moving up and out

last march, eljo has "graduated" from preschool and is now moving up to grade school. how time flies! and to his teachers (michelle, cha, monet, gilette, giselle), hats off to you!!! it has been an amazing journey for him ... from a tentative junior explorer to a verbose and confident kinder explorer ... and i am confident that as a grade schooler he will still be a creative explorer. i am truly proud of you, my son.

amazing

"Look with your eyes."

That's what Eljo said as he read the poem I just wrote on the computer. I almost fell from my seat. I asked him again to read the line and he did - perfectly! I asked him to read the next line.

"What do you see?"

Wow! I told him I am amazed. Not that it's surprising. I have always sensed that his verbal-linguistic intelligence is more advanced than the average kid. He learned to talk real words just after turning one. He could read books with simple words (e.g., Chika Chika Boom Boom, Freight Train) at age two. He could very well express himself through words and complete sentences.

And we think he really has a very good visual and oral memory. When I read to him, I point out the words and somehow he stores these visual cues (like the first letter, or the form of the words) and access them when he encounters the word again. This is what they call sight reading. He's still learning how to read phonetically in school (where you sound out the letters). So maybe by the end of this school year, his reading vocabulary will expand further.

But I guess what's more important is that he really takes pleasure in reading and learning new words. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

10 Commitments for Parents

1. I will always love and respect my child for who he is and not who I want him to be.


2. I will give my child space - to grow, to dream, to succeed and even sometimes to fail.


3. I will create a loving home environment and show my child that she is loved, whenever and however I can.


4. I will, when discipline is necessary, let my child know that I disapprove of what he does, not who he is.


5. I will set limits for my child and help her find security in the knowledge of what is expected of her.


6. I will make time for my child and cherish our moments together, realizing how important - and fleeting - they are.


7. I will not burden my child with emotions and problems he is not equipped to deal with, remembering that I am the parent and he is the child.


8. I will encourage my child to experience the world and all its possibilities, guiding her in its ways and taking pains to leave her careful but not fearful.


9. I will take care of myself physically and emotionally, so that I can be there for my child when he needs me.


10. I will try to be the kind of person I want my child to grow up to be - loving, fair-minded, moral, giving and hopeful.


- Author Unknown

rain, rain, go away!

Rainy Days
it's been raining almost non-stop for two days in a row. there's a tropical typhoon, of course, and although it's actually up on the northern part of luzon, it's affecting the monsoon winds (hanging habagat). and so because of that, eljo had no classes for the past two days. it's a good thing, though, coz he has a little bit of cough. but i'm sure he's pretty bored already.

back to school blues

yes, it's the start of a new school year. eljo's now a senior explorer! he has moved up. he's turning a new leaf, so to speak. i was rather worried that the new schedule might not suit him or me. his class starts at 745am, which means i have to wake up around 6am to prepare his food & other stuff, take a shower, get dressed before i wake him up around 630am. whew! but for the past two days, we've done pretty well, i might say. he's been very cooperative (except for the usual whining and complaining, but they are so minimal) that we've always managed to arrive in school with a few minutes to spare.
i'm crossing my fingers that this is not some fluke. ;-)

we made it!

actually, eljo made it! he has finished his first year of school. last sunday, march 20, he went up the stage, took his final bow, and received his certificate from creative explorers!(jong and i were there to receive the certificate with him. and we felt a little weird being on the other side of the fence so to speak. i've been doing graduation ceremonies for kinder minds for four years before this, and jong has always been around to help us out. so we were not new to the ins and outs of this kind of ceremony.)

as a last hurrah, his class performed the song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing". we were not surprised to see eljo sitting while the other kids were singing and dancing because he really isn't too keen on these creative movement stuff. but thanks to teacher michelle's creativity (bless her!), eljo was tasked to do a special part. he was holding a sign that said, "Teach the World to Sing," and he held it up high at certain parts of the song. towards the end, he even stood in the middle of the stage and held the sign way above his head. the audience applauded! and we were so proud of him. i think he was proud of his accomplishment, too.

all's well that ends well, as they say. it was a wonderful first year of school for eljo. he learned a lot of new things. he met new friends. he has become more confident. his world has expanded.

but now, he deserves a break...yahoo for summer vacation!!!

almost at the finish line...

it's march. wait a minute...it's march already? it's march!!!!

that means school's over...well, almost over. we just had our last parent-teacher conference yesterday. teacher michelle is all praises for eljo's development this past semester. excerpt from the narrative report:

"Eljo has grown to be very confident, self reliant and responsible throughout the school year. ...he has manifested a strong sense of confidence in himself by the way he makes decisions, reacts to different situations, relates with other children and adults...has grown to be sure of himself and has learned not to be afraid to try out new activities in class...shows a lot of strength in the area of literacy...is able to express complex ideas such as telling a story or recounting an incident...shows a lot of interest in learning..."

jong and i are very proud parents indeed. kudos also to his teachers and the staff of his school, creative explorers!