A Science Adventure: Giving My Son The Lead In Learning

I am super excited to share what we did at home for our Science subject. Just a bit of background: my husband and I are homeschooling our son. We started when he was in pre-school, stopped temporarily when he was in kindergarten, and then resumed again for Prep and now, Grade One. So far, I am loving the results: a curious boy who loves to move (gymnastics, fencing), solves problems (math) and plays music (violin) and prays with me every night (well, almost every night).

I just recently read a reassuring free ebook from SimpleHomeschool.net (or Jamie C. Martin. Just visit her site and you'll see a link to her free ebook) which includes an entry on the bare minimum for homeschooling: some math and a whole lot of reading. And not only that, she made me see that having my kids take the lead in terms of the curriculum is a great thing. We don't have to stick to a fixed schedule for him to learn...and love learning. The latter part is really important to me.

So, that made me relax. :-)

Amusement Park Physics

We are working on a long-term project right now for Science. He's building an amusement park on Minecraft (Pocket Edition) and he promises me that he'll make a map of it. He already has the tickets ready. I'm really excited to see his park. Anyway, just sharing the site that we used to research amusement parks and the simple physics behind the rides: http://www.learner.org/interactives/parkphysics/. It's absolutely awesome and it has some interactive pages where the learner gets to design his or her own roller coaster. This came about after a trip to Enchanted Kingdom.

Do-It-Yourself Labs

In the meantime, we were playing with a new free app that we downloaded called Piig Labs (we use AppsGoneFree to find out what apps are free every day). The volcano project was presented using a virtual environment. Badger was really excited to do it in real life. I was really happy to see him excited!

So, we did a bit of research. I didn't know that it was really easy to research! We did it before when we made a whirlpool from scratch (just two bottles and some electric tape). He loved repeating the experiment to get the same results.

So, here's the link where we got the volcano experiment: http://video.about.com/chemistry/Erupting-Volcano.htm. It's really easy to follow. Plus, the basics are: a plastic bottle, some newspapers (ideally, you should use clay or dough), baking soda, dishwashing liquid, and vinegar. That's it!

We had so much fun! Badger wanted to do it again. The enthusiasm that I see in his face when he learns about something that he is curious about is really fantastic.

I look forward to more adventures. And this time, I want him to continuously take the lead.

Tundra Swans and Initiative: Character Lesson With Badger

by Justine C. Tajonera

Badger and our family project: tundra swans V formation

Today, I'm so grateful that we got some "Character First" booklets that were sold by TMA (The Master's Academy) because it makes teaching character so much easier.

Badger loves projects more than writing or reading exercises, though he does the latter. He loves working with his hands and he loves working with me and V. The character we studied today was Initiative. In this series of booklets, each character is associated with an animal. The animal that represents initiative is the tundra swan. Check out the link to learn more about it. Initiative is characterized by the following (not in any particular order):

• Do what is right without being told
• Contribute to the team (team could also mean family)
• Be part of the solution and not the problem
• Look for ways to help
• Don't put off for tomorrow what can be done today

Tundra swans fly in a "V" formation to reduce the drag (love how this term referes to aerodynamics, one of Badger's favorite topics!) for the whole flock of birds, helping them fly faster. Also, when the lead bird gets tired, another bird takes its place, naturally! You gotta love the initiative of these birds. 

Badger loved cutting the paper and the slots on the board. I took care of the birds and V took care of putting the formation in place. 

While we had some difficulties, especially with writing down the five keys of initiative (the bulleted list above), Badger loved the hands-on process of getting to know how tundra swans showed initiative. 

Bringing Up Our Little Gymnast

by Justine C. Tajonera

Badger with his bronze medal and trophy during the International School Manila Friendship Meet last March 24, 2013.

Apart from homeschooling Badger, we've enrolled him in gymnastics class. We feel that it's a sport that will develop him in all aspects as well as foster self-discipline. Lately, I've been seeing some articles online that made me think twice about Badger's participation in gymnastics. One article talks about stunted growth for developing children. Another article talks about this sport having one of the highest injury rates. It's enough to make a parent worry.

However, last Saturday, I attended a parent orientation from our gymnastics class provider, Club Gymnastica, and I was relieved to see a flyer they gave out that talked about the 10 rules of parenting a gymnast. This is not in the exact wording and order but this is how I remembered it:

1. It should be fun. When gymnastics ceases to be fun for your child, let him stop. 
2. Let your child have his own goals for gymnastics. These are not your goals and your ambitions. Let your child find out for himself what he wants out of it. 
3. Don't coach your child. That's what his coach is there for. Let his coach take care of the coaching. Your job is to love and support your child. 
4. During competitions...your job is to cheer him on. Only have positive things to say. 
5. Don't undermine the judges during competitions. Let them do their jobs. Don't criticize them in front of your child. 
6. Don't expect your child to be an Olympian. Even Olympians say that the best things they got out of the sport were the intangibles like discipline, teamwork, building their self-esteem...not the medals. 
7. Acknowledge your child's fears. Don't pretend that there's nothing to be nervous about. Reassure him. 
8. Just be supportive. Whether your child wins or loses, just be there for him. 
9. Have other goals apart from winning. Winning isn't everything. As they say...it's the journey, not the destination that builds character. 
10. Don't jump from club to club. It's disruptive for your child. Try out one or two and stick with just one. 
~

Here's a link to the ten commandments for parents of gymnasts online. 

I think injury and stunted growth are all effects of overdoing gymnastics training. These are addressed by rule number 1: it should be fun. V and I always ask Badger if he is still having fun. We wouldn't think twice about pulling him out of the class if he didn't want to go anymore. But the thing is...he loves it. He loves cartwheeling and doing back tacks and back hand springs. He loves being able to do new things with his body. He also likes being with the other boys who are in the gymnastics class. They're his good friends. 

Gymnastics can be character-building if the rules above are followed. Overdoing the training can be avoided by not pushing a child beyond his limits. With Badger, I'm not worried. I think it's just a matter of constantly checking in on how he feels about his sport and supporting him with his goals. Yes, he does have goals! Doing better than his last performance is definitely part of it. 

Catching My Kids Reading

It's International Book Week! It's so timely because just recently, I caught my son, Badger, reading my book, Beauty and The Beast. It's no accident. I introduced the book to him. What's so special about it is it was my book from childhood.

You'll still see my childishly written name on the fly leaf!

I read it to him the other night and we pointed out words that were unfamiliar to him like: harbour (explained that it's where ships dock just like what Pearl Harbor was to the battle ships in the movie, Battle Ship), exhausted, beast ("Moomoo?" he asked and I said yes, in a way, but more like an animal, like a tiger or a lion) and many more. It was even more fun because he pointed out that there were badgers in one of the illustrated pages. We laughed over that. I noticed that he has such a compassionate heart because he immediately knew that the beast was crying in the picture. "Why is he crying, Mama?" I notice that Badger loves to comfort people when they are in pain.

I thought that he wouldn't be interested in the book after I read it to him. It just happened to be there at the time and he would go back to his Dr. Seuss books. But no. This morning I saw him look for it and sit down on the floor with it. It was a warm and memorable moment for me. Yes, it was no accident because I introduced the book to him. But it was just really special for me because he looked for it on his own.

There's just really something heartwarming about knowing that the book that I read as a kid is still appreciated by my own son. That he sees the same magic that I saw while flipping through those beautifully illustrated pages.

Reading is something that I want my kids to catch from me. Here's to more of those wonderful, magical moments!

How Potty Training Snuck Up On Me

by Justine C. Tajonera

I was getting worried about Badger getting potty trained. We tried different methods:

• Not putting his diapers on
• Getting him used to the toilet (letting him flush the toilet, letting him get familiar with peeing and pooping in the toilet)
• Letting him use lampin diapers so he realizes that he's wet

All to no avail.We had several disastrous accidents involving pee and poop. I threw in the towel and we went back to disposable diapers.

Then one magical day (just a week ago), Badger tells me, "Mommy, wee wee!" And this time, he wasn't referring to pee on the floor. He actually looked uncomfortable holding it in. And he was in diapers! So, we both hurried to the toilet and he peed into the toilet. He did this several times in the day.

All About Patience
I was completely amazed. Just when I stopped trying, he picked it up. When they say, "wait until your child is ready," I didn't completely trust the statement. I mean, how is he supposed to learn how to go to the potty if you don't teach him, right? But what I didn't get was the very gradual process. All your efforts don't go to waste but it takes a while and it takes some getting used to.

I guess what I learned here was to let go of the stress but not to let go of the opportunities to keep teaching him and guiding him. It's all about patience!

(Feb. 11, 2010)
Image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/46511298@N00/2169714873

Badger Loves Jazz: Reading (and Listening) to Duck Ellington and Ella Elephant

By Justine C. Tajonera

I had a lot of fun last night, playing the CDs of Ella Elephant Scats Like That and Duck Ellington Swings through the Zoo and reading the books to Badger. They were great learning tools, just like Charlie Bird Counts to the Beat, and a great way to help Badger learn how to read.

The Ella Elephant book was cute because I could lead Badger through some nonsense words and just focus on the sounds that they made. I pointed out the letters and their sounds and how it would all sound if we put them together (sound recognition). Plus, Badger got to listen to Ella Elephant make the scat sounds and relate them to musical instruments.

Duck Ellington was also really cute because I realized that Badger recognized some of the animals from Charlie Bird Counts to the Beat like the turtles and the seals! And Vier and I just enjoyed the swing sound.

I guess it made an impression with Badge because before I left for work, he wanted me to read Ella Elephant to him first. I hope Badger will have a genuine love for reading books.

(Jan. 13, 2010)

Badger's Top 15 Favorite Things

I've never taken the time before to actually do this. So, before the opportunity passes by, I'm recording Badger's top 15 favorite things at 2 years old and 10 months. This is not in any order:

1. Race cars (he has six Shell Ferrari toy cars from his dad. He's very creative with them... like he creates traffic jams and improvises gasoline stations)
2. Swimming (no matter the weather)
3. Jollibee
4. McDo
5. Potchi (gummy candies, he can also dance to the TV ad jingle)
6. Pizza
7. Pancakes
8. Hot dog
9. Baby Einstein videos
10. Finding Nemo (he can watch this over and over and over again)
11. Barney
12. Chupachups Lollipops
13. Mamam (nursing from mommy)
14. Mommy's cellphone (for the camera and the Snakes game)
15. Puppy (Taco Bell stuffed toy puppy given by Tita Aling)

This list will keep changing as he grows. But I'm glad we took notice of all these things. One day, we'll look back and laugh at how obsessed he was over these favorites. In the meantime, I enjoy every day that I'm with this amazing little boy. He never ceases to teach me new things.