I have embraced the truth that is - homeschooling my kid is not for me.
The prospect of homeschooling is something my husband and I had talked about even before we were married. He feels strongly that in a lot schools, the amount of money one pays is not worth the quality of education they are getting. Plus that one can get the same (and more) out of the time done homeschooling rather than on campus.
The choice to homeschool is something I've been delaying - since it seemed to be a long while before I would have to decide on such. But time does indeed fly, and here we are at the helm of a new school year, with a pre-school age toddler who needs to get serious about holding a pencil right and learning to draw more than just random lines that apparently depict an exploding volcano.
I've realized that I do not have the amount of patience and discipline to school everyday. I enjoy the occassional creative activities I prepare at home. Love the quality time spent and strong bond developed being at home (my work from home arrangements, if you recall). Try to be extra cautious about what Nico is watching, reading, listening to -- learning. But really, I do not have the diligence to school everyday. Plus, the fear of doing a substandard job that would be the cause of possibily eventually falling behind his peers.
On the economic side, I think we have some time to go before migrating to be a single income household. While working free lance is definitely in the plan, it ain't happening today. I do intend to have kid #2 eventually, so I think it'd be better to keep the steady paycheck coming in. In any case, I do have a job that allows me to work from home for a good part of the week (practically the majority of it), so am getting that very crucial quality time in that most parents crave for and feel guility about not being able to give.
After scouting several schools in the area, we have settled on one and are really very happy with our decision. The trial sessions we've had already show that Nico loooooooves the place and will really enjoy going to school. Anyway, bottomline - learning happens all day everyday. So the schooling at home goes on, partnered with and complementing whatever is taught in "formal" school.
Let the fun begin!
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
From the mouth of babes
Just before bedtime tonight, Nico pointed at my husband and myself and said:
"You are my best friends."
What a great way to end a day!
"You are my best friends."
What a great way to end a day!
Friday, February 3, 2012
Must View/Read: The Gift of an Ordinary Day
My mom sent me this link a few days ago, and boy was I a weepy mess.
Beautiful.
I think all mothers should see/listen to this. (Am considering getting the book too.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olSyCLJU3O0
Better grab some tissue before hitting the "play" button.
Beautiful.
I think all mothers should see/listen to this. (Am considering getting the book too.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olSyCLJU3O0
Better grab some tissue before hitting the "play" button.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Look Ma - No More Tears!
My son is horribly fearful of the doctor. (and the dentist. and the barber. and loud music. but i digress...)
With every visit to the pediatrician's office, he has shed tears and put up a huge struggle even to get his weight and height taken. Imagine a 33 month old toddler having to get his height taken (struggling and) lying down against the "ruler" that infants use, because he refuses to stand up against the growth chart on the wall. Even the sight of a doctor (not his own) in the elevator freaks him out (obviously the association with the white coat, which his pediatrician takes off anyway!).
Well, lo and behold - my baby is on a roll. Suddenly he is a baby no more!
Our last visit to the pedia (at 38 months) was the most pleasant experience! He allowed us to take his height and weight on the scale, not needing any pep talks to get on. While waiting for our turn, he slowly opened the doctor's office door, peeked in and said " Doctor, please be gentle." (Yes, there was another patient being attended to at the time).
When it was our turn in the office, there were no tears, not a struggle, and a very calm big boy during the routine check up. In fact, even when it was time for the shot, he said in a very quiet voice, "I'm scared." And that was it. He didnt even so much as flinch - I wasn't sure that it was even over.
Am so proud of my little big boy! What a truly brave one! :)
With every visit to the pediatrician's office, he has shed tears and put up a huge struggle even to get his weight and height taken. Imagine a 33 month old toddler having to get his height taken (struggling and) lying down against the "ruler" that infants use, because he refuses to stand up against the growth chart on the wall. Even the sight of a doctor (not his own) in the elevator freaks him out (obviously the association with the white coat, which his pediatrician takes off anyway!).
Well, lo and behold - my baby is on a roll. Suddenly he is a baby no more!
Our last visit to the pedia (at 38 months) was the most pleasant experience! He allowed us to take his height and weight on the scale, not needing any pep talks to get on. While waiting for our turn, he slowly opened the doctor's office door, peeked in and said " Doctor, please be gentle." (Yes, there was another patient being attended to at the time).
When it was our turn in the office, there were no tears, not a struggle, and a very calm big boy during the routine check up. In fact, even when it was time for the shot, he said in a very quiet voice, "I'm scared." And that was it. He didnt even so much as flinch - I wasn't sure that it was even over.
Am so proud of my little big boy! What a truly brave one! :)
Friday, December 30, 2011
Holiday Milestones!
This Holiday season has certainly been quite an eventful one in terms of really exciting milestones that Nico has reached!
First of all, we have finally successfully weaned him from the bottle. I know we may be really late compared to other kids, being at 37 months - but well, we finally got there. I told everyone in the household (including Nico) that after Christmas, we would finally bid the bottle goodbye. And so we did. On the morning of the 26th, we asked his help to pack away the bottles and stashed them away to a place he would never find them. He asked for the bottle later in the day, but upon realizing they were nowhere to be found, gave up and never asked for it again. Of course, the milk intake has significantly decreased since then -- for about 1.5 liters a day (yes, crazy I know) to about 250-300ml a day. I've been told that kids who wean from the bottle tend to lose a bit of weight while adjusting. Am hoping that passes quickly since it takes us months to pack some pounds on this little boy!
Second big thing for the holiday season - he FINALLY slept through the night! I never thought I would experience the day that this babe of mine would sleep 8 hours without rousing! With his milk throughout the night (about a combined 600 ml), I am unluckily woken up between 1-5 times a night with a request for milk. Of course, the amount of milk taken in directly affects how many times I need to wake to change his nappy to avoid overflow onto the bed! So anyway, last night - the 5th night without the bottle, he slept a good 8.5 hours without a peep. I actually had to check on him at about 8 am to see if he was still alive! Hiphiphooray! Crossing my fingers this is not a fluke and I get more of these slumber filled nights coming my way.
Additionally, his sentence construction and verbalization of thoughts and wants have really developed over the last few weeks! While he is generally good at expressing himself and speaks very clearly (and as my household staff would say, SLANG) - my husband and I have been pleased at the progress he is making in speaking. Sentences peppered with "of course", "I'm wondering about" and "how did you do this so fast" are such a treat to hear!
Lastly, he finally has more discipline and a longer attention span to sit long enough to finish his pencil skills and counting worksheets (about 15 sheets at a time), and complete his 50 pc puzzles without breaks. We no longer have to cajole him back to the desk to finish a sheet at a time, or line up all his toy animals to "cheer" for him with every page that he finishes. Oh, the things we had to resort to before to get him to sit down and accomplish a task!
All in all it has been a great few weeks filled with the achievement of milestones. As we begin the year, we (parents) need to get serious about our preschool shopping and consider the options out there.
So here's to an exciting year of learning ahead of us! Cheers!
First of all, we have finally successfully weaned him from the bottle. I know we may be really late compared to other kids, being at 37 months - but well, we finally got there. I told everyone in the household (including Nico) that after Christmas, we would finally bid the bottle goodbye. And so we did. On the morning of the 26th, we asked his help to pack away the bottles and stashed them away to a place he would never find them. He asked for the bottle later in the day, but upon realizing they were nowhere to be found, gave up and never asked for it again. Of course, the milk intake has significantly decreased since then -- for about 1.5 liters a day (yes, crazy I know) to about 250-300ml a day. I've been told that kids who wean from the bottle tend to lose a bit of weight while adjusting. Am hoping that passes quickly since it takes us months to pack some pounds on this little boy!
Second big thing for the holiday season - he FINALLY slept through the night! I never thought I would experience the day that this babe of mine would sleep 8 hours without rousing! With his milk throughout the night (about a combined 600 ml), I am unluckily woken up between 1-5 times a night with a request for milk. Of course, the amount of milk taken in directly affects how many times I need to wake to change his nappy to avoid overflow onto the bed! So anyway, last night - the 5th night without the bottle, he slept a good 8.5 hours without a peep. I actually had to check on him at about 8 am to see if he was still alive! Hiphiphooray! Crossing my fingers this is not a fluke and I get more of these slumber filled nights coming my way.
Additionally, his sentence construction and verbalization of thoughts and wants have really developed over the last few weeks! While he is generally good at expressing himself and speaks very clearly (and as my household staff would say, SLANG) - my husband and I have been pleased at the progress he is making in speaking. Sentences peppered with "of course", "I'm wondering about" and "how did you do this so fast" are such a treat to hear!
Lastly, he finally has more discipline and a longer attention span to sit long enough to finish his pencil skills and counting worksheets (about 15 sheets at a time), and complete his 50 pc puzzles without breaks. We no longer have to cajole him back to the desk to finish a sheet at a time, or line up all his toy animals to "cheer" for him with every page that he finishes. Oh, the things we had to resort to before to get him to sit down and accomplish a task!
All in all it has been a great few weeks filled with the achievement of milestones. As we begin the year, we (parents) need to get serious about our preschool shopping and consider the options out there.
So here's to an exciting year of learning ahead of us! Cheers!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
"Home"made Holiday project
Yes, as the time (and date) stamp on this post shows, it has been practically two months since my last post. Such a sad showing for a blog. So much has happened in the last two months that well, I actually fail to recall at this point, what those happenings were. Ah, my terrible memory strikes again.
So with Christmas 9 days away, am about 98% done with my shopping. That is an all-time record in being early for me, since I tend to cram and complete my shopping around the 23rd. This year, I ended up not buying any Christmas wrapping paper though (well, not exactly...). The 2 sources of this year's wrapping paper are:
(1) Leftover wrapping paper from last Christmas; and
(2) Nico's dozens of art work on flip chart paper from school -- which I have made into wrapping paper.
Initially I started to collect the artwork, not able to bear throwing these precious things away. But with the weekly (and sometimes, more than once a week) collection of painted papers piling high on the buffet table, I decided to take photos of the art and considered disposing of them instead.
Luckily, I came across the blog of a homeschooling mother involving her child in painting on kraft paper - creating their holiday wrapping paper. 'What a great idea!', I thought. And off I ran to buy some red, green and gold paint - along with a HUGE roll of kraft paper, with aspirations of getting my son to create our wrapping paper this year.
Ah, how foolish Mommy was to believe he would actually be interested in such activity! Behold, he agreed to paint (a section of) the kraft paper twice. And so - I decided to recycle his art from school -- after all, he had created these as well.
They turned out very nice too! :) Happy Holidays from mine to yours!
p.s. Anyone in need of craft paper and paints?
Update as of 1Jan2012: Nico eventually got interested in painting on the kraft paper, and I had a good amount of homemade wrapping paper that I used for Christmas. Hooray!
So with Christmas 9 days away, am about 98% done with my shopping. That is an all-time record in being early for me, since I tend to cram and complete my shopping around the 23rd. This year, I ended up not buying any Christmas wrapping paper though (well, not exactly...). The 2 sources of this year's wrapping paper are:
(1) Leftover wrapping paper from last Christmas; and
(2) Nico's dozens of art work on flip chart paper from school -- which I have made into wrapping paper.
Initially I started to collect the artwork, not able to bear throwing these precious things away. But with the weekly (and sometimes, more than once a week) collection of painted papers piling high on the buffet table, I decided to take photos of the art and considered disposing of them instead.
Luckily, I came across the blog of a homeschooling mother involving her child in painting on kraft paper - creating their holiday wrapping paper. 'What a great idea!', I thought. And off I ran to buy some red, green and gold paint - along with a HUGE roll of kraft paper, with aspirations of getting my son to create our wrapping paper this year.
Ah, how foolish Mommy was to believe he would actually be interested in such activity! Behold, he agreed to paint (a section of) the kraft paper twice. And so - I decided to recycle his art from school -- after all, he had created these as well.
They turned out very nice too! :) Happy Holidays from mine to yours!p.s. Anyone in need of craft paper and paints?
Update as of 1Jan2012: Nico eventually got interested in painting on the kraft paper, and I had a good amount of homemade wrapping paper that I used for Christmas. Hooray!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
All by Myself
The absence of posts is indicative of how truly crazy life has been.
Summary of my September/October:
Summary of my September/October:
- Nico gets sick 1
- Yaya 1 Leaves
- Nico gets sick 2
- Hire Yaya 2
- Pack up and move house
- Fire Yaya 2
- Nico gets sick 3
- Wait for Yaya 3 to come (hasn't happened yet - so Mommy is now YayaMommy).
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