Nachodoodles

Two and a half months after school began, Nacho showed interest in going to school.  He would also pack his small backpack when Elise would get hers ready.  He would make sure he had his pencil, notebook, crayons, blue ruler, water bottle, juice box, milk box, cookies, extra shirt, powder, face towel...... all that for just a ten-minute car ride to bring Elise to school!

We decided that nothing would be lost if we let him go to school too.  The school recommended that he join the Baby Nursery class, which is for 3 year old kids. Not the BABY Nursery class!  I wanted them to assess him and hoped that they would put him in the Nursery Class, as he already knows his ABC's, 123's, shapes and colors. He can even write his name already!  But the Directress insisted that he should do the Baby Nursery Class first, which had more play.  The Nursery class had many workbooks already and the children sat in traditional rows of desks.

I agreed, and was thankful because it was the only class with an air conditioner.  The classroom was also brighter and cheerier than all the others - with lots of pictures and labels. I observed for a week, and we decided to go with it.  The class only lasts for two hours, and so I just wait for him outside. He would check if I would still be there, or ask for help if he needs to go to the bathroom.

When he gets bored, he would write on the white board, and the teacher would just let him do so while she carries on with her class, flashing colors or letters for the other students to identify.  And a few days ago, the teacher put her head out the door and said to me,"Mother, Nacho won't let us erase the white board until you take a picture of his drawing."

Here are two more taken on different days:

And yesterday, it was Nacho who stuck his head out and yelled,"Mama, I have a surprise for you!  A letter!"

Notice the "MAMA" he wrote on the upper left side. His face was beaming, and I asked him what he wrote about, he said, "I am almost ready to go home."

Weekday Morning Grind

We start each school day by checking the water in the car radiator, just in case, since the days are burning hot.

On some days, we make a quick stop at the gas station.  Here is where buses stop on the way to the city proper, to load gas.   Mamang sorbetero (ice cream man) makes a killing. 

This is also where I get palpitations as gas prices are sky high, approximately P10 more than the ones in Manila. 
 

Sometimes Elise needs some cartolina or manila paper for a school project, or we just need to replenish our supply of Sunkist juice boxes (or "quick lamig" packs, which are better!).  The neighborhood grocery store has almost everything.  

Pablico Rd. 1 is where we turn right.

A few meters later, we are greeted by the familiar sights of some domestic animals that were left to wander along the small roads.

A full-grown white and brown goat feeding on leaves from the bamboo fence...

A skinny horse taking a break...

A full grown pig basking in the hot sun...

Here comes the parade of black chickens crossing the street everyday at exactly 9:45A.M.

Just before the final left turn to the street of the school, neatly lined mango trees dot the corner lot.

To the right, a lonesome carabao (water buffalo) grazes on the long grass. 

 The bumpy ride ends and we turn into the parking lot of the school, where Elise gets off and walks to her Grade 2 classroom.  I bring Nacho to his Nursery class where he stays for two hours.

And I patiently wait outside his classroom, just in case he needs me, savoring precious alone-time. 

Elise's New School

On June 7, 2010, Elise will attend second grade in Salve Regina, the previously named "Mary, the Mediatrix".

It is a private Catholic school that has relocated from downtown to a site slightly off the National Highway, which is about ten minutes away from here.  It is still partially under construction.  Physically, it is a far cry from the other two schools we visited, which had nice school grounds and were several floors high.  This one is simply composed of classrooms, a school office and a computer lab.

I also saw a small canteen...

There is also a multipurpose basketball court and a garage for several school service vehicles.

There was also a building that was almost finished, which I hoped was a library. I did not see any playground, but I know that every Friday, they have Physical Education and even teach their students tennis. We are not too concerned about the lack of swings or slides, as she can always relax on a hammock, climb trees, play in the beach or swim in the pool.  The classrooms are not air conditioned, but each has its own toilet, which I appreciate.

The lockers are all outside the classrooms.  

Nacho had a could not resist opening each and every one of them...

...and picking up whatever was left behind from last school year: paper clips, erasers, bookmarks...

Salve Regina is a relatively new school, and still quite small.  The School Directress is also the owner, and she also teaches some subjects.  She personally administered the achievement tests of Elise, scored them right after they were taken and even took the time out to let her know what she did not get right.  Fortunately, Elise scored high enough to be placed in the Advanced Class.  Rene proudly said that he did not expect anything less.  Meanwhile, I was a bit nervous because whatever she did not know would reflect on her teacher during the previous grade - and that was me.

She was only given English, Math and Science tests.  They also had a Filipino proficiency test, but after Elise asked too many questions while taking the test, they decided not to let her take it anymore.  I was sternly advised to work on Elise's Filipino grammar and pop culture double-time, as she did not even know who Regine Velasquez is.  The Department of Education is now requiring students to take a nationwide Filipino proficiency exam on the 3rd and 6th grades, and we still have time to make her catch up.  I was so tempted to tell her that even if my daughter cannot speak Filipino fluently, she truly loves the Philippines:  And even if she does not know who Regine Velasquez is, she knows who Lea Salonga and Manny Pacquiao are!  I bet her existing students do not even know who Efren "Bata" Reyes is!  Last school year, she was most engaged when we studied the different land and water forms in our country.  She breezed through Grade One Philippine history, is an environmentalist, has decided on her candidate for the the upcoming elections, and she has her own opinion about migration to other countries!!!  But I decided to just let the Directress discover Elise's love for country herself.

After that very defensive train of thought, what I really like about the school is its homey atmosphere.  Their teachers are so warm and nice. It is also still a very small school, and only accept up to 20 students per class. Other schools have too many students and I was not comfortable with some teachers whom I witnessed during the class visits.

Another good thing is its Catholic formation.  They remember Our Lady often by reciting one decade of the Holy Rosary a day and the Angelus at noon.  There are also First Friday Masses and special celebrations of feast days.

We are most pleased with the afternoon schedule of the advanced class.  They start at 1:00P.M. and end around 5:30P.M.  In the other schools, there is no advanced class, and they usually start at 7:00A.M. and end at 3:00P.M.  (I am thinking that 2 hours of that would mean their lunch and recess breaks, lining up, getting everyone moving...)  With Elise's half day schedule, there is less rush to get to school and we can still spend time together eating a relaxed breakfast together as a family, maybe even lunch.  I can supplement her learning and partially still home-school her in the mornings, or help her prepare for quizzes and exams without having to study too late into the evenings.  We'll work out a good, well-rounded routine!

Meanwhile, we have a month to polish our Filipino...

Hungry for a Library

Since we started homeschooling in June of last year, we have been trying to get Elise a library card so she can borrow books.  She is an avid reader and like any six or seven year old,  loves fairy tales, escapades, magic, making friends and being brave. 

I brought her to the British Council over at the Taipan Place in Emerald Avenue, Ortigas Center when we were still in Manila.   I grew up going to the one in New Manila where I would watch classic movies, borrow storybooks and just hang out with my mom.  Even until college, it was an escape for me, somewhere I could be alone where nobody knew where I was. I told her what a wonderful place it was, and she got all excited. When we got there, she happily asked the librarian where the Children's Section was.  The librarian seemed almost scared to tell us.  Then she said something that devastated Elise.  "I'm sorry, we no longer have a library.  All that is left is an English Proficiency Center.  Elise and I simultaneously freaked out.  "WWWHHHAAAAT?!!!" Our anticipation of going there regularly for some precious reading time and  her excitement of having a library card to borrow books, burst to a billion pieces and splattered all over the librarian.  We even asked her what we could do next, since we really NEEDED a library, maybe at the British Embassy?  Elise even asked if she was sure that there wasn't a library in there somewhere.  Of course, she couldn't help us.  And as we walked away, I think she was more devastated than us.  We crossed over to Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and shared an iced blended drink.  We survived the afternoon. 

A few weeks later, we visited the Pasig City Discovery Centrum and Learning Resource Center, where the three of us had lots of fun.  They had a good enough children's library on the ground floor and an interactive play area similar to Museo Pambata.  We donated some college books for their third floor.  For a public library in the Philippines, it was a good. one.  We got ourselves some 1 x 1 ID pictures for our library cards and were just about to have our forms signed the following Monday by the barangay captain, when Typhoon Ondoy (Typhoon Ketsana) struck. Of course, the Pasig Library was badly flooded.  And when this happened in the end of September, many other unfortunate incidents followed .  Getting a library card became the least of our priorities. 

 When we finally set foot in Palawan, we found the City Library beside the Palawan Museum!  The children's section was the only air conditioned room, and had the usual encyclopedias and some storybooks.  The books were very old and it looked like that there was no strong children's literacy program going on., or funding for one.  Well, we were there to get a library card for Elise. We were informed, however, that we can't get one unless we have a permanent address. After two months, we still did not have a permanent address.  We went back and requested to be issued one anyway, since we are in the process of getting a permanent address. They reluctantly obliged, and Elise and I got our library cards! 

We chose our books, and headed over to the desk.  Guess what, they were doing their annual inventory, and we had to wait until April 26 to borrow books, three more weeks.... Elise's face fell and I comforted her, assuring her that at least, we already had library cards! She was so frustrated, and my only consolation was that this whole ordeal that had been stretching on for about six months was building her character. 

We planned to go last April 27, Tuesday, but it rained so hard that we stayed in.  On April 28, we scheduled ourselves to join the 3:00P.M. shuttle but the van had to wait for a delayed flight, so we left late and arrived at the library at 4:00P.M., just when the building was being padlocked for the day.  

So, this afternoon, we were FINALLY back and very ready to borrow some books.  Yay, right?  Oh no, borrowers were limited to a single wall of four five-foot shelves filled with adult romance, some really old self-help and gardening books, and few young adult books about horses and some irrelevant plots. Everything else was free to be photocopied, can you believe it??????!!!

Anyway, Elise and I chose one book each.  I felt disheartened, but tried to be cheerful for  her.  I hoped that she was more excited about the process of borrowing a book than the actual book she would borrow. 

Puerto Princesa really needs a good children's library.  How does one start a library?  

School Hunting

Yesterday, Elise, Nacho and I rode the van downtown to get some errands done:

• Deposit some checks 
• Get some cash
• Replace the tiny screw in Elise's eyeglasses
• Do the grocery
• Visit the market to get some fruits

We did the first three then got some burgers and spaghetti from Jollibee.  We then decided to take a tricycle to visit the Catholic school by the bay which was managed by nuns.  It is now a university, and had Nursery to College levels.  It felt like a typical Catholic school like St. Theresa's College, or Maryknoll College or St. Paul's College.  The Guidance Counselor for the Elementary levels was very nice and competent and answered all our questions.  Unfortunately, they could not give us a tour of the Grade 2 classrooms and the Nursery classrooms because there were some visitors rating the school.  We walked out of the school bumping into nuns and Elise had a blast greeting them one by one. 

A private Chinese school was not too far, and we decided to go there as well. We took a tricycle again and headed for it.  We visited the Admissions Office and the Guidance Counselor happily showed off their Grade 1 and Kinder classrooms. As we entered the Kinder classroom, the loud booming voice of the middle aged teacher suddenly exclaimed,"Class, we have visitors!"  The whole class shouted in unison, "GOODAFTERNOONVISITORSWEAREHAPPYTOSEEYOUGODBLESSYOU!!!!!!"  Nacho froze.  Ana slowly backed up against the wall.  The teacher then shoved the three of us into a monoblock chair each and motioned for us to take a seat.  She continued her lesson and flashed some words written on illustration boards and carefully wrapped with plastic covers.  The class read them one by one,"THIRTEEN!!! EIGHTEEN!!! TWENTY!!! FIFTEEN!!!" The teacher shouted and stomped her foot,"DON'T SHOUT!!!!"

Our guide had a worried look on her face and slowly inched her way to the front of the class.  She carefully put away the three foot wooden stick that was leaning against the teacher's table.  I glanced at one girl who was facing the wall with her hands on her sides and another one just in front of me who was seated with his cheek on the table... his eyes half-closed showing his eyeballs doing R.E.M. and with something dripping out of his mouth.....

"Okay na," I whispered to the Guidance Counselor.  I think I saw enough. No way is Nacho going to be in that class! She showed us two other younger classes - where Nacho would be if and when he studies there. The teachers looked more relaxed, and the children were actually gathered around them fondly.  I wouldn't mind Nacho being in those two later classes.  Meanwhile, Elise did not like the Grade 2 classroom.  According to her, it "felt weird."

There was one last private school we wanted to take a look. It was a school that had relocated from the city to the suburbs, very near the hotel. An ideal location. We took a jeep that was going to San Jose and just asked to be dropped by the street that would lead us to the school.  A tricycle stopped and an old man who was driving cheerfully drove us to the school and offered to wait for us so he could take us back, since there were sparse tricycles there.  We arrived and the whole school was made of pawid and bamboo.  They were still constructing and so the playground was indoors.  The classrooms were very simple and very down to earth, but the materials were acceptable.  The lady who showed us around also emphasized that they were strictly Catholic - they say the Angelus, the Three O'Clock Prayer and pray one decade of the Holy Rosary each day.  They also have First Friday Mass every month.

The Chinese school was the most expensive.

The little school in the suburbs was nearest to us.

The school ran by nuns looked like the most stable one. They seemed to know what they were doing.

I need to find out:

- Are there any clubs/sports teams that Elise can join?
- What are the arts and crafts available for them?
- In the Nursery level, what is the Teacher-Student ratio?
- How do the playgrounds look like?
- How guarded are the entrances and exits?
- Is there a canteen?
- What is the schedule like?
- Are there many teachers, like one per subject?
- How heavy is the homework? 
- How long have the schools been around?
- From where are the teachers?

Entrance tests will be in March. So all these would have to wait till the next visit. So far, it seems like Elise likes the one run by nuns. It's the farthest from us... but in Puerto Princesa, nothing is really very far.

Mr. Tricycle Driver took us to the nearby market where we bought veggies and bought a few things from the small grocery.  Nacho was asleep the whole time, so I carried him while Elise brought all the bags.  Another tricycle took us back to the hotel, and by that time, we were covered with red and brown dust from all the open air riding.