Sweet World of Joan

This morning was Lorenzo’s Nursery Recognition Day, after weeks of practice for the program and a year of studying; we finally attended the conclusion of Lorenzo’s Nursery Classes. The school said this day is the gift of the children for us their parents, it was a special and happy day for everybody. We enjoyed the special numbers prepared by the children, Lorenzo even conducted the National Anthem(I’ll upload it in You tube soon). They showcased the skills and talent they had developed throughout the school year, they danced, sang and even performed a short play. It touched my loving mother’s heart how eager and good all of them were during their performances. I got teary eyed when the children sang then gave roses to their parents as a culmination of the ceremonies. The Awards Even though I attended their daily rehearsals I have no idea what awards would be given or if my son would receive any but just before the awarding portion got started my son whispered in my ear that he has 3 a...

Lorenzo’s final exams are coming up, and making sure that he is ready to take his exams is one of my responsibilities as a parent, even a working one. My son at his age is not an easy child to study with, there are times he gets distracted or stops at the middle of our study time and decides he is already finished studying and would like to do another activity. Lucky for me I had the foresight to allocate a quite corner for our study time and they were told at school to study their lessons before going to sleep at night. Strategies I have to help Lorenzo study: Have a routine – we have our study time after dinner every night even on weekends. Giving him a set activity where he can study his lessons or learn new things helps him form good study habits. Make studying fun – Lorenzo does poorly in writing, as this is his weakness I make up stories or sound effects while teaching him/practicing to write to make the activity fun and interesting for him. Have supplementary activity books av...

I have just paid my son’s last quarter tuition fee and I felt an overwhelming feeling of achievement. I gave the Lord a heartfelt thank you message as I receive the final permit and receipt. I have finished paying Lorenzo’s tuition for this school year and coughing up twenty nine thousand pesos for a whole year in nursery is no joke. As any parent would understand, giving your children the best education that you can provide and afford really matters. I believe that the primary years of education is important, it is you child’s educational foundation. Once your child have these strong foundation you can be assured of your child’s performance in school till college. It is also one of the gifts my parents gave all of us kids. They sacrificed so that they can send us to a good private school in elementary and then let us loose in high school and college to public schools. We even graduated in state universities. I love every minute I have studying in all my schools; I am even the one that...

It’s been a month since my four year old son Lorenzo started attending Nursery at Immaculate Conception Cathedral School and our life as a family will never be the same again. Immediately after Lorenzo started schooling my husband and I realized that our daily routines must be altered to adjust to Lorenzo’s school needs but what took me by surprised was that some of our beliefs or some of the way how we raise our son would also be reevaluated and changed. I had this notion before that when Lorenzo goes to school his every need in relation to teaching him about reading and writing will be taken care of at school and I would just be at home marveling on the progress he is making. I WAS WRONG. I realized that sending your child to school meant that the things he learned at school should also be reinforced and practiced at home. I realized that the amount of assignment a Nursery pupil can be overwhelming for both the pupil and parent. Attending the Parent Orientation and PTA meeting help ...

It's been two weeks since the start of classes, weeks filled with adjustments for me and my family. For me it is time to go to work again as a college computer instructor and for my son it is the start of a new chapter of his life, SCHOOL. One of the reasons why I chose to teach than to continue my career as a computer programmer is the freedom to choose my time when to go work. I really wanted to have a family so before getting married I shifted to teaching. One of the great things about teaching is that you have summer and Christmas breaks or vacations, but its downside you also don't have a source of income during the whole summer. At least you have a time to try new things and indulge in activities that you can't do when you are working in an office. Summers are a great time especially if you have kids, you have a time wherein you can really bond with each other. This past summer is really a special and memorable time for me and my son Lorenzo. We really got to bond, it...

My Blog have been silent for a week now, its because of my crazy schedule as the semester have started and teaching in two universities, having a son attend preschool, and caring for my family without a house-help made my life a little crazy. I knew it would happen. Attempting to teach at two schools located in different cities in the metro would be challenging, plus having my son’s school right in between. What saved me is some future planning, meals planned two weeks before, schedules on the whiteboard in the kitchen, a supportive family and buying my new toy. I’ve been planning on buying a laptop since January I realized that I’ll be needing one specially if I am serious in pursuing my online business. I first made sure that my son’s tuition is all saved up for its not good if I have a laptop but my son can’t attend school because of no money. Then think you ways and strategies in buying my laptop without adding to our current expenses. My life in going through changes at the moment...

June 13, 2007, Lorenzo's First Day in School . The day started early for me, making breakfast and preparing the clothes to wear plus the things to bring like water and the cameras, Lorenzo's class starts at 11:30 and we will be picked up by the school bus at 11am. With the food ready, I woke-up Lorenzo at 9 but he is still wants to sleep, carrying him down the stairs and making him sit on the chair, I allotted 30 minutes for him to eat. By 10am it is bath time and at 10:30 we were all ready and waiting. The truth was we had a struggle to make him take a bath and dress up for he wants to go to SM Mall of Asia instead of going to school. He was only appeased when I told him we are going to SM after attending his class. His mood changed when he saw his school bus, jumping up and down he was excited when he saw kids his age at the bus. We decided to get the services of a school bus because if we commute going to school he have to battle the traffic and the elements specially with t...

It’s my son’s first day of school tomorrow and after two weeks of waiting my son will FINALLY go to school. It has been two weeks of waking up in the mornings with Lorenzo coming to breakfast with his bag in tow telling me his ready to go to school. I hope everything goes smoothly tomorrow, the batteries of my digital camera and camcorder are being recharged at the moment in preparation for the BIG day, meals and clothes planned and prepared. I’ll blog his first day on my next post. I was very particular about the school my son will be attending. Even before I had him I already have a mental list of the kind of schools my future children will go to. Here are the things considered when looking for a school for my son: Location It must be near our home and readily accessible through different modes of transportation. If it is in walking distance the better. Legitimacy and Reputation of the School The school should be licensed and registered and receives good feedback from the existing pa...

I bought my son Lorenzo his school uniform yesterday and since then he can’t seem to part with it. This morning immediately after waking he brought it out and asked to put it on with his new black shoes and proudly parade it to everyone, he even wants to go out of the house and really go to Immaculate . I have to explain to him that he have to wait till next week to go to school. I have to take his picture so that he can see himself in his uniform anytime. His school bus is also ready and we are counting the days for his first school day. Tonight we had a very rainy night, heavy downpour, thunder storms and a very long brownout. We had dinner in candlelight and even before we finish eating the flood can inside the house, flood in the bathroom and leaks on the roof. I concluded that this is the start of the rainy season. We receive a very wet welcome from this season. We live in an apartment compound and every door had been flooded, it was suppose to be repaired this summer by the landl...

My son Lorenzo is already four years old and we reach an important landmark of his life, “Going to School”, he will be attending Nursery this June 5, 2007. As a mother I am filled with pride, excitement and anxiety. Pride because I know that my child is intelligent and is an avid reader at his age ( he surfs the net almost daily – under supervision of course ). Excitement because I look forward of him learning to read and write, telling me about his day in school and hearing him sing new songs. Anxiety because this is the first time in four years that I will let him go and be supervised by someone else besides me( Oh its tough being an mommy and educator for your standards in teaching is high ). I know at his age many will say he started late in attending school for most schools now a days offer nursery as early as 2 ½ yrs old. I don’t really believe in putting children to school unless they are ready and really want to attend one. There might be a case of school burn-out in the fu...

I attended Every Nation Campus Ministry’s 3rd Annual Educator’s Assembly last Tuesday, May 8, 2007 held at the Assembly Hall of Every Nation Building at Bonifacio Global City. I was invited to the event by my students and went there with my good friend Pedrito. The assembly aims to recognize and honor educators, encourage them in preparation for the upcoming school year, and reaffirm their commitment to partner with educators in preparing students for L.I.F.E.(Leadeship, Integrity, Faith and Excellence). The assembly was attended by educators(Elementary, High School and College levels) and school officials from different schools in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. The speakers talked about how important the role of a teacher in a child’s life, there were group exercises encouraging everyone to share stories about the teacher in your life that left a big impression or had a big influence in you. It was fun and it showed everybody how a caring teacher can influence the future of a chi...