Pinteresting outdoor fun: painting!
You'll only need:
1 part water
1 part cornstarch
1/2 part salt
food coloring
Mix them all together and voila - our paint concoction!
The paint is easily washable so don't worry about getting dirty. But just to be safe, let your little one wear old clothes :-)
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| if you're going to paint on a wall, you probably need to make mixture more sticky to avoid dripping :-) |
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| those dapo need to be greener! |
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| dirty hands! |
Extend the fun to an outdoor shower that he'll surely enjoy!
This activity will guarantee a tired but happy napping little angel. ♥
By the way, these are some of our 'masterpieces'! we're doing it again this weekend, YAY!
Gabriel was assessed!
After a little background check on our family, she presented her assessment as well as her goals for G to achieve by the end of the school year. Some of the things she told me and Chard on what G needed to work on, like longer attention span, learning to pack away things after use and following teacher's instructions - i totally agreed with. But her other observations - i was in disbelief!
* Cannot kick a ball
* No concept of alphabet
* Unable to identify colors and shapes
Are you serious?! Are you sure we are talking about my son, Gabriel Hijo Tumapang Pang? G can kick a ball while it's at rest, he can kick it while it's moving, he can kick it while holding it, he can toss it then kick it. He can kick a ball! He can even catch a ball now. But i was keeping an open mind. He probably hasn't been given the opportunity to show his soccer prowess yet. haha
No concept of alphabet? This is another 'seriously?!?' A close friend who is a teacher explained that a child needs to recite his alphabet perfectly before they can give him a 'check' on that. I get that since sometimes G really doesn't want to do stuff especially when he's told to - but what was used was 'NO CONCEPT'. This is really weird because G is always reciting his alphabet even during 'quiet time' and i figured he would have done that in school too - G was never the quiet, shy boy. Also, i mentioned before how he is into spelling.
Unable to identify colors? Just the other week, G suprised me when he wanted to color something with 'pits' (he meant peach :D). And then just yesterday he told me the color of his towel is blue light ( he meant light blue:D). Gabriel already knew his primary colors before he was 2. And shapes? He knows his basic shapes and even knows his heptagon until dodecagon.
I asked how she came up with these assessments. I didn't get a sound answer because we were running out of time. When i told her that Gab already knew these things, she just removed it from her list. I understand that these are just intial assessments, but how can she create a proper program for G if she can't see what my son is capable of doing?
After thinking it through and going over the assessment for the Nth time, i came to realize - she has identified the socio-emotional needs of G, and that is more important. It is actually the reason why we wanted him to go to school in the first place, to learn how to socialize with kids his own age, to know how to react when a kid grabs a thing from him, to know how to control his emotions. We, especially yours truly, are not particularly experts on handling our emotions so that would be hard to teach our son, we need experts' help on that. :) The cognitive side, that we can handle!
And that's just what we have been working on this week. One of the identified need for improvement is G's use of palmar grip in holding the pencil. Upon further inquiry, Teach was able to identify the culprit, his iPAD! By making this sometimes the yaya, i knew it would eventually come around and ask for its pay. This week, we limited his use of iPad, kept all his paint brushes, brought out the pencils and colors and started writing and coloring.
Here are some of his work...
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| he can write his ABCs :-) |
We also learned that one activity to improve his hand muscles is to play with clay or play dough so i looked for an easy recipe in the web. Here it is:
2 cups plain flour
2 tbsp oil
2 cups water
1 cup salt
1 tbsp cream of tartar (to help it keep longer) (we skipped this)
food colouring or edicol dye
Mix all together in a pan except dye over low heat and constantly stir until it gets sticky (about 5 mins.). Turn off heat and let it cool. Divide dough and add food coloring. They are not as hard as the commercial ones but at least you know they're safe. :-)
The encounter with G's teacher made me realize one thing - i should stick to what i know about my son and yet keep an open mind for other people's observations. Not everybody can and will see how wonderfully talented my kid is. I should understand that it's a lot different to look through my eyes when it comes to him. And i shouldn't discount the fact that I probably see him as this since he is my own. :-)
♥♥♥
After reading my post, it made
me realize how im fretting over this ONLY almost 3 yo kid. hahaha. But I
can't help it, research shows how important the forming years are and
how working adults are benefiting from having a good early-childhood
education. So I will try to be there every step of the way. :-)
Our first collaging attempt! ♥ (late post)
We brought out all our art supplies and some leftover gift wraps, we had so much fun with the cutting and gluing and sticking and folding and painting. Also, expenses = 0!!! (well not 0 technically coz of course we bought those stuff before, the point here is we made use of what's available)
Here are some of the pictures. But be warned - this is our first try - so please manage your expectations. :D :D :D
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| glitterized :D |
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| gluing, sticking painting! |
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| spelling? |
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| yes, it's 3D haha |
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| skill level = 100000000 |
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| ♥ butterfly kisses ♥ |
After digging for pictures to use, it made me realize how backlogged we are on printing. :(
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| finish product! |
♥♥♥
July is Nutrition Month
Nutritious is Delicious!
That
was the theme of G's school for July, the nutrition month. They have
lined-up several activities to celebrate it. One was a pizza making
activity to be conducted by Greenwich.
When we received the letter asking if we'd let G join, Chard and I were
a little hesitant. The event would start at 8:30 AM, and G would need
to be in school even earlier! How can G make it on time when he usually
wakes up at 8?!?
Lately,
probably due to school, G's circadian rhythm has changed. He goes to
sleep really late, around 11PM, hence the waking up late. We prepare him
for bed early, lights off after a few minutes but it takes him 2-3
hours before dozing off. I even sometimes sleep first before he does,
his tatay - most of the time :D. I'm not worried though since he takes
long afternoon naps so his rest and sleep hours are still relatively
okay.
Pizza making
day! I woke G up at 7AM. He was taking his breakfast and was still a
little sleepy when Sir Steve (school service) was already honking
outside. Oh dear, it was just 7:30 and G didn't even bathe yet. Good
thing, Teacher Lenith who leaves near volunteered to pick him up a
little later. I immediately bathed him, changed him into his PE uniform
and while putting his socks, we heard another honk. Teacher Lenith! To
cut it short, he made it on time :)
The
plan of just driving him to the place wouldn't be possible since it
would be on a Wednesday and Lucky (our old lil pink car♥) is not allowed
on the city streets. So how can we wake him early enough to be ready
for school? I thought of a way so we signed and paid the required fee.
The day before the event, i asked his Lola to try and make him take his
nap a little earlier. If that fails, i told her to let him go without a
nap so i can put him to bed early when i get home. We did the latter.
Pizza
making day! I woke G up at 7AM. He was taking his breakfast and was
still a little sleepy when Sir Steve (school service) was already
honking outside. Oh dear, it was just 7:30 and G didn't even bathe yet.
Good thing, Teacher Lenith who leaves near volunteered to pick him up a
little later. I immediately bathed him, changed him into his PE uniform
and while putting his socks, we heard another honk. Teacher Lenith! To
cut it short, he made it on time :)
The Greenwich branch conducting the activity was in SM Fairview. I wasn't with G (we had work that day) so i just asked Tita to take pictures. According to Tita, G was not really cooperative. He joined the group just for a few minutes then asked to be carried. I figured, it was probably because of the time - also, he overslept a little :D. (We learned later, he was coming down with flu). But at least he was able to make his own pizza. They even let him bring it home for us. How sweet! ♥
The
final activity for the celebration was a little program at G's school. A
few days before, G's teacher texted me asking if i can read a story to
the kids. After fixing my schedule, and thinking that wouldn't be so
hard since i'm just going to read to G's class with about 5-6 students
there, i said yes. I also learned after a couple of days that i was the
one to choose what storybook to read, there were no specifics except the
story should mention 'food.' I looked for something theme appropriate
from G's books but didn't find anything. I went to Books for Less
to hopefully find a bigger story book so the kids can see and be more
engaged, but there was nothing. Then i got a text message from Teacher
Neth if i would be needing a projector. Wow, a projector just for the
class? Hmm, why not. I can download an ebook instead and the kids would
be able to see it better. Yes, a projector would be good! So the night
before, i searched online for a free downloadable ebook, but was having
difficulty due to the nutrition theme. Finally, Chard saw one but it
wasn't free, you need to purchase it for a few dollars. He was able to
download a free copy but was, of course, watermarked. I thought, the
kids won't mind, that would do. I needed to go back to my studying.
Morning
came and since the event would start at 9AM, we went to the school
early hoping i can finish earlier since we still needed to go to the
office. When we got there, i saw a program setup! A stage, a projector,
little seats and big ones! It was a school program, and i am supposed to
read in front of this big crowd! ahm, uhm.. I.Have.Stage.Fright!!!
It doesn't matter who or what age group, if I'll be infront of an
audience i get scared, i get nervous!! I was trying to calm my nerves,
the teachers were encouraging, but it wasn't working.
When
i started reading, my voice was shaky and i was trembling. I tried so
hard to stay calm, looking at the audience every once in a while but i
stared at the monitor most of the time. The title of the book was 'Apple Schnapple.'
It was a great story, really appropriate for the theme since it tells
how to choose a healthier snack over sweets. But nevermind, it was a
mess. I was a mess. The kids were hardly listening; I bet they didn't
even understand what i just read.
I
wanted to explain myself! I wanted to say that's not how i read to G. I
am engaging and fun and really cool! But of course i didn't. I was just
glad that G wasn't old enough to be embarassed by his own mom. :-( Good
thing, Teacher Lenith saved the day! She gave a little recall about the
story 'Mommy Chari' just read. One really funny answer about what
you'll get if you eat too many sweets was 'heart attack!' hahaha. At
least, the kids were responding, they were listening afterall.
The school even gave me a little token. I was really touched and i promised myself I will be better next time. :-)
♥♥♥
Pinteresting indoor fun: painting!
Everynight!
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| drying his work |
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| hangs it to dry |
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| "exhibit" :P |
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| G's work |
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| G's work |
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| Tatay's work |
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| Nanay's work (i was teaching him how to do these but with his tooth missing, he has difficulty blowing :-( ) |
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| Gab's work |
and every morning!
Finally, we consumed all the paint so we're moving to another project: G's 'all about me' collage!
♥♥♥
Learning is FUN 1: Review of big and small letters
Before I got pregnant with the second baby, Gabriel and I used to have
lessons on usual preschool stuff - alphabets, phonics, counting. He was
such a fast learner that he already knew his phonics before he was 3yo.
During the first trimester, i was really having difficulty with the pregnancy - all-day vomiting and nausea - that i wasn't able to focus on our lessons anymore. I thought it was ok then since he's already going to school and that those lessons will be reinforced.
One night, a few weeks ago, just before sleeping, I just started asking
him the sounds of his alphabet. I was so surprised that he wasn't able
to answer. He was just mumbling different sounds, he was guessing! I
learned later on from the Parent Teacher Conference that their lessons
are still on recognizing the letters of the alphabet. I was really
disappointed. I had high expectations since this was a Progressive
School and their approach was supposedly individualized - meaning - they
should personalize lessons depending on the child's knowledge and
ability. Apparently, it still all depends on the teacher.
Hence, i resumed our daily lessons.
We first started with phonics. It was really very challenging at first,
well - it still is!Gab has very short attention span, he gets easily
distracted that i easily got frustrated too. As always, i was expecting
too much. I had to remind myself that it's normal, that he's normal - he
is just 3yo afterall!
After learning to manage my expectations - we started again. This time,
since i was using big and small letters for his A,E,I,O,U , i had to
check if he still recognizes big and small letters. I found a technique
online (forgot to save the URL) to make it more fun and interesting.
I just made 'pots' and 'carrots' from paper cutouts and labeled each pot
with big letters and the carrot with small letters. The idea is for him
to 'plant' the small letter carrots into the big letter pots. I give
him a carrot and ask him to identify the letter, afterwhich, i ask him
for the sound of the letter - then he goes to plant the carrot in the
correct pot. He just plants a few carrots at a time, even if i really
wanted to, i stop myself from forcing him to do all 26 letters! :D
Learning should be fun, afterall! So it took us the weekend to complete
this task. But it's ok, atleast i learned he still knows his big and
small letters. :)
Learning is FUN 2: Phonics, the Pinoy way
Here's a video of him when we were just starting:)
After a few drills, i thought i'd test him by separating the syllables. I
wrote each syllable on a paper, sort of like a flashcard, and tried
asking him to tell me the sound. Some he gets, but most - he just
takes a card from my hand and point it to the same syllable on his
visual aids on the wall - then that's the time he recites it. I tried
writing different syllables on his blackboard but he is still having
difficulty without them being in the 'batch'. What we found easier was,
to write the whole batch and erase one syllable at a time while he
recites the remaining syllables.
I thought i'd make it more fun and infuse a little bit of outdoor
physical activity so we tried - HOPSCOTCH! The idea was to write the
syllables on the different boxes, then he has to recite them before
stepping on that box. I was really excited, i thought he'd enjoy it and
get it right away. He didn't :( He just went away and jumped on every
box, even stepping on lines. haha. We tried it several times, he even
looked for his own 'stone'. He was playing the game but was not reciting
the syllables. But i wasn't bothered, at least he was having fun and
exercising at the same time. :) He then went back to playing his
favorite hullahoops. Oh well, maybe he'll get it next time. :)
♥♥♥
Learning is FUN 3: Preschool Math - Equal/Not Equal
I first made a matching type activity where he matches the number on the right to the correct figures on the left. I though that was way too easy for him. Since he enjoys putting check and X marks, i just came up with another activity where he can put those marks while learning to recognize the numbers in random order as well as identifying whether the figures are equal to the numbers.
He was more into coloring my 'drawings' :D but, again, he immediately got the concept. ♥♥♥
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