pero, in fairness naman sa mga anak ko, kapag itinuro mo sa kanila, naiintindihan naman nila ang concept. I-eexplain ko lang sa kanila yung counterpart nun sa English and voila alam na nila and madali na for them. If you talk to them in Filipino, they can understand you. Yun nga lang, sasagutin ka ng Ingles. Haha! Pero right now, kahit papaano, nakikita ko na nagtry try na sila sumagot ng Filipino kahit pilipit. Hahaha!

Recently, nakakuha ako ng idea kung paano sila magiging attentive sa Filipino subject. Since they are saving up for a new Nerf gun, sabi ko every correct answer nila sa akin, may Piso sila. So ayun, na-excite ang mga kulilits! Naging attentive and naging very competitive sa isa't isa. Yun nga lang, may napipikon kapag nakakalamang na ng sagot yung isa. Hahaha!

So far, effective naman ang new strategy ko. Kaso nga lang, ang drawback nito ay mamumulubi ata ako. Hahaha!

How about you mommies out there? How do you effectively teach Filipino subjects to your kids?

Moustache!

One homeschooling day, my kids and I were having fun. My son, Ian, suddenly wanted to draw a moustache on my face. He said that he wanted to see how I look like with a moustache. Since we are using washable markers, I obliged.

Do you want to see how I looked with a moustache on???

Tada....

Ok ba? Ampogi ko ba? Hahaha!

My learnings that day...

Always have fun with my children and unleash the child in me once in a while!

Ang saya lang talaga. Ang sarap pagmasdan ng tawanan ng mga anak ko. I'm sure that they will store this moment in their memory bank. Minsan talaga, dapat hindi tayo laging serioso. Kung baga, let loose lang minsan. Ako kasi, sa dami ng iniisip ko na gagawin ko, nakakalimutan ko na magrelax relax minsan. =)

Stressful Friday

Homeschooling is not that easy, I tell you. Kaya if you decide that you'll homeschool your kids, dapat buo na talaga ang loob mo and ready ka.

In my case, what make homeschooling more challenging are:

• I homechool twins (and they are both boys) - yes, dalawa dalawa sila that I teach everyday. Minsan sabay, minsan isa isa. It really depends on the subject. Pero take note, dalawa pa lang yan. Soon magiging apat na sila (Christoff and baby no. 4). Pero I know naman na kakayanin ko because I know of some homeschooling families, na more than five silang nag-aaral. Sooner and later naman, I know na magiging magaan na sa akin. Right now, tutok since they are in their preschool years. When they reach gradeschool, most likely, guidance na lang ang gagawin ko.
• I still have a toddler (and soon an infant, again) - that is Christoff! He is really malikot and sometimes tends to be so clingy and demanding. Sabi ko nga eh, talo pa niya yung kambal. When Chris and Ian were 1 y/o, hindi sila ganyan kalikot. Let me say, x2 or x3 siya ng kambal!
• I don't have a househelp - I do everything in the house (except laba't plantsa). Imagine niyo na lang ako na parang trumpo sa umaga because most of the household chores, I do it in the morning while the kids are still asleep.
• I'm pregnant - supposedly, limited dapat ang galaw ko. Pero in my case right now, parang hindi ako buntis kung kumilos. 
• I have a lot of paperworks (accounting for hubby's practice) - need kong tutukan ito. Need ko para sa mga BIR requirements and para sa pagbudget namin.

Actually, we are doing great in homeschooling. Sabi nga ng teacher/consultant during the twins' mid-year assessment, nakakatuwa kami dahil umpisa pa lang success story na. In fact, by next year (April 2015), isasama na ang kambal sa moving up. Meaning, grade 1 na sila at 5 years old pa lang.

Pero sa totoo lang, hindi everyday happy. May araw siyempre na medyo pre-occupied ako sa dami ng iniisip na gagawin ko, minsan not in the mood ako or di kaya yung kambal. Like last Friday, super stressed out ako sa kambal. Bakit kamo? Naku, mukhang hindi husto ang tulog nila at mukhang tinatamad mag-aral. I actually told them na we stop na and we'll just continue it the following day. Pero sila naman ang ayaw mag-stop. They want daw to study pa. Kaya ayun, 4 hours mahigit kami for just 1 subject! Imagine that!!! Tapos, si Christoff sumabay pa! Kung kailan di cooperative ang mga kuya, dun pa nag-ngangangawa at hindi mo alam kung ano ang gusto. Haaayyysssstttt.... 

Literally, I became a MOMSTER that day. Sobrang nanginginig ako sa galit (I'm not perfect, tao lang ako at nauubos din ang pasensya). I know that they know what we were studying that time. They were just pretending na hindi nila alam. Yung tipong, tinatamad mag-isip. Lam niyo yun. At eto pa, nung nagalit na ako ng husto, biglang bumilis ang mga utak! With Chris, in less than 10 minutes, natapos kaagad namin. Then nung tinawag ko na si Ian, ang bilis din then may comment pa siya na "I'm fast in homeschooling!" after namin matapos kaagad. Eto pa ang matindi, nung gabi, nagyaya sila magdraw. So nadatnan sila ng daddy nila na nagdradraw. At etong si Ian, nag-draw ng Spiderman then i-spell daw niya ang Spiderman and he'll write it down sa drawing niya. Ayun nga, ginawa niya mag-isa. Nag-spell mag-isa na mabilis. Sabi ko nga sa daddy nila, "Tignan mo yang anak mo na yan, yan yung lesson namin kanina eh. Kanina, kunwari di alam, tapos ngayon, mag-isang nag-spelling at marunong naman!" 

Anyway, tapos na yun. I hope hindi na maulit ulit dahil nakakasira talaga ng bait eh. I said sorry already to my kids because I lost my patience and yelled at them. They said sorry din to me for not doing well in homeschooling. 

At the end of the day,parang walang naganap na drama, back to our usual selves na kami. Yun naman ang mahalaga eh di ba? At least, alam ko lumipas ang sama ng loob namin sa isa't isa...

Homeschooling the Kulilits: Travel Activity

This is a super long overdue post...

Since I got amused when I read a blog post about learning through pretend travel, I did it also with the twins. =)

I made them a passport...

We traveled first to China. I made them wear their Chinese costumes. Excited naman sila...

What did we do?

Well, I showed them where China is in the globe. Then, showed them some things that are used in China such as chop sticks, bowls, teapots, abacus, etc. I let them watch also some video about China.

This activity is really fun!

Product Discovery: Adarna Books in Two Languages

One thing that I want my kids to develop is the love of reading. Reading kasi is very beneficial. Aside from broadening one's knowledge, it widens also one's vocabulary. Aside from that, mas ok di ba if you see your kids spend time with books rather than video games during their spare time?

Anyway, last Thursday, hubby and I attended a parenting seminar sponsored by The Master's Academy. At the conference, there were a lot of booths selling educational tools, toys, books, educational plans, etc. Hindi ko na actually pinansin yung ibang booths, I just went to Adarna Publishing booth and checked out there books.

Ang gaganda their books and not that expensive. Ang ganda kasi well illustrated and the stories teaches something. Alam niyo yun, hindi lang basta story pero may something na itinuturo sa kids. Tapos ang bumenta talaga sa akin is that they have story books in 2 languages - Filipino and English! Ang galing di ba? Hindi ko na kailangan mahirapan magtranslate. Need ko rin yan sa kambal para matuto ng Filipino language since their mother tongue is English.

So there, I bought seven books for the twins. Each book is priced at P70.00 na lang from P79.00. Kung pwede lang eh, binili ko na lahat pero siyempre we have to prioritize other things.

Here are the books that I bought:

Mario's Special Day...

Isang Mayang Uhaw...

Si Pilandok at ang Manok na Nangitngitlog ng Ginto...

Si Pilandok sa Kaharian sa Dagat...

Si Pilandok, ang Bantay ng Kalikasan...

Si Pilandok at ang mga Buwaya...

Si Pilandok Sa Pulo ng Pawikan...

I actually started reading some of the stories to the twins and I could say that they like it so much. I really hope that someday I could see them reading a lot of books! =)

I'm an Official Mommy Teacher

Finally, I can officially call myself a "Mommy Teacher"! We already enrolled the Kulilits at TMA Homeschool as Kinder 1 students.

Well, it's both nakaka-excite and nakakakaba at the same time. Nakaka-excite kasi totoo na ito. Lam niyo yun, may recording na and everything. Nakakakaba naman kasi may pressure na this time. May mga schedule na dapat imeet and may exams na kailangan ipasa. Pero, kaya namin ng mga anak ko ito! I BELIEVE!!! Hahaha!

By the way, lam niyo ba, super nakakatuwa kasi nung time na nag-enroll kami nandoon din ang Liwanag family. Sila yung kasama namin sa Bet on Your Baby. They enrolled their twins also. What a small world ano?

Here are the photo of our twins...

Photo courtesy of Ian Liwanag

Ang kulit lang ng mga anak ko sa picture di ba? Pahirapan yan sa pagkuha ng picture. Binola pa namin sila na ipadadala namin kay Tita Juday yung picture para makapasok ulit sila sa Baby Dome. Kaya ganyan ang mga posing nila. Nag-ala Ninja Turtles sila. Hahaha!

Here naman are our books...

It comes with a teacher's manual naman. At least may guide ako. May mga tips kung paano ko ituturo sa mga Kulilits yung lessons.

I browsed it already. Medyo nasisindak ako kasi naprepressure ako. Ikaw ba naman ang hindi mapressure kapag sabihin sa iyo na ang assessment is after the 2nd quarter and after the 4th quarter only? Nakakakaba di ba? Pero, again, I BELIEVE!!! Kaya namin yan! =)

Anyway, last Saturday, we attended the first activity of TMA Homeschool which is their Christmas Party. Their theme is Christmas Through the Ages. Each level of homeschoolers performed.

Here are some of the pictures of the homeschoolers who performed...

Ang cu-cute nila ano? Aside from being cute, ang gagaling nila and performance level talaga sila lalo na yung mga higher level na homeschoolers. I can't wait na sumali ang mga Kulilits sa mga programs na gaya nito. I'm very sure na stage mom na stage mom ang peg ko pagdating ng araw na yun. Hahaha!

Aside from the homeschoolers, the TMA Homeschool staff and volunteers also performed...

O di ba, performance level din sila?

Super happy ako since we're part of another community which is the TMA Homeschool. I'm sure marami na naman akong makikilala and matututunan sa community na ito.

That's it! Wait and see na lang sa aming homeschooling adventures... =)

Homeschooling the Kulilits: 16th & 17th Week

Week 16

For week 16, we studied about letter M and its sound, we reviewed counting in 2's and we did a lot of play pretend. We learned about Elijah and Elisha, the concept of an angel (that God sends them to us to watch over and help us) and being neat and clean by not being messy.

Here are some of the activities we did in week 16:

Crafts - the Kulilits made a model of Elijah's altar using a clay...

Ian & Chris showing their works

For letter recognition...

For counting...

Drawing activity - their drawings represent the sores of Naaman and that he was told by Elisha to wash in the river so that God would heal him...

Letter review...

Week 17

For week 17, we learned about number zero and its concept and letter L and its sound. We discussed the concept of obedience, punishment, forgiveness and being nice. Textures and some action words were introduced. We reviewed counting in 2's. We studied the different kings such as Joash, Hezekiah and Josiah.

Here are some of the activities we did in week 17:

Crafts - the Kulilits made a crown and pretended to be king...

For letter recognition...

Letter review...

For counting...

Drawing activity - these drawings represent King Josiah reading the Bible and followed what was written there...