Leprechauns with a Pot 'o Gold

St Patrick's Day is not a big thing here in the Philippines, but since there was a unit about it and we already have the materials for it then we went for it.

1. Books: Under the Rainbow, St Patrick

2. Geography and Reading Preparation
Locate Ireland in the Map.
Make a game identifying all words that starts with sh

3. Botany & Bible: 
Talk about shamrock and its meaning.

2. Art: Color Sequence of a Rainbow
The Song Colors of the Rainbow as sung at Kindermusik class helped a lot in remembering the sequence.
We coupled it with activities and painting.

3. Language: Rainbows around the World:
Colors in English,Tagalog and how often Spanish words are used in the Philippines (a short introduction to Spanish influence to the Philippines) and Chinese

Red - Pula- 红色
Green -Luntian (berde) - Spanish Verde - 綠色

and so on

4. Music: Classifying High and Low

- Visual thru pictures (pointing and looking for objects), High and Low
- Kinesthetic thru movement and dance
-  Auditory thru singing the high note and low note, play the high low note in the piano

5. Musical Term: Glissando
-Visual thru the logo

-Kinesthetic thru waving the scarves in an arclike movement

-Auditory thru playing the slide whistle

6. Dress Up

7. Do an Irish Jig
Put a clacker (bottle cap/coin) at the bottom of our shoes and followed the dance step.

In the end we found the pot of gold, and ate them all up!

Book: Cranberry Thanksgiving

1. Book: Cranberry Thanksgiving

We have now moved up to a new curriculum, Five in a Row, age brackets 4-8. 

First to row, (to read five days in a row) is this book, since Thanksgiving is this week.

We do not celebrate Thanksgiving here but we are grateful for many things, and because of that we give thanks.

2. Bible & Virtues

We match the book with readings about giving thanks and forgiveness.

3. Geography, Vocabulary, Art

We locate the setting on the map with disks (which we drew and colored )and made a lap folder to view our activities easily.

4. Science

We made and compared starched laundry.

5. Sensory, Color, Science 

Before we started our story, we lighted lavender scents, looked at the flowers, gathered colors of lavender, and talked about where it is mixedsuch as soap and oil.

6.  Experience

Though we were not able to make homemade turkey or bread, but having them to eat has been a memorable experience.

Before the day ends, do an act of kindness, and say a word of praise and a loadful of thanks to God!

Night Creatures: Bats

Bats are always associated with Vampires, it's time to get to know them a little more.

1. Book: Stella Luna

This book has been overlooked in bookstores, but this is one of our favorite books, a story about a fruit bat, a mother's love and friendship with other animals, birds in particular.

2. Field Trip: A Visit to the Zoo

Shown below are fruit bats, mango is among the menu.

3. Video & Book: Magic School. Bus, Going Batty

Our favorite book and tv series.

4. Science & Vocabulary

Research on Fruit Bats and Vampire Bats:
-They hang upside down.
-Some bats can see clearly at night, some use echolocation.
-They are nocturnal. Darkness protects them from predators like owls.
-They are mammals.
-Vampire bats don't kill for blood, they drink a few from cattle and livestock, usually.
-The risk for humans from a bat's bite is rabies.
-We have to protect them, natural habitats such as caves are being exploited by humans.

Words to encounter: Echolocation, Nocturnal

5. Geography

Locate  Transylvania, Romania in your map

Point out where Fruit bats can be found, one of them is here in the Philippines

6. Toys for easy recall of the discussion

Hope you get to see bats in new light.

When a Child asks about Cancer, Do you answer Truthfully?

1. Breast Cancer

What is it? My mom had a full mastectomy more than 15 years ago, my daughter couldn't help but notice the scar. We had to explain what happened in the most basic way that would inform but not scare a child.

2. Awareness and Prevention

Information is vital, it saves lives. All my answers were replied with a 'Why?' Try to explain the possible causes and what are the precautionary measures, what are the risk in the family.

For older children, especially ladies, teach the self breast exam.

Go to a support group if needed. One group my mom is involved in is the Bosom Buddies, where activities, assistance and group discussions happen regularly.

3. Food Groups and Preparation

Discuss what comprises a balanced diet. Which vegetables are best for the body.

Cook and show different food preparation, best if baked or grilled not fried.

4. Family support and Faith

When my daughter was trying to understand what being sick means, I had to explain that each part of our body has a function. It's like a toy, when the mechanism breaks, we have to repair it, else it will not run or function well.

  It is the web of support that will hold you together and cushion each fall, until you are ready to spring back and be whole again.

5. Attend Seminars and Activities

For us parents, to be able to shed light to our little ones, we should be informed ourselves. Makati Med had a film showing, Decoding Annie Parker, (this is for mature audience).

It is about the life of a breast cancer survivor in the 70s and the medical development of BRCA gene mutation , stating that cancer can be in the genes, what a patient goes through, how different it was back then.

If you choose to fight cancer, your goal is winning, if you give up before the fight started, then the battle is lost. To friends, families and patients, take courage because this is a battle to be won.

A Wedding and a Wedding Anniversary

October so far has the most wedding anniversaries I know of (based on my circle of friends).  This month my daughter is chosen to be one of the flower girls in my nephew’s wedding, as every mother, I am excited!

Weddings in the Philippines are a big event. Guests could range from 200-800, this one is close to 400.

For this joyous event we did several activities to make it more memorable.

1.       Vocabulary: Wedding, Vow, Family , Ceremony, Reception

What happens during the ceremony? To answer that, we watched our wedding video.

(This brought tears on our eyes J)

2.       Movement: Practice Walking

Walking the line is another Montessori inspired activity.

Shown below is the wedding march.

3.      Virtue Development: Patience

Waiting for your turn, falling in line

4.       Book: Planting a Rainbow

We talked about flowers, colors and arrangement.

5.       Culture: Dining, Lauriat, Chinese Traditions

6.       Activity: Care for the Flowers

Spray and watering plants, cleaning up the mess

Celebrating our 6^th Anniversary and looking at our children, it has been a busy, crazy, happy, frustrating, fulfilling year for us. I knew two kids will be a handful, yes it is a handful of fun and a pocketful of kisses!

Spooky to Geeky- Mummies, Pyramid, Egypt & Pharaohs

1. Book: I am the Mummy Heb Nefert

We view mummies as what they are, wrapped dead bodies, haunting. The book speaks of the life she once led, how all things pass. I like the way it spoke, it touches the soul. I didn't expect death would be a topic the next day we read it. My daughter was asking how come she speaks when she has passed away?

2. Toys: 

To better get the idea, an actual toy is presented in a humorous way, we couldn't talk too serious about death to a three year old, could we? Hands on play and dancing like an Egyptian.

3. Crafts Ideas:

Mummify this cardboard guy with tissue.

4. Further reading:

We learned about Pyramid's purpose, way of living, how to make a Papyrus (first paper), and a lot about ancient Egypt.

5. Math Shapes: Pyramid

We did 3d drawing, hand drawing, clay making, paper pyramid.

6. Costume Day

Last day of Kindermusik class is Halloween dress-up (Trick or Treat). Reading and learning about Egypt made her appreciate our choice of character, Cleopatra.

Our greatest thanks to my mom who did all the sewing of the whole outfit and prepared the accessories. My participation would only be sourcing the crown.:)

Happy Halloween to all!

An Applause to Dads!

It's daddy's day. 

We started the morning with a greeting and a hearty breakfast.

The day before, we made our father's day craft and discussed a lesson or two. 

1. Fine motor skills- cutting

2. Math- sizes 

We compared her feet with her little brother's, and also her hand.

3. English
After cutting all the letters we were making the sounds of each letter and rearranging it to make the right word.

4. Science
My daughter was awed learning about light projection and color projection. (we used her blue sunglasses to project blue). 
We learned about shadow and the distance of light from the object affects it's size.

5. Theater

Her dad had a funny mini "show" from the cast of Star Wars.  While watching, my smiling and ecstatic daughter said "Daddy you're the best!"

Independence Day

We are celebrating Independence Day by talking about Flags and Geography.

1. The Philippine Flag
Flags were distributed for independence day celebration, and that inspired my little girl to make one of her own.

To be able to draw it, I made dots for her to follow.
With the original flag on the side she drew and matched the colors,.

2. Philippine Archipelago
The first time my daughter recognized the Philippine Archipelago is through the puzzle map she was using when she was less than 2 years old. She continued to point it out in every place she sees and especially our shirts.

3. Philippine Map
We got her a Philippine Map, we pointed at the places we've been to, her grandmother's province and where we are.
We also color coded Luzon Visayas Mindanao.

To end it, I told her that we are celebrating the time we are free. And she answered me, but mommy I am free. :)

I hope we continue to think like a child and be free.