My boys and I went to check out Promil Preschool’s i-Shine at Singing last Monday. It was held at Center for Pop in Cubao, Quezon City. Our son thoroughly enjoyed himself during the i-Shine at Acting conducted by The Trumpets Playshop last month, so we thought we might as well check this one out.

At first, I was not too sure if the hubby will approve when he finds out that the i-Shine at Singing workshop will be held at Center for Pop. While I know for a fact that Center for Pop has quite a handful of products who have made names for themselves, we really are leaning towards the classical way of singing, where you just don’t open your mouth and try to produce a melodious sound without much consideration on its dynamics. We have learned for sometime now, even as we are essentially a singing family, that sing the wrong way and you are bound to hurt your throat one way or another. This is precisely why we trust the services of Teacher Pau (our son’s voice coach and Music teacher). She hails from my reputable Alma Mater, UST. She’s from Conservatory of Music. But that’s another blog post altogether.

Coach Weng instructs Jed to do some vocal exercise

We always knew that our son has a knack for singing. He has been humming tunes since he can barely talk and even up to now, he’d either sing or hum first thing in the morning. This is also how we know he’s already awake. This is also why we would love for him to nurture his gift in singing. He has always been in tune since he was an infant and now he is already able to do second voice on his own.  His Papa sure is thrilled to be driving as he listens to his son singing second voice to the one playing on radio. I can’t even, for the life of me, get myself to even listen to a second voice. Much less sing to one.

Cecile Tamura, Vice President for Parents of the Philippine Association of the Gifted, was also there to offer tips  for parents on how to nurture our children’s potentials. “Pre-school age is a good time to start teaching kids to sing, since at this age we can expect them to do things by themselves. This is a time to learn what they can do individually like brush their teeth without any help, count 1 to 10 at least and sing songs. Kids this age are active, they want to move and singing is one activity that involves physical actions.” she said.

The kids with Cecile Tamura of  Philippine Association of the Gifted, Coach Weng of Center for Pop

The children enjoyed themselves as they played and serenaded us with a Christmas carol.

with fellow blogger mommies Mauie, Pehpot and her sis.

Meanwhile, have you joined Marriage and Beyond’s 4th Anniversary Giveaway yet? You have exactly a week from now to join. The books package itself will provide priceless teachings and learnings. And then there are the three other prizes which are fab all by themselves.

* i-Shine at Singing by Promil Preschool and Center for Pop Album

This workshop reminds us, parents, to look after our children’s future by honing their potential now. Thanks again to Promil for the i-Shine at Singing Workshop.

He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.  Proverbs 13:24

Even parents should know that we do not have the liberty to just spank our kids on a whim. This is something that we do not take advantage of. There are guidelines for spanking that we should take care to heed to. Here’s from the spanking spoon that I recently bought to be included in Marriage and Beyond’s 4th Anniversary Giveaway.

1. Before spanking, consider the place and circumstances. Do not publicly embarass the child.

2. Ask “what is our rule?” or “What did daddy (or mommy) say?” –> You are making sure the child understood your instructions before you correct the child.

3. Ask “What did you do?” –> You are asking the child a personal responsibility for his or her action, THIS IS IMPORTANT!

4. Explain that your love with correction, say, “I love you and want to help you learn to do the right thing next time.”

5. Spank the child, give a few swift but painful swats on the buttocks. The child’s anger or mad cry should change to a softer “giving in” cry.

6. Comfort the child immediately after spanking. do not make the child feel rejected. Hold the child close and reassure him or her of your love. The parent/guardian who spanked should do the comforting.

7. If necessary, have the child make the restitution for the damage done.

The spanking rod’s handle reads “applicable for preschooler and gradeschoolers only” and the other side reads, “Guaranteed Butt Friendly.” We practice spanking at home because we love our son so much that we do not want him to grow up breaking the law and ending up in jail. Yes, that’s a pretty magnified consequence to growing up not following the rules. But something that’s also very real. It happens to the best of families. We follow the above guidelines and the result will speak for itself. We have not just a son who we can live with and understands the values of rules and the consequences of disobeying them. But a very social and confident young man as well. Those who have met him personally will attest to this fact. Spanking will help a child not just learn to obey authorities in the long haul but also respect the laws that are given for us for protection.

My son is growing up so fast that sometimes, I think he thinks and acts like a grown up man. Time really flies so fast, so they say. Even so, I can still remember when he was still a baby. Wherever we go, we always bring Baby Jed with us. Those times were not hard for my husband, Jeff and me, because we always have with us a baby travel gear, like the baby stroller gear that used to carry him. Stroller was very helpful during those times since  Jed is very active and we’re afraid that he won’t enjoy our trips when he’s not free to move if we just carry him with our bare hands or with just a simple baby carrier.

Now that he’s already six years old, I am still proud to say that I’m a hands-on mother; I personally take care of our little “man,” together with my husband, in order to raise him aright. We even decided to home school him not just so my professional license to teach will not go to waste but also because we feel strongly that this is the road that we ought to take.  It certainly is one of the best decisions we have made as a family.

During our teaching sessions, once in a while, I join him in playing with his educational toys that my husband and I gave him. Educational toys, like Melissa & Doug, are good quality educational toys that can make teaching (for me) and learning (for Jed) fun! With these toys, I was able to interactively teach him spelling (using the See and Spell toy), challenge his memory skills (with the Flip to Win Memory Game) and test his creativity (with the Nesting and Stacking Alphabet Blocks) and many more.

Our prayer has always been that our homeschooler will grow up to be a person that God has purposed for him to be.

As promised, I am giving a more detailed entry about Hi-Precision Diagnostics Laboratory‘s role in the early detection of our son’s bout with Dengue fever.  We first had our son take the Dengue NS1 test when he had fever last June.  It turned out to be viral.

Hi-Precision Diagnostics has a total of 14 branches. I still did not know before that they have a branch in Pasig, or if it was already open then. So our default was to their main branch in Del Monte Avenue, Quezon City.  Whenever I go to have my son’s blood tested, I always get asked if I had a doctor’s request. Both times, I don’t. I always choose to have the necessary laboratory result ready when we go to the doctor. That’s just me being prudent and practical.  It is for my own peace of mind as well. Even if the doctor won’t request for a laboratory test, with the Dengue fever incidents in the Philippines growing at such alarming rate, it really is better to be safe.

I was asked to fill out the Patient Registration Slip as soon as we got there.  During our first visit, I also had my son’s blood and Rh (Rhesus Factor) typing done, while he was already there for blood testing anyway. This earned him his Hi-Precision Diagnostics Patient Card.

The Hi-Precision Diagnostics Patient Card serves as his blood type card as well. My son’s blood type is printed on the covered portion of his card (above photo).  This card also serves as a discount card, 10% off on all laboratory tests.

As I mentioned in my previous Dengue post, I called the laboratory to schedule for a home service blood extraction. I could have been accommodated if I called a day earlier. Unfortunately, I called late in the afternoon, so their next day schedule was already filled up. So we went to the laboratory first thing the following morning. I already had a bad feeling about my son’s fever, given that it hardly responded to his paracetamol medication and the sponge baths that we gave him.

The medical technologists who do the extractions at Hi-Precision Diagnostics are really good. My son bravely announced that if it’s the same laboratory he was going to have his blood extraction done, then he’s okay. His basis was his first blood extraction with them which he said did not hurt at all.

The following are Hi-Precision Diagnostics Walk-In and Home Service Rates that I was able to inquire of. I did not ask for the home service rate for Blood & Rh Typing because I already had that done on our previous visit.  They also charge a home service fee of P450 for our place of residence. I think this depends on how far your place is from their laboratory.

NS1

Walk In  P 1,220                   Home Service       P 1,300

CBC & Platelet

Walk In        200                   Home Service               235

Blood & Rh Typing

Walk In        130

I think the price difference and the home service fee are reasonable, given that the patient will not have to travel to the laboratory and wait in line.  I’m thankful that we have access to such convenience despite our being third world country in so many counts.

I was given a piece of paper (above photo) with instructions on how to download the results online. They said to wait for the results to be available in four hours. I actually only had to wait for one and a half hours for the CBC Platelet result to be available. The Dengue NS1 came in around the fourth hour.

Hi-Precision Diagnostics played a substantial role in my son’s Dengue fever being detected early. When tests such as this is made available at our disposal, the number of deaths caused by this dreaded Dengue should go significantly low.

Hi-Precision Diagnostic Center, Inc. (Main Branch)
440 – 442 W. Long Building Del Monte Ave cor. Biak-Na-Bato, Bgy.Sienna, QC
Tel. No. 413-79-50
Fax No. 712-3471
Mobile: 0922-890-6664

Office hours: 6:00am to 6:00pm Mon to Sat
6:00am to 12:00nn Sundays

Website: www.hi-precision.com.ph

I flew back home yesterday from Davao practically groggy from lack of sleep. Spent time with my son while attempting to work on the side. He was blabbering about the many things he has been reading. But before that, we played “Hospital Story” on my phone for a while after our afternoon nap. I just had to sleep off the migraine that was kicking in.

When he just would not stop telling me about the solar system, facts about the moon, how a particular desert was once fertile enough that farmers toiled on it, I just thought I’d just stop trying to work altogether and give him my undivided attention. I thought of recording a video while he was deep in his thoughts.

It’s fun to see him enjoying all the books in his library at six years old! I can only remember loving to really read when I was in middle school. And he does not just read, he reads with comprehension and he started when he was four years old! Nurturing a love of reading in my son is one of the few things I am blessed to have been passionate about from the very start.

Our family has been considerably vigilant against Dengue and yet it somehow managed to creep in and attack our six year old son last week. We don’t have mosquitoes and bugs in our house. Credits to our trusty JML Pest Shield, which we’ve had for around three years now. So whenever our son gets out of the house, I always make sure to spray all over his body some insect repellent. One brand of which, I even bought one liter of. Just to make sure we can easily replenish the atomizer we use whenever it runs out. It started with fever one Thursday afternoon. We tried to manage the fever. It went swinging from 38°-40° until the day after. I tried to book with Hi-Precision Diagnostic for a home service blood extraction, but was told that their Saturday schedule was already fully booked. We took our son to the laboratory first thing Saturday morning instead.

By Saturday morning, my son’s fever has been on for more than a day. Normally, with regular laboratory test – CBC and Platelet count, Dengue cannot yet be detected. We were not willing to take the risk. So we had our son take the Dengue NS1 Test. I will blog about Hi-Precision Diagnostics later. It took less than 2 hours for the CBC and Platelet count result to be available online. We are just thankful that this kind of service is now available for our convenience. Result came back normal, save for some differential count abnormalities, which practically reads as infection, I was told. Because my son’s high grade fever was not responding to any paracetamol medication, we decided to take him to his doctor before we were able to download the Dengue NS1 test result. He was given an antibiotic prescription (Co-Amoxiclav), because the doctor saw that his tonsils were inflamed. Most likely, viral.

It was when I got home from an errand that we were able to download the result – Dengue Positive (Weak Reaction). This basically explained why his fever did not respond to any medication.  We decided to take him to Jesus Immaculate Conception Hospital, where his doctor is, for confinement that Saturday night. Just so his platelet count will be closely monitored.  We were just really blessed that even through what could easily be tagged as a deadly disease that our son had, he was still chattering about and with energy, for the most part. To see our children suffer is the most painful thing in the world.

My son’s confinement because of Dengue was considerably uneventful. Save for the time when the doctor had a hard time locating a vein in his right arm to insert the IV in, which took around 30mins.  His chubby hand prevented the IV needle to get in. They ended up inserting the IV on his right foot instead. The above photo was taken the day after. He was already fever free then. The doctor also ordered Typhidot – blood test for Typhoid, just to be sure and the result came back negative.

Platelet count was religiously monitored throughout our stay and his result did not go below 200! Praise God! 150 is said to be the number to watch out for. It becomes more critical as the digits dive down.

They actually serve good hospital food in Jesus Immaculate Conception Hospital. It may have helped that the little guy was not on any particular diet. I did get to taste portions. And in all the hospitalizations I’ve had, JICH has the best hospital food in my list.

The doc said that the IV needle must have gone out of vein which caused his foot to swell. It was only then that he was able to do Number 2. He moved his bowels thrice that day, most of them watery. Sorry to gross you out. TMI (too much information), I know. But diarrhea is one of the symptoms of Dengue. That’s what he manifested and rashes too. He was given an an anti-itch medication starting Sunday morning when he began to feel itchy all over.

“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Despite our long awaited Boracay trip being cancelled, it was a happy birthday for Jeff nonetheless, we were discharged on Papa’s birthday. Yay! Choosing to be grateful in whatever circumstance has tested us in this. Yes, there were moments last Monday when we exchanged thoughts of the plane landing in Kalibo at a particular moment, even playing in the sand at another – all in cheerful, non-resentful tones. Thoughts that we were oh so willing to exchange for our son being back to health again. The Lord is faithful and he has restored our son to good health.

Our son with Dra. Editha Zulueta, moments before we left the hospital. Our son loves her so much! In fact, the times that we tell him that we need to take him to the doctor, it will be fine with him as long as it is Dra. Zulueta who he’s going to see.  She owns Jesus Immaculate Conception Hospital. For appointment, call 941-9362.  She’s the best! Thanks to my friend Lelet, for the recommendation.

To celebrate Jeff’s 36th birthday, we drove to Tagaytay and was finally able to stay in The Boutique (I will blog about it later). It was the one place we always wanted to go to but never got the chance until last Tuesday. The Lord has better things in mind for us, indeed — A chance to be grateful in what could easily be considered to be a sucky circumstance, to see His hand move and heal through faith and to see the beauty in spontaneity!

This Dengue scare has  further reinforced a learning I knew all along. I can do absolutely everything in my power to keep my son away from those dengue carrying mosquitoes, I have even blogged about the different insect repellents we use back in 2007. But everything is really all up to God. He is in complete control of everything.  Choosing to praise Him regardless of this unexpected Dengue fever that struck our son, is the one thing that liberated me from all the worries any mother in my circumstance is subjected to.

How did it all happen so fast?! It was towards the end of July when I was surprised to see my 6 year old son’s first two lower incisors peeking behind his still standing baby teeth. I am not sure what made me think of checking.  We were then killing time while waiting for my turn to have my wires adjusted. I remember checking just  a few weeks back and there was nothing yet.

For fear of sounding overly dramatic, I have  stalled on blogging about it. But then again, I was reminded that it was because of my desire to journal these milestones that I decided to start blogging in 2004, to begin with. Hence, blogging away, I am.  I can’t help but second guess myself if I was normal or not. Because it did feel like it was just nothing for my husband, when I broke the news to him. He was then with us.  His reaction was just plain, “Oh!”  As opposed to my being almost jumpy during that time. Thrilled but at the same time a little sad. Not the bad kind of sad.  It is, for one, some sort of coming of age moment for our son. Typing through this entry alone takes on a melodramatic mode. It all seems like yesterday when I was a struggling young mother and now my son is slowly moving away from my apron strings.

Every milestone is a step closer to cutting that apron string. I was reading about Hannah the other day(1 Samuel Chapter 1). It can be nothing less than faith that made her give Samuel to Eli’s care at such a young age! It was her vow to God and she kept her commitment. This is also why I’m giving my all in making sure my son grows up in the fear of the Lord. It is the vow I first made when I found out that we were pregnant with Jed. But that’s another blog entry altogether.

Going back to this developmental dental milestone, we were told by my son’s first dentist that the first permanent tooth is usually one of the molars. It usually appears when children are 6 years old. I just saw now that there are two or three molars already erupting inside my son’s mouth.

When I saw the first lower incisors behind my son’s baby teeth, I knew the baby teeth had to be taken out. Otherwise he might end up having crooked (sungki) teeth. There was no delaying to make way to condition my son’s mind to go about the procedure. I’m proud how my son did not fuss at all. I just had to explain to him that the teeth need to be extracted to make way for his new teeth. He was a little scared but he breezed through it and impressed Doc Pinky while he was at it. She said that it was uncommon for a six year old to not fuss during his first extraction.

photo taken the day after extraction. Doc Pinky advised our son to push the teeth with his tongue to properly position them with the rest of his teeth.

Doc Pinky’s assistant surprised him with a cup of ice cream after. It took Doc Pinky a while longer to extract the other tooth (the longer one on the first photo above). The first was a little weak already (ready to be pulled out), while the other was still pretty tough. Good thing that despite the dentist’s warning, after the anaesthesia wore off, my boy did not complain of any pain. We also got our brave little lad an extra Angry Birds stuffed toy to add to his collection under that usb barcode scanner he seem to be eternally fascinated in, when we went to the mall later that day. ‘Tis the bittersweet moments of parenting. I know there are a whole lot more coming. Bracing myself and choosing to savor every moment of it.

Be an Undercover Mother with Baby Bond Couture.  In a nutshell, the benefits of breastfeeding for the baby are: breastfeeding protects the baby against illnesses and allergies, improved vaccine effectiveness, enhances development and intelligence. For the mother, delays fertility (for some), decreases the risk of breast, uterine, ovarian, endometrial cancers and financial savings to the family. The cost to supply artificial baby milk (ABM) to one child is between $800 and $1,200 per year depending on the brand and area of the country. You don’t need to be a lactivist to figure this out.

BabyBond Couture – Cover mom, not her baby!

BabyBond covers the mom, not her baby. Mom is able to maintain her modesty. Baby remains uncovered benefiting from the infinite opportunity to make eye contact, interact, and communicate. After all, dining is social. Preverbal skills, eye contact and attention are vital to a baby’s cognitive and language development.

I learned that nursing tops are not really the cheapest when my son was still a baby. Here’s the better alternative. One lucky mom will be receiving this nursing accessory, hopefully, by the month of August. This contest is running from today until July 31, 2011 at 11:59PM.

Step by Step Instructions for both “Nursing from the top” or the “bottom of your shirt” is stitched right on the inner portion of the BabyBond Couture.

Nursing from Top

Nurse from the bottom of your shirt without having to expose your belly.

BabyBond Couture is adjustable and can be worn with shirts that are accessible to nurse from the top or the bottom. It rolls up into itself to store. BabyBond is machine washable, 100% cotton, and made in USA.

Contest Mechanics: 

1. You have to be a liker of Marriage and Beyond on Facebook.
2. Share this contest on your Facebook wall. To share, click on the Share button located either top or bottom of this post. On Facebook’s “what’s on your mind” status update box, tag Marriage and Beyond. Then post: “Marriage and Beyond is giving away a BabyBond Couture nursing wear via its Be an Undercover Mother with BabyBond Contest. JOIN NOW!”    (To tag, type the “@” symbol then follow it with “Marriage and Beyond.” Wait for the menu box to appear and select “Marriage and Beyond” Then type in the rest of the required phrase )
3. When you’re done with the Facebook status wall update, go to the comments section of this post and  enter the link of your Facebook entry with your name and email address.
4. Contest is open to all (international and local) and NOT RESTRICTED TO MOMS ALONE. I’m sure all of us know a mother or two who  can benefit from this fab nursing wear. The BabyBond Couture nursing wear will be sent to the shipping address of the contest winner. One entry per person, per day only.
5. Deadline for entries is July 31, 2011 at 11:59PM. Winner will be raffled off via random.org.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. Sponsored by Tomoson.com

The Velveteen Bible from Thomas Nelson arrived a few days before Jed’s 6th Birthday. Since I ordered it around February, I totally forgot about it. I know how crappy our local postal system can get. So I was kind of not expecting to receive it altogether. But the timing cannot be more perfect.

Velveteen Bible (New King James Version)

Jed’s favorite Picture Bible was a gift from his Tita Rose. He’s had it since he was around 5 months old. So you can just imagine its now already tattered state. We can also see that our son is ready for a “real” Bible because he has started to borrow his father’s every time he will go look for a verse.

The Velveteen Bible nestled in a cute treasure box

He has yet to memorize the proper sequence of the books of the Bible, but Jed already knows how to use the Table of Contents to look for a particular book and go to the exact chapter and verses from within.

“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” Psalm 119:11

Christ’s speech in red text and a yearly reading plan towards the last pages

Thomas Nelson Bibles come with Lifetime Guarantee

Suggested guidelines for the care and use of your Bible.

• With the first use of your Bible, carefully open it by placing the spine of the Bible on a flat surface. Open both the front and back covers and, with light pressure, run your fingers up and down as close to the binding as possible. Continue this process by pulling back a few pages at a time as you work your way to the center of the Bible.

• If pages are stuck together carefully rub the pages between your thumb and index finger to release them.

• To protect the spine of your Bible, do not bend the cover backward around the spine. This can cause the pages to fall out and break the binding.

• To further protect the binding, do not carry bulletins, notes, pens, etc. inside the pages of your Bible as this can weaken the binding over time.

• The pages inside the Bible are generally thin. Therefore, it is best not to use highlighters or felttipped markers to take notes or underline passages. Despite the fact that these writing utensils are often marked as “no bleed through” they will still be visible on the other side of the page. It is best to use either a ball-point pen or pencil.

• Protect your Bible from excessive heat or direct sunlight. Prolonged exposure will lead to fading and/or curling of the pages. Also, keep your Bible away from moisture to prevent the page edges from peeling, streaking, or spotting.

• To clean your Bible, it is recommended that you use a lightly damp cloth. Do not use detergents or packaged Bible cleaning products.

• The best way to preserve the supple condition of your leather Bible is to handle it. The natural oils from your hand keep the leather from cracking or becoming stiff. If you decide to purchase a Bible cover, remember to remove it and handle the leather cover occasionally.

Our 6 year old son and his brand new Thomas Nelson Velveteen Bible

Disclosure: I received this book from Thomas Nelson Publishing for review purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Right from the time our son first had his Time Out when he was just a year and three months old, we already explained to him why there are rules. Merely saying “No” to a child will never be enough. Even as a child has got to do what he’s got to do – that is to explore, parents should as well do what they’ve got to do-  discipline, that is and explain the values behind rules.

Truth be told, rules go beyond just a list of Do’s and Don’ts. It is the very avenue that children learn values from that they take with them as they grow older.

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

Let’s take for instance, teaching a child to pack away his stuff when he’s done playing. Even as a baby who still fitted perfectly in his baby jogger city select, we already tried to get that message across. As soon as Jed learned how to go around the house, he was already taught the importance of learning to pack his stuff away. It was before he turned a year old. And the good news about it is, since a child is new to everything in the world, he might as well learn that packing away is a part of playing and not a chore that he has to endure when he’s gotten tired of his toys. The better news that comes out of it all, now that he’s turning six, he’s so gotten used to it that he hardly needs to be told!

The values behind packing away is another thing that we had to teach him – neatness and self-discipline. Two of the things he can surely make use of as he grows to be a mature young man. Of course, not to mention the fact that he will be less of a headache to his wife in the future when he has a family of his own. It really can be done and it will not mean that you love your child any less when you teach him these things. It wasn’t so hard. There were not even tears along the way. This kind of discipline can in fact be done in a fun way–  communicating to him how much he is loved for you are looking out for his life in the long haul and not just for the here and now.

Jeff shared Three Simple Tips on How to Discipline. Discipline, after all is not a dirty word.  This is how we manage to raise a non-bratty unico hijo. It does not just allow us to have a child we can live with. It can also be the very vehicle that we can use to allow our children to have a life of quality.

Summer has officially started and so is Promil Preschool’s i-Shine Talent Camp 2011. Last year, my son and I attended the 2010 camp held at the Activity Center in Shangri-la Mall and I remember him having lots of fun during the whole program. Too bad we had to miss this year’s event. But for those who are outside the Metro, you can still catch the schedules. Happening in SM Cebu on April 15-16, SM Rosales (Dagupan) on April 27-28, and SM Davao on May 2-3.

Workshops are led by the country’s leading talent schools: Center for Pop, The Regine Tolentino Dance Studio, and Trumpets Playshop. My husband has long expressed his want to enroll our son in Trumpets Playshop so that our little guy can hone his musical talent. He loves to sing since he can barely run. I’m not sure if he’ll later attend an online university or a regular school. But he’ll sure to take a music instrument or sing sometime in his life. It’s the very first thing he does as soon as he wakes up. Either that or he hums one of The Sound of Music (his current favorite) songs.

He is still enrolled in his Karate class. He’s been in it for six months now and he’s now towards his Orange Belt. It has helped him a lot in terms of his gross motor skills. We’re still looking to have him enrolled in another summer class – Trumpets Playshop perhaps. These kinds of activities keep children productive throughout the rest of Summer. So whether they opt to attend an online university in the future (which I think us homeschoolers are so ready for) or attend a physical university for their college course, will help them to become well rounded individuals and even Shine while they are at it.

To join, simply accompany your kids, ages 4 to 7 years old, to the Promil Pre-School i-Shine Talent Camp, fill out the registration form, and submit the following requirements: child’s birth certificate, 2 valid IDs of the parent/guardian, parent’s written consent (if the companion is not the child’s parent), and a proof of purchase receipt of Promil Pre-School (any size) dated January 1, 2011 onwards. You can also register online at http://www.ishine.com.ph.

Forgive my lack of posts. Our family has been busy with the little guy’s graduation from ABC’s with Ace and Christi. We have been rehearsing since last week and the week before that was his Karate promotion for Yellow Belt. Whoever said that a homeschooler’s life can be boring couldn’t be more wrong.

Thank God for my reliable VA a.k.a. remote secretary, who is able to deliver jobs that I otherwise had to bury my head in. The below video is my son with fellow karate students during his Shotokan Karate promotion to yellow belt. Forgive the amateurish video. I had to squeeze myself in the crowd. Then I had to pass the camera to the hubby just so I can take photos via the dslr. Yes, I know, it’s one of our many stage parents moments.

We’re thrilled to be enjoying these milestones as our son levels up in both academic and his non-curricular lessons.  Now that we’re back to regular programming, we no longer have to travel several miles for graduation rehearsals, we’ve done a few celebrations – feasted, watched Jed’s favorite “Sound of Music” complete with our makeshift-can-do-for now home theater speakers, sang along and just spent time with each other. We’ll be off to visit Jed’s grandfather in Davao with my husband’s relatives next month, so that’s yet another celebration.

One of the many things I have learned by being a hands on mom of almost 6 years now is the importance of showing my son I value him by allowing him to usher me in his world of play. It is often easy to see a kids ongoings as petty and all. But I find that it means a lot to him that I indulge him as he creates robots and out of this world creatures out of lego pieces.

Jed calls this his tunnel tree.

With a lot of things in my head as being the lone person to take care of the house (and everything else), you can just imagine how easy it is for me to get distracted and do something in between the conversations of one robot to the other.

It is also during these time when I get amazed at how creative a child can be. His creations of medical computer carts out of his toy pieces. I also noticed that he loves tying his toys together and just pretend them to be trains as he claims to be the train engineer. How he would rather create things from scratch.

These things, for the most part, are all but petty stuff for us adults and just don’t have the time for in our regular day. But it is about knowing more of your child than just being this energizer kiddo running around the house all the time. The skill of giving your child’s interests your undivided attention is an acquired one that we parents can get around to doing. It is telling your child that you have time for him and you are interested in his world. Five years and counting, I still consider myself a work in progress.

In connection with the blog post I published last year is this entry dedicated in defense of Babywise. I figured with my response as lengthy as the one I posted below, I might as well dedicate a separate blog on it altogether. But you will have to refer to the specific post on parenting to get hold of the exact context.

I don’t remember mentioning that Babywise as middle ground. I know a lot have labeled it as the other extreme and it could be for some reason. This is why there were just certain principles that we took from Becoming Babywise and it worked for us, still does. It did say that scheduling does not have to be rigid, you device a system where it will work best for all concerned.

Our son started sleeping through the night at two months and he is not undernourished in any way. In fact, all through his infancy up until now that he is five, all his developmental milestones (physical and otherwise) are all above average. Babywise has very practical and Biblical principles, if one will really look into it. Like not allowing babies to play with things that are not toys. It protects them from dangers that they could get themselves into otherwise. I cannot remember a moment when my husband and I had to run towards our son just to make sure he does not play with electric sockets or mealtimes will have to be a chore that turns into a chasing game.

Let us say that we were without helper or nanny and it forced us to instill this kind of discipline. But even if we do not pertain to said specific things, our son generally respects our authority. We did not allow for the battle of wills to exist in our home. Of course, we do not encourage Babywise to families with special child. It is a different story altogether if a child happens to have cerebral palsy or a special health condition.

“Freedom comes with responsibility.” What can be more practical than that? Why would any parent give a child to freedom to handle the remote control, for instance when he is not ready yet to know what it is for and it will just end up being dropped and broken. The book’s principles really make sense and it has been almost six years and we’re reaping the benefit of a well behaved, secure and loving child.

It’s a plus that I do not have to run around during meals to chase him and give him the food. It has been discipline that taught our son to stay seated until he’s done with his food, right from the time he was able to seat on his high chair. Why would I subject myself to unnecessary woes of motherhood when there’s a better way to enjoy parenting my son and train him up to be a disciplined individual right from the beginning?

It is also false to conclude that there is a danger for a child brought up Babywise way will grow up insecure. Whoever who has met our son will say otherwise. The stress is definitely non-existent in our family. Never a delayed weight issue right from infancy, as well. People should really investigate further on the principles behind BabyWise. This is coming from a family that has benefited from its principles right from day one.

We just hope to share here that all that we have practiced are off shoot from the choices we made as we choose to be intentional parents to our son through the years. If Babywise is not for other families, then it’s their choice. I have nothing against families who take up AP instead. That’s their choice. As for us we don’t get ourselves dictated by any type, whether AP or BW. We just take up principles that make sense and prove to be biblical, apply them and we see from there. So far, we’re good.

At what age should kids start to have mobile phones of their own? Not that this is a dilemma for our family now. But given that our son now habitually sends SMS to his papa everyday he is out as they send each other sweet nothings, I know that it is just a matter of time that this little guy would want to have his very own cell phone.

I personally used to frown upon very young children with cell phones. But I figured parents have legitimate reasons for allowing their children to lug around with mobile phones.  In the event that they will have to leave them somewhere and needs to have an instant form of communication with their children.

This thought brought me right back to one of On Becoming Babywise’s Principle, which is “Freedom Comes with Responsibility.” Nothing can be more practical than that. With that incorporated in our parenting style, I think we will not hand our son a mobile phone unless he learns to be responsible with things, which he is, to some degree already are. We really cannot hand him a phone he could keep before he is able to conceptualize the value of things. Simply put, if he constantly misplaces his regular things, giving him a piece of technology, no matter how basic, will just not make sense at all.

Having said that, being confident that our son has learned has to pack away his stuff before he turned one, does that give us the confidence to give him a phone now that he’s five? I really don’t think so. First, he is rarely out of my sight. If I leave the house, he is with my folks, who I can call anytime I need to. So there really is no need yet. If at all, I might have to hand him a phone when he goes to regular school. But even then, I don’t believe I should give him a smart phone. We are going to have to stick to the mobile’s purpose. But that will be far down the road. This is also aside from the fact that experts warn against children’s use of mobile phones for potential health risks.

All that said, more than the age, the child’s maturity level, the purpose (child’s safety and ease the concerns of the parents) and the child’s responsibility should all be factored in when it comes to allowing children to lug around with their own mobile phones.

Whoever said that a home educator’s life is easy cannot be more wrong. Homeschooling isn’t a walk in the park. But it still is the road we chose to take anyway for a host of good reasons. Aside from our desire to be our son’s primary influencer, we also would love to see him maximize his potential in a way that, in our opinion, traditional school cannot do – at least in the duration of his formative years.

Our 4 year old son graduating with honors on his first year of preschool (March 2010)

Admittedly, parents go the extra mile for their children to reach their full potential and we consider this choice of ours, “our extra mile.” Let’s face it, children are born into this life with the pressure to be not just achievers but well-rounded individuals as well. It is but normal for parents to want their children explore their potential to the fullest. What parent would not want his child to achieve the best that he or she can, right?

Our son’s Most Number of Excellent Marks and Best in Sound Recognition awards

Truth be told, the ground work laid at home has a lot to do with a child’s success. For some, it might mean that a child has to take brain boosting supplements like Nutroplex. My son’s health is amongst the top of our priorities. This is also the reason why he has been taking brown rice since he was 6 month old, for its nutritional benefits. As much as we would like to serve the ideal sustenance at home, the fact of the matter is, brain boosting ingredients like Iron, Calcium, B Complex, magnesium, et. al are some of the nutrients they need that are often deficient in a typical diet.

Progress Chart, Goal Setting Pad and Congratulations Slip

One of the ground works that I speak of is teaching a child to set goals. Yes, as young as my son is, at 5 years old and an incoming First Grader at that, he is taught to enter on a printed card his pace objective for the day. This is then placed in front of his office table. The topmost pad (Goal Setting Sheet) in the above image is where our son writes the number of paces he sets for himself to finish during the day. Goal setting prepares the child for independence, responsibility and success. Even as he is trained to make this a habit, he will be less likely to have a hard time with more complex subjects as he grows up. And later on as he pursues whatever career path God has purposed for him to tread. One of the things that we believe in – Do not do for a child what he can do for himself. More often than not, he surprises us how he is able to do far more than we expect of him. Which reminds me a lot of the First Law of John Maxwell’s 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership – Law of the Lid.

The cardboard behind the pads is where we place the stars that mark his progress. It hangs on the wall at the side of his office table. The congratulations slip is what he is rewarded with whenever he has completed a set of pace. We sometimes exchange a reward for a congratulations slip. But we also do not do this on a regular basis to make sure his motives for doing his school work is in check.

These are just a few of the things that we have been doing in our homestead. Most of which, we have started long before we started homeschooling. This brings us back to emphasize the child’s need to be nutritionally capable. Supplement if you must. You cannot expect a child who is lacking in nutrition to achieve and mount up with wings like eagles. Education should focus not mainly on making sure that a student gets employed when they graduate, but for a person to live life to the full.

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Nutroplex.

When our son got at least a couple of board games for Christmas last year, I thought they were to be left in the corner of his room for a few more years. That is until our five year old himself showed me the label from the box that the Monopoly Jr. is for the 5 year old and up.

It turns out I underestimated him. Our son’s being restless and playful somehow got me to think that he might not last a while sitting through the game. I cannot be more wrong. Apparently, it was our son who has kind of set a family game night as he became hooked to playing Monopoly Jr. for a while. He read through the instructions himself and got on to being the banker, collects, distributes the money allotted for each player like a pro in no time. He was a natural!

With my home-based work and the plateful of things I do on a daily basis, it can be hard to draw the line when to stop and just spend time with the family. Our family game time, which something that our son ever so looks forward to, at least twice a week, allows for us to strike that balance between working and family bonding time, which should really be of utmost priority.

It was with Monopoly Jr. that our son learned to apply his Math.  Since there was not a chance yet at his age for him to buy stuff for himself, the Monopoly game allowed for him to learn as we go along.

My son taking his turn on the board (below photo). While some would rather play in the living room, we love playing board games on the family bed so we get to cuddle in between. We have to be more careful though, because those ticket booths stray when we kind of get overwhelmed with the tickling intermission that we sometimes have in between too. But we’re not worried. Because we can be pretty territorial. We somehow learned the art of memorizing which our respective properties are. I especially love that Monopoly Jr. is designed to be played long enough to hold a child’s attention span.

Although we are not exactly all against game consoles, (our Wii and xbox360 will prove that) board games are still the best for us. The interaction that game consoles can’t give us, the board game can.

Family Game Nights allow us to teach our son good sportsmanship. Our son used to have this tendency of wanting to win every single game. But we had to teach him that life does not work that way and losing is not all that bad. The face to face interaction that board games allow for family to have is priceless. It just is! As much as we love technological innovations, it has this tendency to rob us from nurturing real relationships, not just the virtual ones.

Then there is also our church family. Here is one of the shots my husband took during one of their after J@M Evaluation and planning meetings. Our church’s (www.sbcmakati.org) JIVE Youth group has a monthly outreach event and my husband gathers the youth leaders the day after for assessment. They also make it a point to have a breather like having fun time playing Guesstures over pizza in between evals and plannings.

The corner of our humble church is witness to not just meetings but also fun bonding times with the young people that have stepped up in the ministry and are now making an impact as they reach out to the younger generation.

fellow mommy bloggers Jane, Mauie and Teacher Julie

And last Saturday, I had a real fun time with fellow parent bloggers at The Borough playing Taboo. It was my first time to play it and even if I totally flunked during the first round. I have kind of gotten around how it works as we went along. It was too fun that I am set to get one in time for Christmas.  It was a real blessing for us to know that there is now a local company that distributes Hasbro board games – Color Mix Corporation.

I remember all the trouble we had to go through trying to look for Guesstures in toy stores years ago. It was the one thing in my list that I requested from my mom to buy for me when she was in the States. But she wasn’t able to find the one that I liked. We like the old school type, not the electronic. I almost bought via eBay once. But I wasn’t willing to pay for the high shipping cost.  Why, they will even make perfect gifts for the coming holidays. Check out Color Mix’s Multiply Store for the list of products, including Hasbro game boards, they carry. I ordered two already – UpWords and Taboo. I can’t wait to have them in time for Christmas gatherings with friends and love ones.

Marriage and Beyond turns 3 years old today! From that fateful wee hour of November 27, 2007, when I finally had peace with the domain name to this post, being the 1, 466th. It took me from 9pm of Nov. 26 to 4am of Nov 27 when I claimed it as ours. All the good “family oriented” domain names must have been all taken and I wasn’t just about to settle for second best.

We originally planned to hold an anniversary contest just like last year’s. With one of our local Christian bookstore pledging their support of giving away good books about marriage and parenting. But because there are just too many things on our plate, I never got around to doing it.

We hope to continue to provide insight about marriage, child rearing, discipline and parenting in general as we prance towards our fourth year. Despite the obvious that we are monetizing this site, we make sure the integrity of what we believe in stays. Whether we mention company brands or write about nutrisystem reviews, we stand by the principles that we hold on to.

We are continually humbled when followers credit us for the things we do. But really, we give all the credit back to God. It is ultimately Him who has allowed us, through this site, to be a channel of blessing and provided for us even through this blog.

Our son is grounded from watching videos and playing the game consoles this week. He acted up last Sunday when a boy in church won’t allow him to borrow his Ben10 toy. As adorable as he seems to be (at least to us), this little guy also has some naughty tricks in him and because despite of the number of warnings, he still pushed it.  So it is a no videos week for him, aside from the spanking that he got for pushing the boy.

Jed is reading “Old Mother Hubbard”

We are happy that he has accepted the consequences of his actions and he is actually making the most of his time reading and writing the whole week. We also explained to him about pardon. That he might get pardoned within the week if we see him doing good. And I have been getting good reports from my mom too (who I left him with whenever I am out) that he does not insist on watching tv or playing on the computer when we are out.

Yesterday was something else. I was telling him that I will allow him one Sid the Science Kid episode for the day. I was actually expecting him to go giddy over it. But he said he would rather finish where he left off with his reading! That is coming from a five year old fella!

Meanwhile, I also had to child proof our computers and install Chrome Nanny. For a few minutes a day, I usually allow him to use one of the computers in the house to play online educational games via the PBS Kids. And because sometimes he also needs to “google” words that he encounter from his readings. He goes to search from time to time. One time he landed on cigar auction sites and asked me what it was. So I had to do some explaining. Just to be sure, aside from giving him his own log with password on the computers, the Chrome Nanny has got to be installed too.

Whether a child is disciplined through spanking, a word, standing in the corner or facing the wall, the ideal way to end it is to sit the child down and run through what happened and explain why the discipline had to take place.

When we choose to conclude discipline time positively, we do not just talk about what took place and why his response was not right and why the discipline was necessary for him to learn. We also reiterate that we love him. Prayer after discipline reinforces the importance of being repentant and to be restored. We really do not need binoculars to figure all of this out. It is way easier to just let things be after the discipline. To choose to get the message across that love is the primary motive is the tougher choice. Otherwise, discipline will all be futile.