Nerf Guns are for Girls

For weeks, Jojo was convincing me that Sabina wanted a Nerf gun for her 9th birthday.

My daughter is a girly girl. Her first love was Barbie back when she was 3. So her doting older sister dutifully handed down the much-beloved Barbie house, plus her well-worn Barbie collection. Every gift, pasalubong and reward was Barbie, until Sabina was swimming in the darn doll. [Funny thing was, I hated Barbies when I was small. I related better with my Ken doll, and shaved off and beheaded my 2 Barbies. I know, I need help :?]

At four, Sabina switched to Bratz, when Marielle handed her an entire collection of probably 8 dolls, plus accessories. Then back to Barbie, whenever a new cartoon came out with the complementary Barbie line... princesses with twirling skirts, fairies in an assortment of wings.

At six, she went into her Polly Pocket stage when her cousin Ali handed her a trunk full of Polly dolls, clothes, houses, shops, cars, etc. We filled up a suitcase and brought the collection back to Penang. Since then, on every trip abroad, her dad brought home "just one more". Considering that the Polly lives up to its name of being pocket-sized, and its accessories supposedly minute to match, we ended up accumulating two trunks full.

Finally, we come to Legos, that timeless toy that has been passed down from forever. I had them, my older kids swam in them, and at 8, Sabina asked her Papa to bring home the large pirate ship from one of his trips to the US.

So I should have been forewarned that the trend was toward boy-toys. At first, I chided Jojo that he was buying the gift for himself. I had wanted to save the money for a guitar instead, because she was starting to play her brother's big guitars. I was doubtful till the very end as we were having the guns wrapped at the store. Until I heard that small voice in the back of my head say, "She'll never be this age again. She won't be playing these games for much longer."

And so her squeals of laughter, flushed face, proclamations of "I really love my guns" and "All of you need to buy your own guns too" fill our house. In the end, as much as Sabina loved her girly toys, she loves playing with her brothers and dad even more.


P.S. Not to worry, her birthday party is "Fashion Show" themed.

Poems are Pictures of Feelings

Sabina cries out as her brother comes home from school. "Look at my new poem!"

Anger is a red curl
that ends up like thunder
Sadness is blue waves that fall
Happiness is a yellow sun
that jumps up

Her brother was sooo impressed. Too impressed, actually, that he created a space on his blog for it. Which was the effect we were aiming for. Because I, too, was very impressed. How on earth could my 8-year old compose such a profound piece of work???

Okay, so this blog is not really intended for show[off] and tell, but rather for sharing the secrets of this run-of-the-mill homeschooling parent.

Here's the deal... the story behind the story:

1. The children are made to read a poem, "Thinking"*, as an example of words painting a picture of feelings we cannot really see or touch
2. Next, they are asked to think of a feeling, assign a color to it, and draw.
3. Lastly, they get to label & decribe those drawings in their own words.
4. Write those down in a paragraph.
VOILA!


*Source: Going Places
ISBN: 971-27-00208 | Ed. 1991 | P275 | Level: Grade 2

Scheduling, the Written Code

The wonderful, and sometimes terrible, thing about homeschooling is the flexibility it allows us with regards to scheduling. We can do as much or as little, or not at all. The day can begin at dawn, or dusk. And they have for me at some points of my 11-year homeschooling "career". This stint ran from 1997-2001, then 2003-05, and finally 2005 to the present. Due to the variables of age, the number of kids (I began with 4 kids ranging from 4-10 years of age), and the subject specializations for those specific ages (beginning readers, sex ed, American vs. World history, artihmetic vs. geometry), I've had to be creative with my time...not to mention energy, patience and brain function!

For any given situation, I've found that a printed or written out schedule that both you and your child can refer to is the best. It's like a map of where you are going that week. Also, it allows you some satisfaction as you both work at crossing off (or crayoning off) the subjects accomplished. For me, I had to create 4 separate schedules, so each child could go on to subjects unsupervised when I had to concentrate on one of their siblings. This way, no one had to roll in their seat and go stark mad waiting around for the teacher. Four voices crying "Mama, what's next?!!" was enough to drive me up the wall.

School was done when the child accomplishes their goals set for the day. This meant that, the more focused and concentrated you are at the task at hand, the quicker you get to go out and play. It got a bit ridiculous, though, at one point when Luis had the bright idea of "doing school" at dawn, so by the time the teacher came down to the school room, all his tasks were colored in. He got a free day, while the others labored. It was good for all of two days. I got caught up with the older kids' lessons, then it was time for him to get back with the group.

The schedules can be as simple or as detailed as you and the child can cope with:

Sabina's MONTHLY Schedule @ Preschool/Grade 1, where a sticker signifies a full day's work, and earns her a RM1 [35cents] "salary" from her dad

Sabina' WEEKLY Schedule @ Present (Grade 2)

Jonathan @ Grade 5

Good Days and Bad Days...

It's funny how we can't plan on which one we get, but as our good friend, Karen wrote oh so long ago, 'rainy days and Mondays' can get you down. This is specially true if your work-clock peaks on the weekends.

So I don't need to spell out how Monday was a slow day. We got our bible reading done, then we went for another story. Bible read-alouds are true treasures, because scripture, no matter how difficult (or oversimplified) the reading level, hits straight to the heart of everyone within earshot.

I have found that my daughter's bible brings me to tears more often than my own adult version does. This is why we decided to read through it a second time. It's called the Egermeier's Bible Story Book, a beautifully written storybook version of the bible. It is the same version I read to my older son a decade ago, and one I plan to read to future grandkids.

I digress. So this was Monday... bible, then the ubiquitous handwriting exercises. Handwriting, every little lady's arsenal of "good breeding," or is it? I'll continue this discussion another day.

Back from a loooong break

This is not the beginning of a new school year... We are actually teetering back and forth among (at least) three school calendars. Being Filipino, the "body clock" would say that we are beginning a new school year, as the Philippines begins classes in June. Living in Malaysia the past 5 years has acclimatized us to their school calendar, which runs from January to November. This means, I should be in the middle of our curriculum by now. But there is always a third option, the US calendar, which I use as a scape goat whenever I find that I'm behind schedule. Well, I do order my materials from the US whenever the budget allows...

So, without further a-juju, I'm hoping I can keep this up.