Daddy Bry and Mommy Nats cook with Ben's class

Sharing with everyone some photos of Bry and I cooking with Ben's classmates.  Bry prepared polvoron while I prepared fruit salad with the kids.  We are happy that Ben is in a school where there are opportunities for the parents to be involved.  Our activities were quite simple, just pouring and mixing, but we still got nervous doing them.  I really appreciate Bry  for taking time out from his busy schedule at work to do this with the kids.  It may not be a big deal but I am sure Ben will look back at the photos with fondness and realize how much effort it took for his papa to join him in class.  Thanks to teacher Karen for the photos.  Here we go... :)

We had containers so the kids can take home what we made together.  The finished products turned out quite well (yehey), not bad considering we are not really experts in the kitchen.  Hope everyone had a good month.  Ben will surely miss school when the school year ends in a couple of weeks.  

Ben's Christmas Program at School

Delayed post but still in time for the season .. :)

Sharing some simple photos from Ben's Christmas program at school last week.  The programs were done by class to give the families of the students quality time with each other.  The one for Ben's class was short and quite intimate, just right for their age group.  I'm proud not just of Ben but of the other kids as well.  It's brave of them to stand up in front of a group of adults.  Good job, Teachers Karen, Esther, Tere and Yaya Lalaine.  Yes, it took four adults to prepare a program for six kids, hehe!

The photos are from the MWF batch of Ben's class.  The TTH class did well, too!  It was nice meeting the other parents and sharing stories about how our kids talk about each other outside class at home.

The kids clapped, tapped and danced to the Christmas songs

They took turns playing instruments , too!

All together, now!!

And .. bow!!! Yehey!!!

Hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing holiday break .. :) Ben sends his love to all!

Goodbye Little Gym?

This semester is Ben's last one as a Little Gym superbeast, and after thinking about it, Bry and I are leaning towards not enrolling Ben for the next term.  The main reason being the schedule.  The classes for Ben's age next year are in conflict with our family lunches and his nap time.  I feel sad because I know he enjoys it there, and it will finally be a student-teacher class instead of a parent-child one, but I guess it would be good for us for get some rest during the weekends.

We've been happy with Little Gym and will surely miss it once we move on.  I love seeing Ben do his forward roll and hang on the bars swinging all by himself.  We still have until December (yehey)  if we will push through with our plan.

I wonder what will be our next adventure... :)  Any suggestions? :)

My PTC (Parent Teacher Conference) Adventures

I grew up fearful of parent-teacher conferences. When I was still studying, if your parents are called for PTC, it usually means the teachers have concerns on your behavior or grades. So my mindset was no-PTC = good and kept a low profile. I guess this is why I get nervous whenever it is time to have one at Ben's school. We have 3 PTCs over the course of the school year, one is for goal setting, one in the mid-year, and another by the end of the school year that lets us evaluate if he is ready to move up to the next level.

Anyway, I just had my first PTC for this school year. As usual, I was both anxious and curious about how Ben is doing inside the classroom and I am glad (and relieved, haha!) that the teachers are quite happy with him. His teachers said that having Ben is like having an extra adult in the classroom because he knows the routine and encourages the rest of his classmates to participate as well. He's now more open to cooperative play and is quite independent in doing his tasks. He is also the class entertainer. He enjoys singing and dancing in front of the mirror and his classmates. He even has a classmate that enjoys watching him so much that he would look for Ben whenever he's late so much so that the teachers are saying that the class doesn't really start until he arrives because he's the life the party. A performer like his papa? :)

He's also very open to the new materials the teachers would bring in front of him and to my surprise has a GOOD attention span. Wait, are we still talking about the same boy here? I couldn't even get him to sit still to finish a glass of milk at home!

There's room for improvement, of course. We still have to encourage him when it comes to arts and writing, and as much as he likes playing with others he still needs to be reminded to share once in a while. The good thing about PTCs on this level is that the parents and teachers can make sure they are on the same page when it comes to disciplining the kids and share tips on how to deal with their personaliies. Like with Ben, I found out that he likes it when his artworks are posted on the wall so I'm going to try to do it at home. Whew, so far we're doing ok, now only if I can get him out of the "bang-bang" (play gun) phase before the rest of his classmates catch on, hehe =)