Going back.

Boy, does it feel like ten years since I've posted here!

When was that? April? When I promised myself I'd write again, but lo and behold! I didn't! 

Major life decisions here and there. Bent by what's in the past, but strengthened by the hopes of a clearer future. 

And one of them was sending back Boom to the regular school for 1st grade.
Here's the backgrounder in case you missed it >> {and-so-i-was-very-happy-with-hapi} 

If it were just me who's deciding, he'll be lifeschooled until whenever he wants to. But it was Ze Dad who lovingly requested that he be immersed in the real get-go. (We both learned the ropes of life mostly on our own, our own parental units were not hands-on as most of that generation were.) So off we went to the school where I do special education consulting, and I told him go to the library. 

Then he said, "Sige Mom. Let's try." 

Must be the books. 

Must be the surroundings.

But yes, it felt like someone's gnawing on my heart. Maybe this was how my parents felt when they sent me off to college. Alright, I know, medyo OA.

UPDATE

The 1st quarter is almost done, and so far, all he complained about was his seemingly immature seatmate who stabbed him with a pencil. (God, micro heart attack right there.) But according to him, he was able to swerve and that he was strong and it was nothing. Life lesson learned #1: self-preservation and self-defense.

Springing forth!

Immabout to write. Again. Finally.

After an over-hibernation, I finally will commit to post my nanay adventures (notice the new blog title?).

In the meantime, let me fancy you with some encouragement.

One-to-one correspondence

So how do you teach a child to ACCURATELY count items, more known as one-to-one correspondence?

Make a counter! :)

Here I chose to use my Diko's hand pattern so he'll eventually transfer that learning to counting with his fingers (Yes, I don't see anything bad with that, as other schools of thought do).

You may also use regular tables/boxes with numbers.

Pre-requisite knowledge:
Left-Right, Up-Down, Beginning - Ending

Jetpack!

Materials:
* 2 empty soda bottles
some aluminum foil (or paint to cover the bottles)
* Japanese paper for the pseudo fire blast
* string to tie up the bottles to your little adventurer's jetpack!

Kaboom! Zoom zoom! (my boys' sound effects, lol!)

Where was Momma? Part1 (WAHMnabee that is me)

I know. It's been quite a while.

Well a BIG while. (Have 3 kiddies running around. Btw, they're all under 7.)

So here's what this Momma has been up to lately ---
(AHDOOGAHPAAAK! that's my Diko's interpretation of Kuya's drum rolls!)

[#1] The WAHMderful Life Workshop spearheaded by the beautiful moms Martine de Luna of the Dainty Mom and Ginger Arboleda of Manila Workshops

2012 has been a year of big shifts in my life. For one, I have decided to homeschool my Kuya and Diko, and of course our salingkitty Naya. But I've been finding myself wanting to work again. Once in a while, I miss the classroom, the papers and lesson plans, the messy kids -- oh my exceptional students -- and earning mullah. Yep, you got that right. If you know me, you know I've been doing a lot of labor for love, not much for the monetary returns, but for the sheer pleasure of serving.

But hey, I realized I want/need pesos to support my sanity-savers (crafting, salon+spa trips, ukayhunts, inkies, outside-coffee adventures, etc). Then this workshop happened. :)

What a lovely day that was! I sat with Teacher/Mama Tina Rodriguez of Truly Rich Mom who I met at one of the CFA gatherings, who I so admire (I'm such a fangirl). Boy was I starstruck with all of the mombloggers I stalk, errr read, whenever I need validation and inspiration. Speakers included Toni Tiu of Wifely Steps and Marge Aberasturi of The Happy Wahm. Apart from the words of wisdom, my favorite was the loot from Celeteque, my brand for gel moisturizer (always been). I have been using the ultralift serum for a month now and it's been doing a wonderful job on my face. Not as pore-y and blush-y anymore! :)

THAT'S ME (with the hoodie) with a bunch of techie moms all wired up! PHOTO CREDITS FROM DAINTY MOM

More than the learning of new terms and acronyms (Odesk, Elance, SEO, VA, if you don't know them too, well, GIYF=Google is your friend!), I've discovered how moms have been stepping up. My seatmate was a yoga teacher/golfer. She was encouraging me to study yoga so I can help my special needs students, in the future that is, if I continue with the long overdue learning center. I also met Jennyfer who has an aspie son (that's a nick for Asperger's syndrome), a  personal favorite "superpower" of this sped teacher.

Man, the workshop was positively overwhelming! My creativity juice once again runneth over. The little hamster inside my head was almost on fire! I didn't get to wait for the group photo ops; had to commute back home to Bulacan, since our driver had a previous appointment. But hooray for raffles, I won a Xend GC! {By the way, food  was awesome too from Almost Gourmet. Titania gave out a nifty nail clipper, and a Howard Storage baggie}

Next on this Momma's kwentos, the [#2] Craft MNL's 2nd Etsy Craft Party! Stay tuned I just have to pee, ALONE! (Kids, yes you may play under the table!)

PHOTO SNATCHED FROM MANILA WAHMS

Getting a grip on pen grips

Sure you had days you can't help but compare developmental milestones, among siblings, cousins, friends' kids... Not to belittle each child's abilities but to actually celebrate them. And to worry about your own kids not doing what the rest of the world is.

Kuya B held the pencil with the perfect tripod grasp at 1 year 2 mos. I had no problems with the other fine motor skills except with cutting since he's a lefty. I wouldn't want him to get used to a pair of lefty scissors (yes there's such). Baby girl at 18mos. is already on static tripod (see chart). She just picked up a regular pencil and doodled away.

Here's the progression of pen grasps per age level. This is from  this site.

But with Diko M, every manual stroke seems difficult - from writing, coloring, cutting, pasting. I want to blame the iPad for that, or the laptop trackpad (he does it like a champ, and we don't mouse around). But I guess he just happens to be built that way.

rubber triangular grip reinforcement

Like many other, I used the biggie crayons. Oh was he unhappy with those. Then I gave him the jumbo pencils (Boo, Mommy, Boooo!); all the more was he frustrated. I also tried using the triangular rubber grips to improve his grasp, but he'd remove them and use them for the Nerf guns (gah). Then he wanted to use Kuya's regular crayons. He held them so tight, he'd break them everytime. He'd be contented and calm in peeling the crayons' paper labels (I think I did that too back in preschool), breaking the crayons into tiny bits.  He despised writing. He later on preferred markers.

I saw this video on how to teach the correct pen grasp. This is brilliant! But heck, when I taught Diko that, he would be holding the pencil using his thumb and index. He'd be toying with the method before he traces letters/numbers, and would be spending a lot of time twirling the pencil instead.

Then alas, while he was coloring (I dumped all of our crayons in a plastic basket, broken and intact), he picked up the really shortest one and voila! He was using the dynamic tripod grip without me prompting! I'm sure you know what I did next.

One for each basic 8 colors; not more than an inch approx.

Now, he's writing like a champ! No more frustration fits! He prefers the crayons more than the pencil, but I know we'll come to that. This Momma doesn't care how long.

So when you're panicky like me, caught up in a when-will-my-child-do-this moment, seek comfort through the verse "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Guess I myself haven't mastered the trust-and-wait skill yet. 

Touching the real stuff

I used to look at my 3 kiddies (6, 3, and 18mos) navigate their way through my iPhone, or the iPad with such adoration. I mean, I was surprised with how fast they were able to learn to manipulate these gadgets by themselves. I found (past tense) it real cute that they can operate it, unlock, and even take pictures and record videos. Now that were homeschooling, I realized that my leniency over gadget use have made them lazy. My nightmare was they'd become the people in Wall-E, fat and glued to their screens.

And so, (drum roll) --

Ze Momma has finally stepped up. This lady has laid her iron hand when it comes to technology use. And yeah, that involved a lot of tears (and I mean a lot!), table banging (as my Kuya B, my eldest is a budding drummer), and stomping feet (Diko M has humongous legs mind you). But I have to compose my sobbing heart and say, "The laptop, the iPhone, the iPad, are not space fillers. We have a library. Spend your extra time with a book. Read it, look at the pictures, and then when you've touched 2 books in a day, then you can tinker on those things for not more than 45 minutes."

I've realized how the touch revolution had made my 2 preschool sons always rushing to finish their writing activities. Plus they've become very impatient with erasing mistakes and correcting them. Not to mention frequent frustration with themselves and anger fits with the paper or pencil. Diko M's also struggling to hold a writing/coloring tool, be it a pencil, a crayon, or a paintbrush, and I'll blog about our grip success next time. 

This is Diko M watching videos on Youtube, like-a-bawsss!

So I think around 2 weeks after the gadget decree was imposed, this was the scenario during our choice period--

Kuya B: (While holding and literally putting his face on an encyclopedia) Mommy, I love the smell of books! Of paper...and magazines. This book smells so good!

His words were music to this Momma's ears! A bookworm like me, who later on metamorphosed into a butterfly, has finally given birth to one. Now he spends time with books without me prodding, bribing, and physically bringing him to the shelves. As a bonus, Diko M, Kuya's #1 fan, copies what his older brother does. Kuya specifically wants illustrated ones, as he would copy the pictures first before he finally digests the material.

The kiddies watching stop-motion shorts of Marvel toys. 

In an article, Is technology good for little kids? , by Parents.com, they have listed steps in taking charge of your child's technology diet. I must say, I was struck by lightning when it said, "Fire the electronic babysitter." I'm so bad at this, you know. When I'm exhausted and the children are cranky, I'm almost always tempted to say, "Alright, go to the laptop," or "Here's the iPad." But then, seeing the results of my techie rules deserve a preacher who actually preaches, knowing that the decree is also for me.

***

Our homeschool has been really busy, it deserves a new blog altogether! After a month long hiatus, I've finally mustered my scattered neurons. Time to write again! :)