Education: The First Step has Ended But the Journey Has Just Begun

Hello there! How was your day? I have been away on steemit for the past few days. Got a little busy with school. March and April are the months when Graduation and Recognition happens after all. My kids finished their first step in education which was attending Future Hope Child Development Learning Center,( part of the program by the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) which is to have Learning Centers for every barangays where 3 to 6 years old children can attend to start learning the basics and to develop socialization with children their age before they enter Kindergarten or Elementary) or Nursery/Pre-school/Prep for private schools. Anyway, And I want to share to you about my kids and their achievements throughout and ours also as a parent.

Meet my eldest and only son Carlo the KUYA of all and my 2nd child Sofia Janine our first princess

Carlo turned 6 last February, by age standard he should have been attending Kindergarten and not Day Care. Part of it was my fault. I gave birth last October 2016 to their youngest sibling, he was on Day Care that time and should have finished last March 2017. But due to me giving birth, I can no longer send him to school (which was located a little away from our house) because I was prioritizing my newborn and I don’t have anyone else to accompany him, thus making him miss school and eventually stopped. I tried enrolling him in Kindergarten this last school year (2017-2018) but they refused and said that he won’t be able to catch up because he doesn’t know much. I admit that he is a little lazy when it comes to studying, especially after he turned 4. He always wants to play, play again and play some more. It was a struggle to make him sit still while I teach him, I already tried everything I can to make studying enjoyable but he likes to do things his way and his way never involve studying at all. So with no other choice, I enrolled him again on June last year for Day Care together with Sofia, his younger sister who was turning 4 that time. I don’t want her to miss school too like her brother. Carlo was a little hesitant to go to school again saying that he’ll miss his play time but with his sister going with him, he finally obliged. He is a very hyper kid especially at home, running around, climbing up chairs, playing with dirt (which got me angry all the time) and very talkative – he will be rambling off about something randomly and would tell stories from his imagination. They were both excited when we went out to buy their school supplies and demanded that I buy them a trolley bag, saying so that they won’t have to carry their bag and just pull it. And so, we bought Sofia the First bag and Lightning McQueen from Cars bag for them.

(after school last year, when we were having a little photoshoot, Carlo's interrupting and making faces on the side)

Sofia’s shy, she didn’t like being watched by other people so she never dance or sing in a crowd. She’s bratty, throwing tantrums when she doesn’t get what she wants, this is because her grandmother would always take her side every time I scold her when she was younger, saying “give the child what she wants”. It was bad before, it is getting better now though, I can refuse her sometimes and get her to listen but she still throws a fit other times. She likes to sing, she’s good with memorizing the lyrics just by listening to the song and she love the songs from cartoon movies they watch (Frozen, Moana and Trolls). She was a silent introvert type before but now, it is like I have two sons, her brother and cousin must be rubbing off of her, she would go running around, even go biking and playing cars and not her Barbie anymore. She’s usually more manageable than her brother though, kind, more matured and even helps me with some chores. While his brother is so lazy, even reading the Alphabet makes him sooo tired, he says.

They are both a little independent, doing some of the things on their own like taking a bath (I still help and supervise them though), changing clothes and started eating on their own when they were 3 years old. It is a big help to me as I don’t have to do everything for them, considering I have their youngest sister to attend to most of the time. Raising the kids is hard, especially if you are alone, you can’t count on someone else like your husband to tell you if what you’re doing is right or wrong. You’ll just have to trust your motherly instinct most of the time. You also need to have PATIENCE, A LOT OF IT, cause if you don’t, you would do things you will very well regret. I need to close my eyes sometimes and breathe very deep just to prevent myself from exploding, I don’t like hurting them physically or emotionally so I would just walk away to cool off when I became angry over things that they did. Ohh, and they like asking questions – a lot, which makes me more irritated sometimes like you are already fuming but they didn’t seem to notice and would ask you why you are wearing a scowl in your face? But it makes me laugh other times, especially if the questions aren’t directed on me. They can definitely wear off your ears listening to their ramblings and you will get tired of their questions which seems never ending, and it always starts with WHY?

(one of the days after school started, with their cousin)

We fall into a routine, earlier than usual wake up time for me, I’ll be cooking breakfast while they are still asleep then I’ll wake the two of them, careful not to wake up our baby then I’ll help them bath and serve them breakfast. While they are eating, I’ll check on our little girl to see if she’s awake, sometimes she is but other times she’ll wake up earlier and cry then I’d have to drop whatever I’m doing. It makes us late when she do because she didn’t want to be put down. I carry her to school sometimes or leave her to my mother’s care, then I’ll have to go home early and leave the two at school. They are friendly so they easily got friends with their classmates and settled in quite good in school. They would even give their snacks to some of their classmates who don’t have one, or tell me to buy for them instead. It makes me proud and happy, seeing them care for other’s well being and not just for themselves. They were upset once when I picked them up at school because one of their classmates was a little unfriendly to them, grabbing their things away and even pinching them. I got angry but let it pass, telling my kids not to make a quarrel with the kid and just stay away from him. Other than that there were nothing to worry about aside from the two not doing their school works. Sometimes I would find Carlo talking animatedly to his seatmate, not caring about their lesson. Sometimes they are whining and complaining about being tired even though they were just starting to write. They were more active when it was coloring and drawing time. Sofia’s writing is good and her coloring is too, she takes her time when she’s coloring and her hands are more precise than her brother. Carlo likes listening to stories, whenever it was story telling time at school I’d find him listening with rapt attention and he have a wide imagination telling me some of his made up stories too.

They started the lessons with shapes and colors, which they already knew before school. They would be called in front of the class one by one to point the color their teacher was naming. Carlo was the eager one, always the one who loves to be complimented, would be bouncing off his seat while waiting to be called. While Sofia on the other hand was too shy to rise from her seat and needs more encouragement. After getting to know all the basic shapes and colors, the next was the Alphabet. They would write one letter at a time, and would have home works on writing the letters. They would always sing the Alphabet song at school and read every letter too. Then the Numbers from 1 to 20, writing and counting it and some simple addition. They have a little struggle with numbers, they would count missing a number or two. They started writing their names the month of October, it was the hardest part. They would write but would be missing a few letters here and there then half way through they would be complaining about being tired. *sigh But thankfully they knew how to write it fully now without mistakes. I encourage them to write and draw most of the time and discourage them from playing outside so much.

Last month started a little hard on us, Sofia catches a cold thus making a domino effect on them. It was her on the first week, then her brother on the next then their youngest sister on the 3rd week. Thankfully it didn’t last too long, but we still missed school so much and also missed about the preparation for the incoming Recognition Day.

Sofia got a medal for being one of the class Achievers and a Certificate of Awards, Carlo also received a Certificate of Awards and I am proud of the both of them. We felt so happy and proud as we walk with them up the stage to receive their earned awards last Saturday, March 17, 2018. Carlo was included in a dance number with some of his classmates, they dance in the song “Baby Shark” which they enjoyed so much and even the audience enjoyed watching the kids. The program was a little chaotic because of the kids but it is still one of our happiest day together. All of our efforts have finally come to a fruitful end and we’ll be facing a new beginning this next school year. What made me happier was that we were a complete family during their Recognition, their father got home Friday morning from Manila. (He works as a family driver to the owner of the company I worked for before, his boss is a very busy man so he rarely goes home because we are at least 8-10 hours ride away. In his a year and half at work he only got home at least thrice and the two times was because his boss visited their office branch in Naga City, the 3rd was on the New Year’s eve. He only stayed for 2 days here to attend for the Recognition, he traveled back Sunday night and arrived in Manila on Monday morning. The kids misses him so much but we don’t really have a choice, he couldn’t find a job here in the province that can cover for our expenses like his job in Manila and his boss is very nice which is sometimes very hard to find too.) It is becoming rare for us to be together as a whole so this just make this event more memorable. Some may say that it was just Day Care and it wasn’t a big deal but for me, however small this step is for others, for me it is BIG. Why? Because this is where the kids started developing, learning and mingling. This is where they first developed friendship towards other children that aren’t related to us and where I saw them enjoy their time with their friends. I hope that next year on their Kindergarten they would do more and be more studious. And we will be together just like before in this new journey of education.

(half way through the event, our youngest daughter fell asleep so my mother took her home, so she weren't in the family pic)

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