Invitation for Story Telling

I was recently been invited by my son's former preschool teacher to be part of the Reading Festival in school this coming October 25. I have been requested to read a story of my choice to Kindergarten students during the festival. I love reading to my son but this is the first time that I'll be reading to a whole class. The parents of the Kindergarten students are also invited to watch. I admit I'm a little nervous but excited at the same time. I'm still looking for the perfect story. Something short but interesting enough to capture the attention of the kids. I might ask Jules to help me make some props for the story.

Appreciating Preschool Years

Yohan graduated from preschool last Friday (March 26). I'm so proud of my son for earning three awards on graduation day. He received three medals namely Word Smart (English), Nature Smart (Science) and Academic Excellence. My husband and I took turns going up the stage to give Yohan his awards. It was a heartwarming experience.

Preschool is a fun and memorable part of a child’s early years. As a parent, I appreciate how preschool has helped my son learn new things, build confidence and harness his strengths as an individual. Preschool is also a great start for early academic milestones.

• Social Skills – My son is an only child and preschool gave him a chance to socialize with other kids. I witnessed how he learned to overcome his shyness. He learned how fun it is to play and interact with other kids.

• Self-Confidence - He gradually abandoned his timid self and became more sure of himself. I still remember how he enjoyed talking in front of the class about his favorite pet during Show and Tell day.

• Problem Solving - There are many preschool activities that let students think for themselves. This motivates preschoolers to solve problems and overcome challenges independently.

• Arts and Crafts - Yohan enjoys making art projects in school. He is always excited to show it to us when his he gets to bring home his work. He loves to draw at home. I always make it a point to buy bulk paper for his drawing inspirations. Even my husband and I enjoy conceptualizing costumes for Yohan's school activities.

• Math Basics - My son appreciates learning numbers the fun way.  Preschool has interesting ways of teaching addition, subtraction, time telling and fractions.

• Reading Books – Thanks to preschool my son is becoming a little bookworm. Every student has a ‘reading passport’ in class. It encourages parents to read to their children at least once a week. The parent records the title of the book on the ‘reading passport’ and the child also brings the book to class to share with classmates. I read to Yohan every night and I invest in books for him. The school also has regular Reading Festivals that the kids enjoy tremendously.

• Creativity - Preschool allows my son to express his creativity in a lot of ways both inside and outside the classroom.

• Music & Rhythm – Song and dance numbers by preschoolers during special events are worth watching.

• Listening – Young kids often have short attention span so preschool teachers incorporate fun activities with lessons to encourage participation and listening skills.

• Exploration -  Preschool is not confined inside the four walls of the classroom. Field trips give the kids a chance to explore new places and learn new things.

• Independence - The Preschool Camp gave my son a taste of independence. I admit it wasn't easy on my part to let him go but I'm glad I did because Yohan had a terrific time with his classmates and teachers. It was a learning experience for both of us.

• Writing – At the beginning, his unsteady hands slowly learned to write the alphabet. Now he can write sentences and even a short story.

There are many more great things that make Preschool memorable for kids and parents. These memories will live on and bring smiles to our faces.

Yohan's First Camping

At first, I was not keen on the idea of my son going on an overnight camping. I felt he was too young for such an activity. I was reluctant to let him join the Prep camping. We had a family talk about it and ...

I was outvoted by the boys. Jules had no problem with it. He said it will be great experience for our son. Yohan was thrilled about the thought of camping with his classmates and teachers. He told me he would be sad if I didn't let him join the group. It was two against one so I conceded. Hubby and I also went to school to talk to our son's adviser. She reassured us that the camping activity would be safe and fun for the kids. It was a good way to teach the kids a little independence.

(Night Before) I felt a little sad as I prepared Yohan's things for camping. I packed his clothes and labeled them accordingly. I guess you can tell that I love zip bags. :) I made sure Yohan had enough drinks and snacks.

(At Bluroze Farms, Lipa) Jules and I brought Yohan directly to the camp site. I felt better knowing that the kids would be sleeping in a house rather than tents. Yohan was welcomed by his teachers and classmates. Yohan asked where his bed was and I saw his face light up with excitement.  Hubby and I kissed Yohan good bye. With a reluctant heart, I walked away from the house. As I followed the path leading to the parking area, I couldn't help but look back every now and then. On the road, I silently prayed for my boy's safety.

(Camp, Day 1)  Yohan told me that he had a great time on the first day of camp. They had a nature walk around Bluroze Farm. All the Prep students were given small bags so they could collect little treasures along the way to remind them of their camping experience. Yohan's treasures were feathers, plants and flowers.

Using leaves they found in the nature park, the kids did their own t-shirt painting.

Laughter filled the campsite during the evening. There were fun games, camp fire and hotdog grilling.  Meanwhile, at home, Jules and I couldn't sleep. It was not easy being away from our son for the first time.  We had a DVD marathon and slept early in the morning.  

I asked Yohan if he slept well that evening and he said "I cried silently that night because I missed you and Dad very much." His teacher told me that Yohan had a hard time sleeping at first because the lights were on. His classmates, on the other hand, couldn't sleep with the lights turned off. Dilemma! The teacher turned off the lights when most of the kids were already asleep and Yohan finally dozed off.

(Camp, Day 2)  The kids enjoyed singing, story telling and making arts and crafts. They also made pizza and dessert.

(Reunited again) Yohan gave me a very tight hug when we picked him up the following day.  I noticed he was teary eyed. I felt a tug in my heart. Awww ... my little boy missed me as much as I missed him. Before going home, Yohan showed us inside the house. His face was beaming with pride.

I'm glad we let Yohan join the camp. It was a fun and enriching activity after all.

Majority of the photos courtesty of Yohan's teachers.
Camp site: Bluroze Farm, Lipa
Camping period: Jan. 26-27, 2010

Yohanism #33 - Yohan in Prep

My son is now in Prep. It warms my heart to see him grow up. Here's a photo of Yohan in his uniform which I took yesterday before the school service picked him up from the house. He said good bye to his back pack and started using his big school bag with wheels. He now has more subjects in school so he needs a bigger bag to carry his books and notebooks.

This year, the school changed the boys' uniform for preschool. It used to be plain blue shorts. Now it's checkered shorts, similar to the girls' skirt.

This is the second week of school. The house still feels unusually quiet and lonely in the morning when my son is in school. I'm always eager to welcome him home when he arrives.

It's funny because there was a time I must have kissed him a hundred times when he arrived from school because he told me,"Mom that is enough kisses for the day." Ha ha!

Back To School

Yohan was supposed to go back to school last Monday but the school announced the postponement of classes as a precautionary measure against A(H1N1) virus. It gave students, who just got home from their overseas vacation, time to take self quarantine.

Classes opened today. It's a brand new school year. My son is now in Prep. Amazing how time flies. It's ironic, because I was the one who felt a wave of separation anxiety when Yohan boarded the school service this morning. I was not worried because yaya was with him but I still had a heavy feeling when he left. The house was suddenly dull, quiet and lonely. I realized how much I missed my son while he was in school. The moment Yohan got home, the house became alive again.

Students are not yet required to wear school uniform this week so I wasn't able to take a photo. I'll take a picture of him next week wearing his uniform.

Photo Hunt :: Book(s)

Come and join the hunt here

These photos were taken last October 2008 at Yohan's school during their Jurassic Book Fair. I support school activities like this one because it draws students and families to appreciate the wonderful world of books.


Below is my son (wearing a hat) looking at the books on display. I don't mind buying him books because different kinds of literature foster his interest and love for reading.


Related Posts:
Reading Festival
Benefits of Reading Aloud

Weekend Snapshot #74

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Last weekend my family and I went to the mall to shop for Yohan's school stuff. We were able to buy all the required school supplies plus new shoes, school bag, lunch box and other school essentials. Yohan is an incoming Prep student this June. The first day of classes is June 8, 2009.


After shopping, Yohan requested to have some snacks inside the store. I wish all stores had mini snack bars inside :). We had some popcorn and cupcakes for snack.

Photo Hunt :: Walking

Come and join the hunt here

Sorry I missed last week's photo hunt. I'm glad to be back. The photos below were taken late March of this year during Yohan's Family Fun Day activity at Blue Rose Farm, Lipa City. After the activities, we checked out the camp area where they we saw this rope line. I was surprised when hubby started walking on the rope.


Yohan got excited and asked his dad if he could have his turn. Yohan was thrilled to give it a try. It was a fun day for all of us.

Aloha Friday #63: Preschool Summer Tokens

Rules: Post any question on your blog on a Friday, share your answer and sign Kailani's Mr. Linky. Then have fun answering the questions of fellow participants by visiting their blogs.

(edited: 6:29 P.M.: I decided to make this post as my Aloha Friday entry for this week.)

When was the last time you made a personalized card or gift for someone special?

I helped my son create some simple and easy to make 'summer tokens' or giveaways for his classmates and teachers. He gave away these decorated sticks last Wednesday which happened to be the last day of exams. It was my son's way of saying good bye to his classmates and welcoming the much anticipated summer break. Yohan gave his boy classmates the sun while he gave the butterflies to the girls. He also gave butterflies to his teachers.

Yohan's 'Summer Tokens' for his classmates and teachers.

Materials:

• cut-outs of sun
  
• cut-outs of butterfly
• Popsicle sticks
  
• colored markers/pens
• colored fuzzy wires
• glue

Procedure:

1. Prepare some cute computer cut-outs. My son chose sun and butterflies.


2. Glue the sun on the Popsicle stick. Make as many as you want (depending on the number of recipients).
   


3. Glue the butterfly on the Popsicle stick. For the butterfly antenna, use fuzzy wires. Simply twist the fuzzy wire into an antenna shape and glue it to the butterfly's head. Make as many as desired.
   


4. You can personalize it by writing the recipient's name on the stick.


5. Add a note at the back like "Have a fun summer vacation" and let your child sign his/her name.

Related Posts:

• Bear Valentine Cards
• Halloween Giveaways
• Winnie the Pooh Birthday Giveaways
• Teacher's Day Note Cards
  

Festival of the Arts '09

Yohan's school celebrated ART Tayo! Festival of the Arts '09 from Feb. 16-20, 2009. The culminating event of the week was the Field Demo and Art Galing! activities held last Thursday, Feb. 19 on school grounds.

Activity 1: Field Demonstration - All the students prepared special numbers for their parents. The preschool, grade school and high school levels had their respective presentations.

Preschoolers getting ready for their cheering activity.

Activity 2: Clay Molding - Preschool students were asked to mold their favorite land and water forms.

Yohan making his won Volcano and Waterfall.

Yohan pretending to be burned by the lava.

Activity 3: Exhibit Viewing - All the students' works were put up on the walls around the school.

Grade School and High School art works on display.

Yohan's art work entitled 'The Scary Underworld'.

Activity 4: Heart Designing - Every preschool student was given a heart frame with his/her picture. Each heart had a plain frame for students to decorate.

Yohan's decorated heart frame.

Activity 5: Paper Folding - During this activity Yohan's adviser told me that she discussed paper folding in class a few days ago. To her surprise, Yohan said that another name for paper folding is Origami. :)

Hubby and son creating different kinds of origami.

Hubby and son created a basketball hoop, leaping frog, and paper airplane (not in the picture).

Aloha Friday #58

Rules: Post any question on your blog on a Friday, share your answer and sign Kailani's Mr. Linky. Then have fun answering the questions of fellow participants by visiting their blogs.

Share something rewarding you've done recently?

I helped my son make little Valentine tokens for his classmates, service mates and teachers. Yohan helped me make Bear Valentine cards with wiggly eyes and sewed on heart pendants.


We wrapped gold chocolate coins in multi colored papers with cut out hearts. Yohan distributed them in school.


The sweet smiles and words of gratitude from the recipients made this a rewarding experience.

Preschooler Fishing Game

Here's a fun and easy to do game that you can enjoy with preschoolers. It's fun and educational at the same time. You can use this game to help preschoolers with subjects like Math and Reading.

Materials for the fish:

• construction paper, pencil, scissors, glue, googley eyes (optional), metal paper clips

Materials for the fishing rod:

• stick (wooden or plastic), string or yarn, small magnet (you can use magnets from old ref magnets)
  

Step-By-Step Procedure:

1. Tie the string or yarn to the stick. The length should be appropriate to your child's height. Make sure it's not too short or too strong. Tie or glue the small magnet at the other end of the string. This will serve as the fishing rod.

2. Make an outline of a fish using a pencil on each construction paper.


3. Cut the outline using scissors. Make as many fish as you want.


4. Glue the googley eyes on the fish (you can also use a marker to draw the eyes). You may add colorful details such as scales, gills, and fins.


5. Slide the paper clip on each fish to appear as the mouth.


6. Now it's time to go fishing.


7. When the magnet touches the paper clip, the fish gets caught.


8. (optional) You can make other sea creatures like octopus, crabs, sea snakes, turtles, jelly fish, etc.


HOW TO RELATE THIS FISHING GAME TO PRESCHOOL LESSONS:

MATH

• Let your child count each fish he/she catches. This simple game is a fun way to teach your child about counting.
  
• Teach your child about ordinal numbers (write 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th ... on the fish). Instruct your child to catch the fish based on the ordinal number you say.
  
• If there are two children playing this game, you can let them catch as much fish as they could. After that, let them count the total number of fish they caught respectively. You can use this game to teach the kids about the concept of greater than, less than or equal.
  

READING

• Write words on the fish that you would like your child to learn. Say each word aloud one at a time and let your child catch every word accordingly.
• If your child already knows how to read, you can write words or phrases on the fish. Let your child form sentences out of the given words through a fishing game.