Bela's Journal Report: July 13 - 17, 2009

This week with the Green Cocoon
July 13 – 17, 2009

This Month’s Theme: My Body and Senses

This Week’s Lessons:
Science and Social Studies: Sense of smelling and tasting
Phonics and Language: letters Mm and Rr, is and are
Math: Colors green, orange, and violet; Shapes oval and heart; Rote counting 1 – 30; over, on and under

Activities:
• Scent Guessing “I can smell…..”
• Food Tasting (sweet, sour, salty and bitter)
• Stained Glass Art
• Water Play
• Painting Oval Green and Heart Orange and decorating with Violet beads
• Tracing and writing letters Mm and Rr
• Tracing and drawing ovals and hearts
• Cooking Activity: Cream Cheese Playdough
• Outdoor Activity: Relay (over, on and under)
• Story Telling: Give a Pig a Pancake
• AVR: Computer games for kids

Next Week’s Lessons:
Science and Social Studies: Sense of touch
Phonics and Language: letters Ff and Bb, is and are
Math: Colors white, black, brown and pink; Shapes star, diamond and crescent; Rote counting 1 – 40; in front and behind

Dear Mommies and Daddies,

Indeed another fun filled week has passed. If last week’s storytelling and outdoor activity were wonderful experiences for the kids, this week, they added more experiences as they delved into various activities in class. To start off, we had music and movement and outdoor activities doing the relay: over, on and under. We had stencil activities to shapes circle and oval. To add on, we let the kids color the oval shaped styro green and the heart shaped styro orange and at the same time, we let them decorate it with purple beads. We had a storytelling entitled “If you give a pig a pancake” and a cooking activity by making play dough using cream cheese to reinforce the sense of taste and touch. But of course, art activities are not forgotten this week: we had a “Stained Glass Art” where pictures that begin with Mm are in it. We also had water play, where they are going to find pictures that begin with Rr.

They had a fun time guessing the contents of small containers with different scents if its good smell or bad smell. We let them explore through the use of their noses as they smelled powder, soap, bagoong, fish sauce, vinegar, shampoo, perfume, alcohol, etc. We also let the kids taste the different kinds of food for hem to know how sweet, salty, sour and biter taste.

Aside from these, we also learned about the use of is and are and rote counting from 1 – 30.

We await next week’s events as we will have another fabulous week. We continue to have these events to make learning in class exciting and more enjoyable.

We Can't Wait for our 2nd

We visited Bela’s developmental pediatrician yesterday to consult about her hyperactivity. The pediatrician said that there is nothing to be alarmed of and he even considered Bela to be potentially gifted. One of the suggestions he gave to deal with her hyperactivity is to have another baby so she will not be our center of attention.

I am sure like us, she too is excited to give out baby announcement cards to all our friends and relatives. We are really planning for a second baby this year and hopefully before the year ends, I will find a reason to check out the site of Cards-411 for photo baby announcements. They can customize any design for me and they can even put a picture of my baby in the baby birth announcements.

I am really praying that we will soon order our Baby Announcement Cards from http://www.cards-411.com.

Shouldn't be Missed

I received an email from our car agent just recently and he told me that they are offering a discount now that will end in the last week of August. He told me that this is the best promo that they have because they are giving discounts especially in their high end cars.

Since I don’t have any plans of buying a new one, I just decided to forward his email to my cousin who is planning to buy her first car. This will be a good deal for her since she’s looking for discounts like this just like what she saw in the internet who offers the same promo like the rv extended warranty that is included in the package.
She really considers warranty services as a big thing in buying expensive things to make sure that she will get good service if ever she encounters problems.

Q & A

A.Attached or single ?
Attached

B. Best friend?
Hubby

C. Cake or pie?
Cake

D. Day of choice?
Saturday

E. Essential item?
Mobile Phone

F. Favorite color?
Red, Blue

G. Gummy bears or worms?
Gummy bears

H. Hometown?
Manila

I. Favorite indulgence?
Chocolates

J. January or July?
January

K. Kids?
one

L. Life isn't complete without?
family

M. Marriage date ?
January 29

N. Number of magazine subscriptions?
2

O. Orange or apple?
Apple

P. Phobias?
heights

Q. Quotes?
Loving life means trying to live a fulfilled life. But doing so can be difficult without having a positive mindset. For many people, it can be pretty hard to enjoy living a life full of problems and worries. But even in a situation such as this, life can be enjoyed by having a positive state of mind.

R. Reasons to smile?
family and friends

S. Season of choice?
Summer

T. Tag 5 people
Peachy, Something Purple, Vien, Vannie, Jody

U. Unknown fact about me?
I never learned how to put makeup.

V. Vegetable?
Anything

W. Worst habit?
Shopping!

X. X-ray or ultrasound?
Ultrasound

Y. Your favorite food(s)?
Japanese and Italian

Z. Zodiac sign
Capricorn

Four More Days

Four more days and I will see my daughter again – I can hardly wait. Until then, we are trying to enjoy and focus on the last leg of our trip. We are happy, fulfilled but very exhausted each day. It is serious work to walk and commute and see landmarks in different key cities. Howell and I should have brought energy supplements like the Acai Berry Energy Supplement my co-worker has been recommending. Thankfully, none of us haven’t gotten sick yet. I hope we won’t get sick when we get home because we need to go back to work and we have plans to taking Bela out.

Can't Wait To Go Home

We are down to our last leg of our Europe tour. In just four days I will be home with Bela again. I can’t wait to get home as Howell and I are both excited to show Bela the stuffs that we bought for her. Just like today, Howell and I went to Paris Disneyland, not to enjoy the rides and attractions there but to do some shopping for her. We have been going around to five different cities but we haven’t found any nice toys for her. So far Howell bought small toys from McDonalds, animal toys from the toy shop that we saw in Venice, Monsters Inc toys from Germany, and toys from the Disney Store and Disneyland in Paris.

I am sure Bela will go crazy once she sees her toys. I am anxious to know also what will be her reaction when she sees us since we have been away for almost three weeks already and she has been under the care of her grand parents so I am not sure if she will approach us right away (specially Howell and I look a little different since we are a bit dark and we look like we need to get the best weight loss supplement because even if we have been running for twenty days now, we really gained weight because we have been doing a lot of eating while we are here). But we have been talking to her almost everyday via webcam so hopefully she will still recognize us.

Not in the next 50 years

Doing this Europe tour has been one great experience for me and Howell. But I think I won’t be doing this again in the next 30-50 years. LOL.

Here are my reasons:

1. It is very expensive. Imagine one can of Coke will cost me P150-P200 already. And since it is very hot here, we have no choice but to buy a bottle of water or soda to quench our thirst.
2. It is very tiring. It is no joke moving to six cities in twenty days. My joints are all aching so I told Howell that we should get one of those treadmills at home so we can exercise since we realized after this trip that it would be easier for us to walk around the city if we are healthy and we do our exercise everyday.
3. Twenty days is already too long to be far away from my family and friends.
4. Twenty days is too long to be away from work and so I am really expecting heaps of workload when I get back to work after this trip.

When Bela Grows Up..

Bela is at a stage where she knows what common jobs are. She tells me the silliest and funniest “I want to be…” lines and I cannot wait until she is old enough for her to really know what she wants to be. Will a cosmetologist be one of them? There are cosmetology schools in indiana that she can enroll to. Regency is the fastest growing beauty school in the country. Regency has expanded from two Minnesota schools in 2002 to almost 30 campuses across nine states, with continued growth underway for next year. As a Mom, I will always be here to support whatever dreams my daughter has.

Are You Popular?

You Are Very Popular

You are extremely popular. You are likely the most popular person you know. You have many friends from many walks of life. And they all enjoy your company. You understand that to have good friends you need to be a good friend first. Your friends know that they can trust you to be honest, loyal, and fun.

Are You Popular?

For Her Safety

My daughter is fond of drinking cold water or juices for the last months. I know too cold drinks might be bad for her that’s why I manage to control it and try to discipline her. Maybe it’s because of the hot weather that makes her want to have cold drinks.

There are even times wherein she will ask her yaya to put some ice on her drink if she’s still not satisfied with the coldness. Actually before, I instructed my yaya to not give her ice because I am not sure if the water that is used in making it is safe and well filtered. But then, my Bela is very persistent that sometimes she pleases me so much just to have ice in her drinks and I have no choice but to give her.

So what I did is ask my hubby to buy ukf8001axx for water filter so that we can have an assurance that the ice is clean and as well as the water.

Now, I am assured about my daughter’s safety but still, I’m trying to discipline her and control her hobby. LOL!

Daily Message

On this day of your life, we believe God wants you to know...
... that what you are most afraid of is where your greatest rewards are.

If all you had to do was wish for something and you would have it, life would be pretty boring, wouldn't it? God placed barriers between us and what we want, so we can enjoy interesting and satisfying lives. God hid our biggest rewards behind the highest barriers - our deepest fears. God wants us to face our fears, and hold ground in their presence, and let them go, and that's how we get out biggest rewards. What are you most afraid of? Say it, just start by saying it.

Accounting and Auditing

Our Europe trip is really one for the books. Howell and I enjoyed every single leg of our trip. The only sore spot in our vacation is missing Bela too much, but in a few days, we will be seeing her again. I am really dreading going back to work, even moreso, auditing our expenses on this trip. Maybe we would need a Las Vegas Accounting Firm for this? I don’t think so. I made sure we had enough for this trip and didn’t go overbudget.

Businesses should have an accounting department that audits financial report. That way, they can tell if the business is earning or not. KondlerCPA is a respected leader in the financial account world that is committed to providing value to their customers as well as their stakeholders.

Christmas Shopping for Little Bela

I have been missing Bela every single day while I am in Europe. I try to talk to her and see her via web cam everyday even if internet rate connection prices are absurdly high. Each day is better – meaning, there are days when I would not cry because I miss her so much, but I am still looking forward to seeing her when we come home. Only 10 more days!

I am reminded that September is just around the corner and before you know it, Christmas is here. I have been thinking what to give her as Christmas present actually. Her birthday is also in November so a lot of shopping needs to be done!

I might get her more educational books as I have Educational Warehouse coupons I can use. I am really thankful that my daughter is really bright and loves to learn. Toys will always be present of course. I remember last year a friend offered to ship all items from AllAboard.com to her place and we hoarded Christmas gifts like crazy. All Aboard Toys coupons will help me shop more but still within the budget my husband will give me.

Who am I kidding? I almost always shop above my budget when it comes to Bela. It is all good though as I love shopping for my little princess.

Pushing Through

After hubby and I have decided to have our second baby, I planned to start my proper diet for my own health and of course, my baby’s health. I’m starting to break my hobby of sleeping so late at night and I drink a lot of milk now which I am honestly not used to.

I am very excited to have my second baby. But then, my most unwanted part of being pregnant is the fact that I will surely gain a lot of weight again. Honestly, I fear that I will not be able to lose the weight that I gained during my pregnancy and I’m sure if this thing happens, I will be a lot frustrated with my figure. But still, I’m thinking that nowadays, there will surely be a remedy for that just like taking a diet pill or using some modernized equipments for exercising which can help me burn fats faster.

For now, I am only thinking and focusing for our plan to have our second baby and I hope that this will happen SOON!

First Aid Kit and Safety Measures

Each household should have a basic first aid kit at home. Moreso, if they have kids in the house. In addition to a basic first aid kit, there should be antidotes for common household poisoning. Safety and precautionary measures should also be implemented. If maids are working in the house, they should also be informed how to proceed if there are accidents and emergencies.

If there are elderly people, it would be best to invest on a shower chair for the bathroom if they are still mobile and would like to assert their independence by bathing alone. This will serve a preventive measure for any slipping accidents. It can be ordered online at AllegroMedical.com.

Printable School Worksheets

I am part of an online e-group that shares and asks anything about married life. I saw a post from a member recommending these worksheets from SchoolKid.ph (http://schoolkid.ph). As a mother of a pre-schooler, sometimes it is hard to think of stimulating intellectual exercises for the little princess. With these worksheets, all I need to do is print them and we can work on them together with very little effort on preparation on my part.

They have elementary (from Grades 1-3) and pre-school worksheets on the web site. Check it out.

Ninoy's letter to his daughter Ballsy

This is really touching. I want to share this with you. I should do this soon for Bela. Write her letters.
-----------------------------------------------------------

August 18, 1973
FortBonifacio
Makati, Rizal
Ms. Maria Elena C. Aquino
25 Times St. Quezon City

My dearest Ballsy,

I write you this letter with tears in my eyes and as if steel fingers are crushing my heart because I wanted so much to be with you as you celebrate your legal emancipation. Now that you have come of age, my love, a voice tells me that I am no longer young and suddenly, I feel old.
An old poet gave this advice very long ago “when you are sad, remember the roses will bloom in December.” I want to send you bouquet of roses, big red roses from my dreamland garden. Unfortunately for the present, my roses are not in bloom, in fact they have dropped all their petals and only the thorns are left to keep me company. I do think it is fitting to send you a thicket of thorns on this memorable day!

I am very proud of you because you have inherited all the best traits of your mother. You are sensible, responsible, even-tempered and sincere with the least pretenses and affection which vehemently detest in a woman. I am sure like your mother, you will possess that rare brand of silent courage and that combination of fidelity and fortitude that will be the life vest of your man in the tragic moments of his life.

During my lonely hours of solitary confinement in FortMagsaysay, Laur, Nueva Ecija last March and April with nothing else to do but pray and daydream, with only my fond memories to keep me company, I planned a weekend barrio fiesta for you in Tarlac for your 18^th birthday. I fooled myself into believing that my ordeal would end with the fiscal year. I planned to invite all your classmates and friends and their families for the weekends.

The schedule called for an early departure by bus from Manila and the first stop will be Concepcion, where lunch will be served by the pool. And after lunch, you were to visit the SantaRitaElementary School to distribute cookies and ice cream to the children of that public school where you were first enrolled.

I guess sheer nostalgia prompted me to include Santa Rita. We were only three then: Mommie, you and I. Those were the days of happy memories little responsibilities, tremendous freedom, a great future ahead and capped by a fulfillment of love. You are the first fruit of our union, the first proof of our love and the first seal of our affections.

From Concepcion we were to proceed to Luisita for the barrio fiesta. I intended to invite a friend who could roast an entire cow succulently. Swimming, pelota, dancing and eating would have been the order of the day. Sunday morning was reserved for a trip around the Hacienda and the mill and maybe golf for some of the parents and later a picnic-lunch on Uncle Tony’s Island. Return to Manila after lunch. I am afraid this will have to remain as one of the many dreams I had in Laur.

Our future has suddenly become uncertain and our fate unknown. I am even now beginning to doubt whether I’ll ever be able to return to you and the family. Hence, I would like to ask you these special favors.

Love your mother, whose love for you, you will never be able to match. She is not the greatest mother in the world, she is your sincerest friend.

Take care of your younger sisters and brother and lavish them with the love and care I would like to continue giving them but am unable to do so.
Help Noy-noy along and pray hard that he will grow to be a real, responsible man who in later years will protect you all.

You are the model for your three younger sisters. Your responsibility is therefore great. Please endeavor to live up to our highest expectations. Be more tolerant to Pinky, more accessible to Viel, our little genius-princess, and more charitable to Krissy, our baby doll, and make up for my neglect.

Finally, forgive me, my love, for not having been an ideal, good and thoughtful father to you all as I pursued public office. I had hopes and high resolve of making up, but I am afraid my destiny will not oblige.

I seal this letter with a drop of tear and a prayer in my heart, that somehow, somewhere we shall meet again and I will finally be able to make up for all my lapses, in the kingdom where justice reigns supreme and love is eternal.

I love you,
Dad

Out of Town Weddings

After obsessively planning my own wedding years ago, my interest on wedding planning and everything about weddings have not faded. However, instead of obsessively planning about details or thinking what wedding gift I should give to the newlyweds, I am always more excited when my daughter gets picked to be the flower girl. Nothing makes me prouder than my little princess walking down the aisle.

It seems that destination weddings are the trends for weddings these days. It has been a popular but more expensive choice ever since. Though I think it has reached new heights because of the wedding of Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo. The beach side is the perfect wedding celebration venue for many people No wonder the Caribbean’s Karisma Hotels along Riviera Maya are so popular!

Bela's Journal Report: July 6 -10, 2009

Green Cocoon’s Journal
July 6 – 10, 2009

Focus:
• Beginning letters Uu and Ss.
• Rote counting from 1 – 30
• Concept of Up and Down
• Concept of In and Out
• Sense: Sight and Hearing
• Colors: red, blue and yellow
• Shapes: triangle, rectangle

TARGET SKILLS:
(the child should be able to…)
• Identify and recognize the letters Uu and Ss and their respective sounds
• Give picture/s that begin with Uu and Ss
• Rote count from 1 – 30
• Understand the concept of Up and Down
• Understand the concept of In and Out
• Identify the different organs used for seeing and hearing
• Identify the colors red, blue and yellow
• Identify triangle and rectangle shapes

NEXT WEEK’S LESSONS:
• Phonics and Language
- Letters, sound recognition and identification of Mm and Rr
- Beginning concept of letters: Mm and Rr
- Concept of Is and Are
• Math
- Rote counting from 1 – 30
- Colors: green, violet and orange
- Spatial Relation: Over, On and Under
• Science and Social Studies
- My Feelings and senses
 Sense of Taste and Sense of Smell: care and functions, parts of the mouth

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

New week, new learning! We introduced the letters Uu and Ss to them this week and showed pictures as well as actual objects that begin with these letters. We also made our very own Scrambled egg sandwich which the kids had fun doing. We also let them be familiar with the shapes triangle and rectangle and colors red, blue and yellow. We also introduced them to spatial relations: up and down, in and out by dancing and playing like playing our hands and doing SIMON says. The children had fun exploring with their senses of sight and hearing. We learned how to properly take care of these sense organs. We also listened to recording of loud and soft sounds.

Last Friday, after Outdoor, we let the children change their clothes and pack up their stuff in their bags. In this way, they are trained to be more independent when tending to their needs. Ysabela needed help in removing and putting on her clothes. She wants teacher to hold her hands when asked to fold her clothes.

In last week’s stations, she was able to draw the missing parts of given pictures. draw her face very fast with eyebrows as well. She also was able to identify objects with the circle and square shapes and said that shapes have 4 sides. She was assisted in writing MSS and her other writing activities as she has less confidence in doing them. However, she can do the strokes when asked to do them. She can copy and draw with little assistance the body parts that are same by tracing her hand and drawing an eye. She was able to pair pictures that are same and different and seems to know the concept very well.

This week, when they were asked to identify the names of their peers, she was able to name some of her peer’s names. She is very aware of what her peers are doing and would usually tell teacher about them. When eating, she would ask for help in opening her lunchbox then eat her snacks quietly.

We hope to see more skills and participation in the coming weeks as we are just at the start of a new theme.

Teachers Sarah, Eulene and Raizza

Bela’s Journal Report: June 29 – July 3

I need to catch up in posting Bela’s Journal report. It is already August and I am still posting reports for June. LOL.

Learning About Our Bodies
June 29 July 3, 2009

(So this is their topic for that week. No wonder Bela kept telling me that my tummy is so yucky because it is so big. I think I really need to take the best fat burner because with my diet, I don’t think I will loose the bulges in my tummy).

Dear mom and dad,

Learning about our bodies was somehow easy for the kids as they are all very familiar with the parts of their body, its functions and where they are located. It is a proof that your children are ready and able to know how to use their bodies to learn more through their environment.

This week’s Music and Movement exposed our kids to different finger play and action soings that made use of manipulating their body parts and learning their body parts’ names through songs like Hokey Pokey, Head and Shoulders…., and Where is Thumbkin? They had an exciting and enjoyable time watching themselves as they moved to the beat of the songs.

For Cooking, we got all amazed as we made Ice Cream in reusable pabgs. This you should try at home. It was easy and yummy. The kids watched as we poured I each ingredient and sealed the bags. They each had a chance to put in the ice and then shake the bag. They couldn’t wait to see it and taste it. Once it was done, they all agreed it was delicious.

During Library Day, we all listened to a story written by Eric Carle entitled “Head to Toe.” They enjoyed imitating the movements and saying “I can do it.”

On AVR Day, we had a chance to play some computer games on the letters Ii and Oo and also about same and different. While on Friday, Outdoors, we played Body Parts Hopscotch.

Truky a busy kid is also a learning kid. This is why we never cease to make your child’s stay in school as busy and learning filled as we can.

On Our Stations This Week:

• Sand / Water Play Station
- drawing our face on the sand
- pouring sand from one container to the other
- pouring water from one container to the other
• Literacy Station
- exploring objects that begin with Aa and Ee
- naming and sorting pictures that begin with Ii and Oo
- sorting pictures using is and are
• Reading / Listening Station
- reading Head to Toe by Eric Carle
• Discovery / Art Station
- exploring a box with pictures of peers and being able to name them and sort them according to gender
- mirror play: discover and name parts of the face
- trace and match body parts with example
- drawing your face
• Math Station
- exploring objects with circles and square shapes
- comparing objects with same and different shape
- drawing shapes that are same and different
• Manipulative Station
- face puzzle
- body puzzle
- drawing the missing parts

Xmas Party Planning

Christmas begins early here in the Philippines. That is why as early as now, I am already started the planning for the Christmas Party that we will be hosting for our family this year.

I already started to look for Christmas invitations from holiday-invitations.com. I believe that since invitations Christmas party is the first thing that our guests will see, I really want to make sure that it is really perfect to set the mood for the party. But I know that I am in good hands with holiday-invitations.com since they will even create a special design for my Christmas holiday invitations and they can even put our family picture.

Thinking about it makes me so excited already. So to our relatives, you can expect to receive a Party Invitations Christmas soon as I am already starting to plan for our Christmas party this year.

Bela Learning Chinese

Chinese is part of Bela’s curriculum at MSS. We are not Chinese so I never bothered asking her about her Chinese class because I don’t know what to ask. LOL. A few days ago, we were driving with my Mom and Dad and my mom pointed to Bela the tricycles that are lined up in Espana. They have the same color and so my mom said:

Mom: “ Bela look at the tricycles. They all look the same. They are all color orange.”

And then I heard Bela babbling something but I have a hunch that she is saying something in Chinese. I have her Chinese folder with me so I checked it out and I realized that she is saying the word “the same” in Chinese. I asked her what is the Chinese word for different and she answered me with confidence again. And she even has the Chinese accent and intonation. Boy I was so surprised.

Then last weekend, we went to Greenhills and we saw a Chinese restaurant and the signage has Chinese characters. She said:

Bela: “Mom those are my Chinese characters.”

Then she started to say something again and we just figured out that she is counting in Chinese. Children really learn so fast. I was amazed that in just a short span, Bela is already learning a lot.

This weekend, she has to do practice writing in Chinese and my mom patiently guided Bela (though we really don’t know if we are doing it correctly since we don’t know how to write in Chinese). That is why sometimes, Bela will tell her lola that she is going the wrong way when my mom was teaching her the strokes. Here are some pictures that I took using my phone's camera:


By the way, notice that stamp collection that we have. This is a very good rewards system since every time Bela finished her activity, her lola will put a stamp on her like they did in school and Bela will be more inspired to finish her assignment.

Halloween 2009

Bela and I just stayed at home during the weekend as Howell already left for Germany. We spent the day just watching Bela’s favorite shows and she saw the episode of Little Einsteins where they went on a mission to distribute invitations Halloween for their party.

Bela got all excited as she fondly recall her Halloween experience last year. I heard from her current school that they will be distributing party invitations Halloween too to celebrate Halloween. I am sure Bela will be so excited when she receives her invitations party Halloween from Teacher Sarah and she will have fun wearing her costume and go Trick or Treating with her other classmates.

The last time I heard, they will be ordering Invitations Halloween Party from www.invitations-shoppe.com. I am sure they will not have a hard time as the design for the invitations will be proof emailed to them within one hour after they ordered so I am sure we will be expecting to receive one soon.