Beyond Our Children's Christmas Wish-list

"He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?" Romans 8:32 Amplified Bible

This early, I have encouraged my children to start writing down their Christmas wish-lists already! Their beaming faces lit up our gloomy kitchen that rainy afternoon.

I was quick to reiterate though that it is just a wish-list and a wish-list is just a wish-list. But the thought of this stirs us up because we know that as a family it is something far more than just a list of things. The activity itself is an integral part of our exciting homeschool journey and our commitment as their parents to make God known to them and teach them about trusting Him.

Time seems to fly around here, this photo was taken 2 yrs ago. As I've always said, we encourage our kids to be inventive and creative with their toys. We love it when it's low maintenance. This big brown box served as Noah's lil toy boat-bed as his big sister Bethany pulled and pushed him around our house.  The red bracelet snuggled on my boy's right arm was also his own creation from a soap box packaging. You should see how he designed it as "weapon to beat the bad guys and aliens!"

As they prayerfully think and write down each item, they commit to constantly talk to the Lord on a very personal level, "come as you are," we'd say, "talk to Him as a friend, 'cause He's listening." We're very cautious though not to get caught up with the spirit that's in the air; Christmas consumerism and materialism as malls and the media feed our eyes with marvelous display of new gadgets, and the what have you's. We tell our kids to just keep it real and consider our financial capacity as well. We can't under-estimate our kids' ability to comprehend family financial matters when we're always sincere and honest in talking to them about it.

So, a wish-list is actually a prayer list of material things they wanted for themselves. We take this opportunity to show our kids that we have a God that encompasses all our needs and wants. And that He is faithful to provide for His children, He sees to it that we get provided for. My husband and I would constantly remind them that as their parents, we are not "magicians" that can bring them everything they want in an instant. And if they don't receive some items from their wish-list, not to fret, not to frown, not to feel disappointed. Be a sport and keep trusting the Lord for He knows what's best for them.

At church service for Christmas Eve 2011. They can't wait to get home
to open their presents at midnight.

It is also our way of showing them that Dad and Mom are not superheroes but they have a Super God to look up to for anything and everything under the sun! Dad and Mom also have their character flaws but they look up to the Father in heaven for guidance in raising up children of character.

This is the best time to teach them about the power of prayer and how God really answers our prayers according to His sovereign will. It's a "yes," it's a "no," and sometimes, "wait." We take this opportunity to teach them about the value of money, hard work, and how we ought to honor the Lord on how we spend our resources. We tell them that material things, no matter how valuable they may seem are only temporary. Someday, as the scripture has said, "ALL THINGS" will pass away but there's only one thing that will remain, the words of the Lord hidden in our hearts. ("Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."Matthew 24:35)  

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Our children get ecstatic at receiving presents they have not prayed for. This is another ripe time to tell them about how God knows how to make us happy by surprising us. We tell them, YES, it is so possible to receive blessings which haven't even crossed our minds. YES, a lot of times, we receive blessings that we do not deserve. YES, we tell our children, our God is a God of surprises!

"He who did not withhold or spare [even] His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not also with Him freely and graciously give us all [other] things?" 

Romans 8:32 Amplified Bible

This is also the best time teaching them about the generosity of our Father in heaven and how He gave without asking for something in return. We talk about the unconditional love of God by sending us His precious Son, our Lord Jesus Christ so that by believing in Him we can have eternal life. Talk about the most wonderful gift which mankind has ever received from the Creator!

Maybe sooner in a year or two, we will teach them to write down their wish-list in two columns; left column for tangible things and right column for intangible things.

I think it's also time as early as now to start writing our grown-up Christmas wish-list. Funny-odd as it  may seem, but my husband and I are just as thrilled, only we can't be too showy around kids or must they think it's irreverent. Haha.

MY COCO JAM RANT

I had to tame myself at the sight of this package of pretzels neatly tucked in my pantry. It is salty, it is screaming with tons of calories! The label says, "CRISPS, thin, and crunchy...parmesan" to add to my agony. And it also tasted oh so good for the begging hormones. Well, a few nibbles won't hurt for a late afternoon snack.

"COCO JAM Made in Oriental Mindoro,Philippines," says the label in bold letters. With that on cue, I finally gave in and let inventiveness take its course in my journey to a fusion of afternoon delight. I'm calling it a marriage between the West and the East, my pretzel crisps dipped in silky-caramelized coco jam; something salty and something sweet, something so European and yet so Oriental. And I was all swept away in blissful wonder as the two contrasting flavors blended beautifully in my mouth.

Now, for my coco jam rant. How it's made the old-fashioned way.

Coconut is the main ingredient of this kind of jam. For the sweetness that would act as preservative, we didn't want to use the ordinary refined sugar. We preferred using the brown muscovado blocks as they were made from sugarcane molasses.

In the Philippines, we call it many names depending on what province you're from: sangkaka, matamis na bao, muskobadong bilog. My husband would recall that in the barangay where he grew up in, sangkaka and hot-steaming rice used to be a perfect meal combination to the local folk.

When I was a kid, coconuts were grated the old-fashioned way with a metal grater. Every Filipino home used to have this indispensable kitchen tool because most dishes were made with coconuts and its derivatives especially the coconut milk or what we call the gata. But the Filipino family has constantly evolved particularly on how we're handling our kitchen affairs. With everyone else's busy schedule, buying the ready-to-cook gata in powder or liquid form has been a welcome option as they are made accessible at supermarkets these days. With the attractive, hygienic packaging, and competitive prices, for busy moms, who can resist?

So many a times when I was a kid that I would accidentally scrape my own legs against this tool as it was always unscrupulously stored beside the tungko or kalan

 ( the old-fashioned Filipino wood-fueled oven ) for ease of access.

The old-school grater was a flat metal the size of a spoon having this ugly serrated edge around its head so as to flesh out the coconut meat as you manually scrape the cracked coconut against its teeth.

This serrated metal was attached to a scaled-down wooden chair that looked like a footstool, hence, one had to grate the coconuts while sitting down. 

But I've never tried using a kudkuran or kurkuran or stool grater before. Paggagata / naggagata- the process of manually expressing fresh coconut meat was always left for the bigger and older boys to do.  Wasn't it surprising to find out that my friendly neighbor still has this working at her kitchen? WOW. I thought that this stool would be museum worthy. So, I've asked her if she wouldn't mind bringing it over to my house for posterity's sake. Please note that this stool is sturdy built with coco lumbers. My second WOW.

The grated coconut meat would then undergo manual hand pressing by the batch of about a handful to render precious milk. The sangkaka would then be melted in water to caramelize in low flame. Once a gooey consistency had been achieved, the fresh coconut milk would then be added as it gets constant stirring. 

Now, therefore, coco jam my dears, is a product of patience, manual labor, and love.

I love storing coco jams, not in the fridge, but only in a dry pantry, lest we alter its perfect gooey consistency. I bought these jams from a souvenir-deli shop located inside the pier terminal during our recent trip to Calapan City, the capital of Oriental Mindoro.

Learning the BOOOOLLL - BEEE-OKKK Math Concept ala Noah Isaiah

About.com defines tactile or kinesthetic learners as those who learn through experiencing or doing things. For this reason, tactile learners may become bored more quickly than other students while listening to a class lecture. My 6 year-old boy fits right in this learning style and it may sound a bit tangent but he is also a big fan of Angry Birds. 


More often, he finds it quite a challenge to sit down for longer periods of  time to accomplish a worksheet. Learning a new concept is another story. Take our Math lesson for one about ODD and EVEN numbers. What to do with this poor lil boy whose wired at learning outside the box, that is, outside your conventional tools for learning like textbooks, pencil, paper, chalkboard.


One morning, he came up with this brilliant idea of how to easily remember the odd and even numbers. Now, I'm pretty sure that most teaching Moms like me encounter the same predicament with their kids; making them remember their left and right hands, the letters b and d, and their odd and even numbers seamlessly. 


"Mom, let's just make EVEN numbers BEEE-OKKK and ODD numbers BOOOOLLL." 
"What's a BOOOOLLL and a BEEEOK, my son?" 
"BOOOOLLL-BEEE-OKKK, BOOOOLLL-BEEE-OKKK...that's what the Angry Birds would say every time they make a score in the game against those nasty pigs! . How about I say BOOOOLLL for odd numbers and BEEE-OKKK for even numbers! Odd and even are boring..." 


You know our children's simplistic way of thinking often makes a lot of sense in solving challenges like this one. Only we pay closer attention to what they're saying.

True enough, this lil boy learned his odd and even numbers in no time just by saying BOOOOLLL for odd numbers and BEEE-OKKK for even numbers. BOOOOLLL - BEEE-OKKK, and each time he does it right, he would go bouncing like Tigger and cheer himself and laugh his heart out. We all had fun learning the BOOOOLLL and the BEEE-OKKK that day. It was indeed an engaging activity. BOOOLLL - BEEE-OKKK...BOOOOLLL - BEEE-OKKK... One Math concept down, and that's without the tears!

BEEE-OKKK ARE NUMBERS THAT END WITH 0, 2, 4, 6, 8
BOOOLLL ARE NUMBERS THAT END WITH  1, 3, 5, 7, 9

We Are a SHRIMP Family!

This was one of those moments when I had to run at the feet of Jesus for words of comfort, soothing words for the tired soul. Homeschooling two young kids could at times take its toll on you. I mean, school is not what we do 8 hours a day, but it could get tough at times.  So, this was just one among those times when a little creativity, my love for photography and print would just jump off out of me, God's way of telling me that He is in control of everything. And my goal was to encourage and remind myself that, "hey, you're doing well, you're doing just fine, stop being anxious, God is in control."

"THRIVING NOT JUST SURVIVING," my daughter saw this printed on the cover of my personal ring-binder seating nicely on our family table over lunch time. This was a cover design I have just printed the night before, my girl remarked in a nonchalant manner, "Mommy, we are a shrimp family." I chuckled, I asked her to repeat what she said, although I heard her, but was not sure of what she meant. "Yes, that's right, we are a shrimp family. Shrimp are able to swim through the water and could swim against the current, and they can withstand all the pressures, toxins around them. Our family is like that. You always tell us that we don't always have to be like the rest of the world, we don't have to do what everyone else is doing all the time. And yet, we're thriving! " (With a little modification on wordings for blogging purposes.)


So, this young lady, whom I thank God is learning the art of critical-thinking, went back to eating her lunch and then said, "O, Mom! This shrimp "sinigang" is soooo yummy! Can I have more rice please?" Proud Mom obliged her girl's request  without hesitation.

WHAT'S IN THE POT: SHRIMP OF COURSE, FRESH TOMATOES, FRESH-SQUEEZED "KALAMANSI " JUICE, SILING HABA (LONG PEPPER/SPANISH PEPPER)

"Sinigang" is a favorite Filipino broth or soup dish that has a tangy-zesty taste in it. It is believed to be a dish that was brought by the Spanish colonizers to the Philippines from centuries ago. When the Spaniards left, "sinigang" left an indelible mark on Pinoy taste buds and became a regular family dish paired with boiled rice which is a staple at the table. "Sinigang" could be pork, chicken, or fish.

My common practice is to use the tamarind fruit and its young leaves to give out the tangy-zesty taste to the soup/broth. At times, powder soup-mixes come in handy when good quality tamarind fruits are hard to find. But for this day, I have tried using the Philippine lemon, or what we popularly call "kalamansi" to acidify my soupy dish. I was hoping to achieve not just the tangy-zesty "kick" but also I want a hint of "fruitiness" in it. Oh, I drool just by writing about it. 

THE GREEN CIRCLE LEAVES THAT YOU SEE ARE "MALUNGGAY" LEAVES.  THEY GROW IN ABUNDANCE IN A TROPICAL COUNTRY LIKE THE PHILIPPINES. AND MY GENEROUS NEIGHBOR HAS GIVEN MY FAMILY AN UNLIMITED "ACCESS" TO THEIR "MALUNGGAY" TREE ANYTIME WE WANT. GOOGLE SAYS "MALUNGGAY" HAS A SCIENTIFIC NAME: MORINGGA OLEIFERA. ON A SIDE NOTE-  I WAS SURPRISED AT MY DISCOVERY THE OTHER DAY THAT MORINGGA OLEIFERA CAN ALSO BE USED AS AN INGREDIENT FOR A PERFUME AT THE BODY SHOP DURING MY SHORT TRIP AT ONE OF OUR LOCAL MALLS. I'M LEFT WONDERING HOW IT SMELLED THOUGH, HUH...

Was my decision to drop by at "Monterey," the name of a local meat shop, while running errands to pay my bills earlier that morning worth it? I'd say it's a yes. Thank you "Monterey" that even if you are primarily a meat-shop, you have added "shrimp" to your regulars. Hailing from the island province of Oriental Mindoro where sea foods are always fresh and abundant, I have high standards for choosing what sea foods get cooked and served at our family table, and you won my approval: they are clean and fresh and reasonably priced. Forget that they're frozen, but they're frozen fresh.  

THE LABEL SAYS, "WHITE SHRIMP / SUAHE," THE LAST WORD I BELIEVE IS A CHINESE WORD FOR SHRIMP THAT HAS BEEN ADAPTED  AS TAGALOG WORD FOR THE SMALLER KIND OF SHRIMP LIKE THESE ONES. AND AGAIN, I SAY, THESE ARE FRESH SHRIMP WITH ITS SWEETNESS AND JUICINESS.

Quantum Leap Learning?

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to ignite." Plutarch

I was talking to my older brother about how surprised we were that my lil 5 y/o boy learned how to read on his own in three weeks' time with our erratic schedule at school. I remember spending barely 3 weeks with him, 30 minutes a day, just orally reciting the alphabets and their corresponding sounds and in no time he started reading phonetically and with good comprehension.
  
Happy for what he has heard, my brother said, "that's quantum leap learning..." What's that again? quantum leap learning? I kept repeating those words to myself a few more times. I was reminded of the 80's TV series that my siblings and I used to watch which starred Scott Bacula. But that's a totally different story.

I googled a bit about quantum leap learning and here's what the internet says it is:
"quantum leap, a noun, an abrupt change, sudden increase, or dramatic advance" Thanks! Merriam Webster!

My brother explains, "that should be quantum leap learning because he learned how to read in no time without having to go through the different stages or levels of reading." At that point, I tried enumerating what I thought we did as parents to prepare him for reading:

• two years ago, right after he turned 3 y/o, we purchased a pre-kinder reading curriculum that had a music CD of the alphabet in it, a few activity books and some alphabet flashcards

• we stuck all the alphabet flashcards on our kitchen wall and had lil boy sing-along with the music CD from time to time, we didn't care if it made our kitchen wall look ugly

• we'd let the alphabet music CD play the whole day while we go about our household chores

• a year later, lil boy decided he doesn't want to listen to this CD anymore, but instead, he would just sing it a capella whenever he's in the mood

•  plus there were books, a lot of books that we purchased from the thrift store, here in the Philippines, we call  it BOOKSALE, so, we were able to set up this mini library for our kids where they could just grab any book they want to read according to their many interests 

• we weren't subscribed to cable TV, so that their source of entertainment would be from watching "pre-approved by us" DVD's

• there would be a lot of animated reading time with Dad and Mom, at bedtime, at wake up time before we start our day; and because Mom had always been around with her two young learners, QUANTITY time has proven to be  an advantage over QUALITY time

• All these must have contributed to my lil boy's quantum leap learning. Or perhaps, for whatever my husband and I have unknowingly inputted at our lil boy's journey on learning how to read, we must have done the right thing. 

We're now very close to the end of another homeschool year. The next year of January 2012 marks our 7th year in the business of home-educating our own kids and counting. Thank God for this milestone that every member of this lil household is already reading and by His grace far from being ignoramus (smiles for over-reacting). 

Why I Should Consider Buying Rose Quilts?

Here are a  few good reasons:

• DURABILITY     The fabric materials that they use are sourced from the US, Japan, and the Philippines. A finished product underwent meticulous QC, it's a combination of machine and hand sewing, appliques, the works. Safe to say, they're HANDCRAFTED to perfection. A bed cover, queen or king with 2 pillow cases, would take 2-3 weeks to finish.

This is our Honeymoon Quilt of 12 years, a wedding gift made especially for us by one of my dearest friends, Rina. No repair has been made ever since we used it over a decade ago. Here, you see that Rina's creation is still in good shape.

Rina and I

I just thought that this wonderful work of art was worth the posting, tattered and all, LOL! The oldest in my collection, "she's" still a beauty at almost 15 y/o. It was a birthday gift to me by another dear friend of mine, Debbie, who's actually the one who influenced me into sewing quilts and of course, HOMESCHOOLING...I remember Debbie and I used tons of quilting pins to bind the ruffles that would go around the pocket for the pillow. I realized that placing the pins in the right order can make or break a lovely project. And boy, had I poked my fingers with pins many, many times!

I'd never forget the day Debbie showed me these fabulous collection of fabrics she had from the U.S. and asked me to choose the material I like as backing for a "Quillow" project she wanted to create with me. A QUILLOW is a word combination for QUILT and PILLOW in ONE. A simple quilted blankie that folds into a pillow; best for traveling, sleep-overs, camping...it is so flexible especially with kids, they can stick their cold feet in the pocket.

Debbie and I

My daughter and I so loved this quillow, very soft, very comfy.  I liked it that it was thoughtfully given to me as birthday present where I had to put effort in its creation. 

• AESTHETIC VALUE     No two Rose Quilts items are exactly the same, therefore they're all unique, the patterns, the stitches, etc. So, remember that when you purchase an item, you're the only person on earth who has that kind of design. IT'S LIKE OWNING A PAIR OF LEVI'S JEANS.

• REASONABLY PRICED     Let's compare the market price of  a basic quilted bed cover. I've asked around our local malls and learned that for a set of queen size bed cover with 2 standard size pillow cases prices are from: 
• MALL PRICE   PhP 8,000-10,000, roughly about $190-238 
• ROSE QUILTS PhP 4,000-6,000, roughly about $95-143  
• Note that  in the malls THERE ARE NO PATCHES, NO APPLIQUES, just quilted three layer fabrics. Rose Quilts are more  than that, they all come in colorful patches galore! Talk about value for your money.

• CREATING HEIRLOOMS    My sister who recently bought 2 sets of king-size bed covers happily shares feedback that she now owns heirloom pieces, very durable and yet, won't run out of style.

• CHANGING LIVES    Every time you buy any of Rose Quilts' beautiful pieces, bags, table runners, bed covers and pillow cases, please remember that you're helping some of the women of Baloc in San Pablo City, Laguna to have a decent and safer place to work where they can provide for their families, away  from the toxic and hazardous wastes found at the dump site. Here's a link to Philippine Frontline Ministries: http://www.thefrontline.asia/

• GREAT CONVERSATION PIECE    It's always so easy to engage in a meaningful conversation when you have a piece or two of these quilted patches. But, if  you're like me, my pieces are sporadically placed anywhere at my house like the large pillow case which suddenly became a table runner for one of my coffee tables. One baby quilt I have found its place on my center table where guests stare at and try not  to stain with coffee or tea. Below are some more of Rina's blocks that she gave me a couple of months ago. I told her she should stop spoiling me with her lovely quilts!!! But of course, if Rina were to "back mask" my words, it would be, "keep them coming, Rina!" Laugh out LOUD!

Patches Are Forever Part 2

Who's not loving quilts? 
A quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. 

“Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties. In most cases, two fabric layers surround a middle layer of batting (cotton, polyester, silk, wool or combinations of fibers) which is a lighter, insulating layer.

Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeat patterns built up with different colored shapes. These shapes are carefully measured and cut, straight-sided, basic geometric shapes making them easy toe piece together.)                                                                                                Source: Wikipedia

Sadly though, real quilted patchwork had always been a rare find in the Philippines, not even in big malls in Manila. The only ones you can find in big malls are those that are simply machine-quilted three-layer fabrics that you won't be able to buy because of their exorbitant prices! I once saw a queen sized lovely quilt complete with intricate patchwork design during one of our short trips to Taal public market  in Batangas. But what more can you expect from it being the only piece of its kind in the entire country, I suppose? Apart from it being too pricey, the middle layer of batting felt like it was a polyurethane foam sheet that would break apart when washed...much to my dismay.

But God, through His wonderful ways, has answered my prayers, for lovely quilts to be made available for sale here in the Philippines. Yes, Lord! Quilted patches that I can afford, LOL! 

So here they are, being manufactured in the Philippines by no less than my good old friends  from Philippine Frontline Ministries based in San Pablo City, Laguna. But that's not all. Their quilts have stories to tell which I will write in a different blog entry soon. 

It's raining quilts, Hallelujah! It's raining quilts, amen!
Left to right: That's Moi - Gemma, Rhoda Lynn, Rhoda, Rolly, Rina, Noriel, and Rowena 

These are my friends from The Philippine Frontline based in San Pablo City. We've made a lot of wonderful memories together from 1994-1997 when I joined this anointed Team serving in the Lord's ministry, they're more like a family to me. It was through The Philippine Frontline that I was first introduced to homeschooling. And in fact, the lovely lady standing next to me, Rhoda Lynn Pessina Dayo, used to be one of the homeschooled kids that I taught there. Her Mom, in red shirt, is Rowena Pessina, my mentor in the faith, and the brainchild of this Quilt Project which aims to give livelihood to the less fortunate women living at the Baloc Dumpsite area in San Pablo City. So, when you buy a piece or two of their quality quilts, you know you've helped these women bring rice and food at their table.   Here are some more of our photos together. I'll be writing about their advocacy, or shall I say OUR advocacy  in a different post in the days to come. But first, please click this link to their website: 

http://www.thefrontline.asia/pfm-news/68-pfm-fmc/187-fwc-baloc.html

                                                                                        

 Meet GAB! the real Gab! She's so adorable and sweetest of them all...Rhoda Lynn's babe...and everyone else's for that matter...

Thank you so much that you've reached this far, scrolling all the way down here, LOL! So, this is where your blogger blogs, where there's peace and quiet. I must tell you that getting the right kind of quilt is critical in creating a post that will generate a traffic swarm from across the universe, LOL, again...

Find Patches Are Forever Part 1 Here

Meet Gab And Jill

I'd like to share a few of the short story books that I wrote for my kids many years ago. Back when they were small and I would have the liberty to pick out what to teach them from home. I drew my inspiration writing these short stories based from our daily mundane activities which transpired around our kitchen or school table. I took value from them by coming up with a list of vocabularies that would describe what ever we were doing at the moment. The list of vocabularies served as anchor to our stories.

I found this approach very useful in instilling love for reading in them at an early age as they found the stories relatable. Little by little they learned to read phonetically as they decoded the sound of each letter and blended them into words. 

While we filled our family library with a collection of colorful illustrated story books through time, I also felt it was necessary to come up with a set of our very own early readers' compilation of short stories without the pictures. I wanted for them to patiently learn how to blend the sounds of the letters as they were also encouraged to think imaginatively. 

My stories were open-ended so we can always enjoy a rich discussion after each reading time. I would let them decide how they would want our story to have a good ending. This became a useful supplement to my kids' reading and comprehension. So, teaching reading to our kids can be so much fun and engaging.

My lil "Nancy Drew"

My daughter was 3 yrs old when she started reading phonetically and when she reached age 4, she was already reading these books to me herself. We knew we have an early reader. Now she's hooked on reading the Nancy Drew Mystery Stories and would love to someday publish her own magazine for girls!

My son started reading these books a few weeks ago. I thought it was a thrill watching him as he read our own lil family stories. Knowing that he is a highly tactile and a kinesthetic learner, I would give him more time to read through a story as he acts out the characters as he pleases. Now, would that be a problem by me? Not at all, because by doing so, that's when I'd be able to gauge his reading comprehension. He is five years old. And I could care less if he struggled blending some words. It's music to my ears. 

One of his favorites is "Gab and Jill." The first time he read it, he puts his book down and asked..."Mom , is Gab and Jill, Ate and I?"

Note:  ( Ate - pronounced Uh-teh, Tagalog word, a title used to address a female sibling as a sign of respect)

Looking back, these story books have been very valuable to  me as I used them to teach  my  children  how to read.    Our memories    built  around  these  reading materials are so precious that I wanted to share them with you today.

Here are the links to my books. You may download and print them, it's FREE!!!

Gab and Jill

Unit 7 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 8 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 9 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 10 Story With Vocabulary

Left Thumb Up for "b"...Right Thumb up for "d"

This is a storybook I wrote about 7 years ago for our then unica hija, 4 year old Bethany. I wrote this book primarily to fill the need to have a set of non-illustrated story books to stimulate her imagination. I was intentional in teaching  her to read phonetically; decoding the sounds of every letter; blending them together to form words. 

It was totally the opposite during my time because I remember learning to read by memorization (like most of us parents did) with the help of picture books. I thought that bookstores these days have a plethora of picture books that use heavy illustrations from cover to cover so that kids have become overly stimulated visually, leaving no room for creating imagination. 

When I wrote this collection of short stories, apart from my daughter, I had a lil boy in mind. I envisioned him sitting next to his big sister and I while we do school at our kitchen table. But that had been yrs ago, and that boy came into flesh a year after I wrote the book. I'd asked myself if this is how it feels when you're able to live your dream. I thought of God's faithfulness to us thru the years. These are tough times but He has provided for our every need. He had been gracious for giving us the opportunity to teach our kids ourselves and to be able to have that freedom to choose the materials to teach them. 

I watched my son as he read his storybook phonetically. He was having a lil problem remembering which one is the "b" and which one is the "d." So, I had him do the left thumb up for the "b" and  the right thumb up for the "d." Problem solved.

My girl loves creating lapbook projects to showcase what she learned for the entire quarter. This would be her output project in Civics that we will compile in a portfolio to be submitted for evaluation and review to our homeschool provider in Manila.

Here are the links to my books should you want to sample them for FREE. Enjoy! 

Gab and Jill

Unit 7 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 8 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 9 Story With Vocabulary

Unit 10 Story With Vocabulary

Learning from Your Child One Page at a Time

For this Science lesson, instead of telling my boy to color, which he despised lately, I told him to just circle the pictures that showed how to take care of one's body.

BOY: Teacher, DONE!

MOM: Hmmmm...Can you explain why you think reading, like what this lil boy in the picture is doing, showed taking care of one's body?

BOY: What, Mommmyyy? He's taking care of his body.

MOM: Well, you did ok on all the pictures, but I'm just wondering how and why you think reading can also be a way of taking good care of your body as you would take a shower or brush your teeth or eat good food ?

(Mom was trying her best not to say "You're wrong" right away for her son's debatable answer)

BOY: Mommmmyyyy, right Daddy always tells us to read books because it will protect our brain? We needed to take care of our brain too. Right, Mommmyyy? Reading protects your brain...it also makes you smart too. Daddy always says that.

MOM: Oh, I see...I see...

BOY: I told you so.

These two photos above are sample pages of what you can see inside my girl's notebook in World History. She reads Mystery of  History Vol. 2. At the end of every lesson, she would usually narrate to me what she learned and discovered on her reading time. I would act as a student listening to my "Teacher" telling me a story, oftentimes, verbatim. I'm still in the process of learning the art of "not interrupting" while my child articulates her ideas.  Photo 1 shows men wearing plaid Scottish skirts while photo 2 shows young Marco Polo with specks of cinnamon powder around him.

Yes, we've moved out from our old schoolroom to this new spot at our kitchen. Moving out from our old school space was the next best thing to do to accommodate a pre-schooler boy that's highly tactile and kinesthetic; a boy who can't sit still, a  boy who kept asking for a  water break every 3mins, a boy 

 who needs to be strategically seated near the pantry for when he had to do his counting drill with manipulatives like MnM's, Kisses, Fruitloops, Cornflakes...

As Easy as ABC... Garlic Spaghetti...

Almost 2 decades ago, an Italian missionary friend of mine cooked for me a what she called "classic Italian comfort food" that's as easy as ABC to prepare and yet delightfully delicious and tasted expensive. I mean, to this day, remembering her kindness, cooking for a sick friend that I was, that really meant so much.

Down memory lane, here's what she did: 

1.     took a left-over pasta spaghetti from the fridge

2.     melted butter in a pan with a little drizzle of olive oil and stirred in the left-over pasta noodles

3.     got a medium-sized red tomato...pomodoro ehh...poked it with her finger on its base and sort of squeezed it with her bare hand so that the juice really oozed out as she threw it in the pasta while stirring

5.     cracked the egg directly in the pasta, stirring it well, turned off the heat

6.     plated for me...the poor hand-beaten pomodoro seated nicely on the center of the plate above the hill of my pasta grandiose, peppered...

The lesson I learned that day was invaluable; there's nothing like being cooked for by a dear friend especially when you're sick, it's like taking a paracetamol without the bitter taste; as a Filipino, trying to cook Italian, I sometimes over complicate things, and oftentimes it stemmed from my own insecurity and the feeling of intimidation because it's a foreign dish; and last, good pasta always come al dente, which literally meant with bite to your teeth in Italian.

My kids could tell if your pasta is good or the otherwise. 

Just days ago, we decided to have a quiet family dinner at one of the so-called Italian fine dining restaurants from our local neighborhood. We loved the location. We loved it that there was just us eating at dinner time on a Sunday evening while we "people-watched" the families flocking to the big mall across the street. We loved the ambiance, the soft lighting and the sweet music being played in the air. 

The servers were nice. We thought it was going to be a perfect night until our pasta was served. It was overcooked, stale, it tasted like it was thawed from long storage...how disappointing. So my kids, knowing that the money that went to pay for that dinner had been hard-earned, managed to finish their plates with occasional look of dismay on their faces. At length, we discussed over dinner what not to order in Filipino restaurants claiming to serve Italian. We concluded that if we wanted authentic Italian pasta, it's either we invite a true blue Italian cook to come over at our house or just D-I-O, Do-It-OURSELVES!