School about to end, plus something new on the site

We're in our last weeks of our school year. We're basically just making up on lessons that fell behind schedule because some days we just got a little lazy to learn formally with the textbooks.  We're ok with the pacing though, we still have a month for vacation which means less risk for the equivalent of the summer slide.

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I made some changes in the layout of this blog.  The links are placed in another page instead of the sidebar.  The links are not an extensive list of resources, they're my go-to/preferred sites.  What I'd usually recommend to friends.  I've also made another page of articles.  Posts that made so much sense to me-- something that I could've written myself!  And, I definitely liked that they're backed by science.  I'm just having challenges navigating the parenting waters, so they're some sort of lighthouses.  Or life-savers.

Making noise again

It's been quiet here for quite a while, 10 months to be more specific, but only because outside the blogging world we've been kind of busy. Homeschooling with an infant.  How we did it?  It's just really taking each day at a time.  Very thankful we're using CHC. We stick with the core subjects most days.  The rest of the time, the two boys are left on their own to play.  And, we unschool--among the highlights were kite-flying with the grandfather, and, we've started learning to whittle. This year, we also had a headstart of about 2-3 months (finished early the previous year), so we don't feel hurried with our schedule.

Now that baby J is almost 16 months old, she's also asking for read alouds a lot.  Lots of Mother Goose rhymes and singing.  She pulls books from the shelves and looks at the pictures-- voila! Another bookworm! So, yeah, I have 3 students now under my wings.

I already have most of M1's books for the incoming year, from the same curriculum catalog, CHC.  Additional materials will include a book for picture study, art lessons from ArtAchieve.com, and piano lessons from Hoffman Academy.com (M2 will learn these subjects with him). M1 is asking if he can start inventing already, so I'll probably burn some more cash to get that Little Bits kit.  

For M2, he's in the middle of Kindergarten (K1 & K2 combined, for a year) program, except for Science, and Religion, which he took with M1, grade 1 level.  He works fast, and is enthusiastic most of the time to homeschool. This kid has a great attitude, doesn't complain a lot, and is very kind.

On parenting.  The biggest challenge of parenting, in my humble opinion and experience, is coming to terms with one's self.  Despite knowing that among the keys (and probably the most important) to parent well is to set the example, it has truly been a humbling experience.  After 7 years of being a parent, I see my eldest, and the result of my so-called parenting. He's a great kid, but I also see how I could've done better (or, how I've inflicted damage?).   Now more than ever I realize and feel the impact of that. If there is someone I have to "parent" it's myself first. Sort out all that angst (where did it come from, anyway?).  When time flies so fast and you just have a window, and you don't think you did everything perfectly, you just get anxious sometimes... and that's where I am right now.  Anyhow.  I've managed to get a hold of some books.  If you're like me who's keen to improve parenting skills, and be intentional, these are my run-to reads:

• The 5 Love Languages of Children,by Gary Chapman
• Personality Plus for Parents, by Florence Littauer
• The Whole Brain Child, by Daniel Siegel & Tina Payne Bryson
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, by Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish
• Building Character, by David Isaacs

5 Field trips

It has been almost two weeks.  But these field trips are worth blogging.

During our two-weeks vacation with the grandparents, my dad, their grandpa took them to several field trips that I had to beg for at least a day of rest in between adventures. My dad turns out to be a great unschooler, specializing in field trips.

First off, we went to Tagaytay where they saw the volcano and the lake surrounding it. The "island within a lake within a volcano within a lake" was better appreciated with Google Earth.  The view was seen while in the vicinity of the mini zoo this back-to-back field trip. Although I'm not a big fan of zoos here in the Philippines, because of the animals' less than ideal condition (they belong in the wild), the kids would have a better appreciation of the wildlife they read in books.  They got to touch several of the animals, namely a tiger [cub], a python, an iguana, a cockatoo, an owl, and fed parakeets. M1 also rode a horse!

Second field trip was a visit to the National Arts Center. It's the big red-roofed structure one can see sitting on a slope of Mt. Makiling in Laguna.  There they saw a view of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country, and a smaller lake, Alligator Lake.

On the third trip, M1 got to do some ice-skating at the Mall of Asia. We hired an instructor for 2 hours as the mother is not good with it either, aside from having a baby to take care of. M2 would rather not. Maybe next time, when we parents can skate along with them.

Fourth trip was their 2nd time to the Mind Museum.  Among the perks of being homeschoolers: us parents can honestly print out homeschool ID cards that say "TEACHER", present it at the ticket booth, and get the discounted rate for teachers-- which we did! The boys continued to be fascinated with the exhibits, especially that of the outer space. Since we arrived a little late in the afternoon already, we were left with only one show to watch.  While we waited for our ride home, they boys passed the time at its educational playground.

The 5th and last field trip was a boys day out (with Poppa & Lolo) at Anilao, Batangas, where they went snorkeling. Prior, the boys aren't confident with their snorkeling, but there and then, I supposed they were forced by the situation to learn, and so they were able to enjoy the underwater scenery of corals and colorful fishes.  And so they went home with animated stories to tell about the biggest fish they saw, a sea urchin, etc.  Unfortunately there was no octopus lingering around, which at the time was the animal they had their fascination on.

So, what happens after the trips?  How do we follow through?  Do we make book reports, etc.? Well, we're not really textbookishly nerdy, so, no, we don't give them assignments to summarize their learning experiences (only I blog about it).  We just let the experience enrich their lives.  A lot of the topics that can be discussed, we already have read about in the past, or have casually talked about (or will talk about).  But the experiences are already there in their memory banks, a resource we can readily tap on.