We miss the learning corners in our previous house that Tita Lisa helped us organize last year. We had so much fun fixing them and did not realize it was midnight when we ended!
We organized our Reading corner per topic: Counting, Fantasy, Animals, Bedtime, etc. I thought my organization per topic and type of book would do, like all Dr. Seus, or all Eric Carle, or all Ladybug and Golden Books. But it only made planning the day's lesson more difficult.
There was a cushion on the floor by the sunny window against Nacho's wall to post his letters and numbers.
Elise had her own Writing and Art Corner where she could focus and contain all her thoughts.
Nacho had his own too, where he would hang out mostly before bedtime, cutting, gluing and coloring.
Outside, we set up a Science corner with all the science resources and gadgets like a bug house, some shells and stones, animals and dinosaurs.
Here in Palawan, we are staying only in one room and the coffee table becomes all these corners one after the other.
All About Gardens and Butterflies
From the beginning to the end of the year, we constantly stumbled upon garden and butterfly lessons. It began at our own little garden when we were still in Manila where we had a lush rose vine that would have up to 25 roses at a time. We also had yellow irises and other fuschia and purple flowers. Nacho and his yaya would catch butterflies in a small container and bring it back in for a while to show us, then let it go.
Being the early riser that she is, Elise loves doing projects on her own with odds and ends around the house. One morning, she gathered barbecue sticks, some paper, crayons and glue, and made a garden growing from some styrofoam packaging.
A few days later, she decided to make paper puppets of her and Nacho
playing in the paper garden.
Tita Lorie gave us some cool thin books on Philippine butterflies, Philippine fishes, Philippine fruits, Philippine vegetables and Philippine flowers. Elise was able to identify the cabbage butterfly flying outside with tiny black spots at the end of each wing. She made a big one out of an old folder.
We cut out one for Nacho too and he chose a butterfly from the book and colored it too.
I also taught Elise how to make a Mind Map and use it as a tool to remember her lessons. She gathered her How and Why books, picture books, and the others that had information about butterflies and mapped away. She learned that there are 200,000 species all over the world, and 20,000 of which are in the Philippines. They smell with their antennas and they feed through their long hollow tongue like a straw. They feed on fluids, even urine.
Last January, we visited the butterfly farm and collection at the eco-park in Assumption, Antipolo with Bea and Ina,
and saw some cool butterfly exhibits from all over the world.
Did you know that a butterfly forms a chrysalis, while a moth forms a cocoon? The brown ones are the ones that have been vacated.
Guitar Lessons
Elise took guitar lessons every Friday at the CFA Lighthouse. She had a lavender guitar with yellow flowers. It even had a pink strap. She has been practicing "Rainbow Connection" by Jim Henson and we hope to hear the polished version soon.
Off Site Math
We do our errands on Fridays. This particular Friday, Elise and I treated ourselves at Pancake House in Galleria. We split a giant burger between us and had a chocolate milkshake for dessert. Then, she grouped the sugars and the creams to help her answer her math workbook on sets and subsets while I did some paperwork.
Sibika with Tita Noelle
"Ang mga Malay ay nagmula sa Timog Silangang Asya, sakay ang balangay."
The balangay came alive for Elise and Nacho at the CCP Complex in Roxas Boulevard in Manila. Tita Lorie invited us to visit Tita Noelle (Wenceslao) there, who was going with the rest of the Mt. Everest Team to sail around the Philippines in this ancient boat.
We got to meet the Badjaos from Sulu who set camp at the Manila Bay and handmade the boat from scratch with wood that floats (which was brought to Manila from Sulu). They fastened all the planks together with strong, thick twine and sap from mangrove trees.
We watched them paint the sail
and fasten it to the mast with handcarved eyelets from Iloilo.
Then saw them off on their test sail as they drifted out into the Manila Bay into the sunset.
Visit the Kaya Ng Pinoy "Voyage of the Balangay" website to read more about this epic journey that swells with Philippine pride.
Choo-choo!
At two and a half years old, Nacho loved pulling anything - empty 6L plastic bottles, boxes, small chairs, people...
A tip from 365 Things To Do with Toddlers was very helpful and made Nacho very very happy for about a week:
He loved letting Elmo drive the train and bring everyone else for a ride.
Later, I asked him to collect everything round, or square, or blue, or soft, or hard..... he loved it!
Pasig Library and Science Discovery Center
The Pasig Library has a good selection of books for children. It had the different versions of the classic stories like The Wizard of Oz, and had more or less a complete group of reference books on every subject.
There was an audio visual room and mini ampitheater that could hold up to 30 kids. I even saw a collection of videos on all the national heroes on one wall of the theater from the corner of my eye. I made a mental note to take her back here when we study our national heroes.
Beside the library, there is an interactive area with mini versions of a fire station, a car repair shop with tools, a doctor's office, a police station, a kitchen and a Lego station.
On the second floor was a Science Discovery Center that had a space station and various other stations demonstrating various science concepts like electricity and the weather. There was also a Room of Illusions and a recycled paper making activity.
Pretend Houses
Spotted two HUGE empty cardboard in Lola Meldy's garage and asked her to donate them to us. With a cutter in hand, I cut out windows and a door. There were two of these when we started for the two kids to be neighbors. But Nacho's house transformed daily. On the first day, it was a boat. The next day it was a plane. And on the box's last day, it was a Flintstone car where the legs do the running. It did not last as long as Elise's house, shown below.
On the fourth day, Tita Lisa and Nico came over and helped them paint the house. It had a very pretty green and white striped roof:
a red and yellow attic window, and purple wall,
and a garden mural at the back.
This gave Elise and Nacho and their cousins many hours of neighborhood fun.
On our first week in Palawan, they missed their cardboard houses so much, they made a small house and Nacho colored it with his pentels.
Antique Gadget
We visited Tita Lisa at the bank often, and the little ones would race to the manual typewriter and just tap away!
Old Manila
Went to The National Museum with Nina and Mela to attend a PUNI Origami lesson.
The kids were taught how to make origami birds.
The toddlers got to color some birds. Here is Nacho's work:
We, grown ups, attempted to make birds from long, dried leaves. It was an ordeal! Ang hirap! Our teacher was very patient.
Here is what I came up with much later, after many attempts:
Told Rene all about it. He laughed and said that people in Palawan know how to do that. They can teach us when we get there. They can even make grasshoppers!
While we were in the area, we viewed the San Diego Galleon exhibit.
To end the day, we toured the yellow streets of Manila on a kalesa with the cousins, Tito Gregory, and Tita Lisa.
From Diego, the Animal Rescuer, to Quezon Memorial Circle
This was one of the spontaneous days when one thing leads to another.
Since we did not have face paint, Elise stuck little pieces of paper on her and Nacho's face to make animal faces.
Then Nacho wanted to read his book about Diego, the animal rescuer. (Dora's cousin)
Then I thought, why don't we set aside today's lesson plan and head to the Wildlife and Rescue Center? So we went. They saw bear cats and crocodiles, lots of Philippine eagles, some owls, parrots and cockatoos, a peacock, turtles and snakes.
While we were in the area, we also visited the Manuel Quezon Memorial. Elise marveled at the late Commonwealth president's enormous black tomb in the middle of the room. She felt sad for the wife's tomb, which was tucked away on the side. This was also the day when I thought of having Elise's eyes checked as she couldn't read the signs that were a bit far away. The day ended with some cheese ice cream from the sorbetero.
Christmas Lights
The Meralco compound at Ortigas Center had sculptures of churches, houses, giant people, a giant Nativity scene - all in one village. The sculptures were made of copper wires and were lighted by yellow rope lights.
A train track with a little village is underway, and probably next Christmas, there would be another attraction for the kids.
The Puerto Princesa City Library
The kids and I visited the city library and hung out at the Kids' Section on the 2nd floor. It was carpeted, air conditioned and had small chairs and tables for the smaller kids. There was a low storytelling platform decorated with stuffed toys and throw pillows....wrapped in plastic covers for books! The book selection was varied enough and Elise wanted to borrow a few books right away. But we could not get a library card because having one requires a permanent address. And we still do not have a permanent address. Poor Elise. I just reassured her that she could borrow from the school library in June.
The Palawan Museum
The Palawan Museum is right beside the City Library. It is a sad place for the artifacts to be. Not much in there, and not enough care to maintain it properly. We have yet to visit a few other museums in the city that may have more to see.
The Puerto Princesa Post Office
We mail letters, cards and post cards at the post office almost every week.
Elise and Nacho know the routine by now: Pay at the counter to get the stamps. Wet the stamps and press them on the envelope. Then walk over to the drop box and drop the letter!
Vine, Shrub or Tree?
Elise had the family camera for the morning to take pictures of plants, then identify them later whether they are vines, shrubs or trees for her Science project.
a traveler's palm
an evergreen tree
a san francisco fern
a coconut tree
(This is a dramatic picture, don't you think?)
Museo Pambata
For Elise's birthday last January, she requested that we go with Nacho, Bea and Ina to Museo Pambata, since she had so much fun during school field trips before but did not have time to really play and stay in the different stations.
On the first floor, there are different exhibits of various land and water forms in the Philippines and another section showcases Philippine history.
The second floor has learning stations about how our body works and another part has community helper stations like the fire station, the market and a barber shop. They are all interactive, making the kids go in and out and pretend.
There was also a science section about the earth and some science concepts. Nacho loved the earthquake demonstration.
The sports section sponsored by MILO with wall climbing was gone, much to Elise's disappointment. It was replaced with a CITIBANK sponsored Bangko Bulilit.
There was as supermarket next to it, where kids can shop and practice adding up their purchases.
Dinosaur Day
We started our morning with a dinosaur story.
It was a big kid story, so Nacho played with his small model dinos on the table while Elise and I talked about the story.
Later, the dinosaur apartments moved to the floor
and they were going around town doing errands.
Mass and Weight
This wooden scale set by Benho was a thoughtful gift from Tita Corinne. It supplemented our sink and float activities by comparing which was heavier or lighter - toy dinosaurs, sand, shells, blocks, food, pencils....the list was endless!
Some Resources
Aside from the workbooks required by our homeschool program, here are some books that I found very useful.
I photocopied the pages from these books and used them as bite-sized worksheets.
For Christian Living, after we discuss the week's lesson, Elise colors some pages from a themed coloring book. The Paulines made several books - Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Grace Before and After Meals, etc. The last quarter was Lent, so we colored the Stations of the Cross.
In May, since it will be the month of Mary, we will do the Mysteries of the Rosary. It also has the Mysteries of Light, so it's pretty updated.
Of course, little children love to be read stories - with gestures, and facial expressions and with feeling. This is a good book with happy, sad, adventurous and funny stories which come in handy as an introduction to an art project or even nap time!
Looking back, it was a good decision to homeschool the kids even for just one school year. The transition from Manila to Palawan would have been difficult for Elise, being a Grade One student. This June, she can start anew with new friends, new experiences and a new routine. Meanwhile, Nacho is okay to stay with me first. After all, he is just 3 years old, and Elise began school at age 4.
Looking forward to our next adventures!
